Blog Hop!

Hello all! Thought I would give this blog hop thing a shot again. This week's theme is Baby Pics so you know I just had to play along with this one!! These are from Isaac's very first photo session when he was just 3 months old. These are some of my favorite pics of him ever and I love just how simple they turned out. Hope you enjoy!

Growing Up

This past Saturday, Isaac went to have his 2 year old pictures done. I was a little nervous he might be at that stage where he would not cooperate at all, but my little guy did SOOOOOO good! If you all are on facebook, you can see the proofs on my page. I couldn't have asked for any better! My problem now is going to be deciding which ones to pick!!!

Next week, Darren is going with me to Branson, Missouri. We will be leaving on Wednesday and not coming back until Friday, which means, I will be away from my little man for the longest time in his entire life!!! I'm looking forward to getting away and spending some time with Darren, but I'm definitely going to miss my Isaac! Anyway, in preparation for this, we decided we should let Isaac spend a night away from us before we left him for 3 whole days. So, this past weekend cousins Jakob and Ethan were coming so we decided to let him stay with them at Mimi and Paw Paw's house on Saturday night. We stayed at their house until the boys were asleep, then we came on home. Darren told his Mom to call us, no matter what time it was, if he woke up crying for us. We got up Sunday morning.....no phone call. I just couldn't wait to see my baby! Turns out, he slept the ENTIRE night and didn't even ask for us when he woke up!!! That little turkey! It makes me a little sad, but I'm glad he did so well that first time. Hopefully he will do just as good next week! Keep your fingers crossed for us!!

I just had to include a picture with this one. This is the 3 Musketeers in the tub at Mimi's house. It's almost impossible to get the 3 of them to all look at the camera at the same time so this was the best I could do! Aren't they just the cutest!!

Looking Back on Life as well as Looking Forward

This has been somewhat of a tough week. As some of you know, yesterday marked the 3 year anniversary of losing my dear cousin Natalie. Also, a month ago yesterday marked the 3 year anniversary of losing my grandfather. Although losing someone dear to you is never an easy thing, I will say that the loss of my grandfather wasn't nearly as hard as losing Natalie. My grandfather, Pops, had fought a long and hard battle with cancer, but unfortunately the cancer finally took over his weakened body. He had lived a good, long life and knew that he had a better life awaiting him in eternity where he can now forever be healthy and whole. Although I hope that I too will live a long and happy life, I look forward to the day I can see him again. On the other hand, losing my dear cousin Natalie is one of the hardest things I've ever had to go through in my life. Our entire family had a very rough time with that and many of them are still struggling with it now. Natalie was one of the most kind hearted, gifted, and beautiful people I have ever known. It breaks my heart to think of the struggles she dealt with throughout her life and I only hope she knew how much we all loved and cared for her. I think about her often and even though the realistic part of me knows that she's gone, a part of me somehow still wants to think this has all just been a really bad dream. The relationships within our family have taken some hard hits throughout all this, part of which I'm ashamed to say may be due to my own selfish actions. I can only hope and pray that those relatives know that I would never, ever intentionally do or say anything to cause their hearts to hurt. I know that things will never be the way they used to be, but I would love nothing more than to try and move forward with a new "normal", one that involves us all as well as keeping the memories of both Natalie and Pops alive and well. I look forward to the day Isaac is big enough to understand the stories I will tell him of them both. The stories of how his cousin was truly a gifted soul with many talents. The stories of how his great-grandfather was one of the toughest, yet sweetest men I ever knew. He was both a God-loving and God-fearing man and had the strongest faith I have ever witnessed. If I can be just a fration of the Christian man that he was, I will feel like I have accomplished something in this life. I only hope and pray that I am able to instill in my own child the values and morals that he instilled in my mother who in turn, passed them on to me. I know this post is out of the ordinary for me. I guess I just had a heavy heart this week and needed a release. I pray that I can be the best mother and wife that I can be and that I am able to teach Isaac the important things in life and the things that really matter. Please keep me and my little family in your prayers. God be with you all....

The Farm, Birthday Parties, Visits, and New Toys

A few weeks ago, Darren's Mom and Dad (Mimi and PawPaw) became the owners of Mimi's parent's house and 67 acres. This land is now affectionately known as "The Farm" and that's where a lot of our weekend time has been spent lately. I think the guys are preparing to turn one of the lower fields into a dove field for this fall, which in turn, presents the need for lots of bushhogging (hope I spelled that right!) Personally, I think they just like a reason to get on the tractor, but oh well. This is a shot of the 3 Howard men on the big tractor.

On July 25th, Isaac's friends Ellie and Emma (they are sisters) had a pool party for their birthdays, which are only a couple of weeks apart. I worked with their mom Dale at the Health Department and she is now one of my dearest friends. They also all go to daycare together. Isaac had the best time. He just loves Ellie to death and I'm so glad they are buddies. Isn't she a little cutie?? (Look out Holli, I think he has a think for red-heads!!)

I just thought this one was too funny not to post! He just cracks me up sometimes......actually, all the time!!


Last week, my Dad (Papa) came to stay for a couple of nights while he was delivering his yearly football book. Isaac and Papa had a big time (as always) and it's always good to have company!!



I just thought Papa's expression on this one was too cute!!

This past weekend, me and Isaac headed out to Carthage for the weekend. I took off work Friday so we could get a head start. I haven't been able to go to Carthage for what seems like FOREVER so it was sooooooo good to be home!! Saturday night, my Mom cooked dinner for my grandmother's (Moms's) birthday. She will turn 82 on the 12th of this month, but we went ahead and celebrated while we were in town. Isaac is at the stage where he usually won't cooperate for pictures very well, but this one of the two of them is just precious!!

