Connor's hard at work

Last week we had a progress meeting at Connor's new school. His teachers were really helpful in telling us what we need to work on with Connor. So, we've spent some time gathering materials to help him learn. This afternoon, he was working on a special puzzle. Didn't he do a great job? This week we are going to set up a desk in his room and we'll be able to keep all his materials and computer programs together. That way, little sister can't get into everything, and Connor will have his very own place to work. Here's what Connor wanted to write to you: co.nn/;or00000000tfrrefesfs3ederqgedrw3d4fd

Connor's Last Day of School

Connor had his end-of-the-year picnic at Calvary Baptist today. Here he is with his teacher, Mrs. Garrison. She has been wonderful with him, and we feel so blessed that she was his teacher. He had a great experience in her classroom and he is much more confident than he was when he came in. We are going to miss her!

Big Matt shows his is bigger

Connor and his class playing in the magnolia tree

Connor and his friend Taylor. Notice Taylor's brother in the background--maybe this is why Taylor has a cast!

Our First Camping Trip

We had a great time on our first camping trip of the summer. We spent two nights in Myrtle Beach at Pirateland Campground. It was Harley Davidson bike week there, but the campground was very quiet. We rode our bikes around the campground checking things out. There is a great swimming area, a pond stocked with fish, and the beach is less than 50 feet away. We're looking forward to lots of fun this summer! And yes, for those of you who are die-hard campers, we know this is not "real camping", but it's as close as I will get!

It's a long weekend

Jason is working two 12 hour shifts this weekend. So that means I get to spend all day on Mother's Day with my wonderful children!

Today Connor had swim lessons, and then we went for a swim in our pool. Our neighbors came over and brought pizza, so we had a nice time. Jason is not working next week, and we have our first big camping trip planned. We are taking the camper to Myrtle Beach, where we will store it for the summer. Then we can camp all we want without having to take it back and forth. When we get back, Grandma Judy is coming for a visit. We love having her here, because Mommy gets out of the house!

We are finally, FINALLY, done with our renovations on the house. This was the first week since we moved here (a year ago!) that I felt like I could relax and not start working on the "next project" We're hoping for a nice, relaxing summer.

Spring Vacation

We had a great vacation! We began our trip at 3 a.m., hoping to make it most of the way while the kids were asleep. This was the first long trip for a potty-trained Connor, and it turned out to be interesting. He made sure to wait until about 5 minutes after each gas station stop to decide he had to go! And of course, he had to go immediately! We learned to force him to go at every stop, instead of asking him. Callie continued her routine of screaming every 30 seconds while we were on the road. First we headed to Sarasota and had a great visit with my Grandma, Dad, brothers Jason and Trent, and lots of cousins. We had a fun night out at the Melting Pot restaurant--one of my favorites.

Callie made sure to show off her FSU spirit for Jason and Liz.

Connor and Callie had fun with Grandpa Ritz at the beach and catching fish.

Then we headed to Marco for a visit with Grandma Williams. Jason and I went to Key West for an overnight trip--without the kids. I made sure to have a blue drink in honor of Eric Taylor, whose famous quote is "All I ever wanted was a blue drink!"

We had lots of fun playing in Grandma and Ed's pool. Connor is getting to be quite a swimmer!

We also spent time at the beach. The kids loved playing in the sand and collecting shells. We had great weather for flying kites too.

We even had some time to play at the park.

On our way home from Florida, we stopped off in Savannah for a few days. We spent a hellish 90 minutes on a tour trolley, while I wrestled Callie like an alligator. Jason probably had it worse though--Connor peed on him!! We had lunch at the Pirate House, a restaurant famous for being haunted by pirates.

She's a big girl now

Last night Callie sat at the table for the first time. She has been climbing out of her high chair and begging for food at the table for a while, so we thought we'd try her in a booster seat. She really thought she was something special! It seems like she learns a new word each day. She has already mastered Mama, Daddy, cheese, juice, bear, ball, here you go, and no. Callie is a big eater, so it is not surprising that her first words after Mama and Daddy were about food. We are having her picture taken on Thursday by a friend of ours who is a local photographer. He does terrific portraits, so I am really excited. If I can, I'll try to get one of Connor and Callie together. But, you all saw how our Christmas picture turned out, so I won't hold my breath!

Connor found Jason's hat on Sunday and put together a really special chuch outfit. It consisted of this hat, his regular church clothes, one of those really fluffy slipper socks, and regular sock, and sunglasses. We made him take off the hat and sunglasses before we went in, but the rest of his outfit must have been impressive because his Sunday school teacher had him play Jesus in a skit. Who knew Jesus wore fluffy socks? Connor has been playing outside every day. He loves to dig in the dirt and look for bugs. Jason has been working on a treehouse, and Connor has already told us he will be sleeping up there this summer. In fact, we were tearing out a bathroom vanity the other day and Connor saw what we were doing and asked "Is that for my treehouse bathroom?" Clearly he has delusions of grandeur about this thing!

We are getting ready to go to Florida at the end of the week. While we are gone, we are getting our kitchen countertops replaced, along with the floors in two of our bathrooms. It will be fun to come back and see all the work that has been done.

It's new to me!

Well, it's 2007 and I've decided to enter the brave new world of blogging. Several of our friends here have blogs and they are a really neat way of sharing both pictures and stories about what we are up to. I hope you enjoy it!