Family Pictures 2013

Our picture order came in finally! For the sake of not having a mile long post, I'll try to just add my favorites. 

Griffin did very well considering it was already 80 something degrees at 9 am. His hair was wet with sweat by the end. Duke......he's just tired of pictures. Every year's christmas card and many more pictures in between means that he knows the drill too well, and now rebels. I was very happy that Jamie (the photographer) was more than willing to work with him as part of the family. 

26 Months Old

If it hadn't already started, the "terrible two's" era has definitely arrived. Griffin's favorite word is officially "no", and if you spend any time around him.....you will hear it at least 83 times. He is Mr. Independent, more than ever. He wants to pick out his clothes, put his shoes/socks on, get his own ice water from the refrigerator door, buckle himself into his car seat, and on and on.....see video example:

His vocabulary is growing and I'm amazed by his little personality developing. Sometimes, it's nearly impossible to keep from smiling or laughing at him in moments where I know I should be straight-faced. 

We were late taking his monthly photo and the timing today was pre-nap and not good but I went ahead for the sake of not postponing any longer. 

And a few videos/photos from the last month:

this hat made another appearance one evening

you just have to be in the right mood to wear it, I guess!

when your son tells you to put a band-aid on his nose, as cute
as it is....do not do it. the removal 10 minutes later will be very sad

Long time no post.....

With summer winding down, I thought we might not be running as much every evening and weekend. I was mistaken....obviously, since it's been almost a month since my last post. 

Drew celebrated a big birthday on August 26th. He turned 3-0......this was huge for both of us. We are "getting old" and it's sinking in. I clearly remember an evening that we argued about whether he was 23 or 24. It doesn't seem like that long ago. A lot of really great friends and family helped me throw a surprise party for him and I think he enjoyed it, even though he hates surprises. These are the only pictures I took that night, what was I thinking?

caught them having an end of the evening chit-chat over cake

We took family pictures in Mountain Grove with the same gal that did Griffin's Easter session. I just got to preview them all this past week. As soon as I get a CD of them to call my own, I'll post of course. If anyone is interested, they are on her website under "Honeycutt Family", you can't miss Griffin's sweet face.  

We hosted a trail ride at the family farm called "Saddle Up for St. Jude", and made it in honor of Drew's mother who is fighting mouth cancer and currently going through 6 weeks of radiation. She was a devoted and favored teacher for many, many years and has a passion for children, and with cancer being the common denominator.....St. Jude's seemed like a good charity for the cause. There were a total of 20 horses and total donations came to $520!

my favorite cowboy

Griffin admiring his older buddy Brayden

And lastly, I had another week of vacation to use this year, and it just happened that the week I scheduled was perfect timing for me to take a turn in Rochester, MN to help Marta (my mother-in-law) while she stays there for treatments at the Mayo Clinic. It was also a major first for me.....I flew by myself. I knew that saying goodbye to my two main men would be really hard. The flights weren't too bad and to have a semi-relaxing weekend to just hang out and try to be a postive force for her was nice. I got to play nurse (one profession I comtemplated) by helping her with her feeding tube each day and administering all her medications via tube also. We watched a lot of crazy TV shows and did a little driving around just to get out and about. When Monday rolled around, I drove her to her appointments and was able to take a few pictures of the radiation process. My brother-in-law came up Tuesday and I headed back home.

nothing like being clamped down under a custom plastic mesh face mold

We look forward to having Mimi back home and I know she is dreaming of it too. 

Annual Day at the Lake

For the past 2 years, my company picnic has taken place at Norfork Lake. It's only about 40 minutes from West Plains, where I work. For us it's quite a bit farther. I can count on 1 hand the number of times I've been on the lake in my life, so I've really enjoyed this annual day on the water. Especially, because both years we have gotten to go out in a boat and do some really fun water sports. 

This year, Griffin was screaming "boat! boat!" as soon as we came into sight of the dock. He did really well last year, but it was cool to see him actually enjoy the boat ride this year and be aware of what we were doing.

loving the swimming area

only my child would want to bring a stick in

skiing....got up on my first try!

  

my cheer section - several times Griffin didn't want me to get in the water

 

this is how you get ready to surf

this takes a lot of balance, but easier on the body than skiing

 

25 Months Old

I debated about whether to continue monthly photos. I just can't quit yet. One of those, "I've gone this far......maybe I'll do it until he's 3" things. So here is this month. 

And here are a few more pictures from the last month:

adding sunglasses to his backwards hat, where does he learn these things?

no shoes are safe from him

this particular pair cause a lot of crashes

farm boy