Dance Recital- May 16th

I couldn't pass up posting this picture. Brady is wearing her costume from the previous year! I have lots of these pictures to bribe him with later!

Grace got a medal and a doll with the same costume on. Her dance studio is great!

Palmer Family

Granna and Papaw came from TN to the recital too! The t-ball game got rained out, so they didn't get to see that, but I'm sure the recital gave them memories of the thousands of recitals they sat through for me!

Grace got tons of flowers from her family! Grammy and Pops came to the recital!

They used these umbrellas with string on them to show how they can walk on their tiptoes. The ribbon bounced and they loved it!

The theme was "Under the Sea" and the girls had no idea that Ariel was going to show up. Grace was in heaven dancing next to her!

The room was very dark, so it was hard to get good pictures. They did both tap and ballet and also showed us what skills and positions they had worked on all year. The little girls have their performance at the studio, but next year it will be full throttle with all the other big girls at a performance hall!

Sweet precious girl could NOT wait for her dance recital! She was excited because her tutu was bigger this year! She's not as shy this year, so she was all about performing! She actually had a lot more balance than some of the girls.

Mother's Day Weekend

Each child made a placemat that had their handprints, and a MOM keychain. I think ours broke that very day! Oh well. I also got a precious glass plate that said my #1 job was being a mommy.

Right after Mother's Day, Brady had his Mother's Tea at school. He was SO excited to have me come to his class. They had a huge spread of food and sang a song about Spring. Too cute!

All the men had to have a picture too.

All the mothers!

Sunday we had Mother's Day lunch at the Palmers. We had secretly had the kids' picture made for Grammy of her 3 grandkids. She loved it, of course!

I always love these pictures of kids eating their first cake! Caleb loved it!

Cousin Caleb had a cowboy 1st birthday party! We ate yummy fajitas and had a cowboy boot cake!

Poor brother! He wants to play so bad, and sometimes just sits on the bench wishing he could be out there! He's pretty good already!

Mommu and Grandad came in from Lubbock for the weekend. We had t-ball, our nephew's first birthday, and Mother's Day. It was a packed weekend! Josh's grandparents are the most precious people! So far they have been able to make one game per season for each great grandchild and every one of their birthdays. They have 16 great grandkids under age 6 and 2 more on the way! What troopers!

Grace looks so thrilled to be out in 100 degree heat in pants! At least she has pink shoes!

May, Part I

That night we had random ducks and rabbits in our yard! The kids loved feeding them!

The portraits of all the mommies were posted on the wall. I picked mine out right away. Not because I am THAT good at knowing my daughter's artwork, but because she knows me so well. Look at the eccentric clothing with tons of color, stripes and polka dots! That's me!! Loud colors and big earrings! Hilarious!

Grace and her class reciting Psalm 139, "For you created my inmost being...you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." They can quote the whole chapter. Amazing, and it makes each mommy cry!

On May 7, Grace had a Mother's Day Tea at school. I love going each year. This year they made us bonnets, jewelry boxes, and portraits. They had cookies and punch for us, and showed us a little of what they learned this year.

Precious girl!!! How can she see anything coming her way with her hat like that? At least she's "ready!"

The cutest player, by far!!! She made it on base every time, however, she didn't hit too many balls off Daddy. She mostly used the tee.

The league this year was still through our church, but they got pitches from their coach, and then could hit off a tee if they didn't hit the thrown balls. We made progress each week. Here's the stellar player, Coach Josh!

T-ball began at the end of April, and boy was Coach Josh excited!! He planned, made spreadsheets, and thought about how each practice would work. Our friend, Matthew, coached with him. We had bascially the same team as last year, but we recruited another girl to play.

The kids' first swimming outing was to our Athletic Center's indoor pool. Brady was nervous again this year, but Grace is a real swimmer! They enjoy the little play area, but Grace already feels she's too big for that! Yikes!

April Happenings

We went to a playdate one Friday, and hadn't been there 3 minutes when Brady fell through the monkey bars and split his chin open. That was great! We spent the rest of the day in the ER. He ended up getting the liquid stitches, although now I am not a big fan of them. I don't think the wound closed good. Brady was only crying because he had to leave the park! That's a boy for you! He was awesome in the ER! I'm guessing this is our first of many trips to that place with a rowdy boy!

Grammy and Pops with the grandkids after the program. It was super cute!

Just to give you a feel of how big our church is, this group of kids is all 4 and 5 yr olds. And this is our chapel. It's insane! Grace's choir class was only 3 months of birthdays, and her Sunday class is only Feb, 2004 kids. Needless to say, our children's area is a madhouse!

Brother was great at the performance!! He watched sister perform with intensity!

The Sunday after Easter Grace had her spring choir program. All of the songs had to do with God's love, so they were supposed to wear pink, red, or hearts. In the fall program, Grace sang, but didn't look like she enjoyed it. She did NO hand motions. This time she was really into it. And she was also the girl with THE biggest bow in the show!

Aunt Marisa and sweet cousin Caleb! The kids can't wait until he can run and play with them!

He got a lot of eggs!! Unfortunately it had been a rainy morning, so we had to hunt inside. Not the greatest experience, but they didn't seem to mind.

Cousin Caleb has a great first experience of egg hunting. He really enjoyed shaking the eggs to hear the candy inside. What a cutie!!

