This kid cracks me up....

A few recent conversations with Myers....

When taking a sip of my unsweetened tea, 

Myers: Mommy, there is something wrong with this tea.  

Me: It isn't sweet tea.  There is no sugar in it.

Myers: Well, it tastes like water tea.

After picking out a pair of shorts to wear,

Me: Go find the blue collared shirt that goes with these.

Myers:  Mommy, there are no shirts in my drawer with collards on them. 

While drawing with sidewalk chalk,

Myers: Mommy, I am making the porch prettiful.

A Southern Tradition

This past week was the 184th year of Salem Camp Meeting.  Every year this is a week of spiritual renewal for me and this year was no exception.  We had some wonderful preaching, teaching and hymn singing.  

 Here are the boys in their seersucker for "Big Sunday" service.  I had to get their picture before the service, because I knew they would be pretty dirty within a few minutes!

 Daddy, Myers and Jacob on their way down to the tabernacle.

Myers and Jacob were picked to bring the gold box one day this week.  One child a day is picked and they can put anything they want in the box (as long as it isn't alive and has never been alive!).  During the 11am service, the youth come to the front of the church to sing a special song called "Something Better than Gold." After the song, the gold box is shared and Tom Roberts (the guy who leads the singing) comes up with a short lesson on whatever is in the gold box.  Myers put a toy elephant in the box.

Painting with Shaving Cream

Tonight I made colored shaving cream for the boys to paint with in the bath tub.  I have often used shaving cream on the tables at school to clean them and to let my students practice writing their letters, numbers, and shapes with it.  I had never thought to add color to it though.  Thanks pinterest!  I put shaving cream in a muffin tin, a few squirts of  food coloring, and then mixed it all up.  It was really fun and pretty messy (hence using it in the bathtub!)  At least they smell good now :-)

 Our paint

 Painting on big brother's back

The masterpieces ended up on them and on the bathtub wall!

Summer fun

 We are well into our summer break and it is H-O-T, HOT!!  We are trying to keep cool as best we can, but this Mommy is quickly running out of ideas.  We have been doing some science experiments like making ice cream and melting blocks of ice filled with plastic insects in the water table.

Here is a picture of Jacob shaking the ice cream.

We have been doing a lot of art work.  Coloring, painting, and tomorrow we are going to make colored shaving cream to play with in the bath tub.

We have also taken several trips to Zoo Atlanta.  We will definitely get our memberships worth this year!

Here is Myers hanging out with the lions.

Today we went to the zoo with my friend Jenny, her two boys and her mom.  The 97 degree weather didn't stop the boys from having a good time, but by about noon everyone was worn out (moms included!)

The Mind of a Child

Myers has entered the wonderful age of imagination and I am loving it!  I had a very vivid imagination as a child.  I had an imaginary friend and an imaginary cat.    I remember the magic of pretending that some pillows and a blanket was an real fort.  Not just thinking it, but actually seeing it.

Myers has quite the imagination.  The corner of our living room has been everything for a city port (from the book Big City Port which is a favorite of his) to his Daddy's "office" to a train station.  I love the stories he tells me when he is playing.  When I step on something in his imaginary place, he says, "Mommy you just knocked over the train!  Didn't you see it??"  Pillows can become train tracks, a piece of yarn can become a narrow bridge, and the fireplace can become a stage.

His Bear-Bear also "talks" to him a lot and I love hearing what he has to say.  Sometimes Bear-Bear gets sick and Myers has to make him better by giving him shots and kisses.  I especially love when Bear-Bear asks me for a hug and a kiss because then I also get a hug and a kiss from Myers (who is so on the move most of the time that I have to beg for hugs and kisses these day!)  So far, Myers has never blamed anything on Bear-Bear, but I am sure that is coming soon.

Oh, and Myers sense of humor is a hoot.  His idea of a joke is, "Knock, knock, it's me!  HAHAHA!!  Isn't that funny Mommy?"

