Down under the deep blue

Joshua has discovered the world of diving under the water! He took huge strides today in the pool. First diving down to touch the bottom of the pool, then diving down to get his dive sticks, then holding his breath underwater, then swimming face down in the water to me about halfway down the short length of the pool. Way to go, Joshua!!

Taylor is on her way, too. Enjoying swimming with swim wings or a flotation device on her back. She's on her way!!

Melting Mommy's Heart

Taylor and Joshua are trying to sleep in Joshua's room tonight, with the TV from the kitchen and a DVD player. We're hoping that they can make it through the night sleeping b/c they have both been sleeping downstairs lately (Taylor for months and Joshua for the past week). He didn't want to be the only one sleeping upstairs. Doug said a nighttime prayer for them and then right before I closed the door, I said "Love you" and Taylor replied, "I love you, Mommy". This is the FIRST time she has ever said this to me! As I shut the door, I about cried. Doug realized the moment, too. I have wanted to hear those words from her for a long time, and she finally said them tonight!!! I LOVE YOU, TOO, Taylor!! Thank you for your sweet little miracle tonight!

4th of July Weekend in Charlotte

We headed to Angela and Doug's for the 4th weekend to spend some time with them as it's rare that they have a three day weekend away from work. The kids had a blast playing together...Joshua and Daniel were inseparable, Taylor and Lindsay played well together most of the time (with only a few instances where they wanted one or the other's toys), and Ashley is growing up and mainly watched the kids play or she would wander off to do her own thing. She changes each time we see her. Last time she was reserved and quiet, and this visit she was engaging and warm and smiled at the kids funny antics during the weekend. We went to the Reed Gold Mine near Charlotte on Saturday and went through a small museum and then a self guided tour through the old mine. The kids then got to pan for some gold. Joshua and Daniel both found a tiny piece of gold in their pans, but Ashley didn't find any this time. Both boys were very excited to find their tiny treasure. On Sunday, we went to their church and then went to the mall for lunch and shopping/playtime for the kids. I got Taylor and Lindsay matching flower bags with a little flower that snaps on them and they were ready cute strutting through the mall with their bags over their shoulders. Monday was the big day and we spent the earlier part of the day preparing food for the lake party and just having some down time. Doug and Angela's church has a party each year at one of their church member's homes on Lake Norman. This will be the last year, though, because he is trying to sell his home. It was just finishing up raining from a pretty strong storm that had blown through as we arrived. We had a pot luck dinner and then the kids were anxious to get into the water. Once the thunder subsided, the boys took turns using the paddle boat and Taylor and Lindsay got into a double seated inner tube as Doug pulled them around in the water. Doug, Taylor and I took a ride on a pontoon boat as Joshua went with Daniel and Uncle Doug on the speed boat for a ride. We played chicken a couple of times on the water and had a "fake" boat race with the speed boat zooming past us and the kids grinning ear to ear. Angela, Ashley, and Lindsay were on the pontoon boat with us and we had a nice time taking a tour of the lake and having a tour guide telling us about some of the homes, etc on the lake. Taylor LOVED the ride and when we got back, Glen (the home owner) asked us if we wanted a speed boat ride next. Of course, we couldn't not turn down this offer and so we all jumped into the boat and Taylor headed straight for the front of the boat to grab a seat...our little adventure seeker! She, Ashley and I sat in the front and felt the wind rushing past us as we sped around the lake once more. Taylor was having the time of her life in this boat! No fear...During this time, Joshua was busy playing in the water and on the paddle boat with Daniel. When it got dark, we watched a spectacular fireworks show from some of the homeowners near the party. We sat on the peer and watched. We were amazed at the amount of fireworks these people had invested and it was literally as good as any city fireworks production. After awhile, Taylor decided that she wasn't crazy about being out there in the dark and so we went inside until it was time to go at 10pm. Lindsay was already inside as she does not like the loud booming coming from the lake...just like her mom was at her age! The kids managed to stay awake (Daniel rode with us) as they were munching on food for half the ride home and watching a movie. Taylor zonked out first, then Joshua and Daniel stayed awake the entire ride! This was definitely one of my favorite 4th of Julys and wish we could do it again next year!!

7th Birthday Party Water Wars!

We had Joshua's 7th birthday party at the Fellowship pool it was quite the splash! Our guests were Jack Powell and siblings, Ethan Harper& friend, Patrick Scott, Maddy Maddox, Matt Drye and siblings, and Jackson English along with most of the parents. The kids had a blast shooting each other with water guns...it was definitely the hit of the party. Not only did the kids enjoy the shooting wars, but the parents got just as competitive with each other!

Joshua turns 7!

