Last week or so...plus another video!

Grace and I went to the Rascal Flats concert on Friday night. This was her second concert and her second time seeing RF. We had a blast!

Nothing like a blueberry and pineapple snowcone to brighten up those teeth.

Grace finished her t-ball league this week and received her first ever trophy. This turned out to be a bigger deal than we expected. Now Isaac wants a trophy.

A couple of weekends ago we went to one of our local parks on the water for a picnic.

Here is the neighborhood Brat Pack. We are missing Lauren but you get the idea.

Isaac and Evan love their heels. Don't we all.

Leah learned how to go "Pbbbt!" yesterday and is having a grand time showing off. She no doubt learned this from her big brother. By the way- no babies were injured making this film.

My first video post

Thanks to my new iPhone I can now download video to the blog. This is one of my all time favorite video clips- The second half of Isaac absolutely cracks me up.

Anyway, the story is this...We have a very long driveway and 3/4 of it is downward sloping- so we have lots of fun in both the summer and snow. Coupled with the fact that my children are fearless...well it makes for good videos.

BTW- if you don't have an iPhone you really need to get one. Nothing else even comes close. Sid has the best Blackberry on the market and he covets my iPhone.

June and HOT HOT HOT!

We are having a heat wave this week- today when we got in the car after playing at the indoor play area it said 100 degrees! Poor little Leah is battling the heat well...we just never take her outside. We did have some showers last weekend and the kids had a grand time cooling off in the rain!

Here Elizabeth and Grace enjoy dumping gutter water on each other's heads.

And of course Isaac is in on the action...in his underoos.

Isaac only wanted himself to pour water on his head- naturally.

And here we built some serious towers.

My girls in their jammies first thing in the morning.

I still remember the days when my hair looked like Grace's...now I pay good money and it is anything but close.

My sweet sweet baby.

June- Eating, biking, and swimming

Today was an answer to prayer- though it didn't appear to start that way. This morning the car was loaded up with towels and bathing suits to play in the fountains at the mall and a huge list for Target. We were meeting friends for lunch and didn't plan on being home until nap time. I loaded up the kids and went to start the car and no go. Dead battery. Grace actually started to cry she was so disappointed. I was too. Mostly because I am so sleep deprived that I worried that a day at home would push me over the edge and "nice" mommy would become "mean" mommy at the drop of a pin. So I prayed that God would give me the strength to handle the car issue as well as make sure the kids had a fun and loving day at home. So allow me to share. First, God provided the perfect backdrop of an 84 degree day and a nice breeze. My little Leah tried both green beans and sweet peas today. I think the picture below says it all. Needless to say she had apples for lunch. But other than her taste aversion to green veggies she just had a wonderful day. Slept great, happy, and played well all day. It always helps that Grace and Isaac love to entertain her too.


Next was Isaac. We spent lots of time together taking the car to the shop and throwing rocks in the pond. But while Leah was napping and Grace was at the neighbors we were in the backyard having a popsicle. He said, "Mommy, we can hurt Leah if we hit her. She will die." (He is really into the word "die" lately) I was a little concerned at this comment...so I waited. Then he said, "But we do not hurt Leah; we love Leah; I take care of Leah. God takes care of Leah and so does Jesus. I love you Mommy." This is the second man to melt my heart. Nothing brings more joy to a mother than hearing your children talk of God's love for them. I pray he will always know that love.

Finally my big girl. She has really turned a corner in the last couple of weeks. Her spoiled attitude is gone and it disappeared as soon as preschool ended...hmmmm. Anyway, when I tuck her in at night she loves to talk until 8:30- or until the big hand is on the 6. She picks the topic and tonight is was getting married. So we talked a little about cute boys and "love." She said kissing is gross unless you are married (phew!) and that Joseph (our neighbor) is the cutest boy and she is going to marry him. He is very cute and I would be thrilled for Grace to marry him though I think 4 and 7 is a little young to make that decision. We talked about the big party ie reception and the beautiful dress. It was our first real talk about boys and love and I felt privileged to be included. I hope I am always so trusted.

So onto the really BIG NEWS...Grace is training wheel free! About 3 weeks ago we took them off. She had been asking for weeks so we did it one evening and tried to help her- but she wanted no help. Took her about a week and a half of practice in the grass and she had the skill mastered. At the ripe old age of 4 she rides a two-wheeler and is quite proud. As she should be. Isaac loves to ride with his sister and made sure I took a picture of him too. Actually, his balance is tremendous- Sid and I think that he could ride with two wheels too- but he is convinced that he has to be 4 yrs old before he could even consider the idea. The big event for the weekend was Sid's big bike race...'TourdeCure' as seen on above jersey. He rode 103 miles on Saturday to Pinehurst and 81 miles home on Sunday. He was slightly worn out when he got home on Sunday. :-)

It was really hot- in the 90's- both days- so I was glad to see lots of rest stops and hydrating.

And so thankfully Nana came in for the weekend to help with my paparazzi.

We took the kids to the pool on Saturday and everyone was worn out. Not too worn out to make Margaritas, though.

Oh yes- this is my 4 month old who can sit up. Seriously. She is almost 4 1/2 months old and by next week I think she will be completely up- crazy baby.

