Just a few funny things the kids are saying lately that I want to remember. . . Will calls his oatmeal "eatmeal" and Ainsley loves eating "strawbetties" and "bluebetties". Ainsley recently learned to sing her ABC's and it is so sweet. She mumbles through the LMNOP part, but otherwise knows all the words. Of course, R is pronounced with two syllables! Mitch always tells Will that he's his "best buddy" and tells Ainsley that she's his "best baby girl". The other day he asked Will if he was his best buddy, and Will said "No, Buzz" (he has recently seen Toy Story 3 and got a Buzz Lightyear doll). Mitch told Ainsley that she was his best baby girl, and she in turn said "You my best daddy". Another time she kissed him and said "I lovin' you Daddy". Melt your heart!

Lion Oil reunion

On Memorial Day weekend, the weekend after Will's last day of school and our visit to Guy and Julie's we went to Hot Springs for our annual "Lion Oil reunion". This is a group of several families that get together each year in the summer. The husbands in these families - and one wife, Melissa - used to work together at Lion Oil. We are the only family still in El Dorado, but when they all lived here, we used to get together often. This get together has become an annual tradition and we look forward to it each summer. We've been to New Orleans, Heber Springs, Memphis, Many (La). . . this year we went to Hot Springs. The families who were able to come (there were 2 or 3 who were not there) were the Strattons - Brent, Holly, Phillip and Thomas; the Lees - Brett, Melanie, Nicholas and J.P.; the Myricks - Melissa, Kenny, Evan and Ella; the Aikmans - John, Annette, Lexi and Matthew and us. Five families in 2 condos. The Lees and Strattons have older boys; Will and Lexi are 5; Evan, Matthew and Ainsley are 2; and baby Ella is 5 months old.

Nicolas Lee, Ainsley, Will, Evan Myrick, J.P. Lee

Will, Lexi Aikman, Matthew Aikman, Ainsley

Ainsley and Evan Myrick

Ella Myrick

Somehow we didn't get any pictures of the Stratton kids!

It was quite an experience keeping the kids from going out the front door (to the parking lot) or out the back door (to the lake)! One time we missed Matthew and he had gotten out and was down on the dock (which did not have a rail). Not exactly relaxing, but fun. We all went to eat at Doe's Eat Place Saturday night and then we went with the Aikmans to get ice cream. We ate in the rest of the time, with each family responsible for one meal. There was a pool that we went to several times. It was Will and Ainsley's first time to swim this summer. Will LOVED it!! He got pretty good at jumping off the side, he put his face under without a problem, he kicked and moved his arms better. We're thinking this may be the summer for swimming lessons. Ainsley was unsure at first, but she had a good time. She tried to jump like the big kids, but she just jumps in place, she doesn't really jump "out", so you had to help her.





The kids had a good time playing together. Lexi kept Will and Ainsley entertained with "learning lessons", as she called them (she brought some flashcards from home and they played "school" where Lexi was the teacher), reading books, swimming, and eating snacks (even Will ate some goldfish crackers with the other kids!). The adults had a good time visiting, swimming, trying to keep up with the kids, eating, drinking, eating some more, etc. Who knows where we'll go next year?!

Will's last day of school

Will's last day of school was Friday, May 21st. He has a terrific teacher this year, Mrs. Melinda King. We decided to let him do another year in 3 year old pre-school and it turned out to be a good decision. Mrs. Melinda taught them all the basics - letters, colors, shapes, numbers, etc - but she also focused on one or two Bible stories each month. They also memorized one or two Bible verses each month. They learned the Pledge of Allegience and "My Country Tis of Thee". They had show and tell every week that focused on whatever color or letter they were targeting that week. She taught them lots of songs and stories (like the Thanksgiving story I referred to in an earlier post). She did many units focusing on things like community helpers, countries, transportation, animals, etc. One day Will saw an Australian flag (which he thought was a British flag) and he said "We had crumpets and tea at school. Mrs. Melinda was the queen"! I was amazed at all the "extra" she was able to fit into their schedules. He made many friends which he talked about often. Alex Grace was his "girlfriend"; she called him "Willie Boy" and took care of him. Mrs. Melinda said they were "tight"! I think they hugged a lot. Melinda said he knew all their last names and he had nicknames for many of them: He called Grace "Gracie Poo", Summer was "Summer Sue", Jackson was "Jackson Dison Dison". I went to their class for the last part of their day. They had ice cream with the other 3 year old classes and then went back to their room where Mrs. Melinda let them each pick their favorite song to sing for "Circle Time".


Will chose "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and did his star pose.

Mary Claire Parker

Alex Grace Elia

Grace Williamson

Jackson Dison

Summer Jackson

Will, Braeden, Bella and Jordan

Will, Bella, and Jordan
Jackon, Will, and Ava
group hug

I knew that Mrs. Melinda had a Pandora bracelet, so I took Will to the jewelry store and let him help me pick one out. After looking at several choices, he chose a butterfly. I attached a note tell her how much Will had enjoyed his year and how much we appreciated all she had done for him. She cried as she opened it and gave Will and me big hugs and told us that she loved us! We will miss Mrs. Melinda!!

Jo Ellen's Birthday

My 34th birthday was on Monday, May 3rd (yes, I realize that was a month ago). On the night of my actual birthday, I had my last Service League Executive Board meeting, so we celebrated on Sunday night. My mom made chicken spaghetti (one of my favorites), salad, bread, and had a local bakery make a delicious peanut butter and chocolate cake (another favorite).


