Officially Summer

 The pool is open, thank heavens!  Emery spent every waking moment at the pool its opening weekend.  Bodie and I joined her all day Sunday since the weather was a little cooler and breezy--perfect for Little Man.  I'm thankful that Bodie seems to enjoy the pool lifestyle as much as his sister.

 We kicked of summer with our first wakeboarding/surfing session of the summer.  I lugged my camera all the way down there and then only took two pictures.  This is Taryn Scher up on a wakeboard for the very first time!  Ben and I went with a group of his golfing buddies, plus a dear high school friend of mine, and their wives and we had a great time.  Lots of good sports.

 Bodie has discovered the Exersaucer this past week.  He is three and a half months old and continues to be a joy every single minute.  He is the happiest baby I have ever met. 

 Emery and Ben harvested a bunch of green beans from our garden the other day.  We ate them last night and they were delicious!  Our tomatoes should be ready any day now.  This is our third summer planting a vegetable garden and Ben gets better results every year.  Emery loves helping him.  Every evening when Daddy gets home from work he takes E out into the backyard to water the garden and check its progress.  It's pretty cute, I have to say.

 Bodie loves his nightly bath.  It might be his favorite part of the day.  He was having so much fun in there one night this week that Emery insisted on joining him.  She continues to be a very sweet older sister.  She loves her brother and he is fascinated by her antics. 

 Emery had her gymnastics graduation yesterday at The Little Gym.  We've been taking year round classes for the past two years but are going to take the summer off so that Emery can try dance.  She's very adamant about taking dance classes, so we're going to give it a shot.  Her dance class is also at The Little Gym.  We love it there!  She starts in two weeks.  I'm probably just as excited as she is!  This will be her first class that is not a parent/child setting.  I hope she listens to the teacher! 

 Emery loves the balance beam and the uneven bars at gymnastics.  It's amazing to see her progress.  Harper is taking the same dance class as Emery this summer--obviously.  Those two cannot stand to be apart from each other!  They even want to dress alike lately.  It's pretty sweet.  First thing Emery asks in the morning is "are Harper and Davis coming over?"

 Geez--I just cannot get a decent picture with my kids!  Neither is looking at the camera and I'm losing my shirt. 

Receiving her medal of achievement from Miss Brittoni.  We love Miss Brittoni and The Little Gym!

What I do Instead of Sleep

 Several months ago I bought an emroidery machine so that I could monogram Emery's clothes (and now Bodie's) on my own instead of paying someone to do it for me.  Then, I discovered how much fun appliques are.  Now I am a fully addicted to my machine.  Thankfully, I have friends who are bringing me clothes to monogram for their children.  I recently did a bunch of dresses and tee shirts from Old Navy and Wal-Mart for some of Emery's friends.  A $9.00 dress from Old Navy and a $3.00 shirt from Wal-Mart are so much cuter with a monogram!

 I took a break from monogramming for my best friend from college, Katie, and her little girl, Ella, to come visit.  Since they were here Mother's Day weekend, my mom, Nanny, Alison, Hayes and Kelsey all came to stay, too.  We had so much fun that I didn't stop to take any pictures except for a few of the children (and Nanny).  Unfortunately, we had craptacular weather and the kiddos were confined to the house or porch the entire time, but it didn't seem to bother them one bit.  Below, Nanny checks in on Emery, Ella and Hayes blow bubbles.

 The children played so hard that Hayes passed out face down on the kitchen floor as Alison was getting her car packed up to leave. 

Thanks for coming to visit! 

Summer's Almost Here--Strawberries and Prom!

 Emery waited all year to go strawberry picking again.  She talked about last year's visit to Sandy Flat Berry Patch at least once per week throughout summer, fall and winter.  Our second trip did not disappoint!  The strawberries were plentiful and delicious.  Once again, Harper and Davis joined us, plus Emery's Kindermusik buddy, Eli.  Despite the fact the weather was super hot and muggy and bugs were swarming us, we all had a good time.

 After strawberry picking, Emery and I showered and headed next door to see our sweet neighbor, Katherine, get ready for prom.  We adore our neighbors and Katherine is Emery's favorite babysitter.  She couldn't wait to see her all dressed up in her "princess dress."  Katherine's mom, Jane, curled Emery's hair while Katherine dressed, which Emery loved.  Katherine looked stunning in her peacock blue gown.  What a great Friday!

Hayes is 3!

