3 days left of Summer School. I will be so happy when this is over. Don't get me wrong I am happy the boys are getting the help they need but they barely have a summer as it is and now they are losing more. They are enjoying school but are counting down the days as well. Owen says he wants to be able to stay up and watch movies then sleep in in the morning. Ashton just wants to stay home and play his games or swim in the pool.

Today was so nice. It was 20 degrees cooler than it has been. So that was a welcomed change. It was the laziest day and seemed to drag on forever though. The boys got in the pool for a bit but decided it was too cold. So we got out ate dinner, did homework (which they are both improving Yeah), and then chatted with Dustin & Ashley. Well I am off to watch a movie. Hope everyone has a great rest of the week!

Trip to Englewood Metro Park

Justin, Owen, & Ashton

Dustin & Cannin

Owen & Ashton

Ashley & Cannin

Heading out for a hike

Today we headed out for a hike @ Englewood Metro Park. It was a very beautiful park. We only did a small hike but had fun just the same. We were hoping to see some wild life but didn't except for the occasional bug. Next time we will do a bigger hike and maybe see some wildlife or hit the frisbee golf course.

Then after the hike we headed back to our house and spent some time in the pool. The breeze made swimming a bit chilly but we had fun just the same. Ashley made us bacon wrapped chicken.....it was so yummy!! (Thanks Ashley) After dinner, the boys hit the bed for school tomorrow and we watched a movie. It was a wonderful day and now i will finish up here and head off to bed. Hope you all have a wonderful & safe week!!

TGIF

@ Ashley's 8th Birthday Party

Ashton @ Ashley's Party

The Birthday Girl

Our little fish

I am so glad that Friday is here. Owen & Ashton ended this week with a pizza party for lunch from LaRosa's. I told them to bring me a piece but they didn't listen. Oh well they said it was great and they had fun @ the play ground. The boys finished up week 2 of summer school and have 1 more week left. Then no more trips 3 times a day to the school, YEAH :) They are doing really well and hopefully this will give them a boost for next year. Owen seems to be becoming a stronger reader. So we are thankful for that. Ashton seems to be improving as well. I am not sure why the teacher requested he take summer school but the extra help couldn't hurt right?!

Tonight the boys went to a birthday party across the street for our neighbor. They had loads of fun. Owen went swimming and played on the trampoline. Ashton hung out by me. I guess there was just too many kids for him. They got Papa Johns pizza for dinner & cake with ice cream so they were psyched.

After the party we came home and got in the pool for a bit then they were both exhausted so they are laying down watching a movie while I post this. I bet by the time I am finished they will both be out. Fingers crossed right :)

Today was a pretty slow day. Mamaw & Papaw left this morning as the boys went off to school. Then I went to work on the office. I got most of my stuff put in my new file cabinet and some of the furniture switched around. Laundry is another daunting task that I managed to tackle and finish finally at 10:30pm. Oh and who can forget dishes. Those 2 things seem to be never ending at our house.

Ashley, Dustin, & Canni B came over to hang out and get in the pool. We had a good time and even had dinner. They stayed and hung out for a bit and watched Reba with me. We are always happy to have them come visit. The boys just love playing with Canni B!

I am not looking forward to the rest of this summer because it has so hot already. Our pool was up to 84 degrees today. Justin told me to stop being a freak about the air conditioner and turn the air on. So unwilling I did but it is suppose to be horribly hot tomorrow. Just another day here in the Winter house. Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Fun with Mamaw & Papaw Chuck

Uncle Paul & Papaw

Aunt Toot

Me & Justin

Owen & Ashton racing their bikes

Mamaw & Papaw on the 4 Wheeler

Leta & Justin

Owen & Papaw

Sunday & Monday we spent with Mamaw & Papaw. We had another little birthday party for Owen on Sunday afternoon. Uncle Paul & Aunt Toot drove in for the day as well. It was nice to visit and just spend the day together. We also celebrated fathers day. Justin make pulled pork and the ladies bought ice cream cakes. It was delicious. Then on monday after summer school we went out to dinner, rode the 4 wheeler, and swam in the pool. Papaw Chuck even broke our diving board :) It was a wonderful weekend!

Pictures of the kids

Tessa swimming in the pool. She loves to be thrown up in the air. She always tells me to throw her up to the sky. She loves getting in the pool and swimming around. She is such a cutie!

