Trying Something New...

So here is my first attempt at putting a video on Blogger...we shall see if I am successful. If I am, you should see a video of Frank playing with the boys...this is a very typical look at an evening at home.
Feel free to comment if you have any pointers on better ways to put video on Blogger.
There are more posts coming...I have lots of pics, but we've been thoroughly enjoying our summer, so I haven't taken the time to post!

NOLA here we come!!!

Mom, Dad, Frank, and I took the boys to New Orleans for the day. It's nice to live close enough to make a day trip. The boys were WORN OUT afterward, but I think they had quite a fun time. We started off at the zoo. (Actually we had pancakes at the McDs in Brookhaven first, but who's counting!) Caden was super excited about seeing all of the animals. He's always enjoyed learning about animals and their sounds. He wasn't a big fan of the hat, but I've got very white children, so we must take all of the proper precautions!! :) It was also hot as who-da-thunk that day!!!!
Ah, the smell of elephants in the morning!! Refreshing!
Remember when I said it was hot??? Mom would periodically let the boys enjoy a portable fan. They LOVED it, and we all got a good laugh out of the fact that mom actually brought fans with us!
Caden and Grayson ADORE their Papa!! He would pretty much win out against anyone in their minds (including Frank and I!).
Grayson was HOT, but he was a tropper. I think he had a good time, but how do you really know with a 15 month old?? He did like when we let him out of the stroller to run around. He's our little busy body!!
Caden was super pumped about riding the "carous-wheel". First he wanted to ride the elephant, and he had a ball!!
I love carousels!! They are so happy...they speak to a simpler time. But I digress!!
Then the zoo had the fabulous misting fans. In this pic the boys are all standing under one of them. You can see it in the very top right corner of the picture.
Mommy and Daddy with Caden. Have I mentioned yet that it was HOT!!!
The big boys went on the train ride around the zoo. Caden loved it and told mom and I all about it when they were done.
In the meantime, Grayson was tired and HUNGRY, so mom and I went to find the boys something to eat. We call Grayson "Linus" because he LOVES his blanket. The only time that he sucks his thumb is when he has his blanket. It is so cute!
After the train ride, Caden talked Papa into one more ride on the "Carous-wheel" because this time he wanted to ride on a lion. I think a good time was had by all!!

Let's go to the Aquarium...

When we left the zoo, we headed over to the Aquarium. Actually we had some Mother's po-boys in the car on the way. YUMMO!!!!! We knew Caden would really enjoy the aquarium, and we were, quite frankly, glad to be in the A/C. What we didn't expect, however, was how much Grayson loved it!!! He was absolutely enamored!
He wanted to see everything. He tried to look and see all he could. We were there a good 30 minutes before sweet Graybaby was completely passed out in the stroller. He slept through most of the aquarium. We'll have to go back sometime so he can enjoy the whole thing...I know he would love it!
Caden loved that lots of the exhibits had buttons underneath them. He love running up and pushing all of the buttons. It wasn't very crowded, so that was very nice for us!
I just liked these birds...I thought it was cute how they were cleaning eachother. They were taking care of one another. We've just gotta do that for each other every now and again. Some spots, ya just can't reach!
When I turned around to see what my parents were laughing at, my first thought was, "Dear Lord, I hope that's not the piranha tank!!" Caden was INTENSE about getting something in the tank. I assumed he wanted to touch a fish.
Oh look, there's a fish...how cute he wants to pet the fish!!
NOPE!!! God love his little OCD heart!! There was a leaf in the tank, and he just HAD to get it out. Good gracious, I love that little guy!!! He makes me laugh every single day!!
Daddy and Caden in the giant teeth...no idea to what this jaw belongs!!
On the way home, we stopped at Gambino's Bakery for some Doberge squares, and we let Caden have a petit four. Caden was just tickled with his "baby cake." He practically licked the wrapper!

Fire Academy field trip...

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR LOTS OF NEW POSTS!!!
We took the 5th grade to the MS Fire Academy for our field trip this year. It was SO much fun. The kids absolutely loved it! We got to watch the folks at fire academy get drilled on getting all of their gear on in 2 minutes. Poor guys, they had only been there for 2 days, and already they have kids watching them train! There was also a SWAT team there training in repelling.

They, of course, were setting some pretty HUGE fires to put out.

This was at the simulated plane crash area.

It was so cool to watch!

Easter Traditions...

This year, the church asked that families come the day before Easter to put flowers on the cross. We thought this would be a great tradition to start with our boys. We were just going to leave the flowers there for some of the women there to place as they pleased, but Caden wanted to put one on the cross. I'm glad he did...what a precious picture!!!!! I pray that one day very soon that our boys will begin to understand the importance of Easter.

As you can tell, Caden was absolutely THRILLED to be in the car! We headed up to Columbus on Easter Monday to visit with family and friends. It was a great trip, but we were EXHAUSTED when we got back. I must say, though, it was totally worth it!

Grayson didn't make it all the way to Columbus without a nap. Of course, he didn't fall asleep until we were past Starkville. oh well!

Caden's ready for the trip home with his tee ball glove on his hand. Be looking forward to tee ball pics coming soon!!! We start practice in a couple of weeks...it should be a HOOT!!!

Egg Hunting with Friends...

We have some of the sweetest friends at church. We do supper clubs, bunko, you name it, we do it! We are so blessed. One of the couples that we are friends with also have 2 little boys. There boys are 2 months older than our boys, so we have lots of fun with them. They invited us over for an Easter Egg hunt at their house.

Hey Jim, where are you going???

Wait, buddy, I'm coming, too!

Busy boys!!

Grayson is the ultimate "egg-napper!"

Sweet, Jim...

Eggs, Eggs, Everywhere...

He's getting the hang of this!!

Easter Pictures...

We took the boys to Portrait Innovations in Renaissance to try and get some pics in their Easter outfits. I don't know how they did it, but they managed to get some cut pics of my little Easter Bunnies!!