A Lunch Outing

Mom, Barrett, and I drove out to see Samantha at her new salon and have lunch with her this afternoon. Blake wasn't real thrilled about visiting a salon and preferred to stay and play in the dirt, so he stayed with Jim and Duby.

This is the sign in the window of her salon.
We walked from the salon to a quaint sandwich shop.
It was delicious!
Barrett had fun hanging out with the girls.
After lunch we walked back to the salon to bid Samantha farewell. We had wonderful afternoon!

Staying In

We have been staying inside the past few days in order to escape the heat. Today I got out Blake's "little blue house" for him to play in. It has to be assembled and usually Robert is the one to put it together. But, since Robert was not here, that left mommy to do the assembling. Blake came to me and said he would help me because boys are better than girls at putting things together.

He loves to sit inside and play cars. He used his sleeping bag as a big hill and drove them on it.
For Barrett, I got the Johnny Jump-up out of the attic. He never really jumped, just swayed. (look at those legs!)
Of course Blake was there to monitor the situation... and of course Barrett watched his every move!
He concentrated on the toys hanging from it.
A happy boy!

Nighty Night, Sleep Tight

A bedtime story shared between daddy and son (yes Blake can recite this book he has heard it so many times!).

A sweet angel sound asleep. This is the position he is in every night when I check on him right before I go to bed... arms up, knees bent, and heels together.
Nighty night, sleep tight...

Four Fun Friends

Today when I told Blake that his friend Lana was coming to play, he was so excited! He wanted Barrett to sit in his room and watch him play while they waited. He read to Barrett and did some car shows.

The time had come... Lana and Lydia were here! First things first though, they needed some food in their tummies before they could play.

Lana played with one of her favorite toys at Blake's house... his police car. Blake did some monster truck shows for us.

It is so neat how much they like each other's "babies". Blake can't get enough of Lydia, and Lana loves to talk to and help take care of Barrett.

The group picture... they were each gazing at each other's sibling right before I took it. Blake is still gazing, but Lana turned right as I took it. You can get the picture in your head though ~ so sweet!

Four Fun Friends! Their mommies enjoyed getting to visit too!

Family Gathering

It had been a couple of weeks since we had all gathered. I called everyone and invited them over to eat sandwiches and visit.

Blake enjoys the spotlight, as long as it's on his terms. He read and did a monster truck show for everyone.

Uncie played cars on the race track with the boys.

There was a lot of energy... tickling, exercising, and horse back rides were all fun things to do tonight.

We enjoyed visiting and sharing blogging tips.

Barrett got lots of attention from his family!

The boys feasted on cupcakes. I think Robert said he ate 3 small ones, 1 big one, and a small bowl of ice cream! Wow, how's that for sugar overload!

We had a wonderful time gathering as a family!

To The Library Again

We started our Friday off with a delicious breakfast of homemade biscuits and gravy prepared by my mother. After breakfast, we went to the library. Blake always loves when we go to the library. When Grandpa was in therapy at his "special house" it was our weekly routine to visit the library, then go see Grandpa. Blake took his new books in with him to look at while we visited Grandpa. Some days Grandpa was too sleepy to stay awake and visit, so Blake and I sat by his bed and I read his new library books to him. Some days Grandpa laid and listened to me read, and some days he was awake and visited with us. I have been putting off our weekly trip to the library because I knew it would make me sad to go the the library, and not get to go see Grandpa afterwards. When Blake told Gram the other day that he has been dreaming of going to the library, I knew it was time to go to the library again. One of his favorite things to do at the library is play on the computer.
He wanted me to take this picture of the food he made.
The best part is looking at all his new books!
When we got home I let him have a special picnic lunch while he watched the All About John Deere for Kids movie we checked out at the library.
We all read library books on the couch until nap time. We have to keep the books out of Barrett's reach because he wants so badly to get them in his mouth!
Random sweet picture of Barrett

3 Busy Boys

Gone are the days of long, uninterrupted conversations, playing cards late into the night, doing things on the spur of the moment... in its place... keeping up with 3 busy boys! We have celebrated and grieved, laughed and cried, rejoiced and encouraged many seasons of our lives together. Watching our boys build a relationship with each other like we have shared with Ryan and Mandy is an amazing thing!

Blake ~ the first born in the group... we all got a taste of family life together when he joined our group. Never ending attention and praise were given to this boy who keeps us all laughing. Luke ~ 3 years later we all welcomed Luke. It seemed like we had always known him because we talked so much about their dream to have a little boy named Luke. Now he is here and all smiles!
Barrett ~ 3 months later... sweet Barrett. This boy has captured our hearts with his sweet, gentle spirit.
Snips and snails and puppy dog tails... that's what boys are made of...

Today was another outing. We loaded up in the car and headed to Commerce to visit the Children's Museum. On the way we passed a pasture with a pretty white fence. We thought it would make for some good pictures, so we stopped.

Our next stop, the Northeast Texas Children's Museum

There were so many fun things for the kids to do. They had a great time playing for hours.

Astronaut Blake and Barrett

Grocery shopping at "Wal-Mart"

They took their groceries home to unload them.

Blake did a little fishing and boating.

There were lots of giggles when they played dress-up.


Barrett loved his reflection!

The bubble room had giant bubbles! Blake thought it was funny to be inside of one.

Barrett watching the action.

Blake did a little song and dance on the piano.

The group picture for the day. Blake and Presley were having an intense conversation in the first one, but managed to join in for us to take a picture.

Lots of fun playing... and now lots of tired kids!