this heat is brutal...

...but, along with the heat come the goodies that go along with it!!

1. produce from poppa's garden

corn...


green beans...


"tew-mummers" are a recent favorite...


2. blueberry pickin'


and blueberry eatin'


3. slip-n-slidin'


4. popsicles!


ok, so maybe it's not all that bad!

he used to fit...

a few days ago, i took apart the infant car seat to wash the straps/padding/etc. to get it ready for the new kid. after i put it all back together, wes thought he had a cool, new chair in the den.

where did the time go?

ode to chase

yeah...or not.

my husband is always making fun of the "tributes" on other blogs...you know, the ones where there is a whole post dedicated to the husband/father saying how wonderful they are. let me make it clear that i have nothing against those. but if you've had a post like that, he's probably read it and made fun of you. just so you know! he says he doesn't get why you don't just tell him in person how great you think he is rather than posting it on the internet for random readers.

with that in mind...i'll skip the sappy, emotional, you are the greatest husband/father ever in the history of the world post that i had planned. don't laugh. y'all know i'm all about some sappy, emotional drama.

instead, i'll just share some pics from our father's day!

if you'll think back to last month, you may remember the orange, monster chicken that was my mother's day portrait. i wasn't letting father's day go by without a portrait. so here is william displaying his hand-drawn portrait of his daddy. sadly, it actually looks a little like a human.


"my daddy has a big, circle head, long arms and legs, big feet and a little belly." at least the description was fairly accurate!

"i love my daddy because he sings songs and plays football with me and eats peaches." never underestimate the power that peach-eating gives a father.

after cards, presents and church, william wanted to make his daddy some cupcakes. i'm not quite sure that anyone outside the family would want to eat these with all the finger-licking that went on during the decorating process, but they are tasty nonetheless!


wes agrees...

after naps, we spent the afternoon at the pool. and on the couch watching the u.s. open.

then daddy ended the day by reading the little people a bedtime story.

so...here's to you, chase! you're the most wonderful daddy that 2 (soon to be 3) boys could ever ask for. with you as my husband, i could....

oh, sorry! i was getting a little carried away. what i meant to say was...
Happy Father's Day!

are they really this old??

it is so hard to believe, but this past weekend we celebrated william's 4th birthday and wes' 2nd birthday with a party here...


if you need it to rain, just let me schedule your party for you! obviously, whatever date i pick for a party is the date that the bottom will fall out! but this year, i didn't have to run around at the last minute and find an alternate location because inside the fire station worked out perfectly! we may have it here every year!!

before everybody showed up, mr. charlie showed william how to spray the fire hose. he already thinks mr. charlie is so cool, so now he is definitely at the top of the list!!


this is the type of party that a mama can get used to. i did nothing but bring the cake. the firetrucks were open for anybody to climb and play on. wes didn't want on, but he thought the wheel was pretty neat...


william wanted to try out every part of the truck...


before the party even really got started, they got an actual call. this may have been the best part of the party! the firemen ran around and quickly got all of their gear on while our crew sat and watched them intently. then they jumped on the fire truck, turned the lights on, and sped away! it apparently wasn't a major call because they were back pretty quickly, but it was fun to see them in action!


when they returned, mr. charlie told them all about fire safety. mr. larry got dressed (slowly, this time) in all his gear and told them about what each piece of clothing was for. then, the little people got to feel his gloves and jacket and hear what it sounded like to breathe with an air tank on.


and of course, they got to meet sparky...


before we ate cake, we had to blow out candles!


then we devoured a cake that was meant for 50 people in a matter of minutes!


after driving the truck yet again...


the little people got into their party favors! they were really meant for them to take home and eat, but there was no stopping them once they got started!

knox, william, allie and mont posing for a pic mid-lick...


warren liked his, too!


they liked these just as much as the cake!


since we already had a sugar high going, we decided to open presents when we got home...


we found out that william is a lego freak, and wes still is infatuated with cars and trucks of all kinds. also, a ball pit is a pretty cool thing to have around!

mama was tired when this weekend was over, but it was such a fun way to celebrate. maybe we'll hit up the police station next year!!

"wes on pooter"

after seeing his brother swimming on the computer, the little man wanted some time on here, too! he's watched william watch himself enough times, and now he is demanding "wes on pooter!" so, i took my camera back to the pool today to get some pictures and a video of the little guy showing off.

i know it seems like all we do is swim (and if i had my way, that would be the case), but we're not there ALL the time. however, when everybody outgrows naptime, you'll know where to find us almost every day!

chillin' on the side of the pool...


resting in a float...


they have just started swimming together, and they love it. wes likes doing anything that william does, and william is actually pretty encouraging to the little guy. of course, william calls it "racing," and he always wins. i don't think he realizes that he's not going to be better at wes in everything forever! i'm sure the encouraging will come to a halt at that point!

floating with william...


working out the last bit of energy after bible school...


here's a short video of wes and william swimming together. william is a tad bit faster, but wes is working it out. he had to stop to float once to catch his breath, but he caught him. i'm sure they'll be trying to drown each other soon!