Blonde babies

short update

2011-03-07T13:26:00.000-08:00

I am sure I have absolutely no readers anymore since I am such a slacker! But if only for myself I will post a short update.

Sydney is doing great in school and is in the middle of her busy time at dance. Her competitions and recitals are coming up. For competition her dances are ABJ Speedway where she is a race car and Magic in Me where she is a magician. She also started taking a tumbling class.

John Evan started taking karate in December and is loving it. He tested for his yellow belt and did a great job. It has been really good for him. He is a star student. He will start playing tee ball in a coupl of weeks.

We are adding baby #3 to our perfect family. The baby is due on August 21st. I have been SO sick with this pregnancy. I was not sick at all with the other two. I am now 16 weeks and feeling a little better but not where I would like to be! Sydney and John Evan are SO excited and can't wait! I will post more about that soon.

I am still running but keeping it between 5-6 miles per run and still teaching spin twice a week. Chris is working a TON of hours and he turns 34 tomorrow.
More to come.....

Life Without Limits Half Marathon

2010-12-27T13:29:00.000-08:00

On October 30th I ran the Life Without Limits Half Marathon in Florence, Al. It was so fun! Chris and I left Tuscaloosa on Friday afternoon (after going on a field trip with Sydney) and headed to Florence. We got checking into the hotel and then met up with Yvette and Dan and Roz and Thad and went to dinner at an Italian Restaurant that Thad loves. We met some of Thad's friends there too. Then we made a quick trip to Wal-Mart and then back to hotel. Thad and Roz turned in early and the rest of us just hung out and went down to the hot tub and stuff. The hotel had a rotating restaurant. We didn't eat there but we did check it out. It was really cool. The race was so cool cause it started at the hotel so we literally just had to walk outside to the start line. Chris, Thad, and Roz ran the 5k and yvette and I ran the half. Poor Chris got up that morning and went to put his boots on to go get something out of his truck. He pulled something in his back and was immediently in a lot of pain! He decided to go ahead and run. I don't know how he did it (Thad gave him some words of inspiration) but he ran the 3 miles but was MISERABLE the rest of the day! Yvette and I were so worried about it being cold but the weather was really good. It was a beautiful day, great run, and a flat course. We just ran and chatted the whole time. There were several times when we ran through wooded trails so that was pretty cool and relaxing. It was also really neat to run over the bridges. We stopped to use the port a potty at mile 10 and saw Thad and Rox at about mile 11 then went on to complete the 13.1 miles. I started struggling pretty bad at the end. I was SO ready to be finished!!!!! SO glad I had Yvette to keep me going! We finally crossed the finish line at about 2:37. This was about 5 minutes faster than my first half. It was so neat to have our husbands and friends at the finish line. I was overwhelmed with emotion! So happy to be finished and just felt awesome for accomplishing my goal! But also so tired and sore!
Crossing the finish line

with our supportive hubbies after the race

Thad and Roz did great on the 5K! So glad they were there!

coming down towards the finish line

my tag

results

so happy to be finished!

Chris and Thad

Yvette and I at the restaurant

thad and Roz at restaurant

Our shirts we wore. The story behind them...... I ALWAYS have to run on the left side no matter what!

getting ready to run

boys getting ready....can you tell Chris is in pain?

almost time

from one of the bridges

I had so much fun! Can't wait until the next one!

2010-10-19T14:17:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all the comments/concerns/suggestions concerning my hip. I really took it easy for a while-only doing short runs-icing-and stretching. It has gotten a good bit better. It is always a constant kindof nagging pain but nothing unbearable. So, last night I did an 11 mile run and it is just mildly sore today! So YAY! Looks like I'll make it. Now if I didn't have these 3 huge blisters on my feet it would be even better!

This is what has been going on.......

We went to see Chandler ( I can't believe he just turned 15) play a baseball game at Shelton. Hudson and Sydney posed for a picture.

Saturday was Alabama's homecoming game. We went to the parade and were able to hang out with Valoree and Mary and their kids.

I love that Evan has to have two passies and she calls them her "babies".

Sydney and I went to a bridal tea for her ballet teacher. The girls love Ms. Tessa!

Jackson is one of John Evan's best buds. They have been friends since the

womb ( 2 weeks apart) and now go to preschool together. Unfortunately they are not in the same class but like to go home with eachother.
Silly John Evan sitting in a laundry basket.

Sydney in one of her cute Halloween outfits

Sydney got brave and decided she wanted her ears pierced. We tried last year and she backed out right after they marked her ears. This time she did SO good! You could tell that she was SUPER nervous but she never cried. She just said "OW" real loud. There happened to be two girls working so I got them to do both of them at the same time. She is SO happy and I am so excited for her!

Ofcourse she picked out pink "diamonds"

you can tell she is so nervous!
The kids and I went to South Carolina for a family reunion (my dad's side) and to visit family and friends. I was really nervous about the trip because I have never driven there without one of my parents or Chris in the car. So , I got Heather, my oldest sister, to ride with us. She was a lot of help with the kids so I could concentrate on driving. Everything went well but going through Atlanta was definitely stressful! I am SO proud of myself - I feel all growny now! HAHA!

We stayed with my cousin , Brian, and his wife, Emily, and their two kids, Brianna and AJ. They had a lot of fun together.
The family reunion was really good. Daddy was in charge and he asked everyone to share a story or pictures of Grandma and Grandpa Jones. It was So neat to hear the stories and find out more about them. Sydney shared that she remembers when Grandma would lay down for a nap and her and Shelby would lay down with her and she would hug them real tight. It was so sweet! I wish I would have taken my video camera to record all the neat memories that were shared. I'll try to remember that next year.
Sydney and Aunt Kay (my dad's sister-in-law)

So glad I got to hang out with my cousin Christen.

We drove to Greenville (about an hour from Gaffney) and visited with my dear friend Heidi and her kids. It was SO good to see them. We went out to eat lunch and then to the park that had a train ride. I love her house and she just seems so happy in SC!

John Evan and Raegan on the train

Sydney and Scarlett

all my loves

Poor little JE got sick on Wednesday before we left on Friday. He was so pitiful ! We had a little scare because his WBC was 27,000 (normal is 4,000 to 10,000) but luckily we had it rechecked today and it was way down to 7,000. Sydney ended up getting sick too while we were in SC. So glad they are both feeling better. This was taken right before he threw up all over the place!

Another cute Halloween outfit

JE and I went to Ulta and he picked out some colored spray for him and sister....too funny! Chris and I had a last minute opportunity to go to the Alabama/Florida game. We were given free tickets from a sweet couple at our church. My parents happened to be available to keep the kids and they actually ended up spending the night with them. It was a fun night! Thank you!
I had a 3rd eye that night so no pics of me!

Camo, our boykin spaniel, has been in "school" for a couple of months. We went to visit him so the kids and I could learn some of his training commands and stuff. The kids did great. Sydney has been scared to death of him since we got him so it was so good to see her more comfortable around him. We are really looking forward to him coming home in December.

The kids had great dental checkups.

This was JE's first time to have a "full" cleaning and he did great!

Sydney's friend from school, Lydia, turned 7 and had her party at the Fun Factory.

John Evan LOVES school. They were studying the letter "B" and had a picnic with their bears. I am really happy with how much he has learned and how much fun stuff they are doing.

We had a great primary activity at church a couple of weeks ago. We mailed out packages and a "flat stanley" to the two people who are serving missions from our ward. We have already gotten some pictures from Sister Gee.

Sneak peak of one of Sydney's costumes for dance this year.

Sydney's new bedding....planning on eventually painting her

bed white

my sweet Alabama fans

On Labor Day Ashley and I and our kids took a trip to see Kim and Kristin. Great visit but I think Ashley may have gotten a little overwhelmed with all the kids! HAHA! Seven kids together can be a bit much! HAHA! They made us a fabulous lunch and we had fun catching up.

My kids have always wanted to have a lemonade stand so I got together with my friend/hairdresser, Laura, and friend, Kim, and we had a yard sale/lemonade stand. It was A LOT of work and A LOT of fun. I only made like $35 and spent $15 on a desk for Sydney. The kids actually made more money than we did and they had THE best time. They ended up standing at the end of the driveway and people couldn't pass thaem up!

my fabulous new curtains in my dining room

Bri turned ONE! She had her party at the park and the kids had a blast. It was so good to have everyone together. Bri is such a doll!

sweet family

she LOVED her cake

Sydney's class went on a field trip to the apple orchard in Cullman, AL. They rode school buses and I rode with 2 other moms and met them there. They had a blast! Sydney and her sweet class....

sweet girls listening to a man talk about bees

this was the funniest thing! A grown woman in a giant bee costume !

Princess and the frog birthday party for Chris' cousins little girl, Emma. It was a really cute party! Leah had it all decked out to look like Tiana's restaurant.

Princess Tiana (Emma) and SK

We had to do a sticker chart for John Evan to bribe him to go to school (which apparently worked). Once he filled his chart I took him to Chuck-E-Cheese. He was so excited because they have a bunch of new games. Chris' step-dad went with us.

Birthday party for Davis, the sweet little boy across the street.

Apparently I have no pic of the birthday boy.

Anyway, so excited about Halloween and all the fun fall activities!

Life Without Limits

2010-09-27T19:31:00.000-07:00

My half-marathon is coming up on October 30th. I have been working really hard to train for this race....have overcome some obstacles (believe me you do not want to know details!).... but now I have a big obstacle that I am really struggling with. I have hip bursitis. Basically the bursa (fluid filled sac) is inflamed and is causing me a lot of discomfort! It started about a week and a half ago when I was doing a short run. It just kinda felt like I had a catch in my hip. Then a couple of days later (last weekend) I did a 10 mile run. It did not hurt at all during the run but after I cooled down and rested it was horrible! I could barely put any pressure on my left leg. The next morning I went bto the chiropractor. He explained to me the problem...stretched me out real good...showed me some stretches... told me to ice it....told me to rest it and he would see me in a couple of days. I did all these things and it started to improve. I went back thursday and had same treatment and he said to do a short run this weekend and then come back Monday. So, last night I ran 5 miles. Around mile 4 it started hurting pretty bad. After the run I experienced the same thing-could barely put weight on it. This morning I went back to the chiro. So, here is the deal. I have to make a choice. I can continue to rest it for a couple of weeks (which will put me WAY behind my training schedule-I only have 5 weeks before race) OR I can just push through the pain and just continue to ice and stretch.

