Landon Has Reached New Heights!

Oh, thank you, precious Angel that just saved my little Landon!!!
So I am pulling clothes out of the dryer in the laundry room and the boys are out playing in the back yard and Landon is just looking at them, longingly, through the windows. He starts to fuss a little and I am working quickly to hang clothes up and thinking that he might have moved from the window area to somewhere else. He starts to fuss louder as it is nearing his bed time, and I call out to reassure him that I am coming very soon. As I walk out of the laundry room, I hear his cry and think he is in the office... I start to walk that way and notice he is
HALF WAY UP THE STAIRS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He is turning his body to look for me as I am headed his way at the speed of light! I was certain that he would lean into that turn and we'd be in the ER soon. Thank you, God, for protecting him! He was just so tired he thought he'd make his own way to his room, I guess! I let him crawl almost to the very top before he stoped loving his new found skill and I took him right to bed (after snuggling a bit).
Needless to say, the gate is now up.

What a fun weekend we have had! I would love to show you some great pictures to prove it, but my computer isn't reading my memory card today and it is driving me crazy! Hopefully I will get it all figured out soon.
Friday night we went to a really neat place to eat called Gasoline Alley, in Akron. Lots of atmosphere and somewhat kid friendly. Honestly, it is the most unique place we've found so far. It was not anything we would've found on our own for sure. After that we went bowling! Yes, you read it right. Not something we would've chosen. Sawyer has been reading a lot and one of my friends gave me the idea of having him make a list of fun family things we could all do after he has read X # of books. SO!!! He made a list and that was the first thing he wanted to do. We had a great time and they let us take Landon's stroller down into the lane area, so he had fun too. He was rockin out to all the awesome music they were playing. I heard Brass Monkey, by the Beastie Boys for the first time in .... I'm not sure how long, and I couldn't stop myself from singing and moving around. I'd call it dancing, but I don't want you to think I do this in public ALL the time (see last post).
Saturday I had a meeting all day, but the boys relaxed until it was time for Saw to go to his friend's birthday party and camp out! So he was up PAST midnight and woke up at 5:30 AM!!! (So the dad told me this morning when I went to pick him up for church.) Anyway, it was the end to our VBS Sundays and we had a picnic and cornhole tourneyment all afternoon so the boys got to run around with their friends, eat, and giggle a lot.
The best part was when we came home everyone was super tired. I set Sawyer up with some milk and a blanket and cartoons in the basement so he could veg out for a while and I couldn't hardly believe he fell asleep! He NEVER takes naps. Ragan laid down with Dawson and I put the baby down and for about 2 hours I was in a quiet house. Now in my mind though, I kept thinking I forgot a child at church, or I think I hear someone crying (when they weren't) or that I should be cleaning up the kitchen. But I will assure you that on this day, I did nothing but sit and watch Flip that House and read the paper, cut out coupons and veg out myself a little. Ahhh.....how nice!

Mamma Mia

I went to see Mamma Mia with my sister, Lori who has been in town with her husband Chris, and my cousin, Rachelle. AWESOME!! I love musicals and girl movies. If you do too, I strongly suggest you see this one! A little bit crazy storyline, but absolutely entertaining! When the movie was over we decided to go to the mall (because we had NO children in tow) and we danced and sang all the way to the front door of Dillards like big dorks. Ragan mentioned he was so glad he didn't come. Huh ????

Monday's Adventure!

You all know me pretty well...well enough to not be too surprised by the event that I am about to confess to you.
I seem to loose my mind when I get distracted. Now those of you with children might quickly come to my defense and blame my confusion on my boys, however, we all know good and well that's just how God made me!
OK, so Ragan invited the boys and I to meet him for lunch in Orrville. Great! We clean ourselves up and head out 30 minutes before our date even though it only takes about 17 to get there. I am so proud of my efforts to time the baby's nap and get everyone motivated and in the car on time! So we take off and head out. I am remembering that there is an alternate way to get to the highway that I need to get to and so I am headed in that direction. Usually when I don't know where I am going or even am a little nervous about getting to my destination, I NEVER veer off the path..... I am feeling pretty secure today, having watched Ragan take this route a few other times.
Anyway, we are driving and are almost to the point where I need to turn and I am just really annoyed by Landon's screaming. I know I claim he is a perfect baby... we'll give him a break, he's teething. Since I don't do chaos well, I pulled over and fixed him a bottle and Sawyer took over beside him. What a great brother! So I keep driving and a mile or so later realize I should have turned. So, we're going in the general area of Orrville, so I am positive that I don't need to turn around and that I will see a sign that get me back on track soon. I keep driving and go through a little town called Marshallville and I start to get concerned. I look down and see the need gas light is on ( I remembered then that it had come on sometime during the weekend) and so I turn around and drive by a local man and roll down my window and ask him where the closest gas station is. He tells me Orrville (there isn't one in this little town!). I asked him how to get there and I am off to follow his directions. It doesn't sound like far at all. Can't find that road he said to get on!!!! I do have a GPS, but my sister borrowed it today. Go figure! so now I am just imagining Ragan trying to find me when I don't know where I am and him being frustrated ( to say it nicely). I keep driving and see a lady trimming her shrubs and stop and get out of the truck and ask her (explaining of course my desperation) and she tells me some more detailed instructions. STILL don't see the road ! Finally a farmer is standing in the road helping his buddy back out a tractor, and he makes it perfectly clear. Now it is 20 minutes PAST our lunch date and we are full steam ahead!
Got gas......laughed a lot and made it to Subway.
I get in line and the boys sit with Ragan. I never said a word because I am a little frustrated that Ragan never knew why we were late because he left his phone on his desk. I didn't have to remember any of the details... Dawson and Sawyer filled him in. I heard Ragan laugh out loud when Dawson said, "well the second farmer told us to go on the wrong road but momma asked the third farmer and he told us the right way!"
Looking at Ragan sporting a smile and laughing at what he had just heard, I lightened up and thought to myself, some kids only wish their moms were the thrill seeking, adventurous, never a dull moment type. Mine are livin' the dream.

