Other July Happenings

WOW! This is Grace before church one Sunday. We bought sponge rollers for her hair to try out before the big wedding. The size we used was a little too curly and out of control! But she loved looking in the mirror at herself. We are leaving tomorrow for the big trip to Tennessee and my brother's wedding. We will be gone a while, but will have pics to post when we get back! Congrats Micah and Erica!! Until then, see the rest of you bloggers later!!

I promise we don't swim every day, but we sure love going on Saturdays when Josh can go with us. Grace loves the slides!

The kids enjoyed a morning of mowing with Daddy. Brady is enthralled with bubbles, so he loves his bubble mower.

I don't know if you can tell, but Brady had a run-in with Grace's day bed. He was in there alone jumping on the bed (I know, I can't watch him every second). Well he fell somehow and got a bad cut next to his eye. His eyelid was very red for a few days too, but now he looks much better. Poor buddy!

Grace wanting to help feed her cousin. She sure is a little mommy!

Aunt Marisa and Caleb- Go Red Raiders!

Here is Brady throwing a fit because some kid was playing with something he wanted. He has started these fits lately, and we just ignore him and walk away. We'll see how long that works!

We often go to the mall to play in the soft-play area, but I never take pictures. This day we went to play and eat at Chick-fil-A (of course! Doesn't everyone eat there at least once a week?). We also met Aunt Marisa and Baby Caleb there.

Swim lessons, Part 2

The past two weeks the kids have been in more swim lessons through our city athletic center. Grace didn't really learn too much since she had already been in private lessons. But Brady and I had a great time and he learned so much! He can kick and move his arms and float on his back. He jumps in, gets his head under the water and feels very comfortable. I couldn't very well leave Grace sitting by the pool, so she took lessons too. Grammy came to watch one day and take pictures for us.

Lubbock Trip!

Grace and Benjamin chowing down on bbq and homemade ice cream. They had a big churner that was fun to watch! Overall, our trip across West Texas was a hit! We had a great time with many of our cousins and grandparents. Brady is finally getting better in the car, so we will make this trip again. So long, friends!

My friend, Rebecca. I always have to thank/ or NOT thank Rebecca for introducing me to Josh. :) We were in the same sorority together and became friends. She introduced me to her silly cousin Josh and we dated ever since. It's so nice and fun to have a friend that is actually in the family. She married Josh's good friend Lou, so we have a lot of fun together. Now that they moved halfway between Dallas and Lubbock we will visit a lot! It was so fun at their house!

Brady wanted nothing to do with the water. I guess the other kids were too big for him to be bouncing around. He is a lightweight!

Clyde had a great bbq on July 5th that we went to. They had this great band playing old country songs, and these little old men singing and playing. We all loved it! They also had bounce houses and water slides to do.

On our way home, we stopped in Clyde, TX to visit Josh's cousin, husband, and family. They love playing with their cousins Benjamin, Madilyn, and Jacob.

Grace and Brady with their Mom-mu and Grandad

Brady was pretty scared of the fireworks, but looked at a few of them, while having a death grip on me!

The kids watching the fireworks show. It was an awesome show and plenty of fireworks!

Later in the afternoon we went back to the Fisher's for a cookout. We set up our slide there for 8 kids to play on. They all had a blast with all the Fisher's toys.

A moment of affection: Sharing the towel with her brother after the slip n' slide

After the parade, we went back to Josh's Mom-mu and Grandad's. We set up our slip n' slide and Josh once again had to throw the kids down it. Cousin Caitlin loved it and really played a long time on it (unlike our kids).

July 4th we went to the 4th on Broadway parade. It was hilarious; small town parade with people throwing out candy and lots of floats and cars with businesses on them. Josh about died with the Gay and Lesbian float that said "Things are Changin'". The Fishers brought about 100 donut holes that we all ate while we enjoyed the parade. It was fun.

Me and my Mamaw- see the resemblance??

