Fun at the Beach!!

This year, me, Mom, and Shanna took the kids to Orange Beach for a week of fun in the sun. It is the first time we have gone without the boys. Everyone had such a great time!


Anna Caitlin's favorite part was swimming at the pool. She is becoming such a good swimmer and loves the water.


Drew's favorite part was playing in the waves. He had NO fear of the ocean and would come up laughing from being knocked over in the waves.


Joshua's favorite part was the water hose (of course!) All three of my babies went through a summer at that age where they just wanted to play in the hose at the pool.


It was our first trip to Orange Beach and I loved it. The had some great restaurants! Our family favorite was LuLu's. They had a whole area where the kids got to play while we waited for a table. Joshua loved playing in the "Fountain For Youth" and Anna Caitlin and Drew played in the sand.

Anna Caitlin loves to play putt putt, so the highlight for her was the night we went to play. She was the only one in our family who did not quit :) Drew stopped playing after about the second hole, and Joshua liked to throw his ball instead of hit it with the club. I see a baseball player in our future, not a golfer ;)

All in all, it was a great trip. The weather was beautiful the whole week and the kids enjoyed spending time with their Grammie and their cousins. There is nothing like summertime!!

My sweet babies...

Growing up so fast...

Silly boy...

My sweet family (minus Daddy)...

Dinner with Grammie...

Dancing Diva

Anna Caitlin just finished her first year in Hip Hop and LOVED every minute of it! It has been so much fun to watch her learn all of her hip hop moves. She loves putting on performances at home and she LOVES for her daddy to dance with her. They actually dance alike :)

On Saturday, Anna Caitlin had her dance recital and she did a fantastic job! She has come so very far from her first ballet recital when we were not sure if she would even come out on the stage! She now loves to be in the spotlight and perform. Who would have ever guessed?

We are so proud of our dancing diva and cannot wait to watch her dance in the years to come. Next year, she is taking ballet, tap, and jazz and I know that she will do great!
It

Happy Mother's Day!!

Being a mommy is the absolute highlight of my life. I never knew how much I could love these sweet babies until I was blessed with being their mom. Each of them brings me such pure joy and happiness that I cannot imagine my life without them.

When they were babies, I spent countless hours rocking them to sleep, singing to them, and playing peek a boo. We read board books, watched Barney and the Wiggles, and napped together.

As they grew into toddlers, we played chase, we played on the swing, and we danced. We laughed during bath time and blew bubbles during the day.

Now, as they grow into little boys and girls, I am enjoying every minute of it. I have kissed scraped knees, helped them learn to ride a bike, and taught them to swim. I have cried on the first day of Kindergarten and rejoiced on the first day of summer. I anticipate Christmas even more than they do and love to plan their birthday parties.

I am so very thankful that God has blessed me with these angels and look forward to the years to come.

Goodbye School, Hello Summer!!

It is official! School is OUT for summer!! We are SO very excited at our house and are looking forward to a summer of sleeping in (at least mommy is!), staying in our pj's, playing at the pool, and going to the beach.

Before our summer began, we wrapped up our school year with some very special events. Anna Caitlin was part of Evening in the Garden which she loves. The school did such a cute program and Anna Caitlin was very excited about her dance with the party hat!




Dancing party hat...




The first graders celebrated the end of their year with Economics Day. They earned money for their good behavior and got to spend it at the Ford Mall. Anna Caitlin had a great time with her friends. She went to the salon to have her nails and hair done, danced with her friends at the Disco, and shopped at the Thrift Store. Such a fun day!

Fun at the disco...

My sweet Drewsey finished up his last year at Ms. Carol's house. It has been very bittersweet for me. I am so very thankful for the wonderful five years he spent with Ms. Carol who is without a doubt, the VERY best teacher in the whole world! She is an angel to our family and has loved my children unconditionally. And she has taught them so much. I am so sad that Drew is growing up so fast, and I love watching the sweet little boy he is growing into.

Drew has made so many wonderful friends at Ms. Carol's house. He loves the time he has spent with Tate, Chappy, Mariella, and Ella. Ms. Carol celebrated the 2011 Graduation of these sweet babies with a sleepover at her house. They had such a blast and made memories that will last forever!


As always, Ms. Carol held the annual Spring Festival to show us how much the children have learned throughout the school year. It is amazing! She is such a fabulous teacher and they have learned so much from her!

Drew wrapped up his baseball season with an end of the year party at Dairy Queen. He had such a good time with his buddies and loved having his daddy as his coach! We are so proud of our little Cubbie Bear!

So proud of his trophy...

To kick off the end of the school year, we had Macenzie and Abbie over to play in the sprinklers for some good backyard fun. There is nothing like watching the kids play in the water for the first time each summer. They had a blast!!

Pure joy on his face!

Sweet brothers...

Good times!

We are looking forward to a fun filled summer and will try to keep up on the blog. Happy summer!

Easter Weekend

Our Easter weekend started out a little bit chaotic. On Saturday night, when we were about to dye Easter eggs, Joshua took a bag of M&M's to Drew and asked him to open them. While I was turned the other direction, Drew opened the bag of M&M's for Joshua with a pair of scissors and took the corner of Joshua's left thumb off! Not cut or sliced, but GONE! I was in a pure panic and have never seen that much blood in my life. We wrapped it in a washcloth and headed to the ER. They asked if we had the piece of thumb...REALLY? He is a baby!! It is tiny!! We were treated by a female version of Doogie Howser who informed me, the hysterical mother, that his thumb may never look normal again, and that he may have to have a skin graft and plastic surgery. REALLY????

We got home from the ER with it wrapped in a bandage around 11:30. Jonathan and I then spent the next 2 hours cleaning because we had about 40 people coming to our house the next day for Easter lunch. (FYI...his thumb is going to recover fully and he does not have to have plastic surgery thanks to the wonderful doctors at Scottish Rite. No more Kennestone for us!)

The next morning, we got up bright and early to do Easter baskets before church. The kids got "Gigi God's Little Princess" and "Will God's Little Warrior." And as always, bubbles, bathing suits, and candy. They also got Resurrection eggs and I am looking forward to using those in the years to come!



After church, mine and Jonathan's family both came over for Easter lunch. The food was yummy and the company was great! The kids had a blast hunting Easter eggs and playing outside. We always enjoy spending quality time with our families!



Getting ready to hunt eggs...

Easter egg hunt...

Cute kiddos...