Digits

The background of this post is that the big boys are learning their address and phone number in preschool this year.

Yesterday on the way to church we had the following conversation:
Me: "Boys, y'all have to remind me to call Rachel's Mom tonight to RSVP to her birthday party."
JD: "Why don't you call her now, Mama? Their number is 808.---- (but he said the numbers)"

I verified with Ms. Ashley that he had the number right!

Apparently John is learning his phone number, as well as everyone else's in the class too!

Still holding hands

Sweet John...he's the caregiver of the bunch. He always wants to make sure that his brothers are ok. And he loves to hold hands...

Go Green Cobras!

This year we introduced the boys to the world of organized sports. Thankfully my friend Kimmy was kind enough to give me the low down on signing up for soccer. She is my go-to person for all things Lexington sports related. So she sent me the link weeks in advance, told me how to request a specific team (Andy and John wanted to be on their friend Cole's team) and then left the rest to me.

Of course that meant that I spent my lunch hour (and then some) getting copies of the boys' birth certificates from DHEC on the last possible day to register, then the better part of the afternoon tracking down the email address of the League President so that I could email him scanned copies since I could not mail them in by the deadline...(Ashley if you are reading this right now, I know you are shaking your head!)...but alas(!) we made it in by the deadline; praise God for technology.

And so our first season of sports began! Team Mexico AKA "The Green Cobras" have had quite a season. We have won several games. (They might not keep official score, but when you are a competitive person, you know)! John and Andrew have enjoyed it immensely and Ashley and I have enjoyed getting to know the other parents on our team as well. Thanks to our parents, The Gilfillan Duo has had a cheering section every game! It's amazing how far these two have already come in life. We are so lucky that they are out on that field running and kicking.

This Sunday we play our last game of the season and then plan to celebrate with an "End of the Season" party to include TROPHIES!! I am so excited for the boys. They will be beside themselves over getting trophies.

Next up on the sports agenda....t-ball!!? (I think...you see, this is where Kimmy comes in).

Andrew and John were in the game together- both on the right.

Halloween

This was our first Halloween in our new house, so we decided to go trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. It's amazing how fast our Spiderman, Batman and Diego could walk in the beginning of the night but as the night wore on, Ashley and I did most of the work. Our neighborhood is big, so we brought the wagon along thinking Wyatt could ride home in that. As it turned out, Andy and John rode home in the wagon and Ashley and I took turns carrying Wyatt. We left a note at home for trick-or-treaters asking them to take a few pieces of candy.

(The next day I decided that the definition of lame is being sore from trick-or-treating.)

The boys had such a good time, but Ashley and I had just as much fun as they did just watching their excitement.

I can remember going trick-or-treating with my brother as a young child; I have no idea what either of us dressed up as, but I will never forget how excited I was to walk around the neighborhood with him. It was so awesome to see that bond between Andrew and John as they settled on who would ring the doorbell at each house.

When we got home and I was rocking Wyatt before bed he said, "Mama, this was the best Halloween EVER!" I agree.

SC State Fair

John on the motorcycles
Andrew and Wyatt riding together Getting ready to feed the animals
Cotton candy!!
Andy on the race cars!!
The fair was a huge hit this year...we all had a blast! John and Andrew are not afraid to ride anything. Wyatt would not be either, if only he were tall enough. This is how we kicked off fall! What a wonderful start to the season.

Home

Our first home was a patio home in Chapin. Ashley and I were so happy to buy our first little place. It was brand new with new carpet and white walls. I have memories of watching "friends" and jogging around the neighborhood, Ashley always five feet in front of me. We had dinners for two. Life was simple.

In no time we wanted to move. We found a cute little house in Earlewood that we loved. It was old. Original hardwood floors. Bright walls. Tons of character. We re-did the kitchen together. We got two dogs. And a cat. We wished for kids. We realized we wanted something safer, so decided to move again.

We decided to build in Irmo. We loved our floor plan. We chose tile and granite, fixtures and grout. We hoped and prayed for a baby. We got two!!! Less than two years later, we got another baby!!! Our cat ran away. Our babies learned to walk. The days passed by...filled with noise and tears and smiles.

Here we go again. I still can't believe that we are moving, even though a month of packing should be enough to make it sink in. Next week we are heading for Lexington. Another older home this time (this seems to be a pattern). The week after we move we will celebrate our anniversary.

9 years
4 houses
3 boys
2 dogs
1 happy life

Happy 4th of July!!!

We celebrated the 4th by going to a water park for the day. We thought we were going to Nana and Papa's house for a cookout, but when we got there...THIS was waiting in the backyard.

The weather could not have been better and the boys had a WONDERFUL time playing on the water slide that Nana and Papa got them!! It is so awesome and will bring hours of enjoyment this summer. What an awesome day...