Happy Birthday Reagan Joy!

Today is Reagan Joy's 4th Birthday! I can hardly believe that 4 is upon us...school around the corner! Whew! Reagan is super excited because we are making our first (of many I'm sure!) trip to Chuck E. Cheese's! After some clever marketing on the TV commercials, Reagan has seen enough and wants to visit in person...so off we go tonight. Jason is even home from work today, so it's been a fun day!

We had Reagan's party over the weekend, right on the 4th. The kids played so well together. We had a small party, only about 20 people, but it was a blast! Here is Reagan's good friends, Joshua and Jaden and my cousin's daughter Maddy all playing Ring around the Rosie.

A favorite from the treat buckets for the boys...silly glasses!

One of Reagan's early gifts this year was a ballet outfit for her Bitty baby courtesy of her cousins, Natalia, Katelyn, and Anthony (not in the pic of course!)

The total score of the weekend was Reagan's new princess bike. It is her first real bike and we were unsure of whether she would actually ride it, but by the 400th turn around the cul-de-sac, we knew we had chosen the right gift for her!

Reagan also received a stroller for her bitty baby, another item on her wish list. My cousin brought Reagan the birthday outfit for Bitty Baby, which she has on in the pic. She also recieved clothes, paint, a Dora fishing pole, a doctor's kit, books, candy!, fingernail polish, stamps, and some $ that we will use towards ballet lessons for the fall. Such thoughtful gifts for our little girl, thanks for thinking of her and blessing her!

Reagan Joy, we love you so very much and hope you have a wonderful birthday. You have brought us unspeakable joy and we are proud of you. We love watching you grow up into the girl God made you to be.

Well, little ole Bryce just can't be left out, so here he is at the beach on Sunday. The weather was just gorgeous, the water a little chilly, but that didn't stop either child from running into the lake. We had a great weekend and look forward to our excursion to Chuck E. Cheese's tonight. I'm off to bake cookies with Reagan.

It's a boy!.....It's a girl!

We had a VERY exciting week last week here at the Hall house TWO babies were born into our families. On Wednesday, Jason's brother Chris welcomed a little boy to their home, Logan Christopher (I have not even seen a pic of this sweet cherub....ahem!). My sister had a little girl, Anne Heather, on Friday via c-section. They did not know boy/girl, and boy everyone was seriously surprised with Anne's arrival. We were all SURE it was a boy. Reagan did call it correct, I must admit. Maybe 3 year olds DO know something!

This is one of my favorite pics of her! Since she was breech, and frank breech at that (meaning her legs were up by her head), she often finds herself back in that "comfy" position. LOVE it! I get to meet her in 2 weeks, and I can't wait get my hands on her!

We took the entire weekend to celebrate Father's Day with this super yummy ice cream cake. I kept telling Reagan this was a secret and not to tell daddy. I do have to hand it to her, she did say hi to him and hug him before she blurted out we got him a cake. Note to self....3 year olds do not understand the word "secret".

These super hot days have had us out and enjoying the water. Reagan is initially cautious, but Bryce will literally stand right in it and not care a lick. Such a boy!

We had a playdate for all the new preschoolers at Reagan's school for next year, so that was really nice. It was nice to all get together so Reagan will have some familiar faces that first day. I hardly can believe she's going to school in the fall. She is SO ready for it, though, she will have a blast.

We are enjoying summer, with so much time outside and time with friends. We visited the Children's Museum this past week and will jet out to the zoo again next week. Reagan is asking for a piano lesson, so we're off to learn some more!

An overnight rendezvous with my "chick magnet"

It was a midweek date for me...complete with limo ride and schnazzy (yes, that's a word, it's MY blog!) hotel stay for me and my cute companion. A wonderful friend from church stayed with the kiddos, and off I went to meet up with my date. We had an hour long limo ride to a yummy steakhouse, where I feasted on lobster tail and vanilla bean cheesecake. Complete with an overnight with this gentleman friend!!!

Of course, it was with my wonderful hubby! He won a dinner through work and I originally didn't think I would be able to swing a trip down to take the dinner with him (2 1/2 hours away). But a friend said yes to my offer of the kids, and off I went. We did ride in the limo with his secretary and did have dinner with 15 other people, and did stay in a clean, local motel that Jason frequents on his out of town business, but it was awesome regardless! It's nice to get dressed up and eat a meal without cutting anyone else's food, wiping someone's nose, making MANY bathroom trips, packing a carful for an overnight, etc. I wouldn't trade in my motherhood for anything...but just so you know, that night was refreshing!!

the Halls visit DC

we got to take an awesome mini-vacation out to maryland/virginia/washington dc over an extended weekend. my cousin got married out in virginia on sat, and we decided to stay sun/mon in dc to see the sights, since i have never been there. at the last minute, i scored great airline tickets into baltimore, a dirt cheap rental car, and we even did priceline for our four star hotel room in georgetown. a 16+ hour trip with my 15 month old was sounding less and less appealing the closer we came to the date, and the hour long flight was SO worth it!!

this is reagan enjoying the dollar dance with my cousin brett (aka the groom). the wedding was lovely and we were so glad we could be there to share in their special day. brett and his sister alicia are more like siblings to my sister and i. we grew up close together, vacationed together, did everything together. they are both younger than my sister, but very special cousins!

