Cousin Time

We have spent the last 2 days at Nina and Big Daddy's - hanging out with some of my siblings and their families. We have done lots of swimming, tennis playing, eating, hanging out, and the boys went bow fishing. The girls are beginning to play with each other and have their own little games. and Avery is really into playing "dress up" so she and aunt hailes did some of that! (avery announced tonight that aunt hailes was her best friend!) We really enjoyed our time and getting to see all the kiddos.

Avery, Griffin, and Greenlee

Avery and Aunt Hailes

Ring around the Rosies

Family Fun - McBrayer Style!

Avery Chatter

things i've heard her say recently:

• we had been talking about when you have a "frog in your throat" and explaining that you just cough and it goes aways...then a few minutes later Avery announces, "the frogs all came out!"


• we were reading a book about Easter and came to a page where 3 crosses were. she asked what they were so i gave a sentence or 2 explanation, wanting to seize the opportunity for a teachable spiritual moment - i told her that jesus love her so much that he died on the cross - her response: "I like to die on crosses." We need many more teachable moments!


• "will you get my wedgie out?"


• avery was rubbing brents leg and my arm when she announced "everyone is really hairy!"
• she got up on the potty to poop and says (very seriously) "this may take a while!"

Strawberry Pickin' and Jam Makin'

We have had a long weekend here at home and have enjoyed getting to spend a little extra family time together. (but i think brent will be glad to be back at work tomorrow!) We went to the Taste of Durham festival on Saturday, taught the 2 year olds at church sunday morning, had a cookout with our small group sunday evening...and then we went strawberry picking this morning and went swimming and cooked out with friends tonight! we are POOPED!!! But it has been a lot of fun.

Neither Brent nor myself had ever been strawberry picking so we enjoyed the experience. Avery was interested for all of about 2 minutes and then she was done....Griffin however, was a strawberry picking machine!!! He loved it - I had to really monitor what he picked and added to our bucket though! But if I found a good strawberry and showed it to him, he got really excited and came running to grab it! He insisted on carrying his own basket and tripped over it a million times. And both kids didn't realize they could eat the strawberries until the last little bit so that ended up not being an issue.

Brent and I attempted to make strawberry jam this afternoon while the kids napped. It was a pectin-free recipe which was weird...and as of right now, its still isn't "congealed." We'll see how it turns out! I had never canned anything either so it was a new experience - i think i could get into it! maybe one day i'll be able to have a garden large enough to allow me to do some canning...

our "loot"

Taste of Durham

This weekend we went to a local festival called Taste of Durham. They had live music and dancers, kid rides, local artist, and food samples from a lot of different restaurants. The kids had a blast - avery danced front and center (by herself), they jumped in bounce houses, and avery got to ride her first "dizzy" ride with daddy!

Passed Out

Griffy has been sooo tired lately....not sure why but thought this was too cute not to share....

18 Months Already???

Griffin -

Time continues to pass by way too quickly. I can't believe you are already 18 months old... At the doctor this week, you weighed 24 pounds, 9 oz and were 31 3/4 inches long. You have definitely become a toddler and are no longer my little baby! Your independent streak has already begun to surface - you like to climb into your chair yourself, use your own spoon and fork to eat, climb the stairs without a hand...you try to put on your own socks and shoes, brush your own hair, and put lotion on.

You continue to be VERY active - you run everywhere you go; you get both feet off the ground when you jump; you climb on everything; you love to throw ball and have started trying to kick it. You love to jump and to dance. (and say the words when you do it.) You still fall some, but instead of hitting your head constantly like you used to, you now just skin up your knees! I think you get a new "battle wound" everyday! (last night after your bath, daddy said you looked like you'd been in world war 1 with all your scratches!)

You are sleeping from 7:30-6:30 most nights and nap for 1 1/2 - 2 hours each afternoon. Your latest infatuation is with belly buttons - you love to find yours and everyone else's. You even tried to pull up a girl's dress at the playground yesterday to find hers! And for some reason, you have started putting your feet in your mouth...You are relatively good at doing puzzles and you like to color and do play dough with Avery. I have to keep an eye on you though because you like to eat the crayons!

