Lowe's Motor Speedway

Yesterday we took Konner out to the racetrack to see his Uncle Mike drive a race car! This was all part of the Richard Petty driving experience. We had a lot of fun! Konner was in HEAVEN!!!!! We were right down on pit road and up close to everything going on. Shannon and I tried to get the boys to turn around and look at us for a minute for a picture, but they totally did not want to take their eyes off the racetrack! Mike first went for a ride-along at about 160+ mph! He said that was better than driving b/c of the speed! Then he drive drove by himself and went about 135+ mph. That seems plenty fast to me! When he was done with everything, we were just standing around talking and one of the guys came up to us and asked the boys if they wanted to take a ride around the racetrack. Konner and Nolan immediately said "YEAH!" But Bryce was not wanting to go at all. Being the mean Aunt and Uncle they are (ha ha) Mike and Shannon made Bryce go and he did fine. I don't think he loved it as much as Konner and Nolan, but he did just fine! We all loaded up in a big van and went around the track. It was amazing to see up close how steep the turns are. We all were sliding to the left of the van every time! The boys LOVED it and it was a great way to spend a beautiful morning! Thanks Mike and Shannon for inviting us to come along!

Konner, Nolan and Bryce

Mike driving the white #88

Konner daydreaming of the day he'll be the one driving that race car!

Mike in the Jimmy Johnson #48 for the ride-along!

Mike and the boys!

Valentine's Dance

Friday, Feb. 13th, Shawn's school hosted a Valentine's Dance for the kids and their family. Konner and I got a little dressed up and went to the dance. Johnny was invited, but didn't want to go (imagine that!). Konner was excited about going and when I asked if he was going to dance with me he said "ok, but I want to really dance with someone my own size...". I asked if that meant he was going to ask a girl to dance and he said yes. I also made Shawn promise me one dance.

Well, we got there and Konner discovered the balloons all over the gym floor. That was the end of the story for Konner. All he wanted to do from that moment on was play with the balloons. Shawn immediately got shy as we walked into the gym. I tried my best to get those two boys to dance but I had no luck. Konner did a little of the Hokey Pokey with me but that was it! Shawn was just too shy to dance.

It was a fun night with the boys though. Kim and I took a lot of pics of them dressed up and I must admit, they were handsome!

Just the Three of Us!

Here is a b-day pic for you guys! I know, look how young I look!!!! ha ha

We went out to dinner with mom, grammy, Kim and Shawn. Had a good time! Johnny had a suffer thru pic taking time though ~ thanks JohnBoy for being a good sport! I love my guys!

Pajama Day at School

Konner's school had pajama day and they all wore their pjs ~ even the teachers! Konner loved it and I have to admit, I was a little jealous that I couldn't stay in my warm pjs too!

Konner with Ms. Glenda

Jackson C., Jackson N., Konner & Jarod - can you say TROUBLE!!!

Snow Day!

Every once in a while we get a snow day here and we all go crazy! Schools shut down, grocery store shelfs go bare and the young and young at heart have fun!
Just to let you know ~ this amount of snow shut the city down! It was a fun day though. Konner's cousin, Addy, spent the night Monday night and when they woke up Tuesday morning this is what they saw! They were sooooooo excited. They didn't want to eat breakfast or anything they just wanted to get out and play in the snow! Konner, of course, went full speed ahead into the snow. Addy was a little bit more reserved. She just wanted to play with it with her hands. Konner wanted to play with it, in it and on it however he could! Buster helped him a lot with getting down in the snow! This was Buster's first snow and he LOVED it!
It was very cold and we don't exactly keep appropriate clothing for playing in the snow; especially our little Florida girl, Addy! Poor thing - her feet and hands were so cold. The most I would let them stay out in it was 30 minutes because I didn't want them to get sick.
I have to admit though, I turned into my mother with the way I dressed them. They had on 2 pairs of pants, 2 shirts, 3 hats and mittens and boots! Kim and I always joke about how our mom use to layer us so much with clothes that we could bend our limbs!
We had fun - I always feel like a kid again when it snows!

Hardison Family Christmas Party

Johnny and I hosted the annual Christmas party this year at our house. It sure was a fun night! Since it was Aunt Susan and Uncle Bill's birthday, we let them decide what kind of party it was going to be. Aunt Susan wanted the gift exchange to be a gag gift. Well this just set us up for lots of laughter!

For some odd reason a lot of the "boy" gifts were boxers. All of them had a funny picture or a funny saying or both on them. We made each of the guys stand up and "model" there new boxers. This really embarrassed them; especially Uncle Bill. His boxers were from XBOX 360 and said in the front "Stop Staring and Start Playing!" I never thought Uncle Bill could turn so red!!!!

Probably the most hilarious was Johnny's gift. Now this was ALL Kelly doing~I had no part in the making of this particular gift. Kelly was so tickled when someone finally picked up the gag gift she brought. She had made "His" and "Her" slippers out of ~~~~~ maxi pads!!!!! It was hilarious!!!!! She found some XL ones to fit the man's feet and smaller ones to fit the woman's feet. She stuck on foams letters and spelled out the words "HIS" and "HER" and placed a big plastic flower on the woman's slippers. She did a really good job! When Johnny first opened the gift, none of us knew what it was at first and Kelly was too busy cracking up to be of any help! When we all finally figured out what it was, everyone started laughing - even Johnny! Then he headed right over to me and handed me the gift!

Like I said ~ it was a fun night!

Johnn realizing what his gift is all about!

Uncle Eddie modeling his new tshirt!

Billy modeling his new boxers!

Chester modeling his new boxers!

Uncle Bill ~ turning three shades of red!!!!!