austin celebrates 14

wOw! i cannot believe i am the mother of a fourteen-year-old. funny thing is, it's true! austin turned 14 on june 19th! we enjoyed a family celebration at his favorite restaurant, "da cajun shack." woo hoo! his birthday party will be celebrated when we return from our trip to st. louis, with sushi and japanese hibachi! the craziest thing, is the fact that he is just now able to look me in the eye. 5'9" to be exact. i have a hard time taking this in...considering that my sweet little baby boy (a mere 6 pounds, 6 ounces at birth) has grown into a young man! the time has flown and i cannot even begin to believe it! proud, yes...sad, yes...surprised, yes...so many emotions...all in all, bittersweet.

basketball with austin

the jazz...and austin. a superb travelling team...and we are so proud of him and his basketball talent. looking forward to some great tourneys!

first dance recital

what an amazing, exhausting, yet memorable weekend! hampton performed in her first kansas dance academy recital...including two dances, ballet ("i have learned a ballet dance") and tap ("i'm a cu-cu-cuddly duck"). i must say that i am amazed at the level of perfection the studio presents, while at the same time preserving the love of dance itself. hampton absolutely LOVES it all (perfect hair, heavy makeup, costume changes & all)! though the dress rehearsal was long (a mere 5 1/2 hours), and the actual recital performances (3 1/2 hours times 2) were exhausting, it was all worth it in the end. actually, not quite the end. after hampton's first performance in front of a grand audience, she said, "mom, that was amazing!" choked up a bit, i asked her if she had been nervous, to which she replied, "no mom, don't be silly...i love the stage!" indeed she does. no fear. simply an honest love of performing. me ma & papa, ju ju & evie, and brothers coleman & austin were so kind to sit through the extra long performance to see hampton's two dances. and daddy, to sit through it all...twice. funny thing is, this is only the beginning. i have a hunch we have a little girl destined for show biz. hmmm...proud we are!

this is the way

she brushes her teeth! the fancy way...this is how it's done! heels make everything more fun!

memorial day 2010

we enjoyed a fun day at mema and papa's house for memorial day this year...in celebration of dad making it through another heart surgery successfully! the girls had fun dressing up, the boys had fun being silly...and the rest of us enjoyed yummy food prepared by mema! thanks for a fun day!

last days of third grade

a few pics from the last few days of third grade for coleman! they include field day (indoor this year, due to the excessive rain), where coleman set records for push-ups, six minute run, and shuttle run. hampton had fun tagging coleman on each of his 36 sprints during the six minute run! the first photo is an award coleman received for performing in the exemplary category in mathematics, on the state assessment. way to go, c-man! we are sooo proud!

baseball with coleman

we have enjoyed cheering on coleman and the cyclones each and every game this summer, and are so proud of his performance! they have had a great season...however, we are thinking coleman is ready for football to begin! he is also happy to welcome a golf game when he is free from a baseball practice or game. hmmm...not gonna say it. we are big believers in allowing our children to do what they truly love. we'll just have to wait and see where coleman's passions lie! what a great little boy he is!

last days of three day pre k

what a special box of goodies to cherish for many years to come!

hampton & evie, following hampton's end of the year program!

a pic of hampton and her on again, off again boyfriend, jaxon! too cute!
the last days of hampton's pre k classes at chapel hill included a special program and graduation ceremony. she also brought home a beautiful "all seasons" box of goodies from the year...including an alphabet book with adorable artwork depicting each letter, journal entries for the class dog "bosley," tons of other artwork, and a special gift from her special teachers, mrs. jen & mrs. thee! what a super year! looking forward to one last year of 5 day pre k at chapel hill before the kindergarten adventure! yay for summer!