The Lady Vols!

This picture was taken after the game was over and Parker was ready to get out of there...it's a long time for a kid to sit still...not that he did, but we tried!

Parker sat on Paul's shoulders before the game started and ate Tic-Tacs...as soon as they were gone, he moved on to the next person with food. That's the way he works...if you have food, he will sit with you!!

If you have been reading my blog for more than a few months, you will know that my husband is a huge Tennessee Vols fan. Both sets of his grandparents live in Tennessee, his parents are graduates from the University of Tennessee and Aaron just loves the Vols. I know, he didn't attend the University of Tennessee. He went to the University of Florida, so I guess you could "officially" say that he is a Gator grad. BUT, his blood runs orange...Tennessee Orange. He went to the U of F because it was free (lots of scholarships!!),and if you were just wondering, they have a great engineering department. But, back to the Vols....

Aaron and Grace enjoying the game together.

We have some friends from church and the husband is a UT grad. He looked up the basketball schedule for the Lady Vols months ago....really, like in August, and saw that the Lady Vols were coming down south to Austin to play the Lady Texas Longhorns. We have been planning on it ever since and this past weekend, we all got up on a early Sunday morning and drove to Austin!!

Susie was excited that she finally got some cotton candy!!

The ride was great...our kids were in the car with all the dads and I got to ride in the car with the moms and the teenagers. We had fun talks all the way there and we ate at a great Bar-b-que place called "Rudy's" just outside of Austin. The game was great...the Lady Vols are a super young team this year, coming off of their last year's national championship win and graduating some awesome players. They started 2 freshman and 3 sophomores...so look out next year!!
They stayed with the more experienced Lady Longhorns until about the last 5 minutes of the game and then it was over. Fun game with friends...we will do it again and Parker will stay still for longer next game because he will be older...hopefully!!

Susie loves Mr. Steve...now that is one loyal Tennessee fan...

Summer is so busy!

This summer has been packed with fun activities with our friends and our family. I love summer! This past weekend we went to the Circus with our small group from church. The kids loved it and so did we!! Of course, we would have loved it more if the TRE system that we rode in for the circus would have made their train schedule around the afternoon circus show. We had to leave the show a few minutes after intermission because the next train didn't show up for another hour after the show was over. For us, that meant standing outside in 102+ degree heat with too many tired kids, so we just left early. It worked out great! It was a super show that I recommend to anyone!! Riding the train in was a blast, too!!

During the pre-show, this elephant painted and they had a drawing for the painting!! It was just really neat to be so close to the animals!!

We tried to get a picture with all the kids...you know how that goes!! Parker got his legs stuck in this chair shortly after this picture was taken...he still has little bruises!

Here is part of our group waiting for the train to show up...it was so hot, but the kids were troopers! Notice that Parker finally gave up and fell asleep, heat and all!

Mr. Brown is showing off his "glow stick on the nose" skills while riding in a train. This guy will do anything for a laugh...he he he

Grace had the camera and wanted us to do a silly picture. So, we did one...

A few of us waited in line while the others went and stood in the good shade of the building. We all had to wait in the heat for about 20 minutes for them to open the doors for the pre-show. Did they not know that the train just let off 300 people and it was so hot outside?

Grace, Sus and Aaron watching the clown do a funny little act during the pre-show...the kids also got to try on the costumes that they wear during the show, but my camera was being silly.

On Friday, Susannah was invited by one of her best little buddies, Mia Mia, to go to the mall and visit every little girl's favorite place, "Sweet and Sassy." They got their nails painted pink (of course) with sparkles, their hair done and they got to walk the runway and pose. They had a wonderful time being sassy little girls. I think she would still have her hair done up if it were up to her!!

Parker and Little O man sitting still for just a second for us to take their picture! They were like crazy kids in that place because EVERYTHING sparkles in there!!

Sus sitting still while her nails dried and she was getting her hair "done up." It was so fun for those little girls!

They are most definitely "Sweet and Sassy" little girls!!

Ten Things Tuesday!

It's Ten Things Tuesday...I know, I've been off and on this summer so I'm not going to make any promises about staying constant, I'm just thankful to find a few minutes to post!!

So, here goes:

1. I already named my #1...I'm thankful to find a few minutes in my day to post my thankful list.

2. I'm thankful that I get to spend my days at home with the kids. We have been having a great summer full of fun and activities. I love my life!

Grace and Sus posing at the Water Gardens...

3. I'm thankful for summer birthdays! Grace and Parker have their birthdays pretty close together and we have enjoyed stretching them out over the past 2 weeks with friends and family.

4. Speaking of family, I'm thankful that Aaron's mom, my mother-in-law, DD, as the children call her- came to stay with us for the past week. We had a wonderful visit full of eating out and shopping!! We took her to the airport late this afternoon so that she can fly home to Aaron's dad...I know that he is missing her.

The kids (and Grace's doll) with their DD!

5. I'm thankful that Aaron and I got to go out to the movies together this week while DD was visiting! We saw "The Incredible Hulk" one night and we rented "The Bucket List" last night to watch here at home together. I love date night with a bucket of popcorn and a big Coke!

