Juliana's Second Piano Recital

Birthday at School

Nathan's Birthday at School

Nick and I visited Nathan for lunch on his birthday and took donuts as a treat.

Then, grabbed a few quick photos with the school's spirit rock that we painted for his birthday.

Complete with a "creeper" face (popular with minecraft fans)

Nathan's 7th Birthday Party

On Saturday, we had Nathan's 7th birthday party. He had 9 friends attend his Minecraft themed sleepover. It was the first sleepover for several of his friends including Nathan. They all had a great time. 

They played the Minecraft video game..

They "mined" for multicolored cubes...

And, then traded in their cubes to see what what prizes they could craft at the "crafting table" (Minecraft lingo).

Waiting in line for prizes..

Say "I LOVE MINECRAFT"

Opening cards and gifts.. I was really impressed that Nathan actually read the cards and his friends really wanted him to read the cards.

Bedtime! Well.. we tried to get them to sleep at a decent hour.... but, until 2 am they goofed off.

As soon as the first eye opened at 7 am.. the first words I heard were "Can we play Minecraft?"

Breakfast

And, we can't forget about Sophie.. poor thing. We had had her spayed the Tuesday before the party and sure enough, a few hours before the party, Nick realized that she was having some issues with her sutures--- to the emergency vet they went. She came back with this lovely blue collar to keep her from licking her wound.. She is fine though - tons of energy - you wouldn't even know she had surgery. 

What's a blog entry without a few pics of the pup? ; )  

Sophie and her best friend, Daisy.. sharing the only shady spot in the yard.

A Sophie Snuggle 

 Girl Scout Sleepover at the Knight's Baseball Stadium

A couple of weeks ago, Juliana had the opportunity to attend a baseball game and sleepover at the knights stadium (our minor league baseball team) with the girl scouts. I went as a chaperone and it was really fun.. luxury camping if you will.. ahh.. such nice grass.. it was actually the perfect night to sleep outdoors.. After the game, we all set up the tents, watched a movie on the big screen and then lights out. Here she is with her some of her girl scout friends

Our tents on the field..

The next day, Juliana attended a friend's birthday party. Here she is with some of her friend's at the party.

 Nathan's First Grade Field Trip

Nathan's class went on a field trip to Lazy 5 Ranch - a safari type place abut an hour from where we live.. where you ride though the grounds and are able to feed the roaming animals from your food buckets. The kids had so much fun.

Nathan's Last Tball Game

After 6 seasons (spring and fall), Nathan played his last Tball game. Next fall, he will advance to coach pitch - which is more like real baseball where they keep score.. etc. Nick especially REALLY loved coaching and he hopes to do so again in the fall. It's been fun watching him progress as a player. Below are a few shots of him batting in the last game.

Juliana also joined the Tega Cay Swim Team this summer. So, while Nick and Nathan were at the game, I took Jules to her first practice swim meet. So far she loves it. It's just May and June but I really hope she becomes a great swimmer from it and of course has fun. Here is the whole team:

Jules and her friend, Ella, who is also on the team.

 

 Juliana's Dance Recital

Juliana has been taking an Acro class (a combination of dance and gymnastics) and yesterday was the big recital. She did GREAT. I was really amazed at how comfortable she is on stage. I think of how my mom would have enjoyed seeing her.

Here she is standing in the back (second from the left) with her hands in the air.

Here she is in the middle, front row... yes - with her feet on top of her head. : )

Jules with "Grammy" who came to the show.

Jules with her friend, Alexa, who she has known since preschool. 

After the recital, I promised Jules we could get her ears pierced. So, we headed on over to Claire's in the mall.. Here she is before.. 

 

And, after: 

 

(what I don't show is the 45 minutes of tears in between ears.. after she realized that the first ear actually hurt.. she couldn't get up the nerve to get the left ear done.. It took 45 minutes, 3 sales clerks, a teddy bear to hug and a pep talk from mom to FINALLY get her to agree to the second ear. We all celebrated when that earring finally went in! Whew.. All is good now and she was soooo excited to show her friends at school today.

St Patrick's Day 2013

Jules and Sophie ready for the festivities.

Nick's Mom got a new dog after losing her beloved, Max.
His name is Kellen and the kids adore him.

 

Piano lessons with Jules and Sophie

 

Easter Morning 2013 

The kids woke up and found their Easter Baskets..

 

 

And, then we headed south to Charleston, SC for spring break. We made a stop halfway at Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Jerry's who provided an Easter Egg Hunt for the kids and a fabulous meal.

Jules at the Beach at Isle of Palms

Looking for a dog park to wear Sophie out.. we found this awesome playground for the kids. 

Waiting to go on the ghost tour.. which seemed like a great idea.. the kids were so excited. But, afterwards Nathan stated that he didn't want to do anything like that again until he was 16.. no 18!

Sophie meets her baby sister

A neighbor of mine who has been looking for a yellow lab saw Sophie and fell in love..
she then went to Ohio to the same breeder and also bought a lab. So, Sophie now has a
little sister in the area.. and they love each other. It's like they know they are related. 

I was looking for Sophie one day.. and here is where I found her. 

 

 Now that Sophie is taller.. well, is poses some problems. 

Funny.. But, not so funny!

 

Girls Weekend at the Beach

In mid April, I managed to get a weekend to enjoy with my girl friends in Holden Beach, NC.
A very relaxing and enjoyable weekend!