It is just so frusturating to have such a passion for something and work so hard and then something like this happen! Poo on my old worn out body!

end of summer fun

2010-09-05T12:08:00.000-07:00

I look back at this picture of John Evan and I on his first day of preschool and I am so excited about his progress! His teachers are real proud of his progress too. They said he is slowly starting to interact with the other kids and he even answered a question outloud the other day in circle time. (he got two skittles for doing that!) Friday night he said "Mommy I had the best day of school ever because everyone stayed on green and we had compter time and we finally got to play outside!" They have been having to play in the gym because of the heat. It was so good to hear him say that! It makes it way easier for me to drop him off in the mornings! Sydney's little friend Beth moved this summer so we got together for one last playdate. The girls were in preschool together and her mom and I were able to form a great friendship too! We'll miss you Robyn and Beth!

Colin's birthday party at CHOM

LOVE the cake!

Sydney will be on the competition dance team again this year. They had a party so they could meet their new "big sisters".

Savannah's birthday party at the pool

We did a lot of pool hopping this summer-it was too hot to do much more! I love John Evan peaking in through the back!

Took the girls to get nails and toes painted and to Logan's for lunch for back to school.

Dance friends got together to paint pottery and celebrate the new year of dance.

bowling

chuck e cheese

We had a family day at my house. It was so good to beable to get everybody together (minus Elizabeth and her family cause Kaitlyn was sick) We set up a slip n slide, baby pool, and sprinkler. The kids had a blast!

Pappy even joined in on the fun!

I can't believe Chandler started highschool!

Love Colt sporting his sunglasses!

Evan was SO funny going down the slide!

packing in the fun

2010-08-20T14:25:00.000-07:00

This summer we tried to pack in as much fun as we could because we knew it would fly by!
We had Anna and Luke spend the night ( I love how JE never cooperates for pictures) We attended Pioneer Day at church complete with a pot luck dinner and games

Drew turned FIVE and had a fun pool party. It cracks me up how much he LOVES his goggles.

Birthday party at Bower's Park for friend, Shelby

had fun playing with underwear

Had Drew spend the night

played at CHOM a lot with family and friends

Enjoyed the fireworks at Sokol with lots of friends!

hung out at mom and dad's for the 4th

went to Jasper for Sydney's teacher's wedding

We also had fun bowling...going to Chuck E Cheese and did lots of pool hopping! So sad it's over...sure wish the heat would go too!

John Evan had a better week at school. We started a sticker chart and that has seemed to help. I am so proud of him! SK had made 100 on both her spelling tests so far!

I am training for another 1/2 marathon in October. Chris decided to run it too. So...it will be me, Chris, Yvette, and Roz. Yvette and I are up to 8 miles so far. Chris and I got to run together this week since the kids were in school and that was really nice....look forward to it cooling off so we can enjoy the runs a little more.

I still work in the Primary at church and really enjoy that calling. Chris is still Young Men's President. We fed the missionaried last week and it made me realize how much I have missed having them in the home. When they walked in (there were 4 of them ) John Evan asked "Is that a bunch of bishops?" Too funny!

summer fun with friends and family

2010-08-18T13:29:00.000-07:00

Sydney's sweet friend, Anna, turned 7 in July. She had an Alice in Wonderland party. My sweet friend, Tammy, (her mom) is amazing! She MADE everything for the party...from the tissue flowers all the way to the cake. It was all really really neat! birthday girl with SK

the set-up looked so cute

My 19 year old cousin, Christen, came to stay with us for a week from South Carolina. I'm so glad she was here! We had so much fun and laughed a lot and she really made me feel younger and the kids loved having her here!

We met Ashley, Bri, and Collin for dinner one night

My mom got everybody together to go to Alabama Adventure. Thanks mom!

Christen and JE

I could not believe JE rode this crazy ride!

so cute!

It was SO hot ! SK ended up getting really sick and had heat stroke symptoms...it was scary! But we still had fun!

Kim, Heidi, and I decided to get together in birmingham before Heidi MOVED! Shame on her for teasing me that way! We just hung out at heidi's (sk was nice enough to over flow her toilet) and took the kids to McDonalds.
Madison and SK

with Kate and Scarlett

I love my girls! Kim is expecting baby #4

Jack and JE

So excited to see Heidi again in October when we go to SC for a family reunion and to see Kim next month when I go to Huntsvile with Ashley!

finally over

2010-08-15T11:52:00.000-07:00

As y'all know from previous posts...I have been very anxious about John Evan starting preschool. So, Wednesday was his first day. Chris and I walked him in and he seemed to be doing okay....we saw his little friend and they "chatted" as we signed them in. Then we proceeded to walk down to his room . As soon as we got to the door he froze up. He DID NOT want to go in there. So I hung out in the doorway with him until he was ready and eventually he was. So, we went to a blocks table and he would not let go of my hand and wanted me right next to him. Then he decided he wanted to go to a different table so we waked over there and he sat right down. I started talking to Mrs. Kim about some things and Chris suggested we sneak out since JE was preoccupied at the moment. So, we did but we were not very sneaky because he noticed right away. So I went straight into a storage room and just started boohooing! I was sad about leaving him and I felt so guilty about leaving without saying goodbye. So I calmed down (as Chris was snapping away) and asked the preschool director , Mrs Terri, to go check on him. She came back and sad "I'm not going to lie to you, he is very upset...but he'll be okay. He is sitting on the teacher's lap and he'll be fine" So I talked/cried to her for a few minutes then we left. We drove to River Road park for Chris and I to go for a run (which was so nice to beable to run with my sweet hubby)and I called to check on him when we got there. Mrs. Terri said that he was doing okay. She took him on a tour of the school and showed him every classroom and let him hang out with her in her office and look at books and play with some monkey's. Then eventually he was ready to go to class. Apparently, everytime they would ask him if he wanted to color or whatever his answer was always "I can do that at home with my mommy"! SO sweet! I sent Mrs. Kim a text later asking her if he was just sad or was he hysterical and and she said he was pretty hysterical but eventually got over it. Oh that broke my heart!
I stayed busy by running and then we went to Sam's. When we picked him up he seemed pretty happy and said " I didn't like it at first but then it got good"! So glad that stressful/emotional day is over!
He looks so happy to be going but this was a total front! HAHA!

His cute lunchbox

We saw his cute friend , Jackson. Unfortunately they didn't get in the same class :(

Chris thought it was hillarious to take pics of me!

Friday went some better. Mrs. Nan and I tried to get him to go into his room but he wasn't interested. He said he wanted to play with the monkies again so I went and found Mrs. Terri and she took him by the hand. He was not crying when I left so that's good. Mrs. Kim said he participated a little more than he had on Wednesday and that they were just going to let him kinda do his own thing until he got used to things. I am so glad that he has great teacher and a great director that are so patient with him! I hope tomorrow goes even better!

One down and one to go

2010-08-10T19:46:00.000-07:00

I finally got SK to go to sleep last night. This morning she did great getting up and getting ready. She never fussed or said anything about not wanting to go to school which was really nice. Chris, John Evan, and I walked her to her room and she gave each of us a hug and said "bye" and walked to her desk. She had little tears in her eyes but never cried! YAY!

She was SO excited about the note I put in her lunchbox.

sitting at lunch with her cute lunchbox

SK and Mrs. Childers. The most wonderful teacher!

She was pretty sad after lunch. She really wanted to go home and was just clinging to my arm. But finally after a few minutes she was ok. Overall she had a great day and I'm so excited about 1st grade!

Now if only I can get through JE's first day! UGH!

school

2010-08-09T19:36:00.000-07:00

my stomach is in knots and I have tears in my eyes. It is 9:36pm the night before school starts and Sydney Kate is in her room just pitiful. I put her to bed at 8pm and she is still awake. She is so nervous about tomorrow. She is starting first grade and will have the same teacher as last year so I'm not sure why she is so upset. It's just really hard to see her this way!
John Evan starts on Wednesday. He will go to preschool on monday, wed, and Friday from 8:30-12pm. The great thing is a friend of mine from the gym will be one of his teachers. She loves JE so I know he will be well taken care of. His other teacher is new to Tuscaloosa but has recently taught kindergarten and seems really sweet. John Evan has a very "different" personality. I don't really know how to explain it! He is very strong willed and stubborn. One worry is that he will not want me to leave him once we get in the classroom but my main worry is that he will just flat out refuse to even walk in the building! I have had to take him in and out of places kicking and screaming too many times! He is so bad sometimes that if he is somewhere he does not want to be he will literally just walk right out the door. So, I can totally see that happening. Not to mention he is NOT a morning person!
I feel like I am going to throw up right now but I know it will get better...it did last year!
I hope everyone has a great first day tomorrow! Good luck!

Orange Beach, AL 2010

2010-07-26T21:51:00.000-07:00

We spent a week at the beach in June> My dear friend, Nikki, got married on the 26th and I was so happy to be a part of her special day! Shannon and Betsy came from Tuscaloosa. Nikki was a beautiful bride...it was a perfect day!

cake time

the cake was beautiful

the ceremony was at the Gulf Shores State Park and was beautiful but HOT!!!!!

Me and Adella

waiting on ceremony to start

During the ceremony a guy driving a tractor pulling port-a-pottys drove right by between the ceremony and the ocean. It was hillarious! The preacher stopped the ceremony and we all waved to the tractor driver. He never even saw us! I'm so glad Nikki could laugh about it!

Some pics from our wonderful week

hunting sand crabs is one of our favorite things to do

Sydney built "Fuzzy" and John Evan built "Buster"

Alligator Alley is also a favorite

There was a fountain at Phoenix 6 where we stayed and the kids had to throw pennies in it everytime we got home from somewhere.

We didn't have many problems with the oil. The water and sand were pretty clear most of the time-expect one night the oil was REAL bad. It was SO sad.

may 2010 happenings

2010-07-25T19:14:00.000-07:00

I am so excited about being back in the blogger world. I have loved reading other people's blogs but have slacked on my own. We have been having some major computer problems but luckily we just got a lap top and I love it! So, I just downloaded about 300 pics. Here is what has been going on for the month of May.
My dear sweet friend Nikki asked me to be in her wedding. I was so excited until someone told me I was too old to be in a wedding! HaHa I showed them! We went to Sips N Strokes one night for a fun girl's night.The wedding was on June 26th in Gulf Shores and that will be a post all by itself! Birthday party for friends Emma and Jackson. My friend, Christy, and her mom made this amazing cake.

birthday boy and John Evan fed the pig with a bottle

Diva cowgirls

so shy riding the pony

my good looking family

I LOVE this picture!

