The Day of "Nots"

Sunday night our home teachers came for their monthly visit. At one point the lesson turned to the subject of the Sabbath Day. One of the home teachers asked Bayley what the Sabbath Day meant to her. Of course, she replied with the "perfect" answer that the Sabbath Day was a holy day set aside for us each week to worship and think about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. The home teacher then turned to Kendal and asked her the same question, to which Kendal replied "It is the day of NOTS." As hard as Jeff and I have tried to emphasize all the wonderful things we get to do on the Sabbath, including go to church, spend time with family, read good books, rest and play games together as a family, the Sabbath is still a day full of "NOTS". We choose NOT to swim, NOT to go to the lake, NOT to watch television, go out to eat, NOT to go to the store, and NOT to play golf just to name a few. I used to be in Kendal's boat where the Sabbath seemed full of "NOTS", however like most of us I have grown to love the Sabbath and the opportunity I have to focus on worship and to NOT do housework, NOT do laundry, NOT do yardwork, NOT go to the store, and to NOT feel bad when I take a nap on Sunday afternoon.

We love Kendal and the funny things that come out of her mouth!

Happy Birthday Jeff!

Yesterday was Jeff's 35th birthday! And let me tell you we celebrated in style..just kidding. We did celebrate but not in our traditional way. Friday night, the day before his birthday we went out for his birthday dinner to a Japanese steakhouse. It was the first time that we have taken the kids to a Japanese steakhouse and they loved it. We were fortunate enough to get an entertaining cook and as usual the food was great and we left stuffed! Saturday was Jeff's birthday and at his request we made ham and cheese omelets for breakfast. After breakfast, we opened presents...which, besides the cake, is my girl's favorite part about birthdays. This year I surprised him and splurged and got him what he really wanted...Brooks Brothers dress shirts. I usually have a hard time spending $50+ on a shirt, however, because Jeff does wear a dress shirt 6 days a week he does need good shirts that fit well and will last a long time. He had informed me about a week ago that he wanted a couple of nice dress shirts for his birthday, to which I responded I will NOT spend $50+ on a dress shirt when I can get a perfectly good shirt for $20. The response was all part of my surprise plan....no really, he was thrilled with his shirts.
After opening presents, we kissed Jeff good-bye and parted ways. Jeff headed to a wedding and the kids and I headed to Jeff's company picnic at Stone Mountain park. Yes, we left Jeff at home alone on his birthday, while we went and enjoyed a great day at Stone Mountain. Jeff would have loved to have joined us and we would have loved to have him come, but knowing how busy his Saturday and Sunday were going to be, he decided it was in his best interest to rest up, prepare his talk and stay home. If the kids did not love Stone Mountain and company picnic as much as they do, we probably would have stayed home with Jeff. However, Jeff knows how much they enjoy the park, picnic and laser show, so he sent me and the kids on our way.
The kids and I had a great day. The park was not nearly as crowded as last year, the weather cooperated very nicely (not too hot, not too cold and NO rain), we got to enjoy almost all of the attractions, there was face painting, balloon shaping, jumpables, good food and the laser show was great this year! Once I knew for sure that Jeff would not be accompanying us to Stone Mountain, I briefly thought about skipping the trip all together. It was a lot of work taking 3 kids to the park all day, but I can say now that it was worth it! The girls especially, loved every minute of it...I'm sure they will be talking about it for weeks!
Finally today we made a cake and blew out candles for Jeff's birthday. I had asked Bayley earlier in the week if we should buy Jeff a cake for his birthday. She immediately responded that she would be in charge of his cake and would be decorating it herself (this is becoming a bit of a tradition, Bayley loves to decorate cakes and birthdays are a great excuse for her to practice her skills)! Kendal also wanted to participate, so I drew a line down the middle of the cake and the girls went to town decorating their Dad's cake!
I am so lucky to have such a great husband. He really is a wonderful husband, my best friend, and the BEST dad ever! His kids absolutely adore him and love to spend time with their busy dad! Happy Birthday Jeff! Love ya!

Trey's Injury Update!

So after watching Trey for 3 days refuse to put any pressure on his leg, we took him for another set of x-rays last night. This doctor thought that there might be a crack in his tibia and recommended that we go to an orthopedic doctor this morning. Hoping that they would be able to fit Trey with a removable boot as opposed to a cast, we headed to the appointment this morning. The orthopedist agreed that there is most likely a crack in Trey's shin bone and that the best possible option would be to cast his leg for 4 weeks. So we left the doctor's office with a light blue cast (the color was picked out by his sisters). Throughout this entire ordeal Trey has been a champ. He has complained very little about not being able to walk and has dealt with his injury very well. After wearing the cast for the majority of the day today you could tell that he was getting tired of it. The cast is a lot more cumbersome to drag around than the ACE bandage had been. I also think he is getting tired of crawling...it has got to be difficult to understand how one day you could run around without any worries and the next day you can't even stand. It really makes me sad to think about what must be going through his 22 month old head. The doctor said that he will be able to walk on the cast as he begins to heal, but Trey is still in too much pain to even try. The good news is that the cast he is wearing is waterproof, so he still will be able to swim! I still think it is going to be a long 4 weeks!

Fun in the Sun!

In his floaties, Trey is a little fish!

Summer has arrived and we are living it up! I am thoroughly enjoying having Bayley at home this summer and being able to do whatever we want just about whenever we want. Bayley and Kendal have the summer free from dance and Bayley is taking the summer off from swim team, so besides church stuff our schedule is extremely flexible. We have spent most days by the pool for a couple of hours...as it continues to get more hot we have been getting in earlier in the day so that we aren't out in the afternoon heat. It has worked well because by naptime the kids are beat. Other activities the kids have taken advantage of during summer vacation include: camping in our backyard with Jeff, cooking smores by our recently constructed fire pit, enjoying Oxford's brand new library, staying up late just because they can, sleeping over at Grandma and Grandpa "G"'s house, and spending hot summer afternoons in our cool basement playing with their toys! I try to forget sometimes that summer is really only about 9 weeks...Bayley starts back to school August 7th! We still have lots more on our summer to-do list, so we had better keep after it...I don't think you will here my kids complain....they are loving it!

The girls setting up camp with their Dad

Trey showing off in the pool

Cute Kendal

Bayley beating Uncle Spencer at Bowling "AGAIN"Boo-boo wrap

A byproduct of our summer of fun has been a few bumps and bruises. All of the kids have had their share of fire ant bites, falls, and knocks. Bayley had a huge goose egg this week after doing a back dive off the steps and hitting her head and mouth. Trey is currently sporting an ACE bandage on his left foot after jamming his leg on the slide this afternoon. I took him into the doctor this afternoon to have his leg x-rayed, but the doctor was unable to see any break. However, Trey is obviously still in quite a bit of pain and is unwilling to put any pressure on that leg...he sat in one place the entire afternoon...you know it has to be pretty bad to keep my busy 22 month old in one place. We will be watching him very closely and although it is nice to have him in one place for more than one minute, I would much rather him be back busy and healthy! We will keep you posted!