OUR LIFE: Tuten Edition

State Champs!!!!!

2011-07-01T14:16:00.000-07:00

Whew!!!! It has been too long since I have been on here. Alot has happened but I will just pick up with the recent....Braden's travel ball team won the State Tournament last week! They had a really good season. They ended up winning the USSSA 10under AAA division. We won the substate tournament two weeks before and had also won a couple of other tournaments previously. One of them was a wooden bat tournament against 12 year olds! We are very proud of them and Braden did a wonderful job!!! Carmen's team came in 2nd in regular season and 3rd in the county tournament. Austin's season is still going and hoping for a State Tournament trip later in the month. Busy....busy....busy... but we wouldn't have it any other way!

This is a picture of the State Champions!!!!!!

This is Braden after the Sub-State Championship!

Braden with Meemaw and Papaw at the State Tournament! Thanks, Delilah, for the pictures!

County Champions!!!!!!

2011-01-29T21:13:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Austin and his team for winning the County Tournament!!!!! We defeated East Limestone in the finals today. Austin was also selected to the All-County Team! Great job, Austin and also to the whole team. Also, Braden did a good job being the "water boy" for the team. He kept that water coming this year!

Also, congrats to Braden's team....finished up regular season yesterday and went undefeated!!

A Whole New Meaning to Our Christmas "Break"!!!

2011-01-01T22:03:00.000-08:00

A whole new meaning to our Christmas "Break".....

Well, it has been a while! The lightning messed up our main computer and that is where I do most of my pictures and stuff so now that we have gotten it semi-repaired, I don't know how to catch up from Carmen's Preschool Graduation to now. So I guess I will just back up a little and start with the recent catastrophies of our household. In the last 3 months or so, we have been through 5 cases of strep, 2 cases of the flu, 2 ER visits, many dr.'s visits and copays, 1 case of staph, a glued eye from a cut, 1 surgery, and a broken arm in a bright pink cast! (With a little work, this might could be made into a Twelve Days of Christmas Song!!!) But at least they have all been temporary and fixable!!!! :) Most of you know already, but in one weekend we had Austin at the ER with a gashed eye from a collision in basketball but he was able to have it glued. Braden was at the urgent care the next day with what was supposed to be a sinus infection but turned out to be the flu throughout the next few days. Then that same night...Carmen fell off the couch backwards and broke her arm. She also tested positive for Strep the same night. She had surgery the following week and had 2 pins put in her arm and now has a bright pink cast and ended up having the flu this past week!

This was after the ER trip with just a splint before we went to the orthopedic dr.

A special thanks to Meemaw and Papaw for helping us out. Meemaw went with us and played with Carmen in their wonderful playroom while awaiting surgery. Papaw stayed at home with Braden for us since Braden still had the flu. Thanks so much...we don't know what we would do without y'all!

She got her own driver's license and drove the princess jeep back to the operating room. It definitely helped Carmen and ME with the separation anxiety of going back to the surgery!

This is my baby after surgery. She did so good. She was scared but very brave to go through all that she went through. Women and Children's Hospital was sooooo good with Carmen. When it was all over as I was carrying Carmen to the van....we stepped outside the door and Carmen said..."Well, that was a little fun!" They definitely did their job to get a statement out of her like that after the day she had been through!

So much for her first basketball season....now she has to watch from the bench!

I told her coach that this looks bad on him....everybody out there doesn't know that these two actually got hurt at home!!! :)

Now hopefully we are on the road to recovery and things have been looking up. We had a wonderful Christmas with our family and are very, very blessed! Maybe I will catch up some more with a few more posts soon! Happy New Year from our family to yours!

Another Milestone--Preschool Graduation!!!!

2010-04-29T21:49:00.000-07:00

Carmen graduated from Preschool Thursday Night. They had their program at McCandless Hall at Athens State. She did a great job in their program. She just sang and did all of the things she was supposed to do. I guess you could say I am a "Proud Mama!" She had a ball afterwards running around with her friends, also. Our pictures taken during the graduation were dark but here are some from afterwards. Look out Kindergarten...here we come!!!!!!!!

