Memorial Day 2013

Memorial Day took us to Uncle Jerry and Aunt Carrell's farm for our annual cookout.  The temperature was just perfect, especially with the strong winds.  It really helped keep everyone nice and cool; windblown nonetheless, but comfortable. 

Cousin Brenlee is a very loving little girl.  This is how she greeted all the small children who came to the cookout at her grandparent's house.  So precious!  There is the same age difference in these two as there is in Beth (Brenlee's mom) and I.  So seeing them loving on each other really warms my heart.

When Beth and I were little girls, we would climb the fence you see in the background and walk way back in that field to an area that had lots of oversized rocks.  They were, most likely, covering a sinkhole.  We would pretend to be on an island and jump from rock to rock for hours.  Lots of fun memories at my cousin's house.

Uncle Mark entertained Canaan for the longest time.  The great thing about family get-togethers is that there is always plenty of family to help with little ones.

One of my favorite memories of Beth's house was mixing cereals.  Beth always had an obscene amount of cereal at her house.  She was the one who taught me to mix several together in one bowl.  One day, we took our mixed cereal outside to eat and where did we eat it?  On this very picnic table, of course.

Hadley couldn't stay with one toy for long.  She wanted to try out everything for just a minute; can you say over-stimulated?

We really had a great time kicking off summer, visiting sweet family and friends, and celebrating the brave men and women who defend (or defended) our freedoms everyday.  Happy Memorial Day!

Gone Fishin'

Fishing in Ma and Papa's pond is a summertime rite of passage for all Stinson grandchildren.  This was Hadley's first time fishing and her big(ger) cousin, Larissa, let her borrow her pink Barbie fishing pole.  Granddad helped Hadley every inch of the way, as she reeled in her first catch.  Don't worry...Papa's pond is of the catch and release variety...no fish fry for us on this night.  Hopefully the first of many fish for our girl!

Happy Birthday, Addison & Ava

It's hard to believe that my nieces, Addison and Ava, are turning four and two.  Times flies so quickly!  Tiffany brought the girls to Mama and Daddy's house for a joint birthday party celebrating both girl's sweet little lives.  Their birthdays are turning in to a fun family tradition, since their party is held on Memorial Day weekend, and is the kick-off to summer.  That's certainly what we did that night.

When Nana and Grandaddy Hughes arrived, the grandkids attacked Grandaddy.  Growing up, this is exactly how my siblings and I always reacted when we saw him, so it sets him over the top when his 'greats' do the same thing.

We kid that Canaan is fascinated by Great-Nan's white hair.  He just stares at it and pats it.  Nana thinks it's hysterical. 

Even though this is supposed to be a double stroller for dolls, Ava insists on riding in it.  Hadley's gingerbread baby is comfortably riding along in the carrier and Addison has Bradley's childhood doll, My Buddy (aka "Chucky"), in the back of her vehicle.  These kiddos love their toys with wheels.

 My mom really wanted a picture of all her grandbabies, in her flowers.  I was waiting for Canaan to abandon ship at any point and land face-first in the mulch.  Oh me...pics with this crew...whew! 

 My mom got help watering her flowers from all the kids.  Funny how Hadley never thinks about helping me water flowers at home, but at Nana and Poppy's house, everything is different ;)

 Although a firepit isn't necessarily an authentic way to make smores, it's still awfully fun.  I get impatient and tend to scorch my marshmallows.  I've actually acquired a taste for burnt ones, believe it or not.  However, Grandaddy Hughes showed me how to really roast a marshmallow.  Granted, it takes forever....but it was much better.  You have to let the marshmallow get really hot first, which is a long process, and then it melts from the inside, which tastes so much better.  The wisdom of seniors...

 

 Tiffany's boyfriend, Jamey, played the guitar and sang for us.  Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" is always a hit.  He was great and we were so impressed with his skills!  Now we just need to go hear his band sometime. 

 My mom has recently introduced Levi to sticks and they pretend to be ninja warriors, fighting each other with them.  I suppose she thinks this is what boys are supposed to do, therefore introducing baby Canaan to sticks.  As you can imagine, every "stick" adage went through my mind as I watched him holding it, and I kept imagining his eyeballs getting gouged out.  But I tried to not overreact...I really really tried. 

 Both of my grandfathers, Grandaddy White ("Jewell", hence Hadley's middle name) and Grandaddy Hughes eat breakfast together every morning at Auburn's local pool hall, with a big group of men.  So it's natural for them to shoot the breeze over food ;)  Love, love, love, having my grandparents together like this.

What a sweet night celebrating two very sweet little girls.  Happy Birthday, Addison and Ava!!  We love you bunches!

