April Showers bring.....

We had a great time in April!  From spring breaks to Easter to the beach with best friends to many soccer games to lizards and a musical called "Bugz."  It's always an adventure!

I love April!  I love that everything starts blooming and there's a little more color to the Earth.  Fortunately, some of the color started in March this year with such unseasonably warm temperatures. 

Jackson and Eliza had a GREAT time spending time at both grandparent's homes during their spring breaks.  I don't have any pictures of those weeks, which might be a good thing!  I know they had a great time because they both returned home exhausted! 

We had a fun time dyeing Easter eggs this year. We usually do the dyeing outside, but it was a little too chilly this year.

Watching the tablets dissolve

We've established that red is his favorite color, haven't we?

"Not yet" Eliza kept saying.  She wanted darker colors.

Jackson and Eliza's silly little monster creations.

The Easter Bunny's visit is always so exciting.  Since we've lived in Wilmington, Charlie has preached at the sunrise service at SIX THIRTY IN THE AM.  Way too early for all of us to get to Wrightsville Beach.  The kids so patiently wait for daddy to get home to see what the Easter Bunny brought.  EB is pretty smart....their goods are usually placed in the play room upstairs, so it can't be seen when the kids wake up.  Once daddy arrives, let the hunt begin!

Daddy is here!  They're waiting on the steps.

Eliza's goods.  My Little Pony, of course!

He LOVES Star Wars and Legos!



We went to church as a family on Easter Sunday morning. BUT, not before a photo shoot, of course!

The Easter Bunny brought the new hair accessory.

Sweet!

I ask: "When did he grow up?"

One of my faves!







Easter Sunday afternoon, we had a small egg hunt in our backyard.  There were two gold eggs with cold, hard cash inside. 



Searching for the golden egg

"I found one!"



"Me too!"

The week after Easter, we joined our best friends at a beach condo in Cherry Grove.  It was too cold to do beach activites, but we had a great time hanging out, playing bey blades, going to the arcade and eating. 

"We love brownies!"

We celebrated Cole's 7th birthday while we were there. 
Old people have 7 years olds!  ;)

So grown up!

Soccer season has been fun for Jackson this spring.  It wasn't the team's most winning season.  We continued to emphasize, "Did you have fun?  That's what matters most" when Jackson brought up that his team didn't score very many points this season.  It was fun watching the kids play.  Jackson moved up in the league, so they're playing on a much larger field and there's a goalie this year.  It took some time to adjust, but I think they all had fun.  (and if they didn't, they all enjoyed the yummy snacks after each game!)

Jackson has the green socks on.  He wore bright socks each week,
so he was easier to track on the soccer field.

We also had the priviledge to meet "Orange Eliza."  I'm sitting on the screened porch reading during the kid's rest time one Saturday.  I look to my right and there's a GINORMOUS slimy creature looking at me outside the screened porch (thankfully!).  I yelled for Charlie (of course, he didn't hear me....), and I looked down and the creature was GONE.  Charlie finally hears me and comes outside. (I'm standing on the chair because this GINORMOUS creature might tear through the screen, of course)   He finally catches the creature...a red headed skink in a shoe box.  We come to find out that red headed skinks are very fast therefore difficult to catch (because that's what google said).  Did you guess that the kids named it "Orange Eliza"?  We took "Orange Eliza" to the pond and set her (or him) free.

Check out those toes! 
Told you the lizard was GINORMOUS!

  

Jackson had a musical at his elementary school called "Bugz."  It was very cute!  He enjoyed singing with all his friends.  He was an ant and had a speaking part. 

....and a blog entry wouldn't be complete without a picture of a recent trip to Fuzzy Peach.  We're getting so much free frozen yogurt with the loyalties card, they're starting to pay us to eat frozen yogurt (yeah, right).  We are one of their loyalist customers....  (Shoulda bought stock...) 

From December to Easter

Whew!  There's so much to say since I've been a slacker, and I haven't blogged since Thanksgiving.  I'm trying to decide how to give the most information on what the Lee's have been up to without taking up too much of your time.  Well...I can't think of any other way then to just....start.

December:

Disney Cruise 2012:
Since Charlie was on sabbatical in the fall, we decided we wanted to go on a special trip with the kids.  We thought about Disney World, but with Eliza being only 3, we decided that may not be the best idea.  So, we decided on a Disney Cruise, and I'm sure glad we did.  If you haven't gone on one, you HAVE to.  It was AMAZING!

We planned the trip without Jackson and Eliza knowing.  Friday night before we were going to leave on Tuesday, we went to dinner with some special invitations from Mickey.  We left Tuesday and drove to Port Canaveral.  We decided to go to Sea World on Wednesday before embarking on the cruise Thursday morning. 

"We got invitations from Mickey?!?!"

"Woo-hoo!  We're going on a Disney cruise!"

