Beach Pictures

I always like to take the kids' pictures at the beach when we are on vacation. I wasn't able to do the twins... they were too tired at the end of the day... plus, Jamie had a cold and her eyes just looked pitiful most evenings... so we will hopefully get their pictures on the beach later this summer. Here are a couple of my favorites...

EMERALD ISLE VACATION!!!!

Our Family Vacation...

Was it finally here???? Is it really over???? We were able to spend our family vacation in Emerald Isle, NC again this year with our best friends from NC... Janet, David, Samantha, Brad, Wilkie, Matt... and all their kiddos! We miss all of you guys so much... it really isn't the same not having you guys around on a day to day basis. We are truly blessed to have each of you in our lives. We love vacationing with you all! Emerald Isle... one of my favorite places... we used to go when Jessica was a baby with my sister when she had a place there... now, we have been going with friends since Jaycie turned one! We love it! For the first part of the week, we had 9 kiddos... but on Thursday, Wilkie and Matt were able to join us... making 12 kiddos - 8 yrs old and under (3 boys, 9 girls)! It was FUN, CRAZY, LOUD, EXHAUSTING... MORE FUN... and we had a GREAT time (and now I am ready to catch up on some sleep)!

We got there late Sunday afternoon and had our annual "first walk" to the beach. The kids were so happy to see their friends. We were able to go out on the beach every day except one... which the men spent golfing, the ladies got pedicures, and then we all headed to Beaufort for dinner and a walk on the boardwalk. On the beach, Jacob spent most of his time playing in the sand with his trucks... Jamie LOVED to "Boogie Board"... we basically pulled her through the shallow water. Jaycie & Jessica spent all their time boogie boarding... Jessica, Madison, and Morgan could have done this 24/7. There were a couple of days where the current and winds were too strong... and we ended up heading to the tidal pools at the end of the island. They were deep enough the girls could jump off of sandbags. Jamie & Jacob loved the tidal pools, too... the shallow ones gave them a little more freedom! The dads also took the kids out on a boat ride in the Inter Coastal Waterway... everyone went to the water slide (except me and the twins... I'm not ready to take them, yet!)... & some of the kiddos went to play Putt-Putt. The weather was nice... we were run off the beach one afternoon by the threat of a thunderstorm. The girls also all did a play for us... this year, their theme was "High School Musical"... it was cute and they had a good time practicing and performing. Janet and David cooked their annual clam bake... delicious! We had a nice time and cannot wait to go back next year!!!!! Thanks for such an awesome vacation!

Our first night...

Front: Jaycie, Jamie, Jackson, & Jacob

Back: Caroline, Hannah, Madison, Morgan, & Jessica

Fun on the beach...

Three peas in a pod... Madison, Morgan, & Jessica

Every year, we do a "couch" picture with all of the kids... well... as you can see, the couch is now full and overflowing to the floor! I don't believe there will be any more planned additions... they are just all going to continue to grow... so we will see how it turns out in the future!

Floor: Jamie, Jacob F., & Jacob G.

Couch: Morgan, Madison, Jackson, Jessica, Mackenzie, Miley, Caroline, Hannah, & Jaycie

Happy 8th Birthday, Jessica!

It is really hard for me to believe Jessica is 8 yrs old! She seems so mature and grown up... I am really not sure I am ready for the years ahead! We are very proud of her... she is sweet, caring, loving, sensitive, tender hearted... and is truly a tremendous help to me with the twins. She will be starting 3rd grade in August!

The tissue box... we gave Jessica a big surprise for her birthday... and I couldn't quite figure out how to tell her what it was. A few days before her birthday, she read me a journal entry she had written the year before when we were still in NC and she and James went to the Spring Outing with their Indian Princess Tribe (which she terribly misses). She wrote about how much she loved camp... the only bad thing was that her nose was runny and she didn't have any tissues so she had to keep going to the bathroom to blow her nose. Well... there came my idea! We wrapped up a box of tissues for her to tell her... she gets to go to camp in July with her best friend, Madison. She misses Madison a lot since we moved... but we are fortunate that they still keep in touch via email and snail mail and that we still see them fairly often. Well... here was her reaction when she opened the box of tissues... what kid wants a box of tissues for their birthday?

And here is her reaction when we told her that the tissues are for camp so she won't have to spend so much time in the bathroom...

We also took her to dinner the night of her birthday (June 18th)... she chose Chili's. It was a really nice dinner b/c there was a breeze blowing and we got to eat outside. Here she is enjoying her milkshake with her very proud Mommy...

The weekend after her birthday, we had a sleepover with a couple of friends. Of course, she chose a Hannah Montana cake! She invited Allie (our neighbor and her classmate), Melanie (Allie's little sister and Jaycie's friend), and Annie (a wonderful new friend she met at church!). The girls had a great time... we had pizza & cake... danced around to the Jonas Brothers' CD, made glass window catchers (this takes more time than you think it will!)... and watched the premier of "Camp Rock" on the Disney Channel. Then... they all crashed in the living room!

