Fun in the Sun!

We went for a swim in Grammy and Grandpa's pool today and had the whole thing to ourselves.

 Charlotte swims all over the pool with her floaties on.

 Henry seems to enjoy the water as much as the rest of the kids.

 Apparently the sun was a bit too bright for Chloe.

And last but not least, our Sophie girl.

Chloe's Birthday Party

Chloe asked to have a luau/Hawaiian themed birthday party this year. I did my best!

 All the sisters before the party

 The party girls: serious (sort of)...

 ...and silly!

 They ate pizza and breadsticks for dinner.

 They played some games outside. This was a beach towel version of musical chairs (they also played water bucket golf - anything involving water seems to be popular).

 I made rainbow layered cupcakes. Chloe doesn't like the frosting, so I left a few without it for her.

 They had cupcakes, Hawaiian punch, and ring pops. It's a wonder no one left in a sugar coma!

She received a lot of lovely gifts from her friends, and I think she enjoyed her party!

Sophie's Final Soccer Game

All of Sophie's other soccer games were on Saturday morning, however because of one game being canceled for weather and to avoid any Memorial Day weekend conflicts, the last game was played this evening.

 By the last few games this season, Sophie had a fantastic attitude. I was so proud of her! She was determined to play hard and do her best.

 Jason is perfecting the fine art of multitasking (holding Henry and giving words of affirmation to each player as they received their medal).

 Hanging out during the little awards ceremony.

 The whole team

 Sophie and Coach Daddy

Soph and her buddy Rachel

Charlotte's Final Night of Soccer

Well, at this time, Charlotte is not in love with soccer, and that's okay. At least she looked cute in the little uniform. :-)

 She walked off the field and didn't go back after this (doesn't Jay looked thrilled about it?).

 Camden and Henry had a good time playing together near each other though.

 I had to walk up with her to get her medal or she wouldn't go.

Charlotte and Ryker (he was pretty excited about his ring pop).

Chloe's 11th Birthday

I cannot believe my baby girl is eleven-years-old! Where did the time go? I feel so blessed that God chose me to be Chloe's mom. She is kind and honest. Sweet and smart. A lover of Jesus. Enjoys soccer and basketball. Has a voracious appetite for books. Knows more about dogs and sharks (and dog sharks) than I could ever hope to know. And she may look like her momma, but she has more patience and less temper than I ever did. :-) I love her and am so very proud of the young woman she is becoming... Happy Birthday, Chloe!

 Henry Jay watching the birthday girl open presents.

 Chloe wanted to open her gifts from us in the morning.

 I picked out a new purse and wallet for her. Yellow is her favorite color.

 Chloe is reaching the magical babysitting age, so we got her a cell phone for when she is home without us.

 iTunes giftcard!

 Soph and Hank

 Chloe chose to spend some time at the zoo on her birthday.

 She's 11!

 The bear was up and moving around today.

 Me with my birthday girl

 The girls said the kudu were posing for me.

 We love the giraffes!

 Babies are so cute... even a baby baboon!

 The elephants are Sophie's favorite.

Another great trip to the zoo. I hope you enjoyed your birthday, Chloe!

We are on a break...

My laptop had been on life support for a while, but I am sorry to inform you that it coded and was unable to be resuscitated this time. (It's okay to shed a tear. I was sad too.) This means that all the pictures from the fun things we are doing cannot be readily accessed right now. So, until further notice the blog will be on break. I'll try to post date some entries when I can, so check back every once in a while to see if we're up and running again.

The Last Day of School

 Sophie and Chloe on the morning of their last day

 Sophie and Mrs. Fenton (Mrs. Fenton has decided to stay home with her little man next year. She was a bit emotional by the end of the day. Luckily you can't see me crying behind the camera!)

Mrs. Ludlow and Chloe

The last day... these words had extra significance for us this year. For anyone who doesn't already know, we have decided to homeschool next year. We didn't make this choice lightly. Once we started talking about it, we took about a year to think and pray. I confess that when I first became a mother, homeschooling was not even something I would have considered. However, God has totally changed the attitude of my heart, and I feel like this is something he is calling us to do. I realize that there are going to be challenges along the way (aren't there always?), but our whole family is excited about this new adventure. We have loved sending our kids to Southport Presbyterian Christian School, and I cannot thank the staff and teachers there enough... May they have many, many crowns in Heaven!

Photos by Daddy

Jason took Henry outside with him to grill dinner and also got some pictures of our sweet little guy.

Thanks for the photos, Jay!

Chloe's Last Soccer Game

I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of Chloe playing soccer this season!!! That's what happens when Jay coaches and I'm left to corral the other three I guess. At least I kept them all safe and from playing in traffic! :-)

 Chloe's games were at Greenwood Christian Church this year. There were large shade trees around the field which was lovely!

 Maybe they were watching a plane? Or finding shapes in the clouds? I can't remember...

 My little camera case was more entertaining than any toys I brought.

The soccer star and her coach (holding another future soccer star)