4th of July

So, these pictures aren't from the 4th of July, but I wanted to stuff them in here. Kolton is obsessed with this slip 'n slide. I'm so glad Jeff and Vanessa were nice enough to give it to us when they got a different one. I didn't realize how much Kolton would like it. He plays on it almost every day!

His face makes me laugh in this one. Totally preparing himself for the puddle of water at the end, hoping to not get it in his mouth. ;)


Now for the 4th of July...
The morning of we slept in and lounged around. Kolton and I headed to CVS and Walgreens to do some couponing (got 4 shampoos and 4 conditioners, 2 liter of Sprite that I had to buy because my total was too low to use one of my extra care bucks, and a box of tampons all for $2.34 with $2.00 in CVS bucks left over to use next time) and Brady headed over to his parents to help his dad take their grill to the Foys so we could use it that afternoon for our barbecue. At about 3:00 we went to Jake's Fireworks stand to go buy some cheap fireworks. We got several things for $7 and some change! :) It weirded me out though, because as we pulled in there were 3 policemen there directing you where to park. What the? Kind of strange... Anyway, then we went to the Foys at 4:00 for dinner! We had chicken, steak, and veggie kabobs (YUM!), grilled pineapple, corn on the cob, watermelon, pasta salad, raspberry lime rickies...I think that's it. It was SO good! While we were preparing it all we decided to take a short break and try and get pictures of the kids together. Oh my. :) They would NOT sit still and smile for anything! And then it started to rain....SO, the best picture I got is really just one where they are all looking up and sitting down. Haha.

We ate dinner and then we pulled out the good old slip 'n slide again. The kids got going pretty good! It helped that it was actually on some sort of a hill. Kolton reached the end several times. He'd start running up at the flower bed (after Daddy coached him some) and did pretty well.

Sterlings brother, Alex, was in town visiting. The boys took advantage and enlisted his help in getting them to go fast down the slip 'n slide.




I took the picture above and Brady noticed, so he turned his head and tried to refuse me a good picture by pulling face after face with every click of my camera. Oh dear... (click to make it bigger...)

After playing in the water we ate dessert (the men and boys had brownies and ice cream and the ladies had strawberry shortcake--one of my favorite summer desserts!). After eating dessert we headed outside to let the boys do their sparklers and set off a few little fireworks.


Brady helped Kolton do the roman candles.


With every one that Brady would set off Kolton would prepare himself for a loud bang. He was surprised after each and every one that they weren't too loud. :)

While watching, Kolton asked if they were going to outer space. Yes, son, they sure are. ;)

We then headed to the Moore fireworks. We brought glow necklaces for the kids (I always wanted one when I was little but the kids could care less about them...I mean they were excited to open them and such but once they were on they were bored of them...well, except Emery. :) She liked to eat hers.).

Snuggling with Daddy on the blanket as the fireworks were starting.


We had a fun and relaxing 4th of July with not too much craziness but fun with friends and family nonetheless. We have such great friends and are so lucky! I'm so grateful for our country we have to live in and the men and women that do and have fought for our freedoms. I'm grateful for the family I have to experience life with. I love them dearly!

This video was towards the beginning on the 4th of July of them going down the slip 'n slide.

Brady's 28th Birthday...more SUMMER fun

We've spent several days outside this year trying to stay cool. Kolton has loved playing outside in the water and as you can see he totally gets in to it! ;)

He's a funny guy...for example...the other day we were all sitting on the couch and a cute little conversation occurred.
Brady: Kolton, who will you marry?
Kolton: Probably mom. Mom, will you want to marry me?
Jen: I'm already married. I married daddy.
Brady: You only get married once. When you get older you'll find a girl that you love and is
beautiful and is your best friend and you'll marry her.
Kolton: Daddy, will you help me find her?
Brady: Sure.
Kolton: You'll say, 'you like this girl? This girl? This girl?' and I'll say 'no, no, yes.'
It was so sweet and made us laugh.


Kolton was so excited to give Brady one of the presents he got him. He picked it out all on his own.

He had to hide it behind his back until Brady was ready to open it.

And Brady was so surprised! ;)

And loved the blue tie he had received from his son.

Kolton also really wanted to pick out Brady's cake since he did that for me. We didn't plan in advance so we just had to pick from the ones that were already made and there wasn't much to choose from, but Kolton picked one he really liked and thought Brady would like as well.

Even though there's only 13 candles, Brady did indeed turn 28--not 13 as you might think. ;)

The smoke totally ruined this picture, but they blew the candles out together.

Kolton started licking icing off the corner of the cake so Brady pushed his head in. Kolton was not happy about it at first but after it was all cleaned off he started laughing about it and thought it was actually pretty funny. Even though we warned him and told him not to breath it in, he totally sniffed it up his nose and for at least 3 days he had red frosting coming out of his nostrils--especially after a bath. :)

Sunday, Brady's birthday, was also Rigdon's baby blessing. We were glad we were able to be there and that Brady was able to participate in that.
This picture totally does not do this justice, but one day we walked to the recycling bin and park and when we came back Kolton and I were both beyond hot. Kolton's face was BRIGHT red. I made him sit and rest on my bed under the fan and watch a tv show to cool down. He didn't fight that. ;)

I cleaned the box fan in my room one morning (took it apart and got all the dust off of it) and so one afternoon Kolton really wanted to clean his box fan. He helped take it apart and clean it and put it back together. The whole time he was telling me all the important steps we needed to do to make sure it was clean and that it would work when we put it back together. He also taught me how to use the screwdriver. ;)


We went to the splash pad with Kashton and Brooklyn last Wednesday. Oh my it was hot! Kolton and Kashton had a bunch of fun though! And so far this year, I haven't seen any wasps at the splash pad so that is nice!

