Trucks and Sand!

While cooking dinner, Paxson asked if he could play on the back porch by himself. He's always been able to entertain himself, and has really begun to play imaginatively too! As I was looking out of the window, I saw him playing "instruction"...construction worker. He was so intent with setting up his heavy equipment trucks up just right as he played. His sidekick Tracy played with him too...the way he talks to Tracy is so convincing, that I almost believe that Tracy is really real!

Paxson adores his blue croc boots, they are the official shoe of choice when playing outdoors!

Little hands hard at work!

I could just pinch those cheeks!

Meanwhile....in the sandbox!

Gracie Myers loves her independence and enjoys playing on her own also!

Gracie Myers quickly learns that sand is not so tasty!

Poor thing, the more she'd try to get it out of her mouth, the more sand she'd put in it!

Our Little Fish!

Paxson loves the water and we decided it was time for him to start swimming lessons. On the morning of the first lesson, he was so confident and ready to get his swimming gear on...he didn't like that he had to wear last year's "itchy suit". After his lesson, he was super excited to pick out his own bathing suit, a white one with blue sharks on it. He made sure to tell the salesperson that blue was his favorite color and he wanted something that would help him swim fast like "Michael Phillips" (Phelps).

Not knowing what to expect, we put him in the beginner class, the Pikes. As Paxson made his way towards his teacher, Ms. Helene, it was like history repeating itself for me. I also took swimming lessons at the YMCA, and had a teacher much like Ms. Helene, but her name was Ms. Bobbie. To put it mildly, neither of these swimming instructors were the kind and gentle types...but more like the "stop crying, don't smile,and kick, kick, kick, type". Fortunately, Paxson was pretty confident and had no tears, he was tickled to be in the water! Paxson had a great time, but was disappointed that he didn't get to put his face in the water this week!

Paxson begin by walking across the shallow end of the pool.

Each child wears a float while they wait their turn to get into the water.

Paxson and a classmate practice kicking!

We couldn't wipe the smile off of his face after his first lesson! He's already looking forward to next week!

Gracie Myers Turns 20 Months Old!

As each month passes by, we realize just how quickly our two precious children are growing-up! Crazy to think that the journey of being a parent to Paxson and Gracie Myers while they are young, will be over in a blink of an eye. We are continually amazed by their love for each other and for their energy as they live each day fully!

What we do every night (yeah right), let Paxson eat a sugar cookie while jumping off of the couch right before bedtime!

Daddy doing push-ups while toting two spectators who enjoyed milk and cookies!

Gracie Myers loves showing her teeth when having her picture taken.

Our girl is 20 months old today! Can't believe she'll be two in just a few months!!!

Our silly family!

Gracie Myers loves pushing "bebe" around in her stroller.

He Has Risen!

Happy Easter! We are so thankful that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and we are excited to celebrate His resurrection! We began our day by attending church with the Chalfant's and then headed to have lunch with the McGarity's! What a huge blessing it is to have so many members of our family nearby, it makes for fun-filled celebrations!

Cousin Claire and Memama capture the day's fun on film!

Grant helps Gracie Myers open her candy!

Gracie Myers really enjoyed finding Easter Eggs! She found the golden egg too...with lots of help from older cousins! :)

Just had to get a close-up of the smocked bunnies!

Pops and Meme

Grant, Laney, and Meredith are growing so quickly!

Memama is always ready to celebrate with her family!

These are out of order, but earlier this morning, Peter Rabbit came to our house for a visit!

Paxson eating his first piece of chocolate of the day...there were many, many more that followed.

Gracie Myers loved her new bunny headband!

A quick picture with Aunt Chris, Bop and Pop after church.

It's so nice to have Aunt Chris and Aunt Claudine back in NC for keeps! :)

Please note the grass stain on Paxson's pants...boys will be boys!

Uncle Wes, Nicole and Meredith

Happy Easter!

Mr. Blue Eyes!

First Annual Chalfant Easter Egg Dying!

Dying Easter Eggs at Meme and Pops has always been enough fun for Paxson, but this year we decided we should let our two dye eggs at our house too! We carefully picked out a Sesame Street egg dying kit, and therefore had lots of Elmo and Abby Cadaby stickers! Unfortunately, none of the stickers made their way onto the eggs, but rather on shirts, newspaper and even feet! We've dyed more than our fair share of eggs this year and are officially ready for a visit from Peter Rabbit!

Daddy carefully looks on as Paxson puts his eggs in the cups!

Gracie Myers would rather kiss her eggs!

Paxson was a careful observer!

Trying to remove an Abby Cadaby sticker off of her big toe!

Couldn't be successful Easter Egg dying without dyed hands too!

Our own two bunnies ready with empty baskets waiting to be filled!

Paxson helped make these cupcakes, we even left one for Peter to eat!

Cousin Camp Easter Egg Dying 2009!

Calling all cousins....it's time to dye Easter Eggs! The cousins all gathered together for the annual Easter Egg dying at Meme and Pops' house! The clouds and rain didn't deter any of the fun! Thanks Meme and Pops for arranging these fun activities for us all!

Meredith gives Paxson some pointers!

Beau and Mac

Gracie Myers and Meme dye one egg pink!

Never too old to dye eggs!

Lots of eggs to go around!

This is one of the highlights of Pops' year!

Savannah and Eden Smith came to join in on the fun!

Libby Claire

Precious cousins sharing some love!

Meme's bunny cake!

The kids listen as Meme reads aloud an Easter story.

Gearing up for the hunt!

The rain made for a short egg hunt, but there were still plenty of smiles!

Savannah had so much fun she didn't want to leave!

Pops had fun feeding Gracie Myers her slice of cake!

After a lot of attempts, I finally got a picture of Eden! Happy Easter Everyone!