Little Swimmers

All the kids have really enjoyed the pool this summer and their swimming has improved so much! Emmie, Ellie, and Ruthie did swim team. Ellie and Ruthie were on mini team and this was Ruthie's first year. I told her that if she worked hard at her swim lessons in May she could be on swim team and she did such a great job during her swim lessons and was so excited that she got to be on swim team like the big girls! Ellie was thrilled that at the last meet of the season she got to swim up on the 7/8 medley relay! The kids loved all their coaches and once they got past the first 2 weeks (which were soooo cold) they looked forward to swim team every single day!

Ellie getting ready to swim!

Ruthie ready to swim. She was too small for a team suit so she's Team Minnie.

As one of the very youngest on the team, Ruthie had the coaches wrapped around her little finger!

**Warning: Coach Stacy tends to come out during swim meets. My kids will never wonder if someone's cheering for them lol!**

Normally at the pool Ruthie wears a float but a few weeks ago she took it off and hasn't put it back on! Since then she has learned to go get toys off the bottom of the 3ft, take a breath while she's swimming (she can go about halfway across the shallow end without having to stop on the wall), and she is using her arms so much more when she swims. I just can't get over the fact that she's only 3 1/2 and swimming like a champ!



This summer Ellie has gained so much confidence. At the beginning of the summer she preferred to swim with a noodle if she was somewhere she couldn't touch but she's been working hard on treading water (so she can take the Y swim test) and now she is so much more comfortable in deep water. She also learned to breathe to the side and can now swim a lap of the pool without stopping.


Emmie had another great summer. Her freestyle improved so much and she's been working hard on her other strokes. She came in last in almost every race she swam this summer but she gave 110% at almost every single practice. I was so proud of her for always doing what she was asked and never cutting corners even when other kids were. She may not be fast but she's dependable!

Emmie's freestyle at the beginning of the summer and at the end of the summer.


JP has also enjoyed the pool. He gets his puddle jumper on, kicks his feet up, and floats around like he has his own personal lazy river! He also tagged along to every swim meet (2 a week) and every practice without complaint. Fortunately for JP we a lot of swim meets that weren't very hot and humid so it wasn't nearly as miserable as most summers. He was always excited to cheer on his sisters and would yell "GOOOOO!" every time they were racing! (I think he might get that from me!)

22 Months

I am 22 months old!

• I wear a size 24mo shirt and 12-18mo shorts. I wear a size 5/6 shoe and a size 5 diaper.
• I sleep from 8pm-7:40am (I'm pretty punctual with my wake up time!). I take about a 2-3 hour nap after lunch.
• This month I'm loving cheerios with milk (and I do pretty well getting it all into my mouth), sweet potatoes, palmetto cheese and crackers, doughnuts, and ranch dressing with a side of carrots. Mommy is excited she finally found a vegetable I will eat.

• I love to wear a hat.

• I have a job. My job is to get the paper every day and bring it inside. I LOVE my job. When I see the paper I say "da-da" and run go get it! Someone has to look out for my daddy!
• In the last week or so I've really started talking a lot more. One of my new words is "mess". So appropriate!
• I have started playing more with my sisters as a group. Perhaps I won't be scared of them forever!

• Anytime I get a bump I want some "I-th" for my head. (Ice) I prefer to use our boo bunny. It makes things all better!
• I have FINALLY started being happy in the nursery at church. The last 3 weeks I've been so happy! Mrs. Beth and the nursery workers are SO glad!
• Since I've started talking I've been much happier.
• This month I went to GiGi and PaPa's. I had so much fun and I went on my first boat ride!

• I have a really funny personality and I love to do silly things.
• My favorite books this month are Huggy Kissy, Brown Bear, and my truck book. I do still love Clifford too!
• This month I went to Hilton Head and we stayed in a hotel. I did SO well sleeping in the hotel room with everyone else.
• Sometimes I just like to yell really loud. It's fun!
• I love anything that has to do with water. I love the pool, ocean, splash pad, bathtub. It's all wonderful and I get so excited when it's time to play!
• Whenever I see anyone cry I want to hug them.
• I love to be one of the guys. I get really excited when Mommy picks out a polo shirt for me to wear because that's what Daddy always wears. I love to help Daddy, PaPa, and Grandaddy too!

Emmie at 22 months.

Ellie at 22 months.

Ruthie at 22 months.

Celebrating Ellie

In our family, when it's your birthday you get to pick everything we do (and eat!). All the kids really enjoy getting their special day but nobody enjoys it as much as Ellie. She is my child who values the gift of making memories so much more than physical gifts so a day to do her favorite things is the best gift for her! She plans for it all year long and she thoroughly enjoys every second of the day where it's all about her. Every year she tells us that it was the "best birthday EVER" and this year didn't disappoint!

The kids got to watch a movie when they got up since Ellie LOVES TV. They used to often watch TV in the morning when they first got up but since we got rid of our cable they generally don't watch TV. Ellie picked Charlotte's Web to watch. She also got to open her present from her siblings. They gave her a mermaid Barbie and a pack of Tsum Tsums. She was so excited about her gift!

