My Men

My men, well one MANLY man and two strapping young men, were gearing up this weekend for Landon's first season of baseball!!!

Rhodes was all about being up in the action...for a little bit at least.

Intently listening to Dad's instructions!  Soaking it all in!

The other...well, he was completely distracted by the baseball.  I'm tellin' ya, it's born IN THEM!  He just automatically goes for balls/trucks/tools.  Never once tried to pick up a baby doll.  He's all boy!

He decided to watch a bit. 

Talk about Landon's love language.  He gets so upset if he doesn't get his "guy time" in with Daddy.  That quality one-on-one time where Robert gets to praise him and teach him.  He's (usually) all ears.

Then Little Man decided to conquer the stairs.  WHICH, by the way, he can go UP and DOWN on!  He learned SO fast!  Plus it's pretty cute to watch him turn around and feel for the step behind him, then scoot back and so forth.  :-)

Lillian came out to watch after bath time!!!

Y'all, Landon's good.  Like really.  If he'll listen to the coaches and not get embarrassed and just FOCUS...he could be the star player.  And he'll always be MY star player! ;-)

Meanwhile......

(Don't worry...lead-free paint)


Oh, did I mention he FINALLY is budding two little teeth.  They just popped up.  Just like that.  I had NO idea.  This boy is TOUGH!!!

Here I am.  Day old hair.  Glasses already on.  And pjs too.  We were having a very LOW KEY family night.  ;-)  And I realized I shoot with BOTH my eyes open.  Kinda freaky.  And I look through the viewfinder with my right eye.

And fun fact, my sis closes one eye and looks through the viewfinder with her LEFT eye.  She's such a weirdo.  ;-)

HAPPY MONDAY!!!!!!!!!!

Afternoons Afterschool

Since we aren't sleeping until 3:30 of 4:00 around here anymore, I gotta come up with things to do in the afternoons around here!  We've been playing outside on all of our MANY outdoor toys (LOVE IT!), but we're going to want to get out and enjoy the weather as it cools off!

Until then, we're happy in our nice, shaded driveway!

I don't know if you watched the video I posted yesterday afternoon.  (Literally posted from the driveway - love smartphones!)  But Rhodes is brilliant! ;-)

He crawled over to this riding toy, practically got up on it himself (just a little help) and then took off.  Just like that.  Just like he's been doing it all his life.  Well, I guess in a way he  has...I think he's been riding them since he was 4 months old with Olivia.

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Y'all it was SO funny!  He just looks too stinkin' little to be doing anything of that nature.  But he loved it!  And was so proud of himself!  Bouncing up and down on it!

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Then he got upgraded to the 4-wheeler!  Dare I mention we got this off the side of the road and fixed it...for FREE!!!!  Yeah...love the hubby's handiness!  It's SUPER FAST!  The kids love it!

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Olivia has a thing where she gets Rhodes to push the pedal and she steers it!  Pretty sweet!  AND it keeps him completely entertained. 

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Tough Landon.  I don't know what he's doing right now...but he feels so cool on this toy!

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He was demoted to the popper.  Same popper that Olivia had!

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And this crazy girl took off on the barbie jeep!

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I was trying to take pictures and she started to go off on one of her little facial expression extravaganza!  We all know how many she has!  Here are a few more!

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So other than parks and libraries, what fun things do you do in the afternoons with your kiddos that's FREE! :-)  (And we're starting baseball soon and I'm sure that will eat into a few afternoons a week!)

Future Racecar Driver?

Only WE would put our 11 month old on a riding toy and then he actually figures it out! Ha!

Oh, and Landon did NOT run into him...he just ALMOST did. ;-)

First Day of School!!!

A little stroll down memory lane..........


Last year!!!!!!! LOOK HOW YOUNG THEY WERE!!!! They're growing too fast!!!

And now, pics from this year!!!

Best family pic I could get with my wonky tripod.  And the sun was shining in my face! ;-)

And Lillian clearly appears inconvenienced.

Lillian, Rhodes and I are MOST DEFINITELY going to have to come up with our own routine. I was thrown for a loop yesterday (not to mention BORED - yes BORED without the 2 oldest!) with naps, errands, carpool - it may take a few days to sort through which daily routine works best for us. 

The biggest challenge is nap time.  They still NEED a nap everyday (Rhodes still should take 2),  and until yesterday, it was from 1:00 to 3:00....or so!  Now school gets out at 2:30 and I can't decide to put them down before/after or for Rhodes BOTH! 

I think things will pick back up after Labor Day (library, small groups, etc) and it will give our week a nice flow.  And then they gym of course!  I'm starting a new Horizontal Conditioning class at the Y.  You're basically in a plank for an hour!!!  But it seems to give amazing results - everyone in the class looks GREAT and the teacher/class has a huge following!  I'm just ready to try something NEW!

Hopefully the upcoming change of season will bring other nice changes.  I think a transition will be refreshing!  I'm already transition into having 2 kids in school and 2 toddlers!!!   It'll be weird not to have a baby around or be pregnant!


The kids, from what I can tell, had a great first day of school.  I only get little bits and pieces from their day.  I heard most about the "stoplight" or discipline chart.  :-)  We shall see how that unfolds throughout the year! 

Here's to a good 2nd grade and kindergarten year!!!!!!!!!

One Last Hurrah

Last summer swim!!!!

Sending my oldest 2 babies to school today!  Which means.....OBLIGATORY FIRST DAY OF SCHOOLS PICS COMING UP SOON! :-) 

No, she's not drowning in that pic...she's swimming along the steps without her floaties! She was oh so proud!