Calk Art and Grandma's Birthday

This morning the kids and me went over to Mom's house so I could help her with an outdoor project. I brought some chalk & chalk paint to keep the kids busy. I thought they would have a great time decorating her driveway but.....

Instead they had a good time painting themselves.

Lilly said they looked like princess' with chalk paint.

Rosemary was very serious about painting.

Luke had a good time joining in.

That evening we had a birthday dinner for mom.

Rosemary, Luke, and Lilly helped blow out the candles.

Jonah doesn't care for cake so he had an ice cream cone.

Lilly still had chalk paint on her face.

Luke LOVES ice cream cake!

and so does Rosemary.

It was a nice ending to a fun day.

Family Vacation and Reunion

My Great Uncle's family, the Garner's, were having a reunion here in NC and all of the extended family was invited so we decided to go. It was at a ski lodge about a half hour north of Asheville.

It was beautiful, on the top of a mountain. We stayed in a really nice cabin.
The first night we went to the pool. They reserved it just for our family. I think Luke had the best time in the pool. The girls went in but wasn't sure about the pool and got right out.

The next day we went to Tenn. to visit Herman's first cousin, Loretta and her family. Once again Luke and Jonah had a great time in the pool. Amanda had Luke swimming and jumping off the side into 8 foot water. The girls spent most of the time on the playground with daddy.

While we were in Tenn. the Garner family went into Asheville and had dinner, made a group photo, and some did a skit. Mom and Dad went and had a good time.

We ate breakfast at the cabin every morning except the last. Jonah had a bad cough so we moved him to the couch to sleep so the rest of us could sleep too. Dad brought his computer so Luke like to go on it to play games.

On Saturday everyone went to my cousin John Garner's house. It was the perfect house for a gathering. Lunch was delicious, they had BBQ. Everyone was eating and chit chatting.

It was such a great time and time seemed to fly by so quickly.

Everyone sent in pictures of their family and pictures of our Great Grandparents, Uncles, Aunts, Cousins. As they showed the slides everyone would talk about that family member. Oh my Grandmother would have had the best time! There is something so special about being with family, learning about your family, and meeting family you didn't know.

Everyone left. A lot of family from out west headed to the airport. NC family headed back home, and we headed back for one more night in our mountain cabin.
Once we were back we went to the playground. At the cabin they had a game room with a pool table and fuse ball table. My mother really got into playing pool and she was quite good at it. There also was a hot tub on one of the decks so that night the boys played in it.

We also had another first. The resort had a nice restaurant and we all went out to eat together for the first time since the girls were born. While waiting on our food we walked around and the kids sat on one of the ski lifts.

This was a great vacation! It just went by way to quickly. We did a lot and saw a lot of family. Thank you Garner's for including us in a great weekend!!!

Starting out July with a BANG...

My Luke has a speech delay. Thanks to my cousin Ann, two years ago I demanded from my pediatrician that we needed to get Luke help with his speech. While Luke was being evaluated for his speech the therapist noticed something more and asked if the Occupational Therapist could also evaluate him. It was then we discovered he also has a Sensory Processing Disorder. For past two years he has been seeing both an Occupational Therapist and a Speech Pathologist. At the beginning of summer his OT released him so we think he has that under control. He does not receive speech therapy during the summer but I found out through a friend that the local college UNC-G has a two week summer program that not only helps children, it teaches the family how to help their child and gives the graduate students a chance to learn and perfect what they have learned in school.

They require one family member attend so they can go home and continue to help their child. Me and my mother went every day. They started everyday with an outside activity.
They learned letters and the sounds they make during a parachute activity.

Luke made a lot of new friends. Danielle was one of them.

Without being prompted everyday at snack time Luke would move a chair out of the way so Danielle could get to the table easily. Sometimes he would help push her wheel chair down the hall. He would grin from ear to ear when he did that.

This was the best two weeks for him and myself!

Every year the girl's daycare has a 4th of July parade. Everyone dresses in red, white, and blue. They gather at the front of the church and then march around the block. I tried to sneak over to take pictures but they saw me so I joined in the parade.

I believe all the people made them uneasy so they held hands.

Lilly even gave Rosemary a hug, I think to let her know everything was OK.

At he end their class marched back to the classroom.

I was glad I was able to join in. What a great way to start the holiday!

On the 4th we had several friends over for a cookout.
The weather was nice and so was the company!

My friend Melinda and her family came. Aren't they cute with their matching outfits, she made the matching shirts and Molly's dress.

Night finally came....

And the sparklers came out. This year I bought wood sparklers and I do have to say I think I like the metal ones better.

Shane made sure everyone knew the do's and don'ts of sparklers and then helped everyone get started.

All the boys had a good time.

Our neighbors always set off 'real' fireworks and we got to see them while playing in the yard with the sparklers.

It was a great weekend with good friends, food, and family!

Where did May & June go?

Mother's Day....

We got Grandma Teena a pretty orchid corsage for Mother's day.

That afternoon we went to Grandpa Herman's for a cook out.

Everyone loved the pond.

Shane went fishing with the boys.

We had a great day !

It got HOT quick this year so we went and got a sprinkler. Luke helped Lilly get in it.

Rosemary watched from a far.

Lilly watched Luke safely from Daddy's lap.

Luke had a fun day cooling off.

I went with Luke one day to preschool.
Later in May they had a Graduation for the 4 year old class.

Luke will be in the older 4's next year so this was a practice graduation.

Afterwards we had snacks to celebrate.

The end of the year at Jonah's school they had a field day and party.

After the awards ceremony the 4th graders went outside for fun.

They played games and half way through they took a break. This is Jonah's class.

Then the fire department came and cooled everyone off.

The kids loved it!

Jonah's class went inside and had Chic-fil-a for lunch.

They did the limbo and had a water balloon toss before the day ended.
Luke's school ended the end of May and Jonah's ended June 10th.

Next was Father's Day...

It took A LOT of pictures just to get one good picture for Daddy

and all the Grandpa's.

Father's Day weekend the girls help Daddy make sure the boys go kart was good to go.
On Father's Day we went to Mark & Amy's house for a cookout.

Handsome Daddy!

Jonah resting in a tree on a HOT day!

Lilly enjoyed the appetizers!

Molly liked the pool.

The kids patiently waited for Grandpa Herman & Bryan to blow the pool up. Finally
it was ready, Emmett & Luke laughed and splashed in it.

Then it was time for some hot dogs and hamburgers!

Afterwards we had watermelon and homemade ice cream.

We all had a great Father's Day at Uncle Mark's & Aunt Amy's house!!!!