Henry's 5th Birthday!

At the beginning of the month we celebrated Henry's 5th birthday with a party at MawMaw and PawPaw's per his request. 

He was so excited to dig into his presents that he just couldn't control it any longer and finally dug into one while we were eating dinner. :)

Here he is opening his skateboard from MawMaw and PawPaw.  He was SO excited!!

Grandpa Pat and Henry Pat.

These two can go round and round but are also best buds.

Back on the skateboard, he was obsessed with it all night. 

All the kids tried on one of the superhero capes Henry got. 

How cute is this little Super Doodle?

This four are a loud blur of chaos and trouble when they are together. 

The night ended with a slumber party.  We lasted in the living room for a couple hours before heading upstairs to separate rooms so the kids would actually fall asleep. 

Henry was the first one up in the morning ready to go back downstairs to his skateboard.

So hard to believe Henry is already 5!

His is the comedian in our family, super generous, has a smidge of a temper :), a self proclaimed scardy cat and just so much fun to be around.

We love him so much!!

4th of July

I love the 4th of July. I love the BBQ's, the fireworks, the parade and most of all Henry's annual glow-stick party. :)

I was super bummed to see the weather forecast was filled with rain for the weekend of the 4th but that didn't stop our fun.  

We kicked off the celebrating on Sunday the 3rd with a BBQ at my parents house.

That night we had Henry's annual glow-stick party. Always a fun time. :)

All 4 babies ready to get the party started!

The glow-stick party consists of one person playing DJ (me this year) and all the babies dancing like crazy with all the lights out. 

  

We didn't stay to watch the fireworks from my parents house but Elle had a great view of them on our ride home. 

When we got home Eric took Ollie inside and Elle and I sat on the driveway and watched more fireworks.  I love hearing them go off all around us. 

The next morning we were up bright and early for the parade.

Notice Elle's shoes.  She insists on putting them on herself.

I think it's adorable!

Ready to catch some parade candy!

I think Oliver was wishing he had stayed in bed with daddy. :)

Oliver spent a majprity of the parade in his stroller watching Hotel Transylvania on my fun. #paradepartypooper

When he did get out he tried his best to run in the middle of the street in front of the floats.

How cute does Beary look waving in this picture!!

After the parade Mary and I took the kids to Bread Co. for lunch then back to MawMaw and PawPaw's the night of the 4th. 

The humidity fogged up my camera! The kids had a Popsicle eating contest outside.  You'll never guess who won...Henry! :)

Shooting off fireworks.

Headed to the festival.  We didn't have bug spray so Paige suggested we use dryer sheets so Ollie had them stuffed in his shirt. :)

Who doesn't fall asleep in front of an extremely loud live band?!

Just two little best friends dancing to some live music.

Riding with Aunt Paige!

After Doodles passed out Mom and Eric walked him home where he kept sleeping on his MawMaw.

After the festival we went back to Mom and Dad's to shoot off more fireworks.  As we were were we saw 3 lanterns released, they were just like the ones from Tangled.  Elle still talks about them and has asked if she can release one on her birthday which I think is a great idea!

Back home and exhausted!!! Seriously, we were all so worn out from celebrating! 

Pool Day

We spent the day at the pool with the Voss crew a couple weeks ago.  We went to the pool by Mary's house and Elle hadn't been there since last summer so she didn't remember much about it.

The car ride to the pool may have been the highlight of the day for both of my children.  The pool is super close to Mary's house (like one street over from her subdivision) and we learned our lesson last year when we walked (caught in the rain with 4 babies, no thank you) so we drove and just all got in Mary's car.  The 3 big kids sat in the back - and kept commenting that it was like a school bus...Elle's never been in a bus so this just must be what she imagines one to be like. :) And Oliver loved being in a forward facing car seat.  Mary and I could hear him squealing and giggling from the front. 

At this pool on Tuesday's they open an hour early for kids 6 and under which was so nice! 

The kiddos played and rode down the slides and splashed until their little bodies were wore out.

One amusing part was all 6 of us on rafts in the lazy river.  Mary and I each had a 2 person raft, so Elle had a seat in my raft and Oliver sat in my lap.  Getting in the raft and on the lazy river was laughable and then getting our 2 rafts connected (and keeping them that way) was hilarious. :) Oliver somehow managed to fall asleep during the chaos, probably one of the oddest places my children have fallen asleep. We were constantly being splashed in the face and I know I tied my hardest to shield him but he even slept through that. 

Exhausted and ready to head back to Mimi's for a late lunch.

I could just eat this girl up. I see so much baby in her in this picture. 

Henry was not exhausted. :) He was already asking Mary if they could come back after lunch. 

We ordered Imo's, headed back to Mary's to eat and then we rolled out for nap time. 

Perfect pool day. :)

Life Lately

This year, like every year, is flying by.  I can't believe we are already this far into June. The saying is true, the days are long but the years are short.

So our life lately has been filled with fun outside, popsicles and cuddling my sweet babies.

We celebrated Eric's 32nd birthday!

Days at the park before the weather got too hot. It has been soooo hot/humid lately.

