Summer

I have given up trying to load photos! Has frozen up every time I try leaving me very frustrated!

Summer has flown by as usual. Lots of memories including several trips. We started the summer off in June by taking 13 day trip, half with the kids, half without! We took our first "driving" trip to Gainesville to visit Paul's parents and family, which was a long 8 hours. The first 5 hours the kids did great, the last 3 hrs not so much, and I am pretty sure we both said we were not going to do it again for a long time. It was good to be back in Gainesville for a few days, seeing family and friends we have not seen in many years. One of the reasons we went was to visit Paul's 93 yr old grandma, but learned she left for the beach days before and we did get to see her, we were disappointed to miss her! We left the kids at Nana and Pops and went onto Rosemary Beach for a wedding to and celebrate our 10 yr anniversary. We had a great time; despite the place we stayed being a bit of a disappointment, the area was beautiful. Morning swims, reading for hours at the beach, exploring the different seaside towns, cocktails and late dinners! The best part- being on our own schedule and not that of toddlers!

The kids joined us for the last week and we stayed at Sandestin for Paul's conference. I was worried about all the different sleeping arrangements, but they adapted well and slept great. Overall the trip was a great success with lots of fun memories. Cason was still not a big fan of the beach but did better than last year, hopefully next year he will love it! They both preferred the resort pool and loved the band at the pool party on our last day. Will never forget Kiley dancing in the water with her Aierl doll as the band played "Under the Sea", and Cason going under by himself for the first time and loving it, so proud of himself wanting everyone to watch him.

Aunt Lois came to visit for over a week in June and the kids (and me!) loved having her around. She came over almost everyday and came swimming with us, giving me a break! Hope she comes back soon!!

In late June I discovered puddle jumpers, which are the new lifejackets that snap around the waist. They changed our pool days for sure! The kids love floating around in them and no longer constantly grabbing us. They have become much braver throughout the summer, and Cason goes under, doesn't mind being "dunked" and thrown. Kiley prefers to play with her toys and teapot on the steps, but also likes to swim from ladder to ladder. I wish I could bottle their endless giggles up, and some of their energy too!

July was a rough month for us physically. Record high heat and humility; Cason had 2 major asthma attacks and was on steroids most of the month. Frank had his hip replaced, and recovery took a bit longer than expected as far as hospital stay, and was in the ICU for a few days due to blood loss. Mom fell and broke her leg (again) and had to have major surgery (again). Thankfully everyone is doing better and so far August seems to be much better month! PTL!

I managed to take my yearly girls trip, met my 4 college roommates in Destin for a long weekend on the beach/boat. Lots of reminiscing, giggling, story-telling, limo riding, wedding dress shopping, and of course food and drinks! Paul did great with the kids by himself for 3 days and nights, and I only got a few texts throughout the whole weekend. Think they were all very glad to see me on Sunday! Despite the "hair lessons" I attempted to give him before I left, he still opted for his version of a "messy ponytail" for Kiley! I had to laugh. Holly did teach me how to fishtail, which I have done on Kiley's hair several times.

Things kids have said lately:

Kiley: Every time you put her to bed, she tells you "I love you to the moon and back. Don't let those bugs bight you". Then proceeds to tell you what she wants for breakfast the next day.

"Mommy, you are my best friend in the whole world"

When I was watering the flowers, she said "mommy, I hear the flowers saying thank you for my drink. They were so thirsty"

When saying prayers "Thank you Jesus for my best friend Bella. And thank you for the tree on my wall. It is pretty"

Calling me upstairs to tell me her baby had pooped and peed in her bed and I needed to clean it up so they could go to sleep. I told her they were just dolls and didn't need to be cleaned up. She looked at me and said "mommy, they are not just dolls. They are my babies and they can't go to sleep all wet. Do not say they are just dolls". Well OK then!

I finally threw away her fishy aquarium night light on her dresser that had been broken for awhile. When putting her to bed later, I noticed it back on her dresser. I said to her "did daddy get that out of the trashcan?" Kiley- "no, I did. I saw you throw it away, I looked at it and nothing was wrong with it, so I put it back on my dresser. I like it there"

When looking at my cross necklace, me- "who died on the cross" K-"ummm Kelsey did"
me- "no, remember Jesus did. Do you remember why Jesus died on the cross?" K- "because soldiers were chasing him" I think we better get back to Sunday School!

K- "When baby Nash comes, I want to feed him" me- "Well I think Carrie is the only one who can feed him right now" K- "no I want to feed him his bottle" me- "when babies are little, they drink their milk from their mommies boobies" K-" that is Yucko"

While brushing my hair- K-"your hair underneath is black me-"its not black, its just darker blonde K-"its really dark" me-" well you will have the same problem when you get older" note to self to schedule highlight asap

My favorite- when I had my scrubs going to work for first day, K-"Why are you wearing those clothes, mommy" me-"Remember I told you I have to go to work for a little bit today and these are my work clothes" K-"that's so silly, mommies don't go to work, only daddy's go to work"

Cason: Asks every morning "where we going today mommy" and "after our nap, are we going anywhere" C- "Where are you going daddy" P- "On a work trip, but I will be home tomorrow" C- "oh, that's a good idea to come home, daddy"

Still very considerate, when Paul took him to get a prize for being such a good boy, he insisted on getting a ball for Kiley, he did not need anything. Whenever he gets a juice box or snack, he always brings one for Kiley. When Nana told him on the phone she was going to bring him a milkshake, he told her to "make sure to bring one for Kiley too. She likes strawberry"

They used to getting money for their penny bank; we were at the dollar store, gave both of them a dollar bill to spend and Cason said "that's not money, mommy. I need money" I have him change instead, and he said "thanks, that's real money"

In the bathroom at Target, while drying his hands he watched the lady next to him washing hers, then asked her "why did you not use soap?"

Going up to strangers and people he knows like Nee Nee and Papa and saying "what's your name again" and thinking it is so funny

He was jumping up and down loudly and I told him to stop, C-"that is not me, it is a monkey" started doing it again me "stop jumping Cason" C-"I told you it was a monkey jumping, not me"

He went outside to driveway without telling me, I scolded him telling him how a bad person could come take him away and we would never see him again and he said "would they take me somewhere fun"

Had a few girls over to play with Kiley and they were painting their toenails, I noticed Cason painting his Me "Cason only girls can paint their toenails, not boys" C- "I just painted them white, not pink, so that's OK"

Some nights after putting him to bed he comes down to our room, always knocks on the door, I say " who is it" and he says "it's just me" can't help but laughing, he comes in and says "I'm really just not tired" we let him cuddle with us for 5 min, then he leaves, goes back upstairs by himself and goes to sleep! One night he did this, came in our room and said "I don't want to cuddle, I just forgot my B" Picks it up, shuts the door and goes back upstairs! Funny kid.

Me- "Cason stop doing that, how many times to I have to tell you" C-"OK mommy, I not do it again" me-" that's what you tell me every time C-"I'm serious this time"

Can't wait for daddy to get home everyday so he can wrestle, loves to tackle and wrestle, Kiley and I not such big fans of it!