Lakehouse!!!!!

Ahhhh, it is that time of year again and we are so excited!!! Last weekend we spent a few days at the lakehouse and we couldn't have asked for more perfect weather. It was great and Shelby and JP had so much fun! We left on Saturday morning and got their right around lunch time. After nap our swimsuits were on and we spent the rest of the time there in them. Shelby and JP were like little waterbugs.

One of the best things about the lakehouse is how close it is. The ride up there is a breeze especially when coupled with the excitement of being in your bathing suit all day in the sun. JP is our little incognito superstar in training. He loves wearing sunglasses no matter what time of day or what kind of weather. This picture was taken after he finally got the sunglasses turned around and on properly. For about 20 minutes he had them on upside down and he was just chillin' with his glasses and raisins.

And of course, you can't take a picture of one and not the other so here is Shelby enjoying the ride. She was very excited to get to stay in her pajamas for the trip. I am not exactly sure why, but she really wanted to wear them up there.

Besides spending endless amount of time floating in the water, Shelby and JP really enjoyed playing with their fishing poles. Instead of hooks on the end they have these little plastic toys to help the line fly when you cast it and sink a little as you reel them in. Shelby got really good at casting by the end of the first day we were up there and I just got the biggest kick out of watching her "fish". Everytime she would stand one leg out to the side and her hip cocked like she was some sort of professional beauty queen fisherwoman.

JP on the other hand had a bit of a time trying to figure out how to push the button down and cast the line out. One thing I have to give him is that he never gave up the entire weekend. He would get frustrated and moody about the whole thing and anytime anyone tried to help him he would get really upset, but he never put that pole down.

One time Shelby threw out her line and Pratt put it in his mouth and let her reel him in like he was a fish. Shelby and JP laughed and laughed. They just loved it and then they started wanting to be caught. After a few times, JP put the line in his mouth and then got down in the water and started "swimming" as I reeled him in. It was one of the cutest things by far!!!

The whole weekend was wonderful! We had a great time swimming, having tea parties, fishing, washing the dog, tubing, and of course eating. All the way home Shelby asked if we could go back.

Boy in the Hood

One of JP's new favorite things to do is say, "Watch this!" which is followed by some amazing feet such as throwing a stuffed animal in the air or jumping or spinning around, etc. If you don't look immediately and then oooo and awwww over what he has done he will continue to get louder and louder in his requests to "watch this". A couple of days ago he came out of Shelby's room with his request and when I looked to see what he wanted to show me he was putting on a Clemson baseball cap backwards. Now this is cute for two main reasons....1-because he is my son and pretty much everything he does can be considered cute and 2-because it was Clemson related and anything that Shelby or JP do that is Clemson related is cute. Anyway, here are a few pictures of the hat. Isn't he so adorable!?!?!?!?!? I especially love all those little curls sticking out!!!

JP counting to 10 and a little beyond.

Happy Birthday Daddy...a couple of days late!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Memorial day! We sure did. The sun finally came out and it made for a much more joyous time as we remembered all the men and women who have served our country and protected our freedom. Shelby was particularly interest in it and everytime we saw an American flag or something with red, white, and blue on it she would ask about it. Her curiosity at this stage is almost unquenchable. It is amazing to watch her little face as she processes new information and hear her questions. Fourth of July will be another time to share with her all that people have done so that we can live in a country where we are free to worship God, go to school, get good health care, live where we want, etc.

Here is a picture of Pratt and JP with the fish he helped Pratt reel in. After we had a nice family dinner on Memorial Day we rode our bikes down the road to a great fishing spot on the lake across the street from our house. As soon as the hook hit the water Pratt caught a fish. We just laughed because that is the same thing that happened last time we took the kids fishing. What can I say....Pratt is an excellent fisherman!

We tried to get a picture of Shelby with the fish that she helped reel in, but she really wasn't interested in standing that close to the fish.

About a week and a half ago we celebrated Pratt's birthday!! Happy Birthday Daddy!!! We love you so much! It was a great night of family fun and Shelby loved asking her daddy how old he was. Now she just says, "I know how old daddy is. He is 31. I know how old mommy is. She is 30. I know how old JP is. He is 2." My mom gave me an awesome cake pan for Christmas and we have had so much fun making and eating yummy Clemson sweet treats! We got crazy with this one and dyed the cake batter orange for extra affect.



