Family Pics by Jennifer Neely

Here are just a few of the pictures taken by our friend, Jennifer Neely, last week. She does a beautiful job!

My Little Fish, I Wish!

Henry completed his 8th and final swimming lesson tonight. He's really starting to like and look forward to his lessons. We decided he's ready to move from a group setting to a one on one setting. Uncle Michael & I are going to see if we can teach him. (I know we can, if he will listen to us!) If that doesn't work, we'll probably try private lessons. Swimming was a big part of my family growing up, and I just feel strongly that our kids should be strong swimmers. They don't have to be Olympians, but I want them to be confident around the water and capable of swimming well should they ever need or want to! I told David that I hope the kids enjoy learning to swim, but even if they don't, it is a survival skill and a must in this household. (David fully agrees! As parents we need this peace of mind!) Unlike so many other feats for Henry, he has been uncharacteristically timid about swimming. This presents a challenge. So we press on!! Three more years until he's a guppy on the swim team, so we have time!

Maury & Henry

We had a fun play date at the park with our friends Caroline, Olivia, Ella Grace, Lily, Maury & Carter!
Grant slept through the beginning of our park visit, but he woke up for lunch, of course!

This picture makes me laugh so much! We went to the gym yesterday before going to the park. It was the gym's birthday, and they had a party complete with balloons, cupcakes and party favors. Henry wore those silly glasses off and on all day!

Spaghetti Face!

We had spaghetti for dinner tonight. Can you tell?!? The kids inhale it, make the biggest mess you have ever seen, have to be stripped to their diapers at the table, and are immediately put in the tub. Oh, but it is so worth it. It makes them so happy to have spaghetti for dinner!

Playing in the backyard Sunday afternoon

Happy Birthday, Trey!

Henry had so much fun last night helping Trey celebrate his 3rd birthday at Premiere Gymnastics! Trey sits beside Henry at school, and they have become good buddies. After gymnastics, Batman came by for a visit before they had pizza and cake. Unfortunately, our camera battery died, so sweet Dad only got pictures of the beginning of the party. Henry said he had a great time, though!

Sometimes we do things more than twice!

As if tubes in Grace's and Grant's ears weren't enough, Grace went in for round two yesterday at Children's. They replaced her tubes and removed her adenoids too this time. We are hopeful this will do the trick for Gracie-poo (as Henry so affectionately calls her!) The pic above was taken on our phone about 7 on Thursday morning shortly before Grace went into surgery.

Oh--and another funny conversation with Henry that must make the blog book! (I'm sure many of you know that we print this blog to a book each year & save it as a family album to have these memories to share from now on.) So, here it goes & I apologize if you read this on FB already & it is old news to you!

Me: "Henry, say you are sorry to Uncle Michael."

Henry: "I can't."

Me: "Why not?"

Henry: "I lost all of my sorries."

Me: "Well you better find one of them right now."

Henry: "I can't. They all went to Disney World for lots of weeks!"

Oh, the joy of a three year old. This parenting stuff is not easy!

Play Date at the "Pool Park"

We had a play date today with our sweet friend, Brooks! I was having so much fun socializing with his mommy, Lauren, that I forgot to take any pictures of him once we got there. En route to the park, Henry informed me that he did not want to go to the park I had planned on us visiting. He wanted to go to the "pool park" (meaning the park by our community pool), so I turned around & that's where we went!

Words, Words, Words!!

We have three talking children at our house! Grant & Grace are saying the following words (that I can think of off the top of my head...there are probably more):

Mama, Dada, uh oh, Jake, dog, baby, thank you, please, up, down, more, this, that, no no (Grant yells this when attacked by Henry!), ball, ba (drink), eat, bye bye, cat, pig, ME (they both yell this when competing for anything with each other!), and Grace just started saying E-I-E-I-O. They love Old McDonald!

Below are two pics taken after eating dinner at Davenport's tonight!

Above: before church. Below: after church!

Soccer, Baseball & a Birthday

This pic is of Henry scoring his second goal of the game.

Friday night Henry had a soccer game, and he scored three goals (all for the right team, too!) The kids are really getting the hang of it, and they are having so much fun!

On Saturday morning we went to watch Konnor's baseball game. Konnor got a great hit while we were there!

Saturday we also helped our sweet friend, Olivia, celebrate her 3rd birthday! What a fun party!

3 Birthday Parties in 1 Weekend!

On Saturday night, we helped our sweet friend Lily celebrate her 3rd birthday at Pump it Up! Henry and Lily have been friends since they were born, and I just cannot believe all these kids are turning 3!! Here is a pic of Grace and Maury having fun at Lily's party! I only wish I had gotten a picture of the birthday girl, Lily. She was on the move though! I think everyone had a great time.

Henry, David & Grant had fun going down the big slides! Grant could not get enough of it, while Grace screamed on her first trip and kept her feet firmly planted on the ground for the remainder of the party!

On Saturday afternoon, Henry helped his friend Lindsey celebrate her birthday party at the church playground. Henry made a crown with his name on it and then they ate castle cake--a prince and princess themed party for sure!
On Sunday, David took Henry to the McWane Center to help Henry's friend, Elliott, celebrate his third birthday. Here is a pic David took w/ his phone!

The Purple Dinosaurs Made Their Debut!

Henry had his first "real" soccer game today. I believe I overheard the coach having them say "Go Purple Dinosaurs" before the game....so I'm guessing his team is the purple dinosaurs! They did not keep score, but as best I could tell they lost. Henry didn't know it. In fact, two of his three goals were for the other team! He just cheered and celebrated, and we did too! We had so many good laughs, and Henry thoroughly enjoyed himself. At the end of each quarter, Henry would say, "Can't we just keep playing?" He did not even want to stop for water! Mimi, Papa, Nana & Pawpaw all came to watch.

These pics were taken at home before heading to a birthday party. We have three birthday parties this weekend, so look for a birthday party post Sunday or Monday! :)