The kids got huge easter baskets from us and goodies all week from Granna and Papaw.

After an awesome church service, Grammy, Pops, Marisa and Caleb came over for lunch. It was a good day to spend together.

Palmer Family- Easter 2009

Here's a better picture of the cute vest my mom made with the bunny on it!

Easter morning! Grace is once again wearing one of my outfits, and one my mom made for me years ago. They sure look sweet to be so mischievous!

Buddy mainly watched the shenanigans!

The kids enjoyed dying eggs with Daddy. We got 2 kits and they thought it was pretty cool! However, no one ate one hard boiled egg! That was a waste! Don't know if we will do that again!

Random and EXCITING Happenings

The finished product. Lovely!
Second, we decorated a gingerbread Bunny House (from Target). I was very skeptical that this would work, but it actually turned out great! The icing really stuck to the walls, and the kids each decorated a side.

Of course, Grace's looked more realistic and she knew where to put the stickers.

Last Friday we began our Easter activities. First we used stickers and they each made an Easter scene of Jesus, the cross, the tomb, etc. Then we read the Easter story from the Bible.

Josh has always vaccuumed the stairs for me, since it's hard to hold the vaccuum and do a good job. However, lately he has taken over most of the other vaccuuming too. What a good hubby! Every time one of us gets it out, Brady has to get his vaccuum and help too. What a cutie!

Grace had Donuts with Dad at school. They got to wear a sports shirt, so they chose their t-ball shirts so they would match. She loved that Daddy could go to her classroom and have breakfast!

What are we having??

It's a sister!!!! Grace is thrilled!
I am back-stepping a little bit, but this was the morning we went to the doctor. We took the kids to Chick-fil-A for breakfast, then off to the doctor to find out if we were having a brother or sister. Brady didn't really get it, but Grace really wanted to know. This was before the appointment.

Spring Break in TN

In a police car! It was a great day for all! We stayed there so long they were really worn out!

There was a Kroger set up like a real grocery store. The kids could push their basket around and shop and then check themselves out. Denise had to help.

Grace was wearing piles of fabric. We didn't really know what she was.

There was a dress up area with a stage where the kids could perform. Go Buzz Lightyear!

We also got to go to the Children's Museum with Denise and her 3 kids. We were very adventurous that week. It was a great place for the kids to explore. First they went fishing.

She was super happy the next morning to find 4 quarters in her bag. She said in such a bewildered voice, "Mommy, I didn't even see that lady come in my room!" The tooth fairy, AKA "Mommy", didn't have the heart to take the tooth out of the bag after she was so scared she would lose it.

Pitiful thing!

Later that night we had a big occurrence in Grace's life- her first lost tooth! I don't think I wrote about this, but a few weeks ago we heard her crying in bed and went to check on her. She said her tooth was loose. We talked to her about it, that it was a big girl thing to happen, and all kids lost their teeth. She just kept saying, "what if it falls out in the carpet and I can't find it!" She had heard people saying "you lost a tooth" and she thought she would really misplace it and not be able to find it again. It scared her to death!

On this night, Uncle Micah was wrestling with her, and flipped her over the back of the couch. She didn't even hit her head, but somehow the tooth came out. Everybody was so happy for her, but she was crying. We were trying to tell her about the tooth fairy.

Grace loved the panda bear, but she informed me it wasn't real. It was someone in a costume. Little stinker!

The kids just HAD to ride the carousel and poor Miss Kelly offered to ride with all the kids. What a nice, thoughtful friend to let the pregnant lady rest for a minute! Good thing Sarah and Drew's Mimi was along for the journey too.

This was Brady's first zoo trip, sadly. But he enjoyed himself soo much! He was enthralled with all the animals and had a lot to tell me about each one. The giraffes were one of his favorites!

Sweet friends! Sarah and Grace act like they see each other every day! Poor Drew didn't want to be in the picture. As you'll notice, zoo day was also St. Patrick's Day.

Watching sea lions swim around

Once we got back to Memphis, we got to have more fun times with my high school friends! They are just so awesome! We got to go to the zoo with Kelly, her mom, and her 3 kids! It was a great day! L-R: Drew, Brady, Grace, and Sarah

Like I said, little climber! He would only stop to yell, "Go Zachary!"

I don't know what to say about little kids and 5 hour baseball games! We packed a bag full of balls, coloring pages, and lots of snacks and they went through it all! Grace does pretty good, but Brady is all over the place. We try to sit away from the other people so he has room to climb around, but a small child can only be confined for so long! Thank goodness my mom helps or I would be insane!

Uncle Zachary playing second base. The 3rd baseman got hurt, so he has been playing that position some also. Too bad Vanderbilt put us way way back from the field on some bleachers.

The precious neighbors that used to live next door to my parents also moved to Nashville. Therefore we had a nice, warm, free place to stay. It rained a lot of the weekend, so we hung out at their house. Their daughter Elaine also lives nearby. She is one of my best friends from high school and was my maid of honor. It was great to see her and her newborn son, David.

We had a whirlwind trip to TN for our spring break! We got to ride with our friend Amanda and her kids! It made the ride go so much faster! The day after we got to Memphis we rode to Nashville with my parents to watch some baseball. Ole Miss was playing Vanderbilt. Here is our famous player, Uncle Zachary!