Driving to Greenville

The last week before school!

What a fun week we've had! Big birthday weekend, Bryan's and Mama's on the 8th, Martha's on the 9th. We had lots to celebrate. Then a last minute trip to Gatlinburg with Granny, Nana and Uncle Brent. Now we're gearing up for the first day of school on Monday! So with all these exciting stories to tell, I really just want to share a few cute parenting tips I recently found:

1. Put Band-Aids on everything your kids want you to. Why not?

2. Just throw away the poopy underwear!

3. Answer this question: What's the worst thing that can happen if your kids sleep in their clothes?

4. Teach them to like cool music, Why suffer through The Wiggles when you could be enjoying Wilco or Barenaked Ladies!

5. Use duvet covers and forget about the top sheets. Your kids will thank you when they're learning to make the bed.

6. Teach them to pump on the swings ASAP.

7. If your child falls asleep occasionally without brushing her teeth, don't wake her; baby teeth do eventually fall out.

Thought these were great and I'm gonna remember them, especially #7.

Good luck going back to school!

Thanks Silas!

Portacrib in the bathroom

I had to move the portacrib to the bathroom so I could get a shower. Wild man isn't interested in toys, just escaping.

Getting ready for the big day...

Luke's 1st birthday is August 16 and Nate & Henry couldn't be more excited. When someone asks how old is Luke? Nate & Henry are quick to say "zero!" Turning one is a big big deal! They've decided to start practicing singing "Happy Birthday" so Luke will know the song.

This one's for you Silas!

Luke

VBS & Soccer Camp

Last week was Vacation Bible School. 5 fun filled evenings where the children took a trip to Rome every night from 6:30 - 8:30 to visit Paul and his underground church. Nate & Henry had so much fun. Luke was a VBS dropout.

This week is soccer camp! Nate is excited and Henry just informed me that he isn't going. Hmmm, may be time for a little bribing.

A busy week!

It's been a busy and exciting week for the Duncan boys! Yesterday we returned from a final Myrtle Beach trip, this time with MeMaw & Papa. Papa is the Six Mile Fire Chief and this weekend was the South Carolina Firemen's Convention. The boys had a blast (of course). They only spent about :15 on the beach because the pools at our hotel were awesome! They enjoyed hanging out with their Grandparents and showing off in the pool. The boys insisted we eat at Margaritaville the first night we were there. Here is Luke having a boat ride at Family Kingdom.

We had to say goodbye to Silas before we left. We had a great time hanging out with him for the last couple of weeks. We miss you Silas! Hopefully we can go visit him soon.

Luke is a wild man, crawling everywhere and destroying anything in his path. Forget toys, he only wants to empty cabinets, put his fingers in uncovered outlets (I gotta get on that babyproofing), throw his passy out of the crib then cry for it and tear down anything Nate & Henry have built. They think Luke is funny which encourages bad behavior. As Luke is sinking his teeth into your shoulder, he will nod "no no." He knows he shouldn't do it, but he does it anyway. He going to be the rebel.

And the big news....

Nate pulled his first tooth last night! He has really worked on wiggling it all week and it paid off. So, the following picture needs a warning: parental discretion is adviced, if a little blood makes you queasy, don't look....

The tooth fairy brought a $2 bill. They're hard to find these days. Nate was impressed.

Happy 4th of July

Family Fun on the Fourth!

James swinging with the boys at the riverhouse.

Luke enjoying fireworks at church. He loved them!

Palm Coast, FL

Cliff & James in St. Augustine

A few of my favorite pictures from Palm Coast.

It was a great week because I was able to spend time with my my boys & Bryan, plus my all 3 of my brothers & their families & my parents. I'm so blessed that my whole family can get together and have fun and get along so well. They're the funnest people to be around!

