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July thus far has proved to be a little soggier than normal but somehow we managed to find enough sunshine to celebrate the 4th of July properly. We spent the morning at the pool with friends, came home in time for an afternoon shower, and then had friends over for a chicken and ribs celebration. The food was amazing and we had a great time with a good group of people. We lit a few sparklers at our house and Davin decided he liked doing sparklers (Rowan isn't a huge fan of fire these days and kept his distance, which is why I have a lot of pictures of other kids). After the crowd thinned, the boys decided they were brave enough for fireworks this year (they haven't been as brave in the past) and we headed uptown to watch the Charlotte city fireworks. We found the perfect spot and were ready for the 9:30 show when at 9:31 a skiff of rain blew in and soaked us. Determined to wait it out, we stuck around for another 45 minutes and were rewarded with a great ...

Bust was almost the result for cub scout camp last week. I am the cub master for our ward (isn't that funny?!!) so I volunteered to attend scout camp for the week and take a car load of boys with me. We are lucky in that there is a great area wide Cub Scout day camp about 25 miles from our church located on the Belk Boy Scout Camp, a beautiful facility with everything a scout could want: fishing, boating, swimming in a pool, gun and archery ranges, etc. I was so grateful to not have to put together a day camp on my own but instead our boys were able to have an amazing week doing activities that we can't do at the church building. I knew that spending the week at scout camp and being six months pregnant was pushing it a little but I wasn't that worried about it. However, I was hit with the tsunami of a chest cold (who gets a chest cold in June??!!!), which made the week a little more challenging; I ultimately stuck to driving boys back and forth and didn't spend as much ...

Chris found a fun coupon for a rafting company called "Rafting with My Kids" and we decided to build a camping trip around the rafting expedition. We invited our friends, the Mehalics, to join us and we had a great time together. We met them last Friday night at the Timberlake Campground near Whittier, NC and we couldn't have picked a better weekend to go. The weather was perfect for camping, not too hot and cool enough in the evening to enjoy a camp fire and a warm blanket in a tent. TC was a great campground and we had a good spot next to a running creek that I enjoyed listening to as I tried to sleep (my sleeping in a tent skills are a little rusty apparently).  Lauten enjoying a s'more. We are claiming him as a cousin with his cute red hair!  We started the evening mooching a few hamburgers off of our friends and enjoying playing games and cooking massive marshmallows on an expertly crafted fire. Chris Mehalic shared an excellent ti...

Rowan receives his "graduation" certificates He is officially ready for kindergarten!  He also received a fun book and stuffed fish! Rowan and Mrs. Erickson, his speech therapist Rowan and Mrs. Elliot, his assistant teacher Rowan and Mrs. Geysbeck! Time to party! Ready for summer vacation! I had a hard time saying goodbye to teachers this year and for good reason. We have been very blessed this year with fantastic teachers. In fact, it was a two year blessing as both boys had the same teachers for two years, which made it extra hard to say goodbye. Rowan was in a special hearing impaired preschool through our school system and he had a phenomenal experience. The small class size (at times only 2-3 kids) was a huge blessing as Rowan received a lot of personal attention in developing his speech and language skills. He made significant progress, with significant thanks to his teacher Mrs. Geysbeck. Rowan wasn't just a student, he was...

We are winding down our school year and Davin's class had a big finale: his first school play! I love Davin's school! They emphasize "multiple intelligences" or in other words, celebrating the different areas in which students excel rather than focusing strictly on academics. Students in first grade, third grade, and fifth grade do a production during the year and they are amazing! Students are involved at all levels, focusing more on the learning experience rather than the one "star" of the show. Davin's grade did their show this week and it was so much fun! I was really impressed with how well the students knew their songs, dances, and lines. The show was themed around the Magic Tree House books, a recent favorite at our house and Davin's class's portion was Pirates Past Noon . Davin was a cute pirate and I was so proud of him for singing and dancing with his class. Bravo! Singing pirates! "Jack" and "Annie" at the M...