A week with Mimi and Poppy

We got quite the break in July. First Mamaw and Papaw took the kids for a almost a week and then it was Mimi and Poppy's turn.

They did all kinds of things. They played with Brody and Cooper everyday I think. Brody and Ethan took a while to warm up to each other. I guess there were a lot of fighting and screaming over toys. Ethan really liked Cooper though and kept saying "Hi Ba-bay". They went to Youngs Dairy and got ice cream, they went to the Creation Museum and on the last day Belle got to go ride horses. An expensive hobby I'm not sure I want Belle getting into. =)

Video updates

Today is the second to last day for swim class. It was pretty much a "lets see if you can really swim" day. Belle spent a lot of time underwater, but she didn't seem to mind. (not sure why this video uploaded all crappy)




And can you handle this cuteness. Ethan is saying more words everyday. Although I imagine he might be like his sister and not really be able to speak well til almost 3. I remember worrying and worrying about her speech, but now you can't shut her up.


Notice how when Nic asks him to say "horse" and "cow", Ethan says "neigh" and "moo". Cannot get him to say horse or cow.

A few more things we've been up to

Belle has started swim lessons. She's done great. She now can go under water with no problem. She hasn't quite started swimming like the other two girls in her class, but she loves to try. Aside from a few behavior issues with her, she's having fun and doing great.





We had a houseguest for a week. The kids just loved having Maggie while her family was in Myrtle Beach. Belle is still telling me that she misses Maggie. I really wish the kids could have a dog that loved them back. But Sadie is just an old biddy that just wants left alone.

Sweaty weekend

Well first you'll notice my blog design. Its some crappy blogger template. I figured I'd change it so that it might spur me to get to redesigning. We'll see how long it lasts.

Its been crazy hot here. But last weekend we managed to go to the fair and the fair parade.

Here are the kids. Right when we got there.


And then it got sweaty. I've never sweated so much in my life. I had to come home and shower.


On Sunday we headed to the fair and the kids got to see the animals. Ethan got to ride his first ride by himself. Well he had to ride with his sister, but they enjoyed the "choo choo".


Ethan is not good about holding our hands but pretty good about holding sissy's hand.

The Belle show

Last week Belle kept asking me to video tape her dancing. And what is a show without special guests.

Special guest Olivia. Including Maggie chewing on Belle's giraffe. I just realized this after I uploaded the video. Err.


Special guest Titus.

4th of July weekend!

We were pretty busy over the fourth of July weekend.

The kids loved the fireworks. It was Belle's second time trying to watch fireworks. You may remember this post. The Eldridges came with us and we had a great time.


Titus was happy so long as he had popcorn.




Belle loved the light up bands so much she was pretty much a christmas tree.


And Jeremy was a sport and let Ethan feed him


We made it to the zoo the day before. Belle got to ride her first roller coaster and had a blast. Ethan could probably spend all day just looking at all the exhibits. The sharks were especially friendly and we got to pet several.









Here is Mr "I can do it myself" not letting me touch him while we rode the carousel.

Marriage

The subject of marriage came up during one of Nic's walks with the kids.

Belle was telling Nic that she wanted to marry Ethan. Nic informed her that she cannot marry her brother, thats just the way it is. So she asked if she could marry Audrey (a friend her age), Nic said no. She asked if she could marry Daniel (Audrey's brother), Nic said no. "So who am I going to marry?" she asked. Nic told her that she'd figure it out when she got a lot older. Then she said "Daddy, will you help me?" and Nic said "you better believe it!" Ha ha.

We also had a little conversation about heaven. She asked me in the car the other day if when she got old she could go live with Jesus, just like her pink fishy (that died). This was right after she said "uh mommy. I was thinking" " I don't want to grow up".

I love hearing about all the stuff in that girls head. She sure is growing up and starting to ask some good questions. =)

Summer Fun

Playing in the sprinkler




Playing in the pool with friends



And Ethan being Ethan


Such a male. He kept walking around with this sword between his legs. Typical.

Growing Butterflies

One of Mimi's presents was a Butterfly Garden for Belle. The kids really enjoyed watching the caterpillars and then their chrysalis. We then eventually were able to let real butterflies loose.

