a little backyard fun

It has been so amazing having my sister, niece and nephew in town.  Last week, I had everyone over for dinner and afterwards the kids ran around in the backyard until sweat was dripping down their brows.  Our neighbor's little girl, Ana, came over to play too.  Her and Kaleb are the same age and they always have a fun time playing.  Adelynn insisted that my brother run back and forth without stopping.  "Come on, Uncle Ryan!"  She just loves him so.  And of course Jack was in the middle of it all.  My heart is full.

happy birthday, ryan!

Happy birthday {little} brother!!  I can not believe you are 16 already, where the heck did time go?!  Watch out all you Tennessee drivers, you've got another new one on the road ;)

Love you, Ryan!

brotherly love

Late night ice cream date with our brothers, yes please!  It was the only way I could get them away from the video games...boys will be boys.

p.s. i have accepted the fact that my hair will never look good in florida.  this humidity kills...

vacancy

{photo from our day at chilhowee}

My brother moved out over the weekend and moved back in with my mom.  Although he only lived with us for three-ish months, I feel like I am experiencing a sort of empty-nest syndrome.  When I walked into his room and it was empty of all his clothes and shoes and his sugar glider, I instantly wished it was all still there.  I truly feel like it was a blessing to have him in our home and a part of our daily lives.  There were definitely struggles too, it's not easy having a teenager in the house.  It's never fun being the disciplinarian and it's hard sometimes to not take things personally.  I think I have learned a lot through this experience and how I want to be as a mother some day.  I am excited to be a mom some day (no I'm not pregnant); i can't think of a greater occupation.

happy birthday {little} brother 1/11/11

My not so little anymore, younger brother turned 15 today. Happy Birthday Ryan!!

I can't believe he is already in the middle of his teen years, time sure does fly.

We decided to celebrate his birthday this past weekend. We went to lunch and then went to the new bowling ally in town, Pin Strikes. It was such a fun day.

It has been a while since I have done 'real' bowling, not just the wii kind. I figured I would be pretty rusty, but you'll have to check out how I did below :)

{here is the birthday boy showing us how it's done}

{check out my turkey a.k.a. three strikes in a row! i am 'A'}

rolling on the river

{ me and ryan on our way to the river }

We had a really great weekend. Our friends invited us out on their boat Sunday and I am so glad we were able to go. As I've said before, it's been incredibly hot here so we were excited to spend the day on the water. My brother Ryan was with us as well, so we were glad to have him along. There was a small rain cloud that creeped up on us, but the cool drops were actually pretty refreshing in the hotter than hot weather. We had a blast tubing (well I didn't tube), floating in the water and just relaxing on the boat. Thanks Ali and Barret for a great time :)

Did you do anything refreshing over the weekend?

{ jason having fun on the tube }