An intense game of checkers!

By the looks on Kam's face, she takes her game of checkers with Daddy before bedtime very seriously! 

I will say, she is becoming quite the opponent! Brant quit letting her win a while back and she still gives him a run for his money sometimes! She has also mastered the diagonal double jump- its her new signature move!

Kamy's First Dance

Friday night Brant took Kamy to her first dance, a Daddy-Daughter Dance 

hosted by the Rotary Club for Father's Day. 

This is a picture from the Rotary Facebook page of them at the dance- proof that they actually danced! (Brant doesn't dance!)

We made a big deal out of getting ready, picking out the perfect dress (the one with the most "twirl" factor) and shoes from her closet, fixing her hair up very fancy, and she got to wear the necklace I wore with my wedding dress, which she thought was very special.

 

Brant even gave her the tiniest little wrist corsage, which she thought was the best thing ever! We dried it so she can keep it in her memory box!

They had a photo booth at the dance and they took silly photos together. They had a great night, and finished it off by eating together at McDonald's- not exactly a fancy restaurant, but always her first choice!

While they were at the dance Owen took me on a "date" to IHop. He held the door for me and acted like a perfect gentleman. Ok, lets be realistic, he did hold the door, but the elderly couple who the waiter seated at the table behind us quickly got up and moved to the other side of the restaurant. I'm telling myself they wanted a better view of the parking lot, but the sticky syrup fingers creeping over the back of the booth could have been a factor! Actually, he was pretty good- he ate almost a whole smiley face pancake and a whole order of biscuits and gravy and chatted my ear off about what first grade was going to be like. It was a memorable evening for our little family. 

Owen's Last Baseball Game

Owen's WONDERFUL baseball coach invited him to come play catcher and third base coach for their last baseball game in May after missing half of the season with his broken arm. He had a great time! He was so cute catching the balls after each play and lining them up just right on the tee for the next batter. He also played 3rd base coach and waved the kids in or signaled them to stop by putting both hands up and waving his cast around. It was pretty cute!

                          Brant says Owen has a head that was made to wear a baseball helmet!

His coach even made sure to include him when ordering the trophies! Owen was very excited to be back with his team and he's looking forward to next year- maybe he'll make it through the whole season without an injury!:)

Last day of We Wings !

Last Thursday was Evey and Briceson's last day of We Wings. That is the little pre-school program they go to that is on a bus. Mrs. Haley was there teacher ( the one on the right) and Mrs. V was the helper. Her first name is Sophia and I'm not sure why they call her Mrs.V. I'm not even sure if the other kids call her that or if it is just my two??? I can't remember the kid on the lefts name, but then the next boy is Bruce, than Evey who quickly wedged herself between him and Evan to her left. She had no intention of sitting with the other girls.  She's so over the whole go with the crowd thing.  Even is Elisa's twin who is sitting down at the end by Briceson who is obviously very excited to be there. He announced he was "all done smiling" after about the 3rd shot, and he wasn't kidding. Hope family pics rank higher on his list, or we will have to work very fast to get a smile out of him.

Our First Broken Bone!

Owen fell off the jungle gym at school when his hand slipped off the hand rail while trying to get down. He landed on his arm and also hit his head. The school nurse called me around 2:00 and said that she had Owen in her office and that his arm was definitely broken. I was in the middle of shopping at Sam's, so I had to leave my cart in the middle of the aisle and rush out to go get him. When I got to him he was in way too much pain for me to move him, so Brant came and got us both, along with Kamryn because Owen wanted his sissy, as always! 

I took this first pic on the way to the hospital after the school nurse had put a splint on it (she is wonderful). Yep, there is no way that strange crooked shape to his wrist could mean anything other than a broken bone or two! 

This pic was shortly after the x-rays, which they did before he had any pain meds. I had to stay outside while Brant held him and they moved his arm all around for pictures while he screamed in pain, constantly yelling "I want my Kamy!" Never mind Mommy outside the door, when this boy is hurt he always wants his sister! It was awful for me and even worse for Brant! He also had to have a cat scan for the bump on the head, and he couldn't have pain meds until we were sure his head was okay, so we spent two hours with him in agony with no pain medication! It was awful and drove his daddy to tears. The x-ray revealed 2 broken bones in his forearm near the wrist, and the cat scan came back fine, so they were able to give him some children's morphine. He was immediately high as a kite and feeling great! 

The orthopedist finally came in and they knocked him out briefly while they set the bones. The doctor said it set nicely, and he will be in a splint for 2 weeks and a hard cast for 4 weeks. This is a pic of him shortly after he woke up from the anesthesia. He was still very groggy, but he did not forget that Daddy had promised him pancakes at Ihop, and immediately asked if we could go because he hadn't eaten anything since lunch at 10:45 this morning, and it was 9p.m.! Needless to say, we ordered his pancakes to go and he is now home with a full belly and a dose of tylenol with codine. He is trying to sleep, but is not having much luck getting his arm in a comfortable position. It's going to be a LONG six weeks! We are also going to have to break the news to him that his baseball career has been cut short for this season! He is going to be heartbroken, he only got to play 3 games! 

2 Babies - Now 4

Four years ago this month two tiny babies came into the world ... a tiny baby boy with eyes the size of dinner plates, and a little girl with a headfull of hair that would one day be as silken and blonde as Rapunzel's. And although we didn't know it then, those two beautiful babies would be our grandchildren!    Our family cried together at times, and rejoiced together at others, always determined and hopeful that those two babies would forever be ours.

And in the end, what we all learned is what perhaps we knew all along ---- that all it takes to be a family is love. 

Happy Birthday Briceson and EveyLynn.  I love you both dearly. 

Nonnie 

Kamryn's writing journal

Kamryn filled up her writing journal at school so her teacher sent it home early and gave her a new one. She's a very good story teller, but she spells in a way that only her Aunt Lindsey and Roxie would understand! She got the family spelling gene for sure! I was looking back through it and found this Thanksgiving post about Ant Lise and her bowufrynd coming to town. The picture is of Nonnie's kitchen table covered in food and 9 empty chairs with Lindsey and Cody sitting at one end. It was too sweet!

In case your having trouble following, it actually reads:

SEEING MY FAMILY (they are learning to title a story)

This Thanksgiving my Aunt and her boyfriend flew to Arkansas (Arekinsol). Cody made me and him planes. They are artists. Lindsey tickled me. I gave Lindsey a hug. They left last night. I love my aunt Lindsey and her boyfriend.

She also wrote several stories about None and Papu, and one about how she was going to go visit her Ant Roxe in Nort Carulina and one about her Ant Mylu giving her a dog named Bar (uncle B was not mentioned at all in the giving of the dog!) She actually wrote several stories about her beloved dog Bear, including one about how he peed in the house and got in trouble- with a picture of the crime included!(nice Kam, real nice!) She wrote about her camping trip this summer, and about going to Branson where she watched lots of TV (what a nice vacation!) She wrote about how she got to see snails kiss on a video her mommy showed her about weird bugs (they were mating, but we called it "kissing" when she asked!) She even wrote one about the very special Pink Bear of North Carolina fame. She definitely got her Momma's love of the English language, even if she did get her Aunt Roxie's love of all things phonetic!