I turned 31 on May 29th. Chris and kids took me to birmingham to buy new running shoes and then Heidi and kids and Ashley met us at California Pizza Company for lunch. Thanks girls!

My sweet little girl graduated from Kindergarten. What an emotional day! I am so proud of her! She had a great year and has grown so much. This is from a graduation party at her friend, Beth's, house.

after graduation we ate at IHOP (her choice)with friends and family and then went to see Shrek

SK and SB at the classroom reception after graduation

getting her diploma from Dr. Lamon

It was a real sweet ceremony. The kids sang several songs and then they showed a slide show of each class. Ofcourse I boohooed like a baby!
showing it off on stage

We had our end of the year party at the indoor swimming pool and then pizza and popsicles. SK loves Miss Roberts!

Love this picture!

the whole class ready to swim

SK had her spring dance recital at the Bama. This was a big year for her because she was on the competition team so she was a part of 3 different recitals over the weekend. She did a great job! They had an awards ceremony for the company and she received "outstanding facials"! haha

SK with Valoree and Hudson and Evan in her finale costume

with friends in her jazz costume . they danced to "unstoppable"

ballet costume "girls with cotton candy"

thank you so much to everyone who came to see her dance sarah madeline's luau b'day party

Relay for life run at SK's school. John Evan was SO excited about running around the track!

well this is a start! So much more to post about! Especially John Evan's birthday party and beach trip. thanks for reading

Finally

2010-07-24T21:01:00.000-07:00

We FINALLY got a new computer! I must say I have really enjoyed having a laptop these past few days. I hope to get back to blogging now- i really miss it.

WOW!

2010-04-22T20:22:00.000-07:00

WOW! I have not blogged in forever! My computer has been messing up for a while and I just have not had the patience. We need a new computer but that cost money! HAHA!
So, I guess I will do a boring update with no pictures.
John Evan is playing soccer for PARA. It has been a whirlwind! HE started out doing great with his first practice but wouldn't even go out onto the field for practice #2. It's almost like it just depends on what kind of mood he is in. Some games he just walks around the field, some games he actually tries to kick the ball, and some games he won't go out there at all. It is very frusturating! We have tried everything! I guess he is just not ready and not interested! Good thing he looks super cute in his uniform!
Sydney had her first two dance competitions in Birmingham this month. It was a really neat experience. One was at Sanford University and the other was at the Alabama Theatre. She danced two group dances (wonder woman and Do Re Mi). They did a great job and had so much fun! Her spring recital is in May. She is really enjoying school finally. They have been doing a lot of fun stuff. Last week they went to the galleria for a field trip and this week they went to the arboretum and the movies. Her teacher got engaged to her pe coach Easter weekend-so she is pumped about that. They are getting married in July.
I am just enjoying being a mommy-I still love to run and spin. I will be running in the Mayors Cup 5k on Saturday. Between that and being Sydney's room mom and working in the primary at church I stay pretty busy. My great friend, Heidi, moved to back to Alabama (b'ham). I am SO excited! We have gotten to hang out several times and I can't wait to hang out more this summer! She is FABULOUS! The kids and I went to Huntsville last weekend to see the Messervy's. Madison got baptized on Saturday. We had a great time! I miss Kim so much! Maybe I can get them to move closer too!
Chris is really into fishing right now when he is not working or helping his brother cut grass. He's also busy training our new dog, Camo.
Well, hopefully we will get a new computer soon so I can post some pictures! I never even finished my Disney post!

Disney post #1

2010-01-23T14:56:00.000-08:00

We took the kids to Disney World in November. It was our first trip and we had a WONDERFUL time! The weather was perfect, the flight was perfect, and the kids were perfect....well not perfect but really good! Ofcourse my pictures are backwards(how do I fix that?) and there are more pictures to come.
We went to all the parks and this was in Epcot.

We rode a bus from the hotel to the different parks.

waiting at the bus stop

We stayed at the Carribean Beach. It was a really neat place...beachy theme.

The castle in Magic Kingdon was breathtaking! Especially at night.

Our first night we ate at The Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom. It was a buffet style meal where pooh and his friends came around to each table. The food was really good and it was nice that the characters came around to every table so you dont have to wait in a line or anything.

Posing with Woody and Jesse

magic carpet ride

This was one of my favorite things. It was the Swiss Family Robinson tree house. It was just A HUGE tree house that you walked through.
trying to pull out the sword

posing with the 3d glasses

Sydney in the snowwhite ride. They were both terrified....so I don't recommend this ride.

Dumbo ride

so sweet holding hands

The double stroller was WELL worth the money!

The parades were really neat...you could walk out and "party" with the characters

our first time to see the beautiful castle

so excited to go to the magic kingdom

waiting on the airplane

We had to be at the airport super early on a Sunday morning . Thanks so much to my dad for driving us! The kids did really great it was just a long day. We had some ear popping issues and a sippy cup full of milk spilled in our carry on...but other than that...great!

Oh I want to go back right now!

Christmas show 2009

2010-01-03T19:25:00.000-08:00

Sydney performed in the 2nd annual Holiday Show. She was an elf and they danced to "santa claus is coming to town". It was so cute and she did a great job! They had a Saturday night performance and a Sunday afternoon performance. It was crazy because all this happened the day after we got home from Disney so we were all exhausted. Thanks to everyone who came to see her dance!
Ya Ya, Pop, and Sandra P.
Pappy and Gran Gran

elf and reindeer

Her teacher, Miss Roberts

her babysitter, Miss Nikki

silly Daddy

John Evan started running fever at Saturday night's show. He fell asleep and was so pitiful.

proud momma

Emma and Sydney

Valoree, Hudson, and Evan

Wow....I've got my hands full!

I thought their outfits were SO cute! It was such a fun weekend!

Sydney with her big sister, Rebekah

Sydney's 6th birthday party

2009-12-30T07:17:00.000-08:00

Sydney had her 6th birthday party at Tuscaloosa Tumbling Tides. This is where she takes gymnastics and it is a really cute place to have a party. We ran out of time at the party so we opened gifts at home.
YaYa showing her some earrings that she bought her for one day in the future! Ashley and Collin and Bri came to the house too.

opening presents.....

love this picture!

She absolutely loves these sunglasses from Valoree.

in the partyroom having cake and icecream

taking a second to pose with mommy

posing on the beam

I had a friend applique her leotard and it turned out so cute!

Evan had just started walking!

look at all those kids! Sydney is well loved!

the cake

I was SO SO excited about the cake. I had it all figured out where it was going to match her leotard and the invitation. I also payed a lot of money for it. Well, Chris picked it up and someone pulled out in front of him and he had to slam on his brakes. So, needless to say the cake took a fall! I was SO upset!!!!! I cried like a little baby. The funny part is that Sydney didn't even notice. Sorry Chris I got so upset! I know it was not your fault...and I'm glad you were okay!

I can't believe Sydney is 6 years old. She is such a special daughter. She is doing great in school! She is a little social butterfly and loves to dance and do gymnastics. She is such a little momma to John Evan. I am blessed to be her momma!

6th birthday and dance

2009-12-20T14:54:00.000-08:00

My baby girl turned 6! Georgia's birthday party was the night of Sydney's birthday.

John Evan and I took cupcakes and taco casa for lunch at school. Then I checked her out and we went to the library for her to get her very own library card!

Parent visitation at dance for ballet and jazz.

pictures from my phone

2009-12-20T13:42:00.000-08:00

I love having a camera on my phone. The only bad part is actually downloading them and posting them! So, here are some old pictures that I wanted to post about.
The kids with their best friends Anna and Luke
one week the kids learned about community helpers at school

Sydney wanted to eat Mexican for her 6th birthday. Notice the cool whip in her nose!

A couple people from the McWayne Center were set up at Mercedes so we went to see the snake and eat lunch with Chris.

Sydney and her big sister , Rebekah, at dance

Luke, John Evan, and Jackson at the park

John Evan is VERY picky about what he wears. He will not wear a shirt with buttons or a collar. He calls them gross shirts. So, I knew Halloween was going to be a struggle. I let him pick out his costume thinking that might help. He was so excited about it and told everybody about it. Well, this is what happend when I put it on him to go to the trunk-or-treat.........

and no he was not pretending to be a turtle...he was pitching a fit! Needless to say he didn't wear a coustume.

Rhiannon's birthday party at the park

Kim T. hosted a pumpkin carving party for friends.

Collin and Ashley had their beautiful baby, Bri, on September 28th. She weighed 7lb 2oz. Check out Ashley's blog for more pictures! BTW...that is not my blanket in the background! My sister, Elizabeth, is an Auburn fan.

I love this picture of John Evan on his tricycle carried the animals!

trying on costume in dressing room

We recently went to two parties at the skating rink. It is really stressful trying to help two kids to skate. They still had fun!

Sydney's dance competition team recorded a video and took team pictures downtown and by the river.

Took the kids to Build-A-Bear workshop

Je holding Bri the day after she was born.

I love FALL!

2009-11-12T13:14:00.000-08:00

We had trunk-or-treat at the church the night before Halloween.
Mary and Drew

This is the Martin family. They were SO cute dressed as the Scooby Doo gang.

Sydney and Hudson

Evan was a precious cowgirl

Sydney's class took a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch in Clanton. I was really nervous about her riding on a charter bus for the first time by herself....so I rode with her. They had so much fun and it was a perfect day!

She was a little afraid to ride the pony so her teacher walked around with her.

Sydney and her friend Geoorgia. We rode home with them since they had their car there.

Syd and her cute teacher.

feeding the animals

Syd and mommy

riding the train

jumping in the blowup thingies

picking out a tiny pumpkin

I went up to the school one day and helped the kids make these cute t-shirts with sponges...the whole class was dressed alike.

waiting to get on the hayride

on the bus

The bathroom was SO stinky! GROSS! Everytime someone opened the door I gagged!

Halloween party in the classroom

We had snacks, tatoos, made "scary" hands, and Halloween pictures.

For church playgroup John Evan and I went to Jennifer's house. She had snacks and some cute games.

Sydney's class also went Trick-or-treating at Shelton. Her teacher gave everybody these really cute buckets.
John Evan and I also went to Shannon's house for a little Halloween party. She served us an awesome lunch and had some really cute stuff for the kids to do.

more birthday parties, Firemen 5K, Tammy is 40

2009-11-02T16:31:00.000-08:00

My neice, Kaitlyn, turned 2 on October 30th. Elizabeth had her party at her house and mom and dad asked the kids to bring their Halloween costumes to put on because thet were going to be out of town Halloween weekend.
Shelby Wonder Woman and Sydney the Fairy Elizabeth has a huge backyard and the kids LOVED running around

also a great deck and view!

