AG's First Dance Recital

Saturday we had a really special event...AG's first dance performance on "the big stage"! Her Nana, Grandpa, Gran, PopPop, and Great Uncle David all came to our house for lunch before, and then we all went to the show. It was really entertaining, but of course our favorite part was seeing AG and her class tap dance to "The Boy from New York City." She did great and we were all so proud of her!

Here she is backstage, all dressed and ready.
Coloring to pass the time before her class took the stage...


All gathering around our little star after the show...

Nana and Grandpa with their three sweethearts. SJ's expression in this picture is deceptively grumpy...she had been perfectly happy throughout the three hour show. She went from lap to lap and didn't fuss at all, and she even watched most of the dances and flapped her little arms and legs to the music!

Uncle David, PopPop, and Gran with the girls...

Our gang...

T was still smiling after his first dance recital! He and his parents get the "first timer" prizes!

Starting Summer

Week before last, we had a special day at AG's preschool to wrap up the year. It was a festival to celebrate our state, and the girls had lots of fun with all the games and activities. LL participated in everything that day right along with AG's class. She's been along on all the field trips and special events throughout the year, and our plan is for her to be the "school girl" next year (hopefully in the very same class AG was in), so it was a sort of passing of the torch! Here they are fishing together.And here's LL very proudly holding out her strawberry-painted hand, though you can't see it!
It's been a while since I've taken any dress-up pictures, so here are some of the latest fashions seen at our house...
The hugs continue!
And if you're looking for us this summer, this is where you'll likely find us! We hope to spend alot of time in the pools at the nearby YMCA. AG is going to take a few lessons, starting later this afternoon. Here is a picture of SJ's first dip ever. She is always flapping her little arms and feet, so I think she's going to be a natural splasher!

Mother's Day Weekend

We had a special day with T's family last Saturday, celebrating both Mimi and PawPaw's 60th wedding anniversary (which was on May 5) and Mother's Day. Here are a few peeks at what the day held.

Mimi's rocking recliner was the most popular seat in the house, as usual! AG and LL enjoyed some time with Nana there. This was probably the most restful part of their whole day!


AG helped Nana whip up some yummy salsa.

Sweet sisters smiling

First swim of the summer

Aunt Edith and T kept the girls afloat. AG and LL had a great time kicking and splashing around.

Meanwhile, SJ relaxed inside with Mimi!

She also caught up with Nana a bit later.

Showing off her cute dimples and her cute outfit from the Parkers!

We came home later that night and had lunch out after church the next day. Remarkably, even after a busy morning, all the girls had smiles left for a few family photos.
It was a great time for us to celebrate the blessing of having great moms and grandmothers, and I am reminded of the amazing blessing of getting to be a mom to these sweeties.

First Finger Food

Last week SJ entered new territory. She has proven herself a great eater of every type of pureed fruit and vegetable, cereal, and yogurt we've offered her, and last week after Gran fed her sweet potatoes...we put a few rice krispies on her tray and Oh, what a fun challenge that was! Look at this concentration!

Of course she got a little assistance from her sisters...
and I think most of them got stuck to her face or caught in her bib, but she totally enjoyed the whole event!
The girls love to rush in every morning to greet SJ as soon as we hear her wake up.
She lights up when she sees AG and LL, too!

Tagged

My friend Marcy tagged me for this fun little game, so here goes.

4 jobs I've had:
1. Studio helper for two dance teachers for three years in high school- This was so much fun!
I have lots of funny memories of the little girls in the dance classes I worked with.
2. Waitress for a few weeks at a local lunch spot in my hometown in college- This was fun, but
I broke more than my share of glasses in a very short span of time!
3. Summer camp counselor (2 years) in college- Awesome job! The camp I worked at was on
St. Simons Island, GA and I can't imagine a better way to spend a summer at that stage of
my life. The funniest thing is that a few years later, when T and I started dating, I found out
that he'd been offered a job there the second summer I worked, too, but turned it down.
Wonder how things would have worked out if he'd taken it? I like the outcome as it is, but I
still want to go back there with him one day!
4. Children's/family therapist- Worked for several different agencies, all with kids and their
families. Thought I knew alot about dealing with children's behavior problems, but now I
am getting a real education on that!

4 movies I've seen more than once:
1. Shawshank Redemption (my favorite!)
2. Sixteen Candles
3. Sound of Music
4. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

4 places I've lived:
1. Wesson, MS
2. Starkville, MS
3. Clinton, MS
4. Austin, TX

4 TV shows I watch:
1. Good Morning America
2. Dancing with the Stars- the girls love it, but so do we! (Don't tell T I told you!)
3. Lost
4. Curious George, Super Why, Between the Lions- at least one of these, most weekdays.

4 places I've been:
1. Disney World- A few times growing up and on my Senior trip, but I can't wait to go back with
our children!
2. St. John- Wonderful place to honeymoon!
3. Western Europe- T and I seized the opportunity to take a dream trip before we moved to
Austin.
4. Washington, DC- Once growing up on a family vacation, once in college, and with T last year
on our anniversary.

