Wide-open country…and lots of it.

John Deere EVERYTHING…

not to mention mosquitoes, crickets, fishing, hauling hay, and COWS.  The boys have their very own cow named Sparky and every year she gets bigger.  They love Sparky, but she doesn’t want anything to do with them.  Still, they follow her around like lovesick puppies. 

The point is, we love visiting the land where “Grandma” grew up.  It’s a lesson in history for my two, sweet boys who love the country.  While we’re there visiting, it’s not hard to notice that “Grandma” is in her element.  I think if we’d all move back there with her, she’d be gone in a second.  BUT, she’d never leave us for Kansas.  She loves us a tiny bit more, I think.

So, every chance she gets, she talks us into a visit to her home.  AND, we tag along watching her soak it all in, breathe it deep into her soul to savor until she can return.  It’s awe-inspiring.  It’s not hard to see how she became who she is today.  It’s why we love her…

especially these two.

They get to explore it all from creek beds to riding in the farm truck to catching and frying up their own fish (yes, we did) to picking all-you-can-eat blackberries.  This time around Ty even came home with a big cow skull to add to our place.  Nice.

I’m so very thankful they have a grandma who truly loves to spend every second of her time sharing stories with them and giving them hands-on knowledge of who she is.  They will forever remember this and be able to share her stories with their own children.

Of course, these guys are pretty COOL all on their own.  At least, I think so. 

I love summertime.  In case you haven’t noticed, the blog has been a little quiet of late.  We’ve been doing other things.  Things like splash parks, swimming pools, and air shows.  This week we’re heading North to Kansas.  I’ll try to post from there some, but if I don’t make it, please forgive me.  I’m soaking up every second I can with these two.  Wouldn’t you?

Over and out, Dudes!  Happy Monday!

We are ALL pretty excited about it, especially me.  I really hated having to lug Ty into town EVERY morning for a two-hour Pre-K class.  BUT, it was really great for him so we made it happen.  Now, we can loosen up and have a little fun, sleep in as late as we want (it’s been 10am for a few days now), and go to the zoo on any given day.  SPECTACULAR!

Plus, Grandma has a pool where we spend LOTS and LOTS of summer days.  Not too bad.

All that being said, I’m so proud of my little Pre-K man who grew so much this year, not just in size.  He is such a shy kiddo, loves his routines, and has a hard time loosening up around new folks.  Strange, because I’m a complete nut!  Right?  Well, not quite.  Back in the day, I was pretty shy myself.  No, seriously!

This year Ty has grown leaps and bounds.  He’s adapted to daily changes in routine, spiked his hair once or twice, worn socks outside his boots (really big deal!), and become VERY close to a couple of awesome teachers.

Mrs. Fournier and Mrs. Davis, we LOVE you both!  Thank you so much for helping Ty adjust to becoming a big kid and for making it easy on the rest of us in the process.  We appreciate you and all you do for children.  Ty will always remember you.  I know it.

On the last day of school, the Pre-K kids at Ty’s school get to have a picnic to celebrate.  It was hot, there were water toys, friends, and lots of snack food.  Even Grandma, Wes, and Daddy got to come.

It was perfect!

Because Ty had such an awesome year, Kindergarten is all he can talk about this summer.  He is counting the days until schools starts again.  He’s asking me all sorts of questions about how things work in Kindergarten and who his teacher might be when he returns.  He’s also really excited to see his Aunt Joanna daily (she’s the school secretary) and his Mom’s favorite buddy, Karri (who happens to be the Principal).  I know, I know.  He’s one lucky kid to have all those people around who love him.  It makes things pretty easy on me, too, thank goodness.

On the last day of Pre-K, Ty received a certificate of completion.  He’s VERY proud of it and showed it off to everyone he knows and loves.  It makes me smile.  I’m so happy he already loves school.

He’s such a big kid now.  It’s official.

Here he is on his first day of Pre-K.

Times are changing.

“Hey, Wes!”  “How old are you?”

“I’m three!”

As he keeps coming closer, he’s getting more and more excited.  “Mom, I said, I’m three!”

Technically, in these photos, he’s holding up six fingers.  I told you he gets excited about it.  One hand is simply not enough to convey the emotion of being three.  You need two, I’m tellin’ you! (for the record, when Wes throws both sets of three into the mix, it really screws with Ty’s head…)

“Gosh, Mom…”  “You already know I’m three.”

“Wes, you’re so stinkin’ cute.”  “Show me your 3 again.”

“AAAWWWWW shucks, Mom…..”

Today was the first time I’ve had my camera out since Easter.  If you’ve been keeping up with me on Facebook or read my Easter post that’s been lurking here for a week, you already know I’ve been a little under the weather.  Not to worry, things are looking up.  Today was a great day!

So great, in fact, I actually sat outside in a camp chair watching my boys have a little fun.  You all know, I can’t possibly sit and watch someone, anyone have fun without snapping a few photos.  AND, thankfully, my camera wasn’t too far away.

Nothing like THIS mischievous grin to make me smile!

or this CRAZY giggle!

I’m telling you, even on our death bed, we Gurney’s are a barrel of laughs.  Just ask these two yahoos – who never fail to keep me on my toes and always have the big wheels rollin’….in EVERY sense.

