MONKEY!!

Look at that little rascal and his sly grin! He knows it!! He is learning so many new things these days, with climbing being one of his new favorites. =) Big Sis was never much of a climber, so this is new territory for us. We seriously cannot turn our backs for a second! What a little monkey! He's 14 months and blowing our minds on pretty much a daily basis. Some of his favorite things to do- give smacking lip kisses, blow kisses, woof-woof at neighborhood dogs (following in Sissy's footsteps on that one :), sign "all done" and "more", kick a ball, feed himself with a fork. He also waves at every person who looks his way, leading us to believe he may be a great politician (or a used car salesman! haha!).
His favorite words these days- hi, thank you, all done, truck, book, boon (balloon), ball, milk, mmmm (yummy), eye (while poking us in the eye), in addition to "Ma", "Da", and "Edda".

He finally got two new teeth a couple weeks ago, one on top, one on bottom. That brings the grand total to six. He's had just four since he was 8-9 months, which makes it hard for a little guy who wants to eat only big people food! You can see the bottom one good here.

He's such a happy, sweet, and very active little guy, that has us falling more and more crazy in love with him everyday. Just look at him! Who could resist this charmer?!

Carefree days of summer

Chris took these pictures the other night when I was at work. Ella couldn't wait for me to see them and to tell me all about it. I love how much joy and excitement they find in something as simple as getting soaked by the water hose. There's something so beautiful about being a child in the summertime- being wild and carefree, knowing more fun is always just around the corner. Enjoy!

I had to have these...

I found some pictures on Mom's camera and had to have them! Look at sweet, little Laila! She is soooo precious and getting so big!
And this one I love! What a beautiful family!!

Laila, tell your mommy if she would update her blog, I wouldn't have to go sneaking pictures of you from Grammy! haha!

Sweet, little lamb

Looking at this picture, I can't help but sing the words to the old hymn, "What a blessedness. What a peace is mine. Leaning on the everlasting arms. Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarm. Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms."

Another beautiful reminder.
Thank you, Jesus.

Mess!

Enjoying the water on a hot, hot day...
Throw in an ice cream sandwich- what could be better?!

Just don't dip it in the water! What a MESS!!!

Big Sis was "too grossed out" by the "sicko and disgusting" mess that she couldn't even eat her own ice cream sandwich. She has a thing or two to learn- we don't waste perfectly good ice cream around here! ha! But I am going to stick to the popsicles next time!

Our Memorial weekend

We treasure the beautiful family God has given us, and remember with joy and laughter all the special people in our lives who have passed on. We also think about and pray for all the military families who have made, and are making, huge sacrifices for America, so that we may freely love and live the blessed lives we do. I hope your Memorial weekend was filled with memories, family, fun, and lots of good food, too! Love to all of you!

What we've been up to

We've done a lot of hanging out these last couple of weeks. Chris was in South Carolina all last week for work and I was so glad to get him back Friday night! I have so much sympathy for the single parents out there who do it day in and day out; I had a hard enough time doing it for five days. Plus, I'm kind of a scaredy-cat when it comes to being here by myself with the kids at night. It probably doesn't help that there have been several break-ins and attempted break-ins in our neighborhood in the last few weeks (two just this week!). At the first sound of anything, I am wide awake and sitting up in bed, deciding what escape route to take. haha! Anyways, I was so glad to have him home and so thankful to Mark and Cheryl for coming up on Friday to take care of the kids while I went to work.
We kept ourselves busy through the week with a couple playdates and lots of fun outside. The sand and water table is a huge hit- even without the sand! These pictures are from before Ella realized she could dump dirt from my flowerpots into the water and make mud. Cade was covered from head to toe in it!

This week was JAM Days at our church. JAM stands for Jesus and Me, and the program was just for preschoolers. Ella made lots of new friends, learned some new songs, and couldn't stop talking about "Jonah and the big fish" and all the fun she was having. I was helping out in the nursery and didn't get to watch anything until the closing program yesterday. I wish so much that I had grabbed my camera as we ran out the door. She stood right up there in the very front row and just sang her heart out. It was so precious!! She knew every word and motion to every song, and every few minutes would look over at me, smile, wave, and say, "Hiiii, Moooommmm!!" then go right back to jumping and singing. She said her memory verse perfectly. I couldn't help but get tears in my eyes, it was so sweet. She has come so far! A year ago, no way would my shy, little girl have stood up there in front of such a big crowd and do what she did yesterday. I am so proud of her!!

Ella loves to write words that are important to her and the names of all her family members. This is her favorite "list" to write at the moment:

She will draw this and say, "See? Ella and Cade are the kids. Mom and Dad are the mom and dad, and we're a family." =)

Vacation: the last of 'em

Too many additional cute ones not to share! We had dinner one night at Ponce Inlet Harbour, where the ocean meets the St. John's river. It was beautiful!

During dinner, several dolphins swam up really close to the deck of the restaurant. It was absolutely incredible! Of course, my camera was never fast enough to get a picture, but the sunset is gorgeous anyways.

The day we left the beach, we went to eat at Vince Carter's new restaurant for a late lunch (per Jared's request).

And what do you know? Vince Carter just so happened to walk in about ten minutes after we sat down! We were pretty much the only table in the whole place. Jared was in heaven!!

We spent the day Friday around the pool. Our resort in Orlando was fabulous and had all these fun, little fountains for the kids.

My little pool boy =)

While we were swimming, we looked over and watched the Atlantis shuttle launching from 48 miles away. Pretty amazing stuff!

Cade taking a break with Pappaw. Look at him waving- what a sweetie!

Dinner at Benihana's. Chopsticks, anyone?

It was such a fun night. Ella and Cade both loved the food and Cade said, "Woooowwww!" the entire time the chef was cooking. We were all cracking up. They even brought Ella and Dad ice cream and sang Happy Birthday in Japanese.
Pluto in hand and ready to fly the open skies...

Already an old pro at flying. All she needs are her sweet-tarts and an iPod and she's good to go! =)