Our long weekend was SO fun. I mean epic movie type fun.
Things you should know….my mom got a cat. The kids are obsessed.
We are calling her Bootsie….it was Sweetie at first but then my dad vetoed that one. So now it’s Bootsie and she is adorable and playful and basically believes she is a tiger.
LJ is a fish. Literally he is going to be the star of this post show because the whole weekend was him swimming.
Max is officially one but we haven’t celebrated him yet. It doesn’t feel like he is that old because he is not really walking yet (he has taken first steps and is always trying to walk but he is definitely more of a crawler) but he is HUGE. He is already the same size clothing as LJ. I’m gonna start telling people they are twins.
Our little Jungle Book Mowgli 🙂
See that half smile? He’s equal parts elated and terrified 🙂
I love my mom. I walk into the house and she is making food and I am like “Hey Mom, go down to the pool!” And she is like “There is NOTHING TO EAT. I’M PREPARING FOOD.”
I then take this picture to prove my point. And she continues to make deviled eggs and tomato salad! ha! #trueitalian
My sister was due on July 4th 🙂 Welcome to overdue Norn! Or as I like to call it – pregnant purgatory.
This might be my new favorite photo….
I mean…the joy!
LJ and Yaya are besties. It’s cute and hilarious and they have conversations to one another about things like kitty cats and candy 🙂
Kissin’ cousins 🙂
They are really both very sweet and gentle personalities. I’m so happy that they have each other. Third childs unite!
Out of all the cousins, Max looks most like Clara and she is super sweet. I can’t wait till she is old enough to come over for a whole week to baby-sit 🙂 Hint hint Clara….I pay well 🙂
This year is the year of the fireworks and we definitely prepped the kiddos. For the weeks before hand, we would take the kids out in the driveway and do a few little popping fireworks and spinners. They would scream and cry and it was complete chaos. But then they started getting used to it. So when the big celebration weekend happened…nobody cried! It was amazing!
Cousin Braden having a LeBron James moment 🙂
And Cole showing us how to do Party Poppers 🙂
Check out the magnitude of these fireworks. It’s practically viewable from space 🙂
Our little air traffic controller 🙂
And definitely one of the most hilarious things was watching all the cousins run through the smoke bomb leftovers.
Okay….I should probably preface this photo with …..my brother is one of the funniest people I have ever met. And there isn’t a dare he won’t do. Half of us were screaming NO DON’T BE AN IDIOT and the rest of us were yelling BE A MAN! RUN LIKE THE WIND! and then he in true redneck fashion said “hey y’all watch this….”
Afterward he had some singed chest hair, an eye-rolling wife and a very awesome photo to show for his bravery….I never have laughed so hard. He said there was just enough butt crack to keep this photo classy 🙂
My little patriot…
I just wanted to say officially….thank you. If you serve our country here or abroad, I can’t say thank you enough. We have a few holidays here and there that we are reminded to appreciate your sacrifice…but we get to enjoy EVERY day because of you guys. We have freedom to be firework dancers and pool jumpers and cat chasers and do it because of your true bravery. It’s not a little chest hair that you risk losing. It’s every day work with life on the line. You are the protectors of freedom. The real life super heroes and from our family to yours – thank you!
OMG love all these photos!
Your brother is NUTS. I would have killed him if I was his wife. Or mother. Or sister. 🙂
LJ is super brave!
Love the pics! Looks like a great holiday!!! 🙂
Ditto!
You have a beautiful family!
Great pictures of food, fireworks and the true meaning of freedom.
Isn’t your BIL nicknamed Boots? So now your Mom’s cat is named after your BIL?! Love it!!
Haha! I am the only one that calls him that so yeah – that’s pretty funny 🙂
xo – kb
I can’t believe he did that, that is insanely irresponsible. Especially with the amount of kids there, you should actually take fireworks really serious. And make sure you’re teaching kids about proper fireworks safety from a young age, especially through example.
Those pictures are great!! Love your little patriot….too cute!
Beautiful…in everyway. Thanks for sharing.
Such a beautiful family! Thank you for sharing them with us. Also, is your sister sitting on the ground on her due date? Major kudo’s to her for that! She looks absolutely amazing! Wishing her a speedy and healthy delivery.
Great photos… fun time!
Cute kitty too!
Yes is it is crazy and we told all the kids repeatedly to never do it. We definitely used it as a teaching moment!
xo – kb
I KNOW! She is a rock star!
xo – kb
Just because you tell the kids not to do it doesn’t mean they won’t do it. “Mom said don’t do it but Uncle whatever did and he’s fine. Let’s do it anyway.”….that’s how kids are. It’s hard for them to listen and follow your rules if the adults around them aren’t doing the same.
That’s true but as a parent we are faced with things like that all the time…telling our big kids not to drink when adults are, telling little kids not to walk in the road when they see teens can, telling toddlers not to touch the hot pan when mommy is. I think that is what parenting is…training. giving warnings. teaching in the moment. encouraging wisdom. I think we are missing out on a key point – kids are going to see things (stupid insane daredevil things) all the time…and it is our job as a parent to drill it into their head that risk exists and that consequences are results of decisions….so make GOOD decisions 🙂
xo – kb
Your family looks like so much fun. And your sister looks amazing. Hey didn’t she say (per the Isla birth announcement page) that Isla was her last baby 😉 Congrats to her and all your guys on welcoming a new little one!
Yup! This was what they called their buy two get one free baby 🙂
xo kb