We started our day off with chocolate doughnuts for breakfast.

Paul bought her flowers for her birthday!

JP also enjoyed his doughnut!

Then we went to the last day of swim team practice which also happened to be Fun Friday. On Fun Friday you get a special snack after practice. This week it was...doughnuts! Ellie was ecstatic...2 doughnuts in 1 day!

Pic with Annie, Ellie and Ruthie's mini team coach!

We headed home after swim team and had lunch and the girls got to watch TV during naptime.

After JP's nap we headed to Edventure (our children's museum) at Ellie's request. The museum wasn't very crowded so the kids got to enjoy all the exhibits. While we were in one of the rooms we saw someone in a "behind the scenes" room that had a lizard out so the kids were watching through the window. She opened the door and let them pet the lizard and then invited them to come back and do a craft! They used markers, coffee filters, and water to make beautiful butterflies!








After Edventure we met Paul at Moe's for dinner. Ellie loves Moe's! After Moe's we went to 32 Degrees, a yogurt place, for dessert.




When we got home Ellie got her present from Paul and I. I was really excited about her present because she had NO CLUE she was getting it! I had American Girl dolls growing up and my mom saved all of my dolls and their outfits, trunks, and accessories. Each of the girls gets to pick the doll they want. Ellie thought she was going to have to wait until she was 7 to get Addy (the doll she picked) because that's when Emmie got her doll. Actually Emmie getting her doll at 7 had more to do with the age and maturity of Emmie's siblings so Ellie got her doll this year!

While everyone else was getting ready for bed Ellie got to play with her doll all by herself. She LOVED the time she got to spend exploring Addy's trunk without anyone interrupting her.

Once everyone was in bed, Ellie got to stay up with Paul and me for a while. We had a blast playing Headbandz with her! I love the special time we get with each child once a year...that extra 45 min or so is my favorite time of the whole day.

Ellie also had lots of family and friends call her during the day to wish her a Happy Birthday. She so appreciated every one of those calls and is still talking about everyone who called her! (She also gave everyone a full run down of her plans for the day down to the last detail!) As an extra special treat, Gin-g was visiting Aunt Suzy and Uncle Clyde and their crew so she got to FaceTime with all of them!

We had lots of fun celebrating Ellie and she is still talking about her "best birthday EVER"...and starting to plan for next year!

Emmie goes to Greenville

Last week Emmie got to go to Greenville by herself to stay with my parents for a few days. She was SO excited and had a great time! She was a little nervous about going and had to make sure to get big hugs from all of us and she definitely FaceTimed us more than the other kids did when they were gone. She had lots of fun though and can't wait to go back!


She started out getting a PB&J sandwich in the car on the way to Greenville...a big treat in our family!
They had to first make a trip to TCBY! I think Ellie has convinced her sisters that they love TCBY as much as she does!


Gran took Emmie to the store to pick out a new coloring book and crayons and a new Barbie. She also picked out a treat for each of her siblings and my super Type A child remembered there were glue sticks on her back to school supply list and so she got a pack for her and one for Ellie.


She went to the pool with Gran and Grandaddy.



She helped Gran with the dishes. She loves to help clean!


They made chocolate chip cookies to bring back home for Ellie's birthday.


They went to the Children's Museum. Greenville has a great children's museum and the kids have been once or twice before and absolutely loved it! Emmie had such a great time that she spent FOUR hours there before my mom convinced her that maybe they should leave since it was 2pm and she still hadn't had lunch!

My mom said Emmie spent a ridiculous amount of time organizing the grocery store shelves. She's so Type A!

The family that lives across the street from my mom has 4 kids who are all about the same age as my kids. Emmie and Kesley are big buddies and playing with Kesley was at the top of Emmie's Grennvile to do list! They had a wonderful time!

Emmie helped Gran make biscuits to bring back to Columbia. Everyone was very excited to see the biscuits but nobody was as excited as JP who had inhaled at least 2 of them within about 10 minutes of my mom walking through the door!



Emmie got to go to Jelly Beans to get her hair cut. The kids love to do this when they go to Greenville!



She went to Grandaddy's office to visit. She happened to be there while they were having an ice cream party! She told Grandaddy that she was pretty sure mommy wouldn't have given her that much ice cream!

She finished her Greenville trip with lunch with Gran and Grandaddy at Chick-fil-a.




We were pretty happy to get our Emmie back! Ellie learned after Emmie went to GiGi and Papa's house that she does not like being the oldest...too much responsibility! The kids all missed having Emmie around.

Funny story: We told Ruthie a long time ago that everyone has to have a visit with the grandparents before she gets to go again. Apparently she thought that meant she got to go IMMEDIATELY after everyone had a turn because she couldn't quite understand why I wasn't packing her bags so she could go back to Greenville with Gran! We're pretty sure when she does go back she'll have to stay for a month...she comes up with new things she wants to do every few days and has me call Gran so she can tell her. The list is probably a few pages long by now!