Disney for adults

George and I went to Disney last week to celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary!  Our actual anniversary was last month, but I couldn't take time off so close to the end of the school year.  My parents watched the boys so that we could have a long weekend to ourselves.  It was so wonderful of them to offer to watch them, and we appreciate it so much!!  We stayed at Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa in a room that overlooked the water with a view of Downtown Disney.  

Hanging out with Donald Duck in Frontierland

Photo booths in Canada (We usually take pictures at the ones in the UK pavilion, but they were so crowded and these were completely empty!

 While we were at Disney Hollywood Studios, I got to go up and dance with the band Mulch, Sweat, and Shears.  

Wine and Dine Half Marathon

Many of you know that I have been running for about a year now.  I have run 3 5ks during this time.  I am up to running about 5 miles on my long runs.

Well, my new goal (and it has really been my goal all along), is to run a half marathon at Walt Disney World.  Yes, that's 13.1 miles, and for someone who has never been much of a runner or athlete of any type, it's a little daunting!  However, I know I can do anything I set my mind to, so I registered for the Wine and Dine Half Marathon on November 10th!  Mom, Dad and my friend Lacy are going to run it as well.

Where will George be during all of this, you ask?  Back at the hotel with the boys!  This is a night time race that starts at 10pm, so someone has to sleep with the boys.  George is more than willing to make this sacrifice!

I am also planning on joining the WDWRadio Running Team.  They raise money for the races they run and the money goes to Make A Wish.  So look for me to also ask for donations towards this cause closer to the race.  I hope you will consider helping me support this great cause.

Jekyll Island trip

A few weeks ago, we went to Jekyll Island to attend the wedding of some friends, Gary and Marlana.  We went down a day early to spend some time at the beach.

This was Jacob's first trip to the beach!  He loved it!  

 The wedding itself was at a place called Driftwood Beach which was really beautiful and fun for the boys.

 Myers made a new friend at the wedding.  They were so cute playing before the wedding.

Jacob's Arm

I never updated the blog about Jacob's arm.  In mid March Jacob fell off the one step from our house to our screened in porch and broke both bones in his lower arm!  He had to wear a cast for almost 6 weeks and then a splint for another 3 weeks.  Here is a picture of him in his cast with a Mickey head that his teacher Ms. Ashley drew.  Jacob was really good natured about the whole thing although he did not like the fact that he wasn't able to take a real bath for that time period!

Easter

 On Easter morning, we took about 20 pictures of the boys together and not one of them was good!  It is super hard to get a picture of both of the them looking at us and smiling (or at least not grimacing, sticking out a tongue or hitting each other).  So here are individual pictures before church.

 After church, we headed to Tweedle's house for Easter lunch and some play time in the sandbox with cousin Graham.

Jacob is 1!

Sorry it took me so long to write about Jacob's 1st birthday, but we have been so busy lately! I can't believe my little man is already one! On Friday, January 27th, Jacob brought Doughnut Holes and bananas to share with his classmates at school. On Saturday, we had Jacob's 1st birthday party at our house with lots of friends and family, cake, and presents.

Here is a picture of Jacob coming home from the hospital in his infant car seat. At birth, he weighed 8lbs 8oz and was 21 inches long.

Here is Jacob in the same car seat just about a year later. Look how much he has grown! At his one year appointment he was 21 lbs 10oz and 29.5 inches tall.

Here he is chowing down on his birthday cake. He really enjoyed smearing the icing all over his face!

Happy 1st birthday to my sweet baby boy!

Harmony Barber Shop

Jacob after his first haircut

Myers after his birthday haircut with "pixie dust" in his hair

Jacob wasn't so sure about the whole haircut thing

While we were at Walt Disney World, we made a trip over to the Harmony Barber Shop to get the boys haircut. This was Jacob's first haircut and he was not very happy about the whole thing! He cried, but the spinning, light-up toys and Mickey Mouse stickers distracted him enough. This was Myers 2nd time getting a hair cut at Harmony Barber Shop, but this time he got "pixie dust" in his hair.

Running at Disney

Mom, George, and I after the 5k

Myers running the 100m dash with George

Jacob "running" the Diaper Dash

All the race numbers and medals from the runs