When Ty raids the suitcase:

Ty:  "'Wook! I'm Cate!!!"

The "Girl Date"-

Thursday the girls and I headed to Memphis for our "date night."

Too excited to smile (or so Halle claimed):

Much better:

 Ty stayed at the gym with JD (believe me, he was thrilled.)

 First, they got to pick a restaurant.  Olive Garden was their mutual choice. 

 Then for the fun-

The play was adorable- the cast was all High Schoolers and under (mostly elementary-aged), and for my "Annie"-loving girls, it was beyond perfect. 

Except it wasn't very long.

When it was over, Cate just sat in her seat with her arms crossed.  When I asked what was wrong she said, "That. Play. Was. SHORT."  But she brightened up and chattered on and on when I asked about her favorite parts.  :)

Little stuff.

These are the moments I'm afraid are slipping away:

The everyday stuff that we rush through.

The little things that I thought (when Halle was a baby) that I would remember forever. 

I like moving on- it's fun when each kid learns something new or needs little less from me.

But I hope I remember how little they were.  And goofy.  And fun.

 Because it's going by so quickly. 

(Halle- 2 months):

Life this week:

The new preschool corner is functioning:

Cousin Jake is staying with us and going to one JD's camps (in blue):

 We're spending as much time as possible in the pool: 

Flips!:

We're halfway through this crazy week and, as Halle said this morning, "The fun is about to start!"  We've got a special night planned tomorrow night (just girls) and then GranGran and Pepa are coming, and then we're heading out of town again! 

(Maybe there is a good reason it feels like the summer is flying by...)

Fishes

It's like we have two totally different girls in the swimming pool now.  For the past two weeks (since we came back from Louisville) they have been swimming like fishes and neither one wears floaties anymore (very often, anyway)!  It's crazy.  Today they were both begging me to throw them.  I love it.

This video is the first night we went swimming with our *new* kids.  :)

Sometimes I dream that he is me...

  "I'm like CORBIN!"  -Ty
(BMC player)

I thought it was hilarious awhile back when I asked someone if they remembered those glass Gatorade bottles with the skinny necks.  The girl looked at me like I had grown two heads.  For real- 30 is old...



Basketball Camp

The boys basketball camps started yesterday at BMC with the K-2nd grade clinic.

Do you see our little Kindergarten "boy" on the far left?/.

 Yep.  The lone girl at the boys' camp.

I have some experience with that.

My advice: stick your nose right in there, do your best, and follow directions.  No one will mess with you about being the only girl if they think you can play.

(Maybe a bit much for a 6-year-old, but from all accounts she did what I said!)

  B-E-E-F

(I've gotta tell you- when JD was explaining what that stands for (shot form acronym) I zoned out and flashed back to PE in the "little gym."  I admit, I zoned out then too.)

 Pitiful help side D:

She may not have been the best player there, but she was far from the worst.

(I know, I know- it doesn't matter.)

It was a pretty small group, but the coaches agreed it was plenty!  (haha!)

  Halle had a great time.  She was so sad that it was just one day.  :)

Baby Mine

28 weeks.

Things I saw yesterday:

It really is a boy.

He smiles.

He isn't just a little skeleton-baby in there.

Charlie

I am not a cat person. 

For the record. 

I do like animals, though.  And when this little guy was rescued (and shoved at us in a box- thanks friends!) at Halle's last t-ball game, I couldn't say no.

 He's tiny, and we're not 100% sure he'll make it without a mama.  But we're trying, and so far he's doing just fine.

 At first we weren't going to let the kids name him until we knew he would survive.  But after a few days of them calling him this and that (T-ball*, Frances, Grace, Noisy, etc.) I started throwing in suggestions too.  :)

So we started thinking of cats in books (a good place to start, right?) and we landed on good old Charlie- my favorite book Grammy used to read to us at her house.  Even though our Charlie isn't a tiger cat, the girls agree that he does like to play "tiger in the grass": 

And, as Cate pointed out- he's brown(ish-black) so Charlie Brown works too!  :)

 Not to worry, though- our real pet is still Indy.  (Haha!)  And she is happier than she's ever been, here at our new house where there's no fence and she gets smothered by little petting hands multiple times per day.

We have a stray dog that thinks it has adopted us too.  A little black and white thing that has been hanging out with Indy since we got back from Louisville.  He doesn't come very close when we're outside, but I'm thinking he's not leaving a place with fresh water, plenty of food, and a friend who shares the best shade.  (Sigh.)  Wonderful.

*T-ball was my personal favorite name too, but Cate was vehemently against it.  So we moved on.  :)

Six.

Halle wanted a "flower birthday."  So I interpreted that this way:

 

She claimed it was perfect.  :)

It worked out that our friends, the Henrys, were stopping by on their way home from the beach the night of Halle's birthday- so they joined in our little party!

The "Water Slide":

 All the outside fun made cake and presents a late-night treat.  (8:30!)

It's funny how having friends around while opening presents made even the new shorts exciting! 

 My all-time-favorite birthday present request: an Agility Ladder. 

You better believe we got that one for her!  :)

Happy, Happy Birthday to our smart, helpful, beautiful Big Girl.

God knew what He was up to when He gave us you, Halle. 

And we couldn't be more thankful.

Click to see:

Halle's 2nd Birthday

Halle's 3rd Birthday

Halle's 4th Birthday

Halle's 5th Birthday

Louisville: The Sprayground

The perfect end to an awesome weekend.

Thanks again, Joyce and Dale.  We love you!

PS- Remember this spray park?!  :)