water babies

we found out about this very cool new pool in cedar park, veterans memorial pool. today we decided to go after we got out of church and we LOVED it! it was very kid friendly with tons of shallow areas for the kids to play in without worrying about the deep areas. also, very cheap to get in! FYI ~ you can also bring in your own food and drinks! awesome.

it took maggie about 10 min to get "warmed" up to the cool water. she was afraid that when the 3 1/2 foot bucket on the top of the kids "play area" dumped out its contents ( large amounts of water falling down like a waterfall ) that it would get on her and get in her eyes. she is my one that tends to be fearful of water, well, really anything out of the ordinary. i have to sit and explain everything out in detail to her to get her to try but once she does try she loves whatever it was that she was so scared of in the first place. then it is so cute to hear her say how brave she was and how she is so "proud" of herself that she isn't afraid anymore!




now billy, that's another story. that little stinker! he has no fear! i don't know why that surprises me. he went right in and started going and going and going. he walked straight to the 2ft 6in area, which is right at his chin, and started jumping and playing and putting his head in the water and getting back up and just laughing. never once was did he get scared or cry when he went under and this was his first time at a pool! i think his dad was a wreck but billy, no, not billy! i think we might need to get some floaties or one of those life jacket swim thingies. that might make joe feel a little better at least.

anyway, i just wanted to share some good ole summer, 100 degree, pool splashing fun with y'all and hope y'all had as much fun reading as we did swimming!

need i say more?

i found billy here today.

need i say more?

*by the way, that is the back of my couch!!!!

kids celebration day

here is a conversation that maggie and i has yesterday morning on the was to church.

"mom, when is kids celebration day?"

"what maggie"

"kids celebration day!"

"maggie, im not sure what you are talking about."

"you know, like mothers day and fathers day."

laughing i told her that everyday was "kids celebration day".

she then asked "when are you going to draw me a picture?"

when did they get to be so smart?

boys or billy

ok, here's the question. is it all boys or just billy? as you can see in the picture, he is a climber! he climbs everything! here he is on my coffee table in the living room and as you can tell by the grin on his face, he knows he's not supposed to be up there. i can't keep him from climbing. he has no fear.

look how proud he looks in this one. just as proud as he can be sitting up there with good ole chester. they are partners in crime because chester knows that he too isn't supposed to be up on the table either. this afternoon as i was putting up groceries, i noticed it was too quiet, so i thought i would find what little bill was up to. so i walked around the corner into the formal dining room to find that he had pulled out one of the chairs and was standing on the table holding onto the chandelier!! needless to say i didn't get a picture of that because it looked like at any moment he was about to jump and start swinging! i could see it in his eyes! so, back to my original question, boys or billy?

its summer time!

nothing says summer like 100 degree days,

dirty faces from melting popsicles,

backyard in just your diaper,

and trying to eat your popsicle as fast as you can before it melts.
no such luck!





memories to last a lifetime!

i just added this picture because it thought it was priceless! what do you thing happened next?? notice that he never let go of the popsicle!

way to go billy!

fathers day trip

every year we head up to paris, tx to visit my dad for fathers day. the o'brien family reunion is also held that same weekend every year. my dad and liz have everyone over to their place saturday night for food and fun. i bet there were about 65 people there. they live on 7 acres and his house backs up to a lake. it is just beautiful. you can see Gods fingerprint everywhere out there. all the kids have such a good time. they love to be out outside fishing, out in the paddle boat, or just running around outside enjoying the fresh country air. they had a blast as the sun began to go down and the lightning bugs started to come out. they would catch them and then put them in a jar and watch them for awhile and then let them go and then catch a new batch.

this is the view from his back porch looking out toward the lake.

sunday we all meet at a hall to enjoy a catered lunch before everyone heads home. i love everything about family reunions. i love seeing everyone that you don't see through the year. looking at all the old pictures of the older generation and when they did family reunions and how everything is so different now a days. faces are the same, just a little older and to remember the ones who have gone on to be with our Savior. we had three this year.

a new hobby

maggie got a camera for her birthday in april. just this weekend we got around to opening it up and getting it all put together. she has been taking pictures all weekend long so i thought i would share some on the ones that she took. some turned out surprising well and others were just blurs. needless to say she loves taking pictures. who knows she just might be a photographer when she grows up! what do ya'll think

here is one of her blurs. billy standing in barbara's kitchen.

this is her aunt amy. i think she did a good job on this one.

this is her 3rd cousins, kay and miranda, she met this weekend for the 1st time and they all became quick friends.

i don't think she took this one herself, maybe her daddy helped, but i thought it was cute!

this was this morning when she and billy were playing in her room. not sure how billy got up on her bed, which is really high. i guess i should get to the bottom of that one.

still alive

if any of you were wondering, i'm still alive. i have made it through the first part of the week with my workouts. i'm pretty sore. i can hardly move my arms. they are even sore when i'm holding billy! but he's worth it! there have been times when i have really had to pray hard during my workout that i don't give up. i am pressing through. so, thanks for the prayers! they have been felt.