Arianna is FIVE!

 

I’m so behind on blogging so the next few posts will have many more pictures than words.  Must get these post done before I have a four year old again!

Arianna was very excited to turn five and thought that being five gave her the ability to do so much more and to be so much bigger.  She thought I didn’t need to walk her to her class anymore, that she was taller in her carseat and that’s why the sun wasn’t shining in her eyes, and thought it was no longer necessary to hold hands crossing the street.  I let her have a little leeway on her birthday, but let’s just say all of these things are not still the norm.

We took cupcakes to Arianna’s class, she had balloons delivered to her class, and we had a princess birthday party that night with family.

  

 

 

Happy 5th Birthday sweet Arianna!  We are so thankful for you and just can’t help but love you more and more everyday!

First Timers

 

Courtesy of Papa and Mimi, we took Arianna and Bernie to their first big league game – Rays vs. Orioles.  We only sat and watched the game for 4 innings, there is just so much other fun stuff to do around the field. 

Pre-game

 

Hitting up all the activities around the field….

Sitting pretty for a caricature drawing.       

 

Enjoying the close up seats

 

Couldn’t skip batting practice

 

Our cheering must have helped – Rays won 8-1!

There are definitely 2 new Rays fans in the house, but only for 4 innings and a lot of stadium adventures!

Survival Kit

 

This is what the teacher gave the parents as we walked away from our children on their first day of school.

 

And this is what we found inside:

Kleenex, Hershey “kisses”, a magnet with the teacher’s info and a little note that reads

I will miss you today, but Mrs. Nigh and Mrs. Lazzeri will take very good care of me.  I packed you a few things to help you this morning. I love you and will see you in the car line at 11:30.

Very creative!  And I haven’t cried….yet.

First Day of School

 

Arianna started VPK – Voluntary Pre Kindergarten – today.

I waited until this morning to tell her that today was the first day.  I wanted her to get a good night’s rest.

 

She said she is ready to go back tomorrow.  I think Bernie liked the alone time with Daddy and is ready for his sister to go back too. 

Hot Day

 

In an effort to keep cool, we brought out the slip ‘n slide yesterday.  Other than wasting a tons of water, it’s a lot of fun for the kids.  They get covered in grass and dirt and absolutely LOVE it!  We got cleaned up and headed to Chick-fil-A for some lunch.  The cow was out, but Arianna did not cry even one time.  She didn’t want to get close to him or let him look at her, but we are making improvements.  Mimi and Papa praised her for being so brave this time.

 

The kids got to pick out some candy for our movie night later on, but only get the candy if they eat their dinner (which is always a struggle for Bernie and never for Arianna).  Arianna finished her dinner and we were waiting on Bernie to finish his before any candy was opened.  I glanced at Bernie’s corn dog to see how much he had left (about half) and then 2 seconds later he told me he ate it all.  It just so happens that Domino was suddenly chowing down on something.  Obviously I put 2 and 2 together and guess who gave their dinner to the dog?!!?  Bernie was smiling and still told me he ate it all.  Someone’s candy remains unopened. 

Marty came home early from work last night, actually right after that happened.  He couldn’t help but think it was funny.  I guess it was a pretty smart move….too bad I never had an indoor dog to give my Tijuana casserole to.

bye bye long locks

 

Marty took Arianna to get her hair cut today.  It’s been about 2 years and from all the swimming this summer it was definitely dried out from the chlorine. 

It’s a little longer than shoulder length and looks really good.  Before I saw it, I was a little upset that we got that much chopped off because I have always loved LONG hair, but once I saw it, I realized it looks so fresh and not stragly anymore.

This weekend we will load up on a few school supplies during our tax free weekend and get Arianna all set to start preschool.  I’m thinking about not telling her the exact day school will start so she will sleep that night.  As a child, I never slept well the night  before the first day of school, so I’m hoping that trait didn’t get passed on to her.

Bernie has been telling me that he is going to school too.  It will be nice for him and Marty to have some father/son bonding time while Arianna is at school (but not too much since her school only goes from 8:15 – 11:15).  I think Marty will do “school” for him at home to give him some of that individualized attention. 

