Memorial Day Weekend

We went to the beach this past weekend for the Memorial Day. We had beautiful weather ( thankfully not all the rain that Charlotte had!) and we had a great time. We stayed outside most of the weekend, swimming in the pool, relaxing in the spa, playing on the beach and riding bikes.

Caleb and Kathryn wore themselves out swimming, even in the COLD pool water! I must say, Caleb is so spoiled with the spa that Papa keeps warm, that it takes a lot of coaxing to get him into the much cooler pool! Papa and Nana got a new slide for the pool, so once Caleb and Kathryn got used to the water, they had a blast on the slide! We stayed out in the spa on Sunday evening until after dark. The kids thought that was so cool!

On Sunday morning we all took a bike ride up to a park up the road. We rode a nice, shaded bike path and then crossed a bridge with alligators on all sides! Papa has taken Caleb on this bike ride many times now, so the alligators are old school to him. We continued the bike ride up to a little store in the park. It is Caleb's favorite store because he always gets to choose little treats when he is with Papa. This time he chose a glow in the dark alligator that has a squeeker in it. He has carried it around constantly since he got it and even has it in his bed with him tonight! Kathryn chose a little stuffed turtle for her treat. She is really into turtles now since Mimi found 2 of them the last time she was at our house!

We headed out to the beach on Monday morning and spent a few hours playing in the sand. Caleb loves jumping the waves now and playing in the sand. Kathryn on the other hand doesn't want to go near the water, nor get sandy. It is definitely an adventure taking them down to the beach!

We had a great weekend and will be heading back in a few weeks for the 4th with all of Russ' family. We are really looking forward to that.

Enjoy the pictures ~ there's a bunch!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Playing at Wee School

This past Tuesday was Bike Day at Caleb's preschool. He was so excited and couldn't wait to take his new bike and ride all over the parking lot. Donna and I were signed up to go and help

around noon, but when we got there, they had already gone inside. I was kind of bummed because I wanted to get some cute pictures of all of the kids on their bikes! Caleb's teachers said that they had been outside riding bikes for almost 2 hours and the kids had just gotten tired of it! We did get there in time to help with the Chick-fil-a lunch for all the kids in Caleb's class though. Kathryn got to eat at the big kid table and she loved it! She really thought she was something else playing with all the big kids. She cracks me up because she wants to be just like them. She obeyed everything that Caleb's teachers told the other children to do ~ she wants to be so big! After lunch we took Caleb's class on to the playground. Kathryn and Roy Austin loved playing with all the big kids. Sweet Caroline took Kathryn under her wing and showed her everything on the playground. Kathryn LOVED it! It is hard to believe that the school year is already just about over. Caleb has had wonderful teachers this year and he has enjoyed every minute of it!

Caleb with his best friend Caroline

Caleb with Ms. Nicole and Ms. Amy - his wonderful teachers!

Kathryn pushes her buddy Caroline on the tricycle

Check out her crazy staticky hair!

Tuxedo's Solo and a Dance

Caleb recieved a harmonica for Christmas. He loves to play it and he is actually pretty good at it! Everytime he plays it, our dog Tuxedo just howls right along. He is a very musical dog :)

Please ignore Caleb's attire ~ white collared shirt, no pants, hat and sunglasses! Thank goodness he doesn't care!

Tonight before bed time we were all playing in the den with the tv on in the background. A car commercial came on the tv. You may have seen it before ~ it has hamsters that are running on their wheels all up and down the road. Then a car drives up with 2 hamsters driving it listening to some pretty funky music. Caleb and Kathryn love this commercial and once they heard the music, they wanted to dance. Russ must have rewound the commercial at least 10 times so that they could keep dancing. They were so funny and Russ and I enjoyed dancing along too! I must say, our kids have some pretty good moves :)

A Little of This and a Little of That...

Mother's Day:

Last weekend for Mother's Day our family went to Greenville to celebrate. We had a relaxing weekend and we really enjoyed it. Russ got to play golf with my dad, the kids played outside for hours on end and I got to do some shopping with my mom. My mom cooked a big dinner on Sunday after church and we got to visit with my grandfather. Here are some pictures of our time.

Caleb practiced riding his new bike

Mimi bought Kathryn her own little tricycle. She rode on it and worked on the pedals, but she's still a little small for it, so she enjoyed riding the beep beep too:

Peek-a-boo!

