Tour of the Midwest

For our vacation this year we spent a week and a half visiting family in the Midwest. First we went to St. Louis and spent the night with my grandparents and my parents. The next morning we headed to Pleasant Hill Missouri, right out of Kansas City for a family reunion with my Mom's side of the family. It took place at my Uncle Don (mom's brother) and Aunt Jackies house? They have quite a bit of land that has a stocked pond (the boys were able to catch a fish every time they casted) and a pool too! We had fun catching up with everyone and playing around. 

No one ever wanted to take a nap, but when they finally fell asleep they were OUT!

After five days of family fun, we were off to Eastern Iowa to visit with Cyril's family. We stayed with his Grandparents and had a blast. They live in the country as well, and the boys enjoyed running around outside. We took the blow up pool for the boys to play in as well.

They only used it one day though because it got quite cold in the middle of the week with the high reaching a whopping sixty four degrees! 

There was also quite a bit if rain and flooding, but we did see many beautiful rainbows!

We also went to see Tommy's first movie with Uncle John, How to Train Your Dragon 2. 

For the Fourth, we went to the parade in Grandview and then to Uncle Tom and Aunt Teresa's house for a cookout.

Tommy with Uncle Tom (whom Tommy was named after)

Cyril and Tommy next to their trees (Cyril's grandparents plant one for every grandchild when they are born). If you look back at my post from September 6, 2011 you can see how much Cyril's tree has grown with him! Tommy's tree will look about he same because the original one didn't make it so they planted a new one for him this year :) I tried to put them on here but I can't seem to make it work. 

We had a great time visiting family and enjoyed our time together! Now back to the real world! Cyril starts his job back at Watts Bar tomorrow, he had gotten laid off again last month due to a decrease in the project size that he was working on. At least this time he will be working day shift so we can see him in the evening. We are very thankful they wanted him to come back!

Tommy is Three!

I thought I published this a couple weeks ago...but I guess I didn't ;)

Tommy turned three on June 23rd! Hard to believe my baby is turning into a big boy. He is really developing a feisty personality, I wonder where he got it from ;) he is also starting to really use his imagination in play, it is quite fun to watch and listen. 

We celebrated his big day all weekend long. He had a pirate party with his friends on Saturday, family party Sunday, and school party Monday (his actual birthday). And his awesome birthday cake was made by one of my friends, Peggy, and it was big enough to be used as his cake all three days! It was delicious!!!

He also had two cavities filled the morning of his birthday, but he didn't complain. He said it tickled and he got a chocolate shake after for breakfast (Drs. orders of course). 

Enjoy the pictures!

Drinking the leftover coke from the diet coke + mentos volcano :)

Day two of delicious cake!

He got new bedding, and finally moved from the crib to a big boy bed! 

Front Flower Beds

This weekend I finally got back to the front flower beds that I had started to redo in the early spring. It was very labor intensive, but I am thrilled with the result! Now I need to get all the other flower beds to look this good :)

Garden Update!

Last Thursday evening it hailed quite hard, and needless to say I was quite concerned about my garden :) 

I then left for a weekend trip to Texas to see my friend Jen, whom I have known since I was six :) When I got home today I saw that not only did my garden survive...I have my first of many zucchini!!! On a sadder note the green beans and peas seem to be struggling a bit, but I plan to put out more seeds this weekend and try again!

So here is a picture of my little zucchini! It is at the bottom of the plant and kind of blends in with the leaves.

Backyard Superheroes!

9 Years :)

This past Wednesday Cyril and I celebrated our nine year wedding anniversary. Cyril's parents watched the boys and we went out for a nice dinner. We went to Bonefish Grill in Knoxville. For dessert we enjoyed a delicious coconut pie. I found the recipe online, so I made another nice dinner for the two of us this evening and made the pie for dessert! The boys dined on Kid Cuisines (their choice)! 

We had spinach, bacon, and scallops for dinner. And the beautiful roses are from Cyril. 

The boys ate on the tray tables :)

And here is the pie!

Two Yummy Strawberries!

So far our garden seems to be thriving! We have had two strawberries that have been ready to eat, and Tommy has had the privilege of eating them both! He says they are good :) Everything we have planted has sprouted and continues to grow well! Today we pulled the weeds out and got out all of the sticks. The boys are great helpers! 

And here is the view of the entire garden from the bottom