Weekend in Kentucky

We had a very quick trip to Kentucky last weekend before school started for the Ky State Fair.  Due to our life changer last year, we missed the fair, so Travis was determined we were going this year.  We had very little time to do anything or see anyone, but we knew it would be that way.  We packed in as much as we could.  We drove in on Thursday, and on Friday, we had lunch at Mema's since we were going to the fair on Saturday and driving home on Sunday. 

She has a nice garden of cucumbers and tomatoes, and the kids LOVE to hunt for ripe vegetables to pick.  And maybe some not so ripe vegetables to pick.  Basically, if Jaggar sees a tomato, it doesn't matter if it's green, he's picking it.

 Jaggar is still Mema's buddy.

 I realized that it's been years since Travis has even been to Kentucky.  Sad.  I think the last time was probably my Papa's funeral.  And that's been over a year ago.  I know we didn't make it last Thanksgiving because I was days from having Costner.

Movie Time: Smurfs

We have loved all of the great kids' movies that have been released this summer.  We haven't done anything even resembling school related activities.  I had intentions of doing math facts with Sage, and we always do summer reading at the library.  None of that happened.  We've only had fun.  Last week, I was so glad to be able to take the bigger kids to see Smurfs 2 when Travis came home early for the day.  Jaggar has waited on this for a long time, and he even dressed himself for the occasion.  I could eat him up, he looked so cute in that hat.  Is he not the most precious thing you've ever seen?!  He is so sweet too.

Outside at the sign

Smurfs was no Despicable Me 2, but it was enjoyable.  Sage LOVED it and said it was her favorite movie we've seen thus far.  Jaggar said he liked "all of them."

Sister Sage

It pains me to write that this is our last full week of summer.  While I feel we have been blessed with another wonderful teacher this year based on our meetings, to deal with another year of STUFF that school brings--work, time, kids Sage doesn't like, kids I don't like, tests, early mornings...I feel I'M going back to school again.  I just want to keep her with me.  Right now though, I feel the school Sage is at is wonderful for her, and unfortunately...she just has to go to school.  But I wanted to also mention how much I will miss not only her but her HELP around here.  She is MY helper.  I think Costner Bleu may miss her just as much.  He does NOT cry when she's around because she's going to fix it.  He loves her so much.

This was when we were still in Kentucky.  She was so proud that she'd rocked him to sleep.

 Once we did get home, the kids realized how much they missed all of their things.  We were gone for 3 weeks, so having their rooms and toys again was like Christmas morning.  And Sage thought that Costner could ride in her doll stroller wonderfully.  And he did.

 A few days later, our sweet friend Emily, whose graduation we attended that I cried at, had told Sage she could spend the night before she left for college.  Here is Sage waiting for her at ANY moment.  She had so much fun.

 And here we are at the UCP telethon last week, where I"m a legend by the way.  It has seriously been over 10 years since I sang there, and they remembered me and asked me to please come back.  I actually think if I can remember next year before the day of, that I'll ask Luke and a few others if we can go and sing a few.  Anyway, once again, here is Sage being the little mommy.  She is my best girl, and I'm proud to call her mine. 

Shopping In KY

I like to shop when I'm in Ky for several reasons.  One is because I don't have to drive over an hour to get to my favorite stores.  And another reason is because sales tax is 6% there instead of our 10%.  That makes a pretty big difference.  And it's just enjoyable.  If the kids get tired, we go home.  Whereas in Birmingham or Atlanta, we have to deal with it.  Anyway, here's some pictures from several of our outings all in one post.

At one point, Costner fell asleep just like this:  with his blankie in his mouth.  lol

 This chess set was really convenient because it was right outside my favorite store: Express.  So they played on this with mom while I shopped.  It was a win/win.  However, the pieces were extremely heavy, and you can guess that one was knocked over.

 I had my gift card here from Chrissie from my baby shower, but I just now used it.  I hadn't had any desire to shop for clothes until now due to...having a baby and also, they just didn't have anything I liked. Thankfully, this was a very successful shopping trip for me.

 The kids LOVE Macy's...actually they love any store with furniture set up like a real home because they pretend it's theirs.  I took a pic of this sectional for future reference for myself because I really liked it.

 Happy Bleu.  Look how his hair is really coming in.

 And I found a suit in Costner's size at Macy's, so I tried the jacket on him.  I sent it to Travis captioned, "Bishop Bleu."

One of my favorite purchases was my new Pandora stackable birthstone rings.  It wasn't a special occasion, so I wasn't going to get them, but Travis told me I could get one.  I wasn't sure if Couches had them (I later found they do...but 6% vs 10%), so I figured I'd get Sage's to start.  I tried them all on for sizing purposes and to see what all of them together was going to look like (awesome, btw), and Mom said, "I'll take the emerald one."  She said, "Costner won't care, but you can't get one of the bigger kids' without the other."  I just knew that Sage would care, but I really didn't think Jaggar would.  When I showed them that these rings represented them and their birth months, you know who DID care?  And I mean they cared a lot?  JAGGAR.  He kept saying, "Is that mine?"  When I took them off for the day, he brought me the green one.  He said, "Can I wear this?"  lol  Then he says (because it's a birth stone), "Are you giving this to me for my birthday?"  Who would've thought?