Carmen with her teacher...Mrs. Amy! Thanks Mrs. Amy for a wonderful, wonderful job this year and for taking such good care of my baby girl!

Carmen and some of "the girls". Too bad they can't stay together for Kindergarten! :0(

Carmen loves her Meemaw and Papaw!

I would have a picture of Carmen with her mama, daddy, and brothers on here....but.....it didn't quite turn out like I had hoped so.....I decided against it! :0(

Carmen with the twins....Olivia and Nora.

Rachel and Carmen (They are actually distant cousins. Rachel's grandmother and my mama were cousins and used to play together and then we found out Carmen and Rachel were friends and played together. We thought that was sweet!)

Jillian and Carmen--I thought it was cute that on the back of the program they put what the kids liked best about Pre-K. Carmen's was picking flowers outside. Jillian's was swinging with Carmen! Precious!!!!!

Carmen and Jackson

Carmen and Jake

Just a few pics afterwards around the campus.

COULD SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHERE THE PAST FIVE YEARS HAVE GONE??????

Please Help Us Recycle!!!!

2010-04-24T09:16:00.000-07:00

Braden is collecting plastic in a contest at school. If you can help us, please keep all of your plastics that have a 1 or 2 in the recycling triangle (usually on the bottom of the container). I have been amazed at how many plastics are recyclable. Drink bottles, soap, shampoo, cleaners, medicines, vitamins, detergents, even strawberry containers have been some of the things that we have found to be recyclable! I find myself going around the house picking up things and looking at the bottom! Also, he is collecting Box Tops for Education for a different contest. If you do want to help us and you want us to pick them up from you, just let us know and we can come by and get them. We are turning in plastics from now until May 14th. I think the Box Tops through about the same time or maybe a little longer.

Thanks to the ones who are already helping us and thanks in advance to you who are going to help us now!

Hippity Hoppity...Easter went on it's way!

2010-04-11T14:18:00.000-07:00

Of course I am late posting....again! We had a wonderful Easter and beautiful weather. We went to church and then to Meemaw and Papaw's for a great lunch. Then the kids hunted eggs and we just visited and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Then back to church. Then after supper, we colored eggs....yes...we were late doing that, too! But we did it!

Okay...picture taking is an adventure with the Tutens! One of the pictures that we took.... I think all 3 of the guys were either trying to pinch or tickle me! This is about as good as it got!

Here are my 3....again... an adventure trying to get them to cooperate!

The kids going through the "loot" in the eggs!

Meemaw and Papaw with all the grands!

Here are my brothers and me---a picture in our 40's.

And yes....we finally colored our eggs at the end of the day. Oh well...at least we can say we did them!

And then there were three.......

2010-03-27T21:22:00.000-07:00

Well...now there are three! Carmen has joined Austin and Braden in the ballplaying!! Let's see...3 schedules, sets of uniforms to wash, gloves, helmets, cleats, batting gloves, equipment bags, X 3!!! But also 3 times the fun! On Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday, we only had 8 games between the three of them. Austin had 2 on Tuesday, Braden had 2 and Austin 1 on Friday, and Braden had 1 and Carmen 2 on Saturday. (And Austin was scheduled 2 more but they were cancelled.) They all 3 played great! I am proud of them. So if I look a little more frazzled than usual (if that is possible) for the next several weeks...you will know why.

Here is Carmen at her 1st game!

Getting a little help from Mom so she can get a little batting practice.

Go Austin! Go Braden! Go Carmen! And go, go, go the rest of the family as we run everywhere trying to make as many of the games as we can!

I Made it Five Years!!!!

2010-03-13T09:40:00.000-08:00

Well...I finally did it. I carried Carmen to get her hair cut. With the boys, when that one year rolled around...I felt like I had to cut their hair...curls or not. So when we had a girl, I decided I was going to let her hair grow. But we were way overdue. It had gotten so many different lengths and would look stringy so.....

