Happy Birthday Cameron!

We blinked and our baby is 2!

Tool Man

He's looking for the loose screw....

P.S. The Messicks have joined the blog world. Check out their blog at http://MessiMates.blogspot.com.

Baby Carpenter is here!

Our dear friends Kristin & Cory had their first baby today! It’s a girl! Paige Jane Carpenter, weighing 6# 12 oz. Both mom & daughter are doing great. We can’t wait to meet her in September in UT!

Congratulations Kristin & Cory!

Proud parents (pic from last summer in NC)

Lots of Pictures

Here's some highlights from the party. I will be posting pictures from the party for days b/c there were lots of cute ones!

Party all the time

Today we celebrated Cameron's b-day with a big party at the pool. We had friends old & new and lots of neighbors join us for a great day. Cameron sang 'happy to you' on his new guitar. When my little brother, Aaron, was 3 he also used to sing 'happy to you'. I guess it's a family trait.

Grandad & Grandma Holly also arrived in town for the big party. The kids were thrilled to have them for the weekend. Cameron had a little trouble pronouncing Grandad, so he modified with GrandmaDad. Ken didn't mind a bit.

Spanky had a little ER vet visit tonight. He's fine, but has a cone for a few days. I'm too tired to download the 250+ pictures from tonight & sift through them to post on the blog. Lots of pix tomorrow!

Thanks to everyone for a wonderful celebration!

Surprise Face

Serpil, the nanny next door is teaching the babies facial expressions. Everyone's favorite is 'surprise face'. I'm not sure who is having more fun- Serpil or the babies!

Chapter 4: Homestudy 2

Yesterday we had our second of 3 homestudy visits with our social worker. We didn’t expect this meeting to last 3 ½ hrs, but it did! Unfortunately, we met in the kitchen. So during Dave’s individual interview, I had to go to Julie’s to get a few cookies as sustenance b/c it was so long & draining!

These are more pix from Wilmington. We toured the Coast Guard boat and rode the river taxi up & down the river (the boat is in the 2nd pic.) The kids get their love of water from Deane!

Daddy Boot Camp

Cameron's attitude towards the water is a love-hate relationship, especially when it involves Daddy Boot Camp.

Beaches

Deane, the kids & I spent the day at Wrightsville beach. It's a great beach for kiddies! They enjoyed the hotel room and the view from the room as much.

When sinusitis is actually Lyme Disease

We have our share of ticks in North Cackalackey. It's not a matter of IF you get bitten but WHEN you get bitten. Long story short...I've been diagnosed with Lyme Disease. The titer comes back in 2 wks, so I'll know for sure. In the interim, I'm being treated and already feel a little better. At least we have very few mosquitos, gnats, etc. here. But the ticks suck.

Here's more of my favorite pictures from the last few days. (This is our village) The first is of Ioana & Robert. I love this picture. Next is Elise, Cameron's new favorite neighbor. The last is flowers I FINALLY planted. Some of them got washed away in the torrential rains. Oh well!

Birdie

Since I call Jbird “Birdie” this is her new favorite shirt. She wears it ALL THE TIME. It’s much better than the heart shirt (that was really jammies) that she wore everywhere.

According to Jbird, baby chicks are called ‘chicklets’ b/c baby pigs are called piglets. Oh! The mind of a 4 ½ year old!

Fourth of July on our street

We had a wonderful 4th of July! We decorated bikes, rode in a parade, had a pool party & then did fireworks on the street. Everyone is going to sleep well tonight! Here's the highlights.

Super Nanny

Not only do we have my mom-in-law in town to take care of us but we also have our neighbor’s mom! Everyone calls her 'Nanny'. Tonight, Nanny made us dinner & delivered it! But wait, there’s more....she also took care of JBird for a few hours today! We have a new dinner blessing: Thank you, God, for SuperNanny! (picture to follow)


Pix are of dualing Santas. They sing & dance too. Essential outfits in July.

Good times

Today we celebrated Karen's birthday. Any excuse to have friends over for food & drinks. Happy Birthday Karen!

p.s. Yes, Cameron is wearing JBird's swim cover up. We forgot to bring his clothes to the pool. No comments necessary.

Rainy Days

When it rains, arts & crafts are essential, especially markers.






Jacqui created this cutout of herself, totally unprompted. She even traced her hands & feet to use!

Angelina Ballerina Video

Here's Jacqui's ballet video. It's edited from 10 min to less than 2. Througout the dance, older ballerinas tell the story of Angelina Ballerina and the little girls reenact the story.

Angelina Ballerina

This week, JBird went to ballet camp. Today was the recital. I took video AND pictures, while balancing a very tired toddler. Here's some pictures from the recital today. I'll do video tomorrow.