Rude Awakening

I awoke one morning to the sound of chainsaws and tree limbs falling. I had been sleeping peacefully and my summer alarm clock (aka: Noah) had not woken me up yet. To my surprise, Thorntons tree service starts bright and early with no regard for those of us on summer vacation (Geez! How rude! Don't they know I'm still slumbering without a care in the world!). My neighbors were having 3 trees removed from their yard, and it all started before 8:00 in the morning. So, like the good Mommy I am, I got myself out of bed and went to get Noah up also. I didn't want him to miss out on this learning opportunity. Noah and I paraded outside in our pajamas without so much as stopping for breakfast in order to see the goings on. We hung out in our front yard for about 2 hours watching the work (although it took much longer than that for the job to get done). It was actually quite intriguing to watch these massive trees being cut down. There was a lot of planning and maneuvering these guys had to do so that everything around the trees remained safely in tact. I would say the largest tree was about 5 stories tall and loomed over not only our neighbors home but ours as well. It was a beautiful tree, and until I realized they were taking it down, I didn't know I cared so much. I felt like it was part of our home. It provided shade, comfort and aesthetic beauty. I'm really going to miss that tree.

The tree service had to use our yard in order to get to the tree. We had a huge crane parked in our front yard for much of the day.

While watching the men working, Noah decided he wanted to "work" also and asked if we could bring his excavator outside. He donned his helmet and gloves and told me that when he's a grown-up, he wants to cut down trees too.

Yes. I know it's sideways, and it cannot be fixed. I wasn't thinking when I took the video. Just tilt your head sideways and watch it anyway. Hold out till the end, and it's pretty cool. At least, I was impressed.

Happy Father's Day!

Here are my two handsome guys! Marco is an amazing daddy to our sweet Noah, and Noah absolutely adores his daddy!

Here's my awesome Dad with Noah. My Dad is also an amazing father and was always there for me, supporting me in everything, and he still is! I love you Dad!

Noah and Dad are playing with an antique electric football game that I found on ebay. Dad mentioned wanting one once upon a time b/c they were "big stuff" when he was a kid. He and Noah had a blast playing with it. They were both like little kids!

Here is proof that Noah gets away with murder when with his grandparents, and in this case, he was given the idea! Noah just had melted ice cream left in his bowl, and granddaddy actually said, "just drink it out of the bowl." I was, of course, in the other room, and Marco captured a photo of it. That leaves me to wonder though why Marco didn't stop him. Umph! Am I the only person trying to teach this kid some manners!? If you look closely, you can actually see ice cream dripping out the bottom of the bowl!

Dad, Noah and Kathy

Three Generations

I Want My Grandmommy!

Noah spent two days with my mom last week b/c I had a 2-day staff development course I had to take. Of course, Noah had a blast twisting my mom around his little finger for two whole days. I came over the 1st day to pick him up and found the ENTIRE backyard soaked through including Noah and my mom. They played and played and laughed the days away. One day, Noah got to make these adorable ladybug cookies. He loves his grandmommy and had a great time, and of course, when he had to come back to the real world where people actually tell him "no," he cried, "I want my Grandmommy!" Me too, kid, but you'll have to make due with me.

Life Changing

I recently read both of these books, and they have been absolutely life-changing. I highly recommend both of these. They will strengthen your walk and bring you closer to God and his plan for your life. These are certainly worth re-reading again and again. If you read them, be sure to let me know what you think about them.

Good Friends

Summer vacation means lots of time visiting and playing with our life group. I cannot express how amazing this group of friends is and how much they have blessed our lives. They are truly a group of friends that we go through life with. We can't imagine life without them now. We went for years without a life group, and when we finally listened to God and joined one, he blessed us abundantly! Why didn't we do it sooner!? Don't you find that to be true? When you do God's will, he blesses you, and you find true life! God is SO GOOD ALL THE TIME!

Truett, Noah, Bella & Maddie Bella & Noah

I'm in the habit of only snapping photos of the kids. I've really got to do a better job of getting some grown-ups in the photos. The grown-ups were having lots of fun too!

I'm Melting!

T-Ball season is definately during the hottest time of the year, and it has been absolutely sweltering at all of Noah's games. Today was our earliest game so far (10:45), but it was still really rough on the kids. They're so little, and they're just dying from the heat. They've ended 2 out of 3 games so far after 30 mins instead of 45 mins due to the extreme heat. Aside from the heat, t-ball has been such fun! Noah is completely decked out with all the t-ball gear he could possibly need. His awesome Uncle Richard bought him his t-ball bat, and this week Uncle Richard sent Noah his own helmet. It's not just any helmet though. It's personalized with Noah's name and a baseball bat eating baseball on the back. Noah LOVES it! He wears the helmet around the house all the time. Of course, Noah also has his t-ball glove and balls, so we went by Academy today to get the rugrat a bag for all of his stuff. He puts it all to good use and has practice anywhere from the living room and kitchen to our backyard. Oh, and I haven't gotten any pictures of it yet, but Noah actually slides into homeplate every time. It's pretty cute.

That t-ball stand never had a chance.

running to first

Grandmommy and Granddaddy always come to Noah's t-ball games and practices. Of course, I'm not at all surprised. They never missed a game or practice when we were growing up either. Too bad we don't have a tally of how many practices they've endured, oh, I mean enjoyed over their lifetime. :)

Check out his cool helmet that Uncle Richard sent to him.

We played t-ball against one of Noah' buddies from St. James today. Noah always talks about his friend Evan from school.

Chef Cutie Pie

Noah loves to help me cook, so yesterday he helped me make pasta salad for dinner. He was a pro at putting all the ingredients in the bowl and stirring them up. Of course, he did a little dancing around the kitchen also, so I captured a few pics of that!

You have to admit it. He is stinkin' cute!