Happy 4th Birthday, Laura!

Last week we celebrated Laura's 4th birthday. It is hard to believe how big and old she is getting. She gets more mature every day and seems so much more like a kid now instead of a baby/toddler/preschooler. She is about 3 1/2 feet tall and is about 38 pounds. Her vocabulary is HUGE...tonight she told me that she had a "really good sense of smell!" Where does she come up with this stuff?!? She still has a few "Laura-isms" that I refuse to correct. She calls her art easel a "weasel", the hula hoop is a "lua hoop", because is "e-cause", and pretend is "be-tend"! When she gets really cold she always says, "shiver me timbers!" and when something is really funny she says, "that cracks me up!" She cracks us up all the time and any time we laugh, she is sure to say, "don't laugh about me!" Anyway...here are some pictures from her many birthday parties!!

This is Laura and two of her best buddies from Richmond, where we had her first party. We hosted a handful of kids at Chuck E. Cheese and they had a blast eating pizza and playing games!

Happy Birthday, Laura! This party was about a week before her actual birthday so we had many confused questions from Laura about when she be would 4. She was pretty sure she turned 4 at this birthday party and then turned 5 at the party on her actual birthday!

We went to Chuck E. Cheese two years ago and she was scared to death of the big mouse. This year she couldn't wait to hold his hand (with another good friend) and have her picture taken.

Laura's last day of preschool picnic was also her school birthday celebration. We had a great time at the park and Mommy is so excited that Laura can now pump her legs and swing all by herself!!

Laura received a special birthday necklace and her whole class and all the mommies sang Happy Birthday.

It is hard to believe she only has one more year of preschool...kindergarten will start next July...just over a year away:(

We had Laura's last party at the lake with Nana and Granddad...and everyone was very excited to be celebrating.

Laura really made out at this party...a new "big girl" bike and her "weasel":)

Laura has been asking repeatedly for a pinata, so her wish was granted at the party. It was a cool one with tons of ribbons at the bottom. You just kept pulling ribbons off until you found the one that opened the trap-door that let out all the candy. Much safer than the old-fashioned kind!

Laura did a great job learning to ride her bike...with lots of help from Daddy and Granddad.

We did a princess cake at Chuck E. Cheese, so this cake was her other favorite thing...Tinkerbell!

I was getting tired of Laura not smiling for pictures, so for this one I insisted she say "cheese!" She practically growled it out and this was the resulting picture:)

A sunset boat ride is the perfect way to end a long birthday celebration.

Floating around on the lake is always a favorite thing to do...and we tie the rafts to the boat so no one has to work too hard to get back to the ladder:)

My two cutie-pies!

Check back soon for pictures of the rest of our May activities...it has been a very busy month!

Happy Mother's Day

My fourth Mother's Day started out with a lovely Mother's Day Tea at Laura's school on Thursday. The kids (and teachers) had all worked so hard to make a delightful time for the mommies:) Laura made me a flower pin, beaded necklace, place mat, garden flag with a butterfly made out of her hands and foot, and a bouquet of flowers made out of cupcake wrappers, pipe cleaner, and buttons. We had a great time!

On Friday, we headed to my parents house for the weekend. We had a wonderful time and were so glad to spend some relaxing time together.

Laura is a little monkey and climbs just about everything in sight! This rock-climbing wall was perfect for her:)

We took a walk along Main Street and did some shopping. Laura loves to walk on retaining walls, curbs, anything that is a little higher than the rest of the street/sidewalk. Fortunately for her, Main Street has lots of these walls so she had a grand time on our walk!

There is also a little park on Main Street that we stopped at to let Laura run off some of her energy. She decided to make a salad in this statue's basket. It kept her busy for a good 20 minutes. It is so funny the things that hold a preschooler's attention:)

The last part of our day was spent at a bluegrass festival. Laura loved the music and also really enjoyed watching the dancing demonstrations. I think if she was a little older, she would have gone on up and learned how to square dance! She also got her face painted...a beautiful butterfly in a bunch of flowers.

We went to church with my parents on Mother's Day and then out to a delicious brunch. It was so special being able to celebrate with my mom and my little munchkin!

I also thought I would include this picture that Laura drew on our way to my parent's house. She has become quite the little artist. This is a picture of a horse, herself (with a purple bow in her hair!!), the sun, grass, and she wrote her own name. We are very proud of her!!

Visiting Family

We have kept the road hot the last few weekends visiting family. Our first trip was to Florida to visit Laura's great-grandparents. Unfortunately, they were very sick while we were there so there are no pictures of them with Laura (we didn't let Laura get too close for fear of getting the same virus). But we do have other pics from our trip...enjoy!

 We set up this baby pool in my grandparents back yard. Laura had a blast playing in it every afternoon. I can't believe how grown-up she is looking. She is as long as the pool!

We took a boat ride on a fresh water spring. The water was beautiful and we saw lots of fun wildlife. About half way through the ride, Laura said, "when is this going to be over?" I guess she wasn't loving the wildlife:)

We visited Weeki Wachee Springs, home of the world famous mermaids! The mermaids perform in a lagoon and we watch from behind glass. The show this year was "The Little Mermaid" (which Laura and I had just watched so she was very familiar with the story). Laura loved the whole thing, except the "sea witch". Laura said, "her scared me and made me jump from my seat!!"

A sunny shot of Nana, me and Laura

Last weekend we drove to Ohio to see our niece graduate from college. It was great to see family that we haven't seen in a while and help our niece celebrate her wonderful accomplishment.

The whole family (those who were able to come, anyway...we have a much, much, much larger family!!) after graduation. Tiffany and her roommates prepared a reception for their families after the ceremony...a very thoughtful way to thank her parents for the help and support they gave during her 4 years at school.

Tiffy and her mom and dad celebrating!

Our little family enjoying a wonderful afternoon on the Cedarville Campus.

Laura and her MeMa.

We are heading out again this weekend to visit our parents for Mother's Day. Pictures will be coming next week!

Easter Eggstravaganza!

We had a really nice Easter. My parents came down from Virginia for the weekend and we had fun shopping, playing, and eating! Enjoy the pics...

Our neighborhood had an Easter Egg Hung and we were late (we thought it was cancelled because of the rain). Fortunately some nice parents took some eggs out of their kids overflowing baskets and threw them on the ground for Laura to collect:)

 A cute picture with the Easter Bunny at the neighborhood hunt.

 We had a fun time dying Easter Eggs...but I think Laura got a little bored:)

 An annual tradition...Nana and Laura made their Easter bunny cake.

Our church had a large Easter Egg Hunt and Block Party the day before Easter. Laura collected way too much candy for a 3 year old to eat, so Mommy and Daddy enjoyed some after Laura's bedtime every night:)

Laura has become very brave...at one point not that long ago she wouldn't even go down a normal sized slide. Now she has no fear climbing up...

 and sliding down slides that make Mommy a little nervous:)

 Easter morning and finding the Easter basket.

 A picture after church with Nana and Granddad.

 And a closing shot of our happy little family.

Hope you all had a great holiday weekend!