New tricks

It seems as though all the kids have experienced some new tricks in this past week. Sometime last week, Philip casually taught Peter how to play chess. Learning to play chess was an elective for Cub scouts. Well, who would have guessed that chess would become Peter's next obsession. He is so into chess that he doesn't mind playing with his 3 year old brother.I was quickly reminded of the rules of the game. My record so far is 1 for 3. Chess is really not my game but it's a bit better than kickball (the game of the week some time ago.).

Nathan is on to other tricks. He is figuring out how to get and keep his thumb in his mouth. He's beginning to develop the fine art of "grasping" things in front of him. Today, he spent some time hanging out in his little chair thingy ( I forgot the name.)! This is a new invention for me; none of the other kids have experienced this handy contraption.
Stay tuned for Ryan and Emma's tricks.....

Ryan....

As most of you know, Ryan is well....Ryan. He is such a blend of personalities. Just this morning, I noticed what I thought was crusty booger in his nose. So I grabbed a tissue and asked him to blow. Upon inspection, I realized that the crusty booger was a piece of a purple colored pencil! I am not sure how long it has been there but it was definitely overnight. It was one of those things that just made me laugh (inside of course) and realize that it's these things that will make him different from his siblings. He's doing all the things that Peter and Emma never did....and hopefully, Nathan won't either! Even though he definitely does quite a few things that cause frustration, he is a sweet little boy. He loves to sing to Nathan, help change his diaper and find his paci. I'm just a little nervous about what it will be like when it comes time for me to teach him how to read!

Hanging in...

Peter was able to spend the morning with his Cub Scout troop fishing at Mayo Lake. The rest of us hung around the house doing well, house stuff! Emma and I made a book. Ryan played with puzzles and Nathan hung in there with us. Literally!
OK, so Emma only held him in the sling just a little longer than it took me to take these pictures and look at herself in the mirror! Thankfully Nathan is such a happy little guy that I don't have to worry about finding a way to carry him around all day. He's content to be in the bouncy seat, swing on lying on the couch.
Nathan is truly a champ! He has slept 11 hours straight for the last 3 days. I am so excited about this. He hasn't slept quite so good during the day but I'm hoping it will all level itself out in the next few weeks. I can't believe the little guy is now 3 months old. He is such a sweetie.

Family fun day

After a long week, I was thankful for Friday to arrive. We headed to Durham bright and early for a meeting that Philip had to attend. The kids and I hung out in at the play ground while Philip did his thing. We headed to Duke Gardens when he was finished. The weather was beautiful. As we walked along the paths of our normal route in the garden we discovered that there was a section of the Gardens we had yet to explore. The beauty and tranquility of the gardens continued. We found a pond with lots of ducks, beautiful bridges, and huge bamboo!


( I found this in my draft file. This was from last week.)

Wedding bells

Our weekend was filled with all the festivities of a wedding. Our dear friend Mandy and her fiance' Devon, decided to get married in Roxboro! Philip preformed the ceremony. Our home was center stage for the bride and all her ladies to be getting ready. I was so glad to be right in the middle of everything- surrounded by great joy, wonderful friends and endless love. I'm so thankful that my parents were able to arrange a slumber party for the oldest two so Philip and I could really spend time with everyone. I'm apart of what's called "the appgirls". There are seven of us that graduated from ASU together. We have intentionally decided that we want to continue our friendship for many many years. This wedding was a reunion for us appgirls. I can't believe that this is the only picture I took from the whole weekend!