Grandma (my mom) REALLY helps, too.  She’s kept my entire family fed for around two weeks now.  AND, she’s also the one who financed this BIG WHEELIN’ idea.

The boys were completely pumped!  AND, I was having so much fun watching them have fun, I let them SKIP nap.  THAT almost NEVER happens!

Of course, no great idea comes without a little controversy.  Leave it to Wes to cause a bit of disruption…

I guess he grew tired of riding and decided to put a few bumps in Ty’s path.  Unfortunately, his mama spotted his disruptive behavior before it became all out war.  “Wes.  Get the wheel barrow out of your brother’s way.”   “AWWWWWWWW.”  He moved the wheel barrow, dragging his bootie the whole time.

I’m pretty sure he showed me a little bottom lip, too.  BUT, in the end, a game of hide-and-seek saved the day….

and Ty just kept the Big Wheels turnin’.

Happy hump day!  I miss you guys…

Boys will always love trucks, whether they’re 5 years old or 50.

My parents recently handed-down (to us) their old, black 1994 Chevy pick-up truck.  Mostly, they were tired of parking it and never using it since both of them have other vehicles.  We were glad to take it off their hands – it gave Josh and the boys a fun, new project.  A few cheap fixes and she’s like new.

We are now the proud owners of Salt (our own white Chevy) and Pepper, as the boys have started calling them.  Pretty funny, huh.  But, who can explain the relationship between boys and their trucks?  Not me.

Sutton REALLY loves Star Wars.

My boys love cake.

ice cream.

balloons…

and celebrating birthdays with pretty much ANYONE.

We also love our friend Sutton. 

Up until his party, my boys didn’t really know what Star Wars was…

Now, they think it’s an awesome reason to beat your parents and grandparents about the face and head with light saber pool noodles.  Thanks for that, Tiffany.  My head loves you.

Yes, even Darth Vader made an appearance.  My youngest boy thought it was spectacular (even though he wasn’t sure who the heck it was), while my oldest ran for cover and didn’t come out until Darth was gone.  Poor Darth never got the chance to meet Ty.  How sad…

Wes’ favorite part of the entire party was the Darth Vader pinata.  He was even given the chance to pull a string FIRST (thinking it’d be nice to let a little guy go ahead of all the other big boys).  The only problem was he happened to pick JUST THE RIGHT STRING….

oh boy.

That’s never good.

We had to keep that thing in tact until the birthday boy had a chance.  Thank goodness it lasted.  Whew!

Ty refused to wear what he called a “Yoda” outfit.  He’s way too cool for that.  He did enjoy the party tremendously and is now really into the whole “Star Wars” thing.  Plus, it only took him about 30 minutes or so to warm up after arriving….nice.

For the record, Joe Cool was beating people with his light saber within the first 3 minutes….

Some things will never change.

Note:  these pics were taken in the light of a really horrid, dark gym and no matter what I tried (including a custom white balance gray card) the color turned out wonky.  We’ll talk about white balance at our SnapShot Moms workshop on April 10th. 

even with a dirty shirt.

When you can pull off a shirt this nasty, you know you’re cool.  Right?

Plus, he seems to be quite happy with the dirt.  Don’t ya think?

Three REALLY IS looking good on him.  He’s happy.  He’s healthy.  AND, he makes all the rest of us LAUGH daily.  I’m glad he’s so cool.

Even our dogs follow him around.  He’s like static cling – he pulls you right in with that big toothy grin and magnetic personality.

You simply know you’re in the presence of COOL when he’s around…

He’s serious.  I call him a “deep thinker”.

He’s quirky.  I call him charismatic and captivating.

He’s bull-headed.  I call him determined.

He’s funny.  I call him witty.

He’s so DRAMATIC.  I call him riveting. 

This is a prime example….

It all started while showing a little love toward our pup.  Innocent enough, right?

Awww, you say.  So sweet.  BUT, it went from sweet and loving to…

Attack pup on the loose.  Yep, I don’t have a photo of the next scene, because I had to rescue Ty from said pup.  In no time, Echo (our pup), was on top of Ty licking and scratching and just getting plain ‘ole excited.  You know how pups are, right?  Well, apparently, it was NOT fun for Ty.   He immediately burst into tears.

At this point, I tell him (because I’m into tough love and all) to “get tough”.  I go on to explain that we live in the country and dogs are gonna jump on you…yadda yadda yadda.  I finish off by telling him if he can’t take the heat, go in and take a nap.  He’s obviously tired.  It’s not really like him to wail loudly over a pup jumping on him.  He is an animal lover, after all.

This was him during our one-sided conversation.

and right afterward (once I’d mentioned the “n” word.  N-A-P)

Oh, the drama….

Usually, in instances like these, it’s best to tease him a bit or tell him a couple of jokes, which I proceeded to do.

Slowly, but surely, this magnificent and warm-hearted little boy started to forget the drama.

Then I pulled out my secret weapon.  I said, “POOPY”.  Yep, I did.

Just look what that one word does for our bull-headed boy.

And finally, a discussion (again, one-sided) of how lucky he is to have such an amazing and spectacular MAMA who loves him.

Aww, yes.  There it is.  That smile.  Those eyes.

And the world was right again.

Be still my heart.

This pretty much sums up EVERY day of his life.