Summer Fun! (about to do some SERIOUS catching up!!)

We had such a fun summer together!  All 3 of my kiddos have summer birthdays and this year we rolled to 4, 6, and 8.  It is painful for me to even type that.  I love the ages they are at and if I could freeze them right here forever, I think I would!  Here are a few of our favorite activities from this summer.

This one was one Sunday afternoon and they were in the backyard and I looked out to see this!  Love it!

One day in July when it was too hot to do anything outside, we played with marshmallows and toothpicks!  Such a fun, creative activity!

 one of my favorite things we do each summer is go to a nearby peach farm and pick our own peaches.  Unfortunately, Abby was visiting her Mimi and Gramps this year when we went but the boys and I had a great time with our friends!

 Jacob and two of his buddies!

On the way home, my friend Summer and I decided to take our boys to a nearby park that has a rope swing and good ole fashioned water hole!  We had a picnic and let the kids swim!  They had a great time and Jacob especially wants to know when we can go back!



North Carolina June 2011

In June we headed out to NC to visit Jay's grandmother and attend his cousin's wedding!  We went through Knoxville on the way and spent the night with my grandparents. 

After we left Knoxville we drove into Raleigh to visit some of our favorite people and swim in their amazing neighborhood pool.  Of course I didn't get a picture of all of us together, but we sure did have a great time!

 The boys had so much fun on the waterslide- they loved waiting on each other to come down the slide and shooting each other with water guns!

We spent several days with Nanny.  She lives in a small town and life there is a much slower pace.  We explored her yard and found several bird nests.

Jay let Abby and Jacob practice shooting cans!  I must admit that I was surprised at what great aim Miss Abby has!

We did a lot of front porch swingin'

and some backyard swingin too...

The kids love being raced around in the wheelbarrow!

and Nathan passed several hours playing with Uncle Shaun's old tractor!  I am in love with this picture of him.

of course in my mad dash to get us all dressed and to the wedding on time I forgot my camera so I don't have a single picture of the wedding or all our extended family we got to visit!

Multicultural Program & Cinco de Mayo

In May the second graders at Abby's school put on a multi-cultural program!  It was so well done.  Each of the four second grade classes represented a different country- Africa, Mexico, China, and the United States.  They learned songs and dances that represented their Country and wore a hat if appropriate.

Here are all the second graders singing a welcome song

 Abby's class represented China- here she is singing

 the girls from Abby's class learned a dance and performed it!  Very cute!!  She also learned the Virginia Reel and the Mexican hat dance!

I have seen SO many cute ideas from blogs about praying for and learning about other countries

so we decided to have a Cinco de Mayo party!  I got cute decorations from the Dollar Tree and borrowed the sombreros from a friend.

 EVERYONE wore a sombrero- which was so funny!

 we ate Mexican food (with cheese dip of course!) 

after dinner we prayed for the country of Mexico (i looked up some specifics from Operation World) and then Abby taught us the Mexican Hat Dance which we all did (or attempted) together!

It was one of my favorite nights together!

Easter Fun!!

 Bear with me as a I try and play major catch up.  Trying to be caught up before school starts and I have A LOT to do!!

We stayed home for Easter this year and Jay's parents came and spent the weekend with us!  We had a great time together!

Dying some eggs

 isn't this such a great picture?  They were having a great time!

 Easter morning.. this was after church and lunch which is why we look a little disheveled!