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Here is the photo I think we will use for our living room. Nina, I think this is the best one, but there are many, many more. I will add a few more, but need to get unpacked and feed the fam!!! Much love!

Daddy-O got me in front of the camera for you, Mom and Dad!

Mom and Dad, I am posting these for you to see as you are looking to get the large canvas for your mantle. These are from the iPhone, so they are not great for focus or resolution. I took many more with my god digital camera, but I do not have the correst USB cable to upload those. I will get those edited and sent ot you when we are back home. Love you!

I think I just experienced one of my most mixed-emotion times as a parent. Sending Garrett off on the bus for his special education 4 year old school year was a bummer but a bloomer, all rolled in together. First, we homeschool our two girls, and I never thought we would do the same for Garrett until we realized he was not developing on track. So he went to preschool all last year, and that was great for him developmentally and great for the girls, Oscar and me as we got some needed freedom to move about freely more with the girls. I had observed the class Garrett is in at the end of the school year last year, and I LOVED the teacher, classroom, facilities and everything! His therapists are across the hall, so is PE. The lunchroom is very close, and then they told me he could ride the bus. My first thought was, "YOU KIDDING ME??? YOU REALLY THINK I WOULD PUT MY FOUR YEAR OLD BABY ON A BUS???!!!????" But then we talked it over as a couple, and as much as Oscar was not excited about it and I was very mixed about it, it would get him there on time with us having more time in the morning at home for homeschooling, riding horses when it isn't so horribly hot now, and getting us all into a good routine. I then decided he shoudl be picked up in the afternoon as it is a very hot time of year, and he would be the last kiddo off the bus. The driver's aide called and introduced herself and let me know how they take care of the kids. She has grandchildren and assured me she loves these kids like her own. So the bus is a small bus that only picks up special needs kids, so he has a five point harness seat and an aide on board. The driver is a sweetheart as well!! So yesterday was his first day of school but I took him since I still had paperwork to complete for him. Addie, Ainslee and I picked him up at 3. His teacher said he had a lot of fun and talked ALL DAY except nap time when he was quiet but did not sleep...shocker!! Had the same trouble at his private preschool! So this morning we rode the Polaris Ranger to the bus stop, which is on our side yard on a street as the street at the end of our drive is a death trap. Our driveway is UNDER a traffic light, but we have no signal for our drive. So th ebus would be stopped under a light that could be a very dangerous place. We drove him to the stop and waited about two minutes. Addie took her digital camera and took these photos for me. He was fine getting onto the bus, but then we got on to see the bus (the girls loved that!) and when we got off, he looked a bit confused. I think he thought we were all going  to ride the bus TOGETHER!!! But as you will see, he was all smiles and waves as they drove away. I had a little cry then!!! God bless my baby boy and each person involved in his care.

Here comes my bus!!! The aide called us just before they pulled in!

So what now? Well, I feel like I have worked so hard and tried all I could to do what I could for Garrett, but when he rode away on the bus, I felt like it was out of my hands! Not in a good way, but in a lonely way. Wow, glad I didn't have to go through this twice before with Addie and Ainslee. This is hard!! This picture above of him waving bye gives me hope but makes me feel like I have given up on him. Should I have him at home? Should he be dropped off instead? Should he be at a Montessori school, a private program??? Uuuggghh. I know it will be fine. I know he will likely wake up tomorrow singing about riding a bus. I know he is in good care. I just need to quit looking at this picture, go exercise the horses and then get our lessons done...time marches on!! Have a great day, and know that now Garrett is on it, that bus will never the the same!!

This morning our friend Monique and cameraman "Tiny" came out to our home to do some filming to show during the local portion of the MDA Telethon coming up Labor Day weekend on Sunday and Monday. Here are a few photos from the indoor portion! Oh, there was lots of cute outdoor shooting as well, but Oscar and I were busy with the horses and kiddos, so you will have to wait to see it all when we get a CD of it at a later time!

Tiny was making sure Addie was all miked up and ready to chat.

This was taken just before they began Addie's interview. She was so calm and cool!!!

Addie got a shot of Mr. Tiny as he was getting ready to leave. He is a really nice guy. He shoots commercials for a living but graciously shoots for MDA and LOVES MDA and its mission. It is so wonderful to meet people who are so passionate about helping others!

Garrett turned four last month, but we are in the full reality that he is full-blown terrible TWO!! Here are a couple of shots of the stages of his tantrums. Here is the pose just after he has thrown himself onto the floor....

And it continues. I think I have these photos backwards. He usually hits the floor on his belly, sometimes Marine crawls a few feet, then ends up on his back. He doesn't seem to be in the full screaming mode just yet in these shots...Addie must have taken these!

Last year before Christmas, we purchased a Polaris Ranger that was having engine trouble...got a good deal on it and knew of the issue.....well, after paying one dealership to tell us how many thousands they would charge to repair it, then buying a new engine we THOUGHT would work for it but later learning it wasn't going to be that easy, Oscar found a local man who repaired it for us for a reasonable price. Problem was that he had it SOOOO long that it was getting a bit frustrating. So today it came home REPAIRED!!! Here is the official homecoming test drive!!! Garrett was napping when this was taken, and I just heard him cry out from his crib, so you can guess where he is headed now with Daddy!!

