Feeding the Ducks

Noah had basketball camp this past week at Alcoa High School, so on Wednesday, after we picked him up we headed down the hill to the duck pond to feed the ducks. I hadn't taken the kids over to do that yet, and they loved it! We saw bunches of ducks, brand new baby ducks and a big turtle. It was cute to watch them get so excited about feeding those guys. I'm sure we'll be heading that way again soon.

My family

Love these guys so very much. I had to get a shot of Doug with his babies near Father's Day. He had to work on Sunday, so it was hard to get a good shot before he headed in for the day. Then Monday and Tuesday he went in to work before Noah got home from basketball camp = they didn't see each other since Sunday at lunch. Crazy. I was glad to get these snaps in. The kids are changing so much and so fast. Amazing to compare this picture with the one from last year on Father's day. http://heatherhornback.blogspot.com/2009/06/happy-fathers-day.html

Happy Father's Day & Happy Birthday!

Happy Father's Day to Doug and also to Don, my favorite Father-in-law. I love you both so much! Hope you both had a great day!!
A special Happy Birthday to Darla! We all love you and hope you had a great day!!

Man, I love these guys.... =)

What in the world would I do without them???

Helping Make A Birthday Cake...

Today is Mom's birthday and Rachel was so excited to help me make a cake for her. We actually took her a cheese cake last night, along with a rose bush for her gift, but Rachel insisted that she needed a 'real' birthday cake. Who am I to disagree? ;) So, this morning we put together a quick watermelon cake in celebration of Mamaw's birthday. Rachel was so proud to help mix the cake and also put the 'seeds' on. Happy Birthday Mama!! We love you!!!

A Visit With Stephanie & Hayden

You guessed it - Another Stephanie visit. =) This one with my good friend Stephanie McCormick and her son Hayden. We hit the splash pad to watch the kids have fun after just a bit of waiting on the parks and rec guy to come turn the water on. The kids had a blast playing. Hayden is a cute little fellow and it was fun to watch our kiddos having fun together.

A Visit With Stephanie & Elise

We had the pleasure of meeting up with a friend of mine from high school, Stephanie Carson and her daughter Elise at the splash pad. It was great to see Steph and to let our girls play together. Elise is a little doll and Rachel enjoyed playing with her. Stephanie is expecting another baby girl in just a very few weeks time. I know how excited they all are and I know Elise is going to be a great big sister! =)

'Helping' Mama

Simple Summer Day

The kids enjoying the deck - Noah reading one of his AR books on his summer reading list while Rachel and Kate enjoy a game of fetch the binky and peek a boo through the window... all still in their jammies... just enjoying the day. =) We picked up the paint for Noah's room today, enjoyed some dinner at Taco Bell and stopped at Blockbuster to pick up movies for tonight. They get so excited about the simple things.

Swim Lessons

Noah and Rachel started swimming lessons today out at Green Meadow Country Club - Kind of ironic, since that is where I learned to swim. Love that. =) Noah did very well. Elizabeth basically said he knows how to swim and will be doing fine, then will forget to do it and she would have to grab him. He needs to get a lot stronger at it. He also needs to learn to kick behind him and not under him. She said she plans to put some fins on him on Friday to see if that helps him with it. Rachel had her very first lesson/experience today. Elizabeth worked with her on blowing bubbles and kicking. She said she loved it - had a lot of fun even though she got water in her nose and that hurt a bit. They are both excited to go back and Rachel kept asking how soon Friday was?? =) I love that they are excited about learning to swim. Swimming was such a huge part of my growing up years. I would love to put them on the swim team when they get a little bigger. Kate was desperate to get to the baby pool. I had to wrestle with her for over an hour. She discovered how very much she loves the water at the splash pad (and even crawled in the shower with me this morning with her jammies on...). It will be interesting with her at the lessons. She is walking better and better now. So cute seeing her toddle around!

Finally...Time for the Splash Pad!! =)

We made our first trip to the splash pad about a week ago. The kids loved it as always, although it was a little odd to hear them say that they were cold... It was over 90 out there! Crazy. They did seem to have fun though when they were in the water. We met Renee and Alex and also Laura and Mekenzie there to play. Kate had her first testing of the shooting water and seemed to absolutely love it. She would crawl over to the water shooting up, sit there and play and play and play. Rachel enjoyed showing Kate the ropes and also playing with Mekenzie, while Noah enjoyed running through the water, shooting the water cannons, standing under the huge water bucket and playing with Alex. Good times.