Happy 4th of July!

My boys!

More VBC pictures

My BFF
My friend Sandra made this adorable decoration. She used all the names of the kids in the nursery during VBC to make a "Periodic Table of the Deliveries". It was so cute!

BIG FISH

My friend Adriane and I started a new VBC program for rising 5th & 6th graders this year. I have never had so much fun during the week of VBC as I had this past week! Most of the kids had a really good time, too, and we got many positive comments from our adult volunteers.The week's Bible points were:

-Jesus gives us the power to be thankful.

-Jesus gives us the power to help others.

-Jesus gives us the power to be brave.

-Jesus gives us the power to live forever.

-Jesus gives us the power to tell others about God.

On Monday each crew had to walk across the floor stepping only on paper plates. Each time they took a step, they had to say someone or something they were thankful for.

The BIG FISH made 40 blankets to donate to an organization called Project Linus.

The BIG FISH tested their bravery by running through a course while trying to avoid being hit with splash balls.

These are the items we collected so we could put together care packages for soldiers stationed overseas. We did some fun activities on Friday. This is donut-on-a-string - it's pretty self-explanatory.

One of our living sculptures.
Our final activity was an obstacle course. Each BIG FISH had a limitation assigned to them - they couldn't use their arms, their legs, their mouth, or their eyes. They had to help each other through the course, after putting on a bag of clothes (including a wig and a boa - it was pretty funny.)

Stringbean

Noah had his 18-month check-up today. Here are his stats:

-weight: 23 lbs., 6 oz - 15% (that's a jump from 7% at his year check-up)
-length: 33 1/2 inches - 85% (he has grown 5 inches in the past 6 months!)
-his little peanut head is still spot-on average

He DID NOT enjoy this visit to the doctor, and he screamed through the entire exam. The anger and indignation faded quickly, however; he was completely calm two minutes after we walked out of the room. He is built like me, and from what I understand, he acts like I did at this age. Aahhhh, the circle of life.

A wing and a prayer

For the past few months, this pink flamingo has been making his way among my and two of my neighbors' houses. He'll show up for birthday parties, or just because he needs to get some fresh air. Saturday morning he planted himself in our yard. The paper taped to him is a boarding pass for Barney Rubble - obviously Barney had a few too many the night before. Although no one has actually 'fessed up, I believe we have our Canadian neighbors across the street to thank for this yard art. Ahhh, foreigners can be so funny!

Bath boys

There's nothing better than the smell of clean babes!

Our trip to Greenville

We had a really good time in South Carolina. I haven't seen my sister and her kids in a year, and I couldn't believe how big they had gotten. My niece Hannah is almost as tall as I am, and she's beautiful. Luke had a great time playing with his cousins Ben and Ethan and even spent the night at Cari's house twice. We also celebrated my mom's birthday.

The luau princess
Hanging out with Aunt Cari
Four generations gathered to celebrate Mimi's birthday
The Wii is so much fun!!
Ahhhh . . . the joys of boys!

Word up!

While we were in Greenville last week, Noah's vocabulary tripled! When we left he was saying "Daddy" (very fitting that he said this for the first time right before Father's Day!) Now he also says "cracker", "cookie", and "thank you". He said "Mommy" once, but he won't say it again. I think he can say a lot more than he does; he's just making us wait for new words. I'm just so glad to know he can say actual words, not just "uh-oh" and "hi-yah".

Today

Noah is 18 months old today, and it's also the 5-year anniversary of the day we closed on our house in Texas. I can't believe it's been 5 years since we moved out here. I never thought I'd love living out here as much as I do. It's such a wonderful place to raise a family. If only we could pick Texas up and move it closer to South Carolina!

Traveling

The boys and I are headed to South Carolina tomorrow to visit my family. As of an hour ago, Luke was running a 102.4 temp - just in time to get on a plane and infect everyone else! Hopefully it's just a 24-hour bug and he'll be better tomorrow. Think of us tomorrow at 1:20 when I'm on the plane by myself with both boys!

And I ran

Noah had a little Flock of Seagulls going on yesterday after swimming.

What a card!

Noah has personality to spare! He waves "hi" to everyone - people in Kroger or Wal-Mart, cars that drive down our street, people walking their dogs. He also waves "bye-bye" and loves to blow kisses. His kiss sound used to be "mmm-aaah", but now it's a full-on kiss noise. He also loves to give kisses (complete with the "mmm-aaah" sound.) He likes to high-five, and recently Gary taught him to bump fists (commonly referred to by those in the know as giving "dap".) Once he starts giving dap or high-fives, he wants to include anyone close by.

