Father's Day Putt-Putt

We were shocked to realize that we didn't have any plans over Father's Day weekend.  When I asked Will what he wanted to do for his day, he came up with putt-putt.  I haven't been in ages so it was fun for all!

It took some explaining to Jack--he kept
wanting to grab the balls and throw them in the holes.

Riding the motorcycle with Daddy

Happy Father's Day to our extra-special Daddy!

Anna's Dance Recital

The end of May was crazy with the normal end-of-school events, but another addition was the rev-up for the end-of-year dance recital.  Anna had been getting tired of dance, but with all of the anticipation about the recital happening, she got excited, too.  One Wednesday night we went in full costume for her rehearsal.

Practicing with Mrs. Cathy Lee

So proud of her second trophy!

 Before we knew it, recital day had arrived!  Daddy and Pops were in Pinehurst for a golf weekend and  drove back for the big event.

Our sweet angel, ready to go!

"Make sure you get my flower in my hair, Mom."

 I was not at all prepared for the production that was the dance recital.  Hers was one of four recitals that was taking place that weekend.  Parking was crazy and there were actually dads tailgating in the parking lots with dance t-shirts on!!  Once we got in and found our seats, we were taken for a ride on the "DE Time Machine".  Other than lasting for 3 hours, the recital was very impressive.  There was great variety and the dancers were so impressive.  Aunt Sarah definitely enjoyed the show the most, especially the hip-hop numbers.  Anna's class did two numbers, a tap number to "Better Shop Around" and a ballet number to "Wind Beneath My Wings".  She was fantastic!!  

Anna and her flowers after the show

 Anna says she wants to do gymnastics again next year instead of dance, so we'll see where we end up. I find that quite ironic because I only took dance for one year when I was little, but I dressed up in my recital costume for many years to come!!  I can see the same thing happening for our purple princess!

"I'm Going to Marry..."

The other day, the kids and I were driving somewhere and from the back of the van, Anna announced that she was going to marry Jack when she grew up.  I was touched and told her how sweet that was, but then explained to her how you have to marry someone outside of your family (I didn't go into the fact that not everyone abides by this rule, but I digress...).  She sat there with a stumped look on her face and asked, "Well who am I going to marry then?"  I told her that she was going to have lots of boys that are friends as she grows up and that she would probably fall in love with one of them.  Then I started listing potential candidates: "It might be Ben or Liam from your class at school, it might be Bryce or Garrett from church, or it might be Charlie."  Charlie is the son of our close friends, Paul and Sarah.  Immediately she yelled, "I want to marry Charlie!"
I thought that was end of the conversation until a few days ago when she walked into the room and asked me, "When I marry Charlie when I get big, are we going to have babies?"  There was instantly a huge lump in my throat and I felt nauseated.  Where in the world did that come from?  I thought quick and told her that most people who get married do have babies, so that she probably would have babies with whomever she married.  Luckily, that seemed to suffice and she changed topics.
When Will walked in the door that night from work, Anna met him with "Daddy, guess what? When I get big, I'm going to marry Charlie and have babies!"  He looked at me with eyes as big as saucers and then just dropped his head into his hands.  Welcome home, Daddy!
To make matters worse, we had lunch with the Young family after church on Sunday.  Anna and Charlie and his big brother, Will, all sat at the kids table.  When it was time to go, they all hugged each other and then Charlie leaned over and smacked a kiss on Anna's cheek.  All of the adults had heard the story by this point and all cackled.  Then as we were walking to the car, little Charlie let out an "I love you, Anna!"  Apparently, the feeling is mutual!

No More Thumb!!!

Anna started sucking her thumb when she was just hours old.  She never really liked a pacifier, always preferring her trusty old left thumb for comfort.  Once she was a few months old and latched on to her favorite lovey, pink bunny Bo-bo, she would suck her thumb and hold Bo-bo's ear up to her nose while she sucked.  It was precious!  This has been her mode of comfort for the past four and a half years.  Bo-bo has gone everywhere that she has gone and has been washed so many times.  We have been worried that Bo-bo might not make it as long as Anna wanted her to. We have looked incessantly for a back-up and have found some that were pretty close, but Anna always knew the difference and wouldn't give them a second glance.  Luckily, we may not have to worry about that any longer.

About a month ago, Anna started complaining about the callus that has been on her left thumb for as long as we can remember.  I'm sure it's from her bottom teeth rubbing against the outside of her thumb while she sucks.  We tried putting all different kinds of band-aids on her thumb, but none of them felt the same.  We had many talks about how the only way to get the callus to go away was for her to not suck her thumb at all.  Those were some hard conversations.

Evidently, they stuck, though, because Anna has stopped sucking her thumb!!!  For the last couple of weeks, she has been just sleeping with Bo-bo beside her and the callus is going away.  We are beyond proud of her for knowing what she needed to do and being determined enough to do it.  I remember my brother Jeff and the horrible time he had trying to stop thumb sucking when he was six or seven.  We are very excited that this was so quick and relatively easy (not for her, I'm sure).  When her dentist found out, Anna got to pick a prize out of the big, special prize box. Recently, Bo-bo was even downgraded to the mass of "friends" that sleep along her railing on her bed.

Way to go, Anna!

Jack's New Obsession

If only it really worked...

Anna's First Trophy

Anna's first soccer season came to an end on Saturday and she is so sad!  She LOVED soccer and can't wait to start again in the fall.  The team had an end of season party with a huge bounce house and lots of snacks.  Anna was most excited about getting her very first trophy!

Loving the bounce house slide!

Daddy got to give her the special trophy
with Coach Russell and Coach Kishon looking on.

I'm so sad that this photo is blurry, but I had to include it!

Charlie and Anna digging in to all the yummy goodies.
Gotta love cupcakes at 9:30 in the morning!

Preschool EOY Party

First Day of 3 Year Old Preschool

I can't believe this year is almost over!!  Last Friday, Anna's class had their EOY party at a local park.  It was a gorgeous, cooler day and the kids had a great time. 

Anna and BFF Chloe

Ready for water balloons!

Happy summer birthdays to Mia and Chloe!

Anna and Amelia doing the spider swing.

Thanks for a great year Mrs. Long and Ms. Sawyer!