A Couple of Cousins

We just finished up a fun week spent with our cousins, Jack, Trey, and my sister, Julie.  They were on spring break this week, so they decided to head to Atlanta to visit.  We found lots of fun things to do throughout the week and I think everyone had a great time. 
They headed over here on Wednesday and arrived mid-afternoon.  That was just enough time for me to have a fun Harrison - Mommy morning, getting registered for Kindergarten!  Each year seems to bring more and more fun as the kids learn how to do new things, but I am just having a hard time believing that he is old enough to go to Kindergarten.  You spend so much time together these first few years and I just wish I could do it all over again!  I know he is ready for Kindergarten, but lord have mercy, this milestone snuck up on me too quickly!  Lance's dad generously agreed to come over to watch Davis so I could have a special morning with Harrison.  It was just a morning of getting the paper work signed and turned in to the school, but I brought Harrison with me so he could get a peek at the school and see how nice the teachers are.  He asked me several times before we walked in if I was going to stay with him the whole time.  I assured him that he would stay with me.  He met a few kids and played with them while I was filling out the forms.  They all got along great and I think that helped relieve any anxiety he was feeling when we walked in.  As soon as we were done, he said, "Mom, that was it?  I thought today was my first day of school!".  He is too funny and he thought he was so big walking through the halls of the school.  Afterward, we went for a special treat at a local cupcake shop.  I think this smiles shows how excited he was about the morning.

I didn't tell Harrison that his cousins were coming, so he was ecstatic when they walked in the door that afternoon!  They played on the play set and in the woods all afternoon and had a great time.

The next day was Davis' class Easter party.  Julie's boys wanted to go to the aquarium that day, so Julie offered to take Harrison with them.  They sent me updates all morning and I think its safe to say that Harrison was over the moon to get to spend the day with his cousins!:

She said he was a good listener and followed all the rules (phew!)

And had fun posing for pictures...especially in front of the stinky otters

While they were busy having fun, Davis and I had fun at his Easter party

Yes!  Twizzlers!

Davis was also my big helper all week getting ready for our Church Easter Egg hunt.  He was very proud of his daddy's sign!

The night ended with unknowingly matching jammies!

The boys requested that we go to "the big park by Aunt Jenny's house", so we lazed around on Friday morning and then packed lunches, and headed to the park.  I looked over at one point and Harrison had found 2 boys and they were trying to teach him how to throw a football.  I tried to get a picture of them putting Harrison's arms in the right position but my camera wouldn't take fast enough.

Davis took notice and then wanted in on the fun

And before long, they had a big game of toss going on.

They were so sweet and spent about an hour playing with the boys.  They were so patient and even gave them all hugs before they left.  I desperately wish they were neighbors!
Julie gets big points for getting some great pictures of the boys throughout the week and the park was no exception.

We went out for mexican that night and Davis buddied up with Aunt Julie

Lance couldn't meet us in time for dinner, so he headed straight home from the office and surprised the boys with a camp fire and smores.
Can you tell they were excited?

Thank you Daddy/Uncle Lance!

The next day was our church's big Easter Egg hunt.  This the was the first year that I co-chaired the event so I was a little stressed making sure everything went smoothly.  Thankfully we had a team of helpers!  Julie and her boys arrived early so she could help out.  Lance's parents graciously came to run after the boys and take Harrison to his baseball game and Lance was put in charge of grilling hotdogs.  I think everything went according to plan except that we underestimated our numbers and didn't get the hotdogs started as early as we should have.  

But overall, I think everyone had fun.

 Davis is not a fan of costumed characters, so he was nowhere to be seen for this one

On your mark, get set....go!

 All was fun...

Until he realized that the eggs were empty...

so he felt the need to not only empty out his basket, but kick and step on the eggs...

 

 I really wish I could have seen him, Julie said that they were crying they were laughing so hard!

I think Davis' favorite part of the day were the bunnies

 Oh that's right, maybe we should actually get a picture together too!

We didn't do a great job of getting pictures today, but it was a nice Easter Sunday.  We went to the early service so we had a very quick Easter egg hunt before rushing out the door.

After church, we headed to the Randolph's for an Easter brunch with family and friends.  It was a nice, relaxing, rainy day.  A nice, calm way to round out the week!  Happy Easter!

March 2013

I don't think that I can start blog posts saying "What a whirlwind of a month it has been" anymore because I think all of our months are like that now!  I feel like I start out thinking we won't have much going on and before I know it, we are running around (in a good way!) and busy busy busy!  I have a bunch of random pictures from the last two months that I just haven't had time to post, so here goes! 
March started off with a weekend away with my college girlfriends.  We threw a shower in New Orleans for my friend Amanda and her fiance, Fred.  We are all so spread out now so it is rare that we all get to see each other and catch up.  Of course the weekend went waaay too fast, but we had a fantastic time!

My friend Baylor even surprised us!  I haven't seen her since she moved to San Antonio a few years ago, so that was a fun treat!!  It just amazes me how you can go months and years without seeing some people and start right where you left off when you meet up again!  I have been so blessed throughout my life to find such great, trusting, loving friends...now if only we could all live in the same city!!
My friend Jessica had a baby a few months ago and I hate that this is the first time that I got to meet her!  She is so cute, but how could she not be with such a cute mama and daddy! :)

The guests of honor

I made it back from New Orleans right at dinner time, so I pulled in the driveway and then we all headed out to dinner.  The boys are in such a daddy phase right now, so I feel like I am always snapping pictures of "my boys".  They both wanted to sit on/next to Lance...

 I can't remember why but they were running around in their Cubbies hats giving each others the thumbs up...

