BEACH TRIP 2006

We had a wonderful time at Isle of Palms last week with Mema and Papa. John and I even went to lunch AND a movie! Rowan enjoyed the vacation life staying in his pajamas until 9:30, swimming in the ocean, building sandcastles (and knocking them down), eating pimento cheese, jumping in the pool, watching the boats, and taking up all of Mema and Papa's attention. Holland wasn't so sure about the pool, but she loved the sand (including the way it tastes-yummy) and she had a good time chasing the tide as it went back out into the ocean. She started taking her first consecutive steps and now can do about 5-6 steps at a time. Yes, she's only 9 mos! Enjoy the pictures from our IOP trip!

We have just finished off a fun-filled week with the Dower family. Nanni and Poppa came down for a visit this past week. My how the children have changed since they saw them in December. Rowan showed Poppa his excellent golf, baseball, football, and soccer skills. He loves to make up games and never seems to run out of energy doing them. There is no doubt Poppa will be tired after this week and will need a vacation to recover from all the play. Holland wowed them with her own activity, which is constant, and her big beautiful smiles and bright blue eyes. She was loved and loved and loved. JuJu and Matt surprised Nanni and Poppa with a quick visit. Matt is the awesome uncle who loves sports and took over for Poppa playing baseball and soccer, even teaching Rowan some dribbling and bouncing. It was a great time had by all and will have to last us until Thanksgiving when we can all get together again. This is the difficult part of being spread out-Nanni and Poppa in Chicago, JuJu and Matt in Washington D.C. and us here in Columbia...we wonder if that will ever change?

Rowan is 3!!! I can hardly believe that our little guy has just had his 3rd birthday. We had a great time celebrating with him by inviting 6 of his friends over for pizza and cake. Nanni, Poppa, JuJu, and Matt all made an appearance, too. He was in his glory and had so much fun opening his gifts and eating cake and being the center of attention. Whenever people told him "happy birthday" he would respond by saying, "my birthday is in the fridge" (meaning the cake). It was so hilarious that he didn't quite understand what it meant to have a birthday. He truly thought it was all about the cake.

Here we all are at Holland's dedication July 9, 2006. She did great! We feel so blessed to have a church that cares so much about our children!

Here are some summer pics of the kids...

Life moves so quickly that I often feel like I'm on the outside of it looking in. Many of my days seem so mundane and repetitive, but then I realize that my purpose here is to be a BEACON to my children. I am doing a Bible study with my girlfriends about "being a good mom and raising great kids". The author uses the anaolgy of a lighthouse being a beacon and I am inspired by it. She also drives home the responsibility we have of being available to our children. This can be difficult with the busy lives we lead these days. However, I make the committment -sometimes new each morning :)-to really BE THERE for Rowan & Holland. I'm trying so hard to soak in all the days with these 2 precious ones because I don't want to be living my life 20 years from now still feeling like I'm on the outside looking in. I want to be in the middle of it really living it! And most importantly, that's what I want them to remember about growing up.