here is bryce dancing with the bride, megan. bryce AND reagan were really the stars of the reception. reagan was continually asking where the dancing was even all through the wedding. she was out there from the first song, until she fell asleep in my arms at 10 p.m. bryce would run out there from our table by himself and swing his arms and bounce up and down. it was the CUTEST little thing. they both definetly have the music in them!

jason and i together. i got so many compliments on my dress....to which i must say I PAID $6 for it on the clearance rack at Target. i was thrilled to have everyone commenting on it...i paid more for the earrings at $6.99. i know, big spender!

this is my cousin's new baby lyla...and she is just precious as can be.

my cousin alicia with reagan. reagan definetly found a new friend at the reception...wanted to sit at their table, dance with her....maybe she even wanted to call her mommy! (just kidding, she just really took a liking to her!)

reagan at the white house. on our first day to dc we visited arlington cemetary, Iwo Jima, drove past the pentagon, went in the national cathedral, and walked down to the white house.

day 2 was a busy one. we started at the kennedy center for the performing arts (beautiful facility!), then the jefferson memorial, lincoln, vietnam memorial, washington monument, korean war memorial, WWII memorial and the capitol building. this is reagan standing on the edge of the lincoln memorial looking out towards the washington monument. everything was just so HUGE, i couldn't get over it. i really love history like my dad, and i just thoroughly enjoyed our time there. our kids were not really the most "opportune" ages for a visit, but overall they were SO very good and went along with my "tour schedule".

the pic way at the top is from the WWII memorial and Jason and the kids are standing in front of the Michigan pillar. i got nearly completely done with my post and it deleted the pic at the end, and i can't seem to return it here, so it will have to do.

in all seriousness, i was just overwhelmed with how thankful i am to live in the United States. that i live in a free country, and that we have honored those that have given their lives for our freedom. i was overcome walking along the vietnam wall....all those names, most of them probably younger than me now, giving their lives so that i can be free today. thank you sounds so trivial. we are blessed! along the korean war memorial, there was a spray of flowers and a little phrase that i found so profound:

When you go home, tell them of us and say, For their tomorrow, we gave our today.

We appreciate all those who have sacrificed so that we can be free.

We got in around 1 a.m this morning and we are back to the normal routine around here. Thankfully my teaching schedule is a little more free throughout the summer as my students are in and out for vacations/summer camps, etc. We had a wonderful weekend, so I'm trying to soak up all those memories and store them away! Have a great week!

now i'm on a roll!

here' s reagan ready to head to her dress rehearsal (wish i would have put on the shoes!)

reagan with her teacher miss jeanine. we are hoping reagan will have her again next year. she was so good with the girls. and to think, reagan was SO resistant to go at the beginning and now she absolutely loves it and will miss it this summer!

all of reagan's adoring fans. jason's grandma ruth, and my parents

we were smart and left bryce home with a neighbor. we really got to enjoy the recital uninterrupted!

grandma ruth is 95 and still out and going. she really enjoyed the recital and we were so glad she could share this special day with reagan.

and what could a post be without a pic of little bryce??? he's just a little ham, as you can see. he is going to be scabbed and bruised most of the summer, i have come to realize with his "boyness!". this lovely mark under his eye is nearly gone but he took a dive on the kitchen floor today tripping over griffin. he is now sporting a new bruise above his OTHER eye to replace this one. after my ridiculous fiasco trying to get her video uploaded, the pics were a snap! make sure to follow down to my next post if you haven't watched reagan's dance recital video. it is precious!

Reagan's First Dance Recital

Reagan had her first dance recital this weekend. This mama could not be more proud of our little girl. I must admit, I was nervous FOR HER! I have been performing for years, but I still get that nervous stomach thinking about her up on stage and wondering what she was actually going to do. She was such a jewel, she stood there ready to go and did all her dance moves. She was actually one of the few girls in the class that knew what to do, and a couple moms commented to me that Reagan held the class together by everyone watching her to see what came next. I can't say enough how enormously proud I was of Reagan watching her up there. It makes me sad to see her growing up so fast, but nonetheless, each new stage has been wonderfully fun! My parents made the trip up to see her and her great-grandma from town came to watch too. I had flowers for her afterwards, and she walked around telling everyone she was the "star". I have pics to upload, but wanted to get the video up while I had the chance. Enjoy the video...there is quite a delay at the beginning (this is from the dress rehearsal), but I was afraid if I shut it off, I'd miss the beginning! She is front row farthest on the left.

A Great Memorial Day Weekend

We enjoyed a great Memorial Day weekend here at home. Jason's family came into town and we had so much fun all being together. We celebrated Jason's birthday over the weekend too! I must admit, by Monday (his actual birthday) I was completely wiped out, so I'm glad we celebrated on Saturday.

After church on Sunday we went to the zoo. We bought a family membership this year, and we have already gotten great use out of it. The kids love the zoo!

Here's Reagan feeding the birds in the aviary with her Grandma Hall.

It was fun to be there with Jason, because I often go during the week by myself. With the stroller, I don't get to do the fun climbing activities with Reagan. So, Reagan and I ventured and did many things we don't usually get to do, like climbing up to the top of this waterfall.

REALLY special for Reagan this time was the chance to ride the camel with her cousin Katelyn. What an adventure!

We have been in recovery mode most of the week. I'm thankful the kids have been sleeping in, allowing me some time to catch up on my sleep. Enjoy the new pics!