It was really cold the weekend of the shower but it has warmed up a bit recently, which means, lots of time outside.  I took the boys to one of their favorite parks that we hadn't been to in forever and they played so nicely...

Davis is talking up a storm these days and he has quite a few words that he says in his own special way.  These are the things that I hope I don't forget as they get older.  We are so lucky for technology in this way, that we can save snip-its of things that they say.  One of my favorites right now is how Davis says "motorcycle".  It comes out more like "motorhurkers".

Our buddy Ben, who used to live in our neighborhood, just turned 4, so we had fun celebrating with him last weekend!  They had bounce houses and super hero capes - the boys had a blast!

Happy birthday Ben!  Davis' face cracks me up in this one.

 The boys had their school pictures taken two weeks, so I got them dressed and tried to get a picture of them.  They were confused why I was letting them outside without shoes and Harrison decided that it was too cold to smile. He was a little better for round 2.  I can't wait to see how they turn out!

While the nice weather was hanging around, we hit up another local park to feed some ducks with our friends.

We came home for nap time.  Around 4 pm, Davis was still asleep so I went upstairs to wake him up.  I about freaked out when it was silent but he wasn't in his bed.  My heart started racing, until I walked across the hall to Harrison's room and found this...

He apparently made himself at home in Harrison's room and then wore himself out.  He is still in a toddler bed, mostly because I think his room will be so crowded with a full sized bed in it, but I think he is ready for one!
After he woke up, we headed to Pikes to pick up some fertilizer.  My boys, who NEVER, want to pose, started hopping on some rocks and demanded that I take their picture.  They never cease to surprise me!

This past weekend rounded out the last few days of nice weather for a while so we spent the majority of it outside.  Our community holds an event each year called Touch-A-Truck, so we took the boys up there before Harrison's baseball game.  Yet again, the helicopter was Harrison's favorite!  Davis was not thrilled about having to stand in line.

Davis loved the enormous bulldozer.  We got to the event and walked around for a few minutes.  Harrison wanted to go into a bounce house and while he was in there, Davis saw this huge bulldozer and bee-lined it over there.  I thought for sure once we got up to it he would be timid and scared, but he let the guy help him up the ladder and had a big smile on his face!

 

The picture above shows just how big the bulldozer was.  You can tell from the picture below that Davis was not amused when he told him his turn was over!

I recently had a slight health scare.  Everything is fine, but I had some blood tests done that indicated that my white blood cells were low.  They are back up and normal but it was a scary few weeks for me waiting for the results.  Its times like these that are reminders for enjoying every moment with these sweet faces!!

 (We took them to see The Croods on Saturday since it was so rainy and they loved it.  Davis sat nicely throughout most of it, then hit a burst of energy and finally almost fell asleep in my lap.  It was his first time in a movie theater since he was an infant.  The kids loved it and Lance and  I thought it was pretty funny.  I was definitely glad that Lance was there to help!)

And the winner of the game ball is....

Harrison Randolph!  We are so proud of our little baseball player!  He is learning so much so quickly and loves his team, his coaches, and the sport itself!  Harrison has 2 games per week and after the first game, the coach started a tradition of giving the game ball to the player that worked the hardest throughout the game.  Harrison wanted it so badly and was upset when he didn't win it the first week.  I was kind of glad he didn't get it right away because it was a great opportunity for us to explain to him that we have to work hard for rewards.  There are a few kids who have been playing for a few seasons and are really very good, so I expected that they may get the first few game balls.  In the second game, Harrison ran much faster than he had been in the past to get to the bases and made his way around to home base two times.  On his second time around to home plate, he ran and beat one of the faster players on the opposing team to score a run.  He has been hitting balls from the coach's pitch on the majority of his times at bat, not even having to use the tee.  After the second game, the boys sat down to have their snack and listen to coach Charlie.  We were stunned when Coach Charlie announced that the game ball for the night was going to Harrison Randolph. 

 He said he worked hard throughout the game, hitting the ball with the bat and he made two great runs.  Not only did he get the game ball that night, but he also got a "Super Cubs" cape to wear for the week!  In the eyes of a 5 year old, this is as good as it gets!

One happy Super Cub!

 The coolest part was that this happened to be the game that my parents came in town to see, so they got to see him win the game ball too!  Here is Harrison's cheer squad:

Davis has been having fun with baseball season too!  Now everytime we drive through downtown Kennesaw, he points out Harrison's baseball fields!  I sometimes forget how observant he is, but he is soaking in so much of what Harrison learns. 

I think by the time he is four, he is going to be ahead of the curve and be ready to play!  We were playing in the driveway the other day and he got the bat and ball out and would throw the ball into the air, and try to hit it with the bat.  He would yell "almost!!" and run and try again.  He doesn't really sit still at Harrison's games, so I really wasn't thinking that he was even paying that close of attention to what his brother was doing!  I realized this weekend though that complicated snacks (ie. boiled peanuts), will keep him sitting for a good 30 minutes!

When we go to the games, Davis is all about hanging out with Daddy.  He doesn't want me anywhere near him and prefers to either sit on him, sit next to him or sit on his shoulders.  The game this weekend was the first one where we actually had nice weather.  I'm sure we will have more to come, but so far it has been really cold and windy.  Davis spent most of the game playing in the rocks/gravel around the field with some plastic cups, so I need to try to round up some dump trucks for him to play with in the future.
The best part so far about baseball is how it wears out both of the boys!

We were able to spend a few days with grandmommy and granddaddy too, which made the boys happy.  That granddaddy always knows how to make the boys laugh!

And Harrison loves to buddy up with his grandmommy

I have a bunch of random photos to post, so hopefully I will get those up in the next day or so!