Griggs Family Going Away BBQ

Last night, we had a going away BBQ for our friends Diana, Eric and their daughter Aubree. They are moving to Texas next week and we are going to miss them terribly. Nate and Aubree are "best friends" or as Aubree likes to say, "Nate is my boyfriend"! Little man is going to be lost without his Aubree. We told him about the move two weeks ago to ensure we had plenty of talking time before she actually leaves. He seems to grasp the concept that she will no longer be living in town. Here are a few pictures of our evening with friends...............


Sean "cooking" the hamburgers and hotdogs! They were delicious darling!

Lid, Lindsey and Jen being silly! You girls are a hoot and I cherish our friendship!

Joanne (L) and Diana (R). Diana, you better keep up with your blog; especially after that precious little one is born!

After playing outside for hours, the older kids headed inside for a little Mario racing on the WII.

After the majority of people left, we broke out guitar hero for the adults! Nate and Winston played along with their "guitars"!


We are truly going to miss the Griggs family! They have become great friends and we are sorry to see them go!

Summer Fun

It has been very hot and humid in Lawton for the last week! My car's thermometer read 96 degrees at one point (doesn't include the humidity factor)! In an effort to cool off, Nate and I headed to the local waterpark. Every year we get so excited when the park opens; this is definitely one of our favorite summer hangouts! Last year, Nate would only go down the little slide by himself and the larger slides with either Sean or myself. He would not go near the childrends spray slides, the wave pool or the lazy river. This year, we explored the wave pool and lazy river and he absolutely LOVED them. Here are some pictures of our visit to the fabulous water park.........................


Nate would not go near this last year! He was not keen on trying it this year either until his buddy Winston decided to. Once down, he was hooked.

I think I can, I think I can.....

Keep going, one foot in front of the other!

Success! He climbed up and slid down! Wohoo Nathan.

Nate informed he was a "big boy" now and would go down the waterslide all by himself. He climbed the hill and sure enough, he did it! Go Nathan!

The small pirate slide is still his favorite.

Taking a break! We smuggled in contraband lunch and had a nice picnic in the shade.

Arbuckle Wilderness Zoo in Davis, Oklahoma

Today, Nate and I went with our wonderful mommy group to the Arbuckle Wilderness Zoo in Davis, Oklahoma. The park is situated on over 400 acres and a large variety of animals run free. We purchased feed cups and had a blast getting the animals to eat! Our friends Kim and Winston rode with us and the boys had a blast feeding the animals together!

We took out the car seats so the kids would have better access to the animals.

We only had one camel interested in our food! The last time Nate and I were at this park they were dive-bombing our car.

Nate and I feeding a bull. The boys spent a lot of time in the front seats on our laps!

Nate stuck his head out the sunroof to get a better look at the turtles.

We rolled up the windows when we entered the ostrich portion. These guys are so mean! They kept attacking our windows!

The donkeys were a blast! They were so friendly.

Here is our friend Lindsey trying to navigate through all the animals!

We tend to forget that we are in the "wild" due to the animals sweet dispositions. Here was our up close version of Wild Kingdom!

Our sweet sleepy angels!

A Time for Reflection...............

As Nate figured out how to use the swing all by himself, I was so proud and yet so sad! It seems like just the other day Nate was a baby. I can't believe he is already three-and-a-half! Where did all the time go? Why is it that when you are a child there are too many hours in a day but as you get older not enough? Yes, I am rather melancholy! As I pondered all our time together my mind automatically went to things that are yet to come.......pre-school, high school, college, marriage. I do not recommend doing this unless you have a large bottle of tequila nearby! My little man is growing up! His independence is growing everyday and please don't get me wrong, I encourage it and am so very proud of all his accomplishments. I just miss the old days sometimes! I am terrified of the day when he no longer want kisses and hugs ( I am praying I can convince him he does)! I look forward to every stage in his life, but sometimes, I just need to remember where we have been!







Nathan, you are my greatest joy and I will continue to love you unconditionally everyday for the rest of your life!

An Evening with Nanny!

On Saturday, my mom kept Nate overnight! It was his first overnight stay with her and he did fabulous. They played board games, ate tons of junk food, played in the sprinklers and at 8:00 pm (his normal bedtime) went to his favorite place--Laugh out Loud. He was having so much fun that he didn't want to come home on Sunday! My mom, being the amazing woman that she is, suggested he hang out with her Sunday afternoon. They stopped by our house to grab some stuff and upon walking in the door Nate pronounced "I'm not home, I'm just here to get tables with nanny then I am going to her house"!

Sean and I had a wonderful 24 hours kid free. Thank you mom! You are the absolute best Nanny in the world and Nate and I love you!!!!!

Soccer is over!

No more late night Friday practices and Saturday afternoon games. Soccer is officially over! Saturday morning was our end-of-the-season soccer party. We met the coach and players at a great park on post. Here are some pictures of little man...............

Nate receiving his certificate from his coach.

The kids enjoying cake and ice cream.

Nate and Winston (same league, different teams) playing in the fountains.

Let the Weeball begin!

Thursday evening was the start of the Weeball season (it only runs for one month). His schedule is insane. We practice every Wednesday night from 6:30 - 7:30 pm (his bedtime is 7:30 pm) and games are every Thursday and Saturday. Yes, you read that correctly, two games a week. Some of his games are even scheduled for 7:30 at night! I don't know how they expect 3-year-olds to play that late at night (then again, I think we are the minority in his bedtime). Here are some pictures of his first game. He did an amazing job! Go Nathan................


Whacking the ball! Yes, I mean whacking. That ball went far.

I made it!

Running home. This is a non-competitive league. Every child gets a chance to bat. After the last player has hit, all the kids still on base run home.

Nate as an outfielder.

"I'm ready for the ball mom". Parents are encouraged to shadow their child on the field. It was so much fun being out there with little man. We had a great time!

Of course pretty Ella was there as well to cheer on Nate. All the kids loved her! Tired from all the attention, she had to have a nap (no, those are not my hairy legs next to her! They belong to Seans brother Kevin)! LOL!

Ella is home!

Yesterday evening we drove to Cement, OK to pick up our precious Ella! She is absolutely beautiful. We spent some time last night getting her familiar and comfortable with her crate (God bless youtube videos) and she did amazing, only fussing when she needed to go potty. I was positive it would be a long, sleepless night with a six-week puppy! I was so wrong; Miss Ella slept continuously from 12:00am - 7:00am.



House training is moving along. We have only had a few accidents. She likes getting treats so she is pretty eager to go outside to use the potty. Here are some pictures of the ever adorable Ella!


She loves her rope toy!



Lazing in the sun

No animals were hurt in the production of this photo. Sam is very curious about Ella. A lot of sniffing has transpired but that's about it. I am sure he is irritated but doing a great job of gradual acceptance.

Flower Planting Party

Yesterday we had 10 mommies and their children over for a flower planting party. Only about four kids showed interest in painting flower pots and planting flowers so we changed the theme to water fun! We filled up the water table, set up the slip-n-slide and broke out the swimming pool. The kids had a blast! When you get the water bill Sean please remember that I love you!





Little man is doing great with water activities. I think having his friends participate with him has helped tremendously! Thankfully, he no longer screams when H2O gets in his eyes (except of course for bathtime).