Book Bags!!!

While in Wal-Mart yesterday, I noticed that all the book bags were out and thought we better go ahead and pick some out before the really good ones get gone!  Hayden and Gracie both wore theirs out last year, and it is always fun to pick out a new one every year.  Or at least I used to think so. 

Well we started looking and at first Gracie wanted Minnie Mouse and Hayden couldn't decide between Princess, Hello Kitty, Mario and Angry birds...........so we stood there forever trying to decide.  So I told them to look on some of the other aisles.  Well, we found two perfect book bags.  A pink one for Hayden and a purple one for Gracie.  They were so excited about these book bags for many reasons...1.  it came with a matching lunch box  2.  it came with a matching ruler  3.  it came with a matching pencil   and 4.  it came with matching note pad!!!!  Talk about exciting.Right?  We also picked out a few other pencils and pads for them to play with at home. 

They literally played with these book bags all afternoon.  They took them outside on the porch and played with them for hours, I know!  It was so cute.  They were playing dress up, baby and school all at the same time.  Mark even asked me "Did you play like this when you were little"  I said "of course that is what little girls do"  all little girls want to be a princess, mommy and school teacher!  They do have two great imaginations, it is quite entertaining to watch them sometimes!

So Excited!

Hayden has been asking me for months now...Why can't I drink out of a real glass like you and Daddy do at Restaurants?  I told her that she is still to little for real glasses and she might spill it all over the table without a top and straw on it!

Well, while we were all eating at the Owl Cafe in Apalachicola....She got a real glass and it was a real nice glass.  You should have seen the smile on her face.  She really thought she was something.   Of course I was scared it would get knocked over or even broken, but she did great with it.  Every time she took a drink she smiled and gently placed it back on the table.  She is really growing up on Mommy and Daddy!

Yesterday, we went the Chinese Place to have lunch with Mimi and Pop and once again the waitress brought her a real glass.  Her smile was priceless!  She smiled the whole time again!  I love how she wants to be so grown up, but I still want her to be my little baby!!!

Wilburette

There are two post for today, trying to get caught up again!

Back in April Mark brought a wild hog home with him from his job.  Needless to say I wasn't exactly pleased with his decision to put this wild hog in our dog pin to fatten up to eat!  Wilburette doesn't like anyone to come close to her, she will get very defensive!  She has calmed down a lot in the past three months, but I am not going to close to her!  

Wilburette has really been putting on the weight too, she was almost eating size, well that is according to Mark anyway. 

Well, when we got home from the beach, we found out why Wilburette was getting so fat...........and it wasn't all the good food we had been giving her!  She was pregnant and had 6 little baby pigs on Saturday, evidently right before we got home.  Hayden and Gracie are so excited about these baby pigs.  There are 3 of them that look a lot like chipmunks...so Aunt Kim and Hayden named them Alvin, Simon and Theodore! 

Last Days at the Beach 2012

Well, it rained the last two days we were at the beach...but we still found some fun things to do!  Friday afternoon in between some storms, we were able to do our yearly family pictures.  I found the perfect dresses for the girls at Gymboree and a matching polo shirt for the Man!  Aunt Kim got lots of great pictures of our precious babies.  Colton wasn't really into pictures, he just wanted to run into the ocean!!! 

We also did fireworks on Friday night, Gracie is a little scared of them but she did good this time.  Next year we will have to stop and buy some really good ones for them to see!  We also tried to ghost crab hunt, but there were none to be found this year.  We found one hole but nothing else!

Saturday, we drove home and Colton actually slept for about 3.5hours, which made the ride a little easier.  The girls watched movies.  It was a pretty good ride.   We really enjoyed our week at the beach, but we decided that we should be able to go for a month every year instead of a week!!!  Thank you Mimi and Pop, Kim, Linda and Grandmama for everything you do for us and all the help with our babies.  We love all of you very much!

Scalloping

Well Mark, Kim and Hayden wanted to back scalloping again today and so I ended up after much debate going along.  I wanted to go but I kept talking myself out of it, finally I just decided that I needed to go and try it.  I always tell the girls to try new things, so I figured I would take my own advice.  We rented another Kayak so that we could all go... I was really nervous about all of it, I really don't know why but I was.  I am so glad that I went and had the experience with them.  It is really neat, although Hayden said that it was much better yesterday.  It was very windy and because of the wind it made it feel cold today and the water wasn't as clear, but it was still fun.  I got to see lots of different things and fish but I was also very nervous about all the grass that I had to swim through.  The grass was the worst part of it but Mark said that if we could have gone into deeper water it isn't like that...I probably would like that a little better but then Hayden wouldn't be able to touch.  I actually enjoyed the Kayak a lot, it was a lot of fun and very peaceful.  I will definitely be sore tomorrow from it though, it is probably the most exercise I have done in a long time. 