Joshua had his much anticipated 7th birthday today! He couldn't wait and so he was allowed to open one gift over the weekend which was a lego semi truck from Grandma and Grandpa...it has already been assembled and then crunched by Taylor. So...now he gets to re-assemble on another day. He woke up this morning and came into my room all excited and happy. Poor Mommy was really tired and so he let me sleep a little longer. I had to get the house picked up some before we had a visitor (the previous PTF treasurer) who dropped off all of the records and treasurer info for me. Next, we headed to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch and games. The kids had a great time running around and we spent a couple of hour there. All of Joshua's tokens earned him some fun dip that he gobbled down in the car. Our next stop was Dollar Tree for some bday balloons and a few odds and ends for his upcoming birthday party at the pool this weekend. We then went to Publix and purchased a yellow cake with chocolate frosting with balloons on top. The kids, of course, got their free Publix cookie during the cake choosing process and then we headed home. Daddy was already home when we got home and so Joshua got to open another gift from Aunt Tricia which was a Zhu Zhu Pet police station and police car. Joshua immediately put it together and stuck his Zhu Zhu Pet in it...have to admit that these Zhu Zhu pets are cute:) We then grilled burgers and when it came time to sit down, Joshua decided for a hot dog instead so we popped one in the microwave and with mac and cheese on the stove for Taylor, our individualized meals were almost ready! Prior to dinner Joshua got to talk with Gran and Grandaddy and thanked them for the body board they sent money for and chatted for a little while. We got the cake out and had 6 little candles plus the big "7" candle put on the cake. We all sang "Happy Birthday" to Joshua, even though Taylor has insisted all day that it is her birthday! We dove into the yummy cake, sporting the cherished "Happy Birthday" plate and "Celebrate" plates and then Aunt Angela and the kids called to talk with Joshua and wish him a "Happy Birthday". He had just opened their gift about an hour earlier which was a pirate lego set and dive torpeoos to give him practice diving down in the pool. Daniel and Lindsay both made him birthday cards as well as the joint card from everyone. After the cake, we all settled in the living room for the moment that all kids live for...the opening of the gifts. As they all sat there all pretty with their bows on the couch, Taylor was hoping that some were for her. She just couldn't accept the fact that it was not her birthday. But, she enjoyed Joshua opening his gifts and even helped clean the paper debris from the party scene. Joshua received many of his "wish list" items and seemed very excited with his gifts...thanking us after each gift! He received a sonic boom lego set, bubble plane flyer, zhu zhu kung fu pet and military vehicle, Scourge transformer, nano habitat for his hexabugs, a remote control boat, a voice changer and Star Wars plane with ripstick. After all of the gift opening, Grandma and Grandpa called and sang "Happy Birthday" to him and chatted for a bit and then we were off to the pool for an hour of swimming and playing with the R/C boat until the pool closed at 9pm. Aunt Tricia called earlier in the day, but we missed the call, and Aunt Chris called at 10:15, but missed the boy to sleep by 15 minutes. We warned her that if we woke him to speak with her that he would probably cry the whole time. He was one tuckered boy whose rational function had reached it's limit! Hopefully, he will be all rested and ready for a day of play with his new toys tomorrow!!
Happy Birthday, Joshua!! We love you:)

Jumping off the Diving Board!

Our little 4 four year old JUMPED off the diving board at the Fellowship Pool tonight! We just joined the pool three days ago and Taylor has taken off in her swimming skills/risks! She saw Daddy dive off the diving board tonight and decided that it looked like a lot of fun...so she walked over to the diving board with her princess pool ring and walked up onto the board. She walked out a little past the rail and decided it was too high and walked back down, but then turned around and decided to give it a go again! She didn't turn around this time and jumped right into her daddy' arms below! I was shocked that she went ahead with it...and then she jumped in about 20 times after that. Since she doesn't know how to swim yet, and has decided to just jump ahead (literally) to the diving board, we decided to work with her on learning the doggy style swim so that she could start learning how to swim. I have a feeling that she will be swimming like a fish by the end of the summer.

Joshua met a new buddy tonight at the pool named Daniel, and two nights ago, he met a girl named Reeve that he hit it off with, too. He's been having fun with his flippers and body board as well as his water guns. He's a little bit more cautious in the water, so it's great that we could join a pool so close by for him to get plenty of pool time to work on his swim skills and get more comfortable swimming around again. We are really enjoying being members of the pool this summer! Yay for summer fun!

Leapin' Lizards...it's a tick!!!

With it being Memorial Day, we spent the day preparing to have our sump pump removed by Doug removing tile and me washing clothes as we will not have access to the addition for several days while the concrete cures. We wanted to get the kids out of the house, so we first checked out a potential pool membership for the summer and then went to Thompson Park to feed some very fiesty geese...one of which bit Taylor on the hand (luckily not hard as she didn't seem to be disturbed by the event). After playing a bit, we came home for some yummy burgers and then went for a walk/scooter ride to the Silver Comet Trail. On the way, Doug encountered a cute little turtle who seemed to be lost and out of sorts from his typical environment. Doug decided to relocate the turtle and Joshua excitedly followed. They ran through some tall grass to place the turtle back in the creek and then we continued on our journey to the trail, stopping every so often to pick some wildflowers/daisies along the way. On the way home, we enjoyed the first lightning bugs of the season and I caught a couple of them to show the kids. When we got home, Doug went outside with the kids to catch lightning bugs and then we decided to take quick baths before bedtime to wash off the stinky deet bug spray. I noticed that when Joshua took off his shirt, he had something black on his back. Doug soon noticed, too, and realized that it was a TICK!! Doug quickly got the tick off of Joshua and the tick hadn't seemed to bury his head into Joshua's skin yet. YUCK!! So, we all began scanning our bodies for bugs and I'll probably have nightmares about bugs tonight! Oh, those pesky bugs. The one downfall to summer!!! Otherwise, it was a great night!