Friends Forever!

It just makes sense to stick Nate in charge of the kids while we hang out. After all, he is the most responsible one out of all of us. Here they are living it up on the water slide again. With Reagan being from Europe and all, she hasn't gotten to experience the finer things in life like we do down here in Florida.

 Tired out.

Cornhole Competition 2013

We haven't had a good cornhole tournament since Alabama, so it was definitely time we planned one. We are reunited with our good friends, the Normans, at last. When we moved to Florida, they moved to Italy, but here we are back together and living on the same street! Of course, when Paw-Paw and Lady found out about Norm and Shelly being here they got in on the fun. We were short one team, but we managed to make a three team tournament. Too bad Team New School Haggerty wasn't around to join in the not so friendly competition.

This year we added a rule to make the tournament more professional. Each team had to have matching uniforms.

Team Awesome. We all managed to find our uniforms in the clothing department at Walmart. We were the only ones who found our matching get up in the boy's section. Steve is wearing a boy size 18. I'm wearing a boy size 14/16. "I'm not bragging. I'm really this awesome."

 Team Born to Win.

Team YOLO. Paw-Paw and Lady are living it up because as we all know, You Only Live Once. These are the biggest smack talkers.

Let the games begin.

We normally have trouble with cars speeding down our street. Not the case on Saturday. I'm surprised we didn't cause a wreck with everyone trying to catch a glimpse of the professional cornholers.

I informed Paw-Paw and Lady that these shirts are only to be worn during this competition. Never, ever, ever under any circumstance are they to put them on again. I hope Georgia relatives will inform me if they catch either one wearing them around.

As hard as both of these teams tried, neither one could pull out a tournament victory.

Team Awesome against Team Born to Win. Looks like Born to Win wasn't actually born to win.

We played cornhole way into the night. Steve got out his giant flood lights. It came down to Team YOLO and Team Awesome. Lady and Paw-Paw weren't able to back up their smack talking on the court. Team Awesome is the 2013 cornhole champions.

This water slide babysat for us during our competition.

Boomba and Ray-Ray. Little ghetto girls from Montgomery.

Loving Paw-Paw and Lady's shades.

The best part about buying our shirts in the kids department is that we were able to get the kids matching team shirts. Anyone else thinking Christmas card?

We smoked a brisket and turkey all day and Steve even surprised us with his one and only food item he makes, wild rice soup. When he makes it using the proper ingredients it's delicious. When he accidentally substitutes a cup of flour with powdered sugar it's not the best, but the kids loved it.

It was a long night for the kids. Baby Ray-Ray is almost three years old now, but that doesn't mean we can't stick her in the same Moses basket we stuck her in every night in Montgomery while we continued on with the fun.

4 months.

Hopefully Joe and Lexi can compete in the next tournament because I would love to beat them too. 

Happy Mother's Day!

I woke up to the best gift of all having my babies jump on me first thing in the morning and give me big hugs. My day was pretty much set after that.

I walked downstairs to find a table full of "beautifully" wrapped presents just for me. Steve spared no expense at Dollar General when he let the kids go wild buying me everything they could think of. Luckily, I have learned their game plan so I, too, plan accordingly. Loving my new watch!

 I watched as they took turns unwrapping my gifts.

 Kathryn loved this rock.

 Posing with my new clutter.

 A close up of my painted resin rock.

 Awesome. A caterpillar that doesn't even stand up. You really outdid yourself this year Steve.

This doggy welcome sign brings a tear to Nate's eye anytime he has to talk about it. He said he got it for me because it can remind us of Mace. He took Mace's death a lot harder than I expected.

Nate planned a brunch at Schooner's in my honor. Mainly because he loves going to Schooner's for brunch, but I'll take it. He even said he was going to tell the waitress to hand him my drink so he could set it down for me because he didn't want me to have to do anything for myself that day. What a thoughtful little boy.

More Mother's Day fun included playing 4 player Super Mario on Wii. Nate has been hounding me about that for weeks, so I fulfilled my obligation. What a relief. Then Kathryn asked to go back down to the marina to play in the water. Nate said he didn't want to play, but he would just go and sit and eat candy. Of course, once we got there he couldn't resist playing.

 Kathryn could swing all day long.

 Nate being his crazy self.

These pictures remind me of how lucky I am.

 My little muscle man. Poor kid... thinks he's strong.

And tough.

 He really likes getting jumping pictures.

That was my fantastic Mother's Day. Before bed Nate said, "I wish everyday was Mother's Day." Then I told him he could be nice to me like that everyday. Then he thought for a minute and had to come clean. He said, "I really don't like doing all that stuff. It's a lot of work." Haha! I love, love, love these kiddos!

Not that I don't appreciate Steve taking these kids on dollar store shopping sprees, but these are the gifts I really, really love. Kathryn painted and decorated a birdhouse.

 Nate wrote a journal about me.

 Just a glimpse... I'm pretty and forty five feet tall and like to wear lip gloss.

Other entries included:
-How do you know your mom loves you? I kiss him at night and make him dinner.
-What is your favorite thing to do with your mom? Play baseball and basketball. (Daddy was jealous!)
-Where would you take your mom on vacation? Why? Georgia because Lady is there and we could go     shopping at the mall. We both really like to buy shoes. (He's more observant than I realized!)
-Why do you think your mom is the best? I play video games with him and take him on trips. I buy him surprises and keep him safe when we cross streets.

And that is why I love being these kids' mommy! Happy Mother's Day!

Last Game of the Season

On Mother's Day weekend Nate had his last baseball game of the season. What better way to make your mommy proud than to look like a little pro out there on the field?

He might be sweet and quiet off the field, but he certainly puts his game face on when it counts.

This little girl shows up to field looking her best with her plastic heels and dress.

Kathryn's favorite part was climbing on the bleachers, or rolling around in the sand.

Not only did she dress up to each game, she also accessorized.

Nate's team sponsor was McDonald's. (How fitting for him.) After the game they went to McDonald's for their team party.

Enjoying his Happy Meal.

Getting his trophy from the coaches.

The coaches gave each player and ball with their name and something to describe them. Nate's says "Team Leader." His coaches said his teammates could always count on Nate to get the job done. That's my boy!

And a boy is only as good as his dog. Well, lets hope not in this case. At least Mack is cute though.