Fall Soccer

We finished up another successful soccer season today. It was Jude's first season and Ben coached his team. It was Noah's first season with referees and keeping score- it was challenging, but fun! It was a little hard juggling both boys games and Lily, but we managed!

Halloween 2012

We celebrated Halloween last night by having a few friends over for dinner, then we headed out to trick-or-treat around the block. I tried to get creative with the food...

Jude and Noah both started out as Ninjas. Jude promptly fell (or was pushed, depending on who you ask)into the pool! He didn't seem to mind having to change into an old Spiderman costume.

Lily was a lady bug for her first Halloween. She stayed up for the party, but didn't make it far trick-or-treating. She was more than ready for bed!

All of the big kids had fun and got plenty of candy!

Batman Celebration

Jude had his 5th birthday celebration on Saturday. He was so excited to have some of his friends over to play and eat cake!

Both boys had soccer games that morning, so we rushed home to get everything set up. Luckily, Aunt Shelley and Uncle Mike were in town to help. Jude helped set up for the party and packed all of the goody bags for his friends.

He was most excited about the cake! They kids spent the afternoon playing outside: a little soccer, some Superhero bingo and duck-duck-goose. It was a great birthday!

Pumpkin Time!

It still feels like summer here in Jacksonville, but the arrival of the pumpkins tells us that fall is here! Lily wasn't quite sure what to think of all of the pumpkins, so the boys picked out a pumpkin for her.

Jude's 1st day of pre-kindergarten

Jude finally started school this week. Only a week after Noah, but we were sure ready! Noah's constant complaints about having to go to school when Jude didn't and Jude's constant questioning about when Noah would be home were getting old quickly!

It's hard to believe that this time next year, he'll be going to elementary school with Noah.

Jude's preschool switched a lot of their teachers around this year and I think Jude really likes his class. He has lots of friends from last year in there with him and he's excited about all of the fun he's going to have!

Summer 2012

This summer has flown by, but I wanted to capture a few of the highlights- and maybe some lowlights. Jude managed to cut his cornea at Vacation Bible School, which resulted in 3 doctor visits and an eye patch.

Don't worry though, he made a full recovery and was back to his natural destructive self. He managed to spray an entire bottle of sunscreen all over the house- including on the cushions of one of our new sofas. We still love him though!

The same day that Jude injured his eye, a rock flew threw one of our glass doors and shattered it. Fortunately we could get it repaired in a few hours. It was very eery watching the glass continue to crack for those couple hours!

Noah went to a week of camp at the Jacksonville Zoo. He and his friend Eli had a lot of fun, although I am not sure that it was the life changing experience that Ben claims zoo camp was for him as a child. I think maybe they let kids get a little more "hands on" with the animals way back then.

We thought that we were not going to be able to go to camp this summer but Ben decided at the last minute that he didn't want to miss out on all of the fun! He took Noah and Jude to Camp Greenville while Sherry stayed at home with Lily. A few other families from Jacksonville were there to keep them company. Ben took the boys through McRae, Georgia on their way to visit his Dad's grave site.

They had plenty of fun at Camp Greenville's family camp this year, even though it rained more than usual. Noah went on the rope swing, high dive and big slide! He also got to ride his favorite horse, Amber. The boys had so much fun spending 4 days with their Dad.

Oh yeah, we also celebrated our 10 year anniversary this summer! The boys got to cruise around the neighborhood in the fancy limousine before we headed to dinner to celebrate!

I'm sure I missed some stuff in here! It's hard to believe that school starts for us in one week!

Under the Big Top!

Jude's preschool puts on a circus every year. Each class dresses up as different animals or performers and puts on a great show! This year, Jude was a juggler!

Jude's Christmas Performance

Jude's class performed in the Christmas concert at his preschool this morning. He did a great job!

4 Year Old Checkup

Last week we finally made it to the doctor for Jude's 4 year old check up. He weighed in at 37 pounds (75%) and is 41 3/4 inches tall (75%). He was a little upset about getting some immunizations, but bounced back pretty quickly.

We also attended Jude's Thanksgiving celebration at preschool. His class did a great job singing on stage.

Jude is 4!

We're a little late on this, but Jude turned 4 earlier this month! He shared a Star Wars birthday party with his friend Eli and we rented a big bounce house for all of the kids. It rained almost all day, but the kids didn't seem to mind bouncing in the rain!









Jude also got to pick where we went for dinner on his birthday. He chose Chuck E. Cheese's!

Just keep swimming...

Noah and Jude just completed a week of Swim Lessons with Coach Sally (aka Aunt Sally). They both did a wonderful job! Check it out for yourself...

Animal Kingdom!

We still had a few days on our Disney pass to use before the end of May, so we headed down to Orlando Saturday night and went to Hollywood Studios for a few hours. We were up bright and early on Sunday and let the kids pick which park we would visit- they both picked Animal Kingdom. Neither of the boys had been there before and they loved it!

The weather was perfect and the lines were nonexistent! The boys even got to ride Kali River Rapids (their favorite) twice! Mom opted out of the second trip after getting soaked the first time.







Noah and Jude loved all of the rides, the parade and meeting a few characters. It was a great Disney day!