ALS and Ice

We have been just chillin' around here.

Brody had his meeting with the TN Early Intervention Center.  He was a smart boy and able to do exactly what she wanted (hand her ball, dog, car, etc.).  He just didn't really say anything she could understand.  So we qualified for speech therapy until three.  I'm super excited.  He just has a little speech delay and I'm sure over time, it will fix itself; but I love that we can jump on it now.   


I got off early one afternoon and treated the boys to yogurt.  Summer has finally caught up with us and it is HOT.


Happy.

Droopy eye when he is tired.

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has gone viral and it finally got to us last week.  Mason was very excited about it.

He got a little concerned when I dumped water on myself...just wasn't as excited any longer.  =)

But he was a trooper.

A little side note.  I think this challenge is great.  A ton of money has been raised but more importantly, the awareness is now there.  Everyone knows about ALS.  My sweet little guy wanted to know what it was exactly.  After talking about it the whole way home,  he said he knew what he needed to do (I thought he was talking about dumping water on his head).  He put some change in his pocket and when it was time to get wet, he pulled it out and said it was so the people who are sick could get better.  We donated and added in Mason's money.

It's Friday!

I challenged Mom, so she let me dump water on her.  =)

And Brinkley got Brody.  Silly thing.

Mason turned into a rat.  =)

Our kids decided to wake up at six o'clock Saturday morning.  Perkins it was.
Another side note:  Driving by Perkins, Brody screams and points to stop there.  Every time.  The kid must love those pancakes.

We had Sarah Blake's birthday party Saturday.  Mason did about a hundred front flips off the diving board.  I only had about fifty heart attacks.

Speaking of heart attacks, Brody is not scared of the water.  He especially likes to jump off the side of the pool when you are NOT looking.

Jake tossing the birthday girl in the air.

Cupcakes!

We came home and I assumed would take a nap...but the neighbors were out so that wasn't happening.  I still can't believe there are 6 boys the same age on a tiny piece of our street.

We all went swimming that afternoon in Alex's pool.  They had to take a break from jumping off the diving board for a snack.

Movie night.  (so Mom and Dad could rest!!!!)

That garden of mine has a mind of its own...maybe my thumb isn't so green after all.  Don't put your cucumbers close to peppers or squash...

I have half squash/cucumber and half pepper/cucumber.




Sunday afternoon we celebrated Mr. Larry's birthday.

John and Anderson.

They had a slip-n-slide set up and you know these two were all over that.

Brody trying to figure it all out.

Reese sliding.

Mason.

And then Robert had to show them how to do it.   Ha.

Then we helped Mr. Larry do his ALS challenge.  He had a couple extra people dumping water on him.

Big big weekend.  Both boys fell asleep about five minutes from the house...so we turned the car around and got ice cream.  The kids never knew.  =)

And just like last week, Mason never woke back up again...slept until 6:00 this morning.  That kid needs his sleep!

Another Lake Weekend

John and I got away for a fun weekend celebrating one of my friends since Kindergarten and her husband's birthday.  We headed back to Pickwick (sans kids) and had a relaxing lake weekend.  

Mason is getting older though, and realizes what it means when we are going out of town...he is missing out on fun.  He needed to know where we were going and was not happy he wasn't coming back to the lake with us.  I assured him that he would be spoiled rotten and Mickey Mouse and Grandma's houses, but I wasn't too convincing.  

Of course he had a blast.  Friday night, he got to hang out with Brinkley.  He rode her around for a nice stroll. 

And she returned the favor to Brody....although, he wasn't too sure about it.  

In the meantime, I was enjoying a cup of coffee (still bright and early since I have an internal alarm clock that doesn't go off on "off weekends").  So peaceful.  

Lyndsey and I on the boat headed to the falls. 

 We had the best time.  Emily and Daniel had a ski boat and a pontoon boat.  Mark and Jessica met us down there with their new ski boat.  We hooked them together and just hung out.  

Next up was tubing.  This 3-seater was awesome.  We all just laughed the entire time we were on it.  

Jake, Jessica, and John.  

John and Jake couldn't stop giggling either.  =)

Love him. 

And love these girls.  We had the best time and was just what we needed.  

We surprised Emily and Daniel with a cake.  

 And made them blow out candles.

We had a great weekend and so glad we got to celebrate with them.  It is always nice to surround yourself with people you've known almost your whole life.  We laughed the entire weekend. 

2 Year Stats

Mason is loving his pre-k class and teacher.  She has been sending me pictures throughout the week so I approve.  They are definitely more focused on being independent.  He says he is working on "self-control".  

One of our neighbors came by on his four-wheeler and asked if the boys wanted to ride.  We figured Brody would jump right on out, so Mason and his friends rode.  He has been talking about it ever since.  

We also were able to swim a few hours last weekend at our friends/neighbors house.  Mason is NOT scared of jumping off the diving board.  He wouldn't stop flipping off. 

John had a dinner meeting one night this week and spur of the moment, I decided to take both boys out to eat by myself.  I got a tad nervous as we pulled up, but they were perfect.  We even tried to touch our tongue to our nose.  

The weather has been AMAZING this entire summer.  

This is our nightly routine.  Mason and Brody race each other up and down the street.  Mason on his bike.  Brody pushing the cozy coop.  

 We had Levi over again for dinner.  

Brody thought he was a big boy.  

Brody has his 2 year check up yesterday with Dr. Bubba.  

Weight: 27 pounds - 50%

Height: undetermined.  

(the kid would not stand up so I need to measure him at home.  I just keep forgetting)

  When Dr. Bubba asked him to say a few words, he did try but they just don't sound like words (unless it is the few he knows).  He has definitely improved in the last two months which is extremely important.  Everything seems just perfect with him except the delayed speech.  Dr. Bubba assured me he would catch up, but Tennessee offers a great (and free) speech therapist service until the age of three.  We are going to check it out.    

He clearly says: Mommy, Daddy, Bubba, No, Mine, Stop, Stuck, I want, Outside (sounds like side), Me Mouse (Mickey Mouse), etc.  

He also sings any and every song.  I swear he sings more than he talks.  It isn't even like he is repeating the words, he says them on key.  He sure loves some "Fancy" these days.  

You can only get him to repeat things for sure if Mason asks him to say it.  John or I try and he says nothing.  Mason tries, and he says something new every time.  The little booger knows what he's doing.  =)

This weather has us ready for football season.  When it is 60 degrees in the morning, I feel like we should be driving to Oxford for a football game.  So the door hanger is up and we are ready!  =)