Dawson kid pictures...

Emily Cook took the kids pictures last week at our house...she ran a special for 1/2 price sitting fee and 10% off pictures, and you know me, I am a sucker for a bargain.....I just wanted some casual candid shots to remember this age, and boy did she capture them! There are some really great pictures of them, so I wanted to share...... http://ecook.photobiz.com/cart/event_select.cfm?eventID=211737

Zoo Trip

We took an end of the summer (hard to believe there is only 2 weeks before school starts back) zoo trip today. The 85 degree July weather was wonderful, (we usually try to do spring and fall zoo trips to beat the heat, but today was great!). We had more entertainment by the animals than usual today....you can see by some of the pictures....some crazy otters chasing monkeys, two love bird cheetahs that could not stop "kissing" as Lane said, and an adorable sleeping leopard. My favorite is the new bird exhibit; I think this is the best thing they have ever had for interaction at the zoo. Although they are one bird short tonight, because Rob and Lane let one escape out of the door!

Happy Birthday, Bo!

Our baby boy turned 4 this week. He has been anticipating this day for a while! He said that he had the "best birtday ever" (which is what I posted that Lane said on her birthday, so I am starting to wonder if they say this every year, no matter what!!). We had a "Pump-it-up" party on his birthday, and had lots of friends there to celebrate with him. We gave him his present the night before, which was ninja turtle pajamas and a bunch of ninja turtle figures (all bought used on e-bay...if you've ever looked for ninja turtle pj's in a store, you'd know that you can't buy them!) He said the pajamas were "what I have been wanting my whole life!" Here are some other funnies from his birthday:
The night before, he kept asking me if he was gonna be 4 tommorrow? We kept reassuring him that when he woke up, he would be 4! The next morning, he asked me like 5 times, "Am I 4 now?" "Are you sure I am 4 right now?" Although, I kept reassuring him, he finally came and said to me," Momma, will you go get a measurer and measure me to see if I am really 4?"

Then just before bed, he was playing with a race track that the Lyle's gave him. Ricky had told him that he had 3 cars that he bought to go with it, but Miss Holly forgot to put them in the gift sack. So when he was playing with it, he said "this is the coolest present ever!" So, I said, we should call Mr. Ricky and tell him, and Bo said "yeah!" So I dialed the number, gave Bo the phone, and when Ricky answered, Bo said "Hey, Mr. Ricky, do you have those 3 cars that go with this race track??"

This kid says the funniest things, but he is so sensative, he would never want us to laugh at him, he is always concerned when someone is laughing at someone else. He is very keen on emotions, when we read books, he looks at the pictures on the characters faces and tells me if they are sad or crying or laughing. Now, although he can make me madder than anything many day, he is my "baby boy"....I think it shows that he is a little spoiled by being the baby.

But......I love when his little tiny hands brush my hair out of my face or rub on my cheeks. I love when he sings with me at night in the bed when I sing him songs. I love to hear him say "you are my best friend, momma" or "you are my best friend, daddy"
This is not a birthday pic, just a beautiful little boy picture!

Bo sporting his used e-bay ninja turtle pj's playing with the 50 figurines!

What a cool cake!

He was pretty possessive of this birthday chair, but hey it's only your day once a year!!

You only turn 30 once....

There is nothing quite like having girlfriends. The friendship, the trust, the silliness, the tears, the guidance, knowing you can pick up the phone and have a supportive voice on the other end......Well, my group of high school friends turn/turned 30 within a few months of each other, so we celebrated with a girls day and night in Memphis (plus one 38 year old, ha ha Sara!) I should add that Kendra was with us for the massage and lunch, but had a baby to get home to, and we forgot to take a picture before she left!! We started with a full body massage, grabbed some lunch, checked in the hotel, hung out at the pool, had 6 people get ready with one shower and 2 blow dryers, then took the trolley to Spindini for some awesome italian food. We had planned to check out Beale Street after dinner, but I think we are in agreement, that 30 year olds just aren't made to stay up much past 11:00!!! Thanks girls for a great day, and we will definitely do it again next year, we deserve it!

These sweet girls gave me this gift for planning the day...Lane asked me where I got it and I told her my friends gave it to me at out birtday party and she said, " oh, it's your goodie bag!"

Swimming....

We had a little disappointment today when we arrived to the Ripley waterpark at 11:15 to find out it was at capacity of 150 people and we couldn't get in! So, our little group of friends went (I'd like to say without missing a beat, but we had some pretty disappointed kids!) right on to Kate's mom's and had a great time anyway! Here are a few pictures....

