The Bright Eyed Brunette

We had a very nice Memorial Day! We spent most of the day at my parent's house with our Pastor and his family, some friends and my grandparents. We ate and swam the day away! It was a fun, long day. For some reason Trey and I ended up a little red. I thought I kept enough sunscreen on him, but I guess its gonna take more next time! Carl had to work today....late. I think the kids got to see him for 40 minutes before they went to bed! Even though it happens every year around this time, I'm not sure I'll ever get used to it (or even like it). Nonetheless we are thankful that Daddy has a job :) Happy Memorial Day!!

Sunday was spent at church, the pool, then church again! After church last night we grilled chicken and stayed outside until dark. The kids and I are so ready for school to be out so we can do this more often before the mosquitos get bad enough to carry you off! Here are a few pics of our Memorial Day Sunday:

Trey was having a good time in his boat! Makena, was first to go down the slide this year! I managed to get all three of them in this one. This is why I bought a baby boat for an 8 1/2 year old. He loved to go down the slide in it last year, so this year I bought him one of his own! Carlie thinks she is too cool for my pictures T was rockin' the boat and shades! Woo Hoo for summer!! After a fun afternoon of swimming we went down to DeWitt for my Papaw's Memorial Day cookout. Trey had fun riding the golf cart with Austin, Brandon, and Grayson. We were pleasantly surprised that Carl got to come eat with us. We haven't seen a lot of him this week so we were all needing some Daddy time! This has nothing to do with Memorial Day, but when I got to school on Friday I noticed that Trey's teacher and I had on the same dress! She is my favorite teacher in the world, and I am so sad that this is the last year any of my kids will have her!

Every year before Memorial Day some of our church kids (whoever is around) get together and place flags on the Veterans graves. It's just a small way that we try to teach the kids that we remember those who have faught for our freedom, and of course that Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice when he died on the cross and arose so that we can have eternal life. Makena still feels the same way about going down to the cemetery, but she went anyway! Carlie was working hard! This year's group One more!

We had another great weekend! It started off with a driving lesson for both Carlie and Makena at the farm. Carlie is driving a little more on the real roads and that scares me to death. This usually happens on Sunday nights after church (it is still light now) and in my new car! I seriously think I lost about 5 years off of my life the last time she backed out of the church parking lot. Anyway, on Saturday Carl had to work on the wheelchair ramp at the church with some of the men. Then he started working on the bench on the back porch. Here is the finished product: I am very happy with it. Trey and I helped a little :) Carl cooked ribs while he was working on the porch...what a man, I tell ya! We are blessed to have him! Since we had been so busy we didn't ask anybody over. We were really tired, but not too tired to pig out!! The ribs were awesome. Today was Senior Sunday at our church. We honored two of our High School graduates, Kayli and Spencer. It was fun but a little

Here are just a bunch of random pictures that have been hanging out on my phone :) Enjoy! We went shopping withv my mom one day and Trey found the book "Everything Looks Better with a Beard". Of course he thought he did too! Trey and Makena were in the pool one day last week. Yes, it was hot outside but the water was FREEZING! They didn't seem to mind. Playing frisbee in the backyard is always a favorite! Fun in the hot tub....with no heater! We were all smiles while Carl and Trey did most of the work planting the garden. Do not ask me why my son thought it was necessary to wear winter gloves while planting the garden! He didn't leave them on long because his hands got too hot!! Trey thought he could handle the mini pony. Turns out, he was a very stubborn pony and Trey had enough of him!

Sunday, on Mother's Day, we also had our Discovery Closing Program. Each class always stands and says something about what they have learned, whether it be a Bible verse or just information learned during the year. Trey and Blaine with their teacher, Mrs. Andrea. Trey made me so mad I just wanted to jerk his bottom down and give him a spanking. He knew his verse and where it came from, but decided at some point after we got to church, to write it on his hand. Then, he proceeded to read it from his hand in front of everyone! He did know it. I don't know if he was afraid he would get up there and forget it or just did it for a laugh, but this Momma wasn't happy about it! But I got over it pretty fast :) This girl, Makena Faith, I am so proud of. She was the only one to show up in her class. She recited the Roman Road by memory in front of a crowd without a blink of an eye. She rocked it! Carlie with the Discovery Teens She had her part at home but didn't see

Another successful Mother's Day is in the books! I, personally, had the best one so far! Carl was able to be home all weekend and we even got our laundry room project completed :) My kids and Mom showered me with lots of goodies, too! These are a few of the things I got. My sweet Momma got me a pair of leopard Chacos, Makena got me a pretty pitcher, Trey got me some pretty earrings and Carlie got me some gray towels to go with my gray and yellow bathroom redo (another small project!) My laundry area! I never think of taking a before picture, but it was just an ugly area separated by pretty red (my favorite color) doors. I kept the doors closed most of the time to hide the ugly! Saturday morning we got up and went to buy some seeds so we could plant the garden. The girls and I stopped to take a selfie :) I ended up coming home with this pretty hanging plant! It was another gift from Carl. He also got me a lounge chair for the back porch as well as a pretty skirt. We

Tuesday I went with Carlie's class to the Historic Arkansas Museum in Little Rock. It was pretty interesting. Carlie had fun with her friends and even though I was exhausted by the time we left, I guess I had a good time too! This group is a tough one. They're not little kids, but not quite full-blown teenagers either! I'm glad I only have one 13 year old!