Proud grandparents with all the kids minus Chandler...plus some mommies to help out!

birthday girl

Sydney's teacher does some really cute bulletin boards and crafts with the kids.

50's day at school (celebrating the 50th day os school)

Hillarious picture of John Evan

Carolynn (from Sydney's class) had a Luau party

birthday girl in the white shirt

Firemen 5k ran with Yvette and some gym friends.

It was RAINING the whole time and there was A HUGE hill we had to run down and then back up. I had my worst time ever but still placed 1st in my age group. It was a lot of fun!

TAMMY turns 40!

We went out with some girlfriends to celebrate. It was a total surprise to her set up by her great husband. We had a blast!

kids, 5K, football

2009-10-14T13:37:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for Halloween!
Eloise's birthday party...the queen came

Yvette (and her sweet sister), Noel, and I ran The Capstone 5K two weekends ago. It was a lot of fun! Yvette placed in her age group and was so excited! Noel did great on her first 5K. It was perfect weather and a lot of fun. My time was 31:14. The four or us started out together and it was a lot of fun to run with them. Afterwards, we enjoyed a yummy breakfast at IHOP.

Sydney Kate and John Evan's cousin, Emma at her Hello Kitty birthday party. It was really cute. Her momma had all kinds of cute crafts and games!

Kim T. gave me this awesome awning for my playroom.

and this cute little "store"

Maybe one day the playroom will get decorated!

Silly girl dressing up!

Chris and I were able to go to a football game! YAY! It was so fun and we had great seats! Thanks Amy!

hanging out at the quad

I am a little obsessed with Sydney Kate's clothes. We have been in school for about 9 weeks and she has not worn the same outfit twice....isn't that ridiculous? I LOVE dressing her!

John Evan LOVES his toys! I am amazed at how much he actually plays with them. Right now he is in love with "lego space mans", "engine turtles", "figurines", "mans", and Chris's fishing lures. He is so cute! He would hang out at home all day and just play if his momma didn't drag him all around town! He also likes to lay around with blankie and chocolate milk and watch sponge bob or phineas and pherb.

I love my kids!

my beautiful kids

2009-10-10T13:06:00.000-07:00

My friend, Robin, gave me some outside hand-me down toys for the kids. How cute are they in these skates?

Sydney Kate's room is finally purple! She has been asking to have her room painted since we moved in 2 1/2 years ago. It is finally done! I did most of it by myself and I am so proud!

John Evan helping me paint.

Birthday party at neighbor's house....this is actually their older sister Laura/. Katelyn and Kendall turned 4.

Sydney Kate helping me paint.

birthday party at Bobby Miller Center pool for a little boy, Landon, in Sydney Kate's class.

birthday boy is second from the left

playing on the slip-n-slide

Drew's birthday party

2009-09-22T15:46:00.000-07:00

My nephew, Drew, turned 4 this summer. He had his party at Shelby Park. It was unusually a little cooler that day but nice! The kids played in the fountain and we ate pizza.
Gran Gran with Kaitlyn and Colt (ashley's baby that is due in 3 days will be grandchild #10 and Mary's baby due in March will be grandchild #11)
Sydney and Shelby sunbathing

Only picture I got of the birthday boy!

Cute cupcake cake

The Palmer's

we miss you guys!

Thanks for the fun party Drew!

late summer post

2009-08-30T14:58:00.000-07:00

Can't believe summer is over! Here are some more fun things we did. We had my nephew, Drew, spend the night. They had a blast. It was so cute cause usually when we have friends or cousins spend the night they usually sleep in Sydney's room. This time Drew slept in John Evan's room and it was like his first little spend the night company. We had Hudson spend the night one night too (can't believe I have no pictures!)

Sydney had to have a family picture for school and ofcouse we didn't have an updated on. So, we snapped a quick one after church. Thanks Roz!

John Evan loves his little friend Jackson.

I love this picture of them hugging.
Taylor's birthday party at the Dance Center.

We had my neice, Shelby, spend the night. We met Elizabeth at the Galleria and just walked around and rode the carousel.

we saw Elmo there......

Kim and Susan came to Tuscaloosa for some girlie time! It was wonderful! Susan brought us a basket full of pampering items and goodies. How sweet is that? They got there on a Friday night and we just stayed up late talking. Saturday we went shopping and ate at Olive Garden, Susan left late Saturday afternoon and Kim and I worked on some sewing projects. Well, she worked and I supervised. She made a bedskirt for John Evan's bed and a eurosham for both beds. They are beautiful! Chris watched the kids (and Madison too) all day so I could have some girlie time. He took them to Anna's birthday party at the Fun Factory. Ofcourse there are no pictures since I wasn't there...but they had fun. Then to McDonalds and to see G-Force. Thanks girls for coming! I can't wait for our next girlie time!

hanging out with Anna and Luke

Pioneer Day at church was really neat this year. The family in charge did a great job. We had dinner, games, music, and a pie contest.

stick pull

Dan was beating everybody!

sack races

Sydney and Merigan

We are still decorating the house! I bought some paint for the kid's rooms today! YAY!

Update on school

2009-08-24T08:26:00.000-07:00

For some reason my blog is not letting me load pictures...oh well. Sydney Kate is doing some better. Some days are easier than others. We made a sticker chart last Sunday. She gets a sticker if she does not cry when I drop her off in her room. She did great last Mon and Tues. Wed rolled around and she didn't do so good. She didn't cry but she whined and held on to my leg and then when I was leaving after lunch she followed me back down the hall atleast 3 times. So, I went ahead and gave her a sticker but we had to change the rules a little.
Her class is doing a color cafe where they study a color each day-they dress in that color and eat a snack that color and learn how to say it in spanish and sign language. It's really cute and Sydney Kate has enjoyed dressing in a certain color. They had homework every night last week. It was a worksheet front and back. So cute!
Well, as I type this the school nurse just called and said she is complaining of a sore throat,,,so I am off to go get her.

First Day of Kindergarten

2009-08-12T15:58:00.000-07:00

I still have some summer fun I want to post about but I had to jump ahead and post about Sydney Kate's first day of school.
We had open house on Sunday where she got to meet her teacher. Ms. Roberts gave her a hug when we walked in and told her she had heard so much about her and was so excited about having her in her class. It was very sweet! Ms. Roberts gave her a cute little bear as a "welcome" gift.
We walked around and looked at the school. This is in the library.

Posing in her cute classroom.

Posing at the loft

My wonderful sister, Mary, offered to have John Evan over to spend the night so I could have some time with Sydney Kate and not have to worry with him the next morning. Mary said he did great! Thank you so much! So, I took Sydney Kate to her her toe nails and fingernails painted and then we met Chris and Chad at Taco Casa. The girl doing her nails was so sweet.

They are painted pink with orange flowers.

At open house Ms. Roberts gave us a poster to fill out. I thought she did SO good on all her drawings and words.

Cute back pack, lunch box, and snack bag

I know they all clash but they are still cute!

Ms, Roberts also asked them to decorate a shoe box and put in 5 things that tell about them.

1) a barbie doll cause she loves to play barbies

2) a pink party hat because she loves to go to parties and pink is her favorite color

3) sea shells cause she loves to go to the beach

4) finger paint cause she loves to do arts and crafts

5) a picture of her family because she loves her family and she has a 3 year old brother

Tuesday morning she did great. She was very very excited! I on the other hand was sick to my stomach and was on the verge of throwing up all morning! She did great when I walked her to her room-I was so proud! But , as soon as I walked out I started crying and went straight to the bathroom and stood in a stall until I could stop. It was HEARTBREAKING! So, I pulled myself together and went to the boo hoo breakfast in the library. It was very nice but I cried several more times while in there talking to other parents.

My beautiful baby before school

Savannah and Sydney Kate

I went straight home and did some cleaning and then Mary and the boys and Tammy and Luke came over. Thank goodness for that cause it kept my mind busy! Thank y'all for hanging out!

Here comes the hard part............

When I picked Sydney Kate up she came running out very excited but as we were walking to the car she just lost it! She started hysterically crying. She was upset that I didn't eat lunch with her and she wanted to go back to preschool and she was scared of the big kids and she missed her mommy! It was pitiful! So, we sat in the car and talked for a while until I could calm her down. I think she was just so tired and overwhlemed and emotional and when she saw me she just let it all out. IT WAS SO HARD!!!!!!!!!!

Today was lots better. I left her with no problems except John Evan crying because he didn't want to leave her. We went back to eat lunch with her and she cried a little when I left but she was perfectly fine when I picked her up. YAY for a better day!

I just can't even explain how I feel-but hopefully I will get used to it. Thank you to everyone who called and checked on her and to Shannon for the wonderful cupcakes!

summer happenings

2009-08-05T12:59:00.000-07:00

I am in total shock that the summer is almost over. This is the first time in YEARS that the end of the summer actually meant anything to me because my baby girl is starting Kindergarten! We have open house on Sunday where she will meet her teacher. As some of you know I have been super nervous about finding out who her teacher would be but am very excited that she got one of the teacher's that I requested. She also knows 4 other people in her class (two from church and 2 from preschool). We are sad that her super sweet friend, Beth, from preschool didn't get in her class but maybe they will be able to go on some field trips together or something.
Anyway, we had a busy summer and here are some of our happenings.
We spent a lot of time pool hopping.
Ellie Mac, John Evan, and Taylor at Miss Nikki's pool
John Evan thought he was so cool with the girls!
Anna(a neighborhood friend) invited us to her birthday party at the Bobby Miller swimming pool.

You may have to enlarge this picture to see it but I thought it was so cute. John Evan and Ellie Mac know eachother from the daycare at the gym. They were ADORABLE swimming and playing together.

Alabama Adventure had a deal one day where you could get in for $10 so we went with momma and Shelby and Mary and her boys. It was kinda rainy but kept things cool.

Fourth of July

We met the Thompson's at Sokol for the fireworks show

We went to Mallard Creek neighborhood and participated in their parade and then went swimming. They had a huge blowup water slide and john evan slid OVER AND OVER AND OVER! He was so warn out but loved it.

we decorated the 4wheeler and rode it in the parade

Beth came to spend the night one night.

4th of July outfits plus blankie!

One afternoon we drove to Birmingham to see Ashley. We just hung out and took the kids to McDonalds. Isn't she a cute little momma to be?

Sydney was asked to "model" for a catolog for Britches and Bows. She did great is was just REALLY hot and was posing in winter clothes. You can go to http://www.britchesandbows.net/ to see more pictures.

