First Day of School Pictures

August 25, 2010 was our first day back to school.  We were up bright and early, whether we wanted to be or not.  These are a few pictures from the first day.

Ryan is in Mrs. Sherry Winborn's class along with his best buddy Garrett.  She may be on nerve pills before the year is over.

Check out Andy holding up the WRONG sign.  Did I mention that it was very early? Haha

This would be Andy holding up the correct sign.  He is in Mrs. Candy Smith's class this year.

Hunter in 7th grade!!

If you wonder why I torture my children and make them hold up a sign each first day to get a picture made...this is why.  When they first started preschool we established this tradition, and it is one that has carried over year to year.  Yes, the older they get, the harder it is to capture the moment, but we love to look back at how they have changed each year.

He has changed just a little bit!

Andy's Birthday

On August 7, 1999 I was blessed with a sweet baby boy.  Now that baby is growing up on me and has recently turned 11.  Wow, the years are really flying by.  For those of you who do not know Andy well, let me give you a few facts about him:

1. He is a very thoughtful and caring person.
2. He always makes people laugh, especially me!
3. He does not keep his room clean.
4. He loves sports... of any kind.
5. He loves to be outdoors.
6. He is a very loyal and good friend.

We celebrated his birthday with a homerun derby at the sportsplex.  He had a few friends over and they competed to see who could hit the most homeruns.  We played baseball, ate hotdogs, and Andy opened presents.  He got a new bike for his birthday and a ping pong table.

Testing out the new ride

Ryan

Kevin was hoping to be the champion, but Jacob Northcutt stole the title from him!

Andy checking out the birthday gifts

The party got a little out of hand so officer Dal had to make a few arrests! Haha

Yes, I hit it far...all the way to the pitcher's mound.

Summer Project

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am slightly OCD about cleaning and organizing.  It's just part of who I am.  Summer always gives me time to get closets, attic space, toyboxes, etc. cleaned out.  This year I decided to tackle the yard (at least the back yard).  I tried to get the whole family on board, but some people do not share my enthusiasm for clean space. I have a great husband, truly better than I deserve, but yard work is not his thing.  In fact, cleaning in general is not his thing.  So as you can guess, he was a little more than excited about putting a small pond in the backyard.  I bought a book, made a plan, and he begrudgingly accompanied me to Lowe's.  He spent some time trying to talk me into the plug-in fountain.  He said it looked more realistic.  Thankfully, I know all about his games by now and didn't fall for it. 

He was more than happy to spend hours digging up the yard because he loves me so much!  I never once heard a complaint. (He managed to mumble everything under his breath!)  I meant for this to be my project, but the digging and dirt...it was just too much.  I had to hand it over to him.  So while he sweated and dug holes in 98 degree weather, I walked around the yard and accessorized. 
Here is the finished product.  I had to take pictures at night so that you can see the lights in the pond.  Also, do not want you to notice that there is no grass yet!  Didn't he do a fabulous job?

Summer Fun

Some more highlights from this summer were...
Baseball- My boys are all about some baseball!! So as usual, we spend a large amount of time at the ballfields during the summer.

We went to see the DiamondJaxx play in Jackson.

Ribbee is Ryan's favorite!

The boys always want to get autographs after the games.  I have no idea who this player is (#4), but he stayed and signed autographs for each child after the game, and there was a line of people waiting on him.  Very nice thing to do!

Andy...with one of the cheerleaders.

American flag display

Spring Park

Wow!  I can't believe summer is passing so quickly.  I haven't had much time to do all of the things I set out to do this summer, but we have managed to have a lot of fun! Some of our highlights for this summer have been...
Spring Park in Tuscumbia- The boys and I decided to go visit the park in Tuscumbia.  We rode the carousel, the roller coaster, fed the ducks, looked at the waterfall, ...

and oh yes, Ryan broke his wrist. The day started out great and went well up until the point that Ryan dropped from the monkey bars and broke one bone in his wrist. We spent the rest of the afternoon at Helen Keller emergency room.

Moments before the fall-

We thought a snow cone would calm him down-

Unfortunately, he had to wear a cast for 6 weeks of the summer.  He chose a nice, bright green color.

He had a great time being the center of attention.  He would get this really sad look and hold his cast up so that people would ask about it.  He also loved having everyone sign the cast.  His wrist has since healed and he is right back to swimming, climbing, jumping, and all other crazy boy activities!

It's Me or the Dog

To borrow a line from a television show that Hunter often watches, it's me or the dog.  Most of my friends, especially the ones who have been over to our house, are familiar with my evil dog, Cody.  I am not necessarily a dog person.  It's not that I don't like animals, but I have never had the whole -dog as part of your family- experience...until Cody. 

Cody's with his best friend Miley

 Now to set the record straight, he is the most ill-behaved animal that I have ever came into contact with.  He barks, he destroys, he chases elderly neighbors and postal workers out of our yard, and yes he may occasionally take a nip out of a person.  You've heard the quote, "A dog will not bite the hand that feeds him"? Not so true in Cody's case.  Just last week, he sank his teeth into my hand because I unnerved him.  He is a beautiful miniature daschund, but please don't let the innocent face fool you.  He is a terror.  It's funny how you can come to love something that is so contrary and difficult.  Maybe that's how Kevin feels about me?? Ha!  It has come to be a joke to people who are close to us.  I even briefly advertised to get rid of him on facebook once, but people who knew about him quickly warned others. 

He went through the entire family's church shoes in one week.  The list of things that he has destroyed would add up to thousands (and no, this is not even a slight exaggeration).   When we returned home after the fire, he immediately set to work on the brand new sofa.  I was so frustrated with him that I closed him in the laundry room with a baby gate.  I came home to find the brand new dryer hose had been disconnected from the wall (and shredded).  One night I was happily playing on the computer when I lost my internet connection- you guessed it; he went under the desk and chewed all the cords.  He has yet to be potty trained.  I had to warn people not to pet him unless they wanted a puddle on their shoe.
He had to move outside...

Once he was settled into outdoor living, he quickly decided to take the neighborhood hostage.  He ran in people's yards, barked and growled at children, and even stole things from the neighboring homes and lovingly placed them on our doorstep, after he demolished them.

I had to purchase a $300 pet containment system, and I was not happy about it.  Now Cody is confined to his circular boundaries of our home.  It's pretty funny to watch people walk up while Cody barks and shows his teeth.  They don't know he has to stop at a certain point, but he does.  The fright in their eyes caused by this 8 inch tall menace is hysterical. He has full reign of the carport and patio.  This was a problem around Christmas when I returned home from school to find a Toys'RUs package already opened and destroyed because the UPS driver left it too close to the little piranha.

He is adjusting well.  He suns on the patio table, no matter how many times I shoo him away.  He has a girlfriend, a bulldog. Please, no questions.

I have to admit that I miss him when he is outside, so I sneak him in when Kevin isn't around.  Usually he tears something up, then has to go back outside.  For example, Ryan's new baseball glove...

I understand him...he understands me.   He doesn't mean to do bad things.We have finally made that human-dog connection. Most importantly, he has become my buddy. I'll admit it...he has grown on me.  He loves me as long as I obey him.  Whenever I sit down, he jumps in my lap.  So what if he has mud on his paws; it doesn't matter at all to him.  He warns me if anyone should come to the house.  He takes his job as protector of the family very seriously.  I must say that he brightens my day in so many ways.  Even those time that I may want to give him away, I know that no-one else on earth would take him.  If they did, they would return him.  That is just fine with me.