Jane Gray's un-birthday

Jane Gray celebrated her un-birthday today with a cookie cake. The highlight was lunch with Daddy.

Fun at River Hills

This is one of Charlie and Daddy's favorite things to do at the pool - football!

Friends

Here are some recent pictures friends have sent us. The first picture is of Charlie and Meg with the Hollingsworths. The last pictures were taken at Christy's birthday party at Shiloh Splash Park. We ran into Ella there - so fun! And, sweet Grace, whom we don't see often enough, was there, too.

Celebrating soccer win

Charlie's team had their first soccer game today. Charlie played so hard and scored six goals! He celebrated the team's victory with General Grievous.

Prep cheerleading camp

Jane Gray, Liddy, and Sayley attended Prep cheerleading camp together. They cheered tonight in the 3rd quarter of the Prep-Pillow game. Avery's mother sent us the second picture of Jane Gray, Aubrey Scott, and Avery after the game.

Meg's family portrait

Meg drew a family portrait at school. The purple on top is Emma. Mommy is to the left, Meg is in the middle, and Daddy is the one with the big head on the right. When Mommy asked where Jane Gray and Charlie were, Meg reported that they were lost.

Charlie's un-birthday

Charlie celebrated his summer birthday with his classmates today. He took doughnuts, Star Wars plates and napkins, and his Darth Vader candle. Daddy even stopped by to read one of Charlie's favorite dinosaur books, When Dinosaurs Came with Everything, to the class.

Disney princesses breakfast

Aunt Stacy took Ella and Meg to a breakfast at Mint with the Disney princesses. Aunt Stacy reported that Meg was not shy with the princesses! Kate was there, too, and the girls had so much fun together. Thank you, Aunt Stacy!

Meg's first day of school

Meg's first day in the 3's class at Covenant Preschool was today. It looks like she had a great day! She loved showing me the headband she made. She was so proud of it, she wrote her name on it twice.

Charlie's class

Charlie's teacher sent us this picture of his class - such a sweet group of boys!

Meg's accident

Meg fell off the sunroom sofa onto her nose. It was a messy accident with lots of blood, but it did not look like Meg broke her nose. Just to be safe, Mommy took Meg to see her friend, Beverly Fulcher, who is an ENT. Dr. Fulcher reported that Meg had a cute nose that was not broken. What a relief!

Charlie, Griffin, and Christopher

Charlie's first day of kindergarten was perfect! He got to be the leader, and his teachers gave the class these FPDS teddy bears. The boys loved them! Christopher is in Charlie's class, and Griffin has become one of Charlie's best friends. These three are going to have a great year together!

First day at FPDS

Today is Charlie's first day as a student at First Pres. He is so excited! He is in an all boys class with several of his buddies, and he is thrilled. His teachers are Mrs. Hutchinson and Mrs. Manning. They are so sweet, and they are perfectly suited for Charlie's class - they have raised three of their own boys. Jane Gray's teacher, Mrs. Herrington, is the department head for the 3rd grade. Jane Gray said she is very sweet and funny. It is going to be a great year at FPDS!

Meg's new teacher

Meg met her new teacher this morning at Covenant's Open House. Her name is Mrs. Dallaire, and she and Meg hit it off! Mrs. Dallaire has four children of her own, so Meg is in good hands!

Lainey and Meg

The Browns were in town this week, so Amanda and Mommy got their two little princesses together for a playdate. Big brothers John David and Charlie played, too, but they never slowed down to take a picture together.

Ride home

This is what the children looked like for most of the ride home. It was a fun, and exhausting, family vacation!

Riddle's Elephant Sanctuary

There is an elephant sanctuary near Heber Springs. We stopped there on our way home. We saw several African and Asian elephants. Charlie really wanted to ride Toby, the male elephant in the next to last picture, but the Riddle's staff said that would not be a good idea.

Fishing with the boys

Daddy and Uncle Will woke up early Saturday morning to fish with Charlie. High hopes were met with no results - we heard many fish rising and jumping, saw several following our lures, but didn't actually land one. A good time was had regardless, and the cool morning on the river was a nice change of pace.

Sugarloaf Mountain

After our fun day at the lake, we decided to hike Sugarloaf Mountain. Mommy and Meg made it a little over halfway, but Daddy, Jane Gray, and Charlie continued on up the mountain. It was a difficult climb, especially once we made it to the rocky portion. Charlie proclaimed he climbed 'like a mountain lion' and off he took with Jane Gray and I not far behind. Near the top, a boulder several feet taller than I blocked the passage. I boosted Charlie up for a look not knowing what was on the other side - and he continued on. We soon reached a high enough spot and were able to see the world around us. Of course, the mountain lion wanted to scale the sheer rock faces on either side of us, but I was able to get him to turn around and head for home. It was a little more dangerous than was planned, but it was a great time.

Greers Ferry Lake

The weather was perfect today, so we headed out to play on the Greers Ferry Lake. Pop and Sherrie borrowed a friend's boat, and we went swimming and tubing. Daddy instructed the children to do a "thumbs up" when they wanted Pop to speed up. You will notice that in several of these pictures, you see a "thumbs up." The children love to go fast! It was a fun day!