Here is the BEFORE...

DURING...

and AFTER!!!!

So far, there have been less tangles to deal with and it fits my "sassy" little girl!

It's "Snow" Much Fun!!!!!

2010-03-02T14:35:00.000-08:00

It is fun now being off for the snow....now come May when we are making up these days and I am wanting to be off for the summer, it will be a different story!

The snow is beautiful when it is so clean and white and not messed up! Here are a few shots from the front and back of our house.

Braden and Carmen played some in the house before we ventured outside. Braden played a little basketball in our "gym"... also know as our house! (He is actually in the air...I cut his feet off in the picture!)

Carmen is so "deprived"...she only has 20+ Barbies!!!!!

Then we headed outside. By the time we got out there it was melting pretty fast, but I think they still had fun.

Here is our dog, Trooper, eating some of the snow!

Braden built a fort. Carmen helped by delivering some snow for him to use.

Austin's neighborhood friends were calling early this morning saying they were bored and wanted him to come over. I asked him wouldn't he rather spend "quality time with his mother" but for some reason he chose to go to his friends' house. Go figure! But they did end back up at the house playing none other than.....basketball! What else do you do when it snows???

For some reason...my son decides to wear his baseball catcher's mask under his hood to play for a while! Just being silly...

Well...it was nice to have a "break in the action" at the Tuten household.

Birthday Party Fun!

2010-02-21T14:34:00.000-08:00

I finally got around to posting some more about Carmen and Emma's Birthday Party at Onyx. They had a ball but I don't think it matters where they are as long as they are together....they have fun. Then you throw in all of the other little girls and they have extra fun. A special thanks to Amber for putting the party together. She makes it easy for me...I can just say..."How much do I owe you?" She handles just about all the details. I am glad she likes doing it and I am glad they share a birthday! Here are a few pics of the party!

The Birthday Girls

Austin got a work-out! I had him watching the little ones in the "pit." Carmen is getting a ride on his shoulders!

Braden having a little fun!

Carmen's turn!!!!

The Birthday Girls and the party guests.

Here is Dad and the boys taking a break and enjoying the food!

The grandparents joining in the fun!

Even some of the adults joined in the "pit" jumping! Right, Travis????

BFF-------"Carmen and Emma--Best Friends Forever"

Happy Birthday, Carmen!!!!!

2010-02-08T16:19:00.000-08:00

My baby girl is five! The time sure is flying by. She turned five on February 3rd. We have been partying and partying and partying since Wednesday. You know...kid's birthdays are not just one day....they are like the Energizer Bunny...they just keep on going! (Okay...some of you may be too young to know the Energizer Bunny but......)

Okay....

"Happy Birthday to you...." (Celebrating at home on her actual birthday!)

"Happy Birthday to you...." (Cupcakes at Preschool on her birthday.)

"Happy Birthday dear Carmen and Emma!" (Emma and Carmen share a birthday which is just very fitting for Best Friends Forever! This is the party with Emma that they had with friends at Onyx Gym. Hopefully I will post more on this party later.)

"Happy Birthday to you!" (Finally the party at home with us, her Meemaw and Papaw, Aunts and Uncles, and cousins!)

Happy Birthday, Carmen! You are growing up waaaaaaay too fast! I love you!

Christmas 2009

2010-01-02T21:50:00.000-08:00

Okay....it has been way tooooo long since I have posted. But anyway, here are some pictures from Christmas. We had a wonderful Christmas and of course got more than we should have...but we had fun!

This is how we started out on Christmas morning before the wrapping paper went flying!

I ended up not taking an after picture to show the kids with all of their presents but I do have an individual of each. Here is Carmen getting her Barbie TV for her room.

Braden getting a new PSP. This is his 3rd one. His first one--the start button quit working. His second one--He bought with his own money. He laid it on the back of a friend's truck while playing basketball outside and forgot about it until 2 - 3 hours later and a trip to the school. We never found any part of it....not even a crushed one. It also had his favorite game which he had purchased. (Hard lesson to learn when it was his own $200!) Maybe the 3rd time is a charm!

