You Might Be A Redneck If....

A go-kart is your preferred mode of transportation, 2nd only to a horse!

You think your baby brother should look out the "sunroof"!

You learn to drive a tractor before you get your first tooth!

At 8 months old you know how to raise and lower the bucket!

You have a dirt pile in your front yard that is used for entertaining the grandkids!

The girls are totally enjoying introducing baby R to the joys of "country" living in Arkansas. T said the other day that "Arkansas is great because you can walk outside with no shoes on, and nobody looks at you funny." They have introduced baby R to the dirt pile (which is at MiMi & PaPa's house simply for the purpose of playing in); the go-kart; and PaPa has taken him for rides on the tractor (which he is quite fond of). Who needs a mall??? : )

R doing well in Iraq...

R sent us some more pics from Iraq. He is doing well. This is R with his Iraqi counterpart...the guy he is there to train/help. They have developed a great relationship so far and things are going well for them. Check out R's deployment haircut!! Isn't it lovely? He is not allowed to have this haircut when he is at home with us. The girls and I don't like it at all. We already told him he has to start letting it grow out so that he will have hair when he comes home for R & R!

R's a big boy now!

After hanging on to the infant seat as long as we possibly could, R finally moved up to his "big boy" carseat! He has been quickly outgrowing the infant seat, but I was reluctant to move up to the new seat. He travels so well in the car, and I just had this feeling that changing his seat was going to change that. But, luckily, he loves his new seat just as much (if not more) than his old seat! He can see out the window better now, and he still travels like a champ!!

I have to admit though, while we enjoy every milestone that little R reaches, it is also a little sad because he just seems to be growing up so fast, and we know that he is our last! : (

Off to Camp!

T with all her gear, ready for camp!

At T's school, all the 5th graders go to an overnight camp. She has been looking forward to it, but I wondered how she would do away from home overnight sleeping in a cabin. Other than a run-in with a cockroach in the bathroom, she said it was great! They went canoing (which she said was hard) and they went fishing (where she caught her first ever fish). Our animal-lover T had a hard time with the worms they were using for bait...she said it was very cruel to break a worm in two and put it on a hook for a fish to eat!!



I have to admit it was a struggle for me. It was overnight, a 2-hour drive by bus, with people taking care of her that I have never met!! But I made it through, although A and I agreed that the house was way too quiet without T around!