Cousins Bowen and James

Bowen, ten months old.  James, two years and ten months old

Cousin status: Despite a few sharing mishaps, the bestest of friends

Thanksgiving Day

We ate Thanksgiving dinner with The Helfers.  We had a big group and so much fun.  I took a few pictures, most of which are pretty random…

James and Grandpa Turkey eating M&M appetizers.

The hostess with the mostess, Grandma Lisa.

Her delicious turkey!

Uncle Jack carving the turkey.

It was quite entertaining.

Cousins Becky, Danny, and baby Amelia.

Cousins playing.

My little turkey.

The guys.

We had a great Thanksgiving and so many things to be thankful for.  Hope you had a joyful Thanksgiving!

Papa, James and Lady

While transferring my iPhone pics to my computer, I couldn’t help but notice quite a few pictures of James and Papa watching Lady and the Tramp.  It’s not that they sit around watching movies all day, rather they have one scene they like to watch together… over and over again.

We all know James LOVES his Papa.

He kinda wants to be just like him.

He looks just like Papa.

What’s not to love?

Well, Papa and Mammy babysat on my birthday so, Justin and I could vacation to our favorite place on Earth: Charleston, SC.

We were gone two days, and we came back James and Papa had to “watch da hound dog” on Lady and the Tramp.  They would go through the scene selection together, as James would point {with his finger touching the TV} to the correct scene.  It’s the very end of the movie, I think scene 23?  Anyways, that in itself is a treat, because I have a ‘no rewind over and over again rule’, because at one point scene selection spun out of control in the Helfer household.  I understand some rules don’t apply to grandparents, though.

I’m sure Mammy would want me to mention that they kept their grandson very busy.  Playing outside, family visits, wagon rides, and even the zoo!  James and Mammy accidentally dressed as twins for the zoo!

But their down time was with the hound dog.  Tramp gets taken by the dogcatcher so, his doggy friends find their scent and bark until the horses fall!  All so that Tramp can escape.  Just then, Lady arrives with Jim Dear to rescue Tramp. 

James: “He’s sniffin’!  Do you yike this park?” {He has to ask Papa if he likes this part, because James is a little unsure of all the drama.}  But Papa always says: “Yeah, I like this part.”  James, knowing the answer to his questions: “What makes that soooouuund?” and “What’s that noise?”  Papa: “That’s the hound dog!”  James and Papa: “Here goes!”  James ALWAYS says “Here comes Wady!  Here comes Wady!” as Lady arrives.  At the very end, the brave old hound dog breaks his leg.  We see in the next scene that he’s okay, but sometimes it’s just a little too much to watch a dog get hurt.

This has become such a precious memory for us.  James’ enthusiasm is already fading for the hound dog, and it won’t be long before Lady is back on the shelf with Buzz Lightyear.  Sad, but true.  He seems to have a favorite movie and then, one day wants nothing to do with it.  However, Buzz just got back in rotation.  So, Lady, we will see you before we know it!

As for you, Papa, James isn’t letting you go anywhere.

It’s safe to say, the feeling is mutual.

Happy Birthday, Olivia!

My sweet niece had her first birthday last month.  She had the cutest cupcake themed party.  With a cupcake pinata

and a cupcake cake that was so big I had to stand on a chair to try to get a picture.  And I still couldn’t get it all!

The birthday girl had her own cake. :)

We quietly sang happy birthday {I think it’s the cutest when we have to sing quietly at birthday parties not to frighten the birthday child.}

Big brother and Mommy helped blow out her candle.

We oooohhhhed and aaaahhhed as she ate her cake.

Just as cute as can be.

The cake was enjoyed by all.

Olivia ate her weight in cake, and the big cake hardly had a dent in it.

Mama and baby shared some cupcake kisses then, it was time to open presents.

This second child is learning at a young age to share.  Whereas my child thinks sharing is the most horrible thing I could ever ask him to do.  Nonetheless, I loved seeing all these cousins playing together.

Olivia gave a few birthday hugs before everyone left.

Happy birthday to my sweet niece!  I love you so much and am so proud of all that you have overcome in just one year.  You are loved, baby girl!

Fourth of July

Now that Justin is out of the Army, we have kissed our four day weekends goodbye.  In fact, I think he has maybe earned one day of leave so far.  This July 4th we joined the majority of America with our one celebratory Wednesday.

We decided to have a low-key barbeque by the pool.  We first spent the morning as a family.

James watched his new favorite movie, Bolt, about an actor puppy and his child owner.  James has since been trying to ‘hold Lyna’ and ‘hug Lyna’ which is sweet, but is likely to ruffle some feathers.

We sang Happy Birthday to America and ate America pancakes.  {James actually sang “Happy biwfday Ammew-i-aaaa” later.}

We got ready to go to the store.  James said to Justin: “Daddy, guess what?  We gonna go to da stowe and get a cookie.”  I got him the free cookie at Publix one time, and it has been “Mommy, dat way pweeeeease” pointing to the bakery every since.

I made Fourth of July strawberries while, the guys played in the backyard.

We had beer, a grill, and family.  All we needed was water!

There are plenty of days in which I put James down for a nap, and he is absolutely exhausted, but doesn’t sleep.  I leave him in his crib during “rest time.”  It’s become a joke that any time we have something fun planned for the afternoon, this little guy takes a marathon nap.  We finally woke him up.

It was time to celebrate the 4th and swim with cousins!  We first “put face in da wa-wa” aka dunked.

James is in his second week of swimming lessons, and we are working very hard on teaching him to swim.  After James dunks with Daddy, he gets to “fly in da air!”

Harper just had swimming lessons, too.  It’s so fun that these cousins are so eager to learn swimming together.

James’ lessons were aggressive, which was needed for his strong-willed personality.  It gave him the fear that he needs of water, but he still LOVES to swim.  Except now, he waits for an adult before he jumps in.  His favorite pool spot now is the steps.  While I watch from about a foot away, he practices putting his face in the water, blowing bubbles, pulling up on the wall, and kicking his feet.  He practices on his own and is very eager to learn how to swim completely.

Harper and Sasa went fishing.

Then James joined him.

They are so close, and I love that they are growing up together.

Before we knew it, it was dinner time.  Fireworks and sparklers were not on our agenda so, we did glow sticks instead.  They were A HIT!

This is the only picture I got of cousin Olivia.  She was sleeping when we were swimming, but she was ready to party when she woke up. :)

So that was our Fourth.  Much more low key than they used to be.  A perfect day.