Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

The first month of swim lessons is now over, cut short by the weather this week. Audrey started her first swim class this year, now that she is old enough to go without mommy in the pool too! She is fearless and loved every minute. In fact, for a few lessons she was the only kid in her class who would even get in the water. By the last class when they were jumping off the side to the instructor, she would climb up on the starting block and jump from there. I have a feeling that she'll be pretty good by the end of the summer.

Miles continued where he left off and just got stronger and stronger. In the last class he swam the entire length of the pool with no noodle or support at all. When his instructor would have him jump in and swim to her, she kept backing up until he'd gone over halfway, and then he went all the way back to the wall. Next month he moves up to the highest level in his age group and will work on his strokes. He really likes the frog kick! Here's hoping for nice weather to keep us in the pool.

Two wheeler!

We took the training wheels off Miles's bike this week. We rode the greenways in the park near our house. This is the end of about 2 miles of practice! Here's a quick video, it's hard to do without another person:

Tornadic Activity

What a crazy weather week! A wild thunderstorm Monday did lots of damage around UT campus, and left so much debris that on Tuesday morning Wayne couldn't get to his office. Their power was out anyway, so he got a work-from-home pass.

Then on Wednesday, we were subjected to about 12 hours of tornado watches and warnings, along with some crazy lightning and hail storms. We survived with almost no damage, just some slight dimpling to my car that you have to really look to see. A few windows at Wayne's office got popped, but overall we were safe from the storm. The kids and I did ride out one warning in the closet, stocked up with snacks and flashlights.

Even the fur-kids wanted to seek shelter.

Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with all those devastated by this week's storms.

sillies in the closet waiting out the tornado warning

Easter weekend: highs and lows

Unfortunately Audrey was sick over Easter weekend, so we didn't get a cute family portrait in our Easter duds. She had a fever Friday, but that was gone by the morning. Saturday she dressed out for the neighborhood egg hunt but didn't even want to to hunt. Miles gathered some eggs for his sister, so she wasn't without. As Easter morning dawned, she woke up sick to her stomach. When she threw up as it was time to get dressed, we called it and Wayne stayed home with her. Miles and I enjoyed a beautiful service then joined Wayne and the recuperating Audrey at Waffle House. Oh well. At least she was fine after that, and all are well now!

swim lessons! Miles is on the far left, Audrey in yellow in right group.

The wedding

No, not THE wedding, yet. On April 2nd my youngest cousin Shannon married Joey in Memphis. I was honored to read the first reading and Audrey was one of the flower girls. Here she is in practice mode.

The rehearsal dinner was catered at the Pink Palace, a beautiful setting for the evening. Wayne & I were seated next to the bar.

And also with my brother & Megan, Tiffany and my parents. Shannon came to greet us after the toasts.

Here are the girls ready for their big debut. People kept calling them angels, but Ellie (Tiffany's daughter, the brunette) was quick to correct: "We're PRINCESSES."

The little princesses with the Princess.

I was a little nervous about how they'd do down the aisle of a packed church, but they all seemed to love the audience. They walked tossing petals and smiling sweetly all the way to the altar.

The reception was on the riverfront and it was a fantastic spring evening. The groom's cake gave a not-so-subtle nod to his favorite past time.

The best part of the whole weekend is that the two monkeys seen here...

Got to visit with all of the grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins along the way! They stayed at my dad's house, so I still need to get copies of their photos to share. We stopped and Mimi & Pawpaw's  house for a visit.

And and Aunt Elizabeth & Uncle Shay's, where we played with YaYa & B and the cousins. Here is their "crazy" picture.

It was such a wonderful weekend, and we wish Shannon and Joey a lifetime of happiness!

my baby cousin Shannon and her flower girls!

waiting for the Dr. for the 3 year check-up. She weighs 30lbs and is 36.75" tall!

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on the Friday date with Miles: his hair cut, he picked out a cute dress for me at Loft, lunch at Panera then Diary of a Wimpy Kid! fun day!

What we did on our spring break.

First we had to make a plan for spring break. Miles listed his ideas on the chalkboard.

Since the week started out rainy, we opted for fort-building. What better use for plantation shutters and binder clips, I ask?

After a few library story times we ventured out big to the Children's Museum of Oak Ridge. Of course it was a free day so it was very busy, but the kids still had fun.  We went with our neighbors Fenn, Boone and Beth. And yes, Audrey wore her Little Mermaid dress everywhere.

Today is beautiful!  We hit the zoo and stayed much longer than usual. Here they got to hold a rhino tusk.

A little farther along they met Buttercup, a 23' reticulated python in residence for the summer. Buttercup's breakfast, two big rabbits, lay freshly squeezed and awaiting ingestion. Yum and Happy Easter! We also witnessed the gaboon viper being force fed a mouse. Exciting day in the reptile cove.

Finally we caught the bird show with Einstein and his new buddies, 4 rescue pups doing tricks. They were so sweet! And we made it through two carousel rides, which is big for Miles as he usually isn't a big fan.

There I am in the mirror.

Look ma, no hands!

it's happened..

Miss Audrey turned 3, celebrating her golden birthday on 3/3. And we also figured our she was 3 feet tall. We probably should have done some mystical "3" celebration, but, oh well. I think she did plenty of celebrating, since she thought it was her birthday the whole week.

BeBe and PopPop came early to celebrate and we were lucky to have some pretty nice weather. Yay, spring!

Then came the weekend... cousins always make it a party.  Here are the boys starting their massive lego creation.

And the girls playing magnet dress-up dolls.  We had a ladybug party, hence the headgear.

Here were the ladybug cupcakes! I even found black candles with polka dots on them.

Present time was fun.  Audrey had lots of helpers.

Then we had cousin photo time.  It didn't turn out so well. But on the bright side, Miles learned how to cross his eyes.

Here's the almost-annual family photo. Miraculously, everyone smiled at the same time!

Now Miles is on the countdown to his 6th birthday. But lest we forget, someone has a rather big milestone between now and then.

happy spring break! hope the weather hold up.

Before....

and after...

Happy 3rd Birthday, sweet Audrey!

Down Under!

Hello! It's the last week of February, what have we done with ourselves? One look at my scribbled-all-over planner should tell you, we've been busy. Grad school, the main drain on my free time, has me reading through stacks of award winning kids books, which I'm enjoying immensely. Guess that's a good thing, right? Miles has enjoyed listening to a few of them, and he's been picking up some stories to read on his own.  The family favorite author is Mo Willems for his Elephant and Piggie series, as well as the Pigeon and Knuffle Bunny books. Today we went to the Clayton Center for the Arts to see a performance of Knuffle Bunny, which was hysterical and, in the words of my kids (and Trixie) "Aggle flaggle klabble!!"

With the gorgeous weather we've been having (thanks, Phil!) each kid got a day at the zoo with mom last week. Audrey loved the pigs, elephants & zebras, although we ran fast when a GaboonViper nabbed its breakfast right in front of us.  It was giving us the evil stink eye warning us not to grab at the rodent. I was going to find a video clip so you could see the sinister creature for yourself, but even the videos were a bit terrifying. {{chills.. heebie jeebies... shakes}}

Miles got to see a rhino "fight" (really some rhino dating rituals, but it looked fierce). We strolled by the Gaboon Viper but he was still full and sleepy from his kill in front of Audrey the day before. Here is Miles as a Guardians of Ga'hoole owl.

And we had a fun visit fro YaYa and B. Even Chelsea wanted to pose for the picture!