Maddie's Cowgirl Birthday!

Cade's cousin, Maddie, celebrated her second birthday on Saturday with quite a shindig! She had a cowgirl themed party that included a bounce house, yummy food, a billy goat, and Cade's favorite: pony rides! We had a great time celebrating with Maddie. Cade likes to follow her and do whatever she does (you know, since she is older and cooler;). She liked the pony rides as much as Cade did. They each rode multiple times. Hope you had a Happy Second Birthday, Miss Maddie!

Party favor: a cowboy hat:)

In the bounce house with Maddie


Petting Peanut the Pony

Riding Peanut

Maddie's adorable cake

Lilly, the performing goat- ha!

Looking at the bunny

Helping Maddie open presents (she really loved her new dress up shoes)

Cowgirl Maddie on the pony

Happy Birthday Triplets!

Our friends Ian and Banica have officially survived a whole year with the triplets. It truly amazes me to see how much food, diapering, scheduling, bottles etc. goes into their daily lives with three babies. And I thought my hands were full with one! They are so sweet and Cade loves the "Trips," as he calls them. He can even call them by name now which is pretty funny: El Rhea (Elea Rhea), Campbell (pronounced very slowly:) and Ian Tom (Ian Thomas). We had a great time at their first birthday party (yes, we sang Happy Birthday three times!), and know we will share many more to come!

Crockett, party of five!
Campbell wasn't too sure about the hat
Eating their cupcakes
Campbell really dug into hers...
Cade shared his snacks with Elea Rhea

Puppy Love

Ready for the game in their UT jerseys

"Pet pet," as Cade says...

Tucker is over it:)

RCHS and UT football

This weekend was full of football for the Thorne family. On Friday night, we went to see Pa's team at Roane County High School beat their big rivals, the Rockwood Tigers. Cade loved the game, and we got to see many old friends from high school. Then on Saturday, Heath and I went to see the Vols win over UAB. It was honestly the hottest football game I have ever been too. We spent halftime watching the game on the TV in the corridor behind our seats. Luckily, the second half was not quite as bad, but we are hoping that it is a little cooler this week for the UT/FL game! With a later kickoff, though, at least we will be in the shade! Thanks Nana for keeping Cade during the game- I know you didn't mind:)!

Wearing his "custom" RCHS shirt. This was after the game, so it is a little wet

Cade loved running on the field with Miss Brylee Crouse

Ready for the UT game, Peyton style:)
Cade and Daddy

The Johnsons won tailgater of the game!
My favorite Vol (in the grey), Austin Rogers from Lipscomb. Maybe I was stalking him during the Vol walk...

Before we went in to melt at the game!

School Days!

Today marked Cade's first day of 'school.' It is actually a Mother's Day Out program at a church in town. Cade will be going every Monday and Thursday morning during the school year. We got a little warm up yesterday afternoon at the open house. We were able to come in and meet his teacher, Miss Angela, and get a copy of the September curriculum calendar. He also got his school shirt that all of the kids wore today. It was so cute! Both days, Cade has waltzed right in like he owns the place. Miss Angela commented that he is "very talkative." I cannot imagine where he gets that from:)! He got a good report sheet today- he ate most of his lunch and even took a nap on his mat (something I was pretty skeptical of considering his sleep history). His class also got to go on a ride outside in the "bye-bye buggy," which is a six seater stroller thing.

I am very excited for this new opportunity. It is a great thing for both of us (I got to go to yoga AND clean the house!), and I think that he is going to do great and make lots of new little friends!

Already too busy to pay attention to his Mama

Back of his school shirt

Ready to go with his lunchbox

***On a side note, HAPPY 35th ANNIVERSARY to Rick and Pam today!***

Hurricane Gustav

Our family vacation plans to head to Destin for the week were sidelined by Hurricane Gustav:(. I must admit, I felt sad and inconvenienced. Boy, was I in for a lesson on what it means to be inconvenienced. Saturday evening, we learned that our church was going to become a Red Cross shelter for hurricane evacuees from New Orleans- that night! Not long after, 130 people arrived. Now mind you, these were the people that you probably saw on the news. People who had no other way to get out. If many of us were forced to evacuate our homes, we would load up our family and some belongings, get into our cars and go. This was not an option for these people. They were loaded onto buses, taken to the airport, and flown into Smyrna, TN (and for quite a few, it would be their first ever plane flight). From there, they were bused to their shelter at College Hills. So who had the real inconvenience? I am pretty sure God was telling me that it was not me!

Both the Red Cross and our church family have been very receptive of these special guests and have tried to have all the basic supplies they need. Many different agencies and local restaurants have been sending over meals. I felt very blessed to be able to go tonight and help serve dinner. Even in the face of adversity, the people were so grateful and in pretty good spirits. When I asked one man how he was doing he said that he felt "blessed". No one is exactly sure right now how much longer they will be staying (although I heard someone mention tonight that it may be at least 2-3 more days), but if you are interested in helping out, I know that the following things were needed: diapers (all sizes), socks, underwear, men's clothes (especially basics like T-shirts), and baby wipes (always useful for many things). If you are interested in donating anything, you can just drop it by the church at 1401 Leeville Pike in Lebanon, or let me know and I will get it there!