They thought it was pretty cool that they both had the same color gatorades. ;)




We then went to the splash pad on Thursday with Vanessa and her boys and Brittney and her kids. Before we went there, we stopped by the store to buy a couple toys to play with there. Kolton picked a Cars drill/squirt gun and this splash frisbee thing. The boys all had fun running around with them and being crazy.


London convinced Kolton to stand under the buckets to get dumped on.

It finally got him one time! He was always standing to the side and then would run away when it would start to tip anyway, but one time he actually stayed and got wet!

So excited for the 4th of July weekend!! If only it wasn't so hot... I'm sure we'll still have fun though!!

SUMMER

Oh, the joys of summer. A hot, hot summer. We've had so many days that have gone over 100 degrees I've lost count. Its hot. That's all I need to remember. :)
BUT, with the hot temperatures comes lots and lots of fun new things to do and celebrate! ;) Sunday, the 19th was Father's Day. Brady is such an amazing father. As time goes on, I'm more and more amazed with how well he fits the role. ;) On Saturday, the 18th, Brady and Kolton took me shopping to the mall to pick out a new shirt or two. Before we left, Kolton was drinking one of those IBC cream sodas (in the glass bottles). It slipped out of his hand and he dropped it on the kitchen floor and miraculously it landed straight up and down but it started fizzing out the top. We quickly picked it up and cleaned it up. Then, we left for the mall. After a while Kolton was getting hungry, so we stopped by Auntie Anne's to get a pretzel and a drink. I went in to a store and Brady and Kolton sat on the bench to eat and drink their snack. Kolton tried to put the drink in between his legs, but the benches are made of wooden slats, so the drink wobbled and fell to the floor and red juice went flying everywhere. Anyway, the point of these stories is that Brady stayed calm the whole time. He didn't freak out and get all mad, he cleaned up the messes and then talked to Kolton calmly but firmly about how we need to be more careful with our drinks. He loves and cares for Kolton so much and I love watching them together. He loves to play with him and teach him new things. We were glad to celebrate him and the wonderful father that he is.
After church on Father's day we went to Brady's parent's house to celebrate my birthday, Brady's birthday, Father's Day, and Brady's dad's birthday. We had grilled steak and chicken and followed that up with a cake Vanessa made. Oh how I love the Thunder!!
After dinner we went home and Brady was ready for bed. ;) He started a paper route and the hours you work for a paper route make for a very long and tiring day (yet another reason he's a great dad!).

Kolton has taken on an obsession with playing out in the water on the trampoline. He'll do it for 2-3 hours at a time. He loves to see how high he can spray the water (our hose is cut off at the end so the only way you can make it spray is using your fingers--and their isn't much water pressure because of it either, so its pretty hard to get it up high). He told me one time that the water was going really high and that it was going to reach the moon. ;)

He also loves to try and spray me while I sit out on lawn chairs and try to get my tan going. I miss Jeff and Vanessa's apartment pool! We had such a good time hanging out with them (almost every day) last summer at their pool! I also loved how by this time last year I was nice and tan--even my legs! If you know me at all, you know my legs DO NOT tan! The rest of my body is always easily 6-8 shades darker then my legs-at least! I'm not even kidding. Anyway, so he tries to spray me. ;)

And jump really high! I got on there and I don't think I ever recognized this when I was a kid, but when the tramp is wet it is extra springy. You can go HIGH without much effort.



On Friday, the 24th, Kolton had his very first sleepover!! I didn't tell him until the day of because we were surprising Brady. It was Brady's birthday on Sunday, the 26th, so Brittney agreed to have Kolton stay the night the 24th so Brady and I could sleep in and hang out as just a couple. I dropped Kolton off at the Foys at 4:00 and then went and picked Brady up from work. He knew we were going to dinner that night, so he was expecting that. We went to Genghis Grill for dinner. Love that place! So yummy! After dinner he asked if we needed to go pick up Kolton and that's when I told him he was staying the night. He was SO excited! We rented a redbox movie and ate ice cream and just relaxed at home. Kolton had a blast and did lots of fun things with Kade. They went to Andy Alligators and played golf--probably one of Kolton's favorite things to do!




Then they went to Chick-fil-a and ate dinner and then they got to play in the sprinklers in Kade's front yard.

I like this picture because it depicts something Kolton does all the time! When he gets mad, sad, excited, scared, cold...anything extreme he usually does this with his hands. His fingers are all extended and stretched out to the max... I'm glad Brittney got it in a picture so I could have it!

Afterward they ate yummy Popsicles that stained their skin! ;)

I tried to talk to Kolton on the phone before he went to bed to say good night but he was NOT interested. I was afraid it might make him want to come home but he couldn't careless. I tried to ask him questions and he just walked away from the phone to go play more. Haha. Brittney said it didn't take them too long once they went to bed to fall asleep.

We picked him up in the morning around 10:30 or so and he didn't want to come home. I'm so glad he had such a good time and that Brady and I were able to spend the night together and sleep in in the morning. We told Kolton thank you for being good at Kade's house and his reply was "my pleasure." This phrase has since been added to his regular vocabulary. I love it.