Our family at Sea World

The food and entertainment were great.  The kids LOVED the kid's club, pools and water slides.  Jackson's favorite was the Aqua Duck.  Eliza liked the Mickey slide (she was too young to go on the Aqua Duck, but there's always next time).

Getting ready to get on the ship. 

Eliza meeting her first princess.  And who better to meet?

The Golden Mickeys show.  Jackson and Eliza were interviewed.

Eliza's favorite princess, Snow White (or Snow "Wipe," as she used to call her)

Our family with Pirate Mickey

Our little pirates on pirate night.

This is my absolute favorite picture from our trip
(and I have A LOT from which to choose!)

Sweet

LOVE this one!

Their sad faces: so sad today is the day we're leaving. 
"Don't your worry!  We'll definitely be back!!"

Charlie also returned to work from sabbatical the week of Christmas.  Our family had the best time while Charlie was at home.  I thought I might have to get used to him being at home when sabbatical started in October.  Instead, I had to get used to him being back to work in December.  We all loved having him at home!

Christmas:

We had a great Christmas this year!!  The weekend before Christmas we travelled to Asheboro to celebrate Christmas with the Lee's and celebrate Tatum's second birthday.  We had a great trip!

Playing at Tatum's second birthday party

I think this one is so, so cute! 
Can't get them to look at the camera at the same time, but I can get this one?!?!

Opening presents at Pappy and Beme's house.

What princess doesn't like nail polish??

"How many princesses are in there?"

Christmas jammies in Pappy's chair

We had a very busy Christmas Eve...we had to make cookies for Santa (and please don't forget 9 carrots for the reindeer) and the pageant at church.

A shepherd

A sheep (having problems keeping her ears on)

"Excellent performance, my children!"

Christmas Eve night

Brotherly and sisterly love
(they may need counseling after this picture)

For Santa and the reindeer

Christmas morning was very exciting at the Lee home.  Santa was very generous to Jackson and Eliza.  Jackson received a Nintendo DS, and Eliza received a princess castle taller than she was.

A DS in Jackson's favorite color.  Santa knows him well.

It's seriously taller than she is!

On our way to church Christmas morning.

More presents during Papa and Nana's visit.

It's a "big girl backpack."

Chillaxin' after a mani and pedi.

After Christmas, we travelled to TN for the biannual Lee family reunion.  The kids loved staying in a huge house with everyone.  Jackson liked spending time in the basement with the pool table playing with anyone that was agreeable to take him on. 

Tatum and Eliza swinging with Pappy on the porch.

"Play me, if you dare."

The kids playing with a snowball from the mountain.

January:

January brought us a new year and a couple new adventures, some pleasant and some not-so-pleasant.  Eliza got a new, big girl bed with new polka dot sheets and a quilt with "pink and purple, my two favorite colors."  She thought she was hot stuff in a bed "just like Jackson's."

Little Miss Hot Stuff

Her idea.  During rest time.  Not sure what she was pretending.

Eliza got her first ever haircut.  It seems crazy that she hasn't gotten her hair cut since she was born with a headful of hair.  I guess when a girl can wear it long, it doesn't have to be cut as often.  It did look a lot better once it was evened out, and it hasn't been cut since.

Beautiful!

Jackson started basketball which was a new sport for him.  He hadn't played basketball before, and I think he liked it. 

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to finish the season because he broke his arm (the not-so-pleasant adventure).  Monkey bars....  and from what we heard from many people, it happens A LOT!  To look on the bright side, if it had to happen, we had a great experience.  I really couldn't have planned it better for which we were thankful!  He was a trooper during the entire experience too.  He didn't cry, not one time, from the IV being place to going into the OR all by himself.  He had a full arm cast for 4 weeks and a short arm cast for 2 weeks.  The full arm cast was a challenge to get used to because as you can imagine, he couldn't bend his elbow.  We had to buy him new, elastic waist uniform pants and shirts to fit over his big cast.  It was also his right arm, so he had to do everything with his left arm.  It's amazing to me how malleable children are....he took to writing with his left hand so well, like he'd written with it since he started writing.  It was amazing!  I will tell you that once we were in the car on the way home  from the hospital after midnight (because we had gone by Coastal Cupcakes before the park, and he had to wait to go to the OR for 6 hours after eating anything) Jackson says, "Mom, you know what my favorite part of tonight was?"  I'm thinking, "Really?!?  A favorite part...I really can't think of one," but instead I say, "What's that, buddy?"  He says, "Watching TV in the emergency room (and he watched a lot because we had to wait A LOT for the OR) and riding in the wheelchair."  My thoughts again: "I could've bought us 3 wheelchairs for what we just spent," but I say, "Way to look on the bright side, buddy!" 

He had a to have a white cast since it was applied in the OR.
We did a lot of propping up in bed with several pillows.

Lots of game playing.

By the time Jackson had a cast change, there was no more room to sign his cast.

