Baby Bookworms

I know these pictures are not very exciting but I had to document Lily Kate's first experience with Baby Bookworms, a program for babies at the library.  When Cole was a baby we made it to Baby Bookworms twice a week and he loved it so I knew I had to let Lily Kate give it a try.  She is around lots of other children because of Cole but we rarely do anything just for her age.  In true Lily fashion she was very shy when we got there but she really started to warm up to things by the end.  She really enjoyed the singing and dancing the most and actually stood up out of my lap to shake her bell around.  The babies are encouraged to roam around the room, dancing and exploring and Cole really tried hard to get her to do that but she would not leave my side.  I wasn't sure what she thought about it honestly but I promised myself we would try again one more time.  Well, the second time we went I did not have my camera but believe me when I say she was a completely different kid!  She was in the middle of everything - dancing and clapping and roaming around like an old pro.  It was so sweet to watch her enjoy something geared toward her...and to see her around other kiddos her age.  I am so glad that it turned out to be something she likes and we can do just for her.

A Rite Of Passage

 Seeing the players come on to the court

 Enjoying "game food"

 Cole wanted to video the Razorbacks "scoring a goal" with the new camera Grammy gave him for his birthday.

 Calling the Hogs!  Woo Pig Sooie!

 At halftime the football team received the Cotton Bowl trophy

Walking around campus after the game

One thing I learned very soon after moving to Arkansas to go to college is that the people here love the Razorbacks...no matter what.  Several years after living in Arkansas we moved to Fayetteville, home to the University of Arkansas and I learned even more what it means to love the Hogs!  I grew up in a smallish town in Michigan...we had lots of colleges there and everyone had their favorites.  Here....everyone loves this one team....a lot.  And living in a college town has proved to be very fun and very exciting.  You can't help but get into it.  Well, Rhonald has been thinking about taking Cole to a game since, well, he was born.  We really wanted him to be old enough to enjoy it.  After talking it over we decided it would be a great thing when he turned 4.  So, about 2 weeks after his 4th birthday we headed over the Bud Walton Arena to watch the Razorbacks take on the Michigan Wolverines (pretty funny huh?).  It was so much fun!  We had great seats and great company.  Cole was a tad overwhelmed at first...it was so loud and so crowded but he quickly warmed up to the idea and began cheering along with everyone else.  We wanted to make it super special so we let him try out lots of the different foods and boy was he in heaven with that!  By the end of the game he was asking Rhonald is we could come again soon and if we could go to a football game when they played again (he is a Southern boy for sure folks!).  It was truly the best experience for all of us....I could see Rhonald beaming with pride as our boy stood up to call the Hogs!  I'm sure it is something we will both remember for a long, long time.

Being A Boy

"One of the best things in the world to be is a boy; it requires no experience, but needs some practice to be a good one."

---Charles Dudley Warner

Cole's Party

This year we had Cole's birthday party at Jump Zone....aka the hardest place ever to take pictures!  Seriously, Rhonald and I tried to get pictures of all of the kids but quickly realized that was impossible as they all ran around the building and were zooming so quickly down slides.  All I can say is that I think everyone had a great time!  We were, once again, reminded of how blessed we are by the friends we have made here.  Cole had a total blast sharing this time with all of his buddies.  He has not stopped talking about it since.  



Wordless Wednesday

Bath Time Fun

Lily Kate is on the go all of the time.  She rarely sits still for more than 1 minute at a time.  Although she really loves taking a bath and playing she is almost always ready to get out after about 10 minutes.  As soon as she gets her pj's on she is off and running to the next activity.  This past weekend my parents were here for Cole's birthday.  We love having them - one thing I really appreciate is that it gives us special one on one time with each child...and then my parents get that with them too.  On this night Cole was enjoying dinner out with Grammy and Pops at Waffle House (they always go there together) and we had Lily at home.  For some reason, during her bath, she became fascinated with filling up cups and bowls from the faucet and pouring the water out.  My daughter played like this for 30 minutes and had a total blast!!!!  And so did we....if was so fun to play with her and watch her figure this faucet thing out.  Maybe she will turn in to a bath lover like her brother after all....I still have to force him to get out of the tub every night.  Either way it was so super fun having some bath time fun with our Lily girl.

Cole's Birthday

We love birthdays around our house!  The perfect reason to celebrate and have fun!  After we all woke up we let Cole open his gifts and then we ventured out to Krispy Kreme (Cole's choice) for a yummy breakfast!  The rest of the day we laid around and played and just enjoyed the day.  Cole is at such a fun age...able to do a lot of fun things.  Another thing about Cole...he is a great big brother.  Right now Lily is at the age where she really gets in to everything he has and demands a lot of attention from us.  She is constantly picking on him and he is so patient and loving.  Rhonald and I really wanted to have a fun night out with just Cole...to give him a break and remind him of how special he is.  Rhonald and I gave Cole a few choices of things we could do with just him and he was so excited.  Cole chose to hang out at Fastlane on his birthday night and we were so excited...any excuse to play video games and bowl is a good one.  We played and played and ate and played some more...until Cole looked like he was about to fall asleep walking around.  We ended the night with some books and cuddles and stories about the day Cole was born.  The day I had Cole my friend, Emily, took lots of pictures of everything and made us an album to remember the day.  We looked through it over and over and told Cole lots of stories of that special day 4 years ago.  I still cannot believe it....I feel like we just brought him home from the hospital yet so much has happened since then.  We are so blessed by this sweet boy and we had an absolute blast celebrating him on his big day!