Preschool Graduation

I will be the first to say that 'preschool graduation,' though very cute, is kind of ridiculous. I am convinced that Hallmark invented the occasion. I have also heard that kids who go to Pre-K (don't get me started on that) have a graduation too. And then some schools even do a Kindergarten graduation. So it is possible that kids who go to pre-K graduate from something 3 years in a row. At least we set the bar high.

Anyway, Nana and Aunt L came up from Albemarle for the big event. Aunt L also came to meet little Leah who was a crowd pleaser, as usual. Here is my little smiling chunk- being held...as always.

I love all of the little milestones. She is reaching out for everything and putting it right in her mouth.

Her Nana spoils her best of all.

Before the graduation there was a reception for the graduates and their guests. This is Grace's best friend Ryen. This was their 5th year together in preschool. They both started as infants.

Actually, all three girls, Hayden, Grace and Ryen have been together since they were in the infant class.



Grace with her adoring Nana and Aunt.

Here is Grace walking in for the program.

The class of 2010!

These are Grace's most precious teachers Ms Michelle (left) and Ms Katie (right). God truly blessed this class with the most loving and amazing teachers. I cannot say enough about both of these women. They clearly walk with the Lord and the Holy Spirit just radiates from them.

Grace and Hayden after they received their diplomas. These two have spent countless hours together over the last 4 1/2 years. Preschool, summer camps, playdates and beach trips- they have had some good times together.

Proud parents.

Colonial Williamsburg

On Saturday evening and Sunday we hung out in Colonial Williamsburg. We didn't see much of the historic side- mostly the shops, restaurants, and some animals. We saw a few people dressed in period clothing- but I think it was a little slow. The highlite was the horses. But before we left Isaac and Grace were playing with their jelly/rubbery/sticky hands that you can stretch and they will snap back or throw on the wall and they stick to the wall, etc. The kids were on the patio in the hotel room and we hear Grace ask Isaac, "Did that hurt?" 5 seconds later we hear a scream and Isaac starts crying. We go to check out the ruckus and sure enough, Isaac had a big welt on his tummy where apparently "it hurt" when the band snapped back this time. Kids.

We walked around for a while and saw some sheep with precious little lambs (Isaac loved them!) and then we headed for some beautiful horses. I had an apple in my bag so we cut it and showed the kids how to hold the apple so the horse wouldn't get their fingers. They loved it!

It took Daddy and Isaac a second to gather up their courage. But I was impressed- Isaac cannot stand dogs- but he loved those gigantic horses. Good call- I feel the same way.

Even little Leah got in on the action. She kept reaching out for the horses- but they thought her little fingers were food!

And so that was the end of our wonderful vacation. We drove straight home and have been trying to catch up all week. I am hoping to get Grace's graduation pictures up tomorrow.

Busch Gardens

We took our first big family vacation last weekend. We took a 3 1/2 drive north to Williamsburg, VA to spend a couple of days at Busch Gardens and Colonial Williamsburg. The trip could not have gone any better. The kids were great in the car. Isaac and Grace sat in the 3rd row and watched videos and then Isaac crashed for a good hour and a half. Leah and I sat in the second row which thrilled her that she could see mommy at all times. She slept most of the time too. Sid sat in the front by himself and drove. But I think he was okay with this as it limited his childcare responsibilities. We got to Williamsburg on Thursday afternoon. We had a two bedroom villa and it worked out great for our family. Sid and the big kids slept in one room. There was a king bed, a little window bed for Grace and Isaac slept in the pak-n-play. The first night the kids stayed up late talking but after that night there were no problems. Leah and I slept in the other bedroom. All in all we slept pretty well.

We went to Busch Gardens on Friday and Saturday and it was an absolute blast. The park is like a mini Disney World and is beautiful. Very clean and organized and so much to do. There were two water play areas for the kids. We didn't know about this so we didn't have bathing suits on the first day- but it was hot so we knew the kids would dry quickly.

One of the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales.

The big thing for kids is the Sesame Street park at BG. I was a little concerned about this since Isaac is scared to death of anyone dressed up. I was shocked he gave Ernie a hug. This was a one time thing however. For the rest of the trip he didn't get near anything or any one.

This is the Grover roller-coaster. This was the very first ride for the family. It was actually a pretty good roller coaster-

The only ride that Isaac didn't have to have Mommy or Daddy with him.

The roller coaster was so good that Grace didn't want to ride it alone and Daddy wasn't loving it. I love roller coasters so I was happy to fill in.

Isaac however was not happy to wait a turn for Mommy to come back around after riding first with Grace. We will show this photo at his wedding.

So I am bragging- but my daughter is beautiful and she does love Elmo!

Busch Gardens is divided into countries. Each area has appropriate architecture, food, etc. This ride was in Italy.

Beer bottles are cold and smooth- and no- she consumed no beer. I don't share my beer.

The bumper cars were hilarious. The kids got to drive them for about 20 minutes b/c there was no one in line behind them. The thrill on Isaac's face when he hit someone or got hit was pure delight.

On our second day at the park we were there for about 5 1/2 hours. On our way out we got the kids these huge lollipops. Isaac couldn't finish his before he was out cold. We transferred him from this rental stroller to our stroller, to the car and then to his bed in the hotel where he slept another hour and a half. I guess the little guy was completely worn out.