Cope's Dinner

Cope has been wanting to cook us some of the foods he had eaten while he was in Iraq for a while now and so last night he invited my parents and his parents over for a feast! Cope had gotten an Iraqi cookbook for his birthday so he picked his favorite recipes. Of course some of the ingredients were hard to find to we took a little family outing to Harry's yesterday morning and of course they had most everything we needed. I love Harry's! Anyway, Cope worked VERY hard all afternoon and by 6:00 dinner was served! Here he is explaining to my Mom about some of the items:

My Mom brought Lintel Soup:

Lamb Kabobs:
Dolma. I know this looks disgusting but it was one of my favorite dishes. It is tomatoes, zucchini, and egg plant stuffed with rice and lamb. :

Flat Bread. Mom Made this too:

There was also pita chips with hummus, rice with a delicious almond and raisin topping, a cucumber and tomato sauce and chi tea. It was a neat experience and I will say when Cope first told me about the food I was no excited but I was wrong, it was good! I am glad Cope was able to show us some of the experience he had while in Iraq so SO LONG.

The boys right before Ramsey headed to bed watching monster trucks on the computer:

Rockin Ramsey

Ramsey loves to ride in Cope's truck because they rock out. Every time they pull in the garage Cope rolls down the back window and Ramsey is jamming out. They other day in my car he said "turn it up, I have to rock!" to some song that came on the radio. He is also a big fan of the Black Eyed Peas and this morning in his bed I heard him singing "Shut it down, Mazeltaugh!" This kid like his music like all other things LOUD and INTENSE!

Wordless Wednesday- Handsome!

Father's Day

Yesterday we had a low key but good Father's Day celebrating as a family. We started off at church, then it was home for naps. After nap we took Ramsey to see Toy Story 3. This was his first ever time to the movie theatre. He did pretty good seeing as how we had to sit on the front row because the theatre was so packed. He didn't want to wear his 3-D glasses either so it looked a little blurry. He had two little breaks where he wanted to get up and run the halls. We let him. I think we'll maybe take him again around Christmas as it is a lot of work to keep this kid entertained. After the movie we took Ramsey to my moms and then Cope and I went to get some dinner at Moore's Market where they had beer and bingo too. It was a fun evening and I got got to spend it with my favorite guy. Cope really is just the best father I know. He is level headed and he helps keep me glued together. I know Ramsey doesn't know it yet but he is the luckiest boy ever to have Cope for a Daddy.

Oh Dear...

Thursday after Ramsey's nap we headed to Target and Publix for some things. When we were headed into Publix it was hot and sunny. About 30 minutes into my grocery shopping my cell phone rang and it was our neighbor who said "Are you ok?" I said yes, I'm just grocery shopping. She said their was a terrible storm and that a big tree had come down in our back yard and I might want to head home. So I quickly finished and Ramsey and I went on home. Sure enough when we walked out back this is what we saw:

Ramsey said "Oh,No! Is it a problem". I thought for a minute and seeing how it came so close to the house that is nicked the siding. Ramsey was fine, the dogs were fine and our house wasn't damaged, so nope it is not a problem. Just a reminder to be thankful. Luckily the tree was on the green space behind our house so we're not responsible for the damage but it might also mean a pain to get them to come fix things. We'll see but for now we'll just enjoy the daily reminder of how much worse it could have been.

Kobey's Birthday

Last weekend we went to some of our friends from church son's birthday party. Kobey was turning 4 and it was his first real birthday party ever. His parents adopted him from an orphanage in the Ukraine last fall. His Mom, Shawnee felt like she had missed the first 3 birthday so she was going to do the 4th one up right and she did! It was a carnival theme with fun at every turn. There were games, popcorn machine, hot dogs, snow cones, a bouncy house, and a playground with the biggest sand box ever. Needless to say everyone had a blast. Kobey was the picture of happiness and we were so thrilled and honored to share such a special day with him and his family.

Ramsey had so much fun he was down to nothing but a soggy diaper by the end of the party. We're high class around here people.

Visiting Pops at the Hospital

Last weekend my Dad went to the hospital for some chest pains and after doing a heart cath they discovered he had 90% blockage in one of his arteries. They immediately took him back for a stint to correct the issue and then wha la! He is all good! Seriously though it worried me and it just reminded me to try to not take things for granted. I love my Dad and am so glad he is okay. Everyone who heard he had a "mild heart attack" was shocked, even me, simply because he is always exercising (by that I mean every day). I guess you just never know? Ramsey and I drove down to Gainesville to visit him after his procedure. Dad is doing great now and went home the next day and is back in his normal routine of crazy football coach life.