We had the privelage of having Evan spend the night. She is the sweetest and easiest baby!

Took the kids bowling for their first time and they loved it.

check out the socks!

more summer fun to come!

part two of summer vacation

2009-07-28T18:51:00.000-07:00

We took the kids to Alligator Alley. You walk all along this bridge that is on the swamp where you can see all the gators and you get to watch the worker feed them. Then you can hold a baby one at the end. Right after this picture was taken the gator jumped and scared the kids to death.
Big gators

The last night at the beach we stayed at my in-law's camper that stays down there. The kids thought it was such a neat little house.

Sydney's mean face

We took a trip to the zoo. It was a small zoo but really neat. Here the kids were feeding the animals.

We had a king bed at the condo and most nights we all slept together. I just thought John Evan looked so tiny in this big bed.

Sydney got a hair braid at one of the souvenier shops. She kept it for about two weeks and thought it was the prettiest thing.

I love going to the beach!!!!!!!!!!!

Orange beach trip 2009 part 1

2009-07-23T20:24:00.000-07:00

For some reason this post won't let me add anymore pictures so I will have to do more than one post.
We went to Orange Beach at the beginning of June. I must say this was one of the best beach trips we have had in a long time because the kids are getting more independent. In the past John Evan has refused to wear floaties or any kind of floating device therefore I am a nervous wreck when he is in the water. Also, Sydney has never gone under water and was scared to death to do so. Not on this trip! Sydney can go under water (holding her nose) and swim without floaties and John Evan can swim with floaties. It was wonderful! I could actually hang out in the pool without a child clinging to me and could actually go under water myself without living in fear that one of mt kids were going to drown. I am so proud of them!
So, we stayed in a condo on the beach for 4 nights. Chris's mother and step-dad were there for 2 nights and then the last night we stayed in their camper.

Sydney holding her nose getting ready to jump in.
One of Chris's favorite places to eat is Tacky Jack's. It is a really neat place-John Evan loved sitting by the water and watching the boats.

My little man and his floaties. He still mostly hung out by the ladders-but did really good!

They both loved the ocean and the sand. The first time JE got some salt water in his mouth he said "Ew-what flavor is this?"

We got soaked riding the bumper boats. Our plan was to stay away from the waterfalls so we wouldn't get wet-little did we know the middleschoolers would have a blast soaking us. Poor Chris-his water would only shoot straight up so he couldn't get anybody back.

pop with the kids

YaYa with Sydney

They were worn out everyday! JE fell asleep on the couch while we were getting ready for dinner.

Our condo had a splash pad

The first day we unloaded the car and went straight out to the ocean for them to see. They loved running around and ended up getting soaked!

JE was trying to do everything SK did.

LOVE this picture! Looks like she is doing a yoga pose.

face painting from Evan's birthday party. He is a friend from the gym and he had a clown doing face painting.

more to come....

trip to South Carolina

2009-07-07T18:07:00.000-07:00

Brianna and Sydney

We took a trip to South Carolina to see family and attend my cousin, Christen's, highschool graduation. We arrived Monday afternoon to Emily and Brian's house where we are supper with them and their children and my aunt Jeanie. Tuesday everyone had to work so we went to the outlet mall and rode around trying to catch any relatives at home. We rode by Grandma Jones's house and it was so wierd to see the house after they have both passed away. It makes me really sad. I have so many memories from that house. My cousin and his wife live there and they are fixing it up-it looked really nice. That afternoon we visited with Christen and her family and ate dinner with them. Then off to graduation. It was outside at the highschool stadium. It didn't start until 8pm so we left after her name was called. Wed. morning we headed home. It was a great little trip.

Emily's mother started a little business where they do tea-party birthday parties and stuff like that. Emily took Sydney and I to see it. The little girls get to dress up and sit in the throne....

and walk down the run-way....

her daddy even built the CINDERELLA CARRIAGE! It was amazing! He did it all by hand with NO model to follow. Isn't it beautiful?

My cousins Luke and Ben

Christen and I

She is such a sweet girl and I am so proud of her!

John Evan and AJ

Thank you to the Bolin's for hosting our stay and to the Jones's for visiting with us!

BTW-we were in Gaffney, SC and that is where the serial killer was that went on the week. SCARY! One of the killings happened 1/2 mile from my uncle's house and the ones at the furniture store were friends of Christen's. Really sad. I am so glad they stopped him!

enjoying summer

2009-07-07T13:44:00.000-07:00

Jackson and Emma both have summer birthday's so my friend, Christy, has their birthday parties together. This year it was at the Fun Factory.
Jackson turned 3.

Emma turned 6.

Jackson's cake (his grandma always maked their cakes and they are amazing)

Emma's super cute cake

For my birthday weekend (YES THE BIG 3-0) we went to Huntsville to hang out with the Messervy's. Chris had to cut grass at the church's camp site and it is not too far from their house-so we tagged along for the weekend. We arrived on Friday night and Kim and I went out to dinner by ourselves which was fabulous. Sat. we just hung out and let the kids play in the sprinkler and baby pool. That afternoon we went to the outdoor mall and ate dinner and rode over to Kristen's new house. That night Kim and I went for a run together. Sunday we went to church and then headed home. I love hanging out with them. The best part was my AMAZING birthday presents. I once mentioned to Kim that my other friend Kim had a really pretty vanity skirt that I liked and asked her what she thought about them. That was several months ago, well SHE MADE ME ONE and it is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I will post a picture when I post all about my redecorating. I cried when I opened the box because I was so surprised that she remembered that conversation and that she took the time to makeme one. She also got me a SUPER cute black and white dress and even added some extra fabric on the bottom so it would not be too short! SHE IS AMAZING! Thank you Kim for a great weekend and a great birthday!

John Evan was so tired!

Kate

Our welcome sign that Madison made for us!

All the kids

Sydney pooped after playing outside

Our cakes that Kim made for us-did I mention that she is amazing?

I really did have a great birthday. I hung out with Tammy and her kids at the park and she treated us to lunch at my favorite-Firehouse Subs. Thank you Tammy-you are the best! Mary brought me a great cake and a cupcake stand that I have been wanting. Valoree gave me a fabulous purse. Ashley bought me some candy and adorable earrings from Hawaii. Momma got me a super cute elephant bracelet. My MIL got me several shirts and some great new cookware. Christy made me a cute candle with my initials on it. Heidi Ho surprised me by mailing me a great pair of running shorts! Yvette brought me flowers and candy. My SMIL gave me a GC to Tera Lane and my FIL $25.00. Am I missing something? Probably! Thank you to everyone for making my day so special! I can't belive I am 30 years old!

John Evan's birthday

2009-07-07T12:38:00.000-07:00

John Evan turned 3 on May 28th. Here is my pitiful attempt to decorate the house. The kids used the streamers for beards.

John Evan was so sweet when he was opening his presents. He kept saying, "Is this for me too?" "All of this is mine?" He was really appreciative of everything.

On his actualy birthday I hosted my church playgroup and we had sandwhiches, chips, and brownies.

We had his party at The Skate Park. The kids had SO much fun. We had cake, icecream, chips, and pizza. There was a loft area that overlooked the ramps so that is where we set up the tables for the kids.

Chris was hillarious playing on the ramps and riding on the skateboard. He kept falling and was SO sore that night.

Here is an idea of what the park looked like.

He was so excited about his cake and blowing out his candles but didn't even want to eat a piece cause he wanted to keep playing.

The best part was a big "bowl" slide that the kids loved.

More ramps

The cake matched JOhn Evan's Radio Flyer scooter.

I am so blessed to have such a sweet little 3 year old boy. He is very funny and keeps us laughing. He is very sweet to his big sister and LOVES his mommy and daddy. Happy Birthday John Evan.

preschool graduation and carnival

2009-06-22T17:34:00.000-07:00

The twins across the street had a birthday party. I loved the cake-ofcourse. Look how different their hair is!

For Memorial Day we had Chris's family over and ate and then we went over to the Joyner's (a family from church) to cookout. It was a lot of fun and the kids loved the watermelon.

My very dear sweet friend Nicole was in town from Florida. We met them at McDonalds Memorial Day morning so we could visit. Her girls Fabienne and Jenny are beautiful and sweet.

Sydney and I went to see her cousin, Emma, at her dance recital.

We went to Megan's wedding reception at the University Club on May 23rd. She was a BEAUTIFUL bride. I loved her dress! The best part was they had a room set up where the kids could hang out and color and stuff. So, Chris and I got to visit with friends and eat. The other best part was cheesecake from The Cheesecake factory! YUM!

Daddy (Hugh) and daughter dancing-it was so sweet! I teared up thinking about Sydney and Chris having that dance one day.

Susan and her family were there. We miss them!

I know her eyes are closed, but this is such a sweet picture.

Sydney graduated from preschool and is getting ready for BIG school. They had a cute little ceremony at the church. The graduates sang "Yes, Jesus loves me" in spanish and english and did sign language, recited the pledge to the flag and to the bible, and sang "God loves you". Then they gave each child an award and a diploma. Sydney received the award for "doing everything on her own time". In other words she is a slow poke! They played a slide show of the children-ofcourse I teared up! They had a little reception in the gym afterwards. It was really sweet! Thank you to Mary, Drew, Colt, momma, daddy, YaYa, Pop, and Stacey and kids for coming to see Sydney graduate. Then everyone came back to our house for pizza and cookie cake.

Sydney opening her polly pocket race track from momma and daddy

Pappy with his smart car. He is back in Germany and has started updating his blog again-so check it out. Gran Gran was able to go and spend 3 weeks with him.

Mary and Colt

Sydney with her cake

we are proud of our graduate!

some of her class on stage

Sydney with her teachers-Mrs. Barbare and Mrs. Benita

Sydney and Luke

Sydney in the dryer

There was a little carnival in taylorville so we took the kids. The first ride they went on was a roller coaster and I thought John Evan was going to be so scared. I was thinking we just wasted that money on his arm band. But-he got off and LOVED it-wanted to ride again and again.

This was like a little obstacle course-again I thought he would be scared. NO WAY!

This little race car ride was really cute.

with Daddy on the Merry-Go-Round

Maybe this is a good sign that they will love Disney World!

