Happy Birthday Jack

On June 29, 2004 at 10:50pm, weighing in at 8lbs. 13oz, 20 1/4 in long Jackson Miller Emery was born. He is certainly a gift from God. He brings joy and excitement to our lives. He slept through the night at 4 weeks. He was an awesome baby.

Jack and Daddy at Morgan's 4th birthday party. He was a chub.

Jack's first Birthday cake was dirt cake(choc. pudding, Oreo cookies, and gummy worms) As you can tell he loved it.

After he got cleaned up he hung out w/ Granddaddy.

After yet another clothing change he spent some time w/ Papa.

Jack's first professional haircut. I had to cut it to get it out of his eyes several times before this. Look at how well he sat there.

Loving his Mimi. He did not like to snuggle as a little baby, but as he got older he got snugly.

Our little TIGER at tigerama.

Becca, Mattie, Jack and Morgan at tigerama. It was lots of fun.

Morgan and Jack loving on Jaden. They would constantly beg for him to lay with them.

Jack and I playing with the camera.

I should have taken more time to get pics together and had a pic of each of his birthdays. But it has been a busy day. I know before I know it he will be driving, graduating high school and just growing up. We love our Jack Jack. Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!

Pool News

I hate that I did not bring my camera to the pool tonight. Morgan jumped off the high dive about 10 times. And said it is a lot higher than it looks. So Jack said he would do it too! He jumped off 2 times before the lifeguards asked him how old he was. When they found out he was only 5, they told him to stick to the regular diving board. He loved it and was heartbroken that he couldn't do it anymore. It was a great night.

OMC-Organized Mass Chaos

On Thursday Pastor Clay had Organized Mass Chaos-OMC on the ball field by the church. Morgan invited his friend Nash to spend the night and go with him.

First thing to go were the shoes.


OK! Are you gone yet?I am guessing that is baby powder and shaving cream.

They didn't look too dirty.

Nash had a little shaving cream in his hair.

Hey Mom do you mind if I go over there and hose off?

They had lots of fun and were soaking wet. Once again we are so blessed that our church plans all these fun events for our kids. And the fact that it was free was a bonus.

While they were doing that Jack, Jaden and I took my van to Sapphire Bay(car wash). They have a huge sign that says FREE VACUUMS. So Jack got a lesson in lying and false advertising. When you pull up it says FREE VACUUMS with the purchase of a car wash. And you are stuck in line and the only way out is to back out onto Franklin Blvd(very busy) or jump the curb. So when the car behind me figured out that I was having issues and pulled into another lane, I jumped the curb and pulled out. Jack said "That place is bad they should not say that they have free vacuums if they don't"

So we went to Petsmart to look at the fish and other animals. Just a side note about the cats there. #1 I don't know anyone that is willing to pay $150 for a stray cat...There are people giving them away left and right. #2 There are 12 cats in one room CLEAN THE LITTER BOX. It stinks so bad in there it gives me the impression that those cats aren't healthy.

Monkey Joe's

Clay our Children's Pastor has planned a lot of fun stuff for the kids this summer. The first was a trip to Monkey Joe's.

This is all the kids waiting for the ok to go out and play.Jack waiting for the go ahead on the obstacle course.Olivia trying to coerce Jaden to go down the slide.All the other children have gone back out to play and Jaden is finishing his third slice of pizza.

We are really blessed to have such a great Children's staff. The boys really did have a great time. I hate that they will miss the fun things that are planned for next week.

Summer chores

Operation summer chores is off to a good start! The boys swap chores each week. This week it is Morgan's job to take out the trash. That includes empty pop tart boxes, milk jugs and other stuff that we put beside the trash can, as to not take up too much room in the can itself. Those things, go out to the "big" trash can when ever we go out. The goal is for them to take stuff out with out being asked. I realize that in the beginning they will need to be reminded.

Jack's job was to load and unload the dishwasher. This takes a little more direction. It will be his job to notice that there are dishes in the sink that need to be loaded. Once again I realize they will need reminding. He did a real good job but, he asked after every task "Am I done yet?"

Through these chores I want them to realize how much work goes into keeping our house clean and that these things don't just magically get done. Also I don't want their wives saying "His mom did everything for him and he dosen't know how to do anything." Instead of letting them load the dishwasher how ever they see fit. I am showing them when you stack all the plates together without leaving space, the plates don't get clean.(along with other things)

The BEST barber in the southeast

My cousin Jason and his dad Kenneth have a barber shop in Easley, SC. Since Morgan was little we have taken him to Jason. Jason did not give Morgan his first haircut, but once he started cutting it we rarely go anywhere else. We have never had a bad hair cut at The Barber House.