Mark and Kim ended up finding about 20 scallops today, which was better than the 7 they found yesterday!  I am pretty sure that we will be doing it again before we have to come back home! 

Colton also got to try out the paddle board today with Aunt Kim.  He loves the ocean so much, he isn't going to want to go back home!  Look at my handsome Little Man!!!

Beach Day 4

Kind of been a rainy afternoon today but we got in some good beach time first thing this morning.  Just look how excited my Little Man was!  He is still loving the ocean, he runs down to it and sits down and just waits for it to get him.  Then he gets up and runs away and does it all over again!   We went out for lunch today and have played some Uno, blocks and read a few books this afternoon! 

Hayden Scalloping

Hayden went scalloping for the first time ever with Daddy and Aunt Kim this morning.  I think to say she loved it would be an understatement.  Mark said she was a little nervous at first and hung on to his shirt but after that she was ready to go at it all by herself.  She got to see an angel fish, little bitty starfish, a giant loggerhead turtle, purse crabs, mullets, pin fish, tulip shells, whelks, and horse shoe crab.  She wasn't scared at all and was fascinated by all it.  They only found 7 scallops but it was all about the experience.  She is ready to go back out again tomorrow and this time I think I will try it out too. 


Hayden's Little Starfish!

Beach Bound

I am trying to catch up on the blog so there are several post for today!  We left for the Beach at 4:45am on Saturday, our thinking was that they would all sleep half way....well....not so much!  They were all 3 wide awake for at least the first two hours, then they all slept for maybe an hour and then Colton pretty much yelled, not fussed, but yelled and talked very loudly the rest of the way!   He screams louder than the girls ever did, it is a piercing scream that really hurts your ears.  So as you can imagine we were relieved when we fianlly arrived at our destination.  It took us exactly 6 hrs and I have to brag because we only stopped once to pee pee...I was so proud of the girls.  They watched movies and were on the best behavior.  They only asked 1,232,323 times "are we there yet" but that was to be expected.  They were so excited!!! 

Hayden loves it all....the ocean, sand, and pool!  She just enjoyes everything.  This year she has been learning to use Aunt Kim's paddle board and she is so pleased with herself that she can do it all by herself.

Gracie loves the sand and the pool.  She likes the ocean until it gets in her eyes and then she is pretty much done with it, but she will play in sand in the shade forever...she is a smart girl.Right! 

Colton loves it all like Hayden.  He runs to the ocean and isn't scared at all.  He plays in the sand, in fact he tries to do head stands in the sand.  He also loves the pool but he really likes the freedom of walking around on the beach.  He has walked and walked and walked.  He has been sleeping very well since he is wearing himself out! 

We have 3 beach and water babies!  It is going to be the best week ever!!!!

Hayden and Gracie are also excited that they get to sleep in bunk beds at here at the beach house.  The top one is a twin size and the bottom is a double!  Gracie is sharing her bottom bunk with Aunt Kim.  Poor Aunt Kim, hope she is getting some good sleep.  My litte Gracie is a snuggle bunny!  I hope she knows how excited and happy they were that they were sharing their room and beds with her!  They sure do love her and love spending time with her!

They all 3 three love having our whole family in one house, they can pretty much find someone to do whatever it is they want.  Mimi and Pop, Linda and Grandmama have all gotten some good loving from all 3 of them at some point everyday!  It is funny how they like to get individual attention from each one of them too.  It is going to be a great week, hopefully it won't go by too fast!

Princess Hayden

Hayden has officially been crowned a Princesss!  The last day of Princess Camp was last Thursday and she dressed as Cinderella, which was the perfect choice since Cinderella's horse and carriage came to give her a ride.  She really enjoyed her week at camp, although I do believe she was very quiet and shy because she didn't know anyone...but it was good for her to learn how to meet new friends too!  Mimi and I went to the Tea Party and the ceremony in which she was crowned.  It was so sweet and cute.  She was as shy as ever and played with her hair the whole time(that is what she does when she is nervous).   She got crowned and recieved a certificate saying that she is a Princess now!  The tea party was amazing, all the food and cake was yummy, the volunteers really worked hard to put it all together for these girls. 

The horse and carriage arrived while we were having our tea party and we were abe to sneak a peek and take a view pictures before anyone else saw it.   The horses were huge and beautiful, and the carriage was amazing.  Hayden loved it!  She got to go for a ride too, they went around in a circle and the ride lasted about fifteen minutes. 

She can now offically be called Princess Hayden Christine Stancil!!!