Your communication skills are slowly increasing. You sign please, eat, more, and milk. Your words are ball, mama, dada, dog, up, please, spoon, sit, eye, ear, nose, no, yes (pronounced "yeth"). We have entered the stage when you know what you want but can't necessarily say it so you get really frustrated. You do a lot of pointing and are attempting to say more.

You are really into doing or having whatever Sister is doing/has. You have starting eating gummy vitamins in the morning and want me to put them on top of your milk cup just like Avery does. You like to eat whatever she has...and play with whatever she has. You 2 are playing better everyday and you are catching on to her games. (she did get really sad this morning because you didn't know how to play hide and seek with her!)

You are my sweety pie and love bug, in addition to my wild man!

Lunchtime Laughter

Last night at the grocery store Avery picked out some Dora "drinkable" yogurts....she has pretty much vetoed regular yogurt so I thought we'd give it a shot. And she loves it.

We are really into the phase of life when things must be "equal." Griffin has to have whatever Avery has - be it food, drink, or toy. So today at lunch (against my better judgement) I gave in and let Griffin have a "drinkable" yogurt....

...it was hysterical. he did great with the first few sips and then it all came pouring out! he was stunned at first but avery busted out in a belly laugh - and then griffin followed! Yogurt squirted out of his nose and everything! They laughed and laughed for (literally) almost 10 minutes...I normally don't participate or encourage this behaviour but I ended up laughing until I cried...so thought I'd share it with you!

Happy Mother's Day!

As time wears on, I have an ever-increasing appreciation for mothers! Mothering is a 24/7 job that is the most rewarding yet exhausting thing I have ever done!!! I'm not sure how my mother handled 4 of us so close in age - somedays, I think my 2 will turn me gray! (don't laugh - i already pluck a gray hair every now and then!)

Avery got really excited when she learned that it was "mother's day" - not that she had much of a clue what it meant - but she repeated " Happy Mother's Day" all day to me! And she made me a beautiful card at church. Brent gave me the best gift ever - a gift certificate for one hour to sit down and relax while someone paint my toes! I may have to really splurge and buy a starbucks on my way!!

We had a great, relaxing weekend. Brent worked on a few odd jobs around the house - thank you honey for hanging our blinds....and we spent a few hours on saturday at the park. The kids played well, got some energy out, and showed Daddy what I do with my days! (i think he found the playground rather boring...) Sunday afternoon we had our friends over to cook out. The adults actually found time for a little conversation while the kids ran around the yard. And we learned that only having 2 swings while entertaining 3 two year olds is a bad thing!

If you are reading this mom, happy mothers day and thank you for all that you have invested in my life and the lives of my children, I love you.

"things i'm loving lately"

this post is a tribute to my sister in law hannah. she is queen of blogging and inspires me! she recently posted a "things i'm loving lately" list and it helped focus on all the fun things in life....

1. My yard - we have lots of trees with great shade so its been so nice to be able to be outside with the kids....and our deck has an awesome lattice roof ....brent and i have even been able to sit on the deck and read a few times recently...

2. Yard work - we walked into home depot's gardening center a few weeks ago and i had a relaxing "air" roll over me immediately! i realize that sounds weird, but i love love love working in the yard - planting flowers, mulching, fertilizing, everything! I think its really therapeutic for me! i didn't do much in our old yard last summer since we were moving and didn't get much done here once we moved in august so i guess i had just missed playing in the dirt!

3. Reading - i can't list a specific book because i'm about to finish my 3rd book in 3 weeks!!! how i find time to read, i'm not sure! nap times and evenings i guess. brents mom sent me home from our visit with about 8 fiction books that she had read...so i'm speeding through them!

4. The LOFT - i don't buy many clothes but i love to look! and this is my favorite place to look these days. (i did buy 2 new shirts during their last sale...)

5. My children are playing together - its the beginning of a fun phase - i still referee a lot - but they've been playing for about 30 minutes now - "packing bags to go to school," taking the baby dolls to the "pool,"etc. its fun to watch!

I 'ld love for you to share "what you're loving" with me!!!