BBQ

Tonight Potsou and I had an impromptu potluck family dinner. Chicken kabobs and burgers, the infamous spinach/strawberries/pecans salad etc. . .after dinner, the girls and their cousins burned off the calories. By the way, this year we are really getting great use of our deck and backyard & thoroughly enjoying the authentic Spring temperatures.



Uncle Charlie and Daddy were laughing at the way Taylor barreled down the big slide. . .


Here is Peyton looking cute and innocent:

This video of Patrick sums up why he has earned the nickname GOOSE (he is ALWAYS acting like a silly goose!):

I barely captured this "in action" footage of Taylor sliding SOLO. . .after a rough landing she just bounces to her feet and keeps going:

ROCK THE VOTE

Despite the fact that I get minimal "comments" posted to this Blog, I continue to maintain it for your reading pleasure. Today I am not asking everyone to post comments....simply to VOTE (see my polls in the right hand column) and that way I will at least know there are a few avid readers who give a care :-)

Blogging is so much easier than typing multiple emails to groups of friends and family....with a Blog I am not filling your inbox with extra clutter. I am allowing you to select when you feel like checking in for a "Foxham Update".

Enjoy and please vote.

Happy 8th Anniversary Miss Holly & Mr. W*

Today we commend Mike for surviving 8 years of wedded bliss with Miss Holly. The sun was shining and after the temperatures warmed up, we found ourselves meeting Julia and Miss Holly at the park.

Colleen (aka Screech) sat calmly on a park bench while her mother impersonated the PAPARAZZI!

Here are some of the excellent shots, begining with "Taylor in hot pursuit of a ducky":

"Slow down ducky". . .

"Oh wow, TWO duckies". . .

"Taylor, where did you find those duckies?"

"Keep running. we might just catch them". . .

After the ducks "converted to birds" and flew into a pond, we headed over to ride the Carousel.

PLAYIN' WITH THE BOYS

"Two boys for every girl" was the theme of today's playdate luncheon. We played outside with Jack until Frank & Stella and their three sons arrived. . .

. . .thank goodness Peyton & Taylor prefer the passenger seat in their golfcart. It worked out perfect for Jack the stellar driver.


Once everyone arrived and played for a while, we sat down to eat a nice lunch:

Baby Drew is the most content baby I have seen in a while. He is adorable, quiet and happy - a great combination of traits.

Here is Momma Stella with Zachary:

Taylor gave Miss Panther a tutorial on billiards:

Clark and Taylor were mesmerized by Frank's billiard demo:


. . .he takes a moment to look at the camera.

Happy Birthday Brandon!

This morning Peyton attended a "3rd birthday" in honor of her classmate, Brandon. The theme was Little Einsteins so needless to say- Peyton was READY to party:

First she painted and got very messy (or YUCKY as she calls it). . .

Here she is with the birthday boy, eyeballing the ice cream cake while eating a pretzel chip:

If you ever asked Peyton how she likes school this year, I'll bet the words "MAX PULLED MY HAIR" came up within your conversation. Well here is the infamous Max, innocently standing aside his victim :-)

The bouncer was a Tweety Birdcage and Peyton was in her element. . .
Here is some footage of the bouncing princess. Oh, and in case you are wondering who is singing a unique version of "ring around the rosey"...yes, it is Peyton. . .

POTSOU DAY

Potsou got us off to an early reveille today. We went to Garden Ridge first. Here is what she'd look like with a 4th child:

Next we went to The Mills where the kids enjoyed rides in Nascar mini cars. Check out Brendan whipping around the bend in his M&M car:

While Potsou and her baby girl shopped, I took the other three and threw them on a train. Here they are "locked" in the train car ringing the bell and blowing the whistle:

Taylor and Collen took a spin in a "mushroom ride". . .

This was the most entertaining ride of the day:

SPRING

This picture taken by Daddy last night after dinner says it all. . .SPRING IS HERE! Our crab apple tree is in full bloom:

BBQ

We had an impromptu BBQ for the Potsou & Co. tonight. Lately, Patrick & Brendan have been enjoying Uncle Steve's trucks (circa 1970s). . .tonight the girls joined in on the fun.


Here is a well-used swing set:

Colleen was a spectator for at least 2 minutes. . .

Daddy let Taylor swing on the big girl swing. . .

MANIC MONDAY

Peyton's "prize" for being an excellent patient at the doctor today....a Disney Princess hopscotch set. Great for indoor-outdoor fun. Even Daddy hopped along at the request of his girls :-) Too bad I did not grab the camera quick enough to catch him in action.

When Peyton whined "Mommy, Taylor is messing it up" I simply replied "Well, that is exactly what little sisters do well". . .and it left Peyton speechless:

PEW reconstructed the hopscotch game in a flash:

After dinner we went for an evening walk in this awesome weather (it was a perfect day today - 75 degrees and no humidity).

After their baths, the girls watched one episode of Hi-5 (Peyton's latest discovery) before bedtime.

Monkey Joe's

We FINALLY went to Monkey Joe's today. Peyton was fearless and Taylor burned more calories than everyone else combined.

Here is a pic of Peyton climbing to the top of one of the taller slides. . .did I mention fearless?

Here is Potsou in a bouncer with Brendan and Colleen. . .the mesh walls made this pic a bit blurry:





We dined with Miss Holly & family . . .

. . .even got the kids to pose and smile in unison :-) Now if we could just get the younger ones to look at the camera!

more sunshine

It was a beautiful sunny day so we called and invited Tubbles and Miss Jhansi over for a picnic lunch.



After lunch, the girls ran wild and enjoyed their clubhouse:



Here is a great shot of Taylor, gazing into the backyard while sucking down her capri sun water. . .

SUNNY DAY

Taylor absolutely loves Sandy. Last night she decided to roll her wagon into Sandy's crate and lock me out. . .

. . .she succeeded!

Today the sun was shining brightly and we had lots of fun playing outside. Check out Taylor's serious pose with her backwards helmet barely sitting on her head:

I took this picture through the screen from our kitchen window (did not want to embarrass Peyton in front of her friends). Our house is the place to be from 4:30 until dinnertime. We serve snacks, frosty beverages, and provide games and have a wild and crazy puppy to chase around the yard.

Here is a priceless video of "Big Sister in action". . .