Let the Celebrating Begin

 David LOVES his birthday.  I mean he really loves it more than most people.  He wants to celebrate for weeks.  Clearly our friends know him well, because they kicked off his celebrating a week early with a birthday cookout last night.  Friday night we are having dinner with our family.  This weekend he is playing golf with some of his best buds.  And his b'day isn't until next TUESDAY.  Happy Birthday, David!  Let the celebrating begin!

 This little stinker loves the swing on our porch.  He even ate his sandwich on the swing after VBS :)

Henry is growing up so fast.  I can't believe in a month he'll be in kindergarten.  Wow.

Parties and More Parties

 Saturday night we invited our neighborhood over for a backyard party.  It turned out to be great fun, and we all kept our kids up way past their bedtimes because we didn't want it to end!  I should have taken more pictures, but it got dark quickly and I didn't have a strong enough flash to shoot anything.

 I have really been crafty lately.  I'm not sure why.  My latest adventure has been with my mother in law's cricut.  Do you like the P on our beverage tin??

On Sunday we had a big crowd for lunch after church to celebrate summer birthdays.  Of course, no matter whose birthday it actually is, my three kiddos are confident that help is needed when it comes to blowing out the candles!

BATMAN!!

David took the boys to meet Pierce and his mommy at the library Saturday for a Batman extravaganza.  They got capes and masks and got to meet all the Batman characters for pictures and autographs. Based on the pictures Ginger took, it looks like they had a blast!

Happy Birthday, Nana!

 Papa and Grace snuggled before dinner on Tuesday to celebrate Nana's birthday!  I intended to get a picture of the kids with Nana as well, but Grandmother had an unexpected accident that caused us to run out the door after dinner.  Please keep her in your prayers.  She has a tough road ahead and she recovers.

 Sunday night we went to a church dessert social at a friend's' house.  They have one of the biggest backyards I have ever seen, and it is FULL of fun stuff for kids to do.  The kids had a blast, and they were worn out when we got home!

Henry begged me to take this pic of him with his cars and post it!  He loves taking pictures with his cars :)

We've got a busy weekend ahead...more pics to follow I'm sure :)

Swimming Lesson Success!

Our pool offers a week of free swimming lessons for members each summer.  Henry had a blast adding to his swimming skills and getting ready for swim team next year.  He worked on treading water and other tougher skills that he is ready to master.  It was a great week, and they ended the week with some diving board fun!

Swimming Lessons & Such :)

 Henry had his buddy, Austin, over to play on Tuesday morning.  I did my very best to keep Grant & Grace entertained with all sorts of things (fingerpainting, baking cookies, etc.) so that the boys could play undisturbed!  They had a great time.

 Our pool offers free swimming lessons for one week each summer.  So this week Henry has swimming lessons every day.  He is learning to breathe from the side when swimming freestyle and also working on treading water.  It is hard to believe he'll be ready for swim team next summer!

Fireworks and Fishing!

 Saturday night we went to Mimi & Papa's for dinner, fishing, and to watch fireworks when it got dark.  Grant and Grace enjoyed the ducks the most, but Henry had the best evening of fishing he's had yet!  He caught almost ten, and a couple of them were pretty big!  Go Henry!

 Grace, Henry and Mimi went out on the paddle boat while we waited on the fireworks to start.  Honey came along for the ride too.

Grace fed a bunch of fruity cheerios to the ducks.  Of course, she ate a bunch herself too.  She had to taste test for the ducks, after all.

Spares, Strikes & Sprite!

I loved all the looks of excitement and accomplishment from the kids right after they bowled.  They were so proud of themselves even if they only knocked down a couple of pins.  They were even more excited when Dad made a surprise visit to the bowling alley to join us!

I let the kids have sprite while they waited their turn to bowl.  This worked great, since we don't keep sodas in the house at home.  Sprite is a great source of bribery :)

Cookouts and Kickball!

We had a wonderful holiday celebrating with friends and family.  For lunch, we had a big cookout with friends from church complete with a huge water slide bouncy and all sorts of fun toys.  For dinner, we had family over for a cookout and a game of kickball! 

Aunt Lindsey's creation for the kiddos :)

Fun With Friends

On Saturday one of Henry's best buddies, Elliott, came over to play.  These boys are two peas in a pod!  They had a great time.

On Friday night we helped Kanita throw a suprise party for her husband, Matt, who just finished his general surgical residency!  Congrats, Matt!!