A Trip to S.C.

We took a quick trip up to S.C. so Blake (and we) could meet his newest little brother, Hampton. Blake, Abby, Jacob and I all drove up yesterday morning. Steve stayed home to do some work and get a little rest because he has been very busy at work lately. It is exactly four hours from our doorstep to theirs. When we go there we visited for a while. Hampton is so cute! Jacob had a blast playing with all of Logan's toys. I think his favorite thing was the stairs in Patrick and Traci's house. Abby loved playing with Logan and her favorite thing was petting his head.

Traci gave us tickets to the zoo, so Dylan, Abby, Jacob and I went to the zoo. Jacob decided he was the boss and we had to follow him around the zoo. He looked at each animal for about 30 seconds and he was ready to move on. He kept saying "Let's see what animal is next." He finally slowed down when it came time to look at the snakes (which is the place I could have done without). They actually were pretty fascinating.

After the zoo we headed back to Traci's, after a quick stop at Target, and spent some more time visiting. It was fun to watch all the kids play together and of course hold baby Hampton. Patrick took all the little kids on a ride on their golf cart, with Dylan's assistance. They had a really great time and were not ready to leave for our hotel.

Dyl in front of the elephants!
Princess and Master Dylan
Mommy and the "Boss"

We were up bright and early today to head back home. We did have a quick trip, but it was nice for everyone to get to visit and for Blake to see Hampton while he was still tiny! Traci took some good pics of the kids that I'll post later!

Abby, Dylan (is he awake?) and Logan

The Constitution

I don't have any pictures, but Abby's been learning about America this week as it is Constitution Week at school. She now knows that the stripes on the flag are for the first col-tonies (colonies) and the stars are for the fifty states. She also learned the song "Grand Ol' Flag" which just so happened to be one of my favorites as a child! So, all week we've been singing that, "The National Anthem" and reciting the "Pledge of Allegiance." It is so fun to watch her learn things and this week has been especially fun because I sure love the American flag and all it stands for!

A Visit with the Parker's

Abby and Ethan playing in the sprinklers

Princess, Nik and Ethan on Steve's 4-wheeler
Ethan and Princess Abigail... they are getting soooo tall!
Crazy Jacob dancing!
Ab dancing like an airplane.
Abby and Nik (who just woke up).

Last weekend Travis, Kara, Ethan and Nik came to visit us. We had a wonderful time even though the visit was just too short. We are very excited that they are only about five hours from here and we look forward to more visits with them. Abby & Jacob especially loved seeing their old friends from Texas. They got to show them their favorite spot Monkey Joe's, ride the 4-wheelers, dance around the living room and their favorite backyard activity... playing in the sprinklers. We sure miss the Parker's and can't wait to plan our next trip!

Long Weekend!

Well, we are coming to the end of a long weekend and it is back to the grind tomorrow. We had a nice, relaxing weekend. Steve and I took Abby & Jacob to Monkey Joe's yesterday. They had a great time running around and bouncing all of their energy out. Blake stayed home and did homework. He really does have a lot of homework all the time, but he is very good about getting it done. Saturday, Blake and Steve did a lot of yard work. Our yard looked like a jungle because of all the rain we've been getting. Poor Blake's allergies started acting up. The biggest news of the weekend is Abby lost her second tooth (and she did not swallow it). Grandma made her a tooth pillow, she was able to put her tooth in that last night for the Tooth Fairy to leave her some money. She was very excited to wake up this morning.
Princess Abby with her tooth pillow made by Grandma!
Abby showing off her "lost" tooth!

Blake will probably kill me for posting this, but he looks so serious, I love this picture!

Blake is doing well. As I've mentioned before he has a ton of homework and we feel terrible for him because it takes up all of his free time. He has joined the Spanish Club, the National Senior Beta Club and one other club that the name escapes me. The Beta Club will be really good for him and it will help him become active in the community. We are very proud of him.

Two weeks ago we had about seven days straight of rain. The last day included a small tornado (which of course I was freaked out) but luckily everyone was ok. The rest of the days it just rained and rained and rained. It rained those big, fat, splashing raindrops and there wasn't any thunder or lightning so Blake took Abby & Jacob out to play in the rain. They both wore one of his t-shirts and played so long the shirts were stretched out. They had a blast!






A typical Jacob face!

Jacob's favorite new thing to do is the laundry. The other night I was working on my homework and here he comes through the living room taking all of Blake's dry clothes to Blake's room. It was very funny. He sure comes up with some funny stuff. He really is crazy. His favorite thing to do is scream and throw things (not fun). He is doing very well in school and has been learning a lot of new things. Friday they had a "Hollywood" party at school where the kids dressed up as a make believe character to reinforce the lesson they had learned about the difference between reality and pretend. Jacob was a pirate and had a great time.

Abby loves Kindergarten. Her teachers are awesome with her food allergies and I appreciate that so much. The other day she brought home a picture of a beautiful purple flower which she made at school by putting paint on the paper, folding it and pushing down on the paper. She asked me if I knew what kind of shape it was and I told her a flower. "No," she says "it is an organic shape." "What is an organic shape?" I ask. "A shape that is not like a circle or square... you know not regular shapes." I had never heard of an organic shape so I looked it up and the definition is: Organic shapes are shapes with a natural look and a flowing and curving appearance. I guess our smart girl learned this in art class. She is also stretching out words. This is a way kids learn to read. For instance, the teacher would say "mmm-i-lll-k" and then the children say the word the correct way. They do this so children become aware of the individual sounds in speech and learn that words are made up of sounds. It is very cool to watch her learn. Friday Steve and I were off of work so I took Abby to school (she could not wait to be a car rider). I walked her to the front door of the school. She gave me a kiss and off she went down the hall. She looked so big and independent I had a tear in my eye!

Dylan had to have a tooth pulled last week, but he got through it with the help of lots of laughing gas and sedatives. The Saturday prior to that he had a belt test for Tae Kwon Do and he did a great job and passed his test. That is really great considering he did not get to practice while he was visiting us. We asked him if he wanted to continue to go here, but he did not want to do it because he is used to his classes in S.C. Here are a few pictures and if you want to see more check out Traci's blog. Dylan and Blake are about to become big brothers for the last time. Traci will be having her last addition to her family this week (Hampton) and we wish her a quick, healthy delivery!