Austin with his Ipod Touch.

Christmas Evening we went to my Mama and Daddy's...AKA Meemaw and Papaw. As usual we had a great time...lots of good food...lots of laughs....and just some good old family time. We got waaaaay too much from Meemaw and Papaw, but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Braden and Austin are getting Columbia Alabama jackets in these pictures.

They gave Carmen the American Girl Doll...Samantha. She knew exactly what it was..."An American Girl!" I think you can tell from the pictures she was thrilled.

Some of the cousins enjoying a little game time.

A little "friendly" game of Tonk!

I didn't get pictures of :

the Pictionary Game which was males against females. This always causes an uproar! :0)

the passing of some gifts everytime Meemaw said right or left in the story she read. You should have seen some of the kids with this one. It was funny!

the family rendition of acting out the Twelve Days of Christmas. Tooooo funny!

Too bad I didn't have the video camera on these. They were hilarious!

We had fun. We have been very blessed and I hope you all have a wonderful 2010!

Oh "Deer"!!!!!!

2009-11-25T20:28:00.001-08:00

My Proud Hunters!!!!

Well...my boys are addicted just like some other hunters around here! There is just something about getting up at 3 something in the morning, going out in the cold, and sitting there waiting for a deer. Not sure what that something is, but there is something! Now getting up to go shopping.....different story! :0) But anyway, Terry (with Braden right along beside him) got an 8 point about a week and a half ago and Austin got a 6 point this morning. This was Austin's first buck. He got a doe when he was around 11 with a bow but this was the first buck. Now Braden is itching to get one. Terry just picked up the meat from his yesterday and loaded it into the freezer and then Austin got his today. So we should be stocked up for a while!

The picture at the top and this one are of Austin's 6 point deer.

This is a picture of Terry's 8 point deer. (Braden was beside him and I think Braden was more thrilled than Terry.) Notice Carmen is in this picture and I thought, "Oh no, she doesn't have a bow! And I am not talking about a shooting bow...I am talking.....a bow in her hair!" That doesn't happen often with us in a picture!!!! :0)

I think they have "Buck Fever!"

Pictures....anyone?????

2009-11-08T20:25:00.000-08:00

Okay....we are again having some type of fundraiser. This time it is for Austin's Baseball Team. It is an Antiquities picture done in sepia tone of your child. They supply the clothing, props, etc. It is a $10.00 donation and you receive a 10 x 13. Of course, you will have the option of buying different packages but are not obligated to. Our team gets the $10.00 just for you buying the coupon. The more people that actually have it done....the more money our team receives also. The pictures are going to be made November 21st at Owens in the Art room. If you can, please help us out. Just comment back and I will get you the information you need. I am going to try to paste this url to the website so you can see some of the examples. Thanks and I hope to hear from some of you! :0) http://www.antiquities-studios.com/aboutus.htm

A Rough Week for Braden....and Us!

2009-11-03T21:26:00.000-08:00

It has been a rough week for Braden....and for the rest of us....worrying about him. He had a place on his knee (where he had fallen on concrete about 2 weeks ago) to end up getting infected. I thought it had healed but it must not have and just ended up a mess. He had a bump to come up on it that hurt. Then he got tripped at school and fell on it. From there on...we started our trips to the doctor. Our school nurse thought it was infected, and we went off for trip number 1. He ended up putting him on an antibiotic and culturing it for Staph. Yep...it was Staph. Okay...maybe the antibiotic will do it. Well..the next day it looked worse. But after trip number 2, the doc decided maybe we were on the right track. Well.....

Day 3...this started happening.

Day 4, it got worse and looked like this.....and he ran a fever at one point of 101.4. It finally started draining some after this picture.

Then....Day 5....this is what it looked like.

Day 6...it looked AWFUL!!! I guess we failed to get a picture.

Day 7...it started looking a little better. Trip number 3 to the doctor.