I bet we took 50 shots over the weekend trying to get a decent one of he and I together, but like I said, he just wouldn't look at the camera! Little turkey!!

Yesterday, we had our annual Shepherd family reunion. This involves all of my grandfather's siblings. None of them are still living, but all of us decendents still get together. It's always nice to see everyone and visit. I just wish we could have stayed longer. I get homesick so easily!!

So, now to the new toy part I was referring to in the title. Isaac and I stopped by Mimi and Pawpaw's house on Friday before we hit the road to Carthage. When I got there, this is what I saw in the back of Darren's truck......

....only there were 2 instead of just 1!!! Turns out, they were re-poe'd (i don't know if that's even a real word!!) by the bank and Darren got them both for a total of $100!! One is for Isaac and one is for his cousin Jakob. Although there are no where near big enough to handle something like this, Isaac is still able to ride with his DaDa!! It makes me a nervous wreck, but they had such a good time on it.

Keep your fingers crossed my boys stay safe with this thing!!

One last note, hope you enjoy the tunes I've added to our page. They are all personal favorites of mine and have pretty special meaning. Let me know what you think!!

Blog Hop

So I thought I would try out this whole Blog Hop thing. This theme is favorite kid photo and the idea is to pick one, but you know me, I can't pick just one!! This first one is from his 2nd birthday party back in June. He was totally exhausted by that point and ready to crash out with a nap, but not before having some yummy cake and ice cream! The second is one of my all-time favorite pics of Isaac. I just think his expression is hilarious!! Hop on over to some other blogs and check out the photos. Have fun and hope you enjoy!!

What's different???

Hello all! This will be quick and very short as it's almost officially the weekend. Just wanted to see what you thought of my new blog design, courtesty of here. It's nothing fancy, but I decided it was time for a change. Hope you all like it and have a good weekend!

Summertime!!

Well, once again I am slacking on this thing. Funny how time just gets away from you, huh? Anyway, things have been going pretty good this summer. Isaac is definitely loving the warm weather and playing outside. I think he would stay outside all the time if we would let him!! Anyway, I hope this entry will cover just about everything that's happened since my last post. I really didn't mean to go this long without updating this thing!! Sorry!

Anyway, on June 26, Lifespan had our summer employee picnic. It was held at the Shiloh Golf Course in Adamsville where they have eating areas and pools. Darren stayed home to work on the boat, but me and Isaac went and had a good time, as you will be able to tell from the pics below. It was SOOOOOOO hot that evening!

This was Isaac when we first got there. He didn't waste any time at all getting in the water and would have gotten in with all of his clothes on had I not stopped him!

After he'd been in a few minutes, he started splashing (of course!)


And then a little more splashing!!

As you can see, my child is not afraid of the water AT ALL, which can be both good and bad!

By the end of the night, this is what he was doing!! I bet the kid jumped in 50 times and NEVER got tired of it!

And this was the pitiful look I got when I told him it was time to go. He cried because he wanted to stay and swim some more!!

Thanks to Lifespan for having such a fun party for us all!

Due to all the craziness and the insane amount of people that go out on the lake here for the 4th of July, we decided to take the boat out on the 3rd since we were all off. Isaac LOVES going out on the boat to the "big water". We stayed out all afternoon, but left a little early because even though it was only the 3rd, there were still a ton of folks out. We ended up anchoring out in a cover where we usually go and just to give you an idea of how many folks there were, out in the middle of the cove were 10 (yes, I said 10) boats tied up together. That was just 1 cove and this was on the 3rd so you can imagine what it was like on the 4th!!

This was taken after we came in and showered and yes, Mommy got quite a bit of sun that day!!

This was after we finally got home that night. Isaac was actually cooperating with the camera more than he usually does. I was calling him "Hollywood" and he was saying "I not Hollywood Mama, I big boy!!"

This was a little later on that same evening. He was just being a card that night! (I just love that this is a real, true smile and not the fake kind!!)

This past weekend, Uncle Derek, Aunt Jill, Jakob, and Ethan came in to visit. Saturday morning, me, Isaac, Jakob, Jill, and PawPaw took the pontoon out. As you can tell, Isaac and Jakob had quite a large time!

We had to come in fairly early because that night, the Howard family (and I mean the WHOLE Howard family) was having their yearly get together. They weren't able to do it last year and this year, we did it at Boots's house. The weather wasn't too bad actually and there was lots of good food and fun!


Isaac had quite a big time playing in Boots's garden!!

And had an even better time when his DaDa let him sit on Boots's big John Deere tractor!!

I just love this serious expression on his face!!

On of the other cousins brought some homemade toy guns that were a HUGE hit with the little boys because as you know, this Howard family just can't seem to have any little girls!

And that pretty much brings us up to date with just about everything. We've had several birthday's this month. Dad's was the 10th, Hope's was the 11th, and Darren's was the 14th. Happy Birthday to you all! I have a few pics from Darren's birthday, but they are still on my camera as of now so maybe next time, I'll get them on here.

And now, I'm going to do like my dear friend Holli. I have an area on the right side here to sign up as a follower of this blog. Now, I know I don't update and all nearly as much as I should, but if you do read this blog and you do try and keep up, please sign up as a follower. I would love to know who all is keeping up with us!!

Until next time........