John Evan is 3

2009-06-21T20:45:00.000-07:00

My precious baby boy turned 3 on May 28th. He is such a sweet, loving, and funny little boy. He loves to sing his ABC's, knows all his letter sounds, can recognize lots of letters, and also likes to count. He LOVES his toys-especially matchbox cars. He will just sit and play forever. He actually misses his toys when he is away from home. He is officially potty trained. I think it helped that I waited until he was older because it happened pretty past. Well, the tee-tee part anyway. He is also sleeping in his big boy bed now too He started last Sunday night and has stayed in his bed all night-except one night. Pretty good, huh? Wish I could say the same about his 5 year old sister!

recital videos

2009-06-21T14:08:00.000-07:00

I took these videos with my regular camera at one of the rehearsals. I was able to record the dress rehearsal on my video camera and those turned out really well. See more pictures below.

Spring Recital at Bama Theatre

2009-06-20T10:35:00.000-07:00

Sydney's dance recital was in May. For ballet, there was a Doll Shop theme and her class were the Old Fashioned Dolls. For tap, there was a Soda Shop theme and her class danced to Rock Around the Clock. Both dances were really cute and you could really see some improvement from last year. She loved being on stage! Thanks for everyone who came to see her and to all the grandparents who payed for her "ad" to be in the program!

Miss Nikki and Sydney

Proud momma!

Chris's cousin and her daughter Emma came to see Sydney!

Anna and Sydney

Gran Gran and Pappy

Anna, Emma, Sydney, Audrey Ragan, and Hannah

Hannah, Sydney, and Beth

John Evan waiting patiently at the rehearsal

They had 2 rehearsals at the Bama. One was a regular rehearsal and one was dress.

The girls waiting on their turn to dance.

Sydney loves to dance and I am so proud of her! At ABJ they have the Dance Company which is a group of girls who compete and stuff for the studio. This year they are starting another group of younger girls to be a part of the company to kinda introduce them into it. Sydney has been asked to be a part of this company. This is so exciting! There is a meeting on Tuesday where we will learn about the time and financial commitment-so we will then decide if it is something we want to do.

parties and May Day

2009-05-24T20:59:00.000-07:00

T-ball season is over. Their last game got rained out and they didn't worry about making it up. They didn't keep score at this age and did not play tournaments so the season was over pretty early. Overall, Sydney liked playing but we'll have to see if she wants to play again next year.

Sydney's friend, Sarah Madeline, had a "pack-a-purse" party. It was so cute! The kids got their own little purse and filled it with lots of girlie things. Then they had icecream sundaes with lots of yummy toppings.

May Day at Sydney's preschool. They blew bubbles, splatted painted, played with side walk chalk, and had a picnic.

A little boy, William, from Sydney's preschool class had a "beach ball" party.

My first half marathon

2009-05-17T15:51:00.000-07:00

Wow-I can actually saw that I have ran a half marathon.

Chris and I dropped the kids off with my dad on Friday, April 24th and headed to Nashville. I thought it would be a good idea to drink a lot of water so we had to stop A LOT! Luckily, we were not in a hurry to get there. It was so nice to be in the car all by ourselves and actually have a conversation with out being interrupted. When we got there we walked around the galleria and ate lunch at O'Charleys. Then we met Karrie at her conference and headed to check into the hotel and pick up our race packets. This is where I realized how BIG this race was. There were OVER 32,000 runners/walkers. We had to walk in this long winding line up and down stairs and around and around just to get into the room to pick up our packets. Then we met Doug and Sara at The Old Spaghetti Factory to eat. Of course, all the runners wanted to eat pasta so this place was PACKED OUT! We waited forever and I was so tired and starving by the time we ate. But , we sure enjoyed the Cole's company!

SATURDAY

3:45AM!!!!!!! Alarm goes off!!!!!!!

4:30AM!!!!!!! Meet Karrie in lobby and head out.

We parked at the end of the race and rode a bus to the start. It was wierd to be out before the sun was even up.

5:00AM Got some free breakfast food and water and just kinda sat around and people watched. Runners are wierd!

6:30AM Decided we better use the bathroom before the race starts. Walk down to where the port-a-poties are and see a LONG LINE of people! We waited THIRTY minutes to use the potty. By this point the potties were DISCUSTING!

7:00AM Give Chris kiss goodbye and start walking to find our corrall. Corrall #1 starts running. It was neat to look ahead and see the thousands of runners going up the hill. They let 1,000 runners start every 2-3 minutes. So,

8:00AM Our corrall starts. I felt like I was running in place cause it was so crowded. It is hard to even explain what happened or how I felt over the next couple of hours. The course was very hilly and it was hard because there were so many walkers that we had to run around. At some points Karrie and I had a hard time staying together because of this. I felt like we ran like an extra mile just weaving in and out of people. The first 5 or so miles went by pretty fast. Every couple of miles there was a live band. This was a lot of fun especially if they were playing a song that we knew. People would run by and clap to the band. A lot of the race was through residential area-which was nice cause it was mostly shaded. It was also neat cause people were just sitting out in their front yards holding signs and cheering us on. I kept my mind busy by reading signs and t-shirts and people watching. We passed Chris at about mile 3 and 7. It was so neat to see him on the sidelines supporting us! Every mile or so they had people handing out little cups of water. Karrie and I decided to take water everytime it was offered. I think this really helped us. Oh, one mile they handed out orange slices and that was the best thing I have ever eaten!!!!!!!! The bottoms of my feet started hurting at some point and I got one small cramp in my side-but I was able to run through it. We saw Chris again at mile 11 and he joined us running for a minute, asking how we were and said "See you at the finish line". For whatever reason that point is where I felt like I started struggling. I never stopped running but I REALLY wanted to! It didn't help that everyone was yelling, "Your almost there" , "One more turn" "One more hill" "You've already come this far" I felt like SHOUTING "SHUT UP-YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!" Not to mention it started getting hot and there was NO shade. Mile 12 we got a burst of energy cause the band was playing "Sweet Home Alabama"! Finally, I saw it THE FINISH LINE. I was so excited to see it. I grabbed Karrie's hand and we ran over the line. WOW! What a rush. Our time was 2 hours 42 minutes and 16 seconds. I could not believe that I just ran for that long with out stopping! We stopped running and just started walking through all the people. A guy handed us our medal and there was tons of free food. We took one of everything-water, bananna, bagel, muffin, fruit cup, granolla bar, and more. I didn't feel hungry but I knew I needed to eat or I would be sick. It was all kinda like slow motion walking through all of this. Wierd feeling. We planned to meet Chris under the "S" (for sprayberry) sign so we headed that way. We had to wait for about 30 minutes cause he didn't realize that we had already finished. So, we just ate our food and sat in the shade. My legs were already starting to stiffen up. I was so glad to finally see him cause he had some flip flops for me in his back pack. When I took my tennis shoes off my feet were covered in blisters. Chris was able to take some really neat pictures as he walked around. We went back to the room and had about 30 minutes to take a shower and check out. We stopped at a burger joint for lunch and then went by the Opryland Hotel. My legs were hurting pretty bad by this point. We headed home to get the kids. I missed them a lot. Momma and Daddy said they did great. They even took Sydney to her t-ball game Saturday morning. I stayed sore for a couple of days. The worst day was probably Sunday cause my back was just SO stiff! Overall, it was an AMAZING experience that I am glad I was able to participate in. The best part is my training is over. I love to run but it is hard to find the tme to train. Now I can run because I want to not because I have to!

Here are a couple of highlights from our trip.

Karrie and I before the race

At the expo they had some riducously priced running clothes.

Doug and Sara at the restaurant. So glad we got to see them! Miss you guys!

Karrie eating a bananna before the race. As she was eating she said "and I don't even like banannas!"

Check out all the port-a-potties. As we were standing in line we saw all this white stuff being thrown over the top. We then realized that workers were back there tossing over rolls of toilet paper. People were running up and grabbing them -just in case their potty was out. It was hillarioius!

Just a glimpse of how many runners were there!

This was beautiful!

Chris saw a runner peeing by the building.

MILE 11

running in a tu-tu

We also saw a guy carrying a big American Flag while running , a guy juggling while running , a guy kicking a soccer ball while running , and a group of girls hoola-hooping while walking.

more runners

Everyonce in a while there were people spraying you off with a water hose. Well, I didn't want to get my feet wet so I tried to avoid them. At one point, I accidently ran under one and the water was so FREEZING that it knocked the breath out of me! It made my bag cramp up-I was so mad!

showing off our medals

The Opryland Hotel was beautiful. I kepy having to remind myself that I was inside a hotel!

Thank you so much to all my friends and family who supported me! I had so many people call and text to check on how things went. Thanks to mom and dad for keeping the kids. Thanks to Karrie for keeping me motivated. Most of all, thanks to Chris for being there with us-our number one fan!

first camping trip/rest of Easter

2009-05-03T14:37:00.000-07:00

We took our first camping trip with the kids at Lake Lurleen. It was a lot of fun and Sydney has decided she wants to live outside. We got a camp site right on the lake. It made me nervous at first being that close to the water but the kids were great at staying away from the edge. We took Chad's fishing boat so we fished and rode around and just kinda hung out. It was REALLY windy on Friday and got pretty cool that night and Sat. morning. But, the good news was it wasn't burning up hot and there were no bug issues. Chris cooked us some yummy meals and ofcourse we did smores. It was nice to just hang out and not worry about anything! The night went pretty well. John Evan woke up crying one time saying he wanted to get out of the tent but we gave him some chocolate milk and he went back to sleep. Sydney slept great. It is wierd to hear all the noises at night-we even heard beavers splashing in the water-and TONS of frogs!
The park has several play areas-so we let the kids play some on Sat.

I love this picture of John Evan laughing!

A-Day game

We went and hung out with the youth cause they had a cook-out. Then the kids and I went home and Chris stayed for the game.

Love this picture of Drew and John Evan looking in their baskets.

I took Sydney to see Hannah Montanna. She was so excited and gave me a huge hug! The movie was really cute!

John Evan went down the slide with all the Easter baskets!

All the kids minus Evan. She was not feeling well and was asleep. Ashley is pregnant with #10 and it will make the numbers even. 5 girls-5 boys

How grown is he????????????

Easter 2009

2009-05-02T14:29:00.000-07:00

I am posting part of our Easter week.
My whole family came over after church on Sunday and we ate spaghetti, salad, bread and yummy bananna pudding. Then we did an Easter egg hunt for the kids. It was so good to see Daddy who had just gotten back from Germany days before.
John Evan hunting eggs

Colt was so cute carrying around his basket.

Drew showing off his egg

Chandler and Hudson

Shelby and Kaitlyn

sleepy head looking at her basket Easter morning

all in blue

Evan sporting her sunglasses

Our attempt at a family picture. John Evan was too busy playing and eating candy to worry about a picture!