Now...another problem. Braden's face had started swelling. The doc sent us to the hospital to get some blood work done. Well...later on that night, Braden had broken out in a rash to go along with the swelling. By this time, I am on the computer looking for allergic reactions to the medicine among other things. By the time I got to talk to the doctor about 11:30 p.m. he had already developed hives, also. Benadryl time! Thankfully, it helped. We were close to having to visit the ER. Kodak moment after blood work. See how his cheeks are red and his face swollen....(It may be hard to tell in the picture...it was dark and I took it in the van.)

Now we are assuming Braden is allergic to sulfa. The bloodwork looked great (thankfully) so now we have changed his antibiotic and hope we are on the right track. His knee is looking better and has started peeling now.

He is still broken out and still having some issues with the hives or something. This is what it looked like on Tuesday night. This is on his outer thigh. It started out clustered and spread apart. Weird....

We hope and pray we are on the right track now. It has definitely been a rough week for all of us!

Trick or Treat!

2009-11-03T20:56:00.000-08:00

Well, Halloween has come and gone again, but we all had fun. We just have a tradition that when we trick or treat, we end up at my parents house or as I call them more now because of the kids...."Meemaw and Papaw's" house. We meet out there and she usually has chili and beef stew and all kinds of goodies to eat! Just about every year my kids are just ready to get to Meemaw and Papaw's house. Here are a few pictures of our Halloween this year.

Braden and Carmen before the "big haul." Braden was a hunter and Carmen was a ballerina.

Carmen and "one of her moves."

Braden "taking aim!"

Braden aka "The Hunter"; Carmen aka "The Ballerina",

Layton aka "Spiderman", and Landon aka "Tractor Farmer!" (That is what he called it!)

Carmen had a party at Preschool on Friday. We left her hair down that day and then put it up on Halloween.

GWO--Girls Weekend Out! :0)

2009-10-25T19:38:00.000-07:00

Okay...I am finally posting our "Girls Weekend Out" pictures. Amber, Denise, and I enjoyed a few days in the Smoky Mountains over Fall Break. We left on Thursday and came home on Sunday. Our husbands surprised us with a trip just for the "girls". My first reaction was "No, I'm not going. I can't go." I have never done this before...leaving my kids and husband just for a pleasure trip! (I had only been one time and that was to a Reading Conference when Austin was little for a night or two and I believe I cried when I left!) I "teared" up when I would think about going for a while and then Terry told me that yes I was going. Well....I ended up not only going but deciding to take an extra day off and leave early that morning! While we were there we ate and shopped and ate and shopped and ate some more and shopped some more! :0) We also took out a little while and went to the picnic area on the road up to the Chimney Tops. It made us want to start a yearly tradition! (Actually...Denise said more like a quarterly tradition!)

The trees were not changing alot while we were there, but here they were some.

Awwwwwww....relaxation!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The tree really wasn't that high off the ground!

Wasn't it pretty????

Let's do a little climbing on the rocks. Be a little adventurous!

And speaking of adventurous.....

I believe at this point, I was thinking...should I???? And my dear friend Amber was saying, "If you fall in, we are not coming in after you!" :0) I decided I better stop where I was!

Yeah!!! We made it! I think about this time after our carefully chosen path out to the rock....we were seeing these 2 young boys jumping from rock to rock. But you know the difference is because they had on their tennis shoes and we were barefooted. That had to be the only difference, right??????

This is one of those times we were waiting to eat....again! This time...The Apple Barn.

This is how far we had to park to shop on Saturday. We wanted to shop pretty bad, didn't we?Yes, that is grass not pavement!

Thanks girls for a fun weekend, thanks to our husbands for our trip, and thanks to our kids and our families for helping us out and working together to allow us to go!

Braden is 9!!!

