Catch Me If You Can

What a game these two have invented. Conor first stripped off her diaper, then found a roll of paper towels, pretended like a paper towel was her new diaper all while Jude chased her around trying to retrieve said paper towel. And they both thought it was the funniest thing they have ever done. I had to just laugh, grab the camera, and catch them in the act.

Ant Song, AEA, See Saw

What is Ant Song? AEA? See Saw???

Well, those are only the three major songs Chapel has been learning all year in violin. I joke with Chapel that after hearing her play them over and over I should be able to play these songs by now but when I tried, I realized that although they may sound simple, it is hard to play an instrument! Chapel is a lucky girl to be afforded such opportunities at a young age and to attend a school that creates a curriculum to include activities such as violin and dance. The end of year concert literally brought tears to my eyes as I watched my baby girl and all the other kindergartners perform the songs they had worked every day and night to perfect.

Chapel with Ms. Rice and Ms. Taylor - her violin teachers.

The End of the Year As We Know It....

And I feel fine.

So the final days of school are winding down and we have been so busy! Over the past two weeks I have been hanging with the kids at Ashley Hall as their final days of Kindergarden and Pre-K come to an end. We have had violin concerts, field trips, bake sales, fake birthday parties. Blogs are still to come on all of these. But to begin, here we are on Eli's end-of-year field trip to the butterfly house at Boone Hall and then our strawberry picking adventure. What a great field trip. Kids loved it. Parents all bonded. What else could you ask for?

Eli with his classmates and Ms. Case, his teacher. Notice the name on the tractor!me on the tractor!!

Eli took this pic during the tractor ride.....He loves taking pictures with my camera.

And he took this one of the cool caterpillar!

Eli and his BFF, Coleman climbing on a tractor.

First Haircuts . . .

On May 12th, at the sweet age of 22 months and 4 days, my babies got their first haircuts. I have to say, they really needed it. Jude's hair looked like a birds nest in the back when he would wake up and Conor's hair was just plain unruly! I asked Joel not to cut too much, just a very small trim - as I wanted their curls to stay around for a while. Jude and Conor were the most still, cooperative babies I have ever seen getting haircuts. I think they were both in awe and shocked at what was taking place. The next day when I asked Conor who cut her hair, she would squint her eyes, wrinkle her nose, point to the door and say, "Joooeell." Very cute. And I am most pleased that the trim has added new life and manageability to their hair, without making them look like they have been scalped!

Bike Week

It is Bike Week in Myrtle Beach and I have lots of fond memories of growing up in the area and it being Biker Weekend - what a spectacle. My parents gave me my first stick shift during biker week and I just knew I was gonna run over someone on a Harley while trying to make it to work at Scoops Ice Cream Parlor. And I remember many years later that Brett and I enjoyed sitting on the hammock in Garden City and watching all the bikers drive by. So in honor of Bike Week, check out our kids on their own motorized two-wheeled vehicle. Not quite a Harley, but still very cool.....

Happy Mother's Day

Moms are the hardest working people I know. And it does not matter if your babies still live at home with you, or if the kids have all moved out and started families of their own, a mom's work is never done. My mom and Brett's mom go out of their way to help us with our kids and be there for us when we need them most. Over the past six years, as we have become parents to four adorable kids, we have called on our moms more than I can remember in the past. (Although I am sure they can remember many times that we were much more demanding!) Thanks GiGi and MaMa Anne for all you do. Thanks for providing a great example to us and for being such caring moms and for all of your sacrifices. We love you and appreciate you!

And thanks, too, to sweet grandmas who have helped set the motherhood tradition. Here is my Granny holding the twins.

And Brett's Granny, who passed in 2007, holding Chapel.

Happy Birthday, Brett Barker....

So it seems all my posts lately have been about a certain 4 year old who just celebrated his birthday at Disney. Well, let us not forget the wonderful man behind the planning.... the heart of the Barker Family, Mr. Brett Barker. All jokes aside - Brett is a wonderful father and a wonderful friend and husband. He has helped me understand more about life and kids and being an adult than I ever thought possible. To show our appreciation, Chapel, Eli and I painted the Folly Boat - something I have always wanted to do since moving to Folly Beach. Kudos to our kids for keeping a secret for so long. We have talked about painting the boat for a month now and I was shocked they actually kept our little plan a secret. Chapel even created a little white lie to get him there, claiming he had to drive her by so she could show him a sea turtle she had seen. So sweet!

Say Cheese.... (PLEASE!)

I have been dying to have a family portrait taken for an eternity, so I took our Disney Vacation as an opportunity to get everyone dressed up and take advantage of the lovely background. What I have come to expect, when taking photos of small children, is that someone is always a little uncooperative. This go-around, it was Jude. And, oh-my, was he angry about getting his picture made. Isn't it funny, though, how his picture turned out to be one of the best despite the screaming and crying he did 98% of the time? Here are the highlights!

The whole gang!

Eli, the birthday boy. So handsome....

Conor - my sweet and sassy 22 month old.

Chapel, who turns 6 in two short months... Always easy going and smiling.

Jude, my 22 month old, is usually much happier than the attitude he displayed on this particular afternoon.

He did cheer up enough for this GREAT shot.

All together. And looking in the same general direction.

And are you ready for my favorite of the whole bunch? It's this sweet pic of Chapel and Eli. Who really are the best of friends. I am totally going to show them this in 10 years every time they argue!