Family Fun

We all, as a family, finally got in a short trip to Abilene to see Mike's parents this past weekend. Will and I stayed a few extra days and had a great time. The guys got in a round of golf and us girls got in our round(s) of shopping. I love to junk shop...so Jo and I spent all of Saturday morning (up by 6 and out the door by 7) garage sale shopping. I don't know how, but we found some really good stuff, and you can't beat a garage sale price. Toys, purses, furniture...great furniture, pictures, you name it, we found it and probably bought it. I think we made three trips back to the house to unload...some serious shopping. I haven't done that in a long time. We really had a great time.

Will played and played outside. He 'helped' water the trees, the toys, the cars, the sidewalk, and even Granddad-dad a few times. He rode the tractor all over the yard and through the sprinklers, he hit golf balls, he drove the toy trucks, he bounced the balls, on and on and on. He even asked a couple who were riding by on their horses if he could ride...his exact words were..."I like your horse, can I ride?" Little charmer.

I am so fortunate to have such wonderful in-laws. We always have the best time when we are together. I consider them more of my parents than Mikes....so I am blessed with two sets of wonderful, dedicated, godly, parents. What is even better is that Will gets to share the memories with me. Thanks Bob and Jo. We sure do love you.

Can you say Ice Cream?!

The point of going to grandparents is to get spoiled...mommy included. So each night one of us, if not all four of us, would eat ice cream. Will's favorite was the cone. He actually did really well, considering he HATES to make a mess....his hands must be clean at all times....a trait his daddy insisted on when he was introduced to food. Regardless, it was the perfect treat on a hot, hot day.

A MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH

With months of practice, Will has finally mastered, well, with diligence...mastered the 'TR' sound. Today...and now as I type, Mike got Will to say 'truck'...instead of 'f#$k'. Hooray! No more restating (at almost a yell) his comments about the dump trucks or big trucks we see daily...everywhere. However, he does slip up when he it saying things quickly, but at least now I know he can say his 'tr' blends. A relief to know that speech therapy is hopefully not in our future. However how obscene it was, what a fun memory to share when he is older...much older...with kids of his own.

Next challenge....taming his loud squealing/scream when he is mad.

Our Sweet New Addition

Baby Ellis

Will and Gavin

Sweet Miss Emma

Will is no longer the baby. At my last visit to my parents, we were lucky enough to visit with our newest member of the family...Miss Ellis. She is so sweet and so loveable. Will kept trying to growl at her...only because I told him to be soft and easy with the baby....he will only do the opposite of course. Will was also too distracted by older cousins, Gavin and Emma. They were too much fun. We had such a great visit with the family. I look forward to the next one.

Will's World

I thought I would take a few minutes to update you on Will and all that he has been up to the last few months. First of all, as you can see from the pictures, he loves to play golf. As a matter of fact, all three of us just returned from a trip to the driving range. It was a lot of fun. I love this age. We can take Will with us and he can participate, for the most part, in the same activities. He had a great time...as did we.

We stayed up to watch fireworks last night. Will thought the 'boom-booms' were (in his words..) neat, awesome, and cool, but it was short lived. After about five minutes of it, he was bored. The bungee cords in the back of Mike's truck were much more interesting. And the highlight of the evening was riding home in the back of daddy's truck....we were just around the block from the house....don't need any lectures on this one.

He is talking much more clearly now and using complete sentences more often. Some of his great sayings...."Where's Mom-Mom?" "It's dark in here." "Is daddy at work or sleeping?" "Come on Mom-Mom, let's go." "Go to church and Bible class." Go outside...hit golf balls." There are many more, but I won't bore you.

We are still working on 'truck'. He is still using the 'f' sound instead of the 'tr' sound for 'truck, train, track....it gets interesting when we are out and see a dump truck. The 'p' in dump doesn't always come out clearly. I'll let you put it all together.

Mom's bragging time....as if the above entries weren't consider brags....
He can count and recognize his numbers from 0-16. He can pick out the letters for his name, of course, W-I-L-L really isn't that challenging. He names his colors and shapes and draws a pretty good oval if you ask me.

His new favorites: cars, trains, sharks, fish, whales, golf, books, any thing outside, swimming, his new music cds played in the car...all the time...over and over again. Just to name a few.

Well, as Will would say to end the night....
"A bushel and a peck,
A hug around the neck,
I do, Hoo-Hoo!
Just an old saying my parents and I would say as our goodnight.

Lazy Boys

Great summer days. The clouds were overcast; the humidity was down....perfect afternoon for lounging and snacking with Papa on the hammock.

We spent last week at Grammy and Papa's house. We both had so much fun. I got to relax and Will kept busy....helping Papa mow the yard (the whole yard), digging in the dirt, skinny dipping in the plastic pool, swinging, swinging, and more swinging. We are looking forward to our next trip.

The New Afternoon Activity

Well, he is getting better and better. Yes, that is a golf glove on his hand. He and Mike were hitting golf balls so often that Will began to get blisters on his hand....so Mike got him a glove. He can actually hit the ball really well. He knows how to 'tee' up the ball, spread his feet just the right distance, watch the ball and hit it. He hits it more often than not. The driving range has become a great weekend outing for the boys.

The Votes are In

And....we did not win the backyard makeover. Thanks to all who voted daily for the month of June for our home. We greatly appreciate your time and efforts. I have never been a finalist for anything, so this was fun. Sorry to report the bad news, but we can still have a huge backyard party...it may not be fully landscaped until next year...or the year after that....but, the party can still be rockin! Who needs plants to have a good time?!