2009-10-04T20:53:00.000-07:00

Today was Braden's 9th birthday. He celebrated yesterday when he and a friend (along with Carmen and me) made a day of it. We started out by going to Walmart and he picked a cookie cake to celebrate with. Then we went to eat and had the cookie cake for dessert. Then we headed bowling! It was fun. (I am so out of shape that I am sore today from bowling!) After bowling, we headed for a game of putt-putt. Then we went to Chick-fil-a for an ice cream cone. After that we went to Pet Depot and he picked out some fish for his birthday. It has been a while since we had some and he was wanting some for his birthday. But of course when we ended up getting home and getting the old aquarium cleaned and set up....lucky me....no filter. I think packrat here actually threw some stuff away and threw away the last filter a while back. So back to Walmart I go last night about 9:00 to get a new filter. Now the fish are in their aquarium in their new home!

Here is another of his presents...the newest addition to his Magic Treehouse Book Collection.

This afternoon he had his baseball team party. They got another trophy and a shirt. On the back of their shirts it says, "Back to Back County Champions"

We still have to work in the family parties for Austin and Braden. That will just extend their birthdays and make them last a little longer I guess...huh? They both want to have a party with family!

My......how time flies....he's already 9. Happy Birthday, Braden. We love you!

Happy 14th...Austin!

2009-10-01T21:01:00.001-07:00

Can you believe Austin is 14??? Today was his birthday. We had a lot going with school, basketball practice, baseball parent meeting, and a few other things....but did manage to work in opening a few presents and giving him his favorite cake--cheesecake!

Roll Tide! (one of the presents)

Hmmmm....do you think he could wait tables?? Extra money!!!!

Here are a few pictures that have absolutely nothing to do with Austin's birthday, but I haven't posted in a while so....

Here is Carmen and her "best bud" Emma!

Surely Braden didn't really mean to be aggravating, did he????? :0)

Being silly.......

Just a couple of pictures of Braden, Carmen, Emma, and William.

(I believe some new jeans are in the future for Braden.

Look at those knees!)

Finally...a picture of all 3!

2009-09-08T19:14:00.000-07:00

It is not that often I get a picture of all 3 of my kiddos to post. Austin was not at all excited about the picture but finally got tickled in the last picture, I think and I got a smile. We were ready to go to church services Sunday morning and I just noticed that somehow they had all ended up with blue. So...Kodak moment! I was going to take them outside and we headed out but........it was raining. So we opted for the front porch instead. Just my normal stair-step picture. They

are all getting so big!

Sunflowers, Sunflowers, and More Sunflowers!!!

2009-09-04T19:23:00.000-07:00

Leanne beat me to it by getting to the sunflowers. Mama had told me about them but you know me...I put things off. Anyway...we finally made it. They were beautiful!!!! There is the patch on 127 and there is another patch on Myers Road. There are fields and fields at both places. They are definitely worth the trip over there. The ones on Myers Road seemed to be "hanging their heads" and were not as easy to walk right up to as the ones on 127 that had been mowed right up to. It was much easier for Carmen to get beside them on 127. Here are a few of the "near 40" pictures that I took! Yes..."near 40" pictures...and I had a hard time picking out my favorites. But here are some of them.

These are Carmen on 127.

These were also on 127.

One of the fields.

There was one drawback......bees!!!! Carmen didn't like them the bees at all!
I think this picture shows her reaction!

These next pictures are from Myers Road. We were facing the sun, so the pictures really have too much light in them, but oh well....

Only one of the fields on Myers Road...

One final picture at Myers Road.

I would definitely recommend everyone "checking" them out. They are beautiful!!!

One fall too many!!!!

2009-08-21T18:41:00.000-07:00

Concrete + Cell Phone = DISASTER

Well...my poor little phone hit the concrete too many times. The last time I dropped it.....well......this is what it looked like....

So...this is the new one.

Out with the old and in with the new! This seems to be a trend with me and usually it is because I have dropped it...AGAIN! Oh well....that is what keeps them in business, I guess.

Birthday Party then...Back to School

2009-08-10T20:55:00.000-07:00

My mama had a birthday this past weekend. Here is a picture of mama and daddy with the grandkids. Happy birthday, Meemaw!

