Makin' a Splash!!!

Yesterday, I took the kids swimming up at the YMCA indoor swimming pool. We met my sweet friend Meghan, and her three kiddos there too. Now, I'll be honest, I was really apprehensive about taking the kids to the pool. -- I also didn't know how ready I was to wear a bathing suit this early in the season either!--Oh well, I guess that's another story;) Anyway, having two toddlers (Sophie and Hudson) playing around the water makes me extremely nervous. My sweet sister, Al, agreed to come along and help me with the babies. I had never been to this particular Y's indoor pool before, but per Meghan's recommendation, we decide to give it a try.

It was perfect for my little ones!! It had a zero entry pool, complete with pool-side johnny-jump-ups for even the littlest swimmers to enjoy.

Hudson loved sittin' in the jumpers.

And oh.my.goodness... Miss Sophie was a total water bug.
She enjoyed EVERY minute in that pool!!!!!!

Riley too, was such a little fish. I think he spent more time under the water than above.
I was so...proud of him!

Emerson--Meghan's youngest--
LOVE her ruffle suit!

We will be spending LOTS of time at our neighborhood pool this summer, so it's great to know I've got three little swimmers ready to go!!!
And until our pool opens, we will be spending lots of time practicing at the Y!!

Weekend Highlights

What a weekend! It all began on Friday when we got to spend the day with Riley's best buddy, Rhett. Rhett's mom, my friend Jessica, and his dad had an adoption seminar to attend, so Rhett got to hang out with our gang for the day.
These two boys had a BLAST together and were so...silly!

They built a tent in the playroom. Of course, they insisted on eating their snack inside their little fort.
Riley so enjoys having play dates with friends. He misses Corban when he's at school, so it's nice for Ri to have a great friend here to play with all day!

Friday was also Corban's poetry celebration at school. Corban was SO... nervous about reading his poem in front of all his classmates.

He did a great job though, and I was SO...proud of him.

Corban and his best buddy Knox.
(In honor of our Charlotte Bobcats making it to the play-offs, Corban's classmates got to wear Bobcats colors/attire to school on Friday!)

And speaking of the Bobcats...Corban and Shane got to go to the game on Saturday afternoon. Corban's friend Knox and his dad went too. They were so...excited and couldn't wait to cheer on their team!!! Unfortunately, they came up short and lost, but it was a GREAT game.

Sunday was church day for our family.

And Sunday evening my little group of Wee Praisers sang in front of the congregation at church. I adore my little preschool choir.

So... that's just a peak at what our weekend consisted of.
Happy Monday Everyone!

Celebrations and a Squirrel

So, we have been staying quite busy lately. Most of the things that fill our calendar though, are beginning to come to an end. One of those things was my Tuesday morning Bible study. Tuesday was our last meeting. It was definitely bittersweet having to say goodbye to this great group of ladies. Most of the women, I'll continue to pass in the halls of church, but I'll miss our weekly chats, encouragement, and special time of prayer together. I'm already looking forward to the study starting back up in the fall. Since Tuesday was our last meeting, we enjoyed a yummy brunch and all our kids performed a few special songs for us. Riley was SO..........EXCITED to sing!!!

The kids were adorable. Riley has really enjoyed being part of the study this year. He adores his teacher and looks forward to seeing her each week. Sophie on the other hand HATES Tuesday mornings. She absolutely hates going to the nursery. She starts crying when we pull into the church parking lot!!! For most of the year, I was able to leave her at home with my sister, but a few weeks ago, Al started working on Tuesdays, so Sophie had to go with me to church. I'm not sure who I felt sorry for more...Sophie or the sweet workers who take such good care of her. Yes...Sophie unfortunately is THAT child in the nursery.

Bless her heart. She is just a mama's girl...what can I say. This past Tuesday, they had to come get me. They just couldn't get her to stop crying. Poor baby. I know she's glad Tuesdays are over for a while!!!

On Wednesday, we headed to the park for a picnic and some playtime. While we were eating our lunch a little critter decided he wanted to join us. Seriously, I have NEVER in my life seen a more persistent squirrel.

(Yes...he's eating a goldfish!)
This little guy wanted some of our lunch, and he was not going to take NO for an answer. I tried throwing him some food so he would leave us alone, but NO...he wanted to join us at the table. Oh.my.

Sophie was totally enthralled with this little creature. She would've grabbed him if I would have let her get close enough. Riley on the other hand was quite scared of the little guy!

He kept yelling at the squirrel to "GO AWAY!!!"

Hudson was just mesmerized by the whole event taking place in front of him.
(Riley screaming, Sophie laughing, and me trying to shoo it away!!)

Finally, after about 10 minutes of all the mayhem, the squirrel ran off. I guess he had had enough goldfish, which we threw at him, in attempt to get him to leave us alone!

Last week it was the geese, this week it was a squirrel. Wonder what lovely wildlife we'll encounter next week!?!?!
I'm thinking an indoor playground sounds pretty good---lol!!!

Riley says that sounds like a GOOD idea to him too!

One year ago today...

I was in the hospital getting ready to give birth to this precious 7lb 9 oz. little guy.

I was so.....excited and so.... nervous, all at the same time.

We had just welcomed a new baby into our family only seven months earlier, and now we were going to welcome another one.
How was I going to handle the addition of another baby so soon? Would everyone transition okay? How was Sophie going to react to being a big sister at only seven months?

How would I give enough quality time and attention to both babies AND the boys?
Would I EVER sleep again?

