May I Have This Dance

I love my kids. They can be so cute.

After watching his sister get dressed up  Alex really wanted to wear "fancy clothes" too so I pulled out a suit I'd been saving for him for when he turned 8. That did the trick. Suddenly he felt and acted like the perfect little gentleman. He was holding doors open and dancing with his sisters. Both the girls were fighting over who got to dance with him so dad had to jump in and make things even.

Best Friends

Avery and Maycie

Ella and Addilyn

I can't get enough of this guy.

I really can't. Except, of course, when he's ornery and throwing a fit - which seems to be a lot lately. Is it too early for "terrible twos"? Or maybe just growing pains.

Just look at that adorable cake covered face.

Playing his favorite game with dad's hat.

"Where's Isaac?"

"There he is!"

Happy Birthday America!

We started the day with red, white and blueberry waffles.

I spray painted these patriotic shirts for the kids. 

To beat the heat we tried to go see a movie but it was sold out so we headed inside the mall for some cool play place fun. I used to take the kids to this mall play place all the time when they were younger. I had kind of forgotten about it, but it was fun to rediscover it with Isaac. He had a ball. Even the bigger kids enjoyed it.

That evening we headed over to the Smiths house for food and fireworks. The Abbotts were there too and Kristin, of course, went all out. She had red, white and blue themed everything. Treats galore. It was kid haven. Everything was so cute and festive and I'm sure she was preparing for weeks. 

Adam is explaining to the kids that they can have as much candy and drinks as they want and if anything runs out come and tell him so he can refill it. Like I said. Kid haven. He put on quite a show of fireworks that night complete with coordinating patriotic music. 

My little firecracker.

Happy 7th Birthday, Maycie!

Happy Birthday to my sweet Maycie.

Maycie is always the life of the party. She has a very developed sense of humor and loves to make people laugh, especially her baby brother, Isaac. She is my flower girl. She is always bringing me flowers - usually clovers or blossoms from the garden or anywhere she can find something that blooms. Maycie continues to love to draw and can stay occupied with paper and markers for hours. Her picture amaze me. She also LOVES her stuffed animals and can't seem to get enough. She has names for all of them and she treats them like family. Her favorite color is blue and her favorite food is blueberries.

Birthday breakfast in bed.

Maycie's request was blueberries (of course), sausage (her other favorite food) and chocolate milk.

Addilyn gave Maycie a couple of water frogs that she bought with her own money and Alex got her a stuffed animal.

Mom and dad gave Maycie a new, blue bike.

For her party we took Maycie and some friends to Zootastic which is a small scale very personalized zoo. Unfortunately my camera was dead so no picture of that. But we did another little celebration with the neighbor kids that night.

Bunny Rescue

Tis the season for bunnies. This is the time of year when baby rabbits are prevalent. This cute little cottontail was rescued by the kids when Tiger tried to have him for dinner. The poor little thing was only 2 weeks old and scared to death. For the first couple hours of captivity is squealed any time someone tried to hold it (I don't blame it). I let the kids observe it for a little while then asked them to release it where they found it. As soon as they did, Tiger and the neighbor cat started tracking it again. I could see that it's front paw was injured (probably from the first cat capture) and who knows what other injuries it had. Figuring it had a better survival rate as a pet I let the kids keep it in a box over night while I figured out what to do with it. After doing some research I learned that the survival rate of wild baby rabbits captured was very low. Especially when they've been caught first by the family pet. We tried to feed it and if it could have survived on love alone I know it would have made it. The kids adored it (and so did I). I'm sure it had some internal injuries that we couldn't see. Addilyn was devistated at first when it finally died the next day (she has a very soft heart) until I help to visualize how happy it must be in heaven. 

I Love This Age!

Between ages one and two is my very favorite age.

Nothing is cuter to me that a toddler exploring his world. Everything is new and exciting. Little personalities are well developed. Plus, they can't talk back yet and can be controlled on a certain level. New words and skills are being learned and sometimes even their tantrums can be cute. 

I love Isaac's little waddle.

Bananas are his favorite food which makes his nickname, "Monkey", all the more appropriate. Plus it rhymes with "chunky".

What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than perched atop dad's belly during his Sunday snooze while watching The Wiggles. 

Then coming in for some snuggles.

Oh, What Do You Do in the Summertime?

Built in friends are the best. From the moment I let them escape the house after chores the kids are scheming with the neighbor kids for what the day will hold. Remember those endless summer days where anything was possible.

Maycie and Avery taking a relaxing break from the outdoor heat.

Alex and his buddy, Noah, started a garage band. The band name started as "Man Pumps" (no idea where that came from) but as often happens with garage bands the name changed to "Blue Cups" (again, no idea).

They mostly practice in the garage (as garage band do) with Noah on guitar and Alex on drums and vocals with occassional back up guitar. Sometimes they give outdoor concerts in the back of Noah's dad's pickup truck. The name of their first single: "Do You Know the Muffin Man?"

One day, spurred on by Alex's quest to be Obi Wan Kanobi, the kids raided their closets and came up with these creative star wars costumes on their own. Alex: Obi Wan, Noah: Luke Skywalker, Addilyn: Princess Leah, Johnathan: Bobo Fett, Ella: Padme, Maycie and Avery: Padme's handmaidens. 

Last Day of School

My, how 180 days of school fly!

Both Addilyn and Maycie thrived in school this year. They were both well liked in their classes and performed way above grade level. I'm so proud of how hard they worked.

Maycie loved her Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Fite. 

We celebrated the last day of school with a party with the Smiths and Abbotts.

Kristin really went all out with the party food and decorations. Party planning is definitely one of her outlets. 

Memorial Day Fun

Ahhh! Memorial Day. It's like summer's welcoming party.

We started the weekend with our neighbor's , the McGoverns, giant water slide.

 Down they came...

 into a mass pile of arms and legs.

 I can't quite tell whose limb is whose.

 Maycie's bossom buddy, Avery.

 We finished the weekend by taking a family hike to Stone Mountain Falls.

Isaac enjoyed his ride. 

 The top of the falls.

The last part of the hike was hundreds of stairs. Unfortunately, what goes down must come up.

The kids with the falls in the background.

Isaac loved the water. He has NO fear when it comes to aquatic activity which can be a little scary for mom. Whether in the pool or lake he wants to take off on his own. I was clinging to his chubby little hands for (his) dear life.

He was not happy in the end when we finally pulled him from the water. Tho his diaper had absorbed about 5 pounds of water.

Like I said. What goes down must go up.

Addilyn took compassion on her tired brother and gave him a ride, and not just for a few steps. She would have made an excellent pioneer.

After stripping the baby of his soggy diaper and clothes we finished the hike with a picnic. It's amazing how good pb&j's and veggies taste after a long, wet hike.

And there's the dessert. Look at that face.