Melanie, Annie, Jaycie, Jessica, & Allie

VBS!

WOW! What a week! We have all been busy at VBS... and I had the privilege to be the director this year! I will say that it was definitely worth all of the hard work and it has been a blessing in my life... especially after recently moving from a wonderful church in NC where I felt very connected. Now, I have had the pleasure of getting to know many of the children and parents at our new church! Our theme was "Power Lab"... it was a science lab theme. We had 138 kids attend! They had an awesome time! I was proud of all of the children at VBS for everything they did for the mission project... we collected coloring books, crayons, stickers, etc for a local center that treats abused and neglected children. We also had each crew make a fleece blanket we donated to the center... it was definitely a hands on project for the kids!

Father's Day

For Father's Day... we gave James an outdoor work lamp... just in time to start working on the fence ;) But... the girls had another surprise. They worked secretly upstairs all day... snuck down into our room and locked the door. When we were allowed in... this is what we found...

The girls made over 100 pictures for our room... they said we had new "wallpaper"! It was adorable and they put a lot of time into it. Shortly afterwards... we took them off the wall and put them in Daddy's bedside table drawer to be kept forever... their favorites we hung inside his closet door so he could see them every morning. This is Jessica's favorite... it is hard to tell from the picture, but this horse is made with hearts... from the mane, to the sunshine, to it's hooves...

Frogs...

Much to Jessica's happiness, we have many frogs that live around our house (and a few lizards!). We have a fat little frog that likes to burrow in the sand box. We have caught her a few times and we will put her in the kiddie pool to "keep" her for awhile.

We also have 2 more that live around the garage... Jessica has named those "Kermit" and "Spotty". They sometimes get in the garage and Jessica will set them free again (they are always in the same corner.) Kermit will actually let Jessica hold him for awhile... he also "ribbits" for her and he has let James scratch under his chin. Go figure... he acts more like a pet dog than a frog. As for the lizards, we have 2 that live in the bushes outside of our kitchen window. The male comes out EVERY day and sits on the gutter downspout. Jessica named him "Eyesie" - not sure why? Anyway, even the twins look for him at lunch time now. He has gotten in the screened porch several times... again... we MUST catch & release... Jessica definitely has a big heart for all animals (we won't even go into the fact that Jessica is upset we are putting up a fence... it will keep out the wild rabbits that visit in the early mornings and evenings). Here the girls are trying to "play" with the lizard after we caught him on the porch... he only tolerated it for a minute or so.

Jessica finishes 2nd grade!

Jessica's last day of 2nd grade was yesterday! Her class has been having parties all week, and I went in on the last day to help them celebrate and enjoy their "Beach Blast" day. Jessica has adapted amazingly well to her new school and friends, especially since moving in the middle of the year. Jessica loves her teacher, Ms. Stroud and wants to try to talk her into teaching 3rd grade next year. Last week, I went to the 2nd grade awards ceremony. Jessica made the honor roll all year, got rewards for mastering all of her math facts, and received an award for having the hightest reading average in her class! She also received the Citizenship Award! This award is given to one student in each class at the end of the year for being an example to others, good behavior, and achievements in academics! We are VERY proud of her!! Wow!

Kinsley (Kins-Kins), Jessica (Jessica Horse), Claire (Claire Bear), & Allie (Allie Cat)

Jessica & Ms. Stroud

Playdates...

We were invited to our neighbor's house for some backyard fun and a cook-out! All of the kids LOVE Hunter, our 4 year old neighbor (he is such a cutie pie). Jacob is glad to have a boy to hang out with. When they play together... all you hear coming from the playroom are car & truck noises. Jaycie also LOVES Hunter. We are fortunate to have such wonderful neighbors! We had a nice time!

Skittle...

Okay, Jamie officially has a new nickname... "Skittle!" The awesome news is that she is potty trained (she even made it through our zoo trip without any accidents)! We have been rewarding her with skittles for going potty... and she LOVES them. Initially, she would go just a tiny bit, jump up and announce that she wants a "kittle!" Well, since we were so new into the potty training stage, of course we had to reward her for even the smallest amount! Now, she goes a reasonable amount... but she can still work the skittle system. She is very particular about the color skittle she gets (and she has to choose from the jar herself). She has eaten all of the orange skittles (I guess this was her favorite)... now she is almost done with the purple. Wonder what color she will choose next?

You may be wondering about Jacob... so far, he really has not shown any interest. At first, he was determined to distract Jamie, now he has given up and mostly ignores her... and all of our cheering. So much for positive peer pressure this time around...

Sorry, no pictures to post for this event ;)

Lions, Tigers, and Bears... Oh My

Nana and Papaw came to visit this past weekend and we made a trip to the zoo! Since it was so hot, most of the animals were just lying around (and the giraffes were not eating their treats the kids offered). The kids loved the monkeys, the meerkats, & the alligator (Jacob's favorite). They also got a kick out of watching the elephants throw mud up on their backs. Of course, they all loved the carousel, which we rode twice!

James & the kids with Nana & Papaw...

A family photo...