Our little rockstar

Lily chose her own clothes –has a bit of a “punk” appearance to her, right down to the smug look on her face. Quite the little rockstar, huh?

And here's what happens when the rockstar doesn't get her way - much like Hollywood? I'm giddy with excitement to show this to a boyfriend in about 12 years.

The end of an era...

Naptime, today, marks the second time little Joshie has been to bed sans binks. However, it was completely by accident…definitely not planned on my part, or his.

I went to get his binkies from the cabinet where we keep them between bedtimes, and noticed one looked like it had bubbles inside the silicone. I squeezed it, only to realize that there in fact were not any bubbles. No, they were chew marks! All three binkies had fierce chew marks and were nearly chewed off the plastic! If this isn’t a sign that it’s time to kick the binkies to the curb, I’m not sure what is! But of course, being bedtime, a little panic and fear raced through me. We had always said when these were gone, they were gone for good. Man, aren't we such strict parents to our nearly 28-month old??? Nothing but school of hard knocks here.

So, I showed the binkies to Lawson and said "You chewed them up, they're broken." He looked a tad puzzled, as if he thought the binkies were invincible, and said "Day bwoken? I buy mo at Wah-mot?" Ah, good plan son. I told him that we couldn't buy more at Wal-Mart, that he would just have to be a big boy without a binky now and hug his moosey during bedtime. Crazily enough, he stayed in his bed until I went to get him around 9 this morning. Of course, we had a similar conversation prior to naptime today, that started with "Weh binkies, Momma?"

Which brings me to why he still slept with his binkies. He was, and remains, such a good sleeper! He would stay in his bed in the mornings and suck on his binkies, because that was the only time he got with them. Every guy needs some quality binky time, right? Well, I guess last night and this morning proved that theory to be bust.

Really, I guess maybe I was just trying to keep him as my baby a little longer. He got so excited when we went to the cabinet and loved going to bed, and I didn't want to upset that.

The picture at the top of this post is from about a year ago, and will remain one of my favorites of all time. The one below is our crazy, 2-year old, Lawson Joshie...now forever without his binky buddies. I really think he will be just fine.

The Boomerang Express

Anyone who knows me fairly well, knows that I LOVE VBS music. I think this is the 7th year I've led VBS music. It's something I just thoroughly enjoy. Tonight marked start of the second VBS my family and I have included into our summer plans. It's called "Boomerang Express", which is an Australian/train theme. We had a great time...above is a picture of the kids and I in our shirts. Landen jumped in the picture at the last moment. When I focused on looking at the camera, he was refusing to be included in our little picture.

It was the kickoff, tonight. There were lots of animals for the kids to look at - Lawson is talking to a donkey in this picture.

Lily was looking at an emu...she really had to stretch her neck to look it in the eye.

Landen loved being in the pen with the animals.

Lawson did, too.

Lawson was awfully excited about eating his cheetos.

Big day at the pool, today

My almost 7 year old...it seems like just yesterday he was wearing diapers, eating pureed chicken and apples, crying when I left his sight, and sucking on a binky. Yeah, do you want to know what he did today? He walked away from me, climbed up on a fiberglass, blue plank, and plummeted into 13 feet of water...you got it, he took his first plunge off the diving board. And not only did he jump from about 3 or 4 feet...no, that wasn't good enough for him. He immediately wanted to jump off the dreaded high dive. I never thought I would consent to allowing my 6 year old baby to do such a thing, but I did. And, of course, he never missed a beat. He blinked his eyes once, then jumped. It was truly a big, big day for us both.

Woo hoo, carnival time!

Nothing like good times at the carnival! It's much like I remember it being when I was little...smelly rides, loud music, familiar faces from around town, "carnies" at every turn. But the one thing that I didn't remember was a ticket costing $3! Wow, the carnival is a tad spendy these days! We were super economical, and "smart with our money" as a good friend and I often put it, and bought the family ticket book, which drastically reduced each ticket to $2.50. The first picture is the kids with their prizes...if you can't tell, Lily has "jewel" stickers, Landen has a car that demonstrates amazing craftsmanship, I'm certain, and Lawson has a ball that he is excited to take to the pool tomorrow.

Little Lawson...bless his heart, he was so patient, watching the big kids fly from ride to ride, only to be told he was too little. I'll tell you, though, we got our ticket's worth out of the bounce house.

Jimmy rode the spider with the big kids. Here, they're looking all excited. I believe Landen is even snapping his fingers in this shot. Lily absolutely loved it. Two rounds into it, Jimmy said Landen got really quiet, so he asked him if something was wrong, and he wispered, "I'm scared".

As risky as these airplanes look, Lawson was tall enough to ride them. At this point, he still wasn't too sure about them, but he ended up enjoying the ride.

Send in the Clowns

Yep, that's right. That's my husband, Jimbo the clown. If you happened to see him trying to sit on my lap, at the parade, I'm sure you know how so very excited I was about it. So excited in fact, that after he laid his face on my head during a great, clownish hug, I just went ahead and left the white face makeup in my hair and went to work...I love the fact that it added an element of gray and gave me something to remember Jimbo by. Or, it could have been because work was crazy busy, they asked me to come in early, and I couldn't get the greasy stuff out of my hair! Oh well, I don't think anybody noticed since I donned my OR cap, last night. And truly, the kids, our own included, at the parade, thought he was pretty cool.

And I now pronounce you...

We went to the park to play with friends. It was a cooler day, not very sunny. It was a perfect day for a ceremony of holy matrimony in my book. I was just goofing around taking pictures, and how this one ended up struck me as Lily being the minister, marrying off her little brother to our good friend, Kate. The only thing that could have made it better was if Lily had been holding a Bible or small black book, rather than gabbing on and on about her rock collection. I mean, really, isn't the entrance to the little blue slide, at the city park, the perfect place to get hitched?

Kate: "Lawson, I'm just not sure everybody will approve! What about my dad???"

Lawson: "Kate, honey, it's fine. Nobody can resist my charm. Your dad loves me. Really, it's okay, relax. Let me touch your shoulder. That will make it all okay."

Lily: "Speak now folks, or forever hold your peace!!!! Anyone? Anyone? Any takers? Last call, anyone?"

Kate: "Oh Lawson, I've never been so happy in all my life. Just kiss me!"
Lawson: "Yeah, lay one on me, Kate!"

And that's the maid of honor - Ellie - Kate's sister, in the background. I'm telling you, all the elements were there.