 Well, this is my first time using the new blogger and my pictures uploaded in the reverse order and I can't seem to get the cursor above this first picture.  Hmmm....well, I'm not about to reload my pictures, so this post will just have to be backwards.  In the picture above Bodie is showing off his Colorado State University socks.  Go Rams!  CSU is Ben's alma mater and to prove that I am not brainwashing our children to only love Notre Dame, I bought these socks for Bodie.  He wore them proudly at Hayes's Home Depot birthday party.

 Kelsey and Bodie

 Delicious cupcakes in Home Depot's signature colors

 The birthday boy and Emery hanging out after completing their bird feeders

 McKenna Calvo, Hayes and Emery ready to dig into their cupcakes

 Hayes with his two best friends, Jack and Connor, decorating their bird feeders

 Hayes and his daddy

 Listening to Miss Yvonne give instructions.  Hayes's birthday party was super cute.  Home Depot does these parties for free and they are incredible.  Each child got to build and decorate a bird feeder in our own private, roped off area.  Music was playing for the kiddos and each party guest was given a tube of bird seed to take home to fill their feeder.  Well done, Home Depot at Vinings!

 Dad/Opa with Bodie at Hayes's tee ball game

 Hayes racing to first

 How cute are these little three and four year olds???  The game was the funniest thing I have ever seen.

 Friday, April 20th, was Hayes's birthday so we did a small family party at Brian and Alison's house.  Emery and Hayes made pizzas and dessert was this delicious and adorable choo choo train cookie cake.  Happy birthday, Hayes!

The Cake

My good friend, Sarah Calvert, MADE the cake for Kelsey's baptism. It was stunning--and delicious! Sarah has only been making cakes for a short time but she's clearly got a knack for it. The fondant bow along with the lavendar monogram and piping were gorgeous. Having the cake made by a dear friend made the day even more special. Sarah is super modest so I just wanted to brag on her for a minute and give her credit for this wonderful creation!

A Fantastic Easter Weekend

Easter was really fun this year. Emery was totally into egg hunting, coloring eggs, visiting with the big bunny himself, etc. Also, having Bodie with us this year made things extra special. Hard to believe that last year he wasn't even on our radar and this year he attended the annual Thornblade brunch and egg hunt with us!

Emery has loved the Easter bunny ever since her first Easter. Santa Claus gave her a bit of a fright briefly, but she has never been afraid of the Easter bunny. The egg hunt and brunch at Thornblade Country Club is my favorite event of the year at the club. Thousands of eggs are "hidden" on the grounds and the children have so much fun finding them. It's great for the little ones.

Of course we attended with the Bell family. Emery and Davis can't bear to be separated for very long! Neither can Ben and Reggie....hee hee. Those two are double trouble when they're together.

Once again all attempts at a family picture were disastrous. Bodie was wanting to nurse and neither Ben nor Emery are looking at the camera. Oh well....maybe one day.

We headed down to Atlanta Saturday evening. The Easter bunny paid a visit to my parents' house! Emery and Bodie each received fun goodies in their baskets. Emery's favorite gift was a new "brella." Girl is obsessed with umbrellas. She has destroyed several. This one is super cute--it's from The Palm Gifts and is monogrammed. Presh. She also got a Strawberry Shortcake dvd, dry erase markers for her easel, a chocolate bunny, a Hello Kitty toothbrush and strawberry toothpaste, gum and a stuffed bunny. I asked the Easter bunny to limit the candy in the baskets this year and he obliged. Emery didn't seem to care.

Sweet little Bodie got some new rattles, car seat dangly toys and a light up ducky.

The main reason we went to Atlanta was to witness Kelsey Claire's baptism! I am honored to be her godmother (and Hayes's godmother). The baptism was held at Brian and Alison's house and the ceremony was performed by Brian's Uncle John, who is also Brian's godfather. It was very special. Most of both families were attendance which meant lots of little kids running around. Everyone had a great time and the ceremony was beautiful.

Brian, Hayes, Alison and Kelsey

My dad with Bodie

This picture cracks me up. Jake, the goddog, was right in the middle of the action during the ceremony. We all just worked around him. Too funny.

Emery and her daddy. Emery was so tired from playing with all of her cousins that she slept the entire car ride back to Greenville and then some. She never naps anymore, so this was a rare treat. Bodie also slept the entire time. I managed to read a bunch of 50 Shades of Grey. Juicy!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!