Relay for Life

I'm really glad we went. I'm grateful to Andrea for doing all she did and I'm happy for all the family who showed up.

Family Reunion!

I decided last minute to go down to Tropic for the Pollock reunion. I got everything ready Friday and had the car packed and ready to go Friday night. I was up at 5 to be ready to be on the road by 6. I put the little kids in the car in their jammies thinking that they would just go back to sleep. Violet stayed awake ALL day. It was a good ride with the kids. We only stopped once for a potty break and gas. We got to the campground in time for the kids games. Violet is funny lately she gets really nervous or shy around new people. She just froze up during the egg/spoon game. I think her favorite thing of the day was tether ball. We had the big lunch with the family and then did the raffle. Violet had 6 of her 10 kids tickets pulled. Dalton put all of his tickets down for a hatchet and didn't win. I won( in the silent auction) the last crocheted blanket made by...let's see, my Great Aunt Cindy the late wife of Great Uncle Delon who is Grandma Clora's last living brother. I think I got all that right! Her grand kids who were in charge of the reunion were very emotional about the blanket. I almost felt too sad for them to keep it. After that Dalton got to go with the guys for the skeet shoot. Dexter had kind of a rough day being away from home so he finally took a nap and I just visited with Uncle Gordon and Mary, Aunt Shaunna & Frank and Mom & Dad. Violet played in the dirt and got dirtier than I have ever seen her. She loved it. Dalton did great at the skeet shoot. He took his own shotgun and ammo and even beat some of the grown ups at the shooting game they play. After all this we headed into town to find oue hotel room. We were pleasantly surprrised with a nicer and bigger room than we expected. King size bed for me and the littles and a pull out couch for Dalton. I sent him out for food while I bathed the littles. I say it all the time but Dalton is such a big help to me. Violet thought a hotel was so funny. She was saying "I want to go to my real home". She started to think it was fun after a while. SO after all the kids were fed and in bed, I went out for a run. Me and D were going to watch a movie when I got back. I got scared of the dark and cut it short and they were all out cold in the big bed when I got back. So cute! In the morning we went to the cemetery in Henryville to see the relatives ( I couldn"t find Grandma Clora, duh!) and then we stopped by Uncle Gordon's property to visit before we hit the road. We got home around 3 in the afternoon to spend the rest of father's day with Paul. And now we know that a picture really does tell a thousand words.

Dexter!

 This is Dexter's 7 month post. Only a few days (9) late. It seems like summer has caught up with us. We are always busy! So, I think he was only crawling for about a week when he started climbing things. This is him climbing the soda.

 And these are his beautiful blue eyes! If you look close you can see his bruises. This kid has fallen on his head so many times in the last week or so. He looks like we beat him. I swear he is too small to be climbing the furniture!

 These are the faces he makes all the time now. His bottom 2 teeth are all the way in. His top 2 have been breaking through for about 2 weeks. He has been sucking his tongue, slobbering, eating his hands, biting his gums, slobbering, puckering up. you get the idea. I've had him on tylenol for the last 3 days. He was so miserable. Look at his knee here, they are always black. He's everywhere I tell ya!

When his teeth don't hurt he is still such a happy baby. Still has ZERO interest in eating baby food. He will sit at his high chair and eat finger food though (cheerios, yogurt melts, gerber  cookies and crunchies) He has had tomato, olive, watermelon, pasta and bread. He's just not interested in food!

He goes to bed at 7:30 with Violet. He still wakes for a feeding @ 10pm and then usually goes back to sleep in his crib till @2 am when he eats again. Then he just sleeps with me the rest of the night. It's great because everyone sleeps. It may not be great when he is bigger. Oh well :)

 This kid makes me so happy. I don't ever want to forget when he puts his head on my shoulder and makes little cooing sounds. Or when he gets SO excited when I come in the room. Or how he smells so good, just like a baby! Or his laugh when you just tickle him a little bit. Or how he loves his family. He loves to see any of us. We love you Dexter Smith!!

Father's Day

We celebrated Father's Day on the Friday before. I was taking the kids to the family reunion EARLY Saturday morning and we wouldn't be back till sometime Sunday so I wanted the kids to give Paul his gifts and love early. Violet had already told him what was in the packages a few days earlier. She's so funny. Paul loves his kids in his own quiet ways. Sometimes I worry that the kids aren't on his radar  and then he will do things that surprise me. Dalton spends every day of the summer at the shop. I know Paul loves it. He has a little date with Violet once a month. They go get pancakes. I can't wait to see what he does with Dex. Lisa and Andrew made him a photo album of pictures from when they were little and brought it over Sunday. Pretty cool that they include him in their lives still. I love him and the kids love him. Sweet!!

Seven Peaks #1

Oh the joys of 7 peaks! It was so crowded today. I have never seen so many people there. I figured Wednesday was safe. It took us 1 hour to get parked and in the gate. Holy cow. It will be better next time though. Our pics are done for our passes. Even little Dex has his own pass. I will for sure get there earlier next time too. Oh ya and Dexter needs a hat!! Poor little white kid out in the sun. Today was a good test run though. Everyone looks so cute in their little swimwear. I love doing fun stuff with the kids, even if it's hard. I don't know what I'd do without Dalton. He helps me SO much.

Backyard fun

A Trampoyeen

We got a trampoline on Wednesday. So exciting! Violet has been asking for one every day since the neighbors got one. I love being able to do something that the kids really wanted. Dalton built the whole thing himself. I was quite impressed! They love it.

Skylar and Alyssa

 These are Violet's friends who live next door. We talk about them from morning til night. She wants them to come over as soon as we wake up at 7:30. They are cute kids. Skylar is 4 and Alyssa is 2. Violet gets along better with the 4 year old which is no surprise. She is too smart for other 2 year olds. They got a trampoline for Easter and everyday since Violet has told me "Mom, I need a trampoyeen" She won't go ever there if their dad is home, she says he's too scary. That's fine with me!

Catch up

So it seems like there has been a lot going on lately. Let's see if I can remember everything. I'll start with Dexter...He started crawling 2 nights ago. I knew he was close. Yesterday he started saying dadada, so cute! He is finally getting better. He had a cold for 2 weeks and I started on the essential oils too late so he had to go on an antibiotic. Hopefully I learn more about oils so I can intervene sooner. Poor little guy, he hates the booger sucker! He has 2 definite teeth now. He also popped out of the bumbo yesterday while he was on the table. Luckily he didn't fall on the floor. No more bumbo! At least I found out he likes his bouncer for short periods. Time to get the stair fences up!

 Violet is so funny and she's lucky because she throws KILLER temper tantrums. She says "Stormit Little" instead of "Stuart Little". She sings "gently down the street" and "when skies are great". In the morning I always hear her trying to climb up my bed. I lean over and she has the biggest smile and says "I slept in my big girl bed tonight!" We finished her sticker chart for sleeping in her bed and her last prize was a new 3 wheel scooter. She's getting it figured out.

Dalton is totally enjoying his summer so far. He has been everyday at the shop and I know he would like it down in the history books that he shot and killed a rat already. He goes fishing almost everyday, down to the lake by himself. He loves it. He stays home with me once a week to do his chores and earn his allowance. We will also start going to 7 peaks on this day every week soon. I miss him when school is out. I'm glad we get to hang out sometimes.