4 favorite foods:
1. Peanut butter
2. Pasta
3. really good salads/vegetables
4. Ice Cream

4 places I'd like to visit:
1. the Grand Canyon
2. Hawaii
3. Australia
4. Canada

4 Things I look forward to in the next year:
1. LL being out of diapers!
2. trips to the beach this summer
3. the holidays
4. watching the girls continue to grow and have fun together

4 friends I'm tagging:
1. Ruth
2. Ruthie
3. Jessica R.
4. AMD

The Very Hurty Caterpillar

I don't know if I've mentioned it this year, but for the last month of so we've been dealing with the masses of black, spiky, creepy caterpillars that seem to be an unavoidable part of spring in this area. Well, we'd heard that they could sting and have tried to be cautious, but with the caterpillars everywhere and the girls everywhere, this week the seemingly inevitable happened, and we found out that yes, they do in fact sting and it apparently is pretty painful. LL kicked off her flip flops and walked across the patio, and about a minute after the noticed a big caterpillar on the ground she started crying and grabbing her foot. Turns out she noticed the caterpillar because she'd just stepped on it, and it was not happy about that. Look at this! It left a wicked impression several inches long...dozens of tiny little pricks from its poisonous fuzzy back that show no signs of fading even after 3 days. Thankfully it doesn't seem to hurt her anymore, but I have a feeling she'll think twice before running around barefoot out there again soon. Or maybe not...she's two and a half, after all! But I'll think about it, anyway!

Yay! for Beignets

Last weekend we made a trip to the Crescent City...finally! We visited some friends we met in Texas and hadn't seen since they moved away from there over 4 years ago. They have a little girl who's just a week older than AG and a little boy who's about 6 months younger than LL, so the kids had a great time playing together while we caught up! In fact, we were so enjoying the visit that I didn't even think to take a single picture!

Later we headed down to the French Quarter, as no visit to this city would be complete without a trip to Cafe du Monde. We met my cousin and his wife there for coffee and beignets, and it was so fun to watch the girls enjoy these for the first time! Of course I had to capture that on camera! Here's LL taking her first bite with a little help...Leave it to AG to figure out a way to eat them without getting powdered sugar all over her! She picked all the white stuff off and ate it before taking a bite... I am continually amazed at the creative ways kids can come up with to eat various foods.
Poor SJ... no beignets for her, but she did gobble up some green beans!
After all the beignets were gone, LL continued to eat the leftover powdered sugar... we stopped her short of licking the plate, though :)
After our "treats" we walked along the river and saw lots of different kinds of boats, barges, and the bridge in the background. We even heard a concert of songs played by a docked river boat's whistle just before leaving!
It was a great day in a great city with some very special friends and family!

AG's Zoo Field Trip

Last Tuesday we went on the final field trip for AG's school year...to the zoo we've already enjoyed many times! It was fun to see the highlights with her teachers and classmates. As you can see below, however, it was her sister who stuck the closest!In the picture above, AG and LL were looking at a baby zebra that had just been born that morning! I tried to get it in the picture, but it was pretty far away. It was really neat to see a brand new baby animal at the zoo!

We had the best view ever of the alligators, who were all three sunning on the grass just a few feet from the fence.

The grand finale was a ride on the zoo train! AG sat beside her teacher, and LL, SJ and I took a seat a few cars back. LL was thrilled, as you can see!

Below is actually the first picture of the day...just a bit misplaced! The white tiger always greets us first, and he had alot of little eyes on him that day!

SJ also liked the train ride!

Eight Months

As of last week, sweet SJ is already 2/3 of the way through her first year! I continue to be amazed at how easygoing and generally content she is...a real blessing since she gets carted around alot and hasn't had the most consistent daily routine. She is a great eater and a good sleeper...here's a view of her asleep with her thumb in her mouth and snuggling her "pinky"!She loves to chew on everything and seems to especially like tags on toys.
Her mohawk continues to get comments, and although it seems her hair is filling in some, it still has a mind of its own when it comes to lying down!
She's becoming a little babbler and can roll across a room in just a few seconds. She's also starting to pull herself a bit on her tummy to get to what she wants, so I guess it's getting to be time to make sure all the "big girl" toys are really kept out of reach!
AG and LL continue to take great delight in giving her lots of hugs, kisses, toys, and even an occasional spoonful of food!

T's Company Picnic

There are lots of things we appreciate about T's job, but probably at the top of the girls' list would be the annual picnic they give for all the employees' families. AG and LL had a great time bouncing around... getting their arms painted with a rainbow...
and a butterfly...
dancing with the twirling ribbons...
and running through swarms of bubbles!
All of that plus hotdogs, crawfish, hamburgers, jambalaya, ice cream, and snowcones, too! Can we do this every weekend?