Happy Birthday, George!

We celebrated George's Birthday this year up in Ashburn with his family. George had the weekend off from work, so he met us up there for a couple days. The boys and I were already in town since we had to drop Lance off at his dad's for the weekend.

Jen and Eric treated us to a dinner at one of our favorite restaurants: Nagoya's. It never disappoints!

Half our party.

And the other half.

Cole was a champ and just watched from the side lines as our server cooked our food and shot flames up to the ceiling. He's pretty chill.

At one point of the dinner, the server usually tosses little pieces of shrimp at the guest and they try to catch it in their mouths.

Jude saw what was going on and not one to pass up on a good piece of shrimp, sat like this waiting for his turn. He was too young to get to do it, but he sure was cute trying.

After dinner we went back to George's parent's house to finish the cake.

Yum!

I had made some carrot cookies for George's mom and dad the day before since it was Mom's Birthday, too. They turned out great! I love this recipe from my Allred grandparents.

We sang to both George and his mom.

Happy Birthday!

It was a fun night. Happy Birthday, George!

George and I have been doing this weight lifting program called "Starting Strength" and it includes dead lifts, squats, and bent-over rows. So for his Birthday, I got him his own lifting belt and wrist straps. He loves them! Except now when he goes to the gym he feels like a spectacle when he breaks out his custom belt, wrist straps and chalk and yanks heavy bars off the ground. He says it feels strange to be "that guy" at the gym.

I keep meaning to get a picture of George with his belt, but haven't managed yet, so in the mean time, here's Jude modeling it, muscles and all:

Two years ago on his Birthday, I posted 27 things you might not know about George. Since he's 29, I'll add two:

28. I'm sure he'll really appreciate me sharing this, but George has horrible allergies. Horrible. So bad, he's had to do a series of weekly shots over the course of a couple years twice just to keep them under control. These allergies have led to other issues, too. A couple years ago he underwent surgery to basically hollow out his sinuses in an attempt to alleviate some of the symptoms:

Before:

After:

It worked wonders! He could even smell again, something that he hadn't been able to do very well for years.

29. George has a love affair with bow ties and owns probably 10 that you have to tie yourself. Yes, I know. Most people don't even own one and if they do, it's a fake one they had to wear with their band uniform for performances. He wanted to wear one at our wedding but I vetoed that idea. Sorry, George. Being who he is, I think George is one of the few people that can actually pull the look off and I've started to like the way he looks in them.

Happy Birthday, George! I love you!

Our 4th of July

Our 4th of July was spent with our best friends here in Charlottesville. Jamie and Melissa hosted a great get-together before we went to see the fireworks that night. Lance celebrated with his dad and had a great time, too!

It was so fun to be with all these neat families.

Jude loved hanging out with his best buddies.

Looks like the food was a hit!

We brought some hot wings and this fun drink. It's just Sprite, but I froze some concentrated Kool-Aid in the shape of stars. When you put it all together, it made for a festive, tasty drink. The kids all thought it was great.

Oh, and we made these cookies, too! I've posted the recipe before, but here it is again if you want it. They are seriously so good and HUGE. I mean, this one was as big as Jude's face.

Cole was an angel as usual, thanks to all the attention he got from his adoring fans. 

I love our friends!

The Francolms with Steph Brown and her baby Ivy.

Dickensons with Ben and another couple (I can't for my life remember their names).

 George and Rod.

 We had a freakish storm the Friday before and it toppled several trees. The kids thought this log was something special and kept flocking to it. Uh, Jude, what's up with your face?

 Apparently he really liked that icing off the cupcakes.

 

Such wonderful ladies. I am lucky to have these girls as my friends!

Our attempt at a family picture. It was hot.

After we ate, we went out front to set off some fireworks and do sparklers for the kids when we were spotted by another resident that reminded us that fireworks were not permitted. So we ran down the hill and did them anyway. 

The kids were so excited. They were yelling "yay!" as they ran all the way down the hill.

We finally made it to a quiet dead-end so we could start the show.

Love these kids!

