Pumpkin Patch

The boys and I picked out our pumpkins at Thompson's school. The boys had lots of fun looking at the pumpkins and deciding which ones to get. This year we purchased 4 pumpkins one for each member of our family! Thompson  likes to go out on the front steps and talk about the  Daddy pumpkin and Mommy pumpkin and Thompson pumpkin and Jonathan (He says Jon-a-fin) pumpkin.

September-Thompson is 4

Thompson is 4! Where has the time gone??!! I'm really looking forward to this year. He has conversations all the time! Asking one million questions! I just enjoy how much he loves learning and being with people he loves. He gives amazing hugs! He is still his Dad's #1 fan! He is enjoying his preschool! He runs into his class every morning. Thompson is funny and truly kind to his brother! He enjoys playing outside. He loves cars and trucks! He is really into Spiderman and batman.

We gave him a superhero party at Thompson Park. He had a great time playing with Friends. We went to his school party and it was fun to see him in action. We made cookies they were the break and bake kind. They had Happy Birthday theme on each cookie. Thompson helped me bake them and you would have thought I spent hours on those cookies. He talked about them for days and told his teachers he and his mom baked cookies! It was really sweet.

Thompson, we love you and we pray that God uses you in a mighty way. That you grow up to love Jesus and others and be a Leader. We are so blessed to be your parents!

Destin trips in August

We spent time at the Monk Farm. We all love it there! It is a special place for the Monk family! A place that is lovely and peaceful! We had a great visit with Grandma and Granddaddy! We love them so much!

August had two trips to Destin. We were able to go just the four of us early in August and then we went again sans William who had navy Duty. We met up with Thomas, Jessie, TLO, Kristi, Gdaddy, Sadie and Lilly! We had a wonderful time on both trips! It is a great tradition that we spent our 3^rd year in a row with the Cascios and even more special to have TLO, Thomas and Jessie there too! We love y'all!

 Thompson and Daddy (in the background) loved riding the raves

 

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July 4th

July 4th is one of my favorite holidays. I love the USA and the liberty it has given me. I also began dating William 8 years ago this past July 4th. Congrats to Mary Beth (William's sister) got engaged to her Fiance this July 4th! So, it seems that July 4th is a great love holiday too!

July 4th , we  went to see my Aunt Laura and Uncle Richard. There aren't enough words to describe what an amazing woman Laura is! She is truly the best person I've ever known and I have the privilege of calling her family. Laura shares great wisdom and love! Richard and her boys are amazing also!

We spent the morning and lunch with them! Some of my favorite moments are Thompson playing in the pool with Richard and Richard making him a sandwich. Richard trying to explain that the pool was 5feet and Thompson looking and saying no there are two feet…his two feet. I loved Laura and Thompson talking about the trains.

Thank you, for letting us celebrate July 4^th with y’all! It was a highlight of our summer! We love you! Thompson still talks about swimming with Uncle Richard and the lunch he had at their house! He just loves them.

Ben came home and put on his helmet! Thompson loves Ben!

Richard throwing Thompson

That evening we went downtown to watch the Fireworks! Turns out a tree was blocking the view of our fireworks...it was funny! It was still a great evening:

June...better late than never??

We did so many fun things this summer and I was too busy to blog! :)

Here is the month of June:

William surprised me and called his mom to ask her to watch the boys. We went to Chateau Elan.  It isn't too far from us and it was a nice relaxing place with wine to sip and a pool to relax by. It was Father's day weekend so after the trip we had dinner in the Monks home! Thank you, Granmom and Granddad for keeping our guys!

My dad purchased a zoo membership for Jonathan for his birthday! We have been using it every month since. They have a passport that the boys can get stamped each time and earn prizes. Next month, we will earn free rides for the rest of the pass...6 months!
Here they are climbing the wall at the zoo:

 Finally, we had a fantastic dinner with some of Thompson family! It is always great to be together and we had a wonderful dinner celebrating Patrick's 21st birthday! There were many laughs!

MAY we catch up??

First of all, sorry for my super cheesy title! May has been BUSY; William has been out of town most of the month! He had two Navy duty trips (one long weekend in VA and then his 3week trip to Naples). Some people said, "How do you do it on your own?"
Here is how:

1.       I'm insanely proud of my husband for serving our country. The night we met, William said he was in the Navy and it made me want to get to know him. God started working on my heart at an early age to love and appreciate the military. When, I was in middle school, I began to watch military documentaries (still do)! Both my grandfathers served and so did my great-uncle Frank! This led me to have great pride in the Red, White and Blue and the men and woman who serve.  

2.       I’ve had help from  Lacey (always), Andy, Patrick (my cousin), church friends, my mom (this week she has been off from work and helped a ton),Kristi (drove from Charlotte) and Gayle came for an afternoon! Thanks so much to those who helped!!

3.      As far as military deployments go, three weeks is nothing. I have military friends whose husbands are away for an entire year serving. My little part in serving our country is to take care of our family while he is serving. However, there are many spouses doing it for longer and we should help them out.  The three weeks have been hard let’s be real- I’ve been tired and haven’t had as much patience with the boys as I would have liked (which is a slightly scary thought as I’m not the most patient person but that is another post for another day) but I have perspective and most importantly Jesus’ Grace and Love!

My darling boys, I want you to know that Daddy is way cool for serving our country and we should be super proud of him!! Daddy, we love you and thank you!

 The boys and I went to Destin with Lay-Lay and Patch and TLO (for one day before she headed back to work). Patch sat in the back of our KIA for the entire drive and watched CARS 9 million times and didn’t speak a complaining word.
We had a great trip and it was a fun way to make the time go by.

The best photo of both of them this trip:

Reptile Day

Today, Thompson had reptile day at Preschool. William and I also went a long as parent helpers.  My reptile guys did a fantastic lesson for the children. They let the kids pet and hold (with assistance) the animals. Thompson really enjoyed it and became more excited with each new reptile.  He only wanted to pet and look at the reptiles. Daddy had just as much fun as Thompson! It was a fun morning and we were glad to be a part of it.