Holden's last day of preschool!

I still can't believe Holden has completed his first year of preschool! My baby is growing up way too quickly. He absolutely loved attending NCWHS three days a week this school year. Each night before he went to bed, he'd ask if he had school the next day. If he did, he cheered. If the answer was no, we'd hear, "Awwwww, man!" I hope that he always enjoys school this much. He made a lot of friends and looked forward to seeing them. When I got home each afternoon, he'd tell me who was there and if anyone was missing. He learned and grew so much this year. He had a really hard time the first few weeks that it was over. He missed the other kids, and would ask, "Are you sure I can't go to school anymore, Mommy?" We have kept in touch with his good friend, Catherine, and her brother, Robert, so that helps. On the last day of preschool, the kids got to swim at the high school pool with their high school teachers! So fun! My principal was nice enough to let me leave for an hour so I could attend part of the party. My mom watched Hunter so that Jay and I could both go, and it could be all about Holden.

Here's my big guy, all ready to swim!

Holden and his pal, Catherine.

Lined up to swim with some friends.

Enjoying the pool

Swimming with Emersyn

Holden and Catherine ready to go eat pizza! (She is always dressed like this! Crack me up! Very accessorized and girly.)

I had to head back to my class after the swimming,

so Jay took some pics of the pizza party for me.

Reanne and Holden enjoying their lunch.

One of his high school teachers made him a CD with all of the photos that Holden was in during the year, and another one made the most awesome DVD with photos and video clips set to music. I actually cried when I watched it. I felt like I got to see the highlights of his entire year. Such a special keepsake. He loves watching it, and I know it will help him remember his first special year of school as he grows. Next year he will be attending the 4-PreK class at a church nearby. It will be a little more curricular and structured to prepare him for kindergarten, which I feel he needs. I am excited for him to experience things like field trips, performing in programs, show and tell, etc. I have heard wonderful things about the preschool from friends whose kids have attended. He will go Tues. and Thurs. afternoons, which should help prepare him for going all day the following year and not having naps. We are getting to the point where he does still take naps some days, but other days just rests or can stay up if we are busy. I hope that he will enjoy his new preschool as much as he enjoyed school this past year!

We are leaving for Texas this evening! It will be quite the adventure, as we are driving the van all the way to Austin, with my parents joining us. I am sure there will be some good stories to blog about. ;) I wanted to get these spring pictures posted before we left. I still need to post about Holden's end of the year preschool activities, and our summer activities to date, but those will have to wait until after our trip. Illinois doesn't have much of a spring. We have winter, and then all of a sudden it is in the 90's. Although this week has been unseasonably cool. These pics were taken between March and April...just random fun ones I like.

Jay and the boys spent quite a bit of time at 4 Seasons during the school year. Holden has swim lessons there, and both boys enjoy swimming with Daddy. Holden also LOVES to play some b-ball with Daddy. Hunter will watch or sometimes go play in the little daycare center they provide there. We went together one Saturday so I could see them in action. Holden calls Jay his "best pal." He will look at him and say, "Hey, Daddy? Best pals, right?" So cute!! He gets this from the Toy Story movies.

Best Pals :)

Daddy and his boys
Love the one below! My 3 favorite guys chillin' on the court. :)

This was, of course, before Hunter started walking. (Yes, he is FINALLY getting there-at 14 mos!) He would have been all over the court had these been more recent. These were back in the nice days when he was content to eat snacks in his stroller or sit with a ball on the floor.

Our two little athletes

Holden enjoyed his first soccer season this spring! We opted for Gametime Gym, mainly because it is indoors so it didn't matter what the weather was like. None of my pictures turned out great-the lighting was funny in there-but you get an idea of what he did each week. We too a break this summer so he can play tee-ball. He is also continuing gymnastics and swimming. We'll start soccer back up in the fall. His friends, Brady and Michael, also took lessons.

Practicing some ball steps with the coach.



Aren't the kiddos cute?!

Jay started softball about the same time a soccer. I took these pics at a park one day after soccer practice while Jay had softball practice. Our Wed. nights were super busy there for awhile! They consisted of running from Holden's practice to Jay's practices or games, with dinner at Moe's sometime in between or after those. Moe's is a yummy Mexican restaurant down the street from us, and kids eat free on Wednesdays. They usually have some type of entertainment, like face painting or balloons. We usually had friends join us. Anyhoo...here are some park pics.

Hunter loves playing in the wood chips, and he has no fear. Bad combo! Ha!
Holden is not a fan of the wood chips. Especially when they get in his shoes. :)

Meanwhile, Hunter is not above sampling the wood chips when hungry.

Sliding is serious business.

My busy boys

Some sweet pics I got of Hunter one afternoon while Holden was still napping. Holden would have been horrified that he was chewing on his pillow pet! :)

Hooray for playing outside!! This winter was THE LONGEST WINTER EVER!!! Love how they are both in this picture.