Cannie B has gotten so big since the last time we saw him. He has a tooth that is almost to break the skin, sits up pretty much on his own, & rolls all over the place. We sure did miss them while they were in Texas and are glad they are back in Ohio even if it is only for the next few month!

Here is Keigan. He is such a good baby. He was wide awake in this picture and is more alert to his surroundings. This lil guy is growing and changing so fast. We are so glad that the Sullivan family was able to join us this weekend for Owens party.

Makenna was so proud of herself for finally swimming on her own. She had to tell everyone to check her out swimming. We are so happy that she finally realized that she was going to go under with the floaties on. Yeah Makenna!! You did it all by yourself :)

Daddy got in and swam for quite a bit with the birthday boy. Justin is such a great dad and those boys are like his little shadows. They all had a great time this weekend. Happy Birthday Owen!! WE love you!

Here is my Ashton. He is quite the character and brightens up every day. He had a great time squirting everyone with their new squirt guns. His favorite thing is for me to be his surf board when he is not trying to squirt me :)

Happy 7th Birthday Owen!!

This weekend Owen celebrated his 7th birthday! We had a party with our friends on Saturday. Then on Sunday, Mamaw & Papaw Cupp and Uncle Paul & Aunt Toot came to visit. We had another small thing for Owen and bought the dads Ice cream cakes for Fathers Day. We swam both days and had a BBQ. Saturday we smoked chicken & on Sunday we smoked pork for pulled pork. Oh it was so good :) It was lots of fun and Owen had a great birthday weekend. He got lots of toys and other neat stuff. It is so hard to believe that he is that old already. Man, does that make me feel old :( He is growing and changing so fast and time seems to be just flying right by. Before we know it he will be driving then off to college. It is so depressing but we are enjoying every single minute. Ashton and Owen both are such characters and we could not imagine life without them. Hope everyone had a wonderful fathers day weekend!

It was so wonderful to see another doe just hanging out behind our fence. I was watching the boys swim and taking pictures of them when I happened to glance up and see the doe standing there staring at us. Isn't she the most beautiful creature?!

Ashton posing for a picture for me. Ashton learned how to do a backflip underwater today. It was so exciting to see how far he has come in just a few short weeks. He is getting much braver and even goes off the board without being coaxed. He can swim from the board to the shallow end. Justin and I are so proud of him :)

Owen posing for a picture for me. He worked me to death today. After supper we got in the pool together. We practiced our back flips and hand stands underwater. Then when Ashton was finished swimming he was our mediator while Owen and I raced. I am so out of shape because after half an hour my legs felt like jello and I was exhausted. But what a workout :)

In deep discussion about something!

Well my mom is doing good post surgery. She got to come home today after she kept some food down. Dad said the medicine she is on makes her tired but he said she needs the rest. We are sad that they won't be able to make it this weekend but we totally understand and wish the Grammy feels better real soon!

On a sad note... we lost one of our baby kittens so now we are down to 3 yellows and 1 black. I was so upset and trying to explain to the boys was a nightmare in itself. But I think we got it work out and they understand that the kitten is in heaven. Boy did that bring up a hundred and one questions that i was so not ready to answer but what can you do :)

Big Day today

$1.00 from the tooth fairy for Owen

Tonka gave birth to 5 kitten early this morning

Ashton on his first day of summer school

Owen on his first day of summer school

So starting at midnight last night our fun began. As Justin and I headed back to our room to go to bed...I heard squeaking noises. I thought our floor boards were squeaking until I walked into our closet and found 2 baby kittens on our floor. Over the course of the night she had 3 more for a total of 5 (4 yellow & 1 black). As soon as they are ready we will be finding good homes for them. Then also today summer school began. Ashton was reluctant to go but once he was there he was okay. He started to break down when I picked him up because he didn't see me and Owen wasn't there with him. Owen had to stay a full day. Owen said he learned lots of stuff today but nothing specifically. We also signed them up for the summer reading program. When they hit so many hours they win prizes so they are all about reading now. And the final kicker for today was that Owen received a whole dollar from the tooth fairy. He was so over joyed and now he can't wait to spend it.
On another note... We want to say a quick prayer for my mom who is having Cervical Disc surgery tomorrow @ 7am. We wish her well and a speedy recovery. We love you Grammy Cindy (mom) and will keep you in our thoughts and prayers!!

