What fun!

On Thursday, April 20, Drew went on a field trip with Extra Edition (the after-school program at our school). They took the kids to Skate Palace. I wasn't sure about Drew going at first because he had never been skating before. We knew that the Extra Edition teachers would take care of him and since he really wanted to go, we let him go!

While he was gone on his field trip, I picked Mikayla up from daycare and took her to dance class! The whole way to dance, she kept saying "I'm going to dance with Miss Andrea". When we got there a new teacher came into the waiting room (a little room that leads into the studio) to get the children. All of the mommies that were sitting there were looking at each other with strange faces as if to say "who is that?" Ever since Mikayla has started taking dance we have only seen Miss Andrea, who is the owner of the dance company. I thought "oh no, Mikayla will not want to go in today", but to my surprise she went running right into the room just like she always does. I'm not sure if it was because she saw Miss Andrea who was in the studio, or if she wasn't bothered by someone new. The new teacher, Miss Haley, introduced herself to the mommies that were out there and they went in to start class. After the class was over, I went in to get Mikayla's tap shoes. Miss Andrea was talking with another one of the mommies, but Miss Haley started talking to me about how well Mikayla did in class. She said "you know she's the youngest one in here, but she does just as well as the other students". She also said "when we ask them to find their spots she's one of the first ones at her spot, while we help some of the others". I thanked her for her kind comments, and again let Mikayla know how proud I was of her. We are so proud of her for taking to dance the way she has and trying her best!

We left dance and headed back to the school to pick up Drew from his field trip. He was to get back to the school at 5:45 and his baseball practice started at 6. He hadn't had baseball practice in a few weeks, but since we went two weeks without a game, the coach wanted to practice some in-between. When the bus arrived back at the school, I got out to catch Drew before he went inside. When Mrs. Kimbrell, a fifth grade teacher at our school who is also involved with Extra Edition, saw me she said "I laughed at him the whole time". She said "he was all over the place". I asked her if he was good and she said he was, he was just real excited. Once I got Drew and Mrs. Kimbrell walked off to help other students find their rides, Drew pulled a sticky ball out of his pocket. I hadn't given him any extra money to spend so I asked him where he got that from. He said "from skating". I asked him how he had gotten it since mommy hadn't given him any extra money. He said "she got it for me" and pointed at Mrs. Kimbrell. I couldn't believe it. I asked Kimbrell how much I owed her and she said "for what". When I pointed to the ball she started laughing and said "I was hoping he wouldn't show you that". She never did tell me how much I owed her, but I put a couple of dollars in her box the next day with a note that said "thanks for taking care of my boy!". She spoils all those kids rotten!!

After we left the school, we raced to get Drew to practice on time. We got there right at 6, but Drew was more excited about the soccer net on the field than the actual practice. Once Craig got there, he went on the field to get Drew's attention back on the practice. Once practice was over, we went to get some supper!

Whew!! Another busy day, but what fun!! I start thinking about June when all of this will be over and I even get a little sad.

Easter!

Drew and Mikayla love their Bibles that they received for Easter! That was the first thing that Drew noticed. He said "mom I got a book with Jesus on the front"! They have taken them to church and they ask to read them all the time. Mikayla and I also read hers this past Thursday while we were waiting for her dance class to begin! Craig and I are tickled to see them enjoying their very own Bibles!!

Once Drew and Mikayla had seen what was in their Easter baskets Sunday morning, we headed to church. It was mine and Craig's Sunday to be in the nursery. We only had four children in there with us because most of the families decided to take their little ones (especially those that were older) into the sanctuary with them so they could see the Easter cantata. In fact, Mimi and Jennie took Drew and Mikayla into the sanctuary with them! Craig and I were able to watch (mostly listen to) the cantata from the T.V. in the nursery while we took care of the babies!

After our church service, we came home so I could make brown rice to take to Grandma's house for dinner! (This is my Grandma so it is actually Drew and Mikayla's great-grandma. She moved into the house directly across the street from my mom and dad at the end of last year so it is very nice having them all so close!) We went over to my mom and dad's house before we went to Grandma's so that Drew and Mikayla could get their Easter baskets from Mimi and Poppi!