When left to his own devices, you never know what you might discover . . . a bib and a book in the trashcan; a room redecorated with books, puzzles, and every diaper from his changing table; a TV remote that's lost for the better part of a day; the contents of a wallet scattered all over. He is a typical rambunctious, into-everything 17-month-old!

Snug as a bug in a rug

Notice he made sure these guys were covered with a blankie.
The cardinal must be keeping watch through the night.

Camping

Luke has wanted to go camping for a long time. Gary told him as soon as it stayed warm at night they'd go camping in the back yard. Last night was finally the night! They pitched a tent and we even made s'mores (which, as strange as it may sound, Luke didn't like.) It was pretty warm in the tent, and it took Luke a while to settle down, but they both slept out there all night. Needless to say, I slept in my bed. I'm so glad my boys have a Daddy who likes to do those kinds of things because Mommy is very attached to indoor living!

The end

The last day of preschool!

Luke's new bike

Luke desperately needed a bigger bike, so we used preschool graduation as an excuse to get him one. We were originally going to get it for him for his birthday, but that's still 2 months away, and he had completely outgrown his other bike. He's still getting used to this one since it's a good bit bigger, but as you can see he's already riding like the wind.

The Graduate

That's right, folks, my baby graduated from preschool Tuesday night. I used to think preschool graduations were pretty silly . . . that was until I had a child who participated in one. The whole thing was very cute. They marched in to the graduation song, then they sang 4 songs. After that they walked across the stage one at a time, said what they wanted to be when they grow up, and got their "diploma". Very, very cute. There were some funny aspirations as to what they'll be when they grow up, too: the president, a mommy, a daddy, a grandma, a princess, a fireman, a baseball player, a transformer, Iron Man, a vet, a dentist.

How far Luke has come - he's not the child who chose not to wear the cap and gown! The Sunshine Kids class of 2008
Luke said he wants to be a superhero.
The Frog class
Our beloved Ms. Mary and Ms. Lori

517 days

In that amount of time Noah has mastered:

-screaming . . . for joy, frustration, or for the sheer pleasure of hearing himself scream.
-the sign for "more" (which actually means "eat" to him).
-the sign for "please" which he often combines with "more" for the very clever sign language sentence, "more, please"!
-saying "uh-oh", "mmmm" (as is "mmmm, these crackers are yummy!") and "hi-yah" (as in "hi-yah, I'm going to karate chop you!")
-climbing. Need I say more?
-blowing kisses (sound included).
-giving kisses, especially to Mommy.
-waving hi and bye at anyone and everyone.

He's a hoot and brings much joy (and complete and total exhaustion) into our lives. Happy 17 month birthday, baby boy!

Happy mother's day!

"Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children are a reward from him." Psalm 127:3

Mother's tea

Today Luke's class had a mother's tea for all the mommies. It was so special! We waited in the hall, and they came out one by one with a rose for us and led us in to sit down. They made sweet gifts for us: a flower pot that was painted and decorated with beads; a canvas tote bag with flowers made from their thumb prints; a small treasure box they painted and decorated with jewels. They also did another fill-in-the-blank story about us that was quite hilarious. To top it off, they sang a sweet song to us (Luke sang every word and did all the motions.) I was so thankful to my friend Adriane for watching Noah so I could enjoy my time with Luke.

Each kiddo drew a picture of us and we had to guess which one was us. I got it right! Aren't I beautiful?

May 9

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Nana! Happy birthday to you!" I hope you have a wonderful day. I wish we could be there to celebrate with you, but we're looking forward to seeing you in a month. I love you!

Yum!

Cold treats on a warm day.

A big day

I registered Luke for kindergarten today. It's so hard for me to believe that he'll be in kindergarten this fall, and I must admit that I'm a little anxious about it. I'm sure most parents feel this way, especially when they're sending their first child to school. I imagine him being at school all day . . . in a class with 20 other kids, walking down the hall to the cafeteria, buying a school lunch from time to time, getting a report card. Wow! He's so ready to go to kindergarten, and the more we talk about it, the more excited he gets. He was disappointed that we couldn't walk around his new school today, and he's already looking forward to making so many new friends. While we were in the office registering, two of his friends walked by on their way to lunch, and he thought it was so cool to see Tanner and Jake. It seems that the transition is going to be harder for me than for him (as it should be.) This afternoon he spent some time writing so he could practice for kindergarten. Anyone who knows Luke knows he likes to be prepared, so it's no surprise that he's already thinking ahead to the fall. Maybe if I start practicing now, too, I'll be ready in the fall to let him go.

Daredevil

The title of this post speaks for itself.

Splash day

I think we'll be doing this all summer!