End of June 2015 and Beginning of July

I really love swimming.  It's so much fun to go swimming now that Maxwell is swimming.  I've always loved being in a swimming pool but as an adult, it's much more fun to go swimming with kids who are all excited to go swimming with you.  :)

Emmalyn in her float (that we bought for Maxwell a few years ago)

Maxwell swimming back to the stairs

She was having fun

Morning swimming leads to great naps in the car

These car grocery carts are in high demand each time we go grocery shopping at Kroger.

Summer Style

Later that evening we went swimming again.  Maxwell was uncharacteristically adventurous and jumped off the waterfall!

Video - Maxwell jumping!

Not really playing together but at least playing close to each other

Emmalyn bumped her head and got this nice bruise.   OUCH!

Watergun fun in the backyard

Capturing Maxwell mid-giggle

Love the style with the vest and messenger bag

Sweet Maxwell loves writing me notes - This note he wrote for me to get when I got home from work.

A few things on this side..

"To mom"

"Work"

"3 1/2" (Since that's how old he is)

Other side

"I now"

"is Max"

"What"

"P.S. P.S. Max"

Not too bad... he wrote all of that himself! (We will have to work on the flow to his messages but hey, it's a start. )  :)

Video - Adorable giggles from Emmalyn (Dad still is the best at getting them)

Maxwell ended up getting a private swim lesson because he was the only one in his class.  Coach Katie pushed him and he got some really good practice in!

Working on his kicks

Video - Maxwell at swimming lessons - jumping in, rolling to his back and floating (which is a little difficult right up to the ropes), rolling back over, and swimming to the step... all by himself!  

Pretty awesome for a 3 year old!  I was 7 years old before I swam without floaties.

Hanging out while big brother swims

This drool monster loves reading books

Those teeth just keep coming which means more and more drool.  Her bottom right canine has now popped through her gums.

She also loves pizza

Enjoying the flowers in the front yard

Selfies with daddy

My perspective of the selfies.  :)  I love seeing these sweet kids loving their daddy so much.

Emmalyn in a darling beret I bought her.  If only I could get her to keep it on!

Enjoying Christmas Break

It's so nice to be able to spend more than just a weekend together hanging out and having fun.  It was an added bonus to be able to have Kaity and Kimberly here too.

We spent time playing with toys and keeping Emmalyn away from the toys...

Since we never really dressed up on Christmas, the kids put on their Christmas outfits the day after Christmas.  :)

Cute kids but they wouldn't look at me

Uh oh, we've lost her attention

Max tried to hold her but it just made her mad.  It's so hard to get a good picture of them both!

Let's take a break and try again...

The best picture I've got...wish Maxwell was smiling more

Now I wish Emmalyn was smiling more

...and right back to wishing Maxwell was smiling more.

Just can't win.  !

We took our kids and Kaitlyn to cici's pizza.  She took Maxwell to the arcade to play games.  It was cute.

After pizza, we drove around and looked at some of the Christmas lights in the neighborhood.  These two had a great time together and were cracking each other up.

Kaitlyn made pictures for both Maxwell and Emmalyn

Kaitlyn, Maxwell, and Hayden working on a puzzle

...Then they moved onto Sequence for kids.   I think it is so great that Maxwell was able to play games with Kaitlyn and it didn't need to be a simple baby game.  They adjusted the rules so that you played whatever card you picked but other than that, it was the real deal.  Proud of my smart kiddo.

Maxwell really enjoyed Kaitlyn and they were often together whether it was playing games or watching movies or something else

Tida and Jason came over to hang with us!  Chef Tida got to work in the kitchen and helped make dinner.

Emmalyn and Jason.  He's so great with my kids - - they love him.

What a fun night with friends, family, and games.

We stayed up until after 2 am playing games.  (Thank goodness that doesn't happen often - I'm too old for that!)  Have you played "heads up" on your phone?  If not, you should.  It's hilarious.

In the morning, Tida made congee (an Asian breakfast dish with rice and eggs).  It was delicious!

We weren't ready for the fun to end so Jason and Tida hung out until late afternoon watching football.  I am so grateful for their friendship!  (And since they live 45 min away they usually put the guest bedroom to use when they are here which is great.)

Not sure why he decided to wear his shirt like this

Joe and Peter trying a drink that you can tell by the look on their faces wasn't good

Poor baby pulled her walking toy on top of her and it cut her nose.  So sad.

I love it when she cuddles

Tired girl fell asleep on me

Emmalyn is pulling up on everything.  She loved to be standing!  However, she's now starting to get into everything - ugh.

When we go to Costco, we have now started giving Emmalyn some of the samples because she would get so mad if she saw one of us eating and not sharing.

Something caught my ear when I was listening to Maxwell - - I noticed that he has started being able to say his "L"s!  (He use to say them as "W"s)  So, for example he said "blue" instead of "bwue".  You can hear him consciously thinking about it when he's talking.  Anyway, I think it's really cool that he just figured it out and I didn't have