A September to Remember!

To kick off September and Labor Day weekend, what better than to get away? Well, that we just did. We went to the mountains with my family for the weekend and to Dollywood. We were really fortunate and planned this trip on a whim and came across an amazing deal with this cabin right behind Dollywood, making it more than convenient to enjoy the mountains as well as the park while we were in Pigeon Forge. The kids loved the cabin, as well as the adults! Oh and my kids LOVE hot-tubs!

Also to help usher fall in, one cool evening we  I decided to get the fire pit and make a fire to roast marsh mellows. I'm still not exactly sure what I was thinking because for some reason I thought it was gonna be relaxing? There is nothing relaxing about 3 kids and fire....anyways...

Oh yeah and the house...is coming along!! Its the back addition; garage, with new master suite, Brin's room and powder room. Yay for Ray the husband, dad, carpenter, contractor, electrician, excavator, laborer and everything else he does for us to have the home we live in! We love you Deedaw!

All good things must come to an end...

As all good things must come to an end, so has this summer. We have had such an awesome summer. It has been filled with long, fun, hot days coupled with water, food, and friends. What more could we ask for?

To wrap up the summer we had a couple more water slide days, lake days, some watermelon, more play dates and cookouts!

Farewell summer 2011 and welcome fall ya'll.

My Babies started school !!!

My baby, big boy started Kindergarten!!! He was so excited to start school. I think I was just as nervous as he was as we where walking into the school but then we saw a lot of kids and parents we both knew and both of us were at ease!
Bryson looked adorable his first day, I may be a little partial! Brinley and Colton wanted to go but their school, mother's day out, hadn't started yet.
Moreover, big brother was proud he was going to big school and happily took pics with Brin. I walked him to class after setting in bus hall with him and honestly he was ready for me to go. Their were no tears, not even from me! Yay, mom! I am very pleased with the school Bryson goes to, it has been an 'Achievement School' three years in a row! Also, I know a lot of people there as well and that helps!

Finally, Brin and Colton started mother's day out. I was really sad and happy at the same time they were going, I guess it finalized the end of summer and also they had graduated to new teachers and classes after you work so hard at building those relationships over the previous year, it is just a little sentimental.

Oh yeah, I think Brin and Colton looked pretty cute too!!

Brinley Rae is 2!!

Who would have thought its true, Miss Brinley Rae' is turning TWO! Well, I believe it...she is scratching the surface of terrible two's and her being a PRINCESS doesn't help that at all! Anyways, we had a small little party for her 2nd birthday party celebration coupled with a water slide and cupcakes!

 It turned out to be a gorgeous and HOT day so it was perfect for the kids, not so much the adults, but the waterslide was a big hit (thanks to my friends Marie and David)!!

Brinley was slightly cranky at the beginning thus the grouchy pics and then the party was such a whirlwind she didn't really take it all in till she was playing all alone in the kitchen with all her new toys!

I must say this was one of our more successful birthday parties, yet.

4th of July!

Then this year, we decided to have a small get together at my moms. It was a lot smaller but quaint and fun.

We got our feel of food, fun and fireworks along with fellowship and family! Happy 4th!!Our Fourth of July tradition is to go Ray's aunt Wanda's for a cookout with the whole Gardner family and then some. I absolutely love the atmosphere there! Their is a plethora of food, family, fireworks and fun!

Memorial Day, park dates, and lake days!!

Memorial Day (water), park dates (water) and lake days (more water)...see a pattern! Its HOT and we are cooling off in the water!!

Yeah, I'm back blogging and usual but moreover again because I skipped from the beach straight to Brinley's bday and forgot a few important events in between! :) I was just excited...

For Memorial Day we had over a few friends and family, cooked out, and set up a water slide. Of course the kids had a blast as well as us!

Normally, we have my mom's pool and my mother in law's pool but they BOTH decided to get new pools. So they tore the pools down at the beginning of summer and didn't get them in til the middle and almost end of summer. I must say we are grateful we have a boat and also that they both got bigger and better pools for us to enjoy! We LOVE the lake and especially this year because we found the best cove and hung out there for hours and let the kids swim, play, and eat all day! I remember the first boat ride of the summer like it was yesterday! We really enjoy water! :)

So we went to the splash pad a few times to help combat the heat too!