A Weekend Celebration for the 4th

The 4th of July was a wonderful holiday this year. It's always nice for our family when the holiday falls on a weekend because Brad gets an extra day off so we get extra family time together. This time we spent the Friday before the 4th at the zoo. What a wonderful fun trip it was. I think I like the zoo at least as much as the kids. It was busy but not so many people that we felt crowded. Caroline and Carson were able to walk some instead of riding in the stroller the whole time which made the whole day even nicer. There were so many baby animals. Baby ducks, a baby monkey, a baby elephant on the way, several young giraffes. Baby ducks I think made the top of Caroline's list. She was fond of most of the animals as was Carson.















Children always come up with the most hilarious things to say. My top pick of the day was when Caroline said "Look daddy! Those monkeys need to put on some unnerware" Guess she noticed their pink hinies. How could you miss them? My second was when Carson looked up at the very tall giraffe and said "Bird" He sounded just like Flower the skunk on Bambi. I was so proud he said bird for the first time who cared if it was a giraffe instead. We finished off with a snow cone on the way to cat country where Brad and the kids enjoyed playing in the water mister for a while. After our day trip to the zoo filled with a picnic lunch and snow cones, we called it a day.

Caroline and Maci

Carson watching the fireworks

Saturday we hung around the house most of the day but went to a get together at Chase, Lia and Maci's for a firework show. I love living across the street from family. We don't get together near as much as I would like but it's so nice to be able to run over for a quick chat from time to time. Carson LOVED the fireworks. Caroline wasn't the biggest fan but decided they were great if it meant she didn't have to go to bed on time.
Sunday we finished off the weekend of the 4th with the remainder of the sparklers.
What a great weekend to celebrate our freedom.

Brad with Caroline and Carson on Father's Day


Christi, myself and Patrick with our Papa or New Papa as the great grandkids renamed him


Papa with 3 of his children Aunt Cyndi, my Daddy and Aunt Mary


The 3 Namesakes


Marsha and Papa


So as promised I knew this would be a few days. We had a wonderful Father's Day this year. After my grandfather's heart attack scare, we felt even more blessed to still have him here with us. We celebrated with a cookout at Aunt Cyndi's in Jackson, followed by that wonderful family time. We have a large family and wish everyone else could have shared in this special day with us but just the same the family that was there made for a wonderful day of shared stories and laughs. God truly does bless us with our families. They make our lives so special, more than we ever realize until it is too late. And since this is my blog about father's it would only be appropriate to brag about the perfect ones in my life. I think all little girls think their daddy is better than anyone else's but as a grown woman I still feel that way. Now God has blessed me with Brad who is in the same league. He does so much with Caroline and Carson. And even though he is the discipline parent some how he still gets to be the fun parent. How did that happen? He always makes time to make everything special for our kids. He spends time with them no matter what else has to be sacrificed and he even still gets up with them at night for going on now 3 years instead of always expecting me to do it. Brad truly is a special man.

Caroline and Carson playing a tune.


Patrick and Momma


Daddy and Caroline


Caroline being a ham. I love this picture of her.


Aunt Mary and her 2 boys Joseph and Andrew with Papa.


Aunt Cyndi and her family with Papa. Eric, Jackson, Dallas, Catie, Matt.

Bath Night

Caroline is my big helper. Last night it was bath time and not only for Caroline and Carson but Libby and Knox as well. Those are the joys of having inside dogs(they require regular baths) With Libby in the bath, Caroline was glad to climb right in to help. Thank goodness she was content with helping with just Libby. Knox doesn't care much for baths and being a big dog he is plenty to contend to in the bath. All the same I thought Libby and Caroline made for quite a cute bath time picture.

Uncle P's new baby

Uncle Patrick got a new puppy named Brooks. He is the cutest weenie dog. Caroline loves him as you can tell. I think she would be even happier if we just let her put a bonnet and a diaper on him.

