Unexpected Free Night

I completely forgot that I wanted to share Easton and Talan's erupting volcano yesterday! They did the volcano mold and painted it when we first moved here, but we never erupted it! 

They had two packages of different powders that they had to put in first, and then they poured in water.

At first it just bubbled a little.

So they added more water and it really looked like it was erupting! It was actually pretty cool and Easton especially loved it! 😊

This morning Talan came up to our room when his alarm went off. I told him "Dad thinks if he covers up his head it won't be time to get up yet." Talan crawled in our bed, covered his head, and said "Let me try that!" So cute. 😊 It didn't work though. 😉

The sky was pretty cool when we went to school. We couldn't even see the top of the mountains because of the thick, puffy fog.

We came home and I organized some of my Stampin' Up! things. I'm getting very frustrated that my table is not here yet! We can't get our family room furniture until my scrapbook table is in, either. Unless we want to pay double delivery, that is! Grrr!!! 

After a little bit, Brett had to walk downtown for an appointment, so I went with him. This is one of my favorite parts of living in Gatlinburg. I love being able to walk to appointments with him. 

I window shopped while Brett was at his appointment, and then we went to Zaxby's for lunch. We had never been there before, but it was really good! We had grilled chicken sandwiches. I would definitely eat there again!

When we went to pick up the boys from school, you could tell it was really pouring up in the mountains. We had a nice, steady rain for most of the afternoon.

Here is Easton, proudly displaying his award for selling at least two items for the school fundraiser.

This is what 60+ dollars will get you, ladies and gentlemen! 😂 I should also point out that it was broken before he even left school. 😑

And here is Talan enjoying his after-school snack. Doesn't that grin look sneaky?!

Here are some more shots of some places near our house.

There's our faithful Papa John's on the left. 😂

And here is the view from our top deck, looking down over our neighbor's house. I was trying to get some pictures of the leaves falling down, but I don't think you can tell. 😁 They were falling fast though! It's almost pointless to sweep the decks. They are usually covered by the end of the day. My mom swept almost every day when she was here, and I promise I was trying to keep up with it!

Talan's baseball game was cancelled tonight, so we got an unexpected free night at home. Brett and the boys played their silly game, Janae did loads of homework and I made THREE cards! Now if I could just get my table so I don't have to work on the floor! 😑

Change of Plans

Well, we had planned to go hiking or to Dollywood today. However, when we woke up, we were motivated to get some more work done around the house! That doesn't happen very often, so we decided to take advantage of it. 😁

Talan started his day by writing to one of his pen pals. I hope the recipient can read his messy handwriting! That boy drives me crazy! He is so smart, but refuses to write neatly. Grrrr! I usually make him redo his schoolwork when it's messy, but I let this one slide since he was doing this out of his own free will. 😂

We spent most of the day cleaning, unpacking and hanging all of the decorations in the boys' room. It looks soooo good now! Easton wanted to relax in his robe when we were finished. He looks so stinking cute in it! 😍

Here are some more of their things. They have been begging to have a computer set up in their room. Well, it's there now but we have no idea how to connect it to the internet, or even if it's possible since it's so old. Toby got all the technology smarts in our family! 😂 But it's there, so they can't complain, right? 😁

It wouldn't seem right to not have a portion of their room dedicated to baseball. I drew this picture when I was a senior in high school, so it's definitely meaningful to me!

It's nice to have somewhere for the boys to hang their bookbags. Too bad Talan's weighs about 50 pounds, so it has to sit on the floor!

And here is the sign on their door. I think it's a pretty great take on an awesome Bible verse and fits the general theme of their room quite well.

After all that work, Brett needed some video game time with the boys. They play some online PS3 game that all three of them are too addicted to. Janae and I think it's silly and would rather nap instead. 😂

We only have two controllers though, so they take turns. Here's Talan waiting for his turn. 😊

The kids ended up not being too disappointed that we just stayed home for the day. We played the Wii together, got in the hot tub and had ice cream, so I guess that was good enough for them! These are the days I'm starting to enjoy the most, just staying in our treehouse and enjoying it. 😊 We have another busy week of sports ahead of us, so this was a much needed refresher!

Playing Catch Up

Well, last night I fell asleep reading in Easton's bed and never got a chance to blog. Oops! I didn't have too much to share anyways, so I will just combine yesterday with today. 😁

Looking back at yesterday's photos, I guess the only thing I had were before and after school scenery shots! Haha It was a beautiful morning. It has been pretty cool here in the mornings. Look how clear that sky is! 😍 

 By afternoon, it is still close to 90. I change my clothes so many times throughout the day here! Long sleeves and jeans in the morning, then swimsuit for some hot-tubbing, then old clothes for cleaning, then shorts and a tee for the afternoon, then back to long sleeves and jeans for ballgames in the evenings! The clouds really roll in by afternoon!

Last night, we set up the Wii in the family room and had a family Wii night. We all checked our ages. Of course, Brett was the youngest at 23. I was satisfied with being younger than I actually am, coming in at 33. 😁 Easton was the oldest at 63, I think. He is hilarious to watch. 😊

This morning, Easton had an early practice at 8:30. It was on the inside turf at Sevier County High School. He said it was "way cooler than my normal practices!" 😊

Talan had practice at the park at 10, so I took him over there. I was so proud of him. He asked his coach if he could try being catcher and his coach let him. He did a really nice job! He will be the starting catcher at his next game. I'm glad he had the courage to step up and ask. 😊

Brett, Easton and Janae came over to the park after Easton's practice and played some volleyball. Before too long, I heard them laughing and saw this:

Easton tried throwing a stick up to get the ball down. 😂 My macho baseball hubby was able to throw a baseball at it and get it down on his first try. Our hero. 😍

Janae's volleyball tournament starts Tuesday, and they have to win two games in order to advance to sectionals. She has been practicing hard!

 This evening, the boys all got haircuts by Brett and we got all dressed up for church. It was a great service led by Pastor Brent's mom, Pat. They are starting a new program called Love Like Larry, in memory of her husband who recently passed away. They gave us a sign-up list of programs the church is doing to serve and love others. We signed up for a bunch of them and are really looking forward to getting involved more! Some of the things we will be doing is working at the food pantry, visiting nursing homes and women's shelters, and taking food, clothing and toiletries to the homeless in Knoxville. 

After church, we worked on getting the boys room organized and decorated. Hopefully we will finish it tomorrow so I have some more pictures to share!

Janae started a Pinterest page and spent the evening making some tooth-whitening paste. 😂 I can tell she is a pre-teen! 

Tomorrow we are either going to go hiking or to Dollywood. It's nice having some fun options! I am also thankful that no one has practice. 😁