John Evan checking out his loot from the Easter bunny

I went to Sydney's preschool for their egg hunt.

This little boy is always so sweet and plays with John Evan.

running to find eggs

All the classes met in the chapel and the director talked to them about Jesus. They got to look inside the tomb.

Luke, Ashlin, and Sydney

Sydney's class

More to come............

Spring-this is what we have been up to

2009-04-20T12:11:00.000-07:00

Thursday before Easter my friend, Kim, and I took our kids to get their picture made with a live bunny. I will share the pictures as soon as I get them. We went to the photographer's house. He lives out near Akron and has a BEAUTIFUL property. The kids loved playing with the horse.

This was hillarious cause the photographer offered John Evan a sucker for doing a good job and he grabbed a whole handful. I think he deserved it for sitting beside a live bunny and not fussing about it!

One night for family home evening we made Easter cookies and colored Easter eggs. We got tired of rolling out and cutting the cookies so we used the rest and made one huge egg. It was so yummy!

The weekend before Easter we went to Chris's dad's house for dinner and a egg hunt.

soon to be cousins

There was an air show in Northport. We rode out there Friday to see if we could catch a peak during practice. We were able to see a little bit but the kids got pretty ancy waiting! There was a real nice guy that let the kids hang out in the back of his truck.

Tammy, Anna, Sandra (my mother-in-law), Sydney, and I went to see Annie, jr. at the Bama Theatre. It was a really good show!

Bats

2009-04-20T10:55:00.000-07:00

Sydney Kate is playing t-ball at Taylorville. The team is the Bats. She is so cute playing and she seems to really enjoy it so far. There are 4 other girls on her team. She has been hitting pretty well and has been playing outfield. I think she gets pretty bored cause there is not a lot of action going on. But, at the last game she was able to stop a ball. She like to blow kisses and wave at her momma! I am so proud of her for being well rounded!
Thanks to everyone that has come to watch her play so far!
Valoree and Evan

Colt, Drew, and Mary
Colt is walking and looks like such a big boy now!

Gran Gran

Sydney Kate in her uniform

One of her favorite parts is when they say a prayer at the beginning of each game.

Huddling at the end of the game

getting ready to bat

my cute ball player!

Realization

2009-04-19T19:43:00.000-07:00

John Evan and his little friend, Clayton. They play together at the gym and he is just a doll!

A couple of weeks ago, Chris took us fishing. This is the first time I have ever fished with live minnows(we usually fish with crickets). John Evan LOVED them and could not keep his hands off of them. He would get one out of the bucket and play with it and then put it back. Over and over! I am surprised they survived.

Sydney Kate even poses when she has her life jacket on.

showing off the minnows

It took Sydney Kate a while to get up the nerve to pick one up-but eventually she loved them too!

Oh wait! I just remembered-this was a pretty terrible fishing trip. Chris and I realized that our kids don't listen to us very well! Kinda depressing!

Kindergarten Registration

2009-04-01T19:22:00.000-07:00

On March 12th I registered Sydney Kate for kindergarten at Taylorville Primary School (TPS). I have been so nervous about it and teared up as soon as we walked in the door. The school just looked so big and I can't believe Sydney Kate is old enough to start!
Noel and Sara Beth met us there. So did Kim and Sara Madalyn. Kim's daughter, Audrey Ragan, is in K this year so she came for moral support. We registered the girls and then walked down to Audrey Ragan's room and were able to eat lunch with their class. It was great for Sydney to see a classroom and the lunchroom.
Sydney and Sara Beth eating lunch.

Sara Madalyn and Sydney Kate sitting on the bench outside.

I can't believe they have to fix their own trays. The trays look huge! I only have a couple of months left with my baby girl! Boo Hoo !

I am so far behind!

2009-03-30T13:12:00.000-07:00

My soon to be neice, Jordan, spent the night with us a couple of Friday's ago. She had never been to an Alabama gym meet so we wanted to take her along. She had so much fun. She is a really sweet girl and the kids love her.

Sydney fell in love with this dress from TJ Maxx and had to have it. It came with a matching baby doll dress!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRIS!

Chris's birthday was March 8th. The kids and I decorated with streamers and balloons. We also made him a scavenger hunt for him to find his presents. We ate at him mom's one afternoon and then at a mexican restaurant with his dad one night.

This is the only picture I got of his whole b'day celebration.

Happy Birthday! We love you!

Recital time is coming up for Sydney Kate. We had picture day a couple of weeks ago. Here is Sydney in her tap outfit with Emma and Audrey Ragan.

her class

The kids love playing in their bathing suits and using my bed as their swimming pool. I love this pictire of my little lobster.

Did I mention Sydney Kate is playing t-ball? I Can't remember. Well, she loves it so far. These two pictures are from her first practice. She had her first game last Saturday.

I watched Jackson the other day and they both had on their Lightning McQueen boots. so cute!

24 days until my race! Karrie and I ran 10 miles last weekend. I am so ready for it to get here!

painfully shy

2009-03-27T14:13:00.000-07:00

I used to be painfully shy when I was younger. Especially around adults. I remember when I was in 7th grade I was a counsel's assistant for an elective. This consisted of mostly sitting around and "running" errands for the counselor if she needed anything. Everyday while I was sitting there some man (I have no clue who he was) would walk in and say "hello, how are you?" My response was alwasy "fine". I wanted so badly to get up the nerve to say "Fine, how are you?" But I never could. I would sit there are pump myself up for it and say today is going to be the day and then as soon as he walked in I would shy up and say "fine".
I don't know why I had a flashback about that. I just think it is really funny because now I could talk to ANYBODY!

John Evan is so funny!

2009-03-24T20:04:00.000-07:00

John Evan has this set of race cars that he really likes. There are 4 in the set and he carries them around a lot. Just ask Tammy-he is always hoarding his toys! Well, tonight at the gym he only had two of them with him. So, Miss Nikki asks, "John Evan-where are your other two cars?" He matter-of-factly answers "Oh, they are at the gas station." What a funny little man he is!

Snow and birthday party

2009-03-23T12:07:00.000-07:00

I love this picture of Sydney. Her red sweater is so cute. Valoree bought it for her last year and it looks so cute on her!

A couple of weeks ago it snowed on a Sunday morning. I really didn't think it would and was not really prepared for it. So, when I woke up to get in the shower I asked Chris if it snowed last night and he didn't know. So, I looked out the window and IT WAS SNOWING! I ran and woke up both the kids cause last year when it snowed it literally only lasted like 30 minutes and by the time we got the kids all bundled up it was pretty much over. So, I threw coats and stuff on over their pajamas and we went out to play. It was beautiful. John Evan only lasted about 15 minutes at a time. He kept getting cold. So we were in and out a lot and went through a few changes of clothes. I don't think I would like to live where it snowed all the time-it wore me out!
John Evan helped out neighbor, Cameron, make a snow man.

Sydney going down the slide.

Towards the end John Evan got tired of bundling up. He didn't even want a coat on.

Swinging in the snow.

The boat was covered in snow. That's where we made all our big snow balls!

I LOVE this picture of the kids peaking out the door!

Not sure what this face is!

Chris had time to make one snowball. He had to be at church early. The kids and I ended up playing hookie. We missed Daddy!

Sweet baby!

For about a week John Evan asked me "Did it snow last night?"

We wenr to Olivia Caroline's birthday party. It was a High School Musical pep-rally.

Sydney with the chearleaders.

Birthday girl

Some of the crew. Ofcourse John Evan didn't want to get in the picture.

Birthday cake

face painting

temple, gymnastics, playing

2009-03-13T12:40:00.000-07:00

My church primary (sunday school for ages 3-12) with their families took a trip to the temple in Birmingham. It was a really neat and fun activity. We met at the church building right next door where we did a craft and colored and played bingo. They we were able to walk over to the temple and go into the waiting room and let the children walk around the grounds outside. It was kind of a yucky day so my pictures are cloudy. Before the activity started the children sang "I love to see the temple". That is one of my favorite primary songs and I felt the spirit so strongly as they sang. Another sweet moment was when watching John Evan cross through the parking lot with his little arms folded being reverant.
Valoree and Evan on the front entrance of the temple

Sydney, Hudson, and John Evan on the beautiful grounds

Sydney and I by the front entrance

The kids playing bingo. John Evan ate a ton of Skittles!

Chris was not able to go because he was with the young men at another activity. Thanks to Mary and Jeni and everybody for their work on the great activity.
decorating their picture mat

The weather has been off and on warmer. So, one day I snapped some pictures while playing outside.

A couple of weeks ago we had a playdate. They love to dress up!

We ran into Katrin at the gymnastics meet.

Sydney posing in her cute outfit! Tammy says she looks like she is going clubbin'

John Evan loves to help me unload the dishwasher.

One weekend they had princess and pirate night at the gym meet. Apparently, the word didn't get out very well because there were only a handful of people dressed up. Oh well!

Ashley finally blogged about it so I can now say how excited I am that she is having a baby! She is due in September. Congratulations to Collin and Ashley. Daddy is doing well in Germany. He has had a lot of friends to hang out with and has done a lot of sight seeing. I really miss him!

Sydney is enjoying t-ball practice. They have a practice game on Monday. She loves her pink helmet and bat bag with her name on them. Thanks Richard!

We registered her for school on Thursday. That will be a post for itself! Let's just say I teared up as soon as I walked in the door.

Valentine's Day

2009-03-02T20:56:00.000-08:00

I went and helped Sydney's class with their Valentine party. They just ate lunch and handed out Valentine's and decorated cupcakes and cookies.
The teachers say that all the boys like Sydney. Look at her teasing them! Chris and I are in big trouble!

Sydney and her boyfriend Luke and Ashlin. Luke and Ashlin are cousins and I actually grew up in the same neighborhood with Luke and Ashlin's dad's and went to highschool with Luke's mom.

John Evan was so excited to be there too!

Sydney and Beth

Beth is a really sweet girl! We have had a couple of playdates with her and her mom. I have really enjoyed hanging out with Robyn.

I love this picture!

Sydney handing out her Valentine's

I love Sydney's Valentine dress!

I made heart shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches for her class.

I was so excited about Sydney's Valentines. They were little things of bubbles and they said "To:My Friend- You blow me away! Love:Sydney"

I hosted my church playgroup that week and we decorated cupcakes and colored pictures for Valentine's day.

One day Beth came over and we cut out jello shapes.

Chris gave Sydney and I beautiful roses and really sweet cards. Mine were red and Sydney's were yellow. John Evan got some Sponge Bob magnets. Thank you Chris for making our day special!

