Visit from Friends

Over Memorial Day weekend, we had some friends come to visit and stay with us. Justin and his two-year-old twin girls made the drive to us on Friday afternoon. His wife is currently deployed over seas with the Army and he is doing a great job at home with his girls. They arrived right at dinner time so we had them meet us at the pool for pizza and swimming. It took the girls about an hour to get comfortable with us and then they had fun playing in the pool with Reese. The daddies got in to play but I couldn't do it just yet because it is still cold in the water. 

The pool wore everyone out and they all slept great that night. Early the next morning they were all ready to play some more. I came downstairs and found Reese in the chair with the girls watching cartoons.

Sam had baseball practice at 10:00 so we all decided to go play at the playground while he practiced. After practice we came home for lunch and then I ran to the gym for a quick workout. As soon as I got home around 2:00, Lance and Justin left to go play golf. The girls napped for a little while and then right before they woke up Hayes fell asleep on the couch. They ran around, played and were loud for a while and he didn't even budge. They thought it was so funny when they put this Sully doll on him while he was sleeping.

After every one was up, we played outside. The girls LOVED riding in the boy's cars.

While I got dinner ready, they watched a quick show and played. Then I fed them all and they headed downstairs to watch a movie.

They chose The Lorax. Maya and Taylor were not sure how they felt about the movie. Finally I took Taylor with me and gave her a bath while every one else finished the movie.

Sunday we headed to church and Justin stayed home with his girls. They learned how to drive the power wheels and loved every minute of it once again. Reese's friend Hallie came home with us from church and we headed to the pool again. Sam had practice again that afternoon so Lance took him while the twins napped and I stayed at the pool with Reese, Hallie, and Hayes. I laid out while they played.

That night we had a shrimp boil and it was so delicious!!

Monday was Memorial Day. We took some quick pictures.

And then headed to the play ground to play some more. They were so cute spinning each other. Every time Taylor spun Maya she would say "I can't see you. I can see you." 

The kids had a blast at the playground and then Justin headed home with his girls. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool and enjoyed our time together while being so thankful for the men and women who sacrifice everything for our freedom!

Last Day of School

It is officially summer time in our house! Every one is super excited! It has been a fun week of wrapping things up at school.

Monday morning Reese's class had their end of the year party with a breakfast theme. They all had breakfast together in their classroom, watched a slide show their teacher put together, and received awards. Reese had a great school year and made some great friends. Her class seemed to be a pretty talkative class and I think her teacher is ready for the summer. I wish I would have taken a few picture of Reese with her friends but it was kind of hectic in there and I was good to get these few pictures. Hayes loved getting to be in her class and did a great job coloring and entertaining himself.

Tuesday was an early release day and Sam's class had their end of the year ice cream party at 11:30 to end their day. His teacher really goes all out for them. It is so fun to be in Sam's classroom with her. She makes each of them feel so special. She had fun party music on while they ate their ice cream and then as they finished it turned in to a dance party. The girls were so cute dancing in the middle of the room and the boys were all playing with toys. The first picture is his parapro and the second picture is his lead teacher. I hope we get to see them again in a couple of years with Hayes! I think they did an amazing job of starting Sam's school career off. He is an amazing reader and shocks me at what he knows some times. They also went through the book "Seven Habits of Highly Effective Kids" and I love that!! We ended up buying it ourselves so we could read it and refresh this with him (and the other two). 

Sam and his reading group! He was the only boy!

One of Sam's best buddies.

And finally today arrived! The LAST DAY OF SCHOOL! Every one was up and out of bed super easy this morning and we had plenty of time before school so we decided to head out for breakfast after I took some pictures of them.

And of course, we need comparison pictures! I am always amazed at how much they change each year. Why must they keep growing??

We have our annual plans of soaking them with water guns and water balloons when they get off the bus this afternoon. Hopefully I can get some pictures of this and post them soon.

Visiting Old Grandma

At the beginning of April, my Grandma (Old Grandma to the great grandkids) moved from my parents house to an assisted living home. It is a much better situation for her since my parents both still work. It was hard for them to make sure she was safe during the day. Last week they had an Open House for her family to come and visit/tour the facility but Reese had her soccer tournament and we were unable to go. So today we went to visit. Lance and my dad were both out of town so it was an easy decision to spend the day with my mom too. We drove out there as soon as church was over. We picked my mom up from her house and went to see Grandma. Her apartment is the perfect size and set up. She has people who can check on her through out each day, a great dining area, and tons of activities going on each day. 

After visiting for a little while, we headed out to grab lunch and take it to the pool. The water was SO cold but Reese and Sam had a blast. They went down the slide tons of times and played so well together. Hayes went down the slide once and realized the pool was too cold for him. He played in the water for maybe 15 minutes towards the end of the afternoon. I did not get in the water at all. My dad got back in town while we were at the pool and hung out with us there for a little while. After the pool, we went back to my parents house, all the kids took a bath, and we had a delicious dinner. We headed home just in time to put everyone in bed and start our last week of school.

Gymnastics Awards Day

Sam and Hayes had their gymnastics awards day. The parents get to come out on the floor and watch them do all of the tricks they have learned. The teachers make it a lot of fun. 

Hayes was the only little boy in his pre-gym class and was a little more wild than the girls.

This sweet teacher had some major patience with this group of boys.

Flying high popping bubbles

and diving in to the pit over his stack of blocks.

Sam's class even had a little routine that they each did.

Getting their medals. They were supposed to stand there for parents to get their picture but Hayes was so embarrassed and couldn't get off that podium fast enough.

Sam saluted and smiled but he was too quick for me too.

They had a lot of fun doing gymnastics. I hope we can stick with it a little bit longer because I feel like it is really good for them.