Strawberry Stained Smiles

 With my first official day off for the summer (and September and October), we thought we'd go pick a box of berries.  Josie pretty much only picked and ate, but Caleb was a great contributor to the box in addition to his tummy.  

 Sure, she's cute picking...much cuter than her 32 weeks

pregnant mom was bending down to pick. 

Preschool Graduation May 16, 2012

Pre-ceremony picture.  The shadow pretty well hides the semi-black eye that Josie accidentally gave him that afternoon. 

 This is Caleb's super sweet teacher, Miss Michelle.  Despite his terrified deer-in-the-headlights look for this picture, he really loved her.

 Mrs. Jamie, the aid in Caleb's room.  

Overall, in preschool, Caleb learned academically, and did (a LOT) of crafts, but really his biggest growth was in becoming more social, overcoming some shyness with other kids and with adults.  It's great that he can now talk to people, and no longer try to hid behind me as much.  

Caleb's 5th birthday

 On his actual Birthday, ready to go out for Pizza with Ben and Abbie

 Photo time before the party with family on Sunday.  I can't believe how big he is already!

 

Jamie and Peter gliding

 

 Opening the bow and arrow set from Grandpa V with Naomi. 

Storing up all the air (and spit) that it takes to blow out 5 whole candles.

Biker Babe

Caleb got a new bike for his birthday (not pictured), but that means that Josie got a new bike too.  She loves riding it, all the time, and goes really fast (much faster than I can keep up with at 30 weeks pregnant). 

 I told Josie we'd take some pictures of her with her bike.  I meant with her riding the bike, but she thought she should give me a couple of poses as well. 

Tee-ball season begins

 Caleb was so excited for his game, he mentioned it already at 7:30 AM (game time was 4:00), wanted to put on the uniform around noon, and at one point said, "I think I'll just watch the clock for a while."  I guess the earlier part of our day around the house spreading mulch wasn't thrilling enough for him. 

 Tongue out, running...

Tongue out fielding. 

Happy Easter, 2012

 Easter morning attempt at pictures before church. 

 Part of the Egg hunt outside with Nathan, Daniel and Peter.

 Post-hunting, Josie and the boys

Florida spring break trip

Here are just a select few of the many many pictures we took on our Florida vacation last week.  We kept very busy, had great weather and great company (thanks Syd and Chris and kids!) and enjoyed our time together--even the time in the van!

Josie hanging out in the hot tub in the back yard.  At one point, the kids said this was all they wanted to do the whole week.  Too bad for them, we made them go to amusement parks and the beach too.
 
 On the second day, we went to Fort Desoto park.  This was the only day we saw rain, and it only cut our time at the beach short by about 1 hour.   All in all, the weather was about mid-80s and sunny.

 

Collecting shells (treasures) on the beach.

 

Flying their kites at Treasure Island beach.  Thanks Grandpa V!

 

Chilling in the pool.  I think Josie may be a little high maintenance.

Busch Gardens was a favorite day for all of us.  The kids loved the animals, the rides, and hanging around with Kayden, Luke, Noah and Jack. 

Here are Kayden and Caleb 'driving' their little car. 


 

Getting ready to watch the Seasame Street show with Elmo.  They really were excited about it.  I think I just caught them at a tired moment.
 
 
 Noah and Josie were riding buddies all day at Busch--these airplanes were a favorite. 

 Motorcyles with Caleb and Jack

On the train to ride through the Sahara at Busch and check out the giraffes, rhinos, zebras, ostriches, and probably some others that I am forgetting.

We hit Sunset Beach (10 minutes form Chris and Syd's) on Wednesday before heading to Orlando that night.  Caleb went out pretty far into the ocean and was jumping into and over the waves.  On the way home he said this was his favorite part of the trip.



 
 We went to Downtown Disney on Wednesday night since we were in Orlando to do Sea World the next day.  Of all the things there to look at, this fountain was the biggest hit for Caleb and Josie.  Caleb was determined he could figure out where the water would shoot from next and could block it. 

 

We went to Sea World in Orlando on Thursday and spent a lot of time watching the shows: we saw the dolphin show, the seal & sea lion show and the Orca whale show.  All of those were incredible and the kids were fixated (except that Josie slept through the whale show).  The kids went on more rides and saw a lot more animals.   Caleb even got to feed the seals and pet a sting ray and a dolphin.

First photos

Here is a profile picture of our third child, and second daughter!  At least, we are pretty sure it's going to be a little girl--the ultrasound tech wasn't completely sure because she was moving a lot.  She had her hands up by her face most of the time so we didn't see a lot of her face, but we are grateful that everything looks healthy and perfect! Also, both Caleb and Josie wanted a baby girl, so they were thrilled.  Caleb wants to name her "Joe vincent"  (who knows...) and Josie wants to name her "Baby Lucy" where 'baby' is part of the name. 

Changes and upgrades

In preparation for #3 coming in the summer, we bought this new kid-hauler.  Kyle only went to South Caroline to buy it...well worth the effort

We also put in these lockers where the washer and dryer used to be and moved the laundry downstairs.  Hopefully this will give the kids a place to throw their stuff and hang it up.

 This past weekend, we had this built-in bookcase and entertainment base put in-I have yet to figure out what we will out in all of the shelves, but I'm sure we'll find the new storage is helpful.