The Luttrells visit

The little monkeys in the tree

Running around playing cops & robbers

Running from Bryce & Owen

They played so great to together

Saturday afternoon our friends & old neighbors from Guam, The Lutrells, came in for the night before heading to their relatives. It was such a wonderful treat to see them again. They boys had a great time playing together and got along really well. Justin & I were excited to have the chance to hang out with Devon & Curtis again as well. We had burgers & dogs, swam in the pool, sat by the fire, & played the wii. Just sitting around and chatting felt like old times which we have truly missed. It was hard to believe that it has been almost 5 years since we had last seen them. We look forward to lots more visits! Thanks again to Devon, Curtis, Wyatt, & Bryce for stopping by on their way through Ohio! We missed you guys and can't wait to see you again!

Well Saturday morning while I was mowing the backyard, Owen comes running out to tell me his tooth fell out. He was so excited and couldn't wait to put it under his pillow for the tooth fairy. Since we had company last night, the tooth fairy was unable to make it because she forgot (oops!) so she should be making her appearance tonight to leave this lucky little boy some money for his tooth! He has put it in a ziploc baggie and has put it on the shelf above his bed so she hopefully won't miss it tonight or so he tells me.

Another loose tooth

Ashton is all smiles. What a character I have on my hands. He always says something that make me laugh and smile. Today his obsession was wanting to know how old everyone was. I think we went through the entire family today and told him their ages all for him to say that we were all "OLD"

Owen has 2 more loose teeth. I got it mostly pulled out but then he jerked my hand away so it is hanging on by a thread. He won't let me near it now and just think this morning he asked me to get the pliers out and pull it :) Kids you got to love them!

Rain, Rain, Go away

one of the flowers by our pool
Well for the better part of two weeks now it has done nothing but rain. I thought it was suppose to be April showers that brought May flowers. Anyway, during the few moments of the day when it was not raining the boys got to get into the swimming pool. They have both turned into quite the little swimmers. Today they race the entire length of the pool. Bless their hearts they were both exhausted by the time they reached the stairs from the deep end but they kept on going.

Ashtons Kindergarten class

This is Ashton's Kindergarten class on their last day of school. Our neighbor Meegan sent me the picture. She was one of the room mothers for their class. Ashton is in the bottom row in the grey shirt. His friend (& our neighbor) Riley is in the black T-shirt with white writing and the red shorts. Their teacher was Mrs. Caldwell

Summer Fun

We had a great day today. The boys went and played with the neighbors for a bit this morning. Ashton came home and swam with his daddy in our pool while Owen stayed at the neighbors house and swam there. They both said they had a great time. Owen came home around 3pm to visit with his daddy before Justin went to work. Then the boys got in our pool and played for a couple of hours. They are little fish those two and it is very hard to get them out of the pool once they are in. Owen learned how to do summer salts in the water. He can do 3 with 1 breathe. Ashton learned how to go off the diving board today and he even swam from the board all the way to the little end. We are very proud of both boys. They are becoming strong little swimmers and I am so happy that they enjoy the water as much as we do. Hope you all enjoy the pictures and have a wonderful rest of the week.

Our boys

Just wanted to share some recent pictures of our boys. They are growing up so fast. It is hard to believe that they will be 7 & 6 this year. Time sure has flown by. It seems like yesterday that they were in diapers and now they are in school. They seem to grow and change everyday. So all you new mothers out there enjoy your little ones while they are still little because before you know it they are out of diapers and off to school. I hope you enjoy the pictures. It is of the boys in the pool and just a nice picture of their beautiful faces!!









Owen










Ashton

Home Improvements

We had a busy weekend this weekend. Justin power washed the driveway. Then we spent half the day Sunday filling the cracks and started sealing the driveway. After 4 trips to home depot we finally had enough sealant. We sealed half that night then finished up today. It turned out great. The cracks filled nicely. We did a great job I must say. Justin did most of it but I did around the edges and helped fill the cracks. I even used the blow torch! You learn something new every day :) And we finally finished framing up my photo collage down in the basement. I am very please with the way it turned out! Hope you enjoy!