Trike-A-Thon for St. Jude's

Thomas' daycare center has been participating in a week-long curriculum & fundraising program for pre-schoolers that teaches children riding-toy safety lessons while raising money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. On the last day of the week the kids bring in there riding toys for a Trike-A-Thon. The parents help their children gain sponsorship from family & friends. You can do flat donations or a monetary amount per lap.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is an amazing hospital. It is the only pediatric cancer hospital where families never pay for treatment not covered by insurance and no child is denied treatment because of a families inability to pay.

This has become an annual event for our daycare center. And we are very excited we had the opportunity to participate!

Also Tennessee State Bank generously provided a hot dog lunch with all the trimming for all the children & families.

Roadtrip

In an effort to keep Thomas entertained I let him play with my camera...I think I may have created a little picture taking monster, within a couple of hours he took hundreds of pics and drained the battery...but he had a blast. And the camera is still in one piece. (I was keeping my fingers crossed about that...)

Thomas and Tori entertained themselves all weekend long...

Wyatt, Tori, and Thomas

Tori is a couple of yrs older than Thomas...and let me tell you he loves her...

He finally let me take just one pic... I am pretty sure he just wanted to see himself on the screen though :)

Our Day at Churchill Downs...

This weekend we had the opportunity to visit Churchill Downs in Louisville KY, which is the home of the most famous horse race in the United States,

The Kentucky Derby!

These are the betting boards that show the odds for each race...

This is the famous Paddock area where the horses are saddled before each race. The Horses and Jockeys are led out of the paddock to the gates...

And they are off..

Before each race the trumpeter sounds that famous signal, "Call to Post" and everyone's eyes move to the starting gate for the race.

The Gates...

In order to get the full experience I had to spend the day

sipping on Mint Juleps...

Thomas cheers as the horses pass in front of us

And a very special thanks to my friend

Tiffany for making sure we got the full track experience...

Now...Let's play a fun little game called

"Can you guess the price of that derby hat???"...

This one was $495

This one was much more economical at only $195

And of course my favorite hat in the store was the most expensive for $600...Needless to say, I won't EVER have a real derby hat! :)

Happy Birthday to Grandmom...

Last night we celebrated Grandmom's Birthday. And I was just thinking about how lucky I am to have such a wonderful mother. She is the most beautiful woman I have ever met. Inside and out! I don't think there is a selfish bone in her body. Actually I know there isn't. She always puts everyone else before her herself or her own needs. She is the perfect example to me of the woman that I want to be. She is loving, kind, strong, confident, and the hardest working person I have ever met. Every day of her life she teaches me what unconditional love is all about. Not only am I proud she is my mother but I am proud she is my friend. Hope you had a great Birthday Mom!!

And by the way...Thomas thinks you are the best ever too!!

Then this afternoon we had a playdate with Jillian.

You have never heard so much giggling and splashing. They had a great afternoon together.

Don't you just love days like this?

The sun shining and not a cloud in the sky. Makes you want to drive home with the windows down, the sun roof open, and the radio up. All of which I did... it also tends to make me want to drive way too fast! I might have done that too! This is just the kind of day that makes you happy all the way around.

What a great day in the Sun!

Thomas and I made a run to Walmart this morning for a new Kiddie Pool and we also grabbed a new CD. We spent the day in the sun listening to The Zac Brown Band and splashing water on each other. I think we would both agree it was a great day...plus good ole mom finally got some sun!! And Thomas now knows all the words to "Chicken Fried" not sure if thats a good thing or not but we sure have enjoyed ourselves.

You're Never Too Young for A Fishing Lesson!

Grandaddy, Daddy, and Thomas have been on the lake all afternoon. And as soon as they pulled in the driveway from an exciting evening of fishing Thomas got out of the truck saying..."What a day, what a day, what a day momma!!!"

And let me just just tell you the "Fishing Tales" have already started!!

He was so excited to show me what he caught... I had to climb up and look in the live well.

Not sure who was more excited??? Grandaddy or Thomas??

My baby is all grown up!!