Good-Bye Minnie!

Whew. I am tired.  I may need a weekend to recover from our on-the-go week. 

This past week we had lots of fun and had some BIG STUFF happen!!  For starters, Momma Koehn got her keys to her new classroom at Lakeview!  Yep, that's right friends...I am heading back to school!  I was offered a job teaching 2nd grade at Lakeview and happily accepted.  While I have really loved being home with Liam this year, I am just simply not cut out to be a stay-at-home-momma.  I was climbing the walls by October!  So...I have lots of work to do!  Just take a look:

My new classroom...plenty to do to keep me busy in here!

And, we made a family change.  Remember in this post, The Space Conundrum, where The Koehn Fam made the leap into the world of the mini-van??  Well, as it turns out, I am not cut out to be a mini-van-momma either.  So, it was time to say good-bye to the miniature van.

Here we are saying Peace out, Minnie!

And welcoming our newest vehicular family member into the ranks.  Thumbs up for SUVs.

(BTW, in an odd turn of events, I got a message from a friend on Facebook today that said she bought our van!  So, it's good to know Minnie is with a friend :)

Tuesday we spent some time up at Granny & Pa's.  The kiddos always love to run around up there and Granny loves to watch them play.

Sweet cousins

Chan relaxing on the dock

Wednesday Aunt Anna, Nana, & I took the kiddos downtown for some (mostly) free fun in Nashville.

We chilled out in the courtyard at the Nashville Public Library

And checked out the kids' periodicals

before heading in for story and music time.

Afterward, Nana treated us all to lunch at The Old Spaghetti Factory.

Then we headed over to Bicentennial Mall to play in the water...

and to see the capital...

but mostly just to play in the water.

He seriously did this for like 45 minutes straight.

And then he had to have a picture with the "giant flags".

Friday we did some swimming over at Nama's

Before heading to Dougie's wedding on Saturday!  Jus was a groomsman,

And Chan was the ring bearer.  He got to walk Keilyn down the aisle.  Too cute.  Srsly.

We opted to leave Baby Lamb at home.  I figured he would just spend most of the ceremony shouting for Daddy & Nanew.

And then we ended (started?) the week back at Nama's with more swimming, eating, and ....snail catching.  Cause why not??

"There is no more lovely, friendly, and charming relationship, 

communion or company than a good marriage."

~Martin Luther~

Congratulations Doug & Chrissy!!  Wishing you all the very best in this new wonderful life that you are creating together!  So happy for you guys!

Till next time friends!

Brittany :)

My America

We are now one week into July and I still cannot believe the weather that we have been having.  The past few days have felt more like April than July (but I'm not complaining).  Today is the first sunny, rain-free day we've had in four days.  So, what am I doing now that the sun is shining???  I put the kids outside with the sprinkler and their Daddy so I could veg out in front of the TV for a bit.  Score.

But one can only veg for so long.  At least this one.  So, I thought I would share some of our shenanigans from the week.  Turns out we had a truly patriotic week celebrating July 4th and participating in some of America's favorite past times.  Here's what we were up to the first week of July:

We took a nice, long walk on the greenway, then headed down to the river with Baba

and practiced skipping stones.  Okay, we just threw the rocks in the water.  Gotta start somewhere, right??

And we found a fabulous, new friend on our little journey.  Chandler named him Charlie and loved him tremendously for the 20 minutes he had with him before Mommy made him return him back to nature.

Wednesday night we went to the boys' first Sounds game with Nana, Baba, & Uncle Woody.

It was a great night for some baseball!

And both of the boys seemed to have a great time!

We skipped the peanuts in lieu of cracker jacks, cotton candy, pizza, hot dogs, and Goobers.

And then ended up with a pretty large and in charge sugar high.

And even in spite of the little bit of rain that started in the 7th inning, we had a great time.

And got the catch the fireworks show after the game, too!

July 4th was all kinds of rainy.  And cold.  We spent most of the afternoon on Nana's back porch eating and wrapped in blankets.  Here are the boys with Uncle Woody.

Due to the rain our neighborhood 5K and July 4th parade was cancelled, but we were still all smiles.

Cause who needs parades and fireworks on July 4th anyway, right??  (Well, it would've been nice, but there's always next year I suppose.)

Friday we took the boys to tour one of the Nashville Fire Stations

They let us check out their "chillin' out" room & their kitchen before taking us to the garage.

Chandler was in awe of all the firemen and had to check out every truck.

And Liam would have stayed all day if we would've let him.

We even got to see two of the trucks (including the ladder truck) head out to calls while we were there.

It was a great visit that reminded us how important the men and women who do these jobs are.  True American heroes.

After our visit we went for lunch at Firehouse Subs.

While we were there Chan spotted two soldiers coming in for lunch.  He was in awe once again and grinned so big when one of them passed by our table and said "Hey there, buddy!" 

And speaking of American heroes...check out this shot that Grandma took of Liam on July 4th.  Best Captain America I've ever seen.

 

So I was a bit bummed that we missed the race and the parade this year (we even had the bike and the stroller totally decked out with some patriotic flair).  But,when all is said and done, we don't need races, parades, floats, or fireworks to celebrate the 4th.  We need to remember that the freedoms that we have in this country were not bought or earned.  They were bravely fought for by the true American heroes of yesterday and are defended still by the American heroes of today and tomorrow.

"I love my freedom.  I love my America."

~Jessi Lane Adams~

Till next time friends!

Brittany :)

P.S.- To check out last year's July 4th post (and see how big our little Liam got in this past year), just click here. :)

Sweet Summer

Oh, sweet summertime!  How I love thee!

For realz.  I do love me some summer.  I have been working hard trying to keep these two boys of mine busy so far this summer so as not to drive their Momma crazy. :)

Here is what we were up to in June:

We spent some time at The Jolly Roger,

Met cousin Lucas for the first time (and he was pretty cute!),

Played Legos with cousin Hayden,

played in the water to cool off,

dug around in the dirt for some new pets,

And got ourselves a new (to us) swingset for the backyard!

We celebrated Daddy's BIG 3-0!!!

Mommy enjoyed a lovely Riley-Date day while the boys stayed with Nana & Baba!

And we had fun at Cumberland's Symphony on the Lawn with Nana & Baba, too!

We did some lightening bug catchin',

Brushed up on our skateboard skillz,

Did some sliding with Daddy on the new swingset,

(And did a little swingin', too),

And celebrated our favorite Daddies on Father's Day.

One of us learned how to ride our bike SANS TRAINING WHEELS!!!!

We spent lots of afternoons at the pool,

played drums with Charlie from Global Education and checked out the lovely Polynesian dancers,

Did a little shopping here and there,

And spent some more time at The Jolly Roger swimming (and bar dancing).

We had lots of library time: Chan played trains while Liam napped (and Mommy read),

Had fun playing with The Chalos fam

And Liam had a special day out with Nana & Mommy to see Sesame Street Live, front row baby!

Chan got a special night out, too--Monsters University at the drive-in!

Then we had dinner out and a sleepover with the girls after VBS,

Beat the heat at Topz with some frozen yogurt,

And even took a trip to Neverland (with buddy Miles)

to celebrate Etta's & Kab's birthdays.

June was super fun!  Can't wait to see all that July has in store for us!

"Then followed that beautiful season...summer...

filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; 

and the landscape lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood."

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow~

Till next time friends!

Brittany :)