Drew shows off his Easter gifts from Mimi and Poppi!

Mikayla is not letting go of her bunny rabbit as Poppi and Aunt Jennie look on. You can also see Mimi and Jessica in this picture. We were all getting ready to head across the street to Grandma's.

Many family members from my dad's side of the family were at my Grandma's house for Easter. Most of the grandchildren have children of our own now, so there were many groups of four generations!! All four of my Grandma's children were there (Mike, my daddy - Mark, Karen, and Denise) with their families. Mike and Elwanda, their daughter Kathy, her husband Hank, their children Barrett and his girlfriend Stephanie, and Holly, Hank's dad Melvin, Mike and Elwands's son Mikie, his wife April, and their daughter Keyleigh, My mom and dad, me, Craig, Drew, and Mikayla, my brother Jonathan and his girlfriend Jessica, my sister Jennie, and her boyfriend Josh, My Aunt Denise, her daughter Michelle, and her husband Tony, and their children Daffney, Nadia, and Cameron, Denise's son Allen, his wife Nikki, and their children Chrissy, and Jacob, and my Aunt Karen were all at my Grandma's house! Some members of the family were unable to make it, but we all sure had fun. After we all had dinner together, the children (Daffney, Nadia, Cameron, Drew, Mikayla, Keyleigh, Chrissy, and Jacob) had an Easter egg hunt. My daddy, Aunt Karen, and Aunt Denise hid the eggs filled with money for the little ones to find!

Drew looks in the leaves for an egg, while Mikie helps Keyleigh look for eggs behind him.Mommy and Mikayla spot an egg in the grass!

Drew puts one egg in his basket as he spots another one on the ground.

Mikayla puts one of her finds in her basket.

It was such a blessing to spend Easter with our extended family! Hopefully Drew and Mikayla will remember and cherish these family get-togethers for a long time!

Glitter Easter Eggs

When choosing an Easter egg dye kit for Drew and Mikayla to use this year I happened across one with glitter (one could become overwhelmed with all the choices out there). I knew that Drew and Mikayla would love to use glitter because they are always asking to use the glitter that I keep with my scrapbook stuff (for shakers and such). I wasn't sure if I would be up to the mess that is inevitable when you mix kids and glitter, but I thought "how much longer will they be wanting to dye eggs" and my mind was made up. So tonight, after they got out of the tub, it was time to dye Easter eggs to put in their baskets that they will leave for the Easter Bunny to fill. Drew and Mikayla don't know this, but Mommy and Daddy spoke with the Easter Bunny and told him that we would like for Drew and Mikayla to wake up tomorrow morning and find their first Bibles in their Easter baskets. They have several of the Bible story books, but we think it is time for them to have the complete Bible. I'm sure they will have a little candy in their baskets as well, but they just do not need a lot of sweets (and they certainly don't need any more toys). What better way to teach the true reason for Easter, than have them read about it (with help of course) from their own Bibles that they received Easter morning! I can't wait to see their faces!! Drew adds glitter to one of his eggs with the help of Daddy!Sweet brother and sister helping each other!

Finished product!