Before...

During...notice No tears.

After.

Jason did do Jack and Jaden's first haircuts. He says "Come on big man jump up in this chair." He does not baby them he just talks to them and they do what he says. When they are done they get a sucker or two and a piece of gum. Unless Uncle Kenneth gets to them and they get as many suckers and pieces gum as they can carry. They are well worth the drive. Anyone who has made a rush trip to Great Clips know all to well how bad a haircut can be. We have waited an hour before. Would not do that anywhere else.

Stone Mountain Park Day Two

On the second day at the park we took the boys to the foam Pit. As you can tell the by the picture above they had lots of fun. First the hoses spray water everywhere. Perfect for a hot day. Then these fans blow bubbles/foam everywhere. The boys kinda freaked when it got in their eyes, but the guy said that there was no soap. I am not sure how they made the bubbles without soap? They were covered. Note to self, if going to a foam pit, do this right before getting in the shower! That being said: Morgan was worried that they would not allow him to play in the barn with bubbles all over him. So, he went to the bathroom to try to wash it off. Jack, Jaden and I went on into the barn while John waited for Morgan. John came in laughing. The more Morgan tried to wash off the bubbles, the more bubbles he created. The bathroom was a huge mess.

Jaden was not "allowed to go into the foam pit . So he played with the bubbles that escaped. They don't allow you to play in water and bubbles with sandals on. Yes! You should always wear tennis shoes not sandals while playing in water and bubbles! Sarcasm intended.

This cow was inside the barn along with some other barnyard animals. Jaden loved climbing on the cow. And crawling through the tunnel below.

For the older kids they had tons of "fruit" (soft foam balls). They had huge contraptions and guns that shot the balls all over the place. You could get a special armband that allowed you to earn points. To get points you had to place as many balls as possible into these receptacles. Cool way to get kids to clean up!

This is the boys watching the laser show. They loved it.

If you can't tell this is the sea of people around us at the laser show. Some people brought food for a picnic hours before the show even started. We just showed up both nights and got great seats. I can imagine it gets pretty crowded on the 4th of July. They payed tribute to Georgia natives Ray Charles, Oral Roberts, REM, Indigo Girls, Alan Jackson, and some others. They played The devil went down to Georgia. Georgia on my mind with Ray Charles and Willie Nelson singing. We would recommend that you go. Might want to plan for a cooler time of the year. It may be a mountain but it is not the mountains, if you know what I mean.

The ropes course

John and Morgan did the Sky Hike. Morgan loved it. He did the whole course. It starts off 12ft off the ground. The next level is 24ft. And the final level is 40ft off the ground. They were sweaty when they got finished.

Here they are at the very top.

Morgan talked me into doing it with him. I loved it.

We could not talk Jack into doing the big course, but he loved the Camp Highland Outpost. It was a smaller version of the of the Sky Hike. At the end was a zip line. Jack LOVED the zip line. He must have done it 20 times. Jaden was very angry that he was not allowed on the Camp Highland Outpost because he had on open toed shoes. So he played in the creek and had a blast.

First day in the park.

John and the boys ready to go in.

We got to the park and got our map and made our plan. First up -Journey to The Center of the Earth-4D. It was amazing. There was water splashing in your face, dinosaurs breathing down your neck and man eating plants grabbing your legs. Morgan and Jack loved it but Jaden hid his face. He did not cry though.

Next was supposed to be the train but they were leaving the station and we had 20 min til the next one so we went to the "Campfire Space Camp". Morgan and Jack were chosen to go up on stage. The picture above is Morgan in his bubble so he could breathe. I hate I did not get a picture of him rolling his eyes.

Jack got to help work the "clown puppet". It was very creepy looking, but he was very proud to be on stage. We could hear the train pulling into the station. I thought I would have to rip them off stage and run to the train but the show came to an end right on time.

Jaden on the train.

Every time we heard the train whistle Jaden's face would light up and he would say "Was dat, Mommy?" "Dat twain" and even if I said "Yes Jaden it is the train." He would just repeatedly say "Twain Mommy? Twain."

Morgan and Jack being tolerant of the train.

I told Morgan and Jack that Jaden does a lot of stuff that they want to do. So they should do some things that he wants to do. They were very good about it.

This is a train that was given to the park. It carried supplies during the Revolutionary War.

Setting up camp...