Well...farewell summer...hello school days! Carmen started preschool today and the rest of us had to go back also. My baby is old enough to start preschool. She was so excited and loved it! Braden ended up being excited too! Austin...well...I don't think excited is the correct word as you can see in the picture. Plus he wasn't thrilled at the idea at all of me making him take the picture. Notice I didn't even put my picture on there of my reaction.....need I say more? You might could say excited was not really the word for my return either!!!! Oh well...back to the rat-race!!!!

Okay...now maybe I am caught up on my posts!

Beach Trip 2009--Farewell to Summer Break

2009-08-10T19:53:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful time while we were at the beach. We enjoyed spending time together and did alot of family things together while we were there. I had put our family beach pictures off until the last part of our trip. I had planned for us to do the "khaki and white" family pictures on Saturday or Sunday but since we returned early as stated in the other post, we didn't get to do them. (But I will give those up anyday in exchange for the opportunity of us getting back to see Granny before she passed away.) As most of you know, I put things off, so that is what I get for putting it off to the latter part of the week. Most of my family didn't want to do them anyway, but I did. I had just told them to not give me a problem about it. It was just something that we were going to do. Needless to say...they weren't too disappointed that we didn't get to take them. I do have a "few" other pictures of while we were there. :0) This was Carmen's first trip to the beach. I was pregnant with her the last time we went to the beach.

We stopped at Peach Park for the "traditional" pics with the horse! It is amazing to see how the kids have grown each time.

Carmen striking a pose on the beach.

A little souvenier picture with Braden.

Austin enjoying the ocean!

Yes....she was able to walk again after we left!!!

Ahhhhh....breakfast on the balcony!

A little pool fun for all 3 of them.

A couple of my favorites...God has blessed us with these three and a beautiful sunset!!!!

They got a "little" wet on the bumper boats at The Track!

Okay...so maybe she was a little tired!!!!!!

Terry had to try to make the best shot any way he could!

A couple of last shots from the balcony before we head home!

The good....and the bad.....

2009-08-10T19:35:00.000-07:00

It has been a whirlwind these past 2 weeks! We were ending the summer break with a wonderful trip to the beach! We had a great time until, as some of you know, returned home a little early because of the very saddening news that my mother-in-law wasn't well at all. We left a couple of days early and returned home Saturday night between 9:30 and 10:00, went straight to the nursing home, and then she passed away at about 3:00 that next morning. I am glad we got back. She is much better off but selfishly, we are going to miss her. Here is a picture of Granny and my kids just last November around Thanksgiving. She really went down this past year. I am proud of the time we had with her and that all 3 of my kids got to know their Granny. She was 88. So what started out as a happy time at the beach ended up as a sad time when we returned.

Water Fun!!!!

2009-07-22T19:59:00.000-07:00

Well...maybe this part is not "water fun"...washing the van but earlier this week the boys took on washing it and removing the window paint from the recent ballgames. (Finally got another picture of Austin when I opened the door and took this from our house while they were washing!)

Then today we headed over to Decatur to the Splash Pad for some "water fun." They had a ball. It was very nice. My kind of fun---free!!! Here are a few pictures of Braden, Carmen, and a friend of Braden's--Alec. Meemaw also rode over with us to watch them.

Carmen as the boys took her through. She had to warm up to going through the middle of it. So they were helping her.

Braden sitting right in the middle of it.

Braden gave Carmen a ride....

Then Alec gave Braden a ride!

Then we went to the playground right beside it. It was a very nice playground.
They had pretty pictures placed throughout the playground so we made our own little "photo shoot".

Meemaw and Carmen....

Braden with his "prized possession!"

Carmen with the pretty butterfly.

My clown...Braden acting as if the bee stung him.

Braden and Alec have the squirrel "by the ears!"

We got hot at the playground, so then back to the Splash Pad to cool off. We had a fun day!

Finally getting around to another post!

