Of Cows and Cousins

 Tuesday was Cow Appreciation Day at Chik-Fil-A.  Which meant, that if you dressed up like a cow, you got free chicken.  We were so in!!! I thought we all looked moo-velous. 

The Chik-Fil-A's in our area are always busy.  I anticipated them being extra busy on Cow Appreciation Day, so I thought it would be best to get there for lunch right at 11:00.  On our way, we picked up the rest of our herd - Emily and Stephen.  As we walked up to the restaurant, the workers started ringing cowbells and cheering for us.  It was great!  We were actually able to walk right up to the counter to order our food.  We went at the perfect time, because it started to get really busy once we got seated.  Before we knew it, we had our food.  I got to sit by these cute boys! (Can you spot the girls at the next table?)

As we were eating, this little cow cutie came to our table.  

Karsyn loved her!!!

 Before we left, the staff asked to take a picture of our herd.  Here we all are!

Before we left, I had to get a picture of these beautiful bovines. =)

 Our free fun was far from over.  When we left CFA, we headed to a local bakery to cash in the free cookie coupons the kids had earned from completing the library summer reading program.  

 We stopped for a quick wardrobe change, well for some of us.  Addi and Karsyn wanted to stay in their cow clothes.  Then, we met some friends at the skating rink.  To go with the theme of the day, we used our free skating passes. =)  It was Addi's first time to skate.  With a skate mate, she did great! (The pictures aren't the best quality, because it was dark and I was on skates too. lol)

Here's Mr. Stephen with Karsyn.  Stephen's a pretty good skater.  It was also Karsyn's first time to skate.  She started off in regular skates and had a skate mate. She was doing okay, but she wasn't doing as well as she wanted to do.  I switched her out to kiddie skates and then she owned the place. lol.

In fact, she pulled Evan all around.  LOL!

Our friend also helped Evan. 

Payton was having a little trouble at first.  She took over Karsyn's skate mate and decided that she LOVES skating.  That made me very happy!!

Miss Emily is a fantastic skater!

I always love seeing these sweet cousin moments. Karsyn is the youngest cousin by quite a few years, but that has never stopped her from having a tight bond with all of her cousins. It's such a blessing to me.

We closed the skating rink down....for the afternoon public skate anyways.  We hopped over to Sonic for a drink.  Then, we took Emily and Stephen home.  That evening, the kiddos and I hopped in the pool.  This might end up being my favorite picture of the summer!

I love these summer days.

Sweet Summer Time

This summer is going by a little too fast, but we won't let that keep us from enjoying it.  Last week, we had a cousin cookout.

Jason fired up the grill so that Aunt Kary, Emily, and Stephen could join us for an afternoon of hot dogs, popsicles, and pool time.

We had such a nice time.  The following day, I finally got the kiddos signed up for the Summer Reading Program.  Addi loves reading at the library.

The kiddos have enjoyed a snow cone or two this summer.

We headed into T-Town and visited a library there.  They have some pretty awesome libraries.

The kiddos have been reading books EVERYWHERE!!!

We've been enjoying our Friday night dinners at our favorite deli.

We have one more month until school starts and we are going to soak up the sun as much as we can.

Every Heart Beats True For The Red, White, and Blue

Our little family started celebrating Independence Day on Saturday by remembering those who could not celebrate with us this year.

Nana, Papa, the kiddos and I all went to the cemetery to decorate Grandma Shirley's grave for the 4th. It's one of those times when her not being here is just hard.  She loved everything about the 4th and we loved everything about her.  When Jason got off work in the evening, we put flags out in memory of his grandparents.  We spent many of our first Independence Days together at their home eating homemade ice cream and enjoying fireworks.  On Sunday, we enjoyed an ice cream social at our church in the evening and then took on a fireworks show in a nearby town.

 The next morning, we got up early to get ready to celebrate at our house.  Before we got started, we took our annual picture.  I love these red, white, and blue cuties!

We finished all of our inside chores and headed outside to find that our pool was green!!!!  GREEN!!!!  We quickly switched gears and decided to have a sprinkler and water balloon party.  I was pretty disappointed.  We weren't only celebrating Independence Day, we were also celebrating our Karsyn and Jessi's birthdays.  Once we started decorating, I knew we'd all have fun.  