This weekend we took the boys to Stone Mountain Park in Atlanta, GA. Our original plan was to drive to SC and have my brother show us how to set up the pop-up. We get to my brother's house to find out that it does not have a tag and the bearings need to be greased. So with no place to sleep and nothing to sleep on... we call Dad. He and Lucretia were great enough to let us borrow their tents and blow up matresses. Way to save the day. Then we spent the night with Mom she loaned us a kids blow up matress and of course sent us off with some food. On the way into town John's parents fed us supper. Lasagna and pizza .... what a great birthday meal. And being our parents too, we could not leave them out of the loaning game. So we borrowed a GPS from them. We left Sally at home in all the confusion of packing. So we get there and this is the beautiful view from our campsite. We did not get any pics of our tents or the rest of our site. When we got there we took these pics and started setting up our borrowed tents. It was unbearably hot and we were rushing around so we could make it to the park. Our camping package included 4-two day passes to Stone Mountain park, 1-free bundle of wood, and 4-free icees and 2-nights camping. I thought it was an awesome deal. John noticed on our online confirmation it said that check-in is at 2pm, but if you are not there by 2 your site may be given away. ???? OK... When you reserve online they ask for your first 3 choices of campsite. We did not get any of the 3 we requested but, the one we got was awesome. We were on the water and fed ducks and fish. A nice family moved in next door to us. Tanner was a boy scout and informed John on proper fire starting and the fact that he and his family had their tents up before we did.

John and I slept in one tent and for the first time ever the boys slept in a separate tent. The first night I woke up to Jaden's "Mommy, Mommy". I woke up and looked over at John and he was laying on the ground. Our blow up mattress was two twins that zipped together. During the night his deflated. He said about 15 min after he lie down. So I get out of the tent to get Jaden before he wakes the rest of the campground. Uhhh he is not in his tent...he is sitting in the pine straw brushing of his feet. "Hep me Mommy!" To say the least I was pretty freaked that he got out of the tent by himself. The next night I put him at the back of the tent and Morgan and Jack at the front. So he would have to crawl over them to get out.

Camping Prep

We are planning a trip to Stone Mountain, GA. My brother Matt and his wife Heather are letting us borrow their pop-up camper. This will be our first camping trip with a pop-up. Normaly we just grab our tents and sleeping bags. I have been looking for old sheets and towels that we can take. In doing that I ended up cleaning out the linen closet. I found a ton of sheets and towels. We will see how this trip goes. If it goes well we may get a pop up of our own. Smores...

Morgan found a new recipe for smores. You spread chocolate frosting on a marshmallow and then roll it in graham cracker crumbs. We used teddy grahams to make ours. Can you see the finished smore on top of the frosting? The boys love them and they are less messy than regular smores.

Thank you gifts.

Morgan's class made this birdhouse for me as a thank you. At the begining of the school year I went on Fridays to help with reading and math. Toward the end of the year I went on Wednesday and Friday for EOG prep. I really enjoyed working w/ the kids. They were so sweet.

The flowers and butterflies are made with the children's fingerprints. The yellow ones are Mrs. Childer's fingerprints. I can't wait for John to hang it on the tree for me.

Jack's class along with Mrs. Deal and Mrs. Sexton made me this thank you book. It is so cute. Each child drew a picture and wrote a thank you note. Some drew me sitting in the blue rocking chair reading. Others drew rainbows and books. Jack wrote "Thank q mom for reding to us." I went to Jack's class on Fridays and read. I had a wonderful time helping in their classes this year. I hope I will be able to do it again next year.

End of Year Party.... Backwards Day.

Today was Morgan's End of Year Party. They signed t-shirts and yearbooks, played ball and ate lunch. Morgan's class made me a beautiful birdhouse, as a thank you gift. They used their fingerprints to paint flowers. I did not get any pictures of it, but I will when John hangs it for me.

Morgan has made a new friend this year. We hope to see alot of Nash this summer. I hope he will be in Morgan's class next year. He is really looking forward to Hawks Nest. It was so hot outside so I asked if he wanted me to sign him out early. To which he quickly replied "uhhh yeah". As we were leaving we saw Jack's class on the playground.

And today was backwards day for Jack. Can you tell his shirt and shorts are on backwards? His friend Olivia also is dressed backwards. They did everything in reverse. Jack even put his backpack on his tummy and walked backwards to class. It was soo cute.

I could not get him to understand that I wanted a picture of his back. So his friends turned him around and held him in place so I could get this picture. It was so funny because all the kids understood what I was talking about and tried to help him.