Egg Hunt

Drew and Mikayla wait for the Easter Egg Hunt to start! I wish her eyes weren't closed, but they were facing the sun!
This morning Drew woke us up bright and early and reminded us that this was the day of the Easter egg hunt. Our church did not have an egg hunt this year, but another church in our community was having a community wide egg hunt/hotdog lunch! Craig and I decided that, even though we always have an Easter egg with family at Grandma's, we wanted Drew and Mikayla to be involved in an egg hunt with lots of other children from our community. We knew that it would be a fun time to fellowship with others from the community! It proved to be fun for our whole family. Before the egg hunt started, all the children and adults went into the sanctuary where the pastor of the church spoke and reminded everyone of the true reason for Easter. It's not about eggs or the Easter Bunny even though these are traditionally associated with Easter (and they are fun for children and adults alike). The reason we celebrate Easter is because of our wonderful God. He sent His son, Jesus, to die on the cross so that we all could be forgiven for our sins. He would have done the same had it been just me, or just you who needed forgiving. I am in awe when I think of that! I strive to remember this amazing sacrifice that He made for me on a daily basis, and not just at Easter. I thought this was a wonderful way to remind everyone that we were there to have fun, but we also needed to remember the REAL reason we should be celebrating! There were about 20 kids including Drew and Mikayla in the 0-4 year old group and we led the way from the sanctuary to the nursery area where their eggs had been hidden. This church hid approx. 4,000 eggs for the children of our community. The children were divided into four different age groups, and these four groups each were searching for 1,000 eggs. Most of the eggs hid candy inside, but there were some special eggs which hid a paper with a number on it. If you found one of those eggs, you would win a special prize. Drew and Mikayla had a ball finding eggs and filling their baskets with them. Their baskets were getting so full that Craig even commented that maybe we should have brought bigger baskets. Drew had filled his, but was still finding eggs, so he helped to fill Mikayla's basket a little more. After Drew and Mikayla were satisfied that all the eggs had been found, we went to the fellowship hall to see what was hidden inside. They found plenty of candy (more than either of them really needed), and there was even a number hid in one of the eggs. Technically it was in Mikayla's basket, but since we couldn't remember which eggs Drew had put in hers, they were satisfied to share the prize! Drew, Mikayla, and Craig even enjoyed a couple of hot dogs for lunch. Once they finished their hot dogs, and Mikayla and Drew received their prize (a stuffed green bunny that is so cute), we headed home for naps. We had such a wonderful time at this egg hunt, and we couldn't thank the members of this church enough for doing this for our community!

Mikayla continues her hunt for eggs.

Drew is happy with the amount of eggs he found. He couldn't believe he filled his basket!

What's in there Drew?

I wonder what it's gonna be??

Dance Class

I finally have some pictures to post of Mikayla at dance class! ENJOY!!! There are nine children in her dance class now, and she is the youngest. As you can tell, she does everything the other girls and boy do. Even some parents who stayed in the class with their children this week commented on what a good job Mikayla is doing to only be 2 years old! We are so proud of her!!
Mikayla practices her tap routine holding her pink lollipop! The theme for their recital this year is "Wizord of Oz" and they are tapping to the the Lollipop Kids' song.Mikayla and the other children draw a dancer's face.

They start the ballet routine! I'm sorry that these pictures are not too clear. To keep Mikayla from noticing me I cracked the door and took pictures of her reflection in the mirror. In case you can't tell by her face, she loves dance!
Mikayla and the other children continue to work on their ballet routine. She's the little one to the right of center in a black leotard.

One time I cracked the door to snap a picture and she surprised me! They were lining up right beside the door to do one of the runs in their routine. I snapped a picture anyway. I'm just glad she didn't start crying for me to get her!!

Artists in training...

Mikayla writes her name! Pretty talented for a 2 year old!! A picture that Drew drew of me! He even labeled it with my name.
Drew also drew this dog (left) and cat (right)!
Drew and Mikayla have always loved to write, draw , color, etc. As a teacher, this is music to my ears!! On Sunday while we were at Mimi and Poppi's house, Drew and Mikayla started asking to draw. Mikayla was working to draw faces on her Sponge Bob's - this is something that my dad (Poppi) got her started with. We draw an outline and she fills in the eyes, nose, and a mouth. Drew started drawing his own pictures. He also practiced writing his letters by writing color words. Mikayla is also learning how to write her name - we dot it and she traces over it! We are so proud of our artists/writers!!

No Pictures...

Drew's third baseball game was tonight but I don't have any pictures to post. That's because I was so busy getting the kids ready and looking for Craig's hat (imagine that) that I forgot my camera! I can tell you it was a fantastic game. I really wish I had remembered to get my camera though because Drew had many people there watching him play. Mimi and Poppi were there, as well as Jonathan and Jessica. Also Aunt Laura and Lauren were there. They had come to see Drew and Samantha( Drew was playing Samantha's little brother's team). It was fun to see Samantha (my cousin's daughter) since we hadn't seen her since Christmas! Drew did such a great job during this game! He hit his coach's pitch every time at bat (they got to bat three times during this game, usually they only bat twice)! He didn't need that tee at all!! He also did a fantastic job of backing up his team members in the field. He stopped several balls and even went into the outfield for a few. He is our little baseball man! We are so proud of him! He won't have another game until April 28th! I'm sure he will get lots of practice in the backyard over the next two weeks, but we sure will miss Friday night baseball!

Spring Break!!

This past week has been our Spring Break! Drew, Mikayla, and I have enjoyed our school-free week, as we always do. Drew and Miki love staying home with me, and I love spending all my time with them!! Even though we chose to stay in town during the break (vacation spots are so crowded this time of year), we have sure had fun! We have played, read, danced, sang, watched T.V, and cleaned. My sister Jennie and I treated the kids to a picnic at the park for dinner Monday night. They had so much fun eating dinner and then spent a little while on the slides and swings. Jennie, Josh, and I also treated Drew and Mikayla to a game of Putt Putt! This was so much fun! Drew has played Putt Putt before but it was Mikayla's first time! She was so funny swinging her little plastic club (I can't believe I forgot my camera!!). She was not usually close to the hole after hitting the ball the first time, she is only two remember! It didn't matter if she was close to the hole or not because for her second shot, she picked up her ball and put it right beside the hole. Way to go Mikayla...that's my kinda golf!! Drew was pretty funny as well. He went first on every hole. Nobody else was going to have their turn until he putted the ball in, even if it took him11, 14, 15, etc. chances! Luckily the place wasn't very crowded. Also, lucky for us he got most of the balls in by his 5th or 6th shot. They both got a kick out of the last hole! Drew knew what to expect (that the ball would be gone) since he had played before. Even still he liked to watch it - he even wanted to hit everyone else's balls in on the last hole! Mikayla wasn't real sure about this. She thought it was neat that it was gone, but then she wanted her ball back! She said "the ball went bye - bye, I goin get another one". We all laughed about this! We went and had lunch with daddy at work one day, and we went for ice cream another day! We also went and played with Poppi last night after dinner. We have had plenty to keep us busy!! I miss my students, but I have had a ball spending this time with my babies. Only 6 and a half weeks left in this school year once we return, and then it's summer!

Did I mention we also got some much-needed rest over the break??

Drew enjoys his ice cream from Brusters. YUM!

Our musicians...

Drew and Mikayla in the nursery at church! Anybody have any ideas on how to get them to always act like this with each other??

This morning I helped Jennie in the nursery at church. Mom was supposed to be in there with her but since she is in Myrtle Beach for Continuing Ed, I helped out! After church we met daddy and grandma at Wade's for dinner (we always eat mom's home cooked dinner after church on Sundays, but since she was not here we had to fend for ourselves). Then Drew and Mikayla wanted to go back to Mimi and Poppi's house with Poppi of course. As soon as we walked in the door Drew and Mikayla spotted a new toy on the couch! I wonder how they knew it was theirs?? As I round the corner into my mom and dad's living room, I hear loud screeching noises and I'm thinking what is that. I didn't have to wait long to find out...

Drew on electric guitar and Mikayla singing vocals - too cute! Just what they always needed Poppi! Honestly there is nothing cuter than hearing a toddler sing Jesus Loves Me. Those of you who have heard her sing know that she does a pretty funny Hallelujah too! Drew was doing a pretty good job on guitar also - even if it didn't really match the singing!

Then they switch - Mikayla tries her hand at guitar while Drew sings vocals!

Finally Poppi has a turn with the mic! We could have our very own family band!

Tired of performing, Mikayla puts these bunny ears on. I thought they were so cute, I made her smile for the camera! "Aw, mom"!

Friday night baseball!

Friday night was Drew's second baseball game! Drew was extrememly excited about this since he did not get to practice (with his team) Thursday night! When we arrived at the complex we saw that Poppi had beaten us to the baseball fields. Since Mimi was headed to the beach for some Continuing Ed classes, Jennie had to work, and Jonathan and Jessica couldn't make it, it was just him at this game (other than Craig, Mikayla, and me of course). Drew and Craig had to head on the field to warm up before we saw Poppi. He had gone down to the lower fields looking for us and ran into my cousin's daughter, Samantha, whose brother was playing his game. As soon as Mikayla spotted him heading back up to the field Drew was on, she went running to him! Drew spotted him and waved from the field. By the time that the game got started Mikayla (and Poppi too!) was covered in red dirt! That's her favorite part of the games I think! Mikayla and Poppi are pouting at each other. Looks like Mikayla has a harder time concealing her smile!!It was the first time this season that Drew has had to use the tee (nobody hits pitched balls every time - right?) Both teams played really well. Drew gets ready to field some balls!We are still amazed at the amount he has grown since last year. This year he is backing his team members up in the field and not acting like it's the end of the world if he doesn't get every ball. His second time at bat there was no need for the tee. Coach Tim pitched the first pitch - Drew swung and missed. Coach Tim pitched the second ball - Drew connected and the ball went almost to the fence! Of couse he had to finish with his slide into home! We are so proud of Drew and all of the Cubs team members! Way to go guys - we can't wait until Friday!!

field trip, pictures, dance oh my!!

Heading out on our busy day...Mikayla ready for pictures (in her dress that Aunt Angel smocked for her - thank you Aunt Angel) and Drew ready for his field trip. (He loves this shirt that his Grandpa brought him back from Florida last year - we miss you Grandpa!!)

Thursday was a very busy day for us! Drew's 4k class went on a field trip to FENCE (Foothills Equestrian Nature Center) and I went as a chaperone! We had a fantastic time and I was able to get lots of pictures! While we were there, Mikayla was having her spring pictures made at daycare (I was hoping to have their pictures made together one last time at daycare [since Drew will be at my school all day next year]). I especially wish that Drew had been there once I saw the pictures! They are so beautiful, Mrs. Wojcik did an amazing job!! I hope to get her to take pictures of Drew and Mikayla at Hatcher Gardens when it gets a little warmer! Then when we returned from the field trip at 12:00 Miss Tonya picked Drew up from school and took him to the daycare and I went back to my class. After school, I picked up Mikayla and we headed to dance class. She is doing such an amazing job with dance. She absolutely loves it and Miss Andrea says she is doing the steps just like the older girls in the class even though she is the youngest! I can't wait for her recital! I tried to get some pictures this week, but my digital camera batteries had died from taking so many pictures during the field trip. I will for sure have pictures of her at dance class on here next week (she doesn't have class this week since it is Spring Break). I am excited about it being Spring Break but I will miss our weekly trip-just the two of us. I'm sure Mikayla will miss it as well! Then we went to get Drew and headed to his baseball practice. Since we were about 30 minutes early and the kids love playing at the park, I let them play for a little while, while we waited for the other team members to arrive. As it got closer to six o'clock and none of the other team members were arriving, I began to get a little worried about practice. I thought maybe they had cancelled it or changed the location. I knew the team mother had my email address at work, but our email had been down much of the day on Thursday and I didn't check it right before I left. I called Craig and he in turn called the coach. It wasn't but about five minutes and Craig was calling me back to tell me that we weren't going to have practice anymore, just the games on Fridays. Apparently the other moms and dads had heard this at the jamboree last Saturday (leave it to us to miss this tiny bit of important information). So then my thinking was how do I get Drew to leave here without having baseball. He didn't understand why he wasn't going to practice anymore, so I took he and Mikayla over to the practice field and practiced for a little while before we left. Then we went to daddy's work and left from there to go get something to eat for supper. Such a busy, yet exciting day for our whole family. The fun never ends!!

This field trip focused on the five senses. The children were able to use their five senses in many ways - here Drew is tasting an herb from the herb garden.

The children were able to use their sense of hearing and sight as they observed things on the nature trail - Drew looks at different things through a magnifying glass.

The children were blind-folded and given something to eat (raisins, cheerios, goldfish, sour gummie worms) and they had to guess what they were eating. Drew ate a cheerio!