Wednesday, June 29, 2011

So Long Beach.....

Hello cruise! We left the beach around lunch time today and drove to Baton Rouge where we are spending the night with family. Matt, GiGi, and Aunt Lou should be here shortly and we head to New Orleans tomorrow for a four night cruise to Cozumel.

The beach trip this year was by far the best it's been post-kids. They are now old enough to really enjoy the beach and waves. The company helped out tremendously as well!! My kiddos loved hanging out with Cameron and Grant. We were all sad to see them go today but are looking forward to the second leg of our vacation. Look for updates!

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Jackpot!

Yesterday we had another good day at the beach! A small miracle occurred when both kids napped under the tent. Why I hadn't thought of doing this before has never occurred to me. Last night we went and took beach portraits, even though not everyone is here. It's hard to get all of my family together with work schedules and what not. We did not hire a photographer but got some good ones!

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Day 1: Da Beach!

There are 2 kinds of beach vacations: before kids/after kids. Totally different and never the same after kids! But today we had a milestone moment. We stayed on the beach or at the pool from 9:30 to 3.30 ish. That's huge for my kiddos and we're finally at the point where we all enjoyed our day today. My dad, who NEVER sets foot on the beach, enjoyed most of the day with us! Mainly due to the fact that Mandy brought her dad's large tailgating tent. And Landry Grace even took her nap under the tent. I even got to enjoy the sun for an hour from a beach chair....!!!! Our condo has a pretty neat pool area, complete with lazy river and waterslide that the kiddos are all taking advantage of. What a great day and hope I'm not jinxing the rest of our trip!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

The (Bad) Toothfairy

Tonight we thought Landry Grace was ready for the tooth fairy to come for her teeth(yes, I know this is primarily done when you loose a tooth). We got dressed and ready for bed. LG is super duper into wearing leotards and tutus. Like everyday for the past week....but I think it's pretty cute. Except Jake then wants to wear his Buzz Lightyear costume to bed as well, and that's just too hot. But we made due with his t-ball "jersey".
Back to story! Of course I have to take a picture. They were in Jake's bed as the plan was for TF to come to his room to leave "the stash". Of course Jake had generously planned to split whatever TF left...25 cents was going to be hard to split but I wasn't gonna argue since it was a well thought out plan;). Well, then reality started to set in.....

She started crying uncontrollably and was petrified that the TF would come to her room instead of Jake's....she even asked me if TF could smell the teeth, sending her to Jake's room instead of LG's. It only went downhill from here. She is so afraid of anything resembling a character. And then I couldn't resist:
She was in full tears at this point. I had to promise that I would call the tooth fairy and tell her not to come.
Thus we will not be having a visit from TF tonight. Love my baby girl.

Encouragement


Mrs. Loralu posted this on her blog and I just had to share this powerful song. It's so easy to get caught up in our everyday struggles but yet this video gives encouragement. God is always there, never changing and always offering his unconditional love. Thanks for sharing Mrs. Loralu! Love love love this.

Friday, June 17, 2011

VBS

My two cuties sporting their La Tech blue headed to VBS this morning. They had such a fun time this week!!

Swimming and Papaw

We finished up our 2 weeks of swim lessons last Friday and today we are finishing up VBS at our church. It seems as though we've had something going on everyday since school was out. Looking forward to a down week next week before heading out on our 11 day beach/cruise/ New Orleans zoo/ aquarium trip. I'm tired just thinking about it, but it will be a lot of fun!


Daddy surprised the kids last Friday by stopping by Mrs. Linda's house to see them swim their final lesson. They were thrilled! I love seeing how excited they get when Matt shows up unexpectedly.
Landry Grace swimming with her arms. They are now loving the pool!
Mrs. Linda and Jake....she's the best!
And last weekend Matt and I took the kids to Bossier to stay with GiGi while we went with Aunt Lou to Dallas to find a van for her. On the way to GiGi's house, we stopped by Papaw's grave. This was the first time we'd taken them to the cemetery since the headstone was put in place. LG had many questions. She is my inquisitive child. Jake just sat back and took it all in.

We sure do miss him!

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Lazy Summer

The lazy days of summer are upon us! My children are finally at the age where we can pack up and hit the pool, be fairly independent in the water, and not stress about missing nap times. It's been a long time coming. Just another reminder on how fast time flies by. Our recent days have been filled with swim lessons and the pool. No schedules, no worries. Have we had some meltdowns added in the mix? Surely!


This was 2 weekends ago, before swim lessons, when Landry Grace was content sitting on the pool deck. And enjoying her ice cream.
We had a recent outing to Pop's Blueberry Farm in Dubach. Jake had a ball picking them but still won't eat them. :(
One of our many trips to see Mrs. Linda for swim lessons.
And no pool outing is complete without our sweet friend Kennedy. This day was a turning point for LG. She is no longer interested in the baby pool. She loves jumping in and swimming to whom ever is closest.
We celebrated Caden's 4th birthday in style last weekend.

And no trip to the pool is complete without rice krispy treats!
Jake has become a pretty efficient swimmer and is showing me his most recent trick. This is the first summer that he's not been apprehensive in the water. Lessons have helped him tremendously plus his age.
During one of her many jumps off the side of the pool, she told me to move over. She could swim the entire length of the pool herself. Love her optimism....told her she might need some help. I've never seen anyone work as hard as she does to swim, but her poor feet just sink every time. She gets through the water pretty good regardless. She must have jumped in 50 times that night. Good memories in the making.
My heart.
Great thing about the pool....= great sleepers!!

Sunday, June 5, 2011

First Dance Recital

What a fun week it's been. We've been busy with swim lessons this past week plus dance recital practices. Last night Landry Grace made her dance recital debut and had a blast! All year she had not been thrilled about dance at all. She cried before most classes and my mom(who took her to class all year) was really good about talking her through the tears. After this week and her dance on the big stage, she is ready for next year. She definitely soaked up all the attention and I am just glad that she had F-U-N.

I laughed with one of the mom's in LG's class as we were definitely rookies this year. People take this recital pretty seriously. Landry Grace didn't know much of what was going on and was just happy about the snacks in her bag for backstage. I do have the video of the dance from dress rehearsal night and might post it later. It's a little long and I'm well aware that if it's not your child, it might not be that interesting. With that said, their Hawaiian rock dance was precious. It was a hula dance and so cute for their age group. Enjoy the pictures.


Backstage with Charleigh and Parker
This picture isn't the clearest, but you can tell she is having so much fun!
Dancing a jig during the Hawaiian Rock performance.
Again with a little tongue action. She was concentrating hard.

And after her performance we presented her with flowers. She was so sweet!
And I have to brag on Jake. He was pretty excited about seeing his little sister on stage and did great during the entire performance. This picture was taken at 9PM and he was hungry. Didn't want you to think he suffered all night long :).
With Big Mama and Big D
With GiGi
And last but not least, with good friend Bella Grace.
Have a great week!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Screamers

This is for Joanna!! Love all the screaming on day 1 of swim lessons. Fun stuff! Below is another video....

Wee Singers

Jake and Landry Grace's debut choir performance from last week. Thought this was so cute!