Sword Fighting with Daddy and Pictures from Ally's Birthday Party

A few weeks ago, I taught Derek how to "sword fight" with mixing spoons. I thought he didn't particularly care for that kind of play, but I was proved wrong today!

On Guard!!

Derek enjoyed going to Ally's birthday party at Pizza Planet. We had a blast playing with friends and I really enjoyed catching up with my family. Enjoy the pictures!

Derek liked sitting in the motorboat ride, even though it was broken

LOVED the carousel

Two of Ally's friends and Ally on the mini roller coaster. Derek liked that one, too. Sad I didn't get pictures.

The Dance of Three Binkies

And so it begins with the next generation. Sorry for laughing and snorting in the background - I was trying to hold it in and that made it worse. :D Probably the best part of my week watching these two passing the binkies around.

Dance of Three Binkies

Fun Times with the Bazemore-Thomison Clan

This past weekend my sister Amy was kind enough to drive Derek and I down to Houston for a combination graduation/birthday party. We were only there about 48 hours, but it was still a fun trip. I even learned something new about my Papa (who had me in stitches during this - I only caught the tail end of the performance)...

Dr Wong

My cousin Beth surprised me with a call out of the blue to see if I needed any clothes for Derek. What an answer to prayer! I've been worrying how I was going to get summer clothes for Derek. And such cute ones! Pics to follow in another post but they are SO cute. :D

Uncle Dwight (Kelly's boyfriend) gave Derek a super cool stuffed dinosaur that he carried around most of the weekend. Yesterday he tried to make it eat Logan. Haha!

Other than that, it was fun times and chilling with family. Aunt Mary and Aunt Nancy flew down for a few days and it was really fun to see them again.

Playing with Logan

Lanae and Logan have come to stay for a month or so while David is completing some of his Air Force training. It's been soooo nice to have their company! Lanae and I have very similar tastes in movies, we do Zumba together and have fun watching Derek and Logan play. Mitchell surprised me by buying the 5 hour Pride and Prejudice a week ago and I've had a wonderful time immersing myself in the words and world of embroidery and books. Ahhhh...the luxury of beautiful speech and elegant hairstyles. The only thing missing is Milla. :(

Here are some of the highlights of last week. We had lots of fun!

One of my favorites

He likes pillows!

Look at that handsome Logan boy!

Very smiley

Kicking the big balloon with Aunt Lanae

Playing "Pop Goes the Weasel" with Logan

Kind of long, but it's so cute!

Present from Grandpa Bazemore

Walking Outside

Talking to Grandma and Grandpa Heath

The Saga of the Trash Monster

I walked away for maybe 30 seconds and the TRASH MONSTER appeared!

Remember Memorial Day Tomorrow

I am so grateful to live in this country and especially to be a Latter-day Saint in this country. It's staggering to think how good our lives are - good food, running water, warm bed - heck, people in McKinney often leave their doors unlocked at night! Talk about peace of mind. I'm starting to value that particular gift more and more.

I don't watch rated R movies, but I love this quote from A Few Good Men - When asked why the character likes Marines, she responds, "Because they stand up on a wall [or in a desert or on a ship or in an aircraft] and say, "Nothing's going to hurt you tonight, not on my watch."

I love that. I think that captures the essence and heart of all our troops regardless of branches. They serve their country and their families and people they'll never meet in this life. I appreciate their sacrifice and that of the sweet and steady spouses and children who stand behind them. Do I still feel sore at the Air Force? Sometimes. Do I support our troops? Absolutely, 100%. I support the troops, I pray for them and their families and wish we didn't have so many wars but the fact remains that "wars and rumors of wars" are unavoidable. Prophets in every dispensation have declared this to be a precursor to the return of Christ to the earth and so it must be. The last days were never going to be easy but we have a great trust and responsibility to usher in the second coming of Christ. May He come quickly and end this great suffering.

(and as a side note - I can't wait to save up for THIS painting. Its stunning and poignant.)

It's Friday - I should be more excited

But I'm not. Friday is just any other day to me - except that the chains of my M-Th weekly bondage have been loosed and I may now eat chocolate. Or cake. Or chocolate cake if Mom Heath brings it home. :) But yes, Friday is no longer more awesome than any other day. Mitch still works on Friday (tangent: Mitch was promoted at work! Woopee! More on that in a sec), Derek still wakes up super early on Friday just like every other day, and I can still look for my lost marbles.

Yep, Mitch got promoted! It looks really good on a resume and he has much more ... mmm... not sure how to put this.... impact, maybe? Basically, if he messes up, the whole store is set back but if he succeeds (which he most definitely will), he looks really really good. :D How's that for Friday? Bahaha. He's the new unloading-the-trucks supervisor and he works 4pm-1am. Much more family friendly and it means I'll have to relearn how to sleep with him next to me. :) Not that I'm complaining - I'm very very grateful to have him back.

Derek officially has his first word - "eye." It's so cute when he says it, too. Very sweetly, almost shyly and sometimes in a whisper. So stinkin' cute!