We had quite the crew show up.  Grandpa James, Uncle Terry, Uncle Lee, Aunt Mel, Nana, Papa, Aunt Ashley, Jessi, Billy, Kary, Natalie, Emily, Stephen, Floyd, and all 6 of us.  Here we all are.

We kept the menu super simple.  Jason grilled hot dogs and we had chips on the side.  Nana brought ice cold watermelon.  It was delicious!!!

After we ate, the kids played in the water for a bit.  Then, it was cake time!

Karsyn made sure that she got the "Happy Birthday" sign.  

After cake time, it was the moment the birthday girls had been waiting for - present time!!! Addi was really sweet and read Karsyn all of her cards.  

 The reality of just how fast our little firecracker has grown up really hit me as she was looking at this card.  My baby girl is a 5 year-old!

Soon after presents and another romp in the water hose, our guest started slowly heading home.  We got cleaned up and went to Grandma and Papa's house.  Uncle Brian and Aunt Stephanie met us there too for some more 4th of July fun.  I love $5 Old Navy Flag tees. =)

We had all kinds of Independence Day goodies.  Papa's homemade orange sherbet was a huge hit.

After we ate and played a game or two, it was time to put on a show.  These two little ladies like to use headphones to block out some of the noise.

Evan loved doing pop it's on the porch.

Payton loves hanging out with her Aunt Stephanie.

Jason, Uncle Brian, and Papa put on a pretty good show.

We wrapped up fireworks and called it an evening.  I feel so grateful to raise our family in a country where we know freedom.  It's a huge blessing!  Hope you had a wonderful time celebrating!!!

Life Lately

 Life lately has included a few play dates at the splash pad with friends.  When Evan and Payton were at camp, Addi, Karsyn and I met up with some school friends at the park.  They had way too much fun in the sun.

 Earlier this week, the kiddos and I met up with my bank girls for a night of water fun and catching up. 

On our way home, we we all marveled at the beautiful sunset.  I love it when God paints the sky with many colors.  This picture truly does't do it justice.  We are looking forward to our next splash pad date with church friends planned next week.

 These two girls have spent the last two weeks in swimming lessons.

Karsyn did so well at her first lesson, that they kicked her out of class.  She's always been a water baby and was pretty good at getting around the pool with her floaties.  She just needed to hone in on a few skills to swim on her own.  Changing classes meant that she got some more one on one time with the instructors.  I switched Addi too and the girls were glad to be in class together.  During the first week of lessons, Evan and Payton were at camp.  But the second week, they got to enjoy the pool while the little ladies learned how to swim.  The girls particularly loved Water Safety Day.  They learned what to do if they are in a capsized boat situation and how to save a friend from the deep end when you are little.

I'm hoping to sign the girls up for more lessons later on this summer.  Per the kiddos' request, Jason made a tire swing.  They have just loved it!  Anyone have any good tips on how to make grass grow under a very shaded tree?

For Mother's Day, Jason bought me a patio tomato plant.  Karsyn picked this little cutie earlier this week.  Some day, I'd really like to grow a bigger veggie garden....I say that every year and haven't.  We'll see. ;)

Every Friday night, I take the kids out to dinner at our favorite deli.  I had a great coupon and I was having a cheat eat day, so we headed to Zio's.  (Side note - I don't do cheat days often.  I only do them when the scale stops moving for two or more weeks.  It's proven to be a very successful method for me so far.  This time, I really needed not only a body reset, but a mind reset too. It was just what I needed, because I'm ready to get back at it tomorrow.  I hope the scale agrees.)  I laughed to myself a little when we entered the restaurant.  It's been a while since I got the "She's crazy for doing ________ with four kids" look, but it was done by more than a few people. lol!  Despite the looks, it was a great dinner and we all really enjoyed ourselves and our meals. Evan and I split the Spicy Chicken Alfredo.  It was soooo good!

As for the good coupon....it doesn't actually start until tomorrow. Ugh! The waiter was super kind though and didn't charge us for our drinks.   After dinner, we saw the "hot" light on at Krispy Kreme.  Free donuts make us happy!

The kids also really enjoyed the free entertainment.  I was pretty sure that I was going ot have to drag the kids out of there. LOL!

We'll spend the rest of our weekend gearing up to celebrate Independence Day and a certain little firecracker who's about to turn five!  Hope you have a great and safe holiday!