Daddies

Like Father like son

Brad and Carson
I'm sure it will be a a while before I make the time to blog again so before hand this is my tribute to daddies. And on my list here are the best. I think all little girls want to grow up and find someone just like their daddies and since mine is the best of course I did. At first I wasn't sure if Brad was going to be able to measure up by but the longer I spend with him the more I see him being like my own father. I hope that when Carson grows up he will be a father JUST like Brad.

Papa and Daddy

Cake Batter what a wonderful taste!

Caroline can be so sweet to Carson. Sunday we had a family cookout so before everyone got there Caroline helped me make cupcakes. She was such a big help and even offered to share the beater with Carson. This was Carson's first taste of cake batter and I think he likes it more than the cake. If you would take it away he would squeal and follow you around for more. I was so proud of Caroline for sharing. She is a wonderful big sister. Carson was her "baby" and now he is her "brother". Last night when I got home from work, they were chasing each other around on the floor, giggling and having the best time.

For the thanks they don't get...

A little after the fact but as promised here are the pictures of the swing set. After the wait and calling in reinforcements (my daddy came to help) it was well worth it to see Caroline play on it. She thinks it is the BEST and of course cause "my daddy made it FOR ME" as she says. That sparkle it puts in her eye is wonderful. And I must say I am quite proud of Brad and Daddy myself. Not that I ever doubted but it was an awful lot of parts on such a rainy, nasty weekend. Daddy did a great job putting it together. So for all the things daddies do that they never get thanks for, I have come to realize that sometimes a thanks is not needed when you see that sparkle in your child's eye. AND that thanks can come in so many ways... because to hear Caroline say in excitement "MY daddy made it FOR ME!" says so much more than thanks.

Lately... Rain or Shine

With all the rain we've been getting it has left our yard a soggy, muddy mess. So it is either playing in the mud or finding something a little more clean. So in one of the breaks from all the rain over the weekend, our 1st adventure was in the muddy backyard assisting daddy in building our new swing set. Carson loves the mud. If he isn't eating it, he is throwing a hand full of it or walering in it. Our second adventure of the day came after a good down pour. We had already played in the mud and knew there was no place without in in our back yard so to the front we went. This is one of the neat things about living in a subdivision and living in a quiet cove. There's not much traffic ever and so we got the wagon out and walked around the cove as we often do when it is too wet to play outside much. But after a big down pour there is a lot of water that runs to the storm drain and what fun that is to follow and splash in as it makes its way to the drain and spills over like a big water fall. This made for the cutest pictures.
Caroline's adventure with the storm drain



Now that the weather seems to be turning out to be lots of sunshine, it's still all water. Caroline I think would become a fish if she could. Although Carson is not much on the outside water that adds up to any amount. He loves the bathtub but no matter how warm I get the water of their swimming pool he's not up for the fun. Just pour some water on the ground and he'll be content to splash in that. Today Christian, Aubrey and Tucker came to play so we got out Caroline's new sprinkler.

Carson turned 1! May 22nd

The day of Carson's birthday started with a present.



Birthdays have always been a big deal in my life. My family always made them extra special for me and I want to carry on that same tradition for my children. Needless to say Carson's celebration was carried on for 3 days. It started with his party at MeMe's or Mrs. Gail's. She bought all the kids that stay with him at the babysitters a small cupcake to have and got some wonderful pictures of Carson eating his. Then on Friday the 22nd Carson's actual birthday, Brad took off work to stay at home and spend the day with us ( I'm already off on Friday's). We were off in search of a swing set and came home with the most wonderful one. I'll post pictures when Brad finishes assembling all the parts. We stopped by McDonald's for our birthday happy meal. Of course big sister Caroline helped in picking our eating location and then on to Baskin Robbins. We celebrate with ice cream on the day and save the cake for the party. Carson's first taste of chocolate chip cookie dough and he is sold on sweets. Then Saturday for the celebration.

Carson eating his first birthday cake.


