Swim Lessons

This is Avery's third summer to take swim lessons. Last summer and this summer we went to Mrs. Jill! We just love her classes with our friends. Avery has been like a little fish these past two weeks. A picture is worth a thousand words so I thought I would use pictures to show all our fun this summer with Mrs. Jill!

Telling the kiddos to blow bubbles

Kick, Kick, Kick, Kick

Working on his kicking

Hardest skill to work on…back float

Our Happy Swimmer!

Mrs. Jill talking to them

Avery has really enjoyed jumping in the pool this year! No Fear!

Ella and Avery 

Favorite thing is going down the slide at the end of the lesson. He went down everyday. Only one other kid went down   besides Avery!

Blast off arms!

Trying out goggles

Mrs. Jill is the best and we are lucky we have had lessons with her and our friends for the past two years! Until next summer….I bet Reed Morgan will be joining in the fun too!!

Father's Day

It was a fun weekend to celebrate the dads in our world! John and my dad started off the weekend boating down the Caney Fork. They left before the sun rose and took off for their fun!

Dad cooking breakfast

Here is their spread

John with his rainbow he caught

While BeBe and John were gone, I was able to finish up the Father's Day crafts we made for them. Avery and Reed made one a craft for BeBe and Dada. I didn't get a picture of my Dad's put it was two cars made out of each of their footprints and it said "We wheelie love you!"

The boys ready for craft time!

Reed Morgan's painted foot

His photo cube for his Dada. Avery made one for John on his first Father's Day!

The boys made John a cute canvas with two bears. One bear was Avery's footprint and the other was Reed Morgan's. It was fun to make the crafts but it is a little different with two. While I was trying to work on Reed's craft, Avery was playing in his little kitchen and drug over all his toys from the den! He was busy playing and making a mess! :)

Avery was so proud to give John his prize he made! He is such a thoughtful little guy!

Reed Morgan with his Dada on their first Father's Day together!

Saturday night we went over to my parent's house. My mom was in California so we had to FaceTime her in a few times. We had some pool time and then cooked out together!

 

32 years celebrating this Dad!! 

Sunday we had lunch at our favorite restaurant and one that is close to church, the Boulevard! We enjoyed sitting back and hanging out for a bit!

Reed and Bebe's first Father's Day together!

VBS was starting Sunday night at church so I had to go and help decorate at church that afternoon. John took Avery home for a nap and Reed Morgan went with me. John got some relaxing time in on his Father's Day! That night I took Avery to VBS while John and Reed  got to spend some one on one time together! All in all we had a great time just the guys and me celebrating! I am beyond thankful for them both and know my two boys have some great role models to look up to! Not only do they have John and my dad to look up to but also John's dad! He is a great grandaddy to them as well! We will celebrate with him soon!

A picture to honor Grandaddy! 

Wilderness Class

I just love finding new classes for us to try out during the week. When I decided to take time off from work and stay home with the boys, I wanted to do special things with them that I wouldn't otherwise get to do. Going to these activities is one of those things! We tried a new class with our friends, Heather and Carter a couple weeks ago. It was a wilderness class that meets across town at Barfield Crescent Park. The drive back in the park was literally like we were in the Smokey Mountains. I had no idea it was back there. The area surrounding the wilderness station is just gorgeous. When we arrived the first thing the kids did were sit on a rug and sing several nature songs. Then the teacher talked about the dragonfly and showed the kids pictures of them. After learning about the dragonfly, the kids got to make their own dragonfly magnet. They turned out really cute! To wrap up the time together, the kids got to go on a little nature walk to the pond and find real life dragonflies. We also got to look around the garden they have and smell fresh lavender and mint. I just loved the class and thought it was fun but also very educational. Avery loved every minute of it and we plan to make this a regular class to add to our list this year! Beyond thankful to have these special moments with my boys!

A peek at our fun!

Pool Days of Summer

Summer Days always seem to give life back to your soul. Long hot days of fun. No agenda, just sitting back and enjoying the little things. Everything seems better in the summer. We have found a second home at the swimming pool already! Avery can't get enough time at the pool. He proves to be more like me each day! We have enjoyed family time poolside in our neighborhood. It has been fun to get in the water with both boys. Reed loves to sit back and relax in the pool. His laid back personality shines through no matter where he is or what he is doing.

Reed Morgan trying out his float. He loved being in the water.

Avery's first time back in the pool since last summer. He wanted to do it by himself. He was so proud. I love that smile on his face. Mr. Independent these days!  

He took a good hour nap like this! Bless!

These guys know how to have fun together!