These last two pictures are of JP being a boy. Everyday I am more and more amazed at how he just attracts dirt. This boy loves to be messy!! Everything he does ends up messy and if it is something that I think I can keep a close eye on to keep him from getting messy he proves me wrong. This first picture is of him eating the Clemson cake with some chocolate ice cream. Surprisingly I think he ate more than he got on himself...I wonder if that means we gave him too much?!?!?!?! Chocolate is one of his favorite things. Shelby steers clear of most chocolate, in fact if given the option of chocolate or something else, she always chooses the other. JP on the other hand always has room for chocolate. They are pretty opposite in a lot of things now that I think about it. Shelby loves meat and JP pretty much sticks with fruits and veggies. Shelby hates having covers on her and JP won't let you hear the end of it if you put him in bed without covering him up, and then there is the chocolate thing....hummmm, interesting.....

Another great mess picture. Shelby is really into crafting right now and I just love it. Most of the time she is sitting at the table coloring, drawing, cutting, painting, beading, etc. This day I let them get the finger paints out and while Shelby made pretty little hand prints and finger print pictures, JP proceeded to paint himself and pretty much had one little smudge on his paper when we were all done. Look at how proud he is....now, tell me, who can resist those big brown eyes??????

One more thing...today I took Shelby to Island Gymnastics to sign up for her very first ever organized activity. We have been to several birthday parties there and her end of the year school party was there. She talks about that place a lot so we thought she might enjoy taking a gymnastics class, and boy was she excited. In the past when I have asked her if she wanted to do this or do that it was met with resistance and even panic, but when I told her that we were going to Island Gymnastics to sign up for a class she could hardly sit still she was so excited and then I got 20 questions from her in about 30 seconds. It was so nice to see her excited about something for a change. Now I hope that we can keep that excitement as we wait the week we have before the class starts.

Rain and Fish

I feel like it has been raining forever!! I think nearly everyday last week it rained. All this rain has forced us to discover new ways to have fun and I am quickly running out of ideas.

Last week was very busy for us. I am not sure why, but every once and a while we have weeks where there is something every night and most days; and last week was one of those. I think that Monday night was the only night we didn't have anything going on.

Thursday the rain started falling and as the kids were getting more and more stir crazy I opened the door and let them run. Don't worry, I made sure that it wasn't lightning or thundering before I sent them out. It is amazing how much fun it is for them to run around in the rain. For 30 minutes they ran up the driveway and down the driveway. That was it, no toys, no games, no entertainment coming from anything other than running in the rain, and the only reason they came in is because I made them since it was getting late. They would have stayed out there for hours. JP was so wet that his shorts started to fall off because his diaper soaked up so much water.

On Saturday I had decided because of the rain earlier in the week and the possibility of more rain that day that we would take a break from the pool and just hang. As we were taking it easy that morning I thought about running to Michael's to get some new craft supplies and then got the great idea that since Shelby was studying about water and fish at school that we should get some pet fish. When I asked Shelby and JP if they wanted to get a fish they became very excited and when I asked Shelby what she wanted to name the fish, her first response was God. After going through several name ideas, we settled on Owen and Allie.

At the pet store we decided on getting a beta fish and walked out with two, a new bowl, and some food. We got home, set up the bowl and after nap time we decided that everything was good so we put the fish in their new home. Right away Owen (the boy beta) decided that he was better off dead than to be our pet. As Pratt was trying to get him from the take home container to the bowl he jumped out of the net onto the counter and when Pratt tried to pick him up he flipped himself off the counter onto the floor. Thankfully he didn't die right then because Shelby was standing there watching the whole thing. We were also very excited that when we got home from church on Saturday night he was still alive and so far so good. Owen and Allie (the girl beta) seem to be doing pretty well and tolerating the kids tapping and talking. Shelby has even danced for them a little, the whole time saying, "Look Owen. Look Allie. Watch me dance."

The top picture is Owen and the bottom picture is Allie.

One thing that I found at Michael's are these window markers. Shelby and JP went to town on the windows when we got home. It is so much fun to see what comes out of their little imaginations. Shelby really likes to draw right now and she is getting better and better at it everyday. It is hard to say what her favorite thing to draw is, but I love that everytime she draws a person she gives them a belly button.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all my mommy friends!! I hope that your day was filled with lots of love and fun. Mine started out with Pratt getting up with the children, something that he does at least once a week and is always greatly appreciated by me as I love to sleep!! While I was peacefully resting the morning away Shelby, JP and Pratt were making some super yummy flower pancakes for me. They brought the food to me in bed, but Shelby insisted that I sit at the table. Here is a picture of their masterpiece. The colorful flowers were a gift from Shelby that she made at school and the yellow rose was fresh cute from our beautiful rose bush. Every house we have owned Pratt has planted roses. They always smell so good and brighten our house through the whole summer.

