One Fish, Two Fish

Mark and I have two little girls that LOVE the swimming pool!  We have been to the pool at least once a week since the first of May and Gracie liked it but she was still getting used to her water wings.  Well, this weekend she figured it all out and had the best time!  She even tried to jump from the side of the pool to her Mark and ended up doing a complete front flip.  I am not going to lie, it scared Mommy a little, but when she came out of the water(and yes she did have her water wings on) Cy and Mark started clapping and telling her what a good job she did. She now gets in the water and takes off like she has been doing it for years, she may even be really swimming by the end of the Summer.  We got to Cy and Nichole's around 2pm and I know that Hayden did not get out of the pool until about 7pm and Gracie only got out to take a short nap in my lap for about 45 minutes.  You can imagine how tired they were when we got home!  I am so glad both of the girls love to swim because Mommy does too!  I have always been a fish in the water, I guess they get it from me!  It is always so much fun watching them try and learn new things.

Gracie swimming

This actually goes with the post below, but it wouldn't let me post it on the same one...


Click here to view this video

Memorial Day Weekend...

Wow, what a busy weekend we had.  I don't even think I can remember everything so I decided to just post a lot of pictures, which I am sure is what most of you want to see anyway!  Saturday, we went to Cy and Nichole's to swim and the girls had so much fun and were completely worn out when we left. 

Sunday, we had all of our friends and family over for a low country boil and fun.  Of course the rain tried to ruin our fun, but we didn't let it.  Mimi and Pop brought a tent to set up on the porch to cook under it and the rain did pretty much hold off until after everyone ate some really yummy food.  We had a variety of things...Shrimp, Corn, Sausage, Potatoes, Craw fish, Blue Crab and even Oysters.  If you left here hungry it was your own fault.  It was so yummy!!!!!!

Then on Monday we went swimming at Cy and Nichole's house again.  Steve and Leigh-Anne brought their boys over to swim too, so Hayden and Gracie were very excited!  Hayden and Jacob had lots of fun showing off how well they can jump in the pool and get all of us grown ups wet!  Gracie and Chase are about the same age and they had lots of fun too just playing around the steps! I have to brag on Gracie, we bought her some new water wings and she did much better and had lots of fun.  She was very proud of herself.  The girls didn't want to leave Cy and Nichole's but it was time to go home and try out our new slipping slide!   Hayden really enjoyed it and after it took Mark about an hour to teach her how to do it, she was slipping and sliding everywhere.  Gracie didn't enjoy it at all, she screamed the whole time Mark tried to help her slide!  Although, I think the person that had the most fun was Mark, he had to SHOW Hayden how it was done, and yes I did video it, but I am going to be nice and not share it with everyone. 

Gracie showing off her little yellow polka dot bikini:

Hayden getting all the rings for Bella:

Gracie spent lots of time with Pop just getting lots of loving:

Hayden and Jacob playing with the craw fish:

Look at her:

I love this one:

Getting more comfortable with the water:

Happy little girl and proud Daddy:

She was jumping in the water to Daddy:

Watch Me:

Good Job:

Gracie was not impressed, you can't tell but she is screaming and crying:

I said I wouldn't put the video on here, but I never said I would post a picture.  He had lots of fun:

Fun, Fun, and More Fun

Sunday we went to Cy and Nichole's house to swim all day.  Hayden literally stayed in the pool pretty much underwater for about 5 hours.  She was jumping in, swimming across the pool, swimming down to the bottom to get all the rings, letting her Daddy throw her in, and even letting Gracie push her in sometimes.  She had so much FUN! 

Gracie is still getting used to the water wings, she did much better this time, hopefully after a couple more times she will have it down.  She loves the water and really likes it when her Daddy is holding and playing with her.  She was such a good little girl, she didn't stay in the water the whole time, but she played very well around the pool.  She was completely worn out but refused to take a nap for the fear of missing out on something really fun. 

Cy cooked ribs for dinner, and they were by far the best ribs I have ever eaten.  Even Mark said they were the best that he had ever had too!  The girls enjoyed them also, but they enjoyed their popsicles even more.  Yeah, Cy had gone to the grocery store and bought popsicles because he knows how much Gracie LOVES them and Hayden too for that matter.  Cy bought the good kind, the ones with tons of sugar so you can imagine how much they liked his popsicles.  I usually buy the kind that are juice, it makes me feel better when Gracie eats 2 or 3 at a time!!!

After we had dinner, Mrs. Nancy brought Bella, Cy's niece to come play for a little while.  Hayden being the oldest had to show Bella all her tricks on how to swim.  It was cute!  Bella is still getting used to the big pool, like Gracie.  They had lots of fun and we pretty much had to make Hayden go home.  Gracie didn't put up much of a fight, she was exhausted.  I bet we were in the car for all of about 2 minutes before they were both sound asleep! 

We had so much fun and it is only the beginning of a fun filled Summer...

Hayden's Recital

Hayden's 1st Ballet Recital was one of the cutest things I have ever watched.  Hayden did an excellent job showing all of her friends and family that she is a great ballerina.  I was so relieved that she wasn't scared of the big stage and everybody staring at her.  It didn't seem to bother her one bit, she gracefully danced around the stage and smiled the whole time.  She was also the most beautiful ballerina there, and yes I am a little biased.  Her outfit was precious, her hair was perfect and she topped all that off with that priceless smile that she has...The one that makes you smile too! 

