Happy Anniversary

Today, Craig and I celebrate 14 years of marriage. In the grand scheme of life, 14 years doesn't sound like long. Compared to some marriages, 14 years is a blink of an eye. However, we are proud of our 14 years. We've had ups and downs, moving forward and moving back, joys and heartaches. However, we have always had each other. We have always maintained our faith and our personal walks with God. We've come a long way. Together. Here's just a glimpse of where we've been in just the last 12 months.

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My dearest Craig,

I love sharing my life with you. I love the life we have created together. Thank you for always being there for me. Thank you for being willing to talk things out and so often leading that discussion. Thank you for being a spiritual leader and leading our family in such wonderful ways. I love the way you love me and our kids. Thank you for being such a wonderful dad and a great husband! Thank you for working so hard and allowing me to stay home with our kids. Thank you for all you do to protect our family and protect our marriage. I look forward to so much more in our years together to come.

I love you.

Happy 14th anniversary.

Off They Go

This morning, the alarm went off extra early. Our new routine as the school year begins. We've all been looking forward to this day for a while. Kalyn has been so excited to join Trinity at her school, ride the bus and meet all her new friends. Trinity has been excited to show Kalyn around the school, be back with her friends and learn cursive writing. We've done our school shopping, gotten lunch goodies to pack and pulled out the new school clothes (which is really just some longer shorts for Kalyn and some new shoes for Trinity).

We headed out to the bus, stopping for the traditional first day pictures, of course. The girls had picked out their clothes the night before and were ready to start the day. They both looked so cute in their little skirts (with the shorts attached underneath) and their backpacks.

We headed down the street to the bus stop.

Waiting for the bus on the bench Craig built a couple of years ago. We may outgrow it pretty soon.

The bus is here!!

Send our big girls off with our "I love you" sign.

I am already looking forward to hearing about their first day, their new friends and the general excitement! It will also be interesting to watch Xander as he adjust to not having his best buds with him at home. As he sat down for breakfast this morning, he called out, "Come on, guys. When are the girls coming to breakfast?" He was a bit sad that he had not been able to give them hugs before they headed off to school. He'll have fun today though - his buddy Asher is coming over.

Let the fun of the new school year begin!!!!

Nashville's Tomato Art Festival

As we planned our trip up to Nashville, my mom mentioned that we would be in town for the annual Tomato Art Festival. Yep, they have an entire day and an entire festival dedicated to the tomato. I knew it was bound to be tons of fun. We woke up Saturday morning and walked the couple of blocks over to the festival, of course in proper shirts that would pay homage to the tomato.

I will say that my mom had the material in her grand arsenal of fabric. How handy!

Off we go~

The festival was lots of fun. It kicked off with a "parade" that was lead by a New Orleans-type jazz band. For this event, "parade" is defined as a group of people who follow behind the band walking down the street. We jumped right in as it passed by. We took some time to enjoy the wonderful music as the band hit the main stage.

The streets were filled with vendors of all kinds. It was amazing to see the creativity! There was one corner that was dedicated to kid activities.

There was an inflatable jumpy house which our kids greatly enjoyed.

They had a spot to spray paint the kids' hair (red and green only of course).

There was even a cute craft section where the kids could make tomato puppets.

We grabbed a popsicle and headed back to the main stage. My sister had a good friend performing and we didn't want to miss it. Her band, Coal Train Railroad, was amazing. It is a great mix of kid music in jazz form. It's one of those kid CDs that I wouldn't mind listening to over and over. Their songs included titles like My Bellybutton Stays the Same, What's Mine is Yours and Just the Juice, Jack. So fun to listen to and dance to.

The only bad thing was the heat. After being out in it for a few hours, we needed a break. We headed back to my parents' home for some lunch and much appreciated air conditioning. A couple hours later, we all headed back out to the festival. We couldn't pass up this photo opportunity~

We also couldn't pass up enjoying a huge snowball. Shaved and flavored ice on a hot day was a necessity.

The kids even were given a special tomato treat - yummy sugar cookies in the shape of (of course) tomatoes.

What a great (and interesting) way to spend a Saturday.

Nashville, Part 1

A couple of weeks before school began, we travelled to Nashville for our summer vacation to my family. It was a very hot trip, but a fun one. It was wonderful to spend some time with my parents, grandmother, sister and brother-in-law.

Every trip to my parents' house includes a lot of time playing with my mom's collection of rubber ducks. The kids love the ducks.

We also visited their downtown library for a puppet show. This week, they were performing Many Moons. The kids really enjoyed watching it and getting the chance to see one of the marionette puppets up close afterwards.

Trinity found a jar filled with buttons. That lead to an afternoon of fun sorting and creating a "button museum". She had a wonderful time sorting the buttons and then showing them off to the rest of the family.

Xander is a motorcycle fanatic. He points them out whenever he sees or hears them on the road. So, he just loves the fact that his Papa has his own motorcycle. He talked all weekend about going on a "motorcycle ride". At one point, Papa took Xander out to the garage for the ride. He reved up the bike, and moved it back and forth about two feet. The look on Xander's face was one more of sheer terror than enjoyment for most of the "ride", but by the end, he was loving it.

Then Papa had to get a picture with his "little Buck".

Craig and I got a couple of nights out that we great enjoyed! One night, we got to have dinner with Ashley and Jeff. No pictures, but lots of laughter and smiles and just relaxing together. The next night, we were able to walk a couple of blocks up to a neighborhood ice cream shop, The Pied Piper. Their homemade ice cream is delicious. Craig enjoyed Strawberry Fields while I loved my Minty Python. A great way to cool off in the evening.

A couple of more Nashville posts to come, including our trip to the Tomato Festival. It was a great family-filled weekend.

Mandate

As one more farewell event for our friend, Bud, Craig put together a guys' night out. Bud loves his guns, so it only made sense that Craig talked to one of his buddies (Rance) in his hometown who had some spare land. A cry could be heard over all the land...."Let's shoot somethin". After shootin no less than 1000 rounds of ammunition into the field behind the targets, a fawn, barely walking appeared from the brush directly behind the targets. Both the fawn and it's mother were seen safely frolicing wearing their bullet proof fur (apparently)