~~Marissa Treading Water~~

Last week I spent some time teaching Marissa to tread water so she could swim longer distances. Now that she is able to tread, she can easily pull her head up to take breaths as she swims. I'm so proud of her!!!

Back to my roots...

Last Month I had the opportunity to take a trip...all by myself(!)...back home to SC. As much as I love and adore my wonderful kids and hot, AWESOME husband, it was a blessing for me to be able to go and spend some good, solid, one-on-one time with my parents, grandparents, brothers and their families. I came home feeling renewed, excited to be back home with Marty and the kids and ready to start a fun summer with them! Here are a few highlights of my trip:

The #1 reason I went home was so that I could update all of my certifications to teach swim lessons. My brother Heath was the one teaching and certifying me, so he's the one I spent most of my time with....in the pool:) I so appreciate him!! I learned so much from him during the week and just really treasure the time spent with him. Thanks Heathie!

I was able to go the the Southern Strutt concert! My Aunt is the owner and she has never just put on a little "end of the year dance recital"! She puts on a three hour, full blown, theme and all, production show at the downtown theatre! Mom and Uncle Bobby are always in it as actors. I was really inspired by the show (I will post about it in more detail at a later date)! Aw, here's mom and I in the dressing room after the show.


My Girls! We always make it a point to get together every chance we can!! Don't ask what we were doing here, cuz it's kinda ridiculous! ...well, ok you talked me into it, I'll tell ya: We were goofing off with the camera...this was our "Botox look"!...wait, or is this our "hot mama" look? Looking at it, I'd say that Stacey is definitely doing 'Hot Mama', I'm just kissing the air and Kim?....well, maybe that's her "I think I'm gonna barf" look...? (LOL Kim!!!)

Denise didn't get to go out with Stacey, Kim & I but I did get to see her while I was at Heath's.
I made Denise do a few poses of her own...The Thinker. Denise, you look wise beyond your years!

Blake, Me, Heath & John!!! I seriously have the BEST brothers ever!!! I love them each so much and was so grateful that we could all spend some time together!! We took the kids out on Lake Murray and had a blast!! I really missed Marty and the kids this day! It would've been so much fun for them to be there.
Nikole
Nikole & Dallin
Me & Blake! Blake made sure he got a date with me while I was home! The thing about it is that I was all the way across town at Heath's. After getting off work one night, Blake drove probably an hour from work to where I was, picked me up and took me out for dinner! That really meant a lot to me!!

John-John drove from NC to come see me!! He'll never know how much I appreciated that! I loved getting to spend time with all of his kids too! We were all impressed with his knee boarding skills!

Tanner
Bryson, Luke & Kasidy

This is for you, Laurie!!!

Good Friends and Mom of The Year Award!!

Yesterday we had the best day visiting with some of our dear friends that we know from SC!!! It was soo awesome to see Beth and Paul, it's been about 7 years!! They both look so great and it was nice to catch up with them!! As the day came to an end, they eventually had to leave to catch their plane home. Shortly after they left, my mom called and asked to talk to Marissa. I could hear mom over the phone as she said to her, "Marissa, did you have such a special day today?!". What in the world is my mom talking about, I thought?! ......My soul shuddered with horror as I realized what mother was talking about...HER BIRTHDAY!!!! Aahhhh! Here's where the Mom of the Year Award comes in! Am I really such a horrible mother that I forgot my own daughter's birthday?!! We had all been so excited to share this day with her and EverYonE of us forgot it in the end! It was after 6pm when this realization came to me and luckily Marty and Jacob were at Wal Mart. I gave him a call and he brought home the best birthday present ever...a collection of Princess High Heel Shoes!!! We were all sad about forgetting, but upon hearing the news, Marissa said, "Huh? It's my BiRthDay?" ...."YEAH!!!! IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!". She didn't seem to care that it only lasted about 2.5 hours:)
Thank goodness I had made Peanut Butter Bars for Paul and Beth earlier in the day or else we wouldn't have had a birthday 'cake'!

She probably wished that her family would remember her birthday next year!


Life is all about the shoes now! It's funny because she calls them her "tap shoes"! Maybe she got this from Janell or Sarah:)
Miss Priss:)
This morning she ate breakfast in bed with me (her bday and Mother's Day) and then I even let her wear her new dress and a pair of her new tap shoes to church. Maybe that makes up for getting gypped on her birthday!

~~Brant's Birthday~~

I can't believe my 4lb premature baby is twelve!! Last week he was ordained a Deacon and today he had the opportunity to pass the sacrament for the first time! I love Brant so much and feel so blessed to have him as our oldest son!! I'm thankful for his kind, tender loving heart and love his spunk and humor!!




Minute to Win it Birthday Party~~
We love to watch the game show, Minute to Win It, so when Brant's birthday came around he knew this was the kind of party he wanted to have!!

Tyler & Audrey were the first to arrive!

...then Cole...and before too long everyone was here and the party began!!

Hanky Panky~~The goal of this game is to pull out ALL of the tissues, using only one hand...in One Minute!

Come on CJ !!!!
Go Jacob, go!

Suck It Up~~Player must suck up and M&M threw a straw, walk over to another table and balance M&M on an upright straw.

Unwind~~Players have one Minute to Unwind both rolls of streamers!!

Sink It In~~~One Minute to sink two ping pong balls in glass
Stack It Up~~ Object is to stack three apples
Wiggle It~~ Wiggle your face to move cookie from forehead and into mouth!
Banana Pants~~swing hanging banana to propel ball across the finish line

Junk in Your Trunk~~ Players have to shake what their mama's gave them in order to get ping pong balls out of boxes!

Time for Cake, Ice Cream, Swimming & BB Gun shooting!!!

Icing filled cupcakes and an Ice Cream Bar~~ Yumm!!!


boys, boys! Messy Boys!!
Chop chop! Meema sent Jacob this real alligator head from Myrtle Beach.

Brant and Emma chopping on some yummy cupcakes!! Brant wanted vanilla cake with chocolate icing. I also filled the middle with chocolate icing.
It has become tradition for Tyler to give Brant's the funniest cards ever! Here's a peak at the card Brant got from him this year!
Gifts galore! Brant was so excited and thankful for all the gifts his friends (and parents) gave him!! With all of his money and gift cards that he got, he bought DJ Hero for the wii.
Brant helping Jacob shoot at a Coke can.

Joey helping Ryan shoot at Coke cans
Party was a huge success!

(Some names of games have been replaced with the real names, bc of my lack of memory and laziness to get up from the computer and go find out the real names!)