Some Summer Fun

We had some fun in the water the other day...you can see that we own very sophisticated pool toys. I am working on that. But I don't really think Landon cares. All he really loves to do is pull up on the sides. I hope he doesn't walk too soon.

Landon's 9 month check was on Friday and is a whoping 23.9 pounds! The doc thinks his head is a little big, but I assured him it ran in the family. Check out our doctor's patriotic office! I dare say the White House doesn't look this festive! In the front glass that faces the street, there is a life size Uncle Sam and Lady Liberty as well as the beautiful streamers!

Goin' Home

So much to remember about our trip to Arkansas. Most of all it was wonderful to spend time with Jim and Joyce and Grandma and just 'hang out' there at the house.I have almost 400 pictures from the week! I will save most of them for our family albums, but there are so many I want to share! The boys had a blast and didn't want to leave. It is so hard for us as well.

Most memorable events were as follows:

Sunday/ Church!! We loved seeing so many friends and spending a little time the FLC afterward was super fun for us all. This was also the special day we borrowed Dallas' pack-n-play and baby bjorn that absolutely made our week as good as it was! As soon as that was in the bedroom, Landon knew just what to do!

Monday/ Hiking at Lost Valley near Ponca, AR. The most beautiful site! Grandpa and Grandma J have been so active and busy with their hiking and biking...they were excited to take us there. Nick went with us and helped the boys be the "leaders" on the trails. There were areas that were a little scary and I am so glad he was there to help us. I am pretty sure he enjoyed himself as well!






Tuesday/ Swimming playdate with Ashlee and her boys! It was great to see them and let the boys play together. We both noticed how much our middle guys have changed. We've been away while they start changing from the toddler look to the little boy look. Sad! That night we went to the Baileys for a shrimp boil. AWESOME! That is one of our favorite things to do and we got to do it with such fun people! I have to sneak in a few pictures of Kendrick's playhouse... unbelievable! If you are a dad that thinks he is handy, please do yourself a favor and don't look at the pictures...skip to Wednesday.

PS - it also had a real doorbell along with

the airconditioning unit you see here.

How much is the rent, Brian?

Wednesday/ Joyce and I went shopping with Landon! That is always fun! I used a gift card she gave me Christmas of '06! We left in January '07, and they don't have Linen's and Things here close, so I got in on the going out of business sale there in Rogers and got a new comforter set! Now I'm on a hunt for curtains, which was the real necessity anyway. Oh well. Great grilling that night!





Thursday/ I got to go see my sweet friend Sherry and see that she is recovering so well from her recent surgery. I was amazed! It was so good to just sit and chat with her quietly. (I left mine at the house) We went to the Bowman's for a afternoon swim and a little fun. It got late and we put in a movie for the kids. They all played well together and I am pretty sure Sawyer swam from about 4 pm till almost 9 pm!!! He got out to eat and then got in too quickly. So he did sit out for a while to recover. Thank you... all of you ... for making that such a great night!

Friday/ We went to the NWA Naturals game and fireworks show. FUN!!! Despite only being able to get lawn seats, it was great once the sun went down.

There is a reason the boys get balls at almost EVERY game! They stalk the pitchers that are warming up!

After the game (it was 11 pm when we finally got out the parking lot) I went with Ashlee to chat at Denny's until 1:30 am!!! Whoo whoo! I'm such a party girl! Seriously, I thought I was the walking dead the next day. After we left w just had to check out the new "conveinence store/gas station" ...what do YOU think? That is what the boys at the Price house call "fancy".





We loved that Nick hung out with us all week and put up with our boys making him play Old Maid, Sorry, or basketball all week long!

Saturday/ We said our goodbyes (I don't have most of those pics) and headed to Springfield and stopped to see Mark and Karen and their new baby, Nora. Beautiful! (I am so sad that I don't have any pics of this either!) Then picked up Lucy's chinese food and headed to Aunt Donna and Uncle Tom's house and ate with them and "aunt Ninny" (Jenny) who was there for the weekend making curtain with her mom!



We had a great visit and was sad and relieved to get on the road and head home. To our current home where we own a house that holds our comfy beds and where are making lots of sweet memories. It gets confusing when we call Rogers home with Sawyer. If home is truly where your heart is, then we are so wealthy we have a few!