After breakfast we took a bike ride through the neighborhood and then headed to the pool at Hampton Lake. I really couldn't have asked for a more fun day. We had a lot of fun swimming at the pool and Shelby did really well at practicing her swimming and JP is gaining more confidence at the pool everytime. After we had lunch Shelby decided to jump in the deep end without her swimvest on. I think that she might have forgotten that we took it off to eat and thought that it was still on. While I was racing to save her she calmly swam back to the ladder. Thankfully John Ussery was standing close by and was able to jump in and grab her. She kind of had this look on her face like what is the big fuss? I had everything under control. I don't think it even dawned on her that she was in any danger.

My little brother turned 21 a couple of weeks ago so we celebrated with a family dinner once he got home from Clemson. Here is a sweet picture of Matt, Shelby and JP. Of course, Shelby and JP really didn't care about anything except getting a piece of that yummy cake! Happy Birthday Uncle Matt!! We love you!

And in closing, here is a video of Shelby saying the Pledge of Allegiance. Everytime we take video of her she talks in this high pitched voice. Sometimes she will forget and half through whatever she is saying she will stop and start all over again with her video voice.

Family Beach Trip

Today I think was a first for our family...I am pretty sure it was the first day that the whole family went to the beach together. There have been a few times over the years that I have taken Shelby and JP, but today was the first that we were all together and we had so much fun!!! It was a beautiful day for sun and sand and the kids had a great time. My usually shy Shelby took no time to warm up and went for the water without hesitation. JP, on the other hand, wouldn't go near it. I tried to get him to put his toes in, but he just stood back screaming at me to get out when I put my toes in. I guess the moving water and the noise of the waves un-nerved him a little. While Shelby spent a good bit of time jumping the waves as they rolled in, JP was happy to stay back at the chairs with daddy eating and digging.

When we were in California Shelby and Grammie spent some time combing the beach for seashells and she hasn't forgotten one bit the fun that she had; so one of the first things she did when we got to the beach today was to grab her bucket and head on her hunt for seashells. She and Pratt came back with a whole bucket full and I think they made it back to our house.



JP had so much fun getting all sandy. I never really can understand how kids can be happy as can be and covered in so much sand!! It was amazing all the sand that he accumulated on his body and he just kept on playing and playing. Of course when it came time to eat we had a little clean off time, but that didn't last long.

After Shelby and JP started to settle down a little bit from all the excitement I decided to lay down for a moment on the towel and watch them dig holes, hide treasure, and make castles. I was probably on the towel for about a minute and JP came running over and laid down next to me. It was so cute!!

Another fun adventure we had was chasing the seagulls. Oh, the simple things in life bring so much fun. Here are two videos of the seagull chases....the wind sounds worse than it really was. There was just enough breeze that we couldn't put up the umbrella, but not too much to where the sand was blowing and stinging your legs.

Shakespeare Festival

This week is Shakespeare's birthday and to honor the occasion Shelby's school had a little festival last night. It was one of the cutest things I have seen. All the 3s, 4s and 5s participated, each sweet child had a line to say from one of Shakespeare's plays and they sang three songs. Leading up to this I have to say that I really didn't think that Shelby would have ever gotten up there to say her line. From the day we got the little note from school that had her line on it she was very certain that she didn't even want to go to school on that day. She would say her line for us, but if we ever discussed anything further beyond that she would break down in tears and beg us to not take her to the Shakespeare Festival. Well, we made it and I am so proud that she joined in the program.

The first song they sang was a Happy Birthday song to Shakespeare, then two of the classes lined up and each little child walked across the stage, said their line, and then took a bow or curtsy. Some of the children really got into it and said their lines with gusto and made huge arm gestures and some spoke so softly and so quickly that you really had no idea what they said if they said anything at all. The second song they sang was some Italian song (I think). We got it on video, but I didn't record it on my camera. If you are ever around I will have Shelby sing it for you because it is something that really amazes me everytime she sings it. After that the other two classes lined up and followed the same protocol as before. They closed the performance with the first verse and course of a song by Taylor Swift.

Here is a picture that I got with my camera. Most of the children dressed up in Shakespeare type costumes and wore fun little hats. I knew that getting Shelby up on stage was going to be challenge enough so I didn't even try to convince her to dress up (I think she might be the only girl on earth who really doesn't like to dress up), but I did bring her fabulous little Clemson princess hat (thank you so much Erin!!!!) and she wore it the entire time. Don't you think she looks so cute?!?!?!?

By the way, her line was "Sweets to the sweet, farewell." and she said it very quietly and very quickly and curtsied as she was walking off the stage..