Sissy is a little mama to Ollie. When she saw him standing on the slide she immediately ran over to hold onto her "goo goo".

He loves to stand in the sink and wash his little hands. 

Elle wanted to take a bath in the sink one night, baby wants baby gets.  This, of course, ended in a huge mess of water all over the kitchen.

She asked every night after for a bath in the sink but mama needed a break from that mess. :)

I kicked off Memorial Day weekend with a night out with these two. 

So. Much. Laughing.

And then I woke up Saturday morning slightly hungover to this sweet little face.

Memorial Day weekend was also when the Disney Channel was airing all of their original movies. Will and I loved most of these growing up.  

Some early morning water table fun in the pj's. 

Then in the kitchen to create masterpieces. 

We spent Sunday on Memorial Day at the Stille house for a BBQ. Elle and Oliver loved their trampoline.

Oliver was trying to drink the water and thought it was absolutely hilarious. 

Elle and I ran to the mall to grab Paige's birthday present and she HAD to stop and ride this truck.  She wanted to ride the big carousel but Eric and Oliver were waiting in the car so the firetruck had to do. 

This girl. 

She is sassy, will interrupt any conversation I'm having, is stubborn as can be....but is the sweetest little thing in the world.  I just adore her. 

Princess Eleanor! :)

And Princess Henry! :)

Bubbles on the deck.  They all wanted a turn with the Little Mermaid bubble wand Mary brought Elle back from Disney World.  I would yell "switch!" and they knew to hand it to the next person.

That's not to say there weren't some tense bubble moments. :)

Mary has been helping watch Elle and Oliver during the week while mom is recovering. Mary sent me this picture one day of Henry and Oliver watching Toy Story.  Ollie is pointing to the TV saying "look".

Ollie LOVES Toy Story!

Chick-Fil-A picnic.  Oliver is a fan!

I made the kids pastina for lunch one day and Oliver loved it!

So, Mary and Nick went out one night to celebrate their anniversary so the boys came over to our house.  They all ate pizza and I had them create their own movie tickets.  Then they came inside with their tickets and I showed them to their seats at the theatre.

This is them waiting to hand me their tickets.

These children are all crazy! :)

Settled into their seats at the theatre with bowls of popcorn with sprinkles on top. 

Sissy's first day of gymnastics!

I didn't know how she would do just walking off with her class and her coach but she did great!!

Crawfish Boil at Eric's parents house.  Elle tried crawfish but she wasn't a fan and Oliver tried oysters and loved them.

Mulligan girls at Paige's bridal shower.

Elle helped her open all of her presents.

These little couches were the best purchase ever!

Will and Paige came over to watch Oliver one night while Elle and I were at her swim lessons.  I came home to Oliver passed out on his Unc.

Missy loves picking out her jammies herself.  She came to me to model her Halloween pj's.

And then she passed out at the foot of my bed while I was putting Oliver to sleep. :)

Park days with these two.

Teaching Elle to steer a bike may be the death of me. ;)

Don't mess with the Hylton crew.

I just want to eat him up!

This was an ant that she wanted to bring inside and make her pet.  When I told her it was time to come inside she walked up to me with her hand in a fist behind her back.  When I made her show me what she had it was her little ant friend.  She was planning to bring him inside and take him Lord knows where. I can only imagine how many times she has successfully snuck a pet bug inside.

Pool days!

My littlest. 

Gymnastics week 2 with a new leotard she picked out herself!

And a lantern that HAD to be in the picture. 

Dumping your goldfish out is apparently hilarious. 

Mary and I took the kids to the Dollar Store one night and they all picked out 2 things.  Elle got this princess pack and a hula hoop.  Watching her hula hoop is the most amazing thing ever!

Oliver picked out 2 balls.  This boy loves throwing, kicking, catching balls.

Bedtime with Buzz, he is a very popular guy at our house.

Oh Russell. This boy can not leave the toilet paper alone in the bathroom.  When Elle flushes she always waves and says "bye" and now Oliver always wants to put toilet paper in the toilet and wave and say "bye".

Elle loves going to the pool this summer.  She would go every single day if we let her!  I think a pool pass will definitely be purchased next year.

After a hot day day at the pool is the only time I see curls on this girl. She kept saying she looked like mommy. :)

Ready to do some baking, Ollie wasn't thrilled about his apron at first. 

Elle had gone to bed the night before begging to make cupcakes so the next day when I got off work we started baking. 

Elle is licking her spoon and Oliver is painting his toes with brownie batter. 

My Lord I love these two and I love to watch their friendship evolve. 

Oliver has found all of the stools in our house and loves to climb them when no one is looking. I can't remember what he was asking for but I know that little hand reached out means he was wanting something. 

I found him in the laundry room sitting in Elle's laundry basket one night. If you can't find Ollie the laundry room is my go-to place to look. 

I was selling our old barstools on Craigslist and right before the buyers came Elle grew an attachment to them. :)

She was so talkative with the buyers, explained that she had spilled a banana on the seat and the then as they were loading them into the car she was on the driveway telling them the chairs sometimes break and my daddy has to fix them.  

A salesperson she is not! :)