I got to eat off of the red "You are special today" plate, which has been a tradition in our family for years. Mitch's parents came over, the kids played and then we ate the delicious meal and cake. We always have to wear party hats and blow horns, which the kids get a kick out of! Mitch's parents gave me some "tanning towels" self tanner and nail polish, my mom gave me a tulip (my favorite flower) bead for my Pandora bracelet, and Mitch and the kids gave me two birthstone beads - one with Will's birthstone color and one with Ainsley's - also for my Pandora bracelet.


Instead of putting a ton of candles on the cake, we sometimes put "decade" candles instead. Since I am in my 3rd decade, I got 3 candles. That's much better than 34! That cake was so good I could've eaten the whole thing! Ainsley (of course) liked it too!

Mother's Day 2010

Will's class had a reception for Moms, Grandmothers, Aunts, etc. on the Friday before Mother's Day. Each class had an individual time when their guests were to gather in the rotunda of the CLC. The kids came in and presented a little program. Mrs. Melinda said a few words and then the kids held up little sunshine faces that they had made and sang "You Are My Sunshine". After that, the kids served their guests cookies and punch. We all went back to their class afterwards and saw some of the special art work that they had done - pictures of their moms, statements about what they like to do with their moms, etc. Will has a really cute class and we love Mrs. Melinda!



Will's class: Bella Frisby, Jackson Dison, Alex Grace Elia, Mary Claire Parker, Will, Grace Williamson, Kyler Martin, Jackson Coleman, Emma Kate Pagan, Summer Jackson, Ava Quintana, Braeden Pitard



On Sunday, Mitch gave me the day off and did all the chores involving the kids (except putting Ainsley down to sleep - she won't let anyone else!). We had dinner with the family that evening. Will - along with Papaw and Mitch - gave the ladies another rendition of "You Are My Sunshine". We exchanged cards and gifts. We made stepping stones for the grandmothers with each child's hand prints. The kids gave me a gift certificate for a manicure and pedicure, which is one of my favorite gifts to recieve. I treated myself to the pedi the next week and it was so nice and relaxing!

Visit to NWA

On the weekend of May 21-23, we drove to Guy and Julie's house in Centerton. Mitch took the afternoon off and we hit the road around 1:30. Julie is having knee surgery in a few weeks and we knew it would be awhile before we were able to see them again. We made pretty good time and the kids were doing fine on the trip, but we were getting hungry, so we stopped in Alma at Braum's to get a bite to eat. We got the kids a chicken strip meal and let them share it. As usual, Ainsley did most of the eating, but we offered some to Will. We were not paying much attention to him, when suddenly Will said "I want a tator tot" and reached for a chicken strip. We didn't correct him, but he put it in his mouth and took a big bite (big for him). Mitch and I looked at each other, amazed. Will continued to take several bites of the chicken strip throughout the meal, even after the rest of us had finished. We had to let him keep eating. This was a very big deal for Will, who has major eating issues (we called it the "miracle at Alma". That's a whole other post. Anyway, after he finished, we got some ice cream similar to a DQ Blizzard and got back on the road. We got to Guy and Julie's house around 8:30. We kids were very active after a long trip, so they danced and jumped around, did flips, and generally burned off some energy. They were both very sweet to Shepherd. Ainsley is still very interested in him and you definitely see her "mothering" tendencies come out. She even shared her beloved Brownie Bear with him.



Shepherd is 5 months old now, but here is one of my favorite pictures of him - when he is about 3 months old. It looks just like my dad to me here. I know he would just eat Shepherd - and Will and Ainsley - up!

Shepherd looks a lot like Julie's brother and nephew Elliott, but looks a lot like Guy and my dad at other times too.

On Saturday we got up and went to the Farmer's Market that is held in downtown Bentonville each week. Mitch got some sugar snap peas. The kids played in the fountain and then we headed over to a nearby park.

We had packed a picnic lunch and took turns eating while the kids played. They had a great time and were not ready to leave, as usual.









That evening, we went to Julie's nephew's birthday party. William was turning 3. They had a huge bouncy castle. For most of the party, Will, Ainsley and William were in the bouncer. They had so much fun! Those things are worth their weight in gold at a birthday party! We had hot dogs and a yummy birthday cake and they played some more. It was nice to visit Julie's family and they always treat us and our kids like their own. Mitch got in some snuggle time before bed from 3 very tired kids.



On Sunday we went to church with Guy and Julie. We left Ainsley in the nursery's 2 year old room. She was not too sure about that at first, but the couple who was keeping that class had an older daughter - maybe 7 or 8 - who kind of took Ainsley under her wing. She ended up doing fine. Will came to the service with us. We found a seat on the back row near the door, just in case! The service that day honored their graduating seniors. Their youth choir sang lots of numbers, they had a slide show with pictures and videos of each senior (along with some video from their parents) and then had 3 seniors speak about their testimony. I enjoyed all of the special things, but the service ended up being very long. Will did really well, though. I was very proud of him. After almost 2 hours, Mitch took him out to the playground and a few minutes after that, with more of the service left to come, we all decided to leave. We went back to their house, ate lunch and packed up to leave. It was a busy but good weekend!