Uncle Murf's 33rd Bday Cook Out :)

We recently celebrated Rocky's, 33rd birthday!  Yay!  We have come a long way from him tattle-telling on me and me scaring him half to death when babysitting him.  Ha!  We had lots of fun cooking out burgers and hotdogs.  Also, we got to enjoy his "world famous" bbq baked beans-- yum!  I once cooked his beans for my New Hampshire friends and they were bewildered by the concept of beans with ground beef-- guess it is a Southern thing!  No matter where you live, you love this recipe once you try it.. Anyhow, I am so blessed to have spent another year with my bro and look forward to many more!!  Deacan loves his Uncle Murf, too!! :)  Here are some pics we took:

                                 Grill Master-- Uncle Murf

                                              
                                        Papa bought Snap Pops for the Kiddos

Deacan helped Mommy make the cake the night before:

  It turned out delicious-- yellow cake with chocolate frosting, topped with fresh strawberries,, And a #30 plus 3 single candles, to boot..

 Deacan helped him blow out the candles-- Hope he made an awesome wish!! 

We decided to take a family portrait (or two) while I was busy playing with my camera :

Happy happy Birthday, Murf !!

We love you so very, very much!!  :)

***Swimming Lessons-- Deacan was a Star!! *****

Deacan was a participant in the Pre-K swimming lessons at the  YMCA Cordova this year.  He was way more advanced than most of his classmates but the YMCA goes by age only. His instructors did push him farther and he swam without this lifesaving backpack on the entire lesson.  AWESOME!!

He also learned boat safety, which is a great thing considering how much his mommy and daddy love water sports..

 
At the end of the class-- Deacan can swim about half of an average pools length in 5 feet.  Yay!!  His report card was all top marks and included the comment, " Deacan is the first student I've ever had to swim without his backpack the entire lesson.  He is going to be a great swimmer!"- signed Brennan:)

I am so proud of my baby's swimming, and more importantly, his listening skills and attention during the lessons.  Great job, Deacan!!  Mommy loves:)

Happy 4th of July!!

We had a wonderful 4th of July.. Mommy kept her mouth shut about the state of this country, it's president and his total disregard of the Constitution.  Ha!  Anyhow, here are some pictures I snapped along the way:

Fun at the pool...

Daddy showed up for the festivities...

After the pool, we headed out to Eads, TN to get fireworks.. We passed by an awesome waterslide, which we had lots of fun partaking in... Mommy's camera batteries were out at this point.  My apologies to my 3 blog followers---  an Eads waterslide post will be coming soon, though...

We got lots of fireworks and then we went out and fired them off (and waited for the police to come!)..

Okay, I will admit the last shot was not of any firework we purchased.  Haha!!  That is a Hope Church production.  Gotcha, didn't I?  :)
    Wishing everyone a very happy month of July and let's all pray for our beloved country!!!!

A great day off work in the Middle of the Week:)

     Due to low numbers at the childcare center, I get a day off per pay period.  Nevermind the loss of money-- we wanna have some FUN!!  I got up early (7am) so I could make the most of this precious time off.  It was actually cool enough outside for me to finally unload the canned goods from my car I bought last weekend! Yay!  Then I scooped Deacan up from his dad's and took time to play with my camera snapping photos of his garden..

                                           This is my favorite one..  A simple green bean..

                                                     Deacan with his tomato plants

While I was taking pictures, Deac made me this lovely salad with produce from the garden.  He even washed the veggies.  He swears he did not use a knife to cut the okra... Hmmmm... ?

     Then we were on our way to Shelby Farms in a race to beat the heat!  We were able to squeeze in a little time on the slides before they were blazing, although they were well on the way to being.  Poor Deacan did get a pretty bad burn on his back from another slide later on in the day.. Nothing a little Neosporin and TLC couldn't fix, though..

Then we were off to Sand and Water, still his favorite..  I managed to find some shade so he was able to get in a couple of hours of "serious work" in. :)

     Next stop, Hawaiian Ice truck (and Neosporin retrieval).  Nothing like a watermelon/ pineapple icee to cool you down on a hot day.  Deacan wanted to take a few silly photos with the spoon, as well, to share with our many blog followers. Ha!

 
      Then it we were off on a bug hunt!  It would not surprise me one bit if Deacan turned out to be an entomologist-- the boy is crazy about bugs!!  He was very sweet to let the creatures go after a minimal amount of torture.  He told a frog, "Now go have a lifetime".  Later he tells a  HUGE beetle, "Go find your mother"  after trying to find the exact place he found it.  So sweet!  Only one casualty was had and that was due to mommy leaving a baby frog on the hood of the car in a glass to roast.. Whoops!!

 
     It was also neat working together to turn big logs over in the quest for bugs.  My baby said, "Remember, we are a team!".  Awww!!  The best team I've ever been in, D-Nanner!!  He did show his muscles off turning one log, and proudly announced, "No team needed!":

       By this time, it was scorching hot.  I was talked into going to the swings, in spite of the sweat slowly encompassing my clothing and my longing for our pool.  Glad we did it!

     At this point in the day (12:30ish), the pool never looked so good!!

    
     We had to head back home to rest up for swimming lessons.  We did manage to cram as much fun as possible into our Wednesday outside of our normal routine.  I am blessed to have such wonderful company.  How I love summertime!!  :)

Memphis Fire Museum-- A Super Fun Time!!

We took a day off to get Deacan's long form birth certificate (needed for Belize). We decided to check out the Fire Museum while we were downtown with this precious time off. I am so glad we did!! The Fire Museum is an undisclosed place of fun for kids of ages (including me).. It is a shame it is not more heard of... Anyhow, here are some photos we snapped along the way: We got to play an interactive game in which you hold a hose and put out a virtual fire on a screen. The player is lifted by crane to play. Deacan's favorite part was the talking horse at the end.. Mommy was amazed at the fact in the olden days horses came to the rescue lugging fire equipment. It is interesting to think of a time before fire trucks when we counted on the equestrian to relinquish our fires. On the way out we happened to read the metal sign on the building. The posting dedicated the Fire Museum sign to Jerome Hanover, which is Deacan's Uncle Jerry!! How cool is that!?! God bless Jerry for putting money into a facility that is not as popular as it should be. At the end of the day, we had so much fun at the Fire Museum of Memphis. I am putting it on the list of "must return" places.. :)

Deacan graduated Pre-Kindergarten!!

My baby is growing up, in spite of my petition to keep him at this adorable age forever. Deacan graduated Pre*K recently. Here are a few photos of the ceremony. Yet, the first order of business was to polish his ever-present cowboy boots! Deacan did an amazing job participating in the ceremony. He sang "If I was a Butterfly". When called upon to walk up front and say what he wanted to be when he grew up, he walked proudly and declared "the Hulk" as his answer. I am in disbelief that my sweet D-Nanner is about to start Kindergarten. I believe I will continue to stick my head in the sand until registration!! ****A special "thank you" to Ms. Crystal (photo above) for doing such an amazing job with Deacan and preparing him for Kindergarten (both socially and academically). You are a blessing!!! :)