Time with Friends

Some of our favorite friends from Durham came down to visit this past weekend. It was so wonderful to have the Fitzsimmons here. The kids played together amazingly and it was as if it hadn't been 9-10 months since they'd seen each other. We had a very low-key weekend, spending most of our time playing in the backyard or on the driveway. Brent was out of town but I really enjoyed getting to spend time with our dear friends and have some adult conversation!

Spent an hour running thru the sprinklers out back

(Bryce, Griffin, Avery, Kaylee)

and had movie night on Friday night since all the kids were whooped!

ice cream sundaes while riding the tire swing - why not?

and the littlest friends - Graham and Shane - were quite the pair!

The Parnell kids were learning a few new skills from their Durham friends!

coloring (well, really just working on sharing crayons!)

Tee Ball

Griffin has been really interested in playing baseball for a while now, so we are giving tee-ball a try this spring. He had his first game on Thursday night and seemed to really enjoy it. He looked absolutely adorable in his size XXS baseball pants and uniform!

He stopped mid-swing to wave at me during one of his "at-bats" and everyone on the bleachers let out a collective "ahh!"

Out fielding was funny to watch - all of the kids were only partly paying attention - but they all ran to the ball when it was hit - seriously, like 12 kids attacking one ball!

all smiles!

Easter 2012

We spent our first Easter here in Augusta, just the 5 1/2 of us. Brent worked a 24 hr shift - from Saturday AM until Sunday AM...but we managed to get to church, have a wonderful brunch at the club, and then participate in an egg hunt for the kids.

Digging in their baskets - Toy Story jammies for Griff!

and a new movie for Sissy!

Graham, staring down the M&M's!

The Easter Bunny even joined us for brunch!

the egg hunt

our wild man

and our little man

attempting a family picture

and a picture of the kids!

Nina and Big Daddy's House

The kids and I made a trip to Nina and Big Daddy's house for the last few days of their spring break. Three of my siblings and their families were able to join us so we had a few days of chaotic fun!

The weather was a little chilly so we cleared out the garage and let the kids ride bikes/scooters while confined inside...they loved it!

Kale, Avery, and Griffin

Sissy, giving bungy a ride!

Big Daddy cranked up the heater on the hot tub and pool so the kids got to play in the water, even though it wasn't too warm outside.

is this a hot tub or baby pool??

This is Graham's new "cheese" face!

Getting ready for an egg hunt....

Saeran, Addison, Avery, Griffin, Graham, Kale (not pictured: clayton, caris, and ayla)

and they are off!

showing off their loot!

Spring Break

The kids are on spring break this week - we are in town until tomorrow and then I'm taking the kids to mom/mike's for a few days. We've tried to make the most of our days here and enjoy having Avery around for our adventures! On Monday, we went to the mall to look for shoes (which was disastrous because Graham screamed bloody murder for 10 minutes so we didn't accomplish anything!); then we played on the mall playground and had "chicken-fil-a for lunch. On Tuesday, I took all 3 kids for haircuts and then to the playground to run around. We dyed Easter eggs that afternoon and then had the neighbor's grandsons over for icecream sundaes! And today, we re-attempted shoe shopping - which went much better - came home and had lunch, and then the big kids played out in the sprinklers until it started thundering!

New Fence!

Our yard was fenced in on 3 sides when we moved in. It wasn't a big deal - until Graham got faster and I got more pregnant - and therefore, much slower! It was hard to contain him in one area and quite frankly, I need him contained. And will need him contained after Carsyn is born....so we fenced in the last portion of our backyard this week. We debated doing it in wood to match the rest of the fence or doing something ornamental since it was the most visible part of the yard...we opted for a steel fence - and it looks amazing! I am thrilled!

Easter Eggs

The big kids and I dyed Easter eggs yesterday while Graham was napping. (I couldn't envision Graham with 6 cups of dye within reach...) They love to do "projects" and special activities but I am not the crafty mother....so they were super excited for this project!

here they are stirring the dye tablets to help them dissolve

Their egg "dying styles" were true to personality...Griffin randomly dipped each egg in every color dye and was done with this in about 6 minutes. Avery spent her time dying half of each egg a different color...taking about 30 minutes...and before she could even finish, Griffin started mixing the cups of dye! And Griffin keeps asking when he can smash an egg to see what it looks like inside.

The dyed eggs were finished off with little stickers... Their final products!

School Easter Parties

Both Avery and Griffin had their school Easter parties and egg hunts on Friday...and this week is spring break- which in Augusta GA is called Master's Week!

I helped with Griffin's class party so I have plenty of pics from that but did manage to sneak over to catch the end of Avery's egg hunt...

Lindsay, Avery, Lola, Mariah

checking out her loot - and working really hard to open that egg!

racing to find some eggs

Griffin's class (charlotte, robert, madeline, ?, garrett, benjamin, samya, maddie, Griffin)

checking out his loot
(note about my soft hearted middle child - he found a ton of eggs and when his class lined up to go inside, he noticed a few of the kids only had a couple of eggs - so he took some of his and put them in their baskets!)

looking for eggs

my little bunny enjoying a little cupcake!