Pool Party

Jonathan and Amy have bought a new house that has a pool, and they closed last night, so we all went over to enjoy it, and we celebrated Phillip's birthday in the process. We hate to see them move, but we're all so glad that they chose a house with a pool.

VIPs...

Well, not so much, but we had the passes. Phillip got us tickets and VIP passes to the Jeff Fisher Charity softball game, so we went on Saturday. When I was preparing to leave, Lofton insisted on wearing his Titans shirt and Landon wanted to wear a baseball shirt, and Landon also thought he was going to play baseball not watch it.

It was a lot of fun, and Lofton got to get his picture made with several players. I tried to get his picture made with a cheerleader, but he had no desire to have his picture made with a girl. Both boys tried desperately to get T-Rac's attention, but they didn't succeed. I asked Landon if he would've let me take his picture with T-Rac, but he said, "No, I scared." Landon wouldn't even get his picture made with any of the guys, so I got in one with him.

It was a fun night, and we did feel very important.

Happy Birthday, Lofton

Lofton turned five on Friday, June 19th, and we celebrated by having him an Indiana Jones themed party at our neighborhood clubhouse. Lofton was very vocal in the planning of the party by insisting that it was an all boys' party. I told him that I would also invite family, and that his cousins, aunts, grandmothers, and myself are girls. He was ok with it, so we proceeded with a family and boyfriends party. The kids had a great time. Pop Pop made them each an Indiana Jones bag in which they put the treasures that they found on their scavenger hunt. Before going on their hunt, they had to complete an obstacle course.

Although the obstacle course and scavenger hunt was a lot of fun, Lofton couldn't wait to open his presents. He got a lot of great things which included Transformers, Wii games, an Indiana Jones action set, money, a water slide, a light saber, books, his own tackle box full of fishing stuff, a fishing pole, and two frogs. Yeah, you read it right; Lofton received two frogs compliments of the Griffins. And, he loves them. They have taken up residence in our new frog themed bathroom. Hopefully, the frogs are both boys or both girls because two frogs are enough.

It was a great day! I can't believe our little boy is five years old.

Lofton is 5!

Wow! It is hard to believe that Lofton is five years old. He is such a wonderful "little" boy. He has the sweetest personality, and he is so caring. Every since he was one year old or so, he'd give me hugs and tell me he loved me. He still does it all the time, and there is no better feeling in the world than when he does it. He is so smart, and he doesn't forget a thing. He keeps us on our toes. Lofton is a wonderful big brother, and Landon adores him. I love to watch them play together and to hear Landon giggle constantly when they're together. I can't wait to watch them grow up together, but I just don't want them to grow up too quickly.

Pre-Birthday Celebration

We celebrated both Lofton's and Phillip's birthdays early by going to dinner and to bowl. Lofton even got to open his presents from Phillip and I and Landon early. Landon too got to open gifts; Phillip let Landon open his, and surprisingly, Lofton let Landon open one of Lofton's gifts. How sweet!






We ended our celebration by going to the pool with Jude and Jonathan. And, I got to mark one of the things off of my summer to do list- "teach Lofton to swim." He was swimming with his face underwater before we left the pool. He of course, needs some more practice, but he has overcome his fears, and he is jumping in and swimming. On the way home, he said, "I am so proud of myself." We too are proud of him.






Oh, yeah, Jude spent the night with us too.

Lawn Work

Our friend, Caleb Walker, who is also a former student of mine, mowed our grass on Tuesday, and he had a little help from Landon!

Camping

This past weekend, we took our highly anticipated camping trip to Standing Stone State Park with the Griffins. Phillip couldn't wait to get there, and he wanted to make sure we got a good spot at the campsite, so we left on Thursday. When we got there, the boys couldn't wait to fish. So, Phillip went to the office and asked if there was a trail that led to the lake. She directed us to the trail, and we were on our way. I think it must have been a trail made by a deer because it was a skinny steep trail- not one for walking on with small children. On our hike, I couldn't even walk side by side and hold Lofton's hand, so he walked in front of me, and I would hold on to his hand when it looked treacherous; Phillip carried Landon. Well, on our hike, we (well, Phillip not me) saw a snake above us in a tree; it was good that I didn't see it or we'd have started our hike back up. Lofton also slipped and fell and was holding on to a root. I grabbed him, and we were both scared, but when I told him he was like Indiana Jones, he got over it. When we finally got to fish, it was uneventful- not a thing was caught. And, this was the story of the weekend. The boys and Ella also fished on Friday and Saturday, but they did not catch a thing unless you count the turtle that Landon reeled in. It was a good thing we weren't fishing for our dinner. Then, we went back to our (mine and Amy's) cabin for the night, and it was good that we did seeing as there were tornado warnings all night and severe thunderstorms.

The Griffins joined us on Friday, and the boys and kids hit the campsite. Phillip made dinner, and the kids and adults made smores, caught lightening bugs, and told "scary" campfire stories.

On Saturday, we all enjoyed swimming, which was surprisingly Landon's favorite part. He usually hates the pool, but he has changed his mind, and I couldn't even get him to leave. The kids with Jonathan and Phillip also fished and stomped in the creek on Saturday. We ended Saturday with a hike and a delicious meal (who knew you could eat so well on a camping trip), and of course smores and stories.

The camping experience wasn't complete without the catching of a fish, so on our way home, Phillip drove to Dale Hollow, where they finally caught a fish, and we then got to head on our way home. I am happy to say we all survived, and I am actually thinking it would be fun to do again. I know I wouldn't feel this way had I not slept in an air conditioned cabin with a bathroom and beds.

I recently changed my guest bathroom to the boys' bathroom and redecorated it. Phillip had a picture on his cell phone of Lofton holding a large frog, so I had him email me the picture so that I could hang it in our frog themed bathroom, and as I was looking through his phone, I saw these old pictures of Landon taken right before his eye surgery at Vanderbilt. I had always meant to get them printed for his baby book, but I never did. Phillip emailed them to me, and we both were shocked to see just how crossed his eyes were. At our last checkup with Dr. Donahue (a month or so ago), I was reminded just how fortunate we are. Dr. Donahue drew me a diagram of Landon's colabomas and showed me that had they been a little larger or in a different spot that he could've been blind. He also told me that Landon is lucky to not have had to have glasses. Dr. Donahue told us as we were leaving that Landon is "quite a lucky young man." We agree, but we also know that many prayers were answered on Landon's behalf. God is good! We are so blessed.


Minutes before Landon's surgery



16 months later!

Who's the Boss?

Tonight after Lofton said his prayers, he started asking me questions about heaven, such as, "Will Jesus take all of our stuff with us? When are we going to heaven?" After he and I talked about it for several minutes, he then said to me, "When we go to heaven, God will be the boss; not you. Tell, daddy that, ok."

How sweet and innocent are children! And, how funny that he recognized me as the boss and not Phillip!

WORN OUT!

We went to the pool on Saturday with Nana, and the boys were having so much fun that we totally missed nap time. Before I knew it, it was 3:00, so I packed up to head home knowing that Landon would fall asleep quickly, but I had no idea that Lofton would fall asleep before I hit the interstate!

Chocolaholic

Landon by far loves chocolate more than about anyone I know. He gets giddy if you even speak the word. It is definetely a key to his heart. The other day he somehow got his hands on some chocolate, and this is what happened.