Friday, July 22, 2011
You've Got to See this!
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Buster the Dog
I would like to introduce you to our dog. His name is Buster. Well, technically his name is Trouble, but we didn’t feel that was a good dog name so we’ve decided to call him Buster & hope he catches on.
The boys have begged for a dog ever since they could say the word. I’ve been a firm “NO” for a good 9 years now and this week I finally gave in. I’ve got the whole “every boy needs a dog” spill from the husband and the begging excuse of “it will help us to be more responsible” from the kids. Blech. It’s not that I don’t like dogs… I love dogs…. I just don’t need anything else to have to feed for take care of. That’s been my excuse for so long. Here’s the story on how it all went down.
We talked about getting the boys a dog for their birthday this year. I was about convinced of it until I talked to several pet owners. They confirmed for me all the reasons you don’t want a pet. Ehhh…. errr… I’m not sure… “I think I’ll stick with still NO!”. Ok. Done. No dog. End of story. {enter persistent begging from children and spouse}.
The boys were planning to go to camp for a week and Kensley was going to be at my parents for a few days. Corby happens to mention that it would be a really cool surprise for the kids to come home & have a dog waiting on them. {caving begins} One night a couple weeks ago I’m browsing on facebook and up pops a post from a friend “please help find a home for these puppies”. I click on the picture. Really, really cute puppy on the picture. {Awwww… it would be kind of cute to have a puppy.} Me: “Hey Corby, here’s a girl trying to find a home for this cute puppy… isn’t he cute?” {insert cue for Corby that I have finally caved} Corby: “Yeah, he’s cute. See what you can find out”.
That’s what started it all. The puppy was a no-go, but that lead to another free dog (that we didn’t really feel like was a good match for our family)… which lead to Corby going to the pound on the way home from dropping off the boys at camp and almost bringing a dog home… which lead to him calling the animal hospital on Tuesday morning and there you have it. We have a dog. A man in Kings Mountain had a bunch of hunting dogs and this particular dog didn’t care to hunt so he was trying to find a home for him. Corby & I went to take a look at him and fell in love with this pooch. He was sweet from the beginning & never barked… just wagged his tail a lot.
We brought him home on Tuesdsay, July 2. Kensley came home on Wednesday & saw the dog for the first time. The boys came home on Friday at lunch. Here’s the video of their reaction to the dog…. priceless!
They’ve loved this dog ever since. I think he’s going to be a great pet for our family. Welcome home Buster!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Happy 9th Birthday… Carter
July 1, my middle child turned 9. “Red”… as he’s affectionately know by me most of the time… is growing up fast. He’s such a good kid. Hard headed like you wouldn’t believe but sweet as can be. He loves football and fishing and wants to do them daily. He loves any kind of sports really. He’s a hard worker and helps me around the house a lot. He’s also a big helper with his little sister. He takes her under his wing and teaches her lots of things… multiplication tables, how to draw and how to drop kick a soccer ball. He’s a leader and makes friends easily and will pretty much do anything for you. I love it!
He’s playing flag football right now & loves it. Here’s a few pictures of him & his team.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Celebrate good times…
Saturday, we had our annual 4th of July gathering with my girlfriends from college and their families. They all came to Boiling Springs and we met at the YMCA. Our group was a little slim this year but we still had a great time.
We swam, talked, ate yummy food and even had a game of corn hole. It was a great time together as usual.
This is Heather & her 3 sons, Oak, Ezra & Abe. She is very pregnant with her 4th son… just a few weeks away. 
Wes & Cheryl
Scott & Leslie…
and their kids Taylor
and Luke 
and of course me & Corby
I love these girls! I am so thankful for them and that we have remained great friends so many years later! We don’t get to see each other that often, but we keep in touch. Some relationships never change and these girls… plus Stacy, Joy, Linda & Janet… will remain close forever!
Sunday, July 3, 2011
15 Years and counting….
Wednesday, June 29th we celebrated 15 years of marriage. 15 years! Wow, that seems like a really long time. I am so thankful for these years with my man. In 15 years we’ve both graduated from college, purchased our first home (which we are still living in), had 3 beautiful children, had many wonderful vacations together, made many great memories as a family and so, so much more! We are going to really celebrate later on this year with a cruise, just the two of us.
I am thankful for a Godly man who I am raising my children with. Here’s to the past 15 years and many, many more together. I love you babe!
Monday, June 27, 2011
Howdy Y’all!
While we were vacationing in Pigeon Forge, we made a trip to Dollywood. We’ve never been before. My sister in law has season passes so she got most of us in for free! Yippie! We had a fun-filled day & got to spend some time with cousins. It’s a great amusement park & I would highly recommend if you are ever there & thinking of going. It’s a big park & we didn’t get to all of it, but fun nonetheless.
We watched a great show called A Gazillion Bubbles! It was pretty cool.
Corby & Carter rode the newest park ride called the Barnstormer. It was pretty cool.
Riding the Dollywood Express
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Vacation in the Mountains
Ahh summer vacations! I do enjoy them. Our first up was a trip to Pigeon Forge with my parents & my Aunt Connie. We rented a cabin in the mountains and spent a few days relaxing, eating good food and having fun.
We had a jacuzzi tub in our cabin. Of course that was one of the first things the kids had to do! Daddy added a little shampoo to the bath water & turned on the jets!
Connie had many, many makeovers while we were there. She & Kensley had fun giving each other makeovers.
The boys played lots of baseball, football & riding of scooters.
We celebrated Father’s Day there.
The boys got creative with whatever they could find. They went a little “gangsta” on us with some plant stems. 
The view from our porch.
“Hey son, let’s see who can spit & get it into that hole down there”
Sisters!