Doctor Ramsey:

Humm, looks sort of scary. He is ready to do some serious work:

Swimming Lessons

Ramsey completed his week of swim lessons yesterday. He did soooo good and as his Mom I was so proud of him. There were 3 little boys in the class. His buddy Ty and Connor. Considering they act like wild animals at times they were all 3 extremely well behaved. We dropped them off at 2:45 each afternoon and left them until pick up at 3:45. It was weird at first to just drop them off with the teachers Mark and Abby but we realized quickly how much more they listen and cooperate when the Moms aren't around. The instructors were so patient with them. By the end of the first day they were jumping off the side and going under and by the end of the week they were swimming under water the small length of the pool and even jumping off the diving board. Ramsey is a fearless little fish for sure and I am so proud. It was a great experience and I am really glad we did it.

Lake Winnepesaukah

Today was one of the most fun days I can remember. We went to Lake Winnepesaukah ( you can check it out at http://www.lakewinnie.com/ )which is on the Tennessee/Georgia line. It is just about an hour drive from our front door and was SO MUCH FUN!!! This was Ramsey's first trip to an amusement park and boy did he have fun. I don't think I had been to lake Winnie since I was 16. It was just how I remembered it. Lake Winnie is much like Six Flags but is older, a little classy (if you dare to consider six flags classy), but much cheaper (you can even bring in your own coolers for drinks and snacks) and hardly any lines. It is like taking a step back in time. Ramsey was definitely fearless and was game for just about anything suggested. I was so proud of what a big boy he was and he was well behaved too. Here are a ton of pictures of our adventure: Ramsey and his cousin Ansley ready to go!: First stop, train ride around the park:Sitting with Nama: One of Ramsey's favorite was the motorcycles where he go to push the horn: Driving his bug: Boats: Cars. Of course he picked the jeep:

Ansley in pink: Big Slide: Ramsey enjoyed riding down with his Nama: Riding Dumbo with Papa Morgan: Me and Ansley: They also had a splash park (included in admission) for the kiddos. I had brought a change of clothes for Ramsey so I let him get totally wet: Getting his hair wet: Driving the antique cars: Across from the splash park was the HUGE playground. It was so not crowded that Ramsey pretty much had it all to him self and loved it!:

Sliding: In the middle of the park is this big lake that you can do peddle boats (also, included in admission) and they have lots of geese and these huge fish that will eat anything you toss them including popcorn, fries, and cheetos: Leaving the park with his own popcorn. Worn out but happy: The results of a day well spent:

Lake Winnie is the best value for your money by a mile. They have tons of adult rides but I didn't get too many pics of those. They have a roller coaster just like the Scream machine and Morgan and I rode it and had to wait in line like maybe 5 minutes. Nice! I can't wait to go back, but next time we're taking Cope for sure so he can see his brave, wild child in action!

Questions for Ramsey

So far this has proven to be an INTENSE week. I've been helping with Bible School in the mornings and Ramsey has been playing for 3-4 hours with out kiddos at church in the child care. We rush home from that eat lunch as fast as we can and then it is on to nap. At 2:20 I have to pry him awake and then it is on to swim lesson across town at 2:45-3:45. We are both totally worn out and have been going to bed early and sleeping hard. Here is a video I did of Ramsey yesterday morning asking him about swim lesson and VBS. You can tell is is still very tired. Poor kid.

sorry

Sorry for the lack of post. This is one of the craziest weeks I can remember. Be back soon with tales from our adventures...

Ramsey in Motion

I was trying to get Ramsey on camera but as you can tell he doesn't like to stay still for long. Here we are trying to get ready for an evening swim at our pool:

Ramsey's Vaction in Bowdon

While we were at the beach this past weekend. Cope's parents happily took Ramsey for the 4 days we were gone. It was the longest I have ever been away from him. I cried a little after we got in the car to leave but after that it was all good. Cope's parents were great and never failed to answer the phone each time we called (which was like 3-4 times a day). I asked them if he wanted to talk to us and he said "no". I knew that meant he was having fun and couldn't stop to talk. I can honestly say I missed him but didn't worry at all about him. He was in great hands! It was so nice to see him on Monday afternoon and my patients we're revived at least for the first 48 hours. :)

Here are some pics from Ramsey's vacation:

Playing in the pool with new friend Connor Johnson:

Walking with Grampy:

Tractor Driving:

Personal Playground:

4-wheelin:

Checking out the mechanics of his truck:Riding on the T-Rex:Feeding the goats: Seriously, looks like he was miserable without us doesn't it??? I am thankful Ramsey has such wonderful grandparents who love him so much and keep him entertained so Mommy and Daddy have a little get away.