Taking Care of their Babies

Both girls love to play with their babies, and the other night, the girls lined up every stuffed animal they could find along the room of Peyton's room (in order from smallest to largest). Peyton proceeded to read stories to them while Emily grabbed as many kitchen supplies from my cabinets as she could get her hands on. She was in charge of feeding the babies. They had such a good time playing and kept themselves busy for so long, that I had to go in the room to see what they were doing. When I saw what they had done, I had to snap a few pictures.

Fourth of July

We spent the Fourth of July in the pool at Patrick's house! Our friends, Ericca and Jack, came over with their girls Abi and Ashleigh and Peyton had her best friend, Emilee Hall, join the fun. All five girls swam all day long an got a lot of sun! Peyton has really turned into the mermaid this summer. Her swimming lessons at day camp really paid off - she swims under water, the backstroke, and can even swim in the deep with no floaties.

Emily was a little hesitant at first and was scared to death for anyone to let her go in the pool. Later in the day, she put on her "Froggy" suit and was good to swim in the pool by herself. She swam all the way to the deep end without any help. All the girls had a great time playing together but were exhausted by the time we went home. We had great food, great drinks and time with our friends - Happy Fourth of July!

Our first major accident

We had our first major accident since having kids. The girls and I were in a hotel room getting ready to go swimming while Shawn was away doing mission work. They were dressed and ready to go, while I went into the bathroom to change. I heard a horrible scream from Emily and knew something bad had happened. I rush out to see blood EVERYWHERE running down her face and immediately panicked.

The wound was very deep, and I knew it would require stitches, though I've never had stitches and never really been around anyone who has. I ran downstairs with an icepack on Emily's head and all of us in our bathing suits. The front desk tried to give me directions to the hospital but I was so shaky, I couldn't concentrate. Luckily, another preacher's wife walked into the lobby at that very moment and offered to drive us to the ER. We went to a local hospital and the ER staff was pretty efficient and helpful. Shawn finally arrived to help, and Emily was fine until they put in the stitches! It took three of us to hold her down while they gave her 10 stitches (not the dissolvable kind but the old-fashioned black thread kind). She screamed, cried, kicked and fought the entire time. Once it was over, she was fine and literally running around trying to get into more mischief.

Stitches just came out last week - that was another battle at the pediatrician's office. She has a pretty nice scar on her head but we're treating it daily and it heals and looks better every day. What a way to start off the summer!

Summer Vacation

The four of us went on summer vacation earlier this month. It started off in New Orleans with a conference for Shawn - we had a slight detour with an accident that required a trip to the ER (that's another blog). We took the girls to the aquarium and then rode the New Orleans street cars to City Park. From New Orleans, we went to Gulfport, MS to spend time on some of the beaches along the Mississippi gulf coast.

My sister joined us at the beach, and we took a one-hour ferry ride to Ship Island National Park where they have a beach and historic site. The girls got to see dolphins jumping in the water and had a great time playing in the sand and in the ocean. It was extremely hot and we all got sunburned, but we had a great time.

First Dance Recital

Peyton had her very first dance recital Memorial Day weekend. We all came out to see her perform - mama, daddy, Emily, Franny, Uncle Patrick, Aunt Colleen and Grandma. Her class did a great job on the big stage, especially since this was the first time they had ever performed without someone doing the routine with them. Afterwards, each student was presented with a trophy, which Peyton is very proud of! She got flowers after her performance and some dance prizes from Aunt Colleen including a necklace/bracelet, Angelina Ballerina books and a dance picture frame. Her baby sister knows the dance by heart, also. After a year of dance lessons, Emily watched enough to know exactly how to do the "Cuddly Duck" routine. Emily has informed us she wants to take dance lessons in the fall. This should be interesting!

Emily's End of the Year Program

Emily's WEE Care Class at nursery school had their end of the year program last week. The children performed by age group for the audience. Emily's class of two year olds sang two songs including "God is so Good." Apparently, that's one of Emily's favorite songs because she shouted it loudly over all the other children. You could only hear her yelling the song even with a microphone in front of the other children. The audience got a kick out of her enthusiasm. She had a great time showing off her class work and her friends. Her class was over last week, but this week, she moved up to the three-year-old class with some of her friends and seems to be enjoying it.

Pre-K Graduation

Peyton and her classmates graduated Pre-K this week with a ceremony filled with singing and dancing of some of the Pre-K students' favorite songs. Peyton loved wearing a hat and dancing to the "Macarena Months." She got a certificate from her teacher, and we all got to watch a great slide show of pictures from throughout the school year. Me, my mom and Shawn's parents all got to attend. We are so proud of her and are excited about her starting Kindergarten.