Day 3 Princess Camp - Ariel Day

Ok so today was by far Hayden's favorite day at Princess Camp....I bet you can't guess why....It was Ariel day....which means it was also WATER DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    Anyone that knows Hayden knows that she is a true water baby!  I think it had something to do with how much I took bubble baths when I was pregnant with her....even then she would kick around a move a lot in the bath tub!  It was one of my favorite memories of my pregnancy with her. 

They had all sorts of things...slipping slides, water hoses, and beach balls and I couldn't really tell what else was out there, and as I have said before, Hayden only tells you what she wants you to know about!  I know she had lots of fun because she had the biggest smile on her face when I picked her up today!

The funny part is...she got in the car and I knew she was really wanting to tell me something by the look in her eye.  She says "Mommy guess what"  so I asked her "What" and she says " We had a pinata today and I was the one to break it open"  I said "really" she says "yes, Mommy all the other girls wanted to know how I did it and I told them because I play softball and I know how to swing a bat"  I busted out laughing, she was so proud of herself.  I called Mark immediately to tell him the story and then I told him that our little Princess might be teaching all the other princesses how to be a tomboy instead of a princess this week.  She showed them how to shoot a bow and arrow on Monday and now she is teaching them how to swing a bat correctly!!!!  I love it, though.  I am so glad she can be a Princess and a tomboy!!!

Oh and she reminded me this morning that we have 2 more days until it is beach time!

Day 2 Princess Camp - Cinderella

Tuesday was Cinderella Day at Princess Camp.  Hayden made a fan and posed with it for her Daddy last night, trying to look all sweet and like a princess!  He couldn't help but laugh at her!  He said I hope this is not what they are teaching them at Princess camp, to sit around a look beautiful and wave a fan around, I couldnt' help but laugh them...I mean really what does he think a princess does????  She is enjoying her week, but she only shares information when she wants too, she gets it very honest...she is just like me and I have come to realize that she really does act just like me!  We are so much alike sometimes...I just have to walk away and smile and shake my head to myself! 

She has really enjoyed Princess Camp but she is really ready to leave for the beach!!!!  She wakes up every morning and the first thing she tells me is how many more days we have until we are at the beach!

Princess Camp ---Pocahontas Day

We have had a calmer past two weeks around our house, but today was the first day of Princess Camp for Hayden.  Gracie wasn't old enough to go this year, but she seems okay with it.  Hayden had a great first day at camp, it was a little different because she didn't know any of the other girls....so she is making some new friends this week also.  Today was Pocahontas Day, so they had popcorn and Indian bread for their snack and get this she won the prize to the game they played today because she could shoot the bow and arrow!  Mark and I laughed because she is probably the only little girl there that knows how to shoot one and knew what it was!!!  That's my girl, good at everything!  She seemed to really enjoy today and it was good for all of us to have a little organization to our schedule! 

Tomorrow is Ariel Day!  Can't wait to see what she learns and does tomorrow!

Colton is starting to talk a little more.  He is trying to say thank you, sounds more like ta-you and he says Mama all day long, and bye bye and waves while he does it.  Mark and I noticed yesterday, that when Gracie left the room, he started yelling for her.  We couldn't make out how he was saying it though!  Today, we stopped by Mimi's office and Hayden went in to go potty and he said Hayden, and he said it perfectly!  My Little Man is getting so big!

Lots Of Swimming

Well since it has been above 100 degrees for the past week, we have been doing lots and lots of swimming.  We have two kiddie pools, one for the girls and one for little man.  He is way to brave in the pool, so I bought him one that he could get around better in.  He seems to like it but still likes to be with his big sisters too! 

We also went to Aunt Kim's to swim twice last week.  Colton is enjoying his float for a little while then he wants out but overall he is a good boy!  The girls are still little fishies, Gracie is doing very well learning to swim without water wings. 

Saturday, we went to Mimi and Pop's house for the 4th of July party.  The girls were so excited but they were more excited about being able to spend the night with Mimi and Pop for Pop's birthday.  Colton had lots of fun and he even went down the slide with water wings on and absolutely loved it.  He would come up from the water, look around and say "more".   Gracie finally jumped off the diving board, with her water wings on but it was a major accomplishment for my shy little girl.  Hayden practiced with her fins, so that she can go scalloping with her Daddy and Kim this year, oh and Mark wants me to do it so bad, that I have almost given in!  He says that I would love it, but I am not so sure! There was lots of yummy food and great company!  I think everyone had a great time.  Colton fell asleep before we even made it out of the driveway! 

It was a great weekend even though it was 105 degrees!  Looking forward to more swimming for on the 4th of July!!!!