6. I'm thankful that Aaron loves his job and that it is so flexible. Today we drove downtown to meet him and went to lunch with him at Joe T's....It was great food (I'm still so full and not even wanting to think about dinner!) and we took the kids down to the Water Gardens. It was neat and a perfect afternoon before his mom had to go to the airport.

The kids playing in the fountain at Joe T's and standing in front of the "mountain fountain" at the Downtown Water Gardens.

7. I'm thankful that all the kids from our bible class are having a great week at camp right now. They have been looking forward to camp all summer and now they are having a blast!

8. I'm thankful for Sonic and Happy Hour!! I love going to Sonic between 2-4 pm!! Aaron's mom has been treating us to Sonic all week...now I need to get back on track and back on to drinking more water!! I love Sonic, but not the extra pounds that a Coke a day brings...hello water!

9. I'm thankful for nice and quiet evenings at home. Tonight we are going to enjoy some time out on the trampoline and being together here at home...I love it!

10. I'm thankful for trips to see family! We are trying to plan a trip to see Nana, Papa, Aunt Jess, Uncle Cliff, Uncle Jer, Aunt Jen and Jesse and Jonas in the next few weeks...I can't wait!! I've been missing all of my Arkansas family and church extended family!!!

There is my list! Now, go over to X-box wife and make your list!! Happy Tuesday!

Ten Things Tuesday!

Here it is Tuesday again...I LOVE it!! Go over to my good pal, Mrs. Brownstone @ X-Box Wife and share your list, too!

1. I'm thankful for fun family vacations!! We went with our friends, The Thompsons, to San Antonio this past weekend. What a BLAST!! We went to Sea World, Fiesta Texas and hung out at the Riverwalk. Fun fun weekend!2. I'm thankful for safe travel. We drove down Friday night and missed 2 storms on the way.

3. I'm thankful for sweet kids. The Thompson kids and our kids got along so great!! I'm not kidding, except for one "looser calling incident"....that was all we had. Not one bit of drama on the trip and it was great!

4. I'm thankful for great friends. Rusty and Lorie are so cool to put up with a crazy family like us! Everyone just rolled with the flow....from sitting in the splash zone to getting cold at Fiesta Texas....Miss Lorie had suckers for everyone and it was all good!

5. I'm thankful that we can go on vacations. It really is a blessing to get out of town and just be with friends and family for a little while.

6. I'm thankful for opportunities to talk with my kids about important subjects. Sunday morning we had communion in McDonalds. Yes, McDonalds. We went around the table with the kids and talked about what we are thankful for and then talked about how we can have time with God, anywhere...even in McDonalds. It was great. There are great opportunities everywhere, if you look for them to happen.7. I'm thankful for rest. We raced back in town last night at 5:00 and Grace had softball pictures at 5:40. So we rushed to the ballpark for pictures and her game. Came home with Sonic for dinner (no food in the house, we've been gone..) and gave everyone baths. We all crashed early and I'm so thankful that everyone got great rest last night.

8. I'm thankful for friends at home. We come home and our friends are excited that we had a fun trip and want to know what we did and experienced. I LOVE our friends...have I said that before?

9. I'm thankful that my sister and brother-in-law are getting their dream of living in a house with land. They are going to be moving into a great house soon and are so excited and we are so excited about going to see them after they get moved in their new home!

10. I'm just thankful, thankful, thankful. Today is a great day...the sun is shining, the kids are healthy and God is so very good to us. Blessings abound!!

Opening Day!!!

I know, for those 3 of ya'll that have been reading our blog for the past few years, this is nothing new....Six Flags, yadda, yadda, yadda...OPENING DAY 2008!!! We went on Saturday and it was so great! We didn't wait in ONE line. I'm not kidding. We walked up to every ride, except the snake roller coaster and that was only because they were letting each group have their own little car instead of jamming 6 people into each one! It was beautiful outside and we loved being together.

What was even better about this year is that Parker is big enough to ride so many rides! We were talking about the first time we went last year and Parker couldn't even walk! Oh, babies just grow so very fast. We tried to call several other season pass holder friends, but they were all busy...it was a great day to be at the flags!

This was Parker's favorite ride of the day....he just smiled and moved his little feet on the swings. He really did enjoy being like the "big kids" and not just stuck in his stroller!

Yesterday afternoon, the girls and I went to Casa Manana in Downtown Ft. Worth to see the play, "Junie B. Jones." It was so cute and well done. But (here comes the doozy) during intermission Grace starts to look bad and says her head hurts. Yes, she is burning up with fever so we all headed out as soon as the play was over. Sorry, we stayed for the last hour. It's one of my Mother of the Year moments, for sure, but she wanted to stay and her friends that we went with all were fine with staying, too. We dropped them off at their house and on the way home, Grace got sick in the car. Yes, that was fun, let me tell ya! She has been running a fever and throwing up all night so we are off to the doctor this afternoon as that was the earliest that they could fit us in....it's all going around folks!! Soo, if your kids have had a fever or even shown signs of being sick, PLEASE don't take them to church or to school. Really, use the 24 hour rule... unless you are at the theater where you payed $19 a seat and want to see the end of the play!! :)