Micheal Jackson dies 06/25/09

As I read my friend, Sara's blog tonight, it compelled me to post for a memory of where I was and what I was doing when Michael Jackson died. Rob and I were in St. Louis in our hotel room and we sat and watched the news forever....we watched the next day and the next. We got online and search about him. We listened to "Man in the Mirror" on our IPOD (the only MJ song we had on there).....It will be neat one day to look back at this scrapbook and see this, because it will likely be the biggest news event of the year. You know, when I think about it, I have heard many good comments about his music, sad thoughts about his death, but then also some comments about how people are sick of seeing it on the news and "that just shows what our world is coming to that we are paying so much attention to this." Well, I am not so sure... Just because he had lots of controversy in his life doesn't mean we know his heart; I dont know his heart (nor do I know anyone else's!!), but I do know that he had a couple of songs like "We are the world" and "Man in the mirror" that talked about making a difference in this world. If I take nothing else from his life and death, I hope I can listen to these songs every now and then and find some spark of motivation to get out of my little comfort zone and do something that might make a difference to another person, which can lead to making a difference in this world.

God, Please don't let me be a person who talks about doing good, but doesn't get around to it. Amen

Lyrics:

"We are the world"

There comes a time

When we head a certain call

When the world must come together as one

There are people dying

And it's time to lend a hand to life

The greatest gift of all

We can't go on

Pretending day by day

That someone, somewhere will soon make a change

We are all a part of God's great big family

And the truth, you know love is all we need

We are the world

We are the children

We are the ones who make a brighter day

So let's start giving

There's a choice we're making

We're saving our own lives

It's true we'll make a better day

Just you and me

Send them your heart

So they'll know that someone cares

And their lives will be stronger and free

As God has shown us by turning stone to bread

So we all must lend a helping hand

When you're down and out

There seems no hope at all

But if you just believe

There's no way we can fall

Well, well, well, well, let us realize

That a change will only come

When we stand together as one

"Man in the mirror"
I'm Gonna Make A Change,
For Once In My Life
It's Gonna Feel Real Good,
Gonna Make A Difference
Gonna Make It Right . . .
As I, Turn Up The Collar
On MyFavourite Winter Coat
This Wind Is Blowin' My Mind
I See The Kids In The Street,
With Not Enough To Eat
Who Am I, To Be Blind?
Pretending Not To See
Their Needs
A Summer's Disregard,
A Broken Bottle Top
And A One Man's Soul
They Follow Each Other On
The Wind Ya' Know'
Cause They Got NowhereTo Go
That's Why I Want You To
nowI'm Starting With The Man InThe Mirror
I'm Asking Him To ChangeHis Ways
And No Message Could HaveBeen Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make The WorldA Better Place
Take A Look At Yourself, AndThen Make A Change

I've Been A Victim Of A Selfish
Kind Of Love
It's Time That I Realize
That There Are Some With NoHome,
Not A Nickel To Loan
Could It Be Really Me,
Pretending That They're NotAlone?
A Willow Deeply Scarred,Somebody's Broken Heart
And A Washed-Out Dream
They Follow The Pattern OfThe Wind, Ya' See
Cause They Got No PlaceTo Be
That's Why I'm Starting WithMe
I'm Starting With The Man InThe Mirror
I'm Asking Him To ChangeHis Ways
And No Message Could HaveBeen Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make The WorldA Better Place
Take A Look At Yourself AndThen Make A Change(Take A Look At Yourself AndThen Make That . . .(Take A Look At Yourself AndThen Make That . . .)Change!

Fourth of July weekend!

We had a busy weekend celebrating the 4th! We went to Rob's grandmother's for a family lunch, visited with his friend, Nick and his family, had a cookout with some Covington friends, then had ribs at Ellie and Boo's yesterday. Lots of fun! I think we pushed the kids a little hard with no naps in 2 days....We were picking up some things for Bo's birthday last night at Walmart, and Bo said, "momma, I think I just won't have a party." I said, "Why not, Bo?" and he said, "cause this is taking too long and I am tierd." Now for that boy to admit he is tierd,...well he was tierd! Here are some pictures, my camera ran out of battery Saturday night, so I stole a few pics from the McCool's blog!
The Jeep adventure ride with Jamie (it was like Kilaminjaro safari at Disney.....only free!)

Nothing like good ole Watermelon on the 4th!

This was a fun game called, "Let's hit Uncle Rookie in the stomach as hard as we can!"

Here was the neatest part of the weekend (aside from the Jeep adventure with Jamie)......Nick's mom has the coolest swing in the backyard that goes super high....it is hung from a huge old maple tree...the pictures don't do justice to how high this thing goes. Made me a little nervous, but they loved it!

Lane is looking for the momma bird in the tree and trying not to scare it away!

Ellie made this cool jello flag dessert and Lane and I decorated it with cool whip!