Watching the one that sounded like a gun. It flew pretty high!

Sparklers! Some of the neighborhood kids came out when they heard the fireworks, so we ended up sharing our sparklers with everyone. 

It was perfect. These kids thought it was great! I wish it had been a bit darker, but we needed to pack up and head to the real fireworks show at the park.

 George and I loaded the two little boys into the van and fought traffic to find a place at the park to watch the show.

Waiting for the fireworks to start.

We ended up sitting with the Smiths and a few other families.

Watching. They gave out these 3D glasses that made the fireworks rainbow-y. I wasn't a huge fan and even Jude put them down in preference for the real thing.

Jude was pretty scared of the loud noises at first and kept hiding his head, but as the show went on, he gained confidence. I think it helped when he started pretending to punch the fireworks. What a funny kid.

Cole thought it was great!

We had a great 4th of July! The only thing that could have made it any better would have been Lance there enjoying it with us.

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Thank you, Mom and Dad, for being the best parents anyone could ask for. I'm so grateful for your shining example of what a marriage can and should be. I know mine is better because of it. I miss you like crazy, Dad, but I know one day we'll be together again as a family. I love you both.

Happy Anniversary!

It's Summer

I love the summer. Now that Lance has started the whole going to school thing, I appreciate it even more.

It has been extremely hot lately, so we spend a lot of our days inside. We have tried to find ways to enjoy the heat, though.

Remember last summer when we set up a homemade slip-n-slide? This year we did the same thing, only we got a second tarp and made it 50 feet long. Can you say awesome?

Jude was never able to grasp the concept of "turns" and would scurry up to the top and slide right back down, regardless of who was waiting to go next. Stinker.

Bennett!

My boys LOVE the water. They love it so much, I decided to let Cole go down feet first on his tummy about half-way down, just to see what he would do. He wasn't a huge fan. Oh well. Maybe in a few months.

The moms got to be the official "pushers".

Even with it doubled in size from last year, we still developed a muddy puddle at the end. Lance and Jude liked to play in it. Lance even purposely dumped the mud all over himself. He is 100% boy.

Cole liked going on my lap better than by himself, but he couldn't decide if it was fun or not--tolerable, but not worth smiling about.

All three of my boys!

A kiddo train! We were there with the Vedomskes, Elmers and Smiths.

Love the goggles, Lance.

The tarps are held in place by 8-inch metal stakes at the top, so it's not going anywhere. We keep it rolled up and break it out every few days when we need a water-fix. There is even talk about getting a third tarp to extend it even farther. Of course, that idea came about when the husbands were trying it out one evening and kept flying off the end. I guess we'll see.


Now that it's summer, our bathtub sports a nice brown ring, even after I scrub it down. As soon as the boys hop out of the once-clean bathtub, there it is again. A ring. Oh well.

Lance, I think it's time for a hair-cut.

Punk Lance.

Jude wanted his hair spiked, too. This was our best attempt.

Brothers. When they're not getting on each others' last nerve, they really do love each other. (Can you see how brown that water is? Gross.)


Aric (our neighbor) rides to and from the hospital on this scooter that he parks behind their apartment. Jude has claimed it as his own and knows how to open the seat to find the helmet. I walked out of our back door one day and found Jude, helmet in place, riding the scooter, scooter noises and all.

Don't you just want to squeeze him?


Lance has been after me since the beginning of the school year last year to make homemade play dough. We've been trying to cut back our TV time, so in an attempt to get the kids away from the screen, I made a batch.

It was a hit! I think the kids played with it for at least an hour.

Jude was thrilled Mommy let him use a butter knife to cut the dough. He could have cut those pieces for hours if I let him.

Killian made a sun with his orange dough.

Kendall made a fish.

There's Jude with his pieces again.

And Lance made a snake...

...and a scorpion! Great job, Lance!

That's some yummy looking ice cream, Kendall.

Lance and Killian wanted their picture taken with their "ice cream", too.

Yum!


And you know it's summer because by the end of the day, we all feel like this:

He fell asleep like that. He was playing on minute and zonked the next.

I love summer!