Splish, Splash!

Lily Kate and her buddy, Ethan, keeping an eye on their big brothers (yes, we have the same stroller)
Cole and Jackson

Ben and Cole taking a break

Holiday and Cole (Cole thinks Holiday is so super cool because she is 4)

Ben and Cole

First let me say that the new splash park is AWESOME (we have been about 3 times already and love it) but it is the hardest place to take pictures. There are kids running everywhere!!! What a difference a year makes! Last year Cole would have run the other way when he saw this place and this year he is all about it. We have not done anything outside in the past 2 weeks that isn't water related...it is too hot! This is a great place to stop by and cool off and have a bunch of fun with friends. I love the idea of it and Cole loves that he can have some freedom to run around and get wet without floaties and his mama watching every move he makes. On this particular day we met a group of friends which made it even more fun than usual! I look forward to many more hot summer days spent at the splash park ... and I really can't wait until next summer when Lily Kate is running around with the rest of the kids!

Happy Boy

"Blue jeans and trucks

Scrapes on his knees,

Running in the dirt

Being a tease.

Making a face

Build and destroy

There is nothing like

just being a boy!"

Lily Kate at 8 Months

Lily Kate turned 8 months old yesterday! I spent the entire day looking at her and thinking...how is this even possible? Lily is still the happiest and sweetest baby ever! We have been very blessed by her personality and how easy going she is. She still loves people but is starting to get a little (very little) upset when mommy leaves her with someone new. Lily Kate is IN TO EVERYTHING! I wish I had more pictures of her silly actions but she is so fast I hardly have time to chase her let alone get her picture. She army crawls as fast as can be and she recently has started pulling up on things...mainly us but on furniture as well. I love this stage and hate it as well because I look around and see all of the things she could bonk herself on. Lily had her first trip to the pool this past week and LOVED it! She was in the water for 2 hours and had a blast. She would kick her legs and splash her hands and laugh so much. It was the cutest thing ever! She continues to be a great sleeper and, as you can see, a great eater. I would say her favorite food right now is anything that involves fruit. She is, or would like to be, on a veggie strike right now so we have to creative in how she gets those. I have been trying to make more veggie/fruit combos and that seems to work-for now. She has started snacking on Puffs and Cheerios. She might get one of every 10 in her mouth but when she does she is thrilled! You can tell she thinks she is so big when she pops one of those in her mouth. We did end up starting her back on her Prevacid this month. She began spitting up and fussing at bedtime again. Poor girl - but the medicine is helping so we are thankful for that. Oh! Lily seems to be starting to try to wave and clap her hands. She cannot do it yet but when we clap in front of her she holds her hands and shakes them like she is trying to copy us. It is adorable and, in my opinion, brag worthy :). She is just so sweet and so darn cute...you cannot help but smile whenever you look at her. We are so very excited to see her learning so many new things but I wish she would slow down just a little bit.

Cole's Garden

If you know Rhonald and I very well at all you know that once Spring hits we love to spend time at stores like Home Depot looking for fun things to do in our yard. A few weeks ago when we were there we found a Cars 2 garden kit and knew we had to get it for Cole. Not only is he obsessed with anything Cars related but he also loves to garden. Rhonald's dad has a big garden and Cole loves to work in it and play in it. He would spend all day there if we would let him. Paw Paw told Cole that if we wanted him to he would come up next Spring and help us plant a garden of our own...Cole was thrilled! Anyway...we honestly never thought this garden would grow...ever. We let Cole have fun planting it and then tried to tell him how things like this don't always work, etc. Well, we were very wrong! His little garden has taken off! I will post a recent picture very soon so you can all see it. Cole is growing cucumbers, tomatoes and marigolds...he swears he will not eat any of it but he loves to grow it. Cole checks on his plants every morning and waters them too. He loves his little garden. It has actually been pretty fun to watch. We may just have to take Paw Paw up on his offer next summer...

Cole's End of the Year Program

Well, we have another year of Mother's Day Out under our belts! Mother's Day Out was a total success this year and I am, once again, so thankful for the time we have had there. Cole had 2 amazing teachers (Miss Merrily and Miss Lindsay). We all fell in love with them right away. It is so wonderful to know that as he is there he is being loved and taken care of so well. This past year Cole learned a lot - he learned to count to 25 and he can identify the numbers up to 10. He can identify about 1/3-1/2 of the alphabet. He learned a million bible stories and songs and gained so much more confidence. The year was packed full of games and art projects and learning to follow directions (Miss Merrily was very strict on that which I was so thankful for). Last week was his last week of school and, although I am thrilled to have him home all summer, it was a little sad. Rhonald thinks I am crazy for saying that but I was the girl who was always excited for summer but a little sad that school was letting out...weird I know. The last day they had the sweetest little program about the creation of the world. Cole's class sang 2 songs and then came to sit in the audience. It was funny though because he sang along to every other song the other kids' sang. Overall, it was an awesome year and I am really looking forward to next year. He will be in a 3 day a week class (mornings only) and it will be much more preschool based and his teacher was even a preschool teacher. She said they might even have homework which he is actually excited about!!! I hope that excitement continues throughout his whole life!

Cole's First Swimming Lessons

Ever since last summer I have been thinking about signing Cole up for swimming lessons. He loves the pool and I really thought he would love learning and gaining more confidence in the water. I enrolled him in a class at a local athletic club and have been so excited ever since. I feel like he is getting so big now that he is in swimming lessons! He had his first class yesterday evening and, I was right - he loved it! That was not the case for several of the kids. The class started with 8 kiddos and ended with 4. Some of them were just not ready and that is ok. It made the class smaller and, therefore, more fun for the "final 4." Cole is taking the class with his buddy, Ben, and it was fun watching them learn together. As a mom, it was a little nerve wracking because they are not aloud to wear any kind of floatation device, however, we were made to feel very comfortable when we saw how close they were watched by their teachers. Cole got to practice kicking in the water, blowing bubbles, floating on his back and "scooping" his arms. The class lasts for an hour but I think he would have stayed all night if he could. It was so funny. Every time the teacher would help him back to the edge of the pool he would look over and say, "Mom, did you see me? Did Lily Kate see me?" He was so very proud - as was I. I can't wait to see what he gets to learn today!

Sibling Fun

Cole loves to go and get Lily Kate up from her naps with me. He will walk in so quietly and then shout "Hi Lily!" She loves it. She smiles so big when she sees us come in. The other day I had a bunch of laundry to put away so I was just waiting for her to get up. Once we heard her talking we ran up to get her. Cole asked if he could get in her bed (which on that day he was calling the boat in the Sea of Galilee). What a great idea - and what a great time to get that laundry put away! I couldn't help but grab a few pictures of their tickle fight as I was finishing up. They have really started playing with each other a lot and they have so much fun. They stayed in her bed for a long time "wrestling" and "tickle fighting." The only problem is that ever since that day Lily's bed squeaks every time she moves...so all night we hear "squeak, squeak" on the monitor. I guess they had a little too much fun!