Cousins

We are blessed that Steven's cousin (Irby) has in-laws in town. So every now and then they stop by for a visit and we are blessed to benefit from this too! This time they were in town for 10 days, so Katie and I got our boys together twice - and they were able to come over for dinner as well.








It has been SO nice to spend time with family in the midst of our crazy lives. Katie and Irby have 3 boys.... Irby is the oldest, and then there are identical twin 7 month olds... Griffin and Charlie. I always wanted twins.... but watching Katie I'm not quite so convinced. While they were fussing I asked her, "how often do they cry at the same time" (thinking of the times mine do this and wanting to punch walls) and she responds... "well this isn't crying, but... everyday." I'll be honest... the dinner wasn't exactly what I'd call relaxing... but it was enjoyable none-the-less.

left - Charlie right-Griffin

It was cute to see their own little personalities!

A makeover... for two

Let me just start by saying my husband is RIDICULOUS! He "relaxes" by doing things around the house.... yard work, handy-man activities, etc.

Last weekend in an afternoon he pulled up the majority of the MASSIVE hedges that lined our deck and replaced them with small azaleas and gardenias.... AFTER we ran the mud run and went to a gala the previous day. Then this weekend he cemented a wall, dug and moved plants, pressure washed our deck and side walk, sanded the deck, painted the front door, and then stained the entire deck (a "honey white) - all virtually single handed! I luckily get to benefit from my husband's workaholic tendencies! I think it makes our house look SO much better!

make over one:

make over two:


Luckily this happened the day AFTER his 18 month pictures! He was walking (either on the sidewalk or the driveway... bad mom? she doesn't even know! I was helping Steven Edward in the garage) and fell. I heard the crying from a distance and didn't rush because, as great as Sam is, he is known as a bit of a drama king. But when he rounded the corner bleeding I quickly picked up the pace! Then I pulled back his hair to reveal a slightly smaller than golf ball sized blue bump (still slightly covered by hair in this picture too). Nice. We watched for concussion signs, but after a few tantrums and refusals to eat veggies, we deemed him normal.

All in a Day's Work

Today was a rather funny mix of our lives - we started with a Mudrun. It is a USMC sponsored boot camp type run. It was a 4 mile trail run with 32 obstacles ranging from 4 foot deep mud pits, to an 8 foot wall, to a 15 foot cargo net, or a piggy back ride across the finish line. You had to start and finish in teams of 4 (and I would never have made it over the 8 foot wall without my team!). It was more fun than I anticipated and a LOT muddier than i expected - there were 4 mud events (to see list of events click here). It was an absolute blast and I have already started searching the internet for another one! I do understand now why they recommended long sleeves and pants - and therefore why the army/military doesn't wear shorts of tank tops!










After seeing these pictures, Steven Edward looked at his Daddy and said, "Daddy, next time you run through a mud puddle, please don't hug me." It was cute.... and a little telling.


Then we rushed home (after multiple showers) and got ready to go to a Gala to support Veritas. It was fun of a different kind. They had both a silent and live auction - and if you didn't look too closely at my ankles (which I failed to scrub quite well enough) or noticed the scrapes on my elbows you would have had no idea that we were swimming in mud that morning!


All in all it was a great day! My boys were great for my parents and my husband and I had a great day full of fun and events! Would totally do the whole thing again!