Patriotic Concert

Our church held a patriotic concert tonight to honor veterans and current military personnel. As always, we were so proud of Daddy and the music ministry who worked very hard. We salute the brave men and women who have made sacrifices for our country. In the words of our pastor, the Christian flag is primary in the church, but without the American flag we would not be free to share our love and faith in Christ. Evie talked about going to the concert for days and she made through an hour before she got restless, so I took her out to the playground at that point. She really loved hearing the different songs for each branch of the military and waving her flag as the men and women in service marched in. After the concert we headed to Bruster's with part of our Sunday School class.

Evie at the concert (the bow on a headband lasted over 4 hours...maybe a record length for a bow staying in her hair)
Andrew was all decked out in red, white, and blue, but he went to the playground with his friends instead of sitting with us in the sanctuary.
Garrett, Kaitlyn, and Andrew
Gavin, Sydney, and Evie
Playing with Mr.Bill

Family Portrait

We had our family portraits taken yesterday since the one we have is so outdated. Check out how much the kids have changed in two years.

June 2008

August 2006

Swimming with Daddy

Phil gets off work early on Fridays, so we waited until late afternoon so we could swim with him. We pretty much had our neighborhood pool all to ourselves from 4:30-6:00. I took the kids swimming on my own earlier in the day, but they kept asking where their friends were. I guess just playing with Mommy has gotten old already.

We have to spend at least 5 minutes on the stairs before everyone gets brave enough to swim

Andrew "swam" for the first time on his own today (without hanging onto an adult)

Evie had a lot of fun jumping in
Both kids enjoyed having Daddy to play with in the pool

Funny Song!

Phil and I try to spend the last hour before bedtime just hanging out and relaxing together. In six years of marriage I don't think there is a subject we haven't covered. Last night we were talking about men and their actions and somehow got on the subject of pretty boys. I assured Phil I didn't want a man that needed more maitenance than I do, so he told me I had to hear this song by Brad Paisley. It is so funny because it is completely true (at least at our house). Hit pause on the music player before you hit play.

Favorite Beach Pictures!

Evie's first time in the ocean since she was 13 months

Andrew's first reaction to the beach

The kids got to see a crab we caught in the bucket

The guys hanging out in the surf

The accessories queen

One of my favorite pictures ever!

The Wharf

We went to The Wharf for dinner and the kids' first ferris wheel ride.

USS Alabama

Andrew's Sand Fort

Happy Father's Day

We are celebrating Father's Day in Orange Beach, AL. It is absolutely lovely here. We played on the beach in the morning, spent the afternoon at the pool, took Daddy to a Japanese steakhouse for dinner, and played on the beach again before bed. The kids are having such a great time!

Daddy and Evie building a sand castle
Flying a kite with Daddy

VBS

We have been doing Vacation Bible School at church this week. I have been so proud of Evie. This is her first official year at VBS. Every morning she has asked if we are going back to Outrigger Island (the theme this year). Andrew is still in the nursery learner class and has a great time. Evie has been singing the songs to me and telling me the Bible story every day. She has loved it all and has really started to ask some tough questions about faith and God.

Evie
Andrew with his class at snack time
Evie in the water balloon relay
The kids' favorite activity

Evie on the slide at family fun night (in the rain!)

Fun with Mimi

Mimi came to watch Evie's gymnastics show

Swimming in the neighborhood pool
Evie and Mimi got a princess dress for Bear (Andrew had to jump in the picture too!)

Pool Fun

We had some of our preschool friends over to the subdivision pool today. It was our first time swimming this year, so I didn't know what to expect from the kids. They had a blast!

Andrew splashing
Floating around in the dolphin
Evie "swimming" with Ross
Andrew, Evie, and Alaina playing on the steps

TLG big show

Evie had her big show at The Little Gym today where she got to show off what she learned over the past couple of months. We were all so proud of her! I really can't say enough good things about TLG, their program, and the instructors. We have all enjoyed it and look forward to doing it again in the fall!

Evie getting her medal
Evie and Mrs.Sara
Mr.Steve and Evie

Playgroup @ the park

My MOPS group met this morning at Walker Springs park, which is one of my favorite places in Knoxville. The kids had a great time and played really well plus mommy got to talk to some of her friends. We only had one minor trauma, and Evie was asking if we could go to the park again before we even got buckled in the car to leave. Our trauma involved Evie, the men's restroom, and a locked door. Evie told me she had to potty and she doesn't need help anymore, so I told her to go on and I would be right there. Less than a minute later I got the women's bathroom and found it empty, but I could hear Evie crying. I called to her and she said she was in the potty. Since she can't read yet, she had gone to the men's side. Great, I was going to have to go to the men's bathroom to get her. There are just single toilets so the doors lock with a deadbolt. Yep, you guessed it, she had locked herself in the men's bathroom. My embarrasment of having to go to the men's bathroom quickly died and was replaced with the horror of envisioning the fire department showing up to rescue my baby girl from the men's bathroom. I didn't know the phone number for knox county parks and rec, but I sure wasn't going to wait around for them to show up with a key while Evie was hysterical on the other side of that door. I honestly have no idea who you should call in that situation. Thankfully, I got her to calm down and it took a couple of minutes but she unlocked it on her own. I'm not sure how much more potty stress I can take this week!

Big boy underwear

We took the plunge and put Andrew in big boy underwear on Sunday. We had intended to make this big switch during Memorial Day weekend just like we did last year with Evie, but the stomach virus changed those plans. We then decided to just wait until the end of June after VBS and our beach trip. Andrew, however, accelerated his transition by taking off his pull-up and making a huge mess on the floor and in Evie's princess tea set when we got home from church on Sunday. Monday was an absolute nightmare, but that is what I had expected and dreaded for weeks. I don't want to jinx it, but he woke up with a better attitude today and has kept dry pants for 6 hours now. He filled up his potty chart (one sticker for each time he went potty), so we will be taking him for ice cream tonight. Evie was pretty upset about not getting a Skittle and sticker every time she went potty, so we chose a treat they both could enjoy. We told her she had to be a good big sister and help remind Andrew to go potty, and she has taken the job seriously and cheered for her baby brother on every trip to the bathroom.

So proud of himself!

Future computer geeks

They sat still all of about five mintues and played ABC games on their little laptops