These Days

The month of May has been jam packed with all kinds of end of the year stuff... practices, performances, parties and more.  We've thoroughly enjoyed it but we're also looking forward to the slower paced summer!!  

Abby figured out how to climb in this kitchen drawer and does it often.  She's quite proud of herself.  At first she could climb in but couldn't climb out, but now she's mastered that too.  

In early May Hannah had "Dress like a Cowgirl/boy" day at school.  She had fun and I thought she was an adorable cowgirl!  

A couple from our church had passed along some bunk beds that they weren't using anymore. The girls are so excited about them!  Claire is in a toddler bed on the other side of the room.  

Hannah had her Mother's Day program at school and she was so so excited about it.  They had all kinds of gifts to give the moms, sang at least 6 different songs, gave us each a cookie and lemonade, and had a slideshow that made me cry (and I'm not a "crier").  It was precious and I LOVED getting to spend the time with my Hannah.  She had been talking about this party for WEEKS and was so excited about singing for me.  

All the moms had a crown like the one I'm wearing in the picture.  Hannah did not want me to take it off even after we got home.  Ha!  

These questionnaires always make me chuckle.  We don't have "eggs and cheese" often, but we had had it around the time she was answering these questions, so it was probably on her brain.:)  The question about my favorite TV show was funny too!  We really only watch TV after they are in bed and if we have something on while they are awake it is usually a ballgame that BERT is watching. :)  

Hannah LOVES washing dishes.  She uses a lot of water and and way too much soap, but it makes her happy and I love that she likes to help.  This time she brought Claire along for the fun!  

We celebrated my brother's birthday with family.  We love celebrating birthdays and we sure do love Stanley, so it made for a fun night!  

I had an amazing Mother's day this year!  I'm so incredibly thankful that these four little people call me Mommy.  

Emily wanted a picture with her American Girl doll, Virginia, on Mother's Day! She's a super sweet little mommy!  

We try to play outside as much as we can. One morning while we were out there I had turned around to help Claire with something and when I turned back around Abby had climbed up onto the table and taken a seat.  I thought she looked cute! 

I got a picture of Claire on a pretend phone call with Mimi.  She had an entire "conversation" with her and it was precious.  I wish I had it on video.  

Claire is saying "I love you, Mommy" or "I love you, Daddy" or "I love you, ______" A LOT these days.  She says it several times through out the day, unprompted every time.  It melts my heart every single time.

Bert's mom is on the committee to help plan the Relay for Life in their town.  She works so hard every year and they put on such an amazing event. On top of that, she and his dad are very active in helping the Watts family team that they have each year. This year their Relay fell on the Friday before Mother's Day and Bert decided to take Emily and Hannah and surprise Grandmama and Pawpaw.  E and H were so excited about surprising them and Grandmama and Pawpaw were really excited about having them there.  They also got to see lots of other family while they were there that night, which was really fun.  Here is a picture of them walking the track and Hannah getting a ride on Pawpaw's shoulders.  

Watching Grandmama making an announcement on stage!  

Abby, Claire and I were sorry we had to miss it but it was a lot of driving for such a short trip and I would have had to be at the house with the little's while they were sleeping, while everyone else was at Relay.  But we were glad to send our big girls as representatives for this part of the Watts clan!

Bert got to help out at Emily's Field Day again this year and had a blast, although he did mention that he was surprisingly tired after just helping out for the morning.  

Emily had so much fun, but no surprise there.  She's had such a fun year!

Hannah and Claire got to go to a Ninja birthday party for one of Hannah's school friends.  They came home talking all about it!  

Looking at these next two pictures makes me want to just scoop up the little peanut.  I love her!

People at church joke about Abby being attached to my hip.  She is there A LOT, but it's such a short time that I can carry her like that and if I put her down she runs off, so it's easier to just carry her around when I'm at church especially.  I'm enjoying it while I still can!  

We had a church yard sale and auction to raise money for a new playground and Emily helped take up money for a little bit during the yard sale.  I thought she looked beautiful and like a big girl in this picture. 

On the day of the kids church musicals/performances Mimi and Papa were in Greenville so they could cheer on their grandkids!  Papa took a Sunday afternoon nap with Hannah, while Emily was reading beside them. 

Bert went to check on Abby one night (as he does every night) while I started getting ready for bed.  He came and told me I had to go peek at Abby before I got in the bed.  She looked so peaceful and precious, and didn't flinch when I took a couple pictures with my flash on.  She was out! 

We're really enjoying playing outside these days.  Abby loves her pink swing and gets VERY excited if you suggest going outside.  She heads straight for the back door.  (And yes, that is a zipped up jacket on her in May, but it was cool and windy that day!)

Claire just recently learned to swing in a big girl swing.  We had been trying to get her to for awhile but she was scared she was going to fall off.  She's mastered it now and is very proud of herself!  

I love watching them all swing!  I almost always push them from the front because I love seeing their little faces light up.  

Emily brought this home from school and we loved it.  You can click on it to make it bigger if you want to read it.  Her spelling for some of these words is precious.  Here's the translation (with corrected spelling): "My Favorite Book.  I love books. My favorite book is Narnia. Right now I am in the book The Horse and His Boy. The author and illustrator is a Christian. He/she writes about Aslan. He is a lion because in the Bible it says he is a lion because he is strong and powerful like a lion and gentle like a lamb. Narnia is all about relying on God. I hope you like learning about Narnia. Start going to church and tell others about the gospel."

Emily's been growing her hair out for about 3 years now.  She's told me many times that she wants it to be longer than her waist.  A couple weeks ago she said she wanted to get her hair cut short.  I was so surprised and asked her if she was sure.  I told her we had to wait until after her recital so that I could put her hair up in a bun, but if she still wanted it short after that then she could get it cut.  She continued to say she wanted it cut because she would be too hot with long hair in the summer.:)  

Before: 

After: 

Adorable: 

Their dance recital was the Sunday night of Memorial Day weekend so we were obviously in Greenville for that, but we decided at the last minute to make a day trip up to the lake on Memorial Day! We had a really relaxing day of playing in the water, riding jet skis, having a picnic on the dock, naps in the lake house, a walk around the neighborhood and we even enjoyed some ice cream cake!  

Of the four, Claire and Abby loved riding the jet skis the most this trip.  Claire didn't want to get off and when Abby saw Bert on one she lunged for him every time.  Hannah was as happy as a lark just swimming in the water.  It didn't matter a bit to her that the water was still a bit on the cold side.  Emily had fun in the water too, but she especially loved playing on the floats and trying to "surf."  It was a really fun and relaxing day, and was just what the doctor ordered after a busy, but fun, May!

We haven't made it to a pool yet.  The lake was the first body of water we've gotten into this summer, but the girls are chomping at the bit to head to the pool so we'll be going soon.  I'm excited about fun, relaxing summer days with all four of my babies.  Thankful I'm able to stay at home with them!