Our little slice of Happily Ever After...

...Flying High...

...I was driving to work this week on Sept. 11th and trying to explain, in the best way possible, why I had the kids dressed in red, white and blue without putting fear in their young minds...and whatever I came up with in that hurried state with little coffee sparked this response...

 ...more questions from Chase and an easy smile from my youngest, which really sums them up right now...and I thought...let's capture this sight in my rear view that I am so lucky to see in the mornings...even after the sweat of getting them ready...which inevitably happens no matter how prepared I am...or the fight of bringing EVERY toy when we go...or the longing for a sippy of milk that I can't let Ava have on the ride or she will be soaked within minutes...it is such a beautiful sight...

...which reminds me of one of my favorite Jason Aldean songs...

"Just the other night the baby was cryin
So I got out of bed rocked her awhile and I held her tight
And I told her it would be all right
My mind went back to a few years ago
We tried so long, we almost gave up hope
And I remember you comin' in and tellin me the news
Oh man we were livin, goin crazy in the kitchen
We danced and screamed and held each other tight
We laughed until we cried"

...this song always makes me cry when that verse comes around, always...It came out about 4 years ago...and was so unbelievably timely...but when we got a chance to get out to see him in concert this week, just Kirk and I, I figured I would tear up...and I did...but just a bit...date night at Verizon Amphitheatre was far too fun to be crying...

 ...and Kirk had marked our calendars, literally, put in out outlook, for the Thunderbirds Air Show at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois, back in March...he had to show his boy the fighter pilots for the US Air Force...so we loaded up, minus Ava, we were worried about her little ears...and we headed over...and no one was disappointed...

 ...to say that my boys enjoyed the show would be a complete understatement...

...at one point Chase said, Mommy, why don't we have Ava?...like Mommy, this is so fun and you left her at home today of all days!?!...

 ...but he enjoyed his time and even got to sit inside a C-17 Globemaster like the troops would ride in...doesn't seem to comfortable...and thank goodness for the flash because it is pitch black inside since it has no windows...we sure are thankful for all the sacrifices of our Armed Forces...

 ...and the landing gear on this Tanker was bigger than Chase himself...

 ...and when the Thunderbirds land, they come over to give autographs...and Chase got one from the only female pilot of the crew of 6...so cool...he told her, You flew reeeeaaaalll fassssstttttt!...

...and then it was time to come home and take it easy...he is a very sweet, little man...he climbed onto my back and watched the Missouri Tigers with me for quite a while...he's my snuggler...

...and he's also my football lover...we caught him alone in the living room watching the game when we were running around playing with Ava...

...and this week I got the chance to meet a lot more of the neighbors at a party and heard from quite a few that they noticed our 'Miami football man' and thought it was cute...so whether or not they really like it, he is here to stay...so this week we got 'Tiny' out a little earlier...and we were all excited...

...and sure enough, both of our teams turned it around this week...scoring lots of touchdowns...

...and if you don't have this going on in your house...you should...this kind of fun is borderline dangerous...I wonder if they make a helmet with some pink on it for my girl...

...and with a big victory, we let 'Tiny' stay out until the night lights came on...and we played on the playground in back until the sun had long set...because in this family, we celebrate our high notes as long as we possibly can...