Swimming Lessons

Well, it is that time of year again. Will and Caroline started swimming lessons this past Monday. Mommy actually remembered to bring her camera to the first day of lessons. Caroline is taking Mommy and Me lessons, while Will is taking Big Boy lessons. This year, his very best friend in the whole world signed up to take them at the same time. They are having a BLAST!

This picture was taken at the beginning of the first lesson, and, as you can see, Caroline is not so sure about things.....

Now, she is definitely UNHAPPY!

It doesn't look like it from the pictures of the first day, but, with four days under her belt, Caroline now loves swimming.

Next up, the boys....This one was taken while they were waiting for their lesson to start.

Isn't boy love sweet?

Patiently waiting for my turn....

Almost my turn to swim. YAY!

Caroline is still not happy, even though she has been out of the water for a while. Where does she get that mean face from?

Will is swimming with Alfredo! This is huge improvement over last summer when he wouldn't even let go of the instructor's neck.

Look at those eyes....

Ahhhhhh....SUMMER.......

Daddy's Little Helper

Will and Caroline both love to help around the house. Last Sunday, Daddy needed to mow the yard (during Caroline's nap). Will skipped his nap that day and insisted on helping Daddy mow the entire yard.

And off they go!

What a look of determination. He is going to get this job DONE!

Smiling for the camera. What a HAM!

Can't put the mower away until everything is all cleaned up.

The Clampetts and Their New Monster Truck

After months of discussions, our neighborhood finally negotiated an agreement with an energy company regarding our oil and gas rights and we got our signing bonus! Yay, we are now oil and gas barons! After much "negotiation" with Daddy, Mommy convinced him that Will and Caroline should get their share of the signing bonus.

We already own a small car that only seats one and is made for small child. It only goes forward at 2.5 miles per hour. So we decided to buy them a new car that both can ride in. At first, Mom thought we should get a Mustang, but then she saw....the Ford F150 Monster Traction truck with a WORKING radio !!! It was perfect. Both kids could ride AND it has a truck bed with a working tailgate that the babies can use to store all their stuff while they are driving around. Will and Caroline always like to load up lots of "stuff" and move it from one place to another. We HAD to have it.

So, off we went to Walmart. Will and Caroline had absolutely no idea they were getting a truck. They were SO excited when we loaded it up onto a cart. Will immediately started in wanting to drive it. Unfortunately, we bought it in the evening and the battery has to charge for at least 18 hours before you can drive it. We told the kids they would have to wait until the next afternoon.

The next day, the kids immediately asked about putting the truck together. We told them they had to wait while we took care of some other stuff. That didn't stop them from sitting in it, though.....




Finally, after almost a WHOLE day of waiting, the truck is ready to rumble.....and they're off!



The new truck goes forward and backwards. Of course, Will had to try out reverse with the new truck...too bad he backed into the fence! Caroline was not very happy about it.



Here they are, headed down the street to accompany our neighbors home....You can't tell from the picture, but they have the radio blaring....



Back home. Time to park the car...in Daddy's spot! Ben told them they needed to get out of his spot and Will said, "It's OUR spot now!".



When we were taking the neighbors home, Grandma and Grandpa showed up in their car and it was so cute....they stopped to wave and Will and Caroline stopped to wave back. Unfortunately, Mommy didn't have the camera ready, so she missed her chance. We tried to "recreate" the moment when Grandma and Grandpa headed back home...There they are, waving to each other from their respective vehicles.




Sigh...the sun is going down...Off they go, into the sunset....



After baths, they had to check on their truck to make sure it was okay.

Can't go look at the truck and not get in it....

Goodnight truck.....See you in the morning.....

Will Slept in His Own Bed !!!!!

For almost two years now, Will has insisted on sleeping with Mommy and Daddy. I know, he isn't supposed to be there! The other day, Will decided he wanted to sleep in his big boy bed (on the top bunk). After much discussion, we decided to get the ladder out and let him give it a whirl. We couldn't believe it. The day was finally here....

All tucked in and ready to sleep.....Awww...look at the picture of Will at one day old in the background.....

Caroline decided she wanted to sleep up there, too! She put on her bike helmet, since you never know when you will need to make sure your head is protected.....

Here they are after the big night.....I wish I could get them to give me a real smile instead of those cheesy fake ones!

Sigh..he only made it two nights. We are going to have to talk it up so he will want to try again....

School's Out

Will and Caroline just finished up preschool for the year and participated in a wonderful end of the year program at school where they sang the Tooty Ta song wearing their Tooty Ta shirts. Too bad the pictures Mom took weren't so wonderful!



Caroline Looking Serious During the Program....




Caroline with Her Friends....




Will with his two very best friends in the entire world....





We were even able to purchase some of their "art" during a silent auction. Mom and Dad had it framed and put it on the walls in each of their rooms.



Will's Starry Night



Caroline's Starry Night



I can't believe that my children are growing up so fast. I remember Will being born like it was yesterday and he only has one year left before he starts Kindergarten.

Cooking in the Kitchen

One of Will and Caroline's favorite presents from Santa last year was their Walk-In Kitchen. On Mother's Day, they decided to whip up a snack for their guests.

Chef Caroline in the kitchen.....

Chef Will....

Teamwork.....

T-Ball Anyone???

Will played T-Ball for the second time this Spring. It was amazing to us to see how much better he was this year than when he played last Fall. He really seems to be getting it!

We had a late afternoon game in early May and Mom was actually able to take some pictures since Caroline stayed home to nap.

Batter Up.....

It's a HIT!

Whew! Made it to Base...This was quite a challenge for us throughout the season. Will didn't quite understand that he had to beat the ball to the base. (The league he played in last Fall didn't call any outs.)

Cleaning the Pitcher's Mound.


Inning's Over.

Game Over!

Will's favorite part of the game is afterward when the kids all go meet the other team and say "Good Game...Good Game". He also like's the part where his team gets together for the team cheer.

GO RAPTORS!

Washing Windows with Daddy

We got solar screens put on our windows to try to save on electricity, so Ben decided to wash all the windows before they put them on. Of course, Will and Caroline had to help!

Will's 4th Birthday

I have been meaning to do something like this since Will was born in 2004, but never got around to it. I don't know where to start, so I will go with Will's fourth birthday.

Will turned 4 years old back in April and had his first real birthday party. Since Will loves all things construction and especially John Deere, we HAD to have a John Deere theme with a construction cake. I think Will really just wanted the toys.

We rented a GIANT bounce house. It was an 18 foot high behemoth that was 15 feet deep and 30 feet wide, with a giant slide coming out of the side. Mom didn't bother to make sure that it would fit in our backyard before she rented it! Turns out, the backyard isn't quite deep enough and the completed shaded back yard has trees with branches not quite tall enough to let the thing inflate completely.

Since Mom saved some money by picking it up herself instead of having it delivered, we had to deflate it, roll it back up, and haul the 400 pound thing around to the driveway. Thank goodness the driveway was big enough to handle it!

Here is a picture of Will coming down the giant slide.

And of course, Caroline had to get into the act!

At the end of the party, we smashed up a pinata. Mom wanted to put "quality" candy in the pinata, so she stuffed it full of heavy candy. Turns out, that doesn't work out so well when you are trying to break the thing open. Dad finally had to smash it.

We finished up the festivities the next day on Will's actual birthday. He had to put all those cherries on that little cake so he could smash them into the frosting.