Dress Up

Look at these two darlings...so sweet!

Brother has as many if not more dress up clothes than big sis. He has a wonderful imagination and uses it so well. While he was "cleaning" his room he got all decked out in his Pirate jersey. Then we lil sis woke from her nap, he wanted her to play with him. So look what we found for her! Granddaddy might have to go shopping for a purple and gold one!?!?! She was very proud to be playing with him!
It was so hard to get a good picture of her because she was busy, busy cheering brother along!

He even tackled with her...ever so gently of course. No worries she's our little cinder block and can hold her own just fine!

Then she took a knee and called it a game!

Final Swim Meet of Season!

YEAH DOLPHINS! The last swim meet was a WIN!!

It tried to finish Tuesday but due to weather it was completed on Wednesday.

Our dolphins had a fantastic year. Big sis went from a good swimmer to one with excellent form and pretty good speed. Brother wouldn't even get his face wet in May and swam 2 main events last night...one being the backstroke...that's 25 yard solo!!!!!!!

Mommy and Daddy were so very proud!! Daddy giving sis encouragement before she swam a relay with the 9-10 girls group!
It was H.O.T. even for those that were wet!

Look at the near perfect form!!!

The other 9-10 girls congratulating her on a good swim!

Lil sis beig such trooper! She was wet all over by the end!

But still the most beautiful almost one year old there!!

Look at this ...that is big sis finishing first in the freestyle for her age group! If I were the bragging type, I'd point out how far ahead she is!!!

Her realizing she won!!

Brother getting ready for his backstroke...coach was confident he could do it alone and mommy was ready to jump in if needed. But in typical brother fashion he did it! He was as proud as we were!!

Brother finishing up the breaststroke....love the little turtle looking head popping up!

Fun family memories were created again this summer at swim meets across the county!

Pink Mudcats

Daddy and the older children took in a couple of Mudcats game this weekend. Here some pictures from Sunday afternoon when the team wore pink for breast cancer awareness. Only the boys went on Sunday. They were recognized by the radio annoucer as a great father and son pair and invited to watch an inning from the booth next time they come. Pretty special that others can recognize their relationship. He was impressed with brothers knowledge too!

One H.O.T. boy....

silly too!!

First Summer Camp

Big sis was blessed with the wonderful opportunity to attend a camp with Hope Reins of Raleigh. This is a "christian equine ministry pairing together rescued horses with chidren in need" - for more please visit them at hopereinsraleigh.org. Hope Rein held three camps this summer to raise money for the program which is run by volunteers. She had as AWESOME week being outside with the other girls, around the horses, playing games and doing crafts! It was so wonderful to see her in a group and participating in this camp. I got a few pictures of her with the horses after camp one day and daddy stuck around on the last day to see her ride. Enjoy the beautiful sights!

Big sis and "Essie" aka Ester,
showing brother Sunny and Isaiah,

and with Gabe.

Lil sis enjoyed seeing them...or at least didn't cry like she did at the cow!

Big sis getting Gabe ready for a ride. The children learned so many things about caring for horses...her favorite chore was scooping the poop!

Walking him to the arena.

Getting on

Riding

Brother enjoyed hearing her stories everyday and is looking forward to his sports camp coming up very soon!

Swim Meet #4

Swim meet #4 was a lot of fun. We were all together, the heat was not as bad and the children had a kiddie pool right behind us to splash in between their events! The slushie cart was helpful too!

As was mommy's water!

Look at him go...gainging so much confindence!

Watching and focusing for direction to go!

ahh...maybe this could be a toy?!?

Or this...maybe she's giving us hint for her birthday presents!

Brother (who would get his face wet in May!) doing the backstroke solo!

Yeah for ribbons!

Big sis is beginning to feel the competitive side of swimming. She had one of her closest races yet, lost and thought it was really fun! GO SIS!

Our Little Swimmers...we are so very proud of them!

Our Girls

Before we began praying for our third child we wondered if it would "mess" with the joy and love out first two children had for one another. Well I think the below (from our last beach trip) photos answer that question beautifully! I tear up just looking at the love they show!!

Be like Mike

Our children are so very sweet and adore each other so much. Lil sis got very upset when she couldn't go outside with brother and daddy. It was just too HOT! She just wants to do what he does forgetting that she's not one yet! So I fixed her a snack and let her watch from inside...this sort of worked...once she got tired of beating on the door!

Look at him all decked out. First, he had to have a bat that "pinged" like the players, then the batters hat, then the gloves, now the shades! So far he had picked good teams and players to be like! What a handsome guy!