Caleb's first attempt at climbing a tree (a little)

Our attempt at getting a good family picture failed, but we got decent pictures of our 2 blessings:Kathryn's wearing a sweet new dress that Mimi made for her. Thanks Mimi!

"Mother's Tea"

On Tuesday, Caleb's Preschool class hosted a Mother's Tea. It was very special and we got to eat yummy cupcakes and get some cute presents. Caleb made me a flowerpot with a pretty flower planted in it, a Mother's Day card with his hand print and he had also filled in some blanks about his mommy. He said that I was "3" years old and was "4 "foot tall. He loves for me to wear "a pretty tarheel blue dress" (which I don't have!!!) and he loves it when "mommy plays on the computer with me" (didn't know that!) along with some other really cute things. It is so fun to see what he says about me and it is a gift that I will keep forever.

Playdate with Friends

On Friday afternoon my friend Dina and her 2 boys Eli and Luke came over to play. Brad and Dina used to live accross the street from us, but they recently moved accross town. We miss them being accross the street from us, but we are glad that we still keep in touch. The kids play really well together, so it is always so much fun. We blew up our little pool and the kids played and played.

Eli chased Caleb with a bucket full of water:

and Caleb ran up the slide away from him - goggles and all!

Luke and Kathryn watched from the window of the clubhouse

None of us would be here...

if it weren't for our mom's!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

To Debra, my mom ~ What an incredible blessing you are in my life. I can't even express how much I love you and how much you mean to me. You have always been such a loving, caring, encouraging mother who has been there for me through every step of my life. You are my best friend and you are someone that I strive to be. You love the Lord, you love my dad, you love your children and you love your grandchildren. You are incredibly talented and you use your talents to bless others. You have given so much of yourself to us through all the years and I am so grateful. I thank the Lord every day for having you for my mom and I am so very thankful that you are Caleb and Kathryn's "MiMi." I am so glad that you are in my life. You really are the best and with all my heart, I can stand and call you "Blessed." We love you mom!

To Dinah ~ My mother-in-law: What an incredible blessing in our lives that you are! I am so grateful that you are my mother-in-law and I really couldn't ask for anyone better. You are always so giving of your time and energy and are always there when we need you. You have done a wonderful job raising your 3 boys and to that I am eternally thankful. I know that at times it must have been hard with 3 boys, but I am so grateful that you raised Russ to be the wonderful husband and father that he is today. I know that I owe that all to you and Ernie. He had great examples to follow in you . I am so thankful that you are my mother-in -law and that you are Caleb and Kathryn's "NaNa." You are the best! Thanks for all that you do. We love you!

Happy Mother's Day!

New Quilt

My mother has recently started to make quilts. She has an eye for choosing really cute coordinating fabrics and does a beautiful job on them. She made my grandmother a gorgeous quilt for Christmas that has all of the flowers in the Bible as well as the verse that it is mentioned in embroidered in the squares. It was very original and special. She made Russ and I a small quilt for the bottom of our bed out of blues and browns and we love it. Yesterday, she brought Caleb a new quilt that she made for him for his birthday. I absolutely LOVE it. She made it out of men's oxford shirts and she embroidered Caleb's name, birthday and a lot of the cute things that he has said over the past couple of years and memories they have. She will also be able to add cute phrases as he says them. It matches his room perfectly and it sits on the bottom of his bed now and works well for him to take his naps under. He loves it and was so excited that Mimi had made it just for him. I know he will have it forever! Now my mom is in the process of making one for Kathryn for her birthday. I can't wait to see how that one looks. Thanks so much mom!

Here he is about to take a nap under his new quilt

Some of the cute things that Caleb has said that are embroidered on the quilt are:

"That's how I show my love" ~ Someone once told him that he was a chatterbox. He replied with this phrase.

" The moon is broke" ~ when it was just a half moon outside

"Jesus is?" ~ when he couldn't figure out how Jesus could be everywhere

" Tea parties at Mimi's" ~ My mom loves to drink tea, so every time he is at Mimi's house he LOVES to have a tea party

" Can I have hot chocolate" ~ one of his favorite things to have when Mimi comes to our house

"Whose the Holy Speriment?" ~ when he got to go to big church one time and he wanted to understand who the Holy Spirit was

" I already learned to obey, Mimi" ~ he says this every time he sees Mimi