He had a great time getting his friends and family to sign.

A cast change 4 weeks after the first one was applied. 
And....he chose red, of course!

February:

February brought us a Terrific Kid, a car race, a Valentine's princess and a Wolf.

Jackson was nominated as Kiwanis Terrific Kid as his elementary school.  Needless to say, we were SO proud.  The award is given based on a child's character.  It was such a fun day for him.  He had no idea he was receiving the award or that we all would be there to see him accept it. 

The principal presents Jackson with the Terrific Kid aware.
She had to shake his left hand.

He's so proud of the certificate!

Jackson also participated in his first ever Pinewood Derby with cubscouts.  He decided that his car would be R2D2 from Star Wars.  He and Charlie cut, painted and decorated the car (and remember, Jackson only has his left arm with which to work).  Jackson was SO proud because he won second place for the most artistic car.  He really wanted to win second place because the ribbon is red, which is his favorite color. 

Working on the Pinewood Derby car
(as a "lefty")

The finished product: R2D2

Racing R2D2 at the Pinewood Derby race.

Jackson won 2nd place for most artistic car. 

SO proud!

We helped with Eliza's Valentine's party at school.  Charlie was able to attend which was really special for her.  I tried to make heart-shaped cupcakes.  They didn't quite turn out how I expected, but the kids didn't mind very much.  They still tasted like cupcakes despite the fact that they weren't heart-shaped.  The teachers commented that times sure have changed.  Only daddies came to the party and no mommies. 

Saying the blessing before snack.

We also had a Wolf join our family.  Jackson received his Tiger badge in cubscouts and became a Wolf.  It was special that Charlie was able to place Jackson's new neckerchief around Jackson's neck.  What a great experience for Jackson (and Charlie).

Charlie placing Jackson's new neckerchief.

Waiting for the Blue and Gold banquet to begin.

Our Wolf

March:

As Eliza would say, "In like a lion, out like a lamb."  She came home from school saying that, and I was like, "Whatttt?" 

Our favorite thing about March was a long weekend with our friends, the Cooper's, and a visit to our nation's capital.  We had THE best time!  Jackson has read several books from the Capital Mysteries series by Ron Roy, so he's read a lot about Washington, DC.  He was very excited to see some of the things he's read about.  We asked him what he wanted to see in Washington, DC to which he replied, "The White House (per Eliza,"Where the Bahamas live"), Abraham Lincoln Memorial and the Smithsonian Castle."  I should probably insert here that I didn't know there was a Smithsonian Castle.  When Jackson mentioned it, I figured it was a made-up place from the Capital Mysteries series.  I'm here to say, it is not made up. We ate ice cream right in front of the Smithsonian Castle.  It does contain art, so we decided visiting it with 3 six year olds, a 4 year old and a 3 year old wouldn't be the best idea.  The outside of the castle was fun though.  We also visited the National Zoo.  The kids definitely loved the pandas the best, and we came away with a couple of panda souveniers. 

Outside the zoo.  Such pretty flowers!

Looking at the pandas eating bamboo.  The kids were
amazed at how strong panda's teeth are.

A flamingo, but Jackson decided he wouldn't want to be pink.

Now, Eliza wouldn't mind being pink!

The beautiful cherry blossoms were in bloom.

The kids LOVED the Metro. 
We were looking over the side and the conductor waved at us.

Trying to figure out which route we're on.

Sleepy after a day at the zoo.

Jackson LOVED this!

The kids looking into the water.  So cute!

One of the places Jackson wanted to visit.
He chose Abraham Lincoln for a report at school.

He's strong! 

You can kind of see a kite in the background.  It was a kite flying day at
the Cherry Blossom Festival.  There were hundreds and all kinds of different kites.

In front of the White House.
It seemed smaller than I remembered it?!?!

Museum of Natural History

In front of the Smithsonian Castle (proof!).

Mmmm...ice cream!
The kids waited for this ALL day!

Jackson kept a journal about our trip to DC. (His idea of course!)

Jackson and Eliza enjoyed getting to know the Cooper kids better too.  They've lived out of the country for the last 3 years and recently moved to Northern Virginia about 6 months ago.  We plan to take advantage of their close proximity and visit with each other frequently.  Plus, how else would we kindle the already arranged marriages? 

Eliza also had her first dental visit.  She's been with Jackson one time before, but this was the first time she was able to get into the dental chair.  She walked right back as if she'd done it a hundred times before.  In fact, I stopped with Jackson for x-rays and she was gone.  She'd already jumped into the chair, had her sunglasses on and was telling the dental assistant what she wanted to watch on TV (they have TVs on the ceiling...wish my "adult" dentist had that....)

Jackson was able to visit a construction site in downtown Wilmington.  He visited with his cubscout troop.  One of the dads is an architect, and this is a building on which he is working.  The boys LOVED it! 

Stay tuned for the next blog....hopefully to arrive soon!