1st Day of School

Wednesday the 19th was the first day of school. Everyone had on new clothes, shoes, backpacks, socks - the whole works. We were all excited to start a new year.


Kannon ready for Kindergarten


Tanner ready for 3rd grade

Corey ready for 7th grade

Dustin is ready for 12th grade but was not ready for a picture.

The first day was very busy. I had to be on duty at 7:15 a.m. I think it was after 5:00 when we all got home. A long day but a good one for everyone.

Kannon and a new friend, Rubin, at a school assembly on Friday. It is going to be nice to be at school with Kannon so that I can see him throughout the day. He loved the assembly. The cheerleaders were there and everyone was dancing and cheering. You know Kannon with dancing - he was having a fun day.

Back to School Time

It is hard to believe but August is here and that means back to school time. We made our annual trip to Shoe Carnival and everyone (even me) got new shoes for the year. Also we made several trips to Walmart for lots and lots of school supplies.

Corey has had a hard two weeks at the dentist. Two weeks ago he had 4 teeth pulled. The next week he had spacers put in and then the day before school started he got BRACES. He was a real trooper through the whole thing.

He looks so cute with braces - very junior highish! :)

School here we come!!

Happy Birthday Tanner

Tanner turned 9 on Saturday the 15th. He had the whole day planned. He and I went to the Humane Society to see all of the animals and then out to lunch to Wendy's. We also make a trip to Walmart to pick out a DS game that he had been wanting. That night we all went out to dinner to Firehouse Subs and then back home for cake and presents.

Hanging out in the kitten room

What a cute 9 year old!!

Lots of fun stuff


Sunday night we had Barry's family over for another party. More cake and presents.

Tanner got a fish tank from Barry's parents. He can't wait to get it set up so he can go and get two fish. He has been wanting a pet and we thought fish would be great.

Tanner had a fun birthday weekend. What a sweet boy he is. He loves to spend one on one time with Barry and I. He loves to talk about things and asks lots of questions. He loves hugs and snuggling. He is growing up to be such a fine young man. We love you Tanner. Happy Birthday!

Regional Tournament

We headed to Enid, Oklahoma last Thursday. This is where the Regional was held last year so we were familiar with the town. We actually stayed in the same hotel as last year. The Ricemen opened the tournament with a game against the Mississippi State Champs. We won that game 9-4.

Dustin's name on the big Jumbo Tron.

Throwing a guy out at first

My boys, of course, were so excited to be staying in a hotel again for a few days. They loved the pool and the breakfast each morning in "the dining room".

Kannon swimming the whole length of the pool.

We didn't have a game until 7:00 p.m. on Friday so we headed to Oklahoma City (about 90 minutes away) to - you guessed it - the Children's Museum. We spent the whole day there and had a great time.

Tanner and Kannon riding the Segways

In the wind tunnel (the wind got up to 82 mph)

Doing the weather

Corey exploring a big 2 story tree house.

Tanner walking through the sound tunnel. At first the boys were running through making all kinds of noise, but then we read the instructions and you really were suppose to see how little noise you could make - not near as fun :) They were not to good at that exhibit.

This picture is actually the Wednesday night before the tournament started. They had a banquet for the teams. Then had opening ceremonies on the field with a home run derby and fireworks to end the evening. They put on a very nice tournament. All of the players felt honored to be there.

The Ricemen lost their next two games which ended the tournament for them and also officially ended the baseball season for this year. Dustin had a great year of baseball and we loved traveling around being a part of it. Now it is back to Jonesboro to get ready for school to start!!

"Send Off Party"

A restaurant in town (Fat City Grill) sponsored a "Send-Off " Party for the baseball team on the Monday before they left for Oklahoma. There was a big crowd there with families, friends, girlfriends, etc... Channel 8 even had a camera guy there who interviewed a few of the players for the news. It was really a fun night. All of the moms met at the restaurant early to decorate. The restaurant fed the players and then we provided a big cake for everyone. I think the players felt very special.

The cake had a picture of their State Championship team photo.

This poster had all of the players T-ball pictures on it. Very cute! Dustin is on the left with the red shirt and black shorts.

Good luck boys in Oklahoma!

State Champs AGAIN

After winning the Zone Tournament in Paragould we headed to Little Rock for the State American Legion Tournament. Corey was so excited because we got to stay in a hotel for a few nights. My boys sure love hotels. Besides watching baseball, we also found time to go to the Children's Museum in Little Rock, visit "The Old Mill" park, do a little shopping and swim in the hotel pool several times.

The Children's Museum

We bought a year membership last August when we were in Little Rock. It is good for museums all over the country. We sure had fun visiting museums this year. We definitely got our moneys worth.

The "Old Mill" was in the opening credits for "Gone with the Wind".
It is now a nice park with lots of water and gardens.

Having fun in the hotel pool

Ready for the ballgame

Dustin fielding,

batting,


and even pitching. He has not pitched that much this year but he came in the last inning of the final two games of the State Tournament. Dustin came in with the game on the line and earned two saves. He also had five hits! He did great!


State Champs

We are proud of you Dustin!

Oklahoma, here we come!

Limo Ride

Tanner went to a friend's birthday party last week. A limo came and picked him up and then they rode around Jonesboro for a while before ending up at Burger King for dinner and cake. Tanner was pretty excited to ride in a limo!

What a fun party!

Rain, Rain

This Spring and Summer have been much rainy then normal. It has been tough on the baseball seasons but great for my flowers. I have all kinds of flowers blooming this summer. I love it!