Happy 4th Birthday!!

I'm way behind on blogging it seems.

A couple weeks ago we took Belle on her annual birthday trip to Ohio. We always go to the Strawberry Festival parade because it falls on her birthday weekend. The kids loved it. This was Ethan's first year of really being able to participate. They loved catching candy and dancing to the bands. And Belle loved all the horses, of course.

Belle did an awesome job at the recital today. And we got it on tape!!. After the circle part you'll notice Belle and another girl are confused. Its because the teacher mixed them up on their positions at the beginning and then Belle tries to go to her old spot that she was supposed to be in. They just stand there for a bit and then eventually get into the groove again.

She even got her first ever trophy. She's so excited to have her "gold". ha ha

Recital

I have so many things to blog about, but thought I'd get this one in while it's on my mind.

We had Belle's rehearsal for her recital. I wish I had video to attach to this post, but I stinkin forgot to push record on the camcorder. So I held up that dumb thing thinking I was recording.

But anyways, it was a lot of fun seeing Belle up on stage. You could just tell that she loved being up on stage. Not a bit of nerves. She was eating it up. One little girl in her class was terrified though. The teacher carried her out and then asked for the girls mother to come up to the stage so that she knew her mom was there. That was no use, the little girl just cried. The teacher got them into position on the floor and Belle looked at the girl, winked and gave her a thumbs up. It was the cutest stinkin thing ever and I didn't get it on video. Errr.

The girls age from 3-5, so the actual routine was pretty rough. I think their routine is harder than the 8yr old ballet class, but anyways.

I admire Belle's confidence, it was fun to watch.

Preschool Celebration

Belle's preschool opted for a preschool celebration rather than a preschool program. They rented some inflatable slides and bouncers and let the kids have fun. Probably the best idea ever. Rather than make all the parents sit through a boring program, we got to wear our kids out before bed. =)

Belle had a blast. She met some of her friends and had a great time. Nic was the lucky one to chase Ethan around.





Belle and Kai going through the maze. This was the kid that mom loudly asked "is that a boy or a girl?" right in front of the BOY'S mother. ha ha.


Belle and her teacher Miss Trish


Belle and Sydney.


Belle and Adrienne. Adrienne isn't in Belle's class, but is in Belle's ballet class. Adrienne will be going to Pre K at FMCC next fall. Maybe they'll be in the same class.


Ethan even got to go down the slide a couple times.

All Boy!

Ethan is one active little boy. We've had many outfit changes because he's always in the mud.



He goes down the slide head first.



I usually just let him do it all. He's really coordinated for a 19 mos old and I've always been pretty confident when he's doing all this crazy stuff. I shouldn't be surprised that he ended up looking like this.



This evening he took a header off his trike. How you might ask? Well he usually hops on his bike at the top of the driveway and rides it like a maniac all the way down the drive and into the street (We're on a cul-de-sac). He's done this loads of times and never fell off, but tonight he hit the edge of the driveway and flipped over and ate concrete. Poor boy.

But then a couple hours later he was doing this. (Such short videos are not uploading well, stay tuned)



This boy is going to be the death of me.

While he's all boy, he sure can play dolls with the best of them.

He loves his sissy!

Ethan sure does love his sissy. The first word out of his mouth in the morning is "sissy?". He's been saying "sissy" so much that he's gotten pretty good at it. At first it sounded like "shishy"

Just now Ethan went to the kitchen and asked for a graham cracker and after I gave it to him, he kept standing there. He'd point to the box and say "sissy". Ah, so sweet, he wanted to make sure his sissy got a graham cracker too.

Thankfully Belle was nice and took the cracker and said thanks. Then when Ethan walked away brought it to me and said she didn't want it.

I'm glad those two are getting along, atleast for now.

Just postin

Belle got her ballet recital outfit yesterday. Its pretty cute. She's really excited to get up on stage and to wear makeup.



Maybe it's a boy thing or maybe it's an Ethan thing, but this kid LOVES dirt. Can't keep him out of the stuff. He's already ruined our one little garden and made us decide to not persue another one. We went through two outfits yesterday.