My happy little Hunt-man. Love him!!! He thinks it's a riot to climb up the slide.

My two boys in blue.

Love how these turned out of each of them. Looking forward to lots of fun in the great outdoors this summer!

Mother's Day weekend 2011

I'm finally up to my Mother's Day post! Ha! I have been a bit frustrated with blogger lately. For one thing, I suddenly can't upload pics directly from Picasa anymore. That's how I always blogged, and it was quick and simple; four pics at a time. Now I have to save them to my computer after editing, then load them one at a time, and it is slooooow. Blogger is also making big spaces between all of my pictures that aren't there when I edit. Weird?! Anyone else having issues? Part of the problem is also that I take SO many pics and I don't like to leave any out. :)

The night before Mother's Day, we had Hunter dedicated at our evening church service. Jay had to work on Sunday, so I am glad that they have the evening option now. Here we are, the "green" family. :)

Aunt Allie, Memaw, Papa and Grammy joined us at the service.


My dad took this picture of us right before we went up front. Love Holden's tongue. Nice.

Some pictures of us during the dedication ceremony. So thankful for these two little boys!

On Mother's Day morning, Holden got out all of the special things he had made for me at preschool that he had been hiding in his backpack. (I knew they were there because he would not let me look at them.) :) He also asked me to get something down from the garage shelf that Jay had helped him hide. Jay had told me that he didn't know what in the world it was, but that Holden was extremely excited about it. As Mommies always do, I knew immediately that it was his little footprint in some type of clay they had made at school. (He told me they put salt in it.) :) This was the first year that Holden was old enough to understand that the day was special, and he was so sweet and proud to give me his gifts. Years from now when he is older and able to buy me something really nice, it still will not top his first heartfelt, handmade gifts that he gave me at the age of 4.

My little Hunt-man can't make gifts for me yet, but he greeted me with his toothy, drooly grin and handed me a few soggy Cheerios. :) Sweet baby boy.

Holden also presented me with this flower that he made for me during Sunday school the night before after the dedication. He had already given it to me that night, but he went and found it and ceremoniously handed it to me again. Best flower I've ever received. ;)

My two very best gifts ever, and the reason I celebrate Mother's Day. Love these goofy boys!

The baby who first made me a Mommy, who celebrated my first Mother's Day ever with me, and who will always be my baby, no matter how big he gets.

The baby who made me a Mommy a second time over, and who taught me that love never has to divide; it multiplies. He will also always be my baby.

My boys and me. The funny thing is, that growing up I always pictured myself with little girls. Lots of pink, bows, and Barbies. And while I love all of the little girls in my life, (and have my pick of some perfect future daughter in laws! Ha!) I now absolutely cannot picture my life with anything but these two ornery, messy, loud, wild little boys! I actually get excited about things like combines, cement mixers, blue sand, lawn mowers, the claw truck, dinosaurs, and pirates, among other things. LOVE THEM!!!

The dynamic duo, all ready for Mother's Day brunch.

I love that they are starting to play together. Like how Hunter is sitting on the train tracks here? Holden tolerates him to a point-until he doesn't follow his directions or wrecks something he has set up. Then he lets out a loud, "MOMMY! Hunter's RUINING things again!!"

I had to add this because I find it hysterical. Holden decided he wanted to be a farmer and "ride" his Build-A-Bear Clydesdale. Just a tad on the small side for him!

Here we are at the annual Mother's Day brunch at the Double Tree hotel. It is my dad's treat to me each year; I load up on good food, he entertains the boys and makes sure I get to eat in peace. :) My mom, brother, Granny, and her friend, Walter, were also with us. Notice Holden w/ the spoon in his mouth-backwards. Typical. Lol!

My brother pulled off a surprise for my mom, as she thought he couldn't make it due to work. I wish I could have seen her face! She said she did a double-take. I was getting Holden's food and missed it. The boys love their Uncle Eric and had fun with him.

Walter and Granny. It was Walter's birthday, too!



Pics with our mom.

Hunter enjoyed his mealtime. He ate roast beef, watermelon, tater tots, cheese cubes, and some other random things off my plate. :) I remember the first year we did the brunch when Holden was this age. He ate 5 pieces of Jell-O. Period. Ha!

My wonderful parents, and my brother and me.

Papa and the boys. They enjoyed some courtyard statue/fountain entertainment while the rest of us kept eating. :)

The boys and me. We had fun hanging out in the courtyard after lunch, and also sampling the chocolate fountain!

Holden is just not a big fan of chocolate, (how he came out of me I'll never know!) but he was really proud to dip my strawberries for me.

The whole lunch bunch! Eric, Hunter, me, Granny, Walter, my parents, and Holden

Three generations of mommies. :)

In the evening, we visited with Memaw once Daddy got off work. She helped the boys fill water balloons.

Memaw and the boys

Memaw, Daddy, and the boys in the new ride she got them for Christmas.

I hope all of the special mommies that I know and love had a great Mother's Day!