We are thinking about signing Bernie and possibly Arianna up for some sort of soccer or team game that will start in the fall.  Most “games” are on Friday nights, which really won’t allow Marty to attend, so we will have to wait and see.

I would really like to increase the frequency of my blog posts, but I can’t promise anything.  Most of the time they will be about our day, but I like this blog, not necessarily for entertainment but a way for me to record the kids day to day activities, so when they are all grown up I have something easy to look back on.

Swimmers

 

After 6 weeks of swim lessons, we have 2 great swimmers who no longer need floaties or really much assistance in the water.

Take a look or yourself:

swimming across the pool

 

They are so grown UP!

Summer is flying on by

I cannot believe it is already July 19th.  I don’t know where the time has gone – it has not gone towards blogging.  Here is my attempt to update…at least through June.

My grandparents came to visit in early June and to help celebrate my mom’s birthday.

We love the time we get to spend with our Paps and Grandma Williams.  Thank you guys for coming again and again. 

 

We also got to see my sweet, beautiful niece Alexa graduate from 8th grade. 

So grown up and off to high school she will go!

Next up, was our trip to my hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana.  I figured out that I hadn’t been there in about 8 years. 

My grandma makes this amazing bread.  I only get it when I visit Shreveport or my parents visit and bring some back to me (which is usually a couple of times a year).  Grandma ensures that my parents bring some back to me and that they don’t eat it before I get it.  While we were there, Saturday morning was bread making day – so Grandma gained 2 extra helpers!  Learning the legacy…

Roll it

Pat it

Bake some bread for you and me!

 

We had some fun times with Aunt Lisa, Uncle Johnny , Kyle and Jacob – unfortunately I didn’t get pictures of everyone.

Uncle Johnny grilling out

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Aunt Lisa enjoyed collecting fun toys for the kids to play with and excited to play with the kids.  They even babysat the kids one night and kept them completely entertained the entire time!  Thank you Aunt Lisa and Uncle Johnny for loving on the kids and taking time out to entertain the rest of us.

My cousins Jacob and Kyle (not pictured ) even joined in helping with entertaining the little ones. Thanks for sacrificing your back, Jacob.

This was Father’s Day – my dad was with his son and daughter for Father’s day – probably another occurrence that hasn’t happened in at least 8 years.  I placed us right in front of the sun for the picture so we are all squinting, but Grandma is the smartest and just looked the other way

I’m so sad, but I really didn’t get any pictures of Uncle Rick, Aunt Jeanna, Rick, Susie, Trey, Becky, Hannah, and Katie.  But we got to visit with each one of them and Trey had to share his toys (thanks!) and did a great job answering all of the many questions from Arianna and Bernie.  Uncle Rick and Aunt Jeanna are so generous as always and let us practically take over their pool, showed us their beautiful lakehouse, had a fish fry (yum!) and took us to see sweet Katie.

What a wonderful visit, despite the 17 hour overnight car ride each way and 105 degree heat.  I sure hope it won’t ever be 8 years or even close to that before I visit again. 

The day you've been waiting for

A NEW POST!


Life has definitely been busy and I have just not made the time to blog. Lots to catch up on. Lots of pictures and few words ahead!

Here's a recap of May:


Josh and Ashley came to visit! Lots of time in the pool.




Backyard water play.








Marty's birthday was this month and I forgot to get a picture. However he did get baptized in the Gulf of Mexico a few days later.


The onlookers are ready to cheer him on.





Hard to see the details of Marty's baptism but beautiful scenery.





Arianna likes to help Daddy cut the grass.


A little backyard frontyard baseball.


And as you can see, Bernie had some fans cheering him on.


That's a brief May update and hopefully that'll hold you over a few more days until I have a June update.

Can I Have Candy?

Those were the most often heard words on Easter. Directed at Marty and me, coming from my children's mouths. I guess that's to be expected when they get 3 Easter baskets full of candy.

Overall it was a great day, in celebration of our Risen Savior!
Arianna started telling her own version of the Resurrection within the week before Easter. Her perspective was quite adorable. She called the stone at the tomb a big bowling ball that rolled away so Jesus could be alive again.

Here's a bunch of pictures from Easter weekend.











Mimi made Arianna's dress!


On the prowl for eggs


Easter puppies!





Luke 24:23
And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive.