Swim lessons!

Well the boys started swim lessons yesterday and I wasn't at all surprised by all the fun they had. My two little fish absolutely love the water! Nolan didn't really care to be around the other kids or instructors. He liked playing with the toy fishes and trying to dive into the pool, which is a no-no there.





I think Emmett is a natural born swimmer. As soon as we put him in to the water he started kicking his legs. He got cold after a bit and wanted out. It was really windy too so that didn't help!




I can't wait until our next lesson!

Some new favorite pics

These were taken at a 4-H event we attended a few days ago. Nothing too exciting happened though!





And yes I realize the lighting looks horrible! lol

Say "CHEESE"!

This is what I get when I tell Nolan to smile for the camera. He is SO his father's child!

Some Pre-summer fun!

We had a record breaking warm spring day this week. It got to a high of 76 degrees so we had to take advantage of the warmth while it lasted. God knows around here it can be gone in an instant! One year it snowed in JULY. Yes JULY. Craziness I tell ya.

So anyways, I broke out the slip-n-slide. That was a joy to put together. I was blowing up the end that is supposed to act as a stopper with air (my own I might add) all the while thinking that this hole is too damn big. Who the hell needs that big of a hole. Seriously. Then I realized it was for the water hose. Geez I felt like an idiot. Oh well. That's life for ya.

I think Nolan really enjoyed it. Though he would not actually "slide" down it. He preferred to run. And just a few minutes before I snapped these photos my butt was trying to show him how to do it. I imagine I looked very amusing. And man I must be out of shape because my arms are so sore. I only went down ONCE!











I was surprised my little daredevil wouldn't go down on his belly. He would start to head down it but get up fast, veer off to the side and run through. Silly boy!



He was starting to get bored after about 10 minutes.



He kept telling me,"No you do it mommy. You do it." Sorry honey, mommy is getting too old. :)

Emmett was not crazy about all this. First of all, the water was flipping cold. Second, this dog would not keep her head out of you-know-where.









"Wait! This isn't so bad after all!"









Time for some fishing! Nolan hoping to catch a big one!





"Ummm....the water touched my face. I think I am out."





Now believe it or not, this all took place just day before yesterday. Today it is 32 degrees, we have a fire built and it is pouring outside.

11 months old today!

Oh my how time flies! I can't believe Emmett is 11 months old today. Another month and I will be the mom of 2 toddlers. That is a scary thought!
So just a few stats on Mr. E. He is approximately 18.5 lbs and 29.5 inches. Much bigger than Nolan was at this age. It is amazing how different these two are! Like Emmett loves to eat. He actually eats more than Nolan does any given day. He sure packs it away. lol.
These days Emmett is crawling around super duper fast. And climbing everything in sight and scaring the living daylights out of me! He finds it amusing when mommy freaks. Little booger. These days everything is fair game for him to climb. Yesterday I caught him climbing up on to the little table. My heart dropped!



About 10 seconds after taking the above picture the chair almost toppled over. Yikes!

I think he is going to be walking soon. I occasionally catch him standing on his own. Once he knows that I am watching him, he grabs on to the couch or chair or whatever he was holding on to, for dear life!





My little man has also started talking! He has been saying "mama" and "dada" for a while now. His latest word is "kitty". It comes out so stinking cute!

He also started snapping his fingers. As in "snap, snap mama, I'm hungry!" Oh and he started clapping consistently last night! SO precious!



So now the countdown to the BIG ONE! I cannot wait!

Some Grad highlights

Graduation night was a whirlwind of emotions for everyone. My sister was weepy. My mom was weepy. I was weepy. Hell we all were! Cass is my last sibling to graduate high school. I imagine the next graduation will be college. So exciting!
Graduation day was awesome! We got to my Ma's house where I finished my sisters cake. Which by the way looked REALLY CRAPPY. I had all these ideas in my head but once I went to decorate it. Well it didn't quite pan out the way I wanted. Oh well. At least it tasted good!
I presented my sister with a custom made bar necklace that was imprinted with her initials and "dream, prosper, inspire". Those are the words that come to mind when I think of her. Anyways, I thought she was going to start bawling! lol. I am good at making people do that.
We had a nice family dinner. Doesn't happen all that often since we live 2 or so hours away and everyone is always so busy. So it was nice! I also got to meet my sisters boyfriend for the first time. Aren't they cute?



After that it was time for Graduation! The school was packed and man was it HOT! I really wish they would have the ceremonies outside.

Here comes the grad, here comes the grad!



The entire Westwood High School Class of 2010. God I feel old.




Now you may notice the empty chair with the framed photo on it. That is in memory of Shane. A dear friend of my sisters and fellow classmate who should have joined the class of 2010 that night. Sadly he passed away in an alcohol related accident last summer. :(

One of Cassandra's jobs as salutatorian was to give a speech. I thought she was going to pass out. But she did awesome! Though she was on the verge of tears when she said her tribute to Shane. I don't blame her one bit. I probably would have lost it 110%.



Next it was time for the rose ceremony. Westwood High has a tradition at every grad ceremony. Each grad is given a ton of roses to hand out to their family and friends who have been their for them. It is the sweetest thing!

Here is Cass and my mom. For some reason my mom always tries to look tough in pictures. Yeah, you don't fool me mom!



Cass and me. I look like hell. Doesn't help that I was sweatin' bullets in there.



So the night was great! I think Cass ended up with like 12 awards and tons of cash. Lucky girl! Hopefully she uses it wisely and not on clothes or anything like that.

Oh and of course, grad night wouldn't be grad night without our little tradition.


A CUPCAKE FIGHT!!!!!






What's funny is every year everyone tries to take my mom down but no one has succeeded. Not yet at least. Mom usually gets the grad pretty well. They typically come out looking like this.......



Congrats to the class of 2010!!!!

A little sad today....

Tomorrow my baby sister Cassandra graduates high school. I cannot believe how fast time has flown by. I remember when my mom brought her home from the hospital. I remember the very first time she walked. My mom was sitting on the crapper and Cass walked over to her. How could I forget that?!!? Or the time I made my other sister Katrina give Cass a drink of water from the toilet. Of course Tri got in trouble. Oh the days. I miss them.
You know when, Cass was little I thought she was like the biggest spoiled brat in the world. But as time went on, she has grown to be one of my best friends. I don't know what I would do without her. Or any of my family really.
So tomorrow is her last day of high school and I am sad. Sad that there will be no more softball, volleyball or basketball games to attend. No more plays. It is just sad. She will be off to college in no time. She has grown to be such a smart, beautiful and funny person. She will go far! Did I mention she is Salutatorian? Yeah, the little smart ass got all A's in 4 years except for one stinkin' B. Wish I could say that!

LOVE YOU SIS!! CONGRATS!!! Follow your dreams and you will succeed! I know you will go far in life. :)

Last Day of Speech

So today is the last day of speech for Nolan. At least until next school year. I am amazed by how far Nolan has come. He started with Mrs. W in November 2009. He had said maybe 15 words tops. He was WAY behind. As far as speech goes, he tested at the level of a 15 month old baby. Our goal was to get him to say at least 50 new words and 2-3 word sentences. This was to all be achieved by September of this year.
Here we are in June and we have surpassed this goal! He is saying probably over 200 WORDS and up to 6 word sentences! I am so proud of our little man! I always said I couldn't wait for the day that he starts talking. Well now he has and he doesn't stop! lol. Better late than never and I think he made a HUGE comeback! Way to go Nolan! Mama is so proud of you!