Almost 4 years

3 years and 9 and a half months to be exact. Before we had a "stuck in the nose" incident at our house. Frankly, I'm kind of surprised it took this long with these two knuckleheads. The boys were down for their naps when Mark comes running out of his room screaming and crying. It took me a minute to figure out what he was saying. "It's stuck! It's stuck!" Immediately, I realize that he's put something up his nose and I turn around to keep him from seeing me laugh. (Because it's okay to laugh at your children while they are crying. But it's NOT okay to let them see you laugh at them while they are crying.) I finally get him to stop screaming and decipher that he's put a portion of a foam submarine hull up there. I look but can't see it. So I decide to go in with my finger and sure enough, there it is. It takes me a few minutes but I fish it out with my fingernail. (Pretty sure that one earned me a manicure!) And then there are more tears because I tell him that we are going to throw it away and that I won't be giving it back to him.

I guess it's just one of those day around here that submarines "suck". Ha, ha!

Getting Back to Life...

I can hardly believe we've been back home for a whole week now. Life is crazy getting back into our routine. I'm gearing up for doing a lot more business with Southern Living at HOME this fall and we are recovering from traveling, unpacking, getting ready for Luke to start school and working on all kinds of other exciting events. I'll post more about all of it in the near future, but it's been a whirlwind - and frankly still is.

Today was a particularly difficult day as I had a million and one things to "get done" this morning and an also particularly stubborn and defiant 3 year old. Not a good mix. By afternoon I was toast. So I set up the pool and decided we'd play outside. We have no shade in our yard, but I didn't even care that it felt like 100+ degrees. The boys were happy and not fighting. And that made mom happy. Here are a few shots that I took of them in the sandbox. (Because it ALWAYS makes good sense to play in the sandbox following time in the pool!)

He's getting so big, but apparently not quite big enough!

(His toes are off the ground in case you can't see.)

Bridesmaids' Luncheon

Meghan's Mom, Donna, Meghan and my Mom

All the wedding festivities kicked off with a Bridesmaids' Luncheon on Friday morning. Meghan's aunt hosted us at her home for a lovely lunch. Only 4 of the 7 bridesmaids were able to attend, but it was great time to visit and see Meghan before all the craziness set in.

Our gift from Meghan

First Haircut

We had quite a whirlwind weekend with my brother's wedding on Saturday. It all started on Thursday evening when friends and family started arriving from out of town. Tim flew in from Georgia and we took Luke for his first haircut Friday morning. As you can see, it was time. There was something so sad to me about cutting off his baby curls though. They were so sweet it took me a while to get to that point. But I wanted him to look great for pictures this weekend so we took him to the local kid's salon. He was a bit unsure of the whole situation until he got a sucker. Then it was all good. His hair turned out so cute and I can't believe how grown up he looks. If he'd decided to cooperate, the family wedding pictures would have been great...

Before

Waiting

After