Hot Rods

The Hot Rods are Bowling Green's Minor League Baseball Team.  The Corvette is manufactured in Bowling Green and is considered the official sportscar of Kentucky.  So the name "Hot Rods" seems very appropriate for our local baseball team.  Thursday night was Educator Night at the stadium, and Justin and I took advantage of free tickets and took the kids for a fun-filled night of food and baseball.  I had been through Field Day earlier in the day, complete with inflatables and water slides.  Since my students insisted I do everything with them, I was just a little worn out for our fun family night.  But something about knowing summer break is just a few hours away, gives you a little extra pep in your step ;)

Mellow Mushroom is just around the corner from the Hot Rods stadium, so we grabbed some pizza and listened to the live jazz band before the game. 
We knew that we wouldn't stay for the entire game, especially after we found out it was a double header.  But at least Hadley and Canaan got to experience their first big-league (pseudo) baseball game on a beautiful evening.  Hadley loved the music and even sang along a time or two.  I think minor league teams do a great job of really including fans in on the fun.

My family has long been Cincinnati Reds baseball fans and we went to a couple of games when I was growing up.  I loved the memory of getting ice cream in a miniature baseball hat.  Hadley feels so big when she gets her "own" of anything when we go out somewhere.  Many times we just share, but tonight was a special treat...our own little summer kickoff!

We love that we are actually experiencing spring this year.  It seems like, for the past several years, we have jumped straight from winter to summer.  But this year, we have actually gotten cool spring nights.  We even wrapped up with blankets a little later in the evening.

Hadley got restless after awhile, so she and I went for a walk.  There was a huge hill beside the outfield, where kids were rolling, running, and having a blast.  She wanted to get in on the fun, but is still too timid for that sort of thing. 

Ah, I think I can smell summer in the air!

Eight Months Old

Eight months old.  My sweet boy is changing so very quickly.  The biggest change is in how much more active he's getting.  He continues to be the happiest little guy, always grinning from ear to ear.

Although he's still not crawling, he is definitely getting up like he's ready to go, but then he just falls forward on his belly and gets so mad.

 

He uses his right hand to completely do a 360, on his bottom; he is so strong; it just amazes me. As far as his activity is concerned, he wants to be sitting up playing with a toy that makes noise or bouncing/jumping.  He literally looks like he's going to take flight, at times, he flails his arms so hard and fast.  I'm waiting for lift off anytime now.  When you hold Canaan, he won't be "still," at all.  This is where I'm seeing the biggest difference between he and his sister.  She would sit and you wouldn't have to clear the table or watch your surroundings.  Not with Canaan!  As soon as you hold him, he dives forward or sideways, trying to get to something. 

I think he has an unbelievable wingspan, as he can grab things that should be way beyond his reach.  It cracks me up, but it's also exhausting. He's the kind of baby you definitely have to pass off once he has completely worn you out.  Still no tooth in sight for our little guy, but teething symptoms are so troublesome.  He has to keep a bib on pretty much all his waking hours because he slobbers and it soaks through his clothes.

Isn't he just adorable?  Look at those eyes.  Oh, how I've loved these eight months with my sweetest boy.

Mother's Day Weekend

Our Mother's Day festivities were spread out over Saturday and Sunday, this year.  The Hughes' decided to throw together an impromptu fried chicken and all the fixin's get-together, in honor of Nana, Saturday evening.  When you live in Kentucky, Kentucky Fried Chicken is a staple meal for family get-togethers.  It is simply the best, and not just because I'm a Kentucky girl ;).

Hadley and Levi got to feed Grandaddy Hughes' fish.

The precious goodies that Hadley and Canaan gave me, from daycare, were the best presents.  I so cherish those types of thoughtful gifts.  This was my first official set of Canaan's hand and footprints so I was just over-the-top with excitement and even got teary-eyed on his sweet teachers.

On Sunday, we surprised my mom by attending "preaching" (which my college friends always gave me such a hard way to go for calling it preaching instead of worship) with my parents and grandparents.  Grandaddy White decided he wanted to honor the mother's in his life, so we headed to Aunt Michelle and Uncle Mark's house for a Roy's Barbecue lunch, after church.  We closed our day by visiting Justin's mom and his grandmother, Ma, for our second KFC meal of the weekend. Busy, as usual, for us.  But I wouldn't have it any other way.  I am so incredibly thankful for my two little ones who call (or will call) me Mommy!  Happy Mother's Day!

Azaleas 2013

I wish I could take credit for the gorgeous azaleas in front of our house, but I totally can't.  However, I do appreciate whoever planted them, because they are simply gorgeous.  I had this grand idea that I would start taking a picture of Hadley and Canaan, in front of the azaleas, each year when they were in bloom.  However, we had such a wet May that I never could find a time to snap their picture when Canaan could actually sit on the ground and not get wet.  Ahhh, there's always next year, right?