Saturday, Addie competed in her second Tae Kwon Do tournament. It was about an hour and a half from our home in Morgan City, LA, and it was somewhere neither of us had been. DiDi kept Ainslee and Garrett, so Addie and I had a Addie adn Mommy day!! We had fun, although Addie got a little frustrated with the amount of time she had to wait to spar. She placed second out of three in her forms....stepping through patterns of movements for her belt color. She did a great job being very precise. She loved the medal platform and little ceremoney of standing uyp there and having the gentleman place the medal on her...see next photo!

Addie loves her teacher, Mr. Ricky. He is so amazing with the kids, and she respects him so much....oh, and he keeps it fun all at the same time! Ricky's brother Ben was his teacher when he began Tae Kwon Do, and Ben's life was taken way too early in an auto accident. Ricky is naturally driven to help others, but I know Ben's spirit still pushes Ricky to do better, go farther, and love these kids even more. The world can use more folks like this!!

Sunday was Promotion Sunday and the "blessing of the backpacks" where the children and teachers take their backpacks or book bags to the altar and have a little send-off and blessing as everyone returns to school this week. Addie and the other children moving into third grade received Bibles from the church, and our pastor, gary, asked the children to begin reasing the Gospel of Mark. He then told them that when they finished Mark, come to see him so they could talk about it and what to read next. AeWell, tonight at bedtime when things around the house usually get the loudent and most unruly, I asked Oscar where the ggirls were (Garrett wa salready fast asleep!) , and he told me they were in bed reading their Bibles...WHAT???? I mean, this isn't totally off-base for Addie, but for them BOTH to be in bed reading Bibles together....seriously?? SO I grabbesd the camera, and sure enough, there they were!!!

You know how most kids have photos taken in studios over the years, chronicling their growth through the school days? Well, I think Garrett's photos will be more each year like this until he is big enough to drive Granddaddy's Gator for himself!!! He LOVES to ride with his grandfather, and I somehow can't help but suspect that Granddaddy likes it, too!!

Did mention that next July we are planning to pile into a truck with a fifth wheel camper and travel the USA until Christmas?? Well, this is the first official photo of our trip. I was preparing breakfast this morning and looked into the school room to see him completely still (VERY RARE) sitting in Addie's chair, studying the USA map. We are so excited about this adventure, and right now we are having fun shopping campers and trucks...that topic could be its own blog!!! I will keep you posted and I am sure we will be able to keep you entertained!!

Don't even know what to say about that!! This sometimes happens when we ask Garrett to say CHEESE!

First, let me start with some history. Oscar hates having to wait to get a haircut. He also hates paying for one, claiming ANYONE can do what the people on the military base do to his hair!! So for a few years he has asked me if I would cut his hair. My reply has always been that of course I would, but that he better be able to wear a hat afterward, so maybe he should wait until he is retired from the military!! So a few months ago he bought a pair of cordless clippers...THANK GOODNESS, they would never turn on!! Whew, I was off the hook! So just a couple of weeks ago he leaves a TJ Maxx bag in the bathroom, and guess what was inside???? NEW CORDLESS CLIPPERS...."really nice ones this time, honey!!" So we had Garrett's birthday party, and I had been thankful the days leading up to it, we were too busy to cut hair. I was so terrified I would butcher his hair, and I know he would not care, but I would because I, along with all the other locals, would have to look at my terrible first attempt!!! SO after everyone had left the party, and we got the kids in bed, he was cleaning up outside and I was cleaning up in the kitchen, and he called out to me from the garage to come help him with something. I thought, of course, that he needed help moving a table or cooler, or something like that, but was I sooo wrong!! I walk out into the garage to find him on the back porch with clippers in hand, a TERRIBLY complicated haircut, and this, "Hey, can you FIX this for me and make it a flat top?" FIX IT???? ARE YOU SERIOUS???? FLAT TOP???? AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!! So he had taken the clippers and pretty much made a few passes across his head front to back in places where even if I was able to somehow make a flat top, I would not have anything to work with but his brain! So he admitted he started the haircut so I would have no choice but to finish it!! SO I experimented with a couple of blades and ended up giving him a #2 all over!!! So he looked like a Marine recruit!! Said it felt good, his friends would laugh, but after 3 more haircuts, the clippers will have paid for themselves. Now THAT'S forward thinking!!! So here you see pictures taken the next day when I was feeling brave enough to go Garrett's. Again, Oscar started, then we switched and he held him while I finished. The fourth photo shows Garrett's horrible cut. Good news is I have clipped the sides and back of Garrett's and he did much better than he ever has. Something about wearing the cape that came with the clippers backwards and us yelling that he is Super Man (even though he has no clue who that is!) seemed to help him warm up!!! Other photos are from the horse club last Friday night when Ainslee finally got Smokey to run....and FAST, and Addie was continuing to warm up to her new ride, Lucy, but not let her go yet. Garrett is now riding with us some!! The past two nights I have taken him on Ernie in front of me in the saddle on a right behind our neighbors' homes, and he asks to go faster and faster, and now we canter/lope and he LOVES it!!! Such a dream come true for me, for sure, and cheap entertainment with a wild thrill. Odd he is horrified to step up on a balancing board at physical therapy, but he has no problem on the front of the saddle galloping across a field on a huge horse at night!!! My kid, for sure!!