Just Me and the Boys

Sage is spending a few days at Travis's mom's house because she's on vacation this week. That makes me the only GIRL at home! What will we do? Probably more of the same: like keeping this guy from adding any bruises or destroying anymore plants. ;) Isn't he the cutest?! Notice the little soldier falling in mid-air from the cup. Jaggar enjoyed putting him in the cup and then dumping him out.

4th of July

This year for the 4th, Mary, Chrissie's mom, had invited us over to her house to eat and play. She lives right on the lake and has all kinds of "toys" for young and young at heart alike. We had a WONDERFUL time and ate our brains out. I can say that I ate more on the 4th than I probably will at Christmas or Thanksgiving. Mary totally outdid herself. I cannot even recount all the food, but there was every kind of "salad" you could imagine: carrot/raisin, potato, pea, avocado and fruit, 30 slabs of ribs all in different containers with each container having a different homemade seasoning, chicken, deviled eggs, chips and 6 different types of dip, corn on the cob, hot dogs, 60 chicken drumsticks, baked beans, mac and cheese...and that doesn't include desserts. Oh, and there was watermelon later. And homemade icecream. OH LORD. Here's some pictures from our fun day.

I've never seen anyone have a "map" of the menu. As much food as she had, I guess Mary had to have some type of written plan.Jaggar still cannot find it in himself to hold his own cup. He will pick it up, bring it to you, and scream for you to do it for him though.

Some of the ribs

Desserts: the strawberry cobbler and the cake with the whipped cream icing were my faves.

That is a LOT of potato salad.

Travis wouldn't let me wear my sunglasses on the jet ski because of the chance of them being lost forever. I think he just wanted to wear them.

Getting ready to jet ski.

Then Sean took Sage and Isacah out.

We could hear them squealing the entire way on their way out.

Sean let each of them drive. He said that Sage would go as fast as it would go...teaching her to drive should be a blast!

More 4th of July Fun

Here's some more pics from our day at Mary's.

Handsome boyHe is just gorgeous.

Not in the mood for pictures here.

Mary's backyard view with Shellina pausing for a phot-op.

He made a mess of his shirt, so Travis washed it and threw it in the dryer.

Mary had a rope swing, so the kids loved that.

And so did I. I played on one when I was little. It brought back memories of that, but I was never sore like I was the next day after playing with this one.

Holland

Mary even bought glow sticks for each kid and a flashlight for each family. I swiped Jaggar's. :)

All of us headed to see the fireworks right by Mary's house.

In awe

Jaggar liked them too...when he wasn't screaming. He'd had a very long day, and it was WAY past his bedtime.

Look at his face.

Rest In Peace, Dr Lynch

I came across some very sad news this evening. A local dentist, Dr Lynch, who was obviously very loved and respected by his friends, family and patients, passed away unexpectedly. While he wasn't my dentist, I met him this past winter. Travis was shooting a commercial for him in the mall, and I took the kids over to see their dad. Dr Lynch was like, "Oh, you guys want to be in the commercial?" Um no, was my first reaction because...well, I DO love the limelight, but my initial reaction was no. Sage wouldn't do it without me. So we ALL got up there. Then Travis was getting Jaggar, who was TINY then, to smile and all the staff, especially Dr Lynch, just loved it.

After hearing of Dr Lynch's passing this evening, I began to look to see if I could find the commercial because Sage had made the cut. She is in the second video. While I was looking, I saw that Jaggar and I did too! We are the VERY last scene aside from the guy saying "JOY," which is the first video below. Also, the man hopping in the blue shirt in the first video with "joy" written on it is Dr Lynch. Please pray for his family and friends that he's left behind during this difficult, sad time until they see him again one day. From what I've heard and read, he was a wonderful, loving, kind, generous man.

Sage

Reason #895 Why Quiet is Bad

It's bittersweet: the quiet and my kids. I like it. I enjoy it every now and then, but I always end up paying for it if it's quiet and they are awake. I was at the computer (bad move, in retrospect). Jaggar had walked into the kitchen. I KNEW he was in the kitchen (which is about 10 feet from where I was), and I also knew that I had cleaned up so there wasn't anything he could get into...or so I thought. Then Sage walked into the kitchen and gasped, "Mommy! LOOK!" Sigh...I walked in and it looked like an oreo cookie had exploded. Only it wasn't oreo cookie...it was dirt. WET dirt at that. Sage had moved a plant from the counter to the table because "it needed sun." Coincidentally, Jaggar learned how to climb up into the kitchen chairs yesterday. It was a bad combination. On the other hand, he was having a BLAST and threw a fit when I took him from his fun.

See that lovely stuff all over his face?He's making his way back to the scene of the crime.

This is only the half of it.

See him back for more fun? Plant: 0 Jaggar: 1

Then I confined him to his high chair so that I could clean up the fun.

As you can see, he was really sorry for what he did.

New 'Do

Sage was so proud when she came downstairs this morning because her daddy had worked so hard to put her hair up into even pigtails. She sure looked cute to me!

Pretty, pretty girl

A Day at the Pool

Okay, so EVERY day at our house is a day at the pool, but today was special because we shared it with some friends: Matt, Rhenda, and their sweet baby girl, Parker. Parker is just 4 months older than Jaggar, so they are fun to watch together. As I type this, I realize that today is the first day that we've had Matt and Rhenda over ONLY. There's usually a tribe of us at once, but it was so cool to just chill with them. We had a great day, and the forecast called for rain, but the weather turned out to be perfect for grilling and swimming. We spent the entire day and evening together. Here's some pics of our afternoon outside. J Cruiz was napping during these, so he's not in them. He did, indeed, come out later, but I have no pics because we were busy trying to catch him while he was walking everywhere.

The Fish and me. This girl would stay in the water 24/7 if we'd allow it. I try to spend as much time outside as possible because...why not? We have a pool!

She has become so unafraid of the water or going under since the first time she swam this summer. She's not quite swimming yet, but she is DEFINITELY going under, jumping in, and right on the verge of being able to swim on her own. She is making me more nervous now. As her fear of it decreases, mine increases.

Check out Parker sunbathing.

Proud Daddy and his girl

Sage wanted me to take this so that people could see her feet from under the water.

Pretty family

Pretty family :)

Rhenda and me: we are so much alike that it can be scary or funny, depending on who you are. It's probably scary to our husbands.

Check her out!

And there she goes!