July Pics

We finally got some pics together of July. Here is a link to them.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AbtXDdm4atGLxA&emid=sharview&linkid=link4

Enjoy!

Where has the Summer gone?

Unbelieveable, it is almost the end of the summer. For some people it may be a sad thing, but for Val and I we love the fall. The weather turns to something more mild and we can open the windows and sit outside and go for walks without being drenched in our own sweat. Football is another fall favorite as well. Fantasy Football starts up and again I'm in three differfent leagues. One of them being a neighborhood league that started in our old neighborhood and two others with more serious competitors. Val and I are on different teams in our neighborhood league and she itches for it too. I think she enjoys the competition too.

This summer has been fun with Caleb and Jackson. We have gotten them into the pool a bunch and they finished their first swim lessons. By lessons, they were basiclly group toddler swim time at the local Herndon Community center. They got their first certificates and we met some fun people including a couple who also has twins.

What used to be typical summer adventures are nights out are no more but we have plenty of rewards watching Caleb and Jackson learn and grow up. They are almost 19 months old now and they are very active. Running is a common activity and words are flying out of Calebs mouth. Jackson isn't far behind he just tends to not be as talkitive.

Each little man comes with his own challenges and hurdles for mommy to handle and we have learned that patience is something you acquire after being a parent. I'm still learning. It's amazing how one minute your son can be such a cutie and the next he is whining and screaming just because you won't pick him up or let him play in a cabinet.

Both of the boys had their 18 month checkup this month and all seems well. Jackson still has to go see a Heart Surgeon to get his final tests for whether his PDA needs to be closed up with surgery. That's about the only thing beyond normal viruses and stuff that is going on. We are hoping it has closed itself up, but if it hasn't they will most likely do the outpatient cathider surgery on him at some point so as to not leave room for an infection at any point.

Val is doing a great job getting the boys involved in different things like playing with other kids, taking them outside alot when the weather is ok and all sorts of things. Half of it is to keep her sanity and to distract the boys from getting bored and the other half Im sure is to expose the boys to lots of different things to let their little sponge brains absorb stuff. I'm really looking forward to teaching them about football!

Our garden in the back yard has really done well this year. We have tons of tomatos and have canned, Salsa, Marinara and diced tomatos. We definately planted too much Squash as it was producing more than we could get rid of. We decided last weekend to till it into the soil to stop its growth. We have also had some Green Peppers, Hot Peppers (Just a few), Cucumbers (2 Types), Zuchini, Yellow Squash, and Cantelope. The Cantelope is just not making fruit. I think it was taking a while to make roots because the soil we used had a lot of clay in it. Next year I think I'll build up the garden a bit into a raised bed and fill it with fresh Loam or Top Soil.

This weekend will be a big weekend for Great Grandma Greer. She finally gets to meet the boys and will be in town staying with my mom. I'm sure that will be fun.

Oh, one more thing I wanted to mention. Last week I played in a Charity Golf Tournement that my mom setup 2 years ago. This was the second annual affair called "Birdies and Bogies for OI". OI stands for Osteogenisis Imperfecta. I was a guest of my Step Father and sponsored by his company. I have to say that I was really proud of my mom for doing such a great thing for such a great cause. She has organized this charity event for the past couple years and was honored for her energy and attitude at the event. Here is a link to an article about it.
http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=85450&paper=67&cat=104

I'll be posting some pics soon of the boys. Check back again soon. Enjoy the rest of your summer!