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!

Caleb is born!

Grace and her Aunt Marisa. Sorry for the picture you probably didn't want on the internet, Marisa, but I had to show the new mommy and the one that did all the work! Way to go, we are so happy for your new family!

Grace holding her new cousin. Brady wanted to hold him too, but that was out!

New Dad (Uncle Gary) with Caleb while he got all his stats. The poor baby didn't have a name for 2 days. But we like the choice that was made.

My kids finally have a cousin! Josh's sister had her baby, Caleb Preston Coats on Saturday, May 10th. He is precious and so tiny (5 lb. 15 oz.). I wish I had babies that small! They are all doing so well. I have cousins who have kids and Josh has cousins who have kids, but this is our first real cousin (the others are real too, just second cousins, I guess. I don't think my kids know the difference.)

T-ball and Tea

On May 8, Grace's school class had a mother's day tea for all of the mommies. It was precious and so special to me. They sang songs and quoted scripture, then served us all lunch. They made all the mini sandwiches, desserts, and fruit. They even made sweet tea, which was very, very sweetened. They even gave us 2 gifts: a blue apron they made and decorated for us, and a book with pictures of them doing fun things at school all through the year.

These are some of the girls in Grace's class. Their teacher had these aprons monogrammed with their names, and the kids got to pick out the type of lace and sew it on! Their teacher is very hands-on and do it yourself. The other dark headed girl is Grace's best friend, Isabelle. She is moving in June to Florida, "by Disneyworld" Grace says. They have always been in the same school class, and I don't think Grace understands that she won't see Isabelle anymore. The beginning of next year may be tough when she gets to school and realizes there is no Isabelle.

Each child was responsible for passing out one food item that they had made as a class. Grace got to pass out the green cupcakes, and got green icing all over her apron. They thought they were so big carrying around big platters of food to all the mommies.

This is her class quoting sections of Psalms 139 ("You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb...I am fearfully and wonderfully made..."). They memorized around 10 verses of it, with motions the teacher made up. It was so hard not to bawl out loud hearing those precious, tiny children quote so many verses from God's Word. And we can keep practicing it at home. If you can teach them this young scriptures that speak to their heart, I believe they will remember it when they are going through difficult times. How wonderful for a little girl to know she is designed by God and precious to Him! I am so grateful for her school and her teachers that work so hard to teach them in the way they should go.

Good game!

Poor Brady! He is dying to play t-ball. When we even get near the church grounds, he starts yelling t-ball at the top of his lungs. Even if it's Sunday morning or a school day. He sits with the team on the bench, and sits with them for the post-game talk. He is on 3rd base here, wishing he were really in the game. He helps Grace warm up before the game starts. Thank goodness Grammy and Pops come to the games to help me keep him off the field. That is a huge job!

Grace is so happy! Of course this is before the game, when she's just looking forward to seeing her friend Sam and getting snacks and juice boxes. The actual game playing is something she would pass up.

This and That...

Here is Brady before church in his seersucker suit!!! No hair combed, of course. Josh actually took this picture because he says he is finally wearing something boyish. Josh hates the john-johns/jumpers that I put Brady in most Sundays. Speaking of Josh, please excuse the plethora of You Tube videos. I came home and he had posted Grace's every breath for the past week. We did have to put a small bit of dance recital and t-ball on there for her Papaw to see, but not the whole recital!!

The picture above and below are a typical day at our house. Grace is really into coloring, drawing, making notes for people, writing out her letters and numbers and the few words she can spell, and singing in her spare time. Brady on the other hand is a one man wrecking crew. Here he is playing a recorder, but normally he is throwing balls, hitting things with a bat or golf club, and generally aggrivating Grace. He says the word t-ball seriously about 50 times a day. He's supporting Ole Miss and Uncle Zach with his t-shirt. I haven't bothered to fix up our house very much because everything new I buy, they destroy. There are scratches and dings and crayon markings all over that nice table behind Brady. They sit there and play bookstore or shopping. Grace rings up all the stuff Brady brings her with their Fisher Price cash register. Does anyone else remember playing that stuff with their siblings??

The Tiptons came for a visit at the end of April and we were so glad they did! It was short because they had other friends and family to see, but it was so nice to catch up and let the kids play. My family (parents, brothers, and I) moved to Tennessee in August of 1992 the day before school started. I was NOT happy to leave Texas, and was a 15 yr old at that. The night we got to our new house, our next door neighbors came over to say hello. It was the Cherry family. They invited us to church, and had 3 kids around our same ages. Elaine immediately became one of my greatest friends. We had some classes together in high school, went to church together, did our nails together, and sometimes our homework. We could see each other through our kitchen windows, and it was SO fun living next to them. She was even my maid of honor. We are still great buddies and it was a blessing for them to visit!

The kids drawing with chalk on our fence

Grace had the end of her choir classes recently. I was disappointed because I thought they would have them all stand up and sing for us. But instead, the director had each kid sit with one parent while they showed us how their classes went each week. We sang the songs they sang, did the motions and games the kids worked on. Maybe next year it will be better. Since Grace loves to sing so much, we really want her to learn in choir.