Memorial Day Fun...

We had such a great Memorial Day.  We stayed at home and relaxed the first part of the day and then this afternoon went on the lake with Shane, Melissa, Bubba and Ashley.

The first things the kids noticed was that Shane had his tubes on the back of his boat for them to ride on.  We had kind of a bad experience a couple of years ago with a tube so I wasn't real excited about the possibility but Shane said the Hotdog was very hard to flip.

I was nervous because I didn't want my babies to go flying off but once we got going I felt more comfortable and realized we weren't going to fall off.

The kids wanted to ride again so Ashley volunteered to ride with them.  She is a trooper!

A few pictures from the day...

Mrs. Ash-a-ley (as Parker calls her)...

Me and my boys.  I love them so much...

Chad and Parker relaxing on the boat.  We actually put the boat in at Oil City and boated all the way over to Texas.  It was a beautiful and relaxing ride.

Not long after getting onto the Texas side of Caddo Lake went through the most beautiful area of Cypress Trees.  This picture DOES.NOT do it justice.

God did good when he made the Cypress Tree.  I think they are just beautiful...

The kids were REALLY wanting to swim...

Bro. Bubba, Shane and the kids went in.  They had a blast, of course...

Oh, and Parker looks like he might be on the USA Olympic Synchronized Swimming team one day.  Look at that hand :).  He was being silly!

Our whole trip was possible because of some of our favorite people...Shane and Melissa.  

Thank you Shane & Melissa!  We love you guys and are so thankful God has given us such good friends!

PushPops

Hayden had a PushPop today...

As he was eating it he said, "Mom, isn't this from Best Buy?"

I said, "Ummm...no."

"But it says Best by right here," he insisted.

I said, "Why don't you read it again?"

He got it. 

Greats...

GREAT Aunt, GREAT Cousins & a GREAT Visit...

I have one, very special great aunt left and she is my sweet Aunt Ola.  Aunt Ola and her daughter, Lola,  live in a cute little house in West Monroe.  We went to visit Aunt Ola and Lola on Saturday and had the most wonderful time.  This is my Aunt Ola at the door waiting on us to come in the house...

This is my cousin, Lola.  She is SUCH a neat lady and loves the Lord.  Oh, and she is also VERY cool and has a Facebook page!  I took this picture because I told her I was tired of looking at the silhouette of a man :)

These fine people are Junior and Ginger.  Junior is my cousin, Lola's brother, and Ginger is his wife.  They came over on Saturday and we loved visiting with them.  Ginger is retiring from being a teacher as of this Tuesday and her and Junior will celebrate their 36th wedding anniversary the same day. 

Me and my Great-Aunt Ola.  She is great for many reasons but one of the special things about her is that she is 96 and a half years old.  She is my grandfather's sister and looks a lot like my grandfather so she is extra-special to me!

 My boys were a little nervous (You'll see why in an upcoming post) but excited when they heard there was a 4-wheeler they could ride.  Junior assured them they would be safe on this one.  I'm thinking he was right...

They loved riding this thing all over the front yard.  It was the perfect speed for them!

 My kids LOVED Junior and I think the feelings might have been mutual.  He and Ginger have two grown boys that are almost the same distance apart as Hayden and Parker so he is used to rowdy boys.

 OUTTAKES:

 My kids really enjoy playing with my camera.  Me?  Not so much.  It is, however, cute to look at some of the things they like to take pictures of.  Lola, Aunt Ola, Junior and Ginger...I think you will appreciate these:

Some of our feast...

The top of Junior's head.  Never trust a kid with a camera (or a girl with a blog)...

A self-portrait...

Oh, Ginger and Lola...remember the water on the floor in the bedroom.  Hayden caught this picture.  Kind of looks like it was on purpose, huh?  Either way it is a cool picture that caught the spill mid-stream.

The guys...solving the world's problems...

Thank you for having us Aunt Ola and Lola!  We love you all so much!

Hayden on the Principal's List...

We are so proud of Hayden.  The 3rd 9 weeks grading period he made Principal's List.  On Friday the school had an Honor's Assembly to award the kids on the Principal's List, A-honor roll and A/B-honor roll.

To make the Principal's List you must make straight A's, have no unexcused absences and show good citizenship.  

 

1st Grade Field Trip to the American Rose Center

 I went with Hayden's class to the American Rose Center.  They had a scavenger hunt to find different kinds of plants, flowers and monuments at the Rose Center.

We broke up into groups and this was my group...

Angelyssa, Hayden, Dalton and Kalaihy

Mrs. Arnold's group...

Hope, Kristopher, Kegan, Nathan, Thomas and Mrs. Arnold

 Lillian, Courtney, Keith, Trey, Calvin and Trey's parents.

 While I was there I took some pictures of some roses I thought were unique...

Artbreak 2010

Hayden has always loved art from the time he could color and just is a natural at it.  We were so excited when we found out he had 2 pieces of art in Artbreak.  Artbreak showcases art from kids in Caddo and Bossier Parishes.  Along with that they have art "stations" set up where you can do all kinds of art.  Best of all it is FREE and hours of fun!

Hayden's art...

More art from Hayden...

Parker and I made a car out of vegetables.  He loved to make it!

Congrats Hayden!  We are so proud of you!