John Daddy w/Silas & Luke

Robin's visit & Palm Coast

Oh how I've wanted to update my blog, but our days have been so busy. We had a great visit with Robin & her 3 children. I haven't gotten the pictures off my camera yet, but we had fun swimming at the pool, visiting Stumphouse Tunnel & hanging out in the yard. 6 children with Nate being the oldest. It was crazy fun!! Robin & I didn't even stay up to visit after the kids went to bed. We were so wiped out that we just went to sleep when they did.

Here are a few pictures I stole from Denise (thanks!) of fun here in Palm Coast, FL. We're eagerly awaiting the arrival of John Daddy, Uncle Cliff, Uncle James & Aunt Stacie. The beach is so different than Myrtle Beach. There lots of creatures that make me go "eww" and thrill the boys. Just today they caught several fish, sand clams and something Bryan called sea fleas. They looked like roach bugs to me though. Why do little boys love things like that? The boys love seeing Silas. Henry wants to carry him around which makes us all a little nervous. Luke has been a trooper. We left at 5:30 am Saturday morning to drive 8 hours. Luke took about a 10-15 minute cat nap the entire day. He never sleeps in the car & then he was having too much fun once we got here to take a nap. He's recovered now, but Saturday was a rough day for him.

Looking forward to posting some pictures of the sea fleas! I know I'll have bad dreams about them tonight....yuck!

Beach Trip

We just returned from a great week at Myrtle Beach. The boys are exhausted. Highlights of the week include riding rides at Family Kingdom, Myrtle Waves Water Park, lots of fun in the ocean & playing in the sand and of course, Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville. The cast didn't slow Nate down one bit, but I can't wait until tomorrow when we get it off! The doctor warned us to not get in the ocean because sand would get trapped in it, but he did anyway. Bryan said if we had to go get it sawed off while we were there & get a new cast it would be fine, but he wasn't going to make Nate stay out of the ocean.

Luke enjoyed trying lots of new foods. Unfortunately most of them were junk foods! Here he is chewing on a pickle (yuck!) and enjoying his first Oreo.

Today we're recovering from our trip & getting excited about my friend Robin and her 3 children coming to visit tomorrow. She's driving 10 1/2 hours with 3 kids under the age of 5 to see us, I hope we're worth it!

Family Kingdom, Myrtle Beach

Mashed Potatoes

A new fiberglass cast

Yesterday Nate's kindergarten class entertained the entire Elementary School & their families with a puppet show. It was very special. The children made and decorated all the puppets themselves and then performed adorable songs & rhymes on the stage in the cafeteria.

It was so much fun and Nate was so happy. The class had put in many hours of practice & hard work and it showed.

Today was the big day for the broke arm. X-rays showed that the break was healing pretty good. It was still bent, so we can't do a splint yet. But, we did get one of the waterproof fiberglass casts. This one comes below his elbow so he can move his arm more. He's so happy. He came home & jumped straight in the pool! We go back in 2 1/2 weeks.

Finally our garden is doing great! You can see our first tomato here in this picture. No giant pumpkins yet.

So many things are going on now that the end of school is near! Henry and Luke are having to have all their fun with water while Nate is at school. Nate gets terribly frustrated when he hears of Henry getting in the pool and he's not interested in trying to wrap his arm with a bag and get wet too.

Luke is getting in lots of trouble. Last weekend, he pulled this table over on himself, breaking the lamp with his head. This table was also where our dwarf frog lived in an aquarium filled with water. Of course it broke too, froggy was hopping around in the floor with all the rocks and 2 years worth of frog poop. We rescued froggy and he now lives in a 3 gallon aquarium with 3 neon fish and a snail. I was lucky to get out of Petsmart with just fish & snails. Nate was begging for a hamster and Henry wanted a snake.

Friday morning we go for an x-ray to see if Nate's arm is healing straight. I am praying that he will be able to get a waterproof cast then. Happy Memorial Day!

Nate reading to Luke

Luke went for a 9 month well visit yesterday only to discover he had an ear infection. Here is Nate reading to him before bed.