Kids Swimming!!

Here are the kids showcasing their budding swimming skills! Al and I are SO proud!! At the rate they are progressing, they should be able to pass the swim test by the end of the summer and go off the beloved slide!!

Happy Birthday, Al!

Poor Al had to work on his birthday- all day.... Thankfully the kids were worn out from spending a good hunk of the day at the pool, and took marathon naps, so they could stay up and celebrate with him!

Waiting for Daddy!!

Showing off the special gifts they selected for Daddy- Alden found a "special" rock by the pool, and Addie made him a bead book mark that she called a snake! Strange- yes. Heartfelt- yes!

My gift- a ceramic travel mug that Al had his eye on!!

Special birthday dinner- yum!

Helping Daddy with his candles!

We love you, Al! You are a fantastic father, a wonderful provider, always up for an adventure (and we have had our fair share!), and I look forward to celebrating many, many, more birthdays with you!

Preschool Pool Party

Addie has missed her school friends- a lot. She often asks me if it's Tuesday, or if we are close to a Thursday... So when one of her classmates threw an end-of-the-year pool party, I knew she would be ecstatic! It was the perfect day and everyone had a blast! We hope to make this a weekly event the kids- and Moms- had so much fun!!

We ended up with an extensive spread!!

The classmates!! There were more kids than this as just about all of them had 1 sibling with them!

Pool Fun!

The pool has been a blast and since the kids are really getting into it, I thought they might like goggles- I was right!!

Alden didn't want to wait for the pool!

All fogged up!

Ready to try them out....

Yup- they work!! And yes, Addie is swimming in this picture- way to go!!

Another day the kids had picked-up on the Snack Shack, so I allowed them to pick out 1 treat. Addie was THRILLED!

And well, Alden loves ANY food, so he was happy camper!

How were the popsicles??

Thumbs up all around!!

Just the beginning of many more pool posts and happy memories!!

Memorial Day Weekend!

We had a blast this Memorial Day Weekend- the pool opened AND good friends came into town to celebrate!!

On Saturday, we hit the pool twice- once when it opened at 11am and then again after naps.

This is how they started off the day at the pool...

Not so sure....

And 10 min later- they are off and swimming like little fish!!

Saturday evening, our friends the Woody's came- the girls all hit it right off! Addie and Kyla had "sleep overs" both Sat and Sun night- they did great, no chatting, just sleeping!!

Sunday morning, we all skipped church and had a huge breakfast at our house, and then the kids played outside. After that, the men went golfing and all the women and children hit the pool.

Picnic time at the pool!

A group shot- aren't we a good lookin' group?!?

Best Friends!!

This picture just exemplifies the kids- the girls are coloring and Alden is zooming by in the beloved red car!

Mikey was a HUGE hit with Addie and Hannah! He got on the floor and played with them- and they just adored him!!

Dinner Time!! The Big Kid Table!!

The Little Kids Table- these love LOVE each other!!

And as a surprise, Karen made him a cake and we all sang to him!!

It was fantastic to spend so much time with our friends!!

Wonder (Sleeping) Pets

Addie has recently become addicted to Wonder Pets- she can be heard singing "What's it gonna take? Team Work!" to Alden when trying to get him to do her bidding. Recently she earned a "treat" from Wal-Mart and she picked out these little Wonder Pets figurines. She loves them. She carries them to bed- or as I found this morning- she carried them to THEIR beds! I was told to whisper until they woke-up....

This is what I found this morning- Tuck (the turtle for you non Wonder Pets fans) on the left in the blue bed since he's the boy and he even has a pillow under his head and his own dresser. Next to him is Ming-Ming, a duck that has a speech impediment that drives me nuts, but Addie ADORES her. She, too, has a bed (pink because she's a girl), pillow and dresser. When I asked her why she was sleeping with Tuck, I was told that Tuck had had a bad dream and Ming-Ming had needed to help him feel safe.

In her own "wing" is Linny (who I always thought was a boy until just recently....). Once again, she's a girl so she has pink bed, her own pillow and dresser!

The entire scene.... Notice between the rooms she has 2 ottomans with a tray of food so they can have a snack when they wake-up.

I love how creative she is- and how her thoughtfulness is coming through in her imaginary play.

Dresses Galore!

Recently, Addie has become obessessed with dresses. Most days, that is what I'm greeted with in the morning, "Mommy, I would like to wear a dress, please!" And since she is growing like a weed these days, she was needing some new dresses, but I didn't want to buy her new dresses when she has bunches of short-shirt outfits that still would fit!

So....

I took these 3 shirts that I wish she would wear....

Added these pieces of material....

Together with my "helper" did some "magic" on my sewing machine....

And- wah-lah!! 1 Happy girl and 3 "new" dresses for only $3.14!!