Sandbar Sundays are Back

One of the best things about summer in Bluffton is Sandbar Sundays!  Our whole family loves them and looks forward to spending time out on the water the whole winter and spring.  This past Sunday was the first Sunday we were able to get out there. 

Now, some of you may be wondering what exactly is "Sandbar Sunday"???  Every other Sunday when the tide is low during the late morning/early afternoon time frame there are two sandbars that pop up out of the May River.  People come from all over to hang out, swim, and enjoy the sun.  Our favorite spot is the upper sandbar.  It is a little bit more calm then the lower one and there tends to be less people.

Shelby and Daddy all smiles:)

JP and Daddy all geared up for fun in the sun



My little surfer dude

It was the most beautiful day!  The sun was shining and just when it was about to get too hot the clouds would roll in for a bit.  The water was surprisingly warm for this time of year.  Shelby and JP had tons of fun swimming with their new friends (people are so friendly and someone you may have never met before suddenly becomes your best friend at the sandbar).  We even found a live horseshoe crab!! 

The next available Sunday we will be out of town, but since Pratt has the weekends off now I see a lot of Sandbar Saturdays added to our list:)

Take Me Out To the Ball Game

The 2012 Tball season is in fully swing.  This year we are the Cubs and the boys and girls are just sooo adorable!  I mean, every single child on the team is a joy to be with.  They all listen attentively, are respectful, and are excited to be there.  It makes it so much fun and then to get to hang out with moms and dads that you know is just a cherry on top.  After last year we lost a few boys to coach pitch and I was slightly nervous about how things would shake out and now I find myself wondering how we are going to keep this group together.

JP has come along way since last year and loves being involved in almost every play.  Last year he was a little hesitant to get in front of the ball to stop in and this year he jumps right in. 

I am not sure what these two are talking about but I would like to think that JP is saying, "Hey, nice hit."  And then the other little boy is saying, "Thanks."  Maybe????



One of my favorite memories-I just love that Pratt is involved with the team.  We have the best coaches around.  All of them have put so much into these children.  Everything they do is filled with encouragement and genuine joy.  Thanks coaches and dads!!!

Throw it here.  I am ready

Good game Cubs!!!

We are already at the halfway point in the season.  It is hard to believe how fast the time has flown by!!

Breakfast Discussion

JP-Mom, can God see through things?
Mom-Yes JP, God knows all things and sees all things.
JP-But mom, can God see, like in a box?
Mom-Yes, remember what Mr. Doug talked about at church yesterday.  God can see everything.  He can see inside everything.  He even sees what's in your heart and knows the thoughts in your head.
JP-Yes, I know He can see my heart because He lives in my heart.  But can He see inside things?
Mom-Yes, JP.  God sees everything and knows everything.
JP-So there are like a thousand gods?
Mom-No JP.  There is one God.  The God we serve, the God of the Bible.
JP-Mom, what does God look like?
Mom-Well JP, no one really knows for sure because God is so perfect that....
JP-God is more perfect than our garden?
Mom-Yes, God is more perfect that our garden.

So funny to go through a thought process with a child.  Praise the Lord that JP is thinking through these things and asking questions.  I pray for him and Shelby as they discover and learn more and more about God's love for them.

Art Work

Art Work by JP Reed:

Our garden while it is raining

He drew the box that Pratt built, the yellow flowers are the squash and the red circles on the green thingy are the tomatoes, and the red circles in between are the strawberries.

Our House

I think this one is pretty self explanatory except for the yellow.  Not sure where he was going with this, but maybe he started to color the whole house but ran out of time.

Easter 2012

So for about a week I have been trying to upload Shelby's solo from Easter Sunday but have had no such success.  I don't know what is going on, but it just won't load so here I am finally sitting down to talk Easter.  We had a very busy Easter season as usual.  Starting with the Annual Church Egg Hunt the Saturday before Palm Sunday.  It was a gorgeous day and we were so glad to have our friends the Arnholts join us.  JP and Harrison are best buds.  They get into all sorts of trouble together:)  Actually, they are good boys and just love to do boy things.

The children sang in church on Palm Sunday.  They did their entrance of waving palm branches and sang a song.  As always, I cried...

The week leading up to Easter was busy and I can't tell you what we did or have any pictures to show for it, but we had fun.  Friday the children had off school as the beginning of Spring Break and we took full advantage of having no commitments.  Saturday we colored out Easter Eggs and then had a super fun glow in the dark egg hunt with our neighborhood friends!

The glow in the dark egg hunt was great fun!  All the moms stuffed tons of eggs with glow sticks and then we hid them in our backyard and the Albert's backyard.  After that we had to wait.  We thought that it would be dark enough around 7:45 but it was probably closer to 8:15 before we set the children loose.  They had so much fun and I just loved listening to them chattering and laughing!!!

Easter morning was so relaxing.  When the children got up we did our little egg hunt through the house.  This year the Easter bunny got smart and didn't give so much candy.  We had discussed on going to sunrise service on the beach as that is a favorite childhood memory of both Pratt and I, but due to the late night and the fact that we knew the day would be busy we decided to let the children sleep.  They only slept until 7, but that is later than 6:)

The children's choir sang again and Shelby, Brady and Caroline had little solos.  Can you say ADORABLE!?!?!?!?  It was so precious and I so wish that I could get that video uploaded:( 

Afterward we enjoyed Easter brunch at Hampton Lake with my family, Pratt's family, and our friends the Olsons.  It was a great day and following the trend started at Christmas, Shelby was able to be in the same general area as the Easter Bunny!!  Yipppeee, I love breakthroughs!  She still avoided him like the plague, but she was close enough to see him.  



We had a wonderful day with family and friends celebrating our Savior's resurrection!!!  He is risen!!!

Aesope's Adventures

Every year the elementary classes at May River Montessori put on an "opera" production.  They are more like musicals than operas, but I think the children feel more sophisticated to have it called an opera.  Anyway, this was Shelby's first year to be a part of the production and she was so excited!  I loved listening to her just randomly busting out in song through out the day and then saying some lines and telling me how funny so and so was when they said their line. 

Shelby played two parts in the opera.  Her first part was to say, "And the moral of the fable is...", after which another little girl would say the moral.  Her other part was an actual line in The Fable of The Boy Who Cried Wolf.

She was so much shorter than the other girl who said the morals that she had to sit on a stool.  She looked so grown up on the stage, but she also seemed so little at the same time sitting on her stool.

Getting ready to sing a song.  She hardly could keep attention through the whole thing.  Most of the time she was looking all around at her classmates and watching them rather than looking at the audience and doing the motions to the songs, but occasionally she would really like a song and get in the groove.



Daddy's girl...actually more like, "Mom, seriously!!!  No more pictures"  I can't blame her too much, I hate getting my picture taken too.



It was a super cute performance and I am really excited to see next years.  That night as I was tucking Shelby in and spending a few minutes cuddling with my ever growing and changing baby she said, "Mom, I think I am going to cry."  I said, "Why sweet pea?"  She said, "Because I am so sad my opera is over.  It was fun."

Hot Pink

As relayed from my mom while she was watching the children for me:

Shelby and JP were playing "builder" (can you tell we live in a real estate and builder community?).  JP was the builder and he was building a house for Shelby.  When he asked her what color she wanted the house to be she said she wanted hot pink; to which JP replied, "You mean sweaty pink?"

Got to love the difference between boys and girls:)