This weekend, was supposed to be our family get away vacation. Jackie and I would be taking our dear son Desmond to the beach! He would enjoy some sand, and some water, life would be grand! Ok, so there was some holes in our plan.

1. Jackie forgot her bathing suit.
2. My swimming trunks would not stay on me.
3. The beach was in Atlanta?
4. Desmond had started teething again this weekend.

Ok so reason #4 was the kicker. How could we spend over $40 to try and force our child to have mandatory fun at a fake beach in the middle of Atlanta? So being as cheap as I am, ( I like to call it frugally creative, but people just call me cheap anyway, even to my face! you know who you are) I did the next best thing. Sucking up and pooling (no pun intended) all the resources of the Rutledge family household. I filled up two kiddy pools, threw in some balls (but not these balls as Benjamin might say. But actually yeah I did) and then turned on a sprinkler, bringing the beach to their front yard! You see, when you mix a little Irish in with a little GA redneck, you make for some good ole’ fashion fun times! Thank you Rutledge’s for making our summer beach vacation come true!

Ohh and if you cant tell from these pictures, Desmond LOVES water. Loves, Loves, Loves it!! So enjoy some splish splash photos from this weekend. Danny also had a blast, they interacted a lot more this weekend. That was fun to watch.

This weekend we got to spend some quality time at the Hyrutt in Atlanta, its a 5 star BedNBreakfast. That also serve a nice healthy batch of quality fun. Ohh and do not get me started on the bathroom products they offer, there are endless possibilities and combinations. I smelled glorious all weekend, and still do. I am speaking of the Rutledge’s of course in case you did not catch on. Thank you guys, we had a great time! Being as it is Memory Monday, Kelly gave me an idea for its post. She keeps saying how I must have looked like Desmond as a baby. So I dug up a photo that was similar in pose to another Desmond photo. So you be the judge, do we have a little Greg impersonator?

Here is a picture of Desmond and Danny, they were not really interested in any photos at the time, so I gave up on them looking to the camera.

In deep concentration for his next move, he is up next.

Swing Batter!

Emmett and the Fish have a moment.

Emmett and I both fought this monster! And we have the picture to prove it!

You are never to old for bubbles, I dont care who you are.

Thanks for a fun weekend Emmett, we got sunburnt like nards, had coke floats, drank ginger ale’’s ate some potatoe chip sandwiches and hot oreos while fishing, had some corn dogs, watched some movies, went to bed real late. I think we can mark this one off as “good times” indeed.

Last night the boys and I had some fun with the new camera. As you can also see from the photos, Aidan has not slowed down one bit with a broken arm.

The Easycheese leaked this story a few days ago….but I have pictures, paparazzi style :) So Aidan broke his arm, and looks to be sporting the new look very well. Hope it heals soon little buddy, I cant wait to sign it!

Today was a pretty intense work day. A yard sale, tree’s being cut down, and a fire of all fires that as of now 10:45pm is still burning strong. I am going to say it will be burning for another 24 hours. I would guess over a ton if not two tons of wood was burnt today, impressive. So that brings me to what I wanted to write about. I had some help today, Mr. C and Emmett both helped me a lot today in the yard, but there was a few things that really impressed me today with Emmett that I wanted to share.

1. His work ethic of hauling logs and following directions when placing them into the fire was excellent. A fire that big was not something you wanted to stand near, it was dangerous and hot, and he understood that from the get go. I did not have to tell him to get away from it or quit goofing off or poking it, ect….. he understood the seriousness of it and that showed a lot or maturity.

2. His manners today towards me were respectful, it was Yes Sir, No Sir, and Thank You Sir every time.

3. Right before he left for the day, he gave Papa and myself a hug, but today it was different, it was the hug from a child who meant it, he has hugged me before, but today it was different. It really stuck with me the rest of the day, it was sincere. It may be just me my emotions all heightened from having a boy of my own on the way, who knows. All I know is today I was very proud of my nephew and God Son. He is going to make an excellent role model for all the ones behind him that follow.

In following Kelly’s idea I let him take some pictures with my camera, I wanted to get some pictures of the fire as it was going. I am not use to being in front of the camera, always behind it. So when I was going through them tonight, I came across this one, and I think it has to be one of my favorite pictures of me. So thank you Emmett, for snapping this I love it.

I call this picture, Man O Fire!

This is Emmett’s Comic Book, I cant wait to find out what happens next!

So Little Benjamin wanted to join the “Knock Your Noggin Club” that Danny Bobby founded. A firetruck, ambulance ride and three large stitches later, he is an active member with the knot in head to prove it. Falling off the back of a sofa and having a piano to break your fall is not a fun time for anyone. I think he learned that much. He is doing great, and is home now, but I am sure he will have a headache for a few days. So it got me thinking, How many injuries have we had in this family? Lets see…..

One Broken Nose.
One Broken Arm X2.
Two Broken Backs.
One Cracked Head, almost Two after tonight.
One Broken Wrist.
One Broken Finger.
I am sure a Toe in there somewhere,
and a total of Twenty Butt Cracks!! Haha!!

The funny story I do want to share about this evening is, Jackie and I were just about to go over to the house of a friend from church, she was having game night. So we called to cancel because we needed to go help Danyelle with the kids, whats funny about that is, this was the 2nd time in a row we have canceled and have used the excuse of “our nephew has had a head injury and is on his way to the ER” I think she might be growing suspicious.

What is important is, as always we are here for each other, and little B is home safe with his family.

Today it is Emmetts turn to get a flash back view at himself. The reason you are green Emmett, is because the night vision is on, it was pitch black.

*Update* This video is a little longer, I added some bonus footage.

This is a flash back to the past, when Aidan was a wee little baby.

Please continue to keep Danny in your prayers over the coming weeks as he continues his healing process. The latest update is he is doing very well and is able to sit up with Mom and Dad in the bed and is stronger then ever. His Mom and Dad are doing very well and have shown tremendous strength and faith through this stressful time.