Luke, Brady, Logan, Grace, and Hannah

Brady loved banging the drums

We always LOVE to see our friends the Fishers'. Josh has been friends with Jason since 8th grade and their kids are so fun! We got invited to the Science Spectrum with them, and my kids had a blast. They especially loved the water table!

My Mimi and her only great grandkids. We always have fun staying at her house and boy is she a great cook!

When we got to town, we went to Mimi's house. We had dinner at On the Border with my uncle Scott, Aunt Patti, and cousin Jessica. She is awesome with kids, and entertains Grace and Brady so well!

Aaahh! Sleeping children in the car! Could anything be better. This trip looks so relaxing, right? I could only get pictures while they were behaving. There's no time for pics when Mama's driving down the highway at 75 mph trying to stop the fighting in the back, pass out snacks, change the DVD, get someone's dropped sippy cup, etc. We did make it there safely!

Brady intently watching "Elmo's World"

I decided it was about time to go to Lubbock (where Josh and I grew up) to visit Josh and my grandparents, other family, and some friends. We were so blessed to get a new Honda minivan (although I said I would never drive a "mommy car"). So the kids and I packed up and headed out of Dallas. This is how we started the trip. Movies galore! We tried the headphones, but Brady couldn't keep them on, so Mommy had to listen to hours of Elmo. Oh well, it's better than screaming!

June 2008

Floating
I got roped into being a director for Vacation Bible School, so that took up a lot of our month. We were at church a whole week prior setting up our room and getting prepared. Then we had the whole week of VBS. I taught 4 yr olds, but not Grace's class. Also, during VBS week, Grace started private swim lessons. She really learned a lot from Mrs. Leslie and can swim pretty well. She wouldn't let the parents watch because the kids are so preoccupied, so on the last day they had a show off day. Here is Grace kicking and putting her face in the water.

Poor Presley running away from the ants and fire!

One night we were going to cookout, and took the cover off our grill. We had grilled out about a week before and thought nothing of it. If you look closely, this is an ENORMOUS ant bed under our grill. It was so tall and had millions of ants swarming around. I was freaking out because Grace is deathly allergic and I was scared for our 10 lb. dog. Josh was trying to use all sorts of fluids to blow the whole thing up with fire. Needless to say, this was one eventful meal!

We decided to get a slip n' slide for the summer. Boy was that a mistake. Our kids have no idea how to slide on it, and are terrified when Josh throws them down it. They like to splash in the water and that's about it. Good thing we can go to the city pool for free!

Grace finished up her t-ball season and never once noticed she was the only girl on the team. She says she will play next year-we'll see. Here she is getting her award from Daddy and Coach Matthew. Everyone got one game ball for a trait they possessed. Grace: loudest singer in the field. Maybe she won't be a great athlete!

Where have we been?

Brady LOVES ice cream!

On Memorial Day, we had a great family day. We went to the pool at our new city Athletic Center, and then had some ice cream. It was a very laid back day. I usually like to travel over holidays, but with gas so high--well, you all know how that is!

Grace and her cousin Owen watching the game.

Josh and Brady and my cousin Seth, and son Cade.

Below is my cousin Jill's little boy, Brett! He is PRECIOUS! Several months ago he was hit by a car when he wandered off the driveway into the street. God has done miracles to heal all his scars, wrist, etc. He is 6 weeks older than Brady. Over Memorial Weekend, his Daddy's police co-workers had a baseball fundraiser to help with his hospital costs. Here is all the fam at the baseball game. Brett still has a spot on his brain that will have further testing soon. If you think of it, please pray that God would completely heal little Brett's brain!

I know you're all beginning to wonder, does Dianna even check her blog? Will she ever update it? Well, I'm finally back. I have GOT to get Josh to teach me how to get the pics from the camera to computer. Our summer is turning out to be busier than our school year, and I am NOT liking that. Here are some pics of what happened in June. The kids are growing bigger and bigger, and playing more together. They are also fighting more! Yikes! How Brady knows how to aggrivate his sister I'll never know. Must be an innate brother thing!