First catch

We spent Memorial Day weekend at Brad's parents' house on Lake Oconee. We had such a wonderful time. Jackson went 'skiing' for the first time, caught his first fish (acutally caught 5), and Luke had a great time jumping off the dock a gazillion times. Here are some pics and video from our fun-filled, relaxing weekend. Thank you Chief and Kikye!

testing out the 'ski trainer' on the dockgetting ready
this boy loves to fish
finally, his first catch!

helping Kikye ice the cake
Chief, in heaven with his 2 boys
just fishin'.....

someone was a little tired on the boat ride
J with his Kikye
watching the ducks while we fill up with gasof course, Luke wanted to try
his first catfish!

second catfish!

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Strawberry patch and swim lessons

Each spring we head out to a local farm and strawberry patch with friends for strawberry picking, animal watching, and a hayride. All the boys decided to wear their UGA football attire...their daddies would be so proud :) Checking out the animals....Luke longs to be included with the 'big boys'
Picking strawberries
Surveying their loot

The crew- Luke, Jackson, Nathan, and Catch

Hot and tired from all that picking...ready for some lunch and ice cream

Enjoying the hayride

Best buddies

The 3 amigos- Nathan, Catch, and Jackson...how we will miss our friends when we leave :(

Our annual picutres in front of the tractor tire....I love to see these boys grow together.

A dear friend of ours was kind enough to give a group of our children swim lessons this summer...for FREE, I might add. We can never thank Ms. Elizabeth enough for all that she did for our precious little ones. They had so much fun!

Learning to float

So serious

Jackson and Catch holding the hoop while Nathan swims through

The sweet siblings, Luke and Kate, cheering on their brothers and wishing they could take part

The graduating swim class of 2010 standing proud with their medals that Ms. Elizabeth made them :)

Way to go Jackson!

A little video montage of my super swimmer in action!

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Happy 2nd Birthday, Luke

Today my baby is 2. Everyone always says time flies, and it truly does. But I have enjoyed every minute of it. Luke, you truly bring such joy to our family. Your carefree attitude, smile, and downright cuteness make it hard for anyone to be down around here for more than a second. I love you so much and am so happy and thankful that God entrusted you to me. Since I have not been the best about keeping your journal up to date, here are just a few things about what you're up to, and what makes you oh so special :)

• You are so smart. You know all of your shapes (including the odd ones like octagon, oval, and diamond), your colors, and you can count to 10 all by yourself....sometimes you even get brave and make it to 12 :)
• You LOVE to be outside. You would live down by the creek behind our house if I would let you...throwing rocks into it all day long.
• You think Jackson, or Jazzy as you call him, hung the moon. I love seeing the special relationship between the two of you grow, and I hope you grow even closer over the years.
• You always cross your ankles when you sit down. You have since you were little, and it is the cutest little habit.
• You say "OK" all the time, to anything. And you manage to say it in the cutest way possible.
• You love the Frosty the Snowman cartoon. You ask me to play it every day.
• Your favorite foods are strawberries, ketchup, and strawberry jam...oh, and let's not forget chicken nuggets.
• You like to say "Mama, juknowhat?" (do you know what?). You never have anything to say after I say "what?", but you ask me that all the time.
• Whenever I ask you a question, you always start off by saying "how 'bout..."
• You suck your thumb, but only when you have your 'bank bank'. The minute your little fingers feel your lovey, your thumb goes into your mouth...but never any other time.
• You fall down a lot....not because you are clumsy, but because you don't really walk anywhere. You are always running.
• When you get angry, you cross your arms and make a grunting sound. Only, you cross your arms out in front of your body instead of up against your chest. So Daddy and I call you the Angry Genie when you get mad :)
• You hold your breath. You have done this since you were a baby, and I can't figure out why. It's like you forget to breathe. When you are really upset, you hold it until you pass out.
• You are so stinkin' cute, that sometimes I think I might squeeze you to death.

Here are just a few of my favorite Lukey pictures

Happy Birthday, Luke! We love you so much!

Construction Party

We had Luke's 2nd birthday party this past weekend. It was a no-brainer when trying to decide on a theme. My little boy loves big trucks and rocks...so we had a construction party! I told Brad when I started planning that I wasn't really going to go over the top like I had done in the past. My plan was to keep it low key and simple.

Yeah, right.

Since when has anything I've ever planned been low key or simple? I guess I ended up getting a little carried away, and the party ended up being just as elaborate, if not more, than all the others before it. But we had so much fun! Our plans were a little altered by the weather, but we just ended up moving everything to the garage and it worked out fine...a little cramped, but fine. Here are the promised pictures for those of you who couldn't make it. Thanks to everyone who came to help celebrate our special little boy! I'll do a more nostalgic post on Thursday...his actual b'day ;)

Everyone got a personalized hard had and apron before getting to work

What else could I serve but dirt cake, of course!
Luke was in heaven with his very own rock pile
Foreman Luke
I should have known that Pa would come in costume
I'm hoping they are discussing some future home improvement projects for my house :) Busy workers
The crew...aren't they just too cute?!
Jackson is all finished with his jobs and ready for lunch! Turning in work orders for lunch A hungry crew!
Getting ready to sing
Enjoying his cake

Hope you had a great birthday party, Luke!