Pool Parties have been another favorite this summer. This is mainly because I am trying to get comfortable taking two little guys to the big pool by myself. While I work on that confidence, we are enjoying our pool parties here at our house. However, I feel like by the time I haul everything out, blow up the pools, fill them with water, get out the toys and get the boys ready, it probably would have been easier to just go to the big pool!

Our first visitors for a pool party! Addyson and her little sister, Annsley!

i just love this picture! They are so cute!

The water was so cold in this picture! Reed Morgan had to warm up to the idea, literally! 

Bentley came over for a pool party too! I think everyone that drove by thought we were having a yard sale because we had so much stuff in the driveway!

 My grandmother, RuRu, let my cousin and me have a pool party one year at her house. We went to Wal-Mart with my grandfather, Jimp, and got all the supplies for a pool party! We walked out of that store with a pool, pool toys, slip and slide, sun screen and whatever else our hearts desired. Once we made it back, we then had to set everything up! RuRu and Jimp were of course the ones that had to get it all ready for us and then put on a gallon of sunscreen on each of us. Of course while they were busy getting everything ready, I had gotten the little girl across the street tangled into coming to our pool party too! My motto has always been the more the merrier! :) We hadn't gotten the party started for more than 20 minutes when it all started to crumble. Stephie, the neighbor, was crying because she had grass all over her. My cousin wanted to go in and on her way into the house, stepped on a huge carpet staple. (My grandparent's had just had the carpet replaced in their house that week.) I was the only one still in the pool and was quite frankly enjoying myself. RuRu was trying to get Stephie's dad back to get her, stop my cousin's foot from bleeding and get me out of the pool, which I of course, was crying about because by golly we had just started this pool party! At that point, my grandmother announced, "There will be NO more pool parties!" And guess what there wasn't. We never had a pool party again on Lee Drive.

And now decades later while trying to entertain my boys and drag everything out to make it a fun pool party, I can't help but remember that time at my grandparent's house and now I understand why there were no more pool parties!

Weekend Visit to Mississippi

Our nephew, David, was graduating from high school May 21st. We knew we couldn't miss seeing him graduate so we planned a road trip! I admire David for a lot of reasons! You see, David didn't have an easy childhood. He struggled in elementary school. He didn't have a lot of support from his parents. David beat a lot of odds! He began to enjoy school and worked extremely hard to keep his grades up! He played soccer and ran track. He worked a part time job. He was a member of the Beta Club. He has had a positive attitude through many hard situations. He is a humble guy with a lot of passion and wants to make something of his life! I love getting text from him asking for my advice about his job, which hat I like the best, what should his major be in college. He is constantly trying to be the best he can be! I was so proud to be there on May 21st to watch him graduate and I am even more excited to see his future! He has a bright one ahead, that is for sure!

Avery and his cousin David right after his graduation.

We are so proud of you, David!

Avery and Reed Morgan in their matching outfits. I didn't think I would be "that mom" that would dress them alike, but I am totally "that mom"! It is so fun and if they aren't matching, they are coordinating! :) 

Reed was so cute during the ceremony. He kept laughing at Uncle Andy. It was precious! 

We had a great lunch following graduation to honor David. John's mom had a delicious menu! We had poppy seed chicken, salad, green beans, fruit and rolls. She also had the cutest petit fours personalized for David. They were delicious! Avery kept trying to sneak them. He loved them! We enjoyed celebrating David and all his accomplishments together!

While we were visiting, we stayed at Uncle Jeremy's house. He lives in Southaven, MS. They recently got an outlet mall, so I was able to do a little shopping while we visited! In his neighborhood, they have a playground with a walking trail and a pond. We took the boys Sunday morning before we left. We had a ball! We also saw turtles, ducks and ducklings, geese and baby geese! Avery loved it all! He was so busy I couldn't get any pictures of him! Reed Morgan was a ham and loved having his picture made! 

He was also a fan of the swing and slide! 

On our way home, we went to visit John's grandmother, Mimi. We had our traditional McAlister's for lunch. We always call ahead, pick it up and take it to her house. Normally, they mess up our order and we vow never to go back but somehow it is always what we get! This time they got everything right and it tasted so yummy! Mimi enjoyed herself and loved her grilled chicken spud, small (don't get me that big one, I can't drink it all) unsweet tea and sugar cookie. It was the perfect day to eat out on her screened in porch. Avery found Mimi's binoculars and had to go look out in the backyard and explore! Her backyard is one of his favorite places.

"It is so beautiful out here today!"   "Aw, just look at him!"  "This is so fun!"  "I love this porch." "Look at him smiling!"  These were just some of the things Mimi said during our visit. We sure were thankful to spend the afternoon with her. I tell John all the time how lucky he is to still have his grandmother. I would do anything for my grandmother to meet my boys.

Mimi with her boys! 

It was a fun weekend with lots to celebrate!