Before Dr. Phillippi, there was Dr. Ray. She was Jane Gray and Charlie's first pediatrician, and she was wonderful! Her brother-in-law is helping coach the Blue Dolphins, so she has come to several of our games. At the last game, she took these wonderful pictures of Jane Gray and the team. We love Dr. Ray!
Jane Gray lost her second front tooth on Sunday. She is officially asking for her two front teeth for Christmas! And, Meg is starting to potty train. We have talked to her a lot about "big girl panties." Perhaps we have talked about it too much - this afternoon, she played "dress up" in Jane Gray's "big girl panties."
Daddy wanted to check on things in Yazoo City after the terrible tornado that hit there yesterday, so he dropped us off at Pop's house and headed to Cousin Henry's house to help with the clean-up effort. Pop lost several trees and had lots of debris in his yard, so we volunteered to help him. After wearing ourselves out, we stopped to "empty" the turtle trap (i.e. the children, with Pop's help, took turns shooting the turtles), and then went fishing to replenish the bait in the turtle trap. Jane Gray caught several bream. Charlie fished with Pop, and even Meg took a turn with the pole (her first fishing experience). While we were fishing, Daddy came home with pizzas, so we took another break and ate pizza before heading back to Jackson. As you can tell by the last picture, we were exhausted!
Since Daddy and Jane Gray missed out on the MMNS party, we went back to the museum today. We saw all of our favorites - the sharks, turtles, snakes, frogs, alligators, fish - and also went on a nature hike. We had a great time together!
After the MMNS party, we headed over to the softball game. We ran into the Dehmers, and Mommy couldn't resist taking a picture of Meg and Rimes playing together. Mommy and Rimes's mother, Lindsay, have been friends since childhood, and it is so fun for us to have daughters the same age!
Tonight, the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science had a party to celebrate its 10th anniversary. Meg, Charlie, and Mommy went solo because Jane Gray had piano practice and a softball game. We ran into lots of our friends, though. We ate hot dogs and hamburgers with Havens Smith and ran all over the museum with Charlie's classmate, Caroline Odom. There was a saltwater touch tank and a fish feeding with SCUBA divers, too, which the children especially enjoyed!
After Charlie's T ball game, we headed to Louise and then Yazoo City for the afternoon. We did lots of fishing. Jane Gray caught the first fish, a monster bass! We also did lots of swinging, hiking, and horse petting. It was a fun afternoon!
Nana and Grandpa are finally home from Egypt. Their first order of business was going to Jane Gray's softball game Friday night and Charlie's T ball game Saturday morning. They brought lots of goodies home from Egypt, including these cool T shirts, which have the children's names on the front in hieroglyphics.
Charlie has been taking swimming lessons with Mrs. Lu. Charlie loves Mrs. Lu, and the feelings are very mutual. Mrs. Lu said that Charlie is a very good swimmer. Charlie's backstroke, in particular, is really good, especially for his age. Mommy and Daddy were very impressed. Mrs. Lu also worked some with Jane Gray and Meg. Jane Gray has a beautiful breast stroke and freestyle stroke. She is a very good swimmer, like her brother. Meg, on the other hand, hated the water. She was perfectly content to let Mommy hold her in the water on her hip. When it was time to swim, Meg went crazy. She would scream "I no kick!" and "I no swim!" But, by the end of the two weeks, Mrs. Lu had Meg kicking and holding her breath underwater.
This week, Charlie's class has been studying the letter "Y." Today, for show and tell, Charlie decided that he wanted to wear his Daddy's Yazoo City T-shirt. Y is for Yazoo City!
Last week and this week, the children have been taking swimming lessons with Lu Lee. On the way to Mrs. Lu's, we pass by the cemetery where Granddaddy Rickey is buried, and every day either Jane Gray or Charlie asks to go see him. I took some pictures today of the children at the grave site. It was a sweet moment which Jane Gray commemorated with a sweet prayer thanking God for Granddaddy Rickey and that he gets to live in Heaven with Jesus.
Charlie is playing on the Krushers T-ball team. Their first game was this morning. Charlie played first base and ran all over the infield fielding balls. He was so enthusiastic! He had some great hits, too. His cousins, Will Upton and Nathan Werne, are also on the team, and Charlie has really enjoyed playing with them!
Charlie's 4-year old class and the kindergarten class at Covenant had their spring program this morning - The Little Red Hen. Charlie did great and sang so well. He was tickled to see so many familiar faces in the audience and high-fived several friends as he walked up the aisle at the conclusion of the program. He had such a good time! Charlie's teacher, Mrs. Jones, gave the class a little red hen gumball dispenser as a reward for a job well done.