Mark and I sat in the audience as proud as we could possibly be.  I even cried a good bit of the time, but that is no surprise to anyone I'm sure.  I don't even know why I get so emotional but I do.  At the end of the Recital, Ms. Jordan gave Hayden a teddy bear that had on the exact same outfit that Hayden had on and then she came down off the stage and straight into my arms for a big hug and kiss.  I started crying watching her walk of that stage so proud of herself.  She did it and she was very confident about it! That is one of the moments that Mark and I will never forget and always treasure.  It was so great to see how far she has come since that first lesson, when I wasn't so sure she was really going to like ballet.  I truly was amazed at how wonderful she did and Addie and Sara too for that matter. 

Mark recorded the whole recital for her to watch later, I think she will enjoy watching herself and the other two little girls.  I tried to take lots of pictures, but would you believe that my batteries died after the first 5 minutes of the recital.  Thank goodness Aunt Kim was there with her camera, she saved the day and got some really great pictures of the princess ballerina. 

Hayden,

We are so proud of you.  You were amazing on that stage and you proved to yourself and us that you can do anything you put your mind to!  Great Job and We love you Princess!!!

Mommy, Daddy and Gracie Leigh

Here are the pictures of the Princess Ballerina...

Look at that smile...getting ready for her big performance...

Gracie saying Cheese, she wanted in on some of the action too...

Look at that angel in the middle...

She looks so graceful and beautiful, almost like she is floating across the stage...

Here is the matching teddy bear, it is so cute...

This is Ms. Jordan, Ms. Julia, Addie, Sara, and Hayden...After the performance...

Hayden and all of her beautiful flowers, Thanks Uncle Artie! 

Gracie turning flips, I think she thought that everyone was watching her instead of Hayden...

Proud Mommy and Daddy...

This is probably my personal favorite...

After the recital we all went to Applebees to eat some lunch and then everyone came to our house to celebrate Aunt Linda's birthday. Mimi and Pop were the first to show up with a BIG surprise for the girls.  When they got here, they came in the house and Hayden immediately went and looked out the window to see what was on the back of the truck and then she took off out the door.  I bet you are wondering what in the world it could have been... Well here it is, yes that is an airplane !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mommy and Daddy can play on it too.  Sorry Mimi and Pop had to stay up until 2am putting it together, but I bet it was worth it to see how much Hayden and Gracie loved it!!!  Thanks Mimi and Pop and Happy Birthday Aunt Linda, hope you enjoyed your dinner and cupcakes, We Love You!

And Later in the Evening....

The big kids had to play on it too, except as soon as we all got on it all the cameras started coming out...

Dinner and Swimming

Last night we went to Cy and Nichole's house to have dinner and swim, yes swim, I bet you can't even imagine how excited Hayden was...Gracie wasn't really sure what was in store for her.  The water was still a little cool but these two little girls didn't care a bit.  This was Gracie first time in the big pool with water wings and she wasn't too sure about them, she kept wanting to hold her arms up and then her face would go in the water, hopefully after a couple more times she will get used to them and be a great swimmer like her sister. 

At first we thought Hayden had forgotten how to swim, but with a little encouragement for her Daddy she picked up right where she left off last year.  She even showed off by jumping in the pool and swimming from one side of the pool to the other.  She is going to be a great teacher for Gracie, I bet by the end of the Summer we will have two little fish! 

We sure did enjoy spending time with friends, the food was delicious and the girls as always got spoiled rotten.  Cy and Nichole even had dessert for the girls after dinner...Ice Cream with Hershey's syrup!  Hayden is already planning to back this weekend and next week too! 

Here are a few pictures, the first set of pool pictures for the Summer, I'm sure there will be lots more...

Last Day of Preschool 2010

I have been so emotional today, almost as emotional as I was the first day of school.  I know it sounds crazy.  I really can't even expain it!  Hayden was so excited this morning, she had gifts for Mrs. Christie and Mrs. Sue that she took with her.  She wouldn't even let me wrap them up, she wanted to hand deliver them herself.  I tried to convince her otherwise, but then I thought that it will probably be more memorable for Mrs. Christie and Mrs. Sue when she hides the gift behind her little back and tells them she has a surprise for them.  When I dropped her off this morning she jumped right out of the car and never looked back as she was walking up the sidewalk.  I just watched her and thought to myself how precious she is.  She has learned so much this year, I mean it is really amazing how much and she has enjoyed every minute of it.

She is a little confused about today being the last day of school.  She keeps asking me "When will I be coming back" and I tell her...Well you won't be coming back to this school, you will be going to Mimi's school next year.  I figured that would make her a happy girl, she loves going to Mimi's school, but yesterday she told us that she didn't want to go to big girl school and that she just wants to stay with Mrs. Christie.  I told her that I bet her teacher next year will be a lot like Mrs. Christie and she will have maybe even more fun than she did this year.  I know she will be fine, and I am glad that Mrs. Christie was such a wonderful, caring teacher that my little girl doesn't even want to leave! 


Hayden...

You have no idea how proud of you we are and this is only the beginning.  You are truly an amazing, beautiful, caring, intelligent, and loving little girl...and that is only a few of the words I could use to decribe just how perfect you really are.  You just remember one thing FOREVER...Mommy and Daddy love more than anything in the world and we will always be there for you!!!

We Love You!
Mommy and Daddy

Gracie also wanted me to say that you are the best big sister in the world and that she loves you very much.  She is looking forward to spending lots of time with you this Summer.