Meeting Costner

We just got back from Ky last Monday, and I am so behind on blogging.  Costner is 8 months old today and ON THE MOVE.  He did nothing, and now he's doing everything all at once, so I'm trying to stay current but also keep this up.  It's obviously more than I can do.  Anyway, our trip to Ky was the first time anyone besides Mom and Mema had met Costner.  SO, I took some pics of him making his debut.

With my dad

With Amber

 Obviously, this isn't Costner, but it's a sweet moment, and I liked the picture.

With my aunt Rosie, who brought all of the kids a garbage bag FULL of goodies.  They loved her.

 The bigger two with Rosie.

Mall Rats

The title of that post is an exaggeration, but we have really been enjoying the awesome kid movies that are coming out this summer.  It's about time that they made a comeback from so many that suck.  We've seen Monsters U and Despicable Me 2, which was awesome.  SO awesome.  Smurfs 2 is later this month, as well as 2 more that I don't know their names.  Travis keeps Bleu Jack while I take the bigger kids, and they are at the perfect ages to enjoy a good movie.  We also braved Terrific Kid Tuesday...once.  That used to be so nice when Jaggar was a newborn, but it quickly escalated to every daycare in this and every surrounding county attending, and it's borderline miserable.  The only thing that doesn't almost give us an anxiety attack in the wait is the face painting, and that's because there are like 20 girls doing it.

Jaggar liked his bug.

 But nothing could give him more joy than to see THIS...CHRISTMAS ornaments on their way.  Remember how much he loved to look at them?  He was devastated when they took them out.

 Sage was more impressed with their summer themed items like these sunglasses.

 The sign for Monsters U, also a great movie.

Back Again

When Mom and Mema were here, I decided to renew our museum passes after it had been well over a year of not going.  I'm not even sure Jaggar remembered it because he acted like he was terrified when we were in there.  He definitely won't forget it now because he asks to go on a very regular basis.  He has a love hate relationship with it because there's a CD playing in certain parts to make it sound like a thunderstorm.  He HATES it.  So last Friday when we needed milk from Wright Dairy, we made a day at the museum first.

We stopped and picked up Chick Fil A first and had a picnic outside.

 The lightning is always terrible inside, so I didn't take A picture in the museum.  The prettiest part is still as soon as you walk out.  The fish in that pond have gotten HUGE by the way.  I even took a picture of Sage and Jaggar on the walk way without (as much) fear that Jaggar would be IN the water.

Last But Not Least

It's a rare thing for Travis to be in photos, but it happened, and I think they turned out nice.  He hates this first one as much as I hate the "Christmas card."  He said it was like a cheesy middle school dance picture.  I had to laugh.

 Then we asked Jaggar to come take another family picture...aaaanddd this is what he did.  What can you do?  lol.  He is the laughter in our home for sure.

 Meanwhile...

 Nice family shot.

 I know these are our last pictures before baby makes his debut.  When I woke up this morning, I thought about tonight being the last night that I will lay in my bed and go to sleep pregnant with life being as I know it.  With the 2 kids that I would give my life for.  It was a weird feeling.  I feel like there is more that I should do to make the most of the moment.  One being Christmas shop more!  I feel like I want it to be a little further away.  But ready or not, he is coming, and in spite of all the weird but very normal feelings, I can't wait to see him and share him with the world.  Because I know he's going to be just as wonderful as the 2 that I try to give you a glimpse of their greatness on here.

Father's Day

***Sage in Daddy's shoes

I am so thankful that my children have such a wonderful father that they are able to celebrate on Father's Day and every day. They (or Sage) were so excited to give their gifts. Jaggar walked in, gave Travis his gift and said, "Happy Birthday." This first pic is blurry, but it's the only one that I had from my camera of Jaggar giving his gift, which was a movie card. We can never go wrong with that. Later that morning, Jaggar looked at Sage and said, "Hey Sage, happy father's day, Sage." Too cute.

Sage, on the other hand, was thrilled. She knew EXACTLY what she wanted to get Travis, and she was so excited to give it to him because she knew her gift was thoughtful.

She saw the movie "Tron" at the store a few days before, gasped and said, "Mommy!! That is what I want to get Daddy for Father's Day! He will love this! He loves this movie!" I just love her face in this picture. You can see just how proud she is. Love that girl.

Sweet, sweet

Jaggar, obviously not in the picture taking mood, is the only one looking full of disgust. :) Two out of three isn't bad. Regardless, we had a very happy father's day.