2009-07-18T20:32:00.000-07:00

Well....things have been busy around the Tuten household. But what else is new????? Braden's all-star team played in his State Tournament last week in Jasper and finished up this week. Here are a few pictures of the tournament.

Ready for the pitch...

The "Thrill of Victory!"

A different game, but still ready for the pitch...

Wham....Look at how everybody is looking where he hit it!

Some of his "loyal fans"...Meemaw, Papaw, and Austin.

Earlier was the "Thrill of Victory"...well, this is the "Agony of Defeat!" But we did good. We beat North Chilton, Corner, and Gardendale. We were beaten by Oak Mountain who ended up finishing 3rd in the state and by Trussville who ended up winning the state so...16 teams qualified to go the state and we tied for 5th. Braden played his heart out and did a great job. We are proud of him!

Carmen worked in a few trips to see the ducks at the park where we were playing.

So, when we were through with the tournament, I finally got the kids' dentist appointments worked in. This was Carmen's first trip to the dentist. Austin wanted to know why I was grabbing the camera on the way out the door. But it was her first trip to the dentist...I had to take a picture!!!! She was so excited and kept asking..."Is it time to go to the dentist yet? Is it time for the dentist yet?" etc. They called her name and I said, "Do you want me to go with you or do you want to go back by yourself?" She said she wanted to go by herself! She did and just did great. I sat there and then thought...she doesn't need me!!!! She is changing so much lately and growing up...I know it is good but it is also sad. We got her registered for Preschool and she is so excited. She is ready for summer to be over so she can start preschool...unlike her mother who is not ready to go back. The other day she was swinging and telling me how high she was going by herself. Then she said, "I don't need you to push me anymore." I thought of how many times that I told her that she could do it and she needed to learn to swing herself, but....when the time came, what did I say? Something to the effect of..."You are doing great! I can still push you sometimes though, can't I?" Way to go, Mom! Push her to do it on her own and then feel hurt that she does. Growing up is hard!

1st trip to the dentist! (I really need to move those buttons a little on this outfit, don't I?)

Well...I told Austin he needs to let me take his picture more often. He is in the background of a few of the pics. Oh well...speaking of growing up....Like I said, I know it is good, but it is also sad! I know this was long, but maybe I won't wait so long between posts next time.

A Fun Day at the Pool!!!!!

2009-07-03T19:41:00.000-07:00

We had a fun day at a private pool with my brother and sister-in-law and their kids. Our kids had a great time! They were pooped!!!!

Here is Austin and Braden throwing football in the pool. Ya'll didn't really think we would do something that didn't involve ball, did you??????

Carmen loved it, too!!!

Their cousin, Layton, joining in!

And......their other cousin Landon got "tuckered out" and took him a little nap while the others kept on playing.

Thanks to my family for including us in the fun! We hope all of you have a safe and enjoyable 4th of July!

Slip-Slidin' Away

2009-07-02T21:13:00.000-07:00

We are thoroughly enjoying our time off this week. Now that I have AMSTI behind me, I feel like I am off again! We started off our morning...

Braden and Carmen loved getting in their "tent". They did this last night and we had to do it again this morning.

Then we headed out to the "Slip N Slide". Austin opted out of the fun for the day but Braden and Carmen had a ball. They ended up playing with the hose pipe and using it on our regular slide with the fort. But they had fun.

Braden had it "down to a T". Go for it, Braden!

Carmen with a little help from Braden. She likes to be pulled!

Braden in action with the spray of water.

Now, Carmen...that looks better! On the belly....

Now for a little relaxing. Yes........Braden is drinking from the "sanitary" water supply!

Then a little trip to Meemaw and Papaw's for a little spoiling!

I sure do enjoy summer but it is "slip slidin' " away!

Have a good day!

2009-06-30T18:17:00.000-07:00

Okay...I am playing. I am trying to see how to add pictures and figure this out.

Okay everyone....here it goes!!!

2009-06-30T17:54:00.000-07:00

Well....Austin kept on until he talked me into creating this blog. He jumped on it and started doing everything. I am not sure how I will do, but here it goes.....