Memorial Day

Today we had the opportunity to honor our veteran and active soldiers as well as remember our fallen soldiers.

The boys and I, along with Samantha, Bradley, Shannon, Dad, and Mom went out to DFW National Cemetery for their Memorial Day Ceremony.

The day was beautifully sunny and extremely hot!

They had a fly over of the 301st Fighter Wing, several speakers, a reading of the names of active duty losses interred at DFW National Cemetery (one of which was Shannon and Samantha's friend), a cannon salute, and many songs.

It was a wonderful opportunity for me to not only honor these men and women, but to teach my boys the importance of our soldiers, to show them the honor, respect, and thankfulness we have for them.

After the ceremony we had several stops to make and flags to place.  We went to the graves of  Dad's uncle, Shannon and Samantha's friend, as well as my cousin, grandma, and grandpa.  My cousin Darren who passed away at the age of 31 and my sweet grandma and grandpa who are now buried one on top of the other.  It is always so hard to see their names in print on the tombstones.  We left our flags in the ground by their tombstones and then headed home.

And I'm proud to be an American,

where at least I know I'm free.

And I wont forget the men who died,

who gave that right to me.

God Bless the USA by Lee Greenwood

Happy Memorial Day

Hot, Hot, Hot

The weatherman projected a high temperature of 100 degrees today.

I guess there is no easing into summer for us!

We had to make our first outing to the sprinkler park to stay cool.

Looks Feels like we are in for a HOT summer!

Celebrating...

Mr. and Mrs. McIntire!

In celebration of our 11 year anniversary the Mr. and Mrs. of the house had a date night!  We went to see Little House on the Prairie the Musical (and yes Robert wanted to attend it and enjoyed it!).

We dropped the boys off at Gram and Papa's house first and then headed out for our big night.

The musical was good and it was fun to see Melissa Gilbert play the part of Ma.

The next morning (our actual anniversary) we woke up, relaxed around the kid free house, and then headed off to lunch and a movie.

We had a wonderful anniversary and are so thankful to God for how much our marriage has grown in the last 11 years.  We are looking forward to many more!

Thank you to Gram and Papa for keeping the boys for us!

Sunday Snapshots

2 handsome boys.  2 separate Sundays.

On any given Sunday morning, you never know what side of the bed these two little guys might wake up on. Getting all of us ready and out the door on Sundays is quite a process.  How smoothly this process goes depends greatly on the moods of these little ones. What is so great about these pictures is that they look like angels in both sets of pictures.

Their mommy knows the truth though!  Their mommy knows the behind the scenes of these two separate Sundays.  One Sunday went smoothly, the other not so much.

Oh the joys of raising these two little guys!  They always make it interesting and keep us on our toes!

Serving

My adult Sunday School class had the opportunity to apply what we have been studying in the book of Acts.

Along with our families we were able to go help an organization called Our Calling in Dallas.  Our calling is to glorify God by leading homeless people to Christ and stabilizing broken lives as they begin a God honoring lifestyle.  Blake and I started by helping to fill hundreds of bags full of socks, crackers, soap, razors, and gum.

After we got this job done we all loaded in our cars and followed the Our Calling van to empty parking lots in downtown Dallas (I didn't take pictures of this part of the day).  Our role was to pass out the bags we had filled, water bottles, and Bibles.  There were bags full of clothes they could dig through if they needed something more to wear.  Along with helping to meet their basic needs, we were also there to let them know that we care, and more importantly that God cares about them.

There were a lot of folks that got to hear the story of salvation and to be prayed with.

At our last stop Blake started complaining that he was hot and tired.  With hundreds of people coming to us and passing out the supplies as quickly as we could, I knew he really was hot and tired!  I reminded him that sometimes we might get uncomfortable when we are serving God, but that we are still required to serve and do His will.  I was not only telling this to Blake, but to myself as well. In all honesty, taking my 5 year old to downtown Dallas with homeless folks flocking around us was out of this mama's comfort zone too!

Blake and I had an awesome opportunity to serve and help others around us... even if it meant stepping out of our comfort zone!

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."  Acts 1:8

Preschool Graduation

Our little Blake is growing up before our eyes!  Today was his preschool graduation!  I can't believe the time has already come!  I took the morning off from work so that I could take him to school for his last day and of course attend graduation.

Blake standing him the doorway of his preschool classroom for the last time.

Barrett was being silly while we were waiting for graduation to start!

Blake's face was so funny when they marched in with their class.  He was embarrassed and sucking in his cheeks!

Their focus this year in preschool has been the Fruit of the Spirit. Each month they have focused on a different fruit and memorized a Bible verse to go with it.  I have loved hearing Blake quote the verses and was very impressed when he quoted without hesitation:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness

 Galatians 5:22

 At graduation they sang a few songs for us.

Then it was time to present them with their new Bibles and certificates.

After the ceremony we all went back to his room for cookies and juice.

Blake with his Auntie and Aunt YaYa

Ms. Gina and Blake

Papa and Gram along with Jim and Duby

The best family picture we could manage (yes Barrett is squirming and throwing a fit)

The proud graduate with his Bible and certificate.

Special Vistor{s}

Today I had some special visitors come see me at school!

I am always excited when I get to see my boys during the school day!

Mother's Day

We celebrated Mother's Day this year on Saturday evening.  We had a wonderful dinner at my mom and dad's house.  Our Momo (dad's mom) was in town for the celebration!

After dinner we all headed outside... one of our favorite family activities!

The boys big and small played croquet.

An outdoor activity at Gram and Papa's is not complete without lots of swinging and sliding on the swing set!

This was the best family picture we could get.  I tried to get one of just the boys and I... but they were way too busy for me!

As the sun started to set Papa built a campfire and we roasted marshmallows and made smores.

We all had a wonderful time celebrating the mothers in our family!

Coming Up

This is a very busy time of year and I haven't had a chance to go through my pictures from this past week. For now I will leave you with these sweet sleeping pictures of my boys.

This picture of Blake cracks me up for so many reasons.

#1 I am cracking up at how Blake and the fish have similar facial expressions.

#2 Really?!  Is an inflatable fish really that snugly??

#3 This picture clearly depicts how hard these energetic boys crash after going non-stop all day long.

I love how Barrett's little cheek is squished against Donald Duck's hat.