The Ponytail

My sweet girl's mullet has finally evened out enough to manage a ponytail. As a child, I spent many a day sporting a ponytail and a big bow. I have now passed the torch. At least she is not old enough to make me redo it over and over for perfection like I did to my poor mom!

Birthday Bash

"O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever." Psalm 30:12

Every time we are invited to a birthday party for one of our friends' children, I say a little thank-you prayer. I used to be so afraid that everyone we know would have children, and they would all play together, but we would be forever without a child of our own to share in the fun. So, when I see my two enjoying the simple things, like splashing with my friends' children in a baby pool, or enjoying some birthday cake, my heart leaps with joy!

These are some pictures from Allie Jordan's 4th Birthday Party a couple of weeks ago.

Karson and Brady enjoying a soak with the Haynie Twins
Brady basking in the sun (wearing 3 coats of 50 sunscreen :) )
Karson playing a little ballKarson and Laynie Jordan working on their tans

Now, they decide to do some girl-talk in the shade...

And take a break from the action...

And grab a drink

Brady and Karson really enjoyed jumping on the water slidePart of the Haynie, Hoover and Osborne clans wait in line to try and burst the pinata!
Karson enjoying some cake crumbs. (She carries stuff around all smashed up in her hand until she is ready to eat it.)

Viewer Discretion Advised

Warning: This contains real scenes of poo evidence.........

Yeah for Brady! He has been going #2 in the potty! He is a pretty sharp little dude and has come to realize that if he can make himself go, he will get a reward. And the reward he is really after is a sucker--which as you other mommies and grandmothers know, makes a terrible, sticky, slobbery mess! I only gave him a sucker because I was totally unprepared for him to poo in the potty for the first time, and the only treats in my pantry were blow pops--which were really for me!


Now, he is forever saying, "Ty poo-poo potty mommy!" So, we try. Sometimes, whether he really needs to go or not, he manages to produce just the slightest amount of evidence needed to earn what he is after. Needless to say, there are a lot of false alarms, bathroom noises and unnecessary potty trips at our house! But in his defense, he has gone potty several times!

Here is Brady showing me that he pooed as he was watching Pooh on TV.

He had to show his Sissy his poo too!

Yeah, I know this is totally gross and uncalled for, but it was his first time and that little sliver of a poo is a BIG deal!Now do I get a sucker? Then, he pulled the seat off and started dancing with it on his head saying, "hat mommy, hat." I'm pretty sure he learned this from his father.

Say Cheese

Our sweet photographer, Rebecca Marr, is teaching a photography class and asked me if her students could take some pictures of the twins for practice. Karson and Brady had a great time playing in her yard, and her students took some really cute pictures!

They loved playing with her daughters' lemonade stand!

Here is Braids looking not so smiley.
By the time we were finished, this mommy was exhausted! Carrying and chasing these two around is quite a work-out!

Fun Fest'n

Last Friday, we met Andy, Jessica and Abe Hatfield at the Fun Fest Parade. It was almost impossible to take pictures because I was holding a squirmy, wormy toddler on my lap, who at any moment might dash off and actually join the parade himself. But, here are a few of our favorite parade highlights that I did manage to capture:

Here's Festus!

"A tain, A tain! Toot-toot!"--commentary by Brady Osborne

"Horses, Horses! Neigh, Neigh, Neigh"--again commentary by Brady Osborne

And the highlight of the whole parade--The South Cheerleaders!

In the words of Brady D.-- "Go Webulz! Cheeweadus, Cheeweadus!"
I have no pics of Brady because I had him pinned on my lap and couldn't chance an escape!

We also attended the Crazy 8's Race to support our super cute, in-shape daddy!There go the amazing Elite Runners!

Here are Hunter and Jeremy before the race. They both did great!

And, here are Jeremy's parents strolling the kids in Neil's Walk. I, on the other hand, was just watching from the sidelines eating cheese crackers. Hey, somebody had to guard the chairs! Maybe next year I'll be back to my super-duper running college shape and run with Jeremy. Okay, maybe not.

The Many Faces of Karson...

Karson cracks us up with her expressions! Sometimes, we watch her in the mirror as we are driving and catch her amusing herself by making faces and doing hand motions---like she is being a mime. (Did you know that Jeremy thinks mimes are kinda scary!?!? Okay, maybe not scary, but he does say they "freak him out a little"--it's true!)

Anyhooooo, these are a few from the other day while she was in her swing outside.

Small Town Celebration

I love living in Kingsport! You know, it is the "Model City" --what does that mean anyway? Somethings never change--like the parade which proudly comes down Center Street each 4th of July. As a kid, I used to think I was in NYC watching the Macy's Parade. Now, as an adult, I realize it is mostly a bunch of old men in fancy cars, middle aged men on motorcycles, some horses and a bunch of pick-up trucks carrying little league kids. But, it sure is fun to see my own children enjoying it! They were in total awe! Again, I love living in Kingsport!

The horses were a BIG hit!

A little love from Allie Jordan

Grammy and my nephew Noah (Notice the big brother shirt he is wearing. My brother and his wife are expecting!)

Daddy and Uncle Chris gave the twins a perfect view

Noah kept asking me when we were gonna see some clowns, luckily Oz spotted a couple!

Then, we all went home and had a cookout and blew lots of bubbles.

Noah gets some Dave hugs

Happy 4th Everyone!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!!!

WE HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY OF CELEBRATION!

LOVE, KARSON AND BRADY

Back Where I Come From...

Here in Kingsport, there is nothing better than eating some good ole KFC at Eastman Park (Jeremy says it's Eastman Cabins--but I ask, if so, where are the "cabins"???) If your Daddy worked at Eastman or even if he didn't, you probably have memories of doing this when you were little too! These are the things you'll need for a good time:

Greasy Chicken and fixins

A cold beverage
Some bug spray for sure
A BIG SlideA muddy creek to play in And the fam
Good times!