Those were just a few of the questions racing through my mind that day. Looking back, just one year later, I can honestly say that this has been one of the best years EVER.

Crazy-YES, Busy-YES, Overwhelming-at times, but so.......WONDERFUL.

This year has been filled with so much JOY. Joy found in watching my children grow and hit all those "first" milestones. There is nothing sweeter than that first smile, first laugh, first tooth, and first step. Shane and I were blessed to watch TWO babies grow and hit all those "firsts" this year.

Hudson has been the PERFECT addition to our family. I am so thankful to the Lord for entrusting us with him, and allowing us to of raise another little life for His glory.


Happy Birthday Sweet Hudson! I can't wait to watch you learn and grow even more this next year. I know God has something special that only you can accomplish for Him. I pray you would seek Him and follow Him passionately all your days!!
May you come to know Him and understand His endless love for you.

We love you little one!!!

A chilly park day

~First of all...THANK YOU so much for leaving me so....many of your doughnut recipes! I can't wait to try them! I guess we'll be eating A LOT of doughnuts around here;)!!!!~

The funny thing about a North Carolina spring is it's all or nothing. I mean, it's either 50 degrees, or 90. We don't really get long periods of spring-like-70 degree weather. After days and days of warm sunshine, yesterday was cloudy and only about 50 degrees. Of course, I didn't realize just how chilly it was until we were on our way to the park.

We were dressed for spring---flip flops for me and sandals for the kids. Thankfully, I had jackets stashed in the van, or else we would never have lasted very long at the park.

Because it was such a cool day, we basically had the entire park to ourselves. The kids stayed warm by running around and playing on the playground. They stopped only for a moment to eat our picnic lunch.

After our lunch we headed down to the lake to feed the ducks some of our left overs. I'll be honest...feeding the ducks makes me nervous.

Well, it's not really the ducks I mind, it's the Canadian geese. I HATE the GEESE!!!
They just seem mean.
We fed the ducks for a few minutes, but then the geese noticed us and wanted a snack too. They started to fly over the lake towards us. For me, when I see them coming, panic sets in. I tried to be calm, but they just kept getting closer and closer.

Finally, I scooped the babies up and we ALL high-tailed ourselves right out of there. So silly, right!?!?! Maybe one day I'll conquer my fear, but as for now we'll just run when I see them coming;)!!!

Doughnut--Do Over!

I found this recipe for homemade doughnuts in an old Taste of Home magazine that my grandma had passed on to me. I've never attempted to make doughnuts before, but this recipe seemed easy enough, so the boys and I thought we'd give it a try.

Well, they didn't turn out quite like planned. First of all I didn't have a electric fryer, so I attempted to fry them on the stove top. Not such a good idea!! The oil was too hot in the beginning, so I ended up burning the first batch. After turning the oil down, I made a second batch. This time the temp was too low and the doughnuts started falling apart as they cooked.

By the time I was on to the third batch, I decided to give up on the whole frying process and just bake them in the oven. This would also be a much healthier alternative too right?!?! Well, the end result looked more like a bagel than an actual doughnut, but hey...they still tasted all right. We topped them off with a little chocolate fudge frosting.

Anything tastes yummy covered in chocolate, right!?!?!?

I actually got two thumbs up from my boys.

They thought they were delicious and even asked for another one.

That's always a good sign!

Oh my goodness...did we have a mess to clean up after we were finished!

Have you ever made doughnuts before? If so, I'd love to hear your recipe!

Charlotte Racefest 2010!

My day started bright and early Saturday morning with Charlotte RaceFest 2010.
I ran the 1/2 marathon with a few of my sweet neighbors.
It was a beautiful day for a race.The sky was crystal clear and the weather was PERFECT for running. The course weaved it's way through some of the prettiest parts of Charlotte. The race started and finished right by South Park Mall.

Completing a 1/2 marathon was one of my goals this year. My sister and I ran one about 2 and 1/2 years ago, but I hadn't done one since adding Sophie and Hudson to our family. I turned 30 this year, and that was enough to motivate me to do a 1/2 again this year. It took me a little over two hours to finish. BOY--- it's hard to even describe the sense of accomplishment that comes after crossing that finish line!

I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
Philippians 3:14

Celebrating Hudson!!!!

Saturday afternoon was spent getting ready for my sweet Hudson's first birthday.
Can you believe he's going to be ONE?!?!? I know I sure can't.

His actual birthday isn't until Friday,
but we celebrated Saturday evening with a family cookout in our backyard.

I enjoy doing BIG parties, but every once in a while it's nice to do a simple party.
Saturday was just that--simple, but oh so sweet!!!

We enjoyed hamburgers, hot dogs,--all the fixin's, and twice baked potatoes

(Shane's request)!

Sweet Hudson really enjoyed his cake. I wasn't sure how he would do, but it didn't take him long to figure it out and he dug right in!

Sophie gets her a bite of Hudson's cake too--with a little help from Grandma, of course.

We sang Happy belated Birthday to my sweet sister B too!

The kids had a blast playing outside on the swing set.

Sophie lu and Auntie KK!

My brother, Steven, brought along his two puppies. They are always the life of the party.
Sophie and Jake enjoyed feeding the pups some left over hot dog.

Hudson with his great-grandparents.

Shane and his boys! LOVE this pic!!!!

Oh Hudson...you are loved more than you could ever imagine!!!
I thank the Lord every day for giving you to our family and choosing me to be your mommy.

Happy 1st birthday little one!

"I praise you
because I am fearfully
and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well."
Psalms 139:14

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX