Cousins

Aunt Nicki and Cousin Laurie popped in this afternoon for a visit and to bring by some leftover cake (thanks, Aunt Nicki!). Here are a couple of cute pictures of the girls hanging out together.

Release of sea monkeys

One of Charlie's friends gave him some sea monkeys for his birthday. The sea monkeys have been living on our kitchen windowsill for a month. Tonight, it was time to release them. So, we went to the "dog park" and let them go in the lake. Jane Gray rode her scooter, and Charlie took his dump truck. Before we leave the "dog park," the kids like to lie down in the grass and look at the stars. Tonight, we also saw some bats and a hawk!

Swimming with Maggie and Rachel

Today, Jane Gray's friend, Maggie, and Charlie's "girlfriend," Rachel, invited Jane Gray and Charlie to go swimming with them at River Hills. Ceci and I had so much fun chatting while the kids swam and shot water guns at each other. Libby and Sayley Crawford and Rebecca Burrow joined us for a while, too. It was a lot of fun! Thanks, Rutledge girls!!

Meg's six months birthday

Happy six months birthday, Meg! I took Meg to see Dr. Philippi this morning for her six months checkup, and she is still in the 90th percentile in height and 50th percentile in weight - my little string bean! Meg has been such an easy, sweet baby, and her brother and sister adore her. Just today, when I was dropping off Jane Gray and Charlie at gymnastics, Charlie said: "Mommy, you take care of my little sister, OK."

A day with the family

This morning, we went to Grandpa's church to hear him preach. He did a great job! We then headed to Nana and Grandpa's for lunch. After playing their Wii and visiting with Gigi, we headed to the Orchard to visit the other great grandmother, Margaret, and our great aunt, Alice. The kids love to go to the Orchard and feast on Margaret's Nilla Wafer cookies (thanks, Aunt Fair!) and Alice's peppermints and Twix bars.

Saints practice and lots of swimming

This morning, the boys went to see the Saints practice at Millsaps. Charlie had the best seat in the house - sitting on the goal post pad in the endzone (first picture - notice the signature book clenched in his fist). He played on a Saints jumpy land and got to meet Gumbo, one of the Saints' mascots. Then, Charles took Jane Gray to Elizabeth Clarke's birthday party. She and the Hurst girls swam all over the River Hills swimming pool. Jane Gray even jumped off the diving board and braved the slide. After the party, we grabbed lunch and then headed to the Bridgewater pool. The shark (Charlie) and mermaid (JG) swam for two hours! Meg swam for a while and then napped on a towel. In this picture, she is thinking about crawling - it was her first time to push herself up on her knees! We ran by Nana and Grandpa's house on the way home to grab a snack and see Gigi. It was a fun day!

Meg's first applesauce

At first, Meg wasn't so sure about her first taste of applesauce. Then, she wondered, where have you been hiding this??

Pump It Up!

The SuperWHY camp ended today with a party at Pump It Up! Jane Gray and her new friend, Madeline, played on every single blowup toy. They even slid down the slides holding hands - very cute! Anthony Boone, the only Ole Miss basketball player to ever have his jersey retired, had a daughter at the camp, and I couldn't resist getting a picture of Anthony with Jane Gray. He was very sweet and humble about it, but I'm sure he thinks I'm crazy!

Charlie's play group

Today, Charlie's play group met at Mary and Ken Ball's house. The boys had so much fun playing together. They hung out in Stephens's room most of the time, playing with dinosaurs on Samuel's top bunk. This is a picture of Roger Stribling (on left) and Charlie dressing up as soldiers. They were so cute!

Fun with Gigi (the "first" Jane Gray)

This morning, Charlie, Meg, and I went to Nana and Grandpa's to visit with Gigi. Gigi, Nana, and I took turns holding Meg while Charlie and Grandpa played with the train. The ladies did share Meg with Grandpa for one brief dance. They were so cute together!

Art camp

For Jane Gray's birthday, Nana and Grandpa are sending Jane Gray to the Kaleidoscope art camp at the Mississippi Museum of Art. She is attending the week-long camp, which lasts from 1:00 until 4:00, with Liddy and Genevieve. Today, Jane Gray dabbled in ceramics and made a heart mug. She had a blast and can't wait to go back tomorrow.

SuperWHY reading camp

This week, Jane Gray is attending the MPB SuperWHY reading camp. Jane Gray loves to read, and she is getting better and better at it. So, when Mommy and Daddy found out about the reading camp, we knew that Jane Gray would want to go. The camp is every day from 8:30 until 12:00, and on Friday, there is an end of the week party at Pump it Up.

Tea party

We celebrated Jane Gray's fifth birthday with a tea party. Mrs. Charlotte Waller was our hostess, and she did a wonderful job. The girls started off painting their fingernails, dressing up in hats and dresses, making necklaces, putting on makeup, and fixing their hair. When the girls were all dolled up, they donned white gloves and sat down for a tea party. They drank tea (pink lemonade) from teacups and feasted on goldfish, turkey sandwiches, and cookies decorated with pink icing. There was also a birthday cake, pink of course!

Happy birthday, Jane Gray!

Jane Gray turned 5 today! This morning, after she opened her presents and ate doughnuts (her request), we went to church. After church, we let Jane Gray decide where she wanted to have her birthday lunch. Her first choice, Chick-fil-a, is closed on Sunday, so we went to her second choice, Wendy's. We then headed to the Bridgewater pool because our little mermaid wanted to go swimming on her birthday. Tonight, we ate cake and ice cream, and tomorrow, we'll have a tea party for the birthday girl. Happy birthday, Jane Gray! We love you!