We had a wonderful time celebrating with our family. For Carson we decided is was only fitting to make this day just about him. We had all our family over for a fish fry. Everything turned out wonderful. The Lord blessed us with one day's break from the rain to hold off until just as his party ended. Although Carson had a good time with the presents and playing, I'm certain the cake was his favorite. And yes he ate the whole thing!! He wasn't hiding any in his seat as I thought I'd find when I got him out of his high chair. There was but a few crumbs there.
It is really hard to believe my sweet little boy is already one. Time with him really has disappeared quickly. I'm not sure if that is because he is such a good baby or because I know he is my last and I'm holding on to him being a baby. It is so funny the things a little boy has brought me. He is definitely not what I expected. He's not usually a snuggle baby but definitely a mama's boy which I love. I know that will be a bad thing one day... (but not for me ha ha!) He is so sweet, and calm but loves things that Caroline never did and will not touch the things she does.

And oh what fun comes with one!!! Carson started walking a few weeks before turning one so he is everywhere. What adventures we will have now!
Presents...


Presents...


PRESENTS!!!

Caroline, Tucker and Andrew


Carson and his 1st fish fry

Carson's 1st cake all for his own

Caroline helping (not that Carson needs any)





Carson's 1st cake


Nonnee, Papa and Uncle P at Carson's party


Maci enjoying herself swinging at Carson's party. She is so pretty. And now we have another cousin we can't wait to meet as well Adalyn Grace Baskin.

BUSY could never describe

Caroline being a mother hen. What's better than a bunch of baby dolls? A real life baby doll. I thought she was so sweet with Maci at my mom's trunk show last Saturday

I know I haven't posted in a while but life's been a whirlwind lately. Between helping my mother get everything ready for her trunk show (which has taken up a great deal of my time over the past few weeks) which by the way turned out pretty good despite that it seemed to slip past most everyone I know and invited, but I am very thankful to those few good friends I have that did attend in support of my mother and now on to this week which is full of planning for Carson's very very special 1st Birthday party... Not to mention that Brad's job is taking him out of town at least 3 nights every week, I am trying to study to take more boards at work (cat scan this time)and my Papa had his triple bypass last Wednesday........does life EVER slow down??? I barely have time to keep up with the normal daily routine much less check my e-mails and respond and post on my blog. I honestly don't know how some of my friends do it. I guess some people truly do work better under pressure. I know I tell people all the time about April for example... 3 kids 2 of which are boys need we say more we all know how our rambunctious boys are but she also has 1 girl and as girls we all know the many needs that come with being a girl. She also holds down a full time job as a high school teacher(way too many close to adult mouths for me), checks her e-mails (yes that's plural for a reason) has 3 kids in ball and 1 in dance as well, volunteers with JA and makes most functions and meetings with that, is thinking about teaching swimming lessons this summer,plays with what 1/2, 3?? Bunco groups can talk on the phone, send a text, check her face book and emails and probably even twitter now all at the same time while driving down the road to a place she's never been but seems to know the directions by instinct while putting on her makeup at the last minute, making sure her kids have what they need before they get there and tying shoes and making sure faces are clean. AND still has plenty of time to keep up with housework, spend time with her husband, family and friends, plan social events, keep up with her favorite shows, go to church, shop, go out of town, coach t-ball and many more I probably don't even know about. Is this all really the job of a wife and mother??? Maybe some of us women are better multitaskers than others or maybe some really do just work better the more pressure they are under but I envy those at times that seem to juggle so much and never drop the plates they are juggling. Maybe I'm just too concerned with how clean, evenly spaced and level my plates are to realize they still keep juggling just the same no matter the direction they are turned in. I'm sure to many, they look at me just as I do April and wonder how I do all that I do but sometimes it sures seems like the day just isn't long enough for the have tos much less the want tos like keeping in touch with those friends that are juggling just as many plates as you and many times more. So since no one probably tells you either GOOD JOB for ALL that you each keep going each day.
Well guess that was my soapbox for the day.
To update everyone, Papa's bypass surgery went very well we are hoping he will be coming home sometime this week. If the Lord willing, he seems to be on a good path of recovery.
Papa and Daddy