Happy 3rd Birthday Reed and Nolan!!

Today, August 30, 2010 is Reed Timothy and Nolan Porter McLure's 3rd birthday! We're so proud of how big and smart and cute the boys have gotten over these past three years, we decided to celebrate...in a BIG way!
We had a birthday party for them and invited everyone under the sun to come join and celebrate. And, everyone came! Thanks to all the family and friends, new and old, that helped make this such a successful day. We had a firetruck theme and even had a real Fireman with his real firetruck come to be the highlight of the party.

Uh-oh, better watch what you say or new recruit Fireman Todd will spray you down with the hose!

This was the crying face of Reed as we were just exploring the front of the truck. I didn't get Nolan's face, but he was crying and wailing as well. Who cries at their birthday party?!?! Oh well, I guess it was their party and they'll cry if they want to!

...Cry if they want to...

Hey! A picture of them NOT crying! But they do look cute in their fireman hats! Thanks, Nana!

Can you guess the hidden bum in the picture...the face of the bum-owner is not pictured therefore making it hard to see that it is actually a bum!

Say "CHEESE" you big 3-year-olds!!!

This is the AMAZING cake that mom's BFF, Chris Riley, made especially for the boys. She did such a wonderful job and the cake was out-of-this-world, as far as taste and decor goes. What talent! Thanks, Chris!! The worst part about it was, there was very little of it left to take home. I blame all the Goodloe kids! Hahaha, maybe just Dawn :o)

PapaDon Oct. 28, 1924-Aug. 29. 2010

Yesterday, Sunday August 29, 2010, we lost a dear father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and friend. We will all remember his stinky cigars, working like crazy in his old garden, his infectious laugh, and his unconditional love for the "empire" he and Nonnie created and called a family. We hope you rest in peace PapaDon and it won't be the same without you. We love you much and will miss you dearly.

Got Yogurt?

Boys weekend #2...success!

Well, the house is still standing, both boys have all 10 fingers and 10 toes accounted for, and the dogs look fed and rested after mommie was gone for 36 hours. Hooray, daddie!

Now ya see me...now ya don't

The Goodloe tooth fairy is about to go broke! Hope she knows where to find a money tree, and can show me the way to it!!

Weekend Getaway

Last weekend, Erika and I took a little girls trip up to Cashiers, NC. We stayed at a cabin in the woods far away from...

cell service!!! Seriously, we had NO service, no internet, no phone. What shall we do!?!? NOTHING!! It was really great relaxing without the phone ringing, texts dinging, and emails singing.


We went into "town" for lunch and ate at a little BBQ stand in a farmer's market. The disturbing thing is that they had a pet pig...just below where they were serving pulled pork sandwiches. Uh, is that not some kind of weird cannabalism?!? Poor Biscuit had to hang out in a 10x10 pen constantly smelling his buddies being served smoked, chopped, and smothered in bbq sauce and sitting atop the most delicious bun ever! Poor Biscuit=happy me! (for god's sake!!)

This is Pete, stuck in a crevass at Fool's Rock. This was ONE of our TWO major hikes we did in one stinkin' day...and by stinkin' I mean, I forgot my deoderant! Haha, we really outdid ourselves and were so completely tired by the end of the day.

This is Whitewater Falls, the highest waterfall in NC. The only reason we went here was because we tried to go to the Horsepasture Falls hike, and a friendly park ranger told us that particular hike was "full". Really, Ranger Rick? Just how is nature "full"?!?!? Well, since he was holstering a weapon of some lethal force, we decided to heed his advice and go to Whitewater falls. It turned out to be really pretty and we did a portion of the foothills hike that extends 85 miles through NC...maybe we did 1 mile, and it was enough to get us sweatin'!!

Big Boy bedroom

Finally, the boys have graduated from their cribs of bars to cribs suitable for an M.Tv show. Todd took them to Athens for the weekend a few weeks ago, and I poured all my heart, sweat, and tears into this 24 hour project...it felt like it took 24 weeks! Needless to say, they were super excited and continue to love their new room day after day.
This is the photo of them getting ready to go upstairs, they were so excited!!

It's a transportation themed room with car, airplane, and train stickers on the walls. The quilts were given to us by one of Todd's co-workers and couldn't have fit in better!

Cousins, cousins, everywhere!

Our neighborly cousins from Alabama decided to pay us a visit this week. We took the whole crew, minus a few husbands and grandparents, to the big baptist church playground and wore them out! They had a great time visiting Lily and Hayes and hope to go visit them in the future.

Goats (and twins) will eat anything!

We took the boys to feed the goats on Stroup Road and they loved it! Actually, I don't know who liked it better, the goats or the boys.

This was my favorite little guy! He kept getting pushed around when we were handing out the bread stash, so we had to make sure he got special attention. What a cutie goat pie!!!

Time to chop off the rat tails...finally :o)

Well, it's only been about 3 months since their last haircut...who has time to go more often! Ha, we're just glad they didn't get inducted into the redneck hall of fame with sleeveless shirts, skoal cans in their pockets, and fish hooks on their trucker baseball caps.