Chris's dad and step-mom came and watched the kids for us to eat at Olive Garden. This was their first time to keep them and they did really good! It was nice to have an alone dinner!

Sydney will be playing t-ball for Taylorville this year. She had her first practice this morning. She is #10 and they are purple and black Bats. She is so excited! She also had recital pictures today-so it has been a busy one! We are now headed to eat with Chris's dad's family for Chris's birthday! Happy #32 Chris! I love you!

Rickey Harrison 10k

2009-02-25T12:42:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago I ran my first 10k race. I was really nervous about it. I am not used to running in the cold and it was pretty chilly that morning. But, it didn't take long to warm up. We(me ,Karrie, and Yvette) started out in the back and decided that if we wanted to finish it we would have to steady ourselves. So, we did and finished at 1:10:40. Yvette kicked our butts @ 1:01:00! Karrie and I just kind of chatted the whole time and enjoyed ourselves. One volunteer even mentioned that he could hear us laughing a mile away and if we didn't talk so much we could run faster. Now what fun woulf that be? NONE at all! It was such an awesome feeling passing the finish line! I felt AMAZING! Yvette placed in her age group. That girl is good!
I have been training really hard for my race on April 25th. I am now running about 4 days a week. I am only up to 8 miles but I hope to up that soon. See the cute pink thing Yvette is wearing? I told Chris that almost everyone at the race had one. So, he went out that day and bought me one! HOW SWEET!

party marathon

2009-02-25T12:07:00.001-08:00

A couple of weekends ago I ran a marathon. No, not really but it seemed like it! We had a birthday party at the Skate park @ 11am, one at Chuck E. Cheese @ 2pm, one at All Fired Up @ 5pm and one at a friend's house @ 6:30pm. Did we make it to all of them you ask? Why yes we did! Did I take pictues at all of them, why no I didn't. Was I tired at the end of the day? HECK YEAH I was!
Sydney with her friend, Ballard, at All Fired Up. All the girls at the party!

Birthday girl-Audrey Ragan

Sydney painting a cat

The BEAUTIFUL birthday cake!

My nephew, Colt, turned one and my neice, Shelby, turned 5. So, Elizabeth and Mary decided to have a joint party at Chuck E. Cheese for them. John Evan is usually terrified of "da mouse" (as in won't get out of my arms if he is anywhere near! )but I guess he got over it cause he had so much fun dancing with him.

I love this picture of Evan.

Their cute and yummy cake!

Birthday girl

Birthday boy and mommy

I just love this picture of Sydney and her two favorite friends Emma and Anna!

John Evan says some of the cutest things these days!

I want some adigator(like Aligator with a d). TRANSLATION: I want some
gatorade.

Holge me. TRANSLATION: Hold me.

I want to save this one TO later. TRANSLATION: I want to save this one for

later.

If I ever ask him, "John Evan did you do that?" His answer is always "No, somebody did that."

HE IS SO CUTE AND I LOVE HIM!

Boot and Germany

2009-02-15T20:51:00.000-08:00

Check out Chris's boot!
He has been having some pain in his foot for a while. Well, the other night he was playing basketball with the youth at church and went up on his toes to shoot the ball. He said he felt it pop and it felt like somebody hit him in the bottom of his foot with a baseball bat. He went straight to work and worked all night in his steel toe boots. The next morning his foot was black and blue. So, he went to the doctor where he found out he tore a ligament. They wanted to put a full cast on it but he knew he couldn't work in that so they put it in a boot. He has been wearing his boot except when he is at work. He says it is feeling a lot better and will go back to the dr. on Friday. I have to remind him that he is not 16 anymore and has to be careful!

My daddy is in Germany right now for his job. He left last Monday and will be gone for 2 months. He will make another trip this summer. I started him a blog so he could keep us updated on his tripp. Here is his blog address.http://www.rodneyingermany.blogspot.com/

just the beginning

2009-02-09T19:36:00.000-08:00

This is just the beginning of some things I have been wanting to blog about. I am so far behind on life in general!
Last Friday I decided to take the kids to the gymnastics meet by myself. I was really nervous about is because John Evan can be a handful! Well-they were PERFECT! We had so much fun! John Evan danced and clapped and loved it. Ofcourse, Sydney enjoyed it too! We saw my friend, Adella, and her family there. Well, the kids play with their daughter, Taylor, at the gym all the time. So, when I asked John Evan what his favorite part of the night was he said "Seeing Taylor".We stayed through the third round. JE didn't want to be in the picture and my face is bright red! It was hot in there!

Super Bowl Sunday we went over to the Thompson's. They are HUGE Steelers fans. I think it is so cute that their 6 year old son is so into football.

Chris wore this HILLARIOUS helmet the whole game and kept saying"have you seen my baseball?" Does anyone know what movie that is from?

My little fairy princess..........

Everytime I try to take a picture of JE closes his eyes!

Sydney's friend, Merigan, had a birthday party a couple of weeks ago. I thought Yvette did a great job on the cake.

Birthday girl!

Our really good friend, Luke, turned 3 and had a Yo Gabba Gabba party. It was SO much fun! Tammy is SO amazing and creative! She made all the kids t-shirts and the AWESOME cake and cupcakes. The kids danced and played games and had a last. The best part was Justin (Luke's daddy) was dressed up as the DJ and he welcomed everybody at the door. It was HILLARIOUS! I can't believe I never got a picture of him.

Sydney jamming

Sydney with the birthday boy
Future couple???? Who knows?

how cute are these?!?!

More to come!

Update:

Logan started his radiation last Thursday. He got pretty sick those first two days but is tolerating it a little better this week. Unfortunately, he is back in the hospital because he had to have a procedure done. Alice said he rode a tricycle taround the hospital and has taken a few steps. He was even able to attend part of church on Sunday. They still need A LOT of prayers!

Chris's step-dad is in a rehab nursing home. He will be there for a total of 20 days. He is gaining some strength. His mom has been in town and is hanging out with him a lot. That has been really good for him.

updates

2009-01-28T20:30:00.000-08:00

Do you ever get the overwhelming feeling of love for your children? I have always loved my children but here lately I will just be sitting there and just all the sudden be filled with love. Maybe because there are so many bad things going on-I don't know. But-I love them and I hope they will always know that.

Chris's dad -that had open heart surgery-is doing great. He went back to full duty at work this week. I think he actually enjoyed being off work for so long since it happened to fall right during hunting season.
Speaking of hunting season-so glad duck season is over!

My little friend, Logan, is showing improvement but sure has been through a lot alreayd and has a long rode ahead. He might even beable to go home on Friday but will have to start radiation soon after that. Prayers needed!

Chris's step-dad is not doing well. He has been in the hospital since last Wed. He was in a bad transfer truck accident 6 1/2 years ago where he suffered a head injury, broken wrist, and burns. He is been on permanent disablity ever since and has had lots of problems on and off. He is having some trouble right now and there is not much that can be done except to treat his symptoms. Please pray that he will be comfortable.

blessings and visits

2009-01-16T13:45:00.000-08:00

Just had to show my little invention didn't work out so well. All the cards sagged to the middle and you couldn't see them well. I'll have to rig it better next year. By the way-my cards are still up. I LOVE Christmas cards and don't ever want to take them down! Evan was blessed on the 4th. We all went to Valoree's after church for lunch.

We missed Mary and the boys.

Evan's dress was SO beautiful! Angie did a WONDERFUL job!

I'm so proud of the newest addition to our family!

Ashley, Sydney Kate, and I took a girl's trip to Huntsville to see the Messervy's and the Layton's.

Madison and Sydney were so excited to see eachother! Chris M. watched all the kids so we could go out to eat. We went a yummy Tai (spelling?) restaurant. I was real scared while looking at the menu but it ended up being great!

me, SK, and Ashley

Kate is almost one and so sweet!

We had Madison take our picture. That is why it is at an angle. Doesn't Kim look amazing? I am so proud of her.

Jack (almost 2) and Madison

Saturday we went to visit Kristen and Chase and Cade. What a sweet baby.

the girls had a blast

Thanks Kim for having us over! Come see us soon!

Chris- I LOVE LOVE YOU! Thank you for keeping John Evan so we could have some girlie time!

You might be a redneck if.......

2009-01-15T11:19:00.000-08:00

You might be a redneck if you take your kids to the shooting range and to take a ride in the "duck" boat!
Chris was off the whole week after Christmas so we spent a lot of time together. He really loves being outside.
We went out to the river for a quick spin. It was really cold once we started going and the water was real choppy but the kids still loved it.

After riding around for about an hour and a half we finally found the shooting range. It was loud!

John Evan's first time to shoot a gun.

He really want to take Sydney Kate hunting-but I'm trying to hold him off as long as I can!

more Christmas

2009-01-10T16:10:00.000-08:00

The kids put out cookies for Santa and raisans for the reindeer. Also, we sprinkled a mixture of glitter and oatmeal in the yard for the reindeer. That way they can find our house by smelling the food and seeing the sparkle of glitter. John Evan got that from his nursery class at church and I thought it was so cute!

Sydney got up first and came running in our room "He came He came" So we let her look at all her stuff before we woke up John Evan. Sydney just kinda walked around and pointed to all her gifts. John Evan was real sleepy but when he saw his race track he jumped out of Chris's arms!

John Evan's race track-he LOVES this thing!

Sydney Kate's hair salon

Baby Alive that tee-tees and wiggles

This is the first year since Chris and I have been together that we did not have anywhere to go on Christmas day. It was SO wonderful. I made pull-apart rolls for breakfast and we just lounged around all day and played with all the new toys. My momma and daddy and Heather came by and so did Chris's mom.

The Saturday after Christmas we went back to Chris's dad's house for the whole Sprayberry get together. We had hamburgers and chilli and just all got caught up on eachother's busy schedules.

Sydney and her cousin Emma

We always spend Christmas Eve at my parents. We had TONS of food! Momma gave all the kids pajamas that they changed into and the adults played Dirty Santa. We had a BIG surprise. Santa came by for a visit. It was so neat to see the kids so excited.

An attempt to get all the kids. There are now 9 grankids.

My favorite part of Christmas Eve is reading out of the bible. All the kids gather around my daddy. Chandler usually reads a part. Just so simple and sweet!

Christmas Eve day we went to Chris's aunt and uncles house . They had it catered by Cracker Barrell. YUM! So we ate and played Dirty Santa with all "Alabama" gifts. They had tickets to basketball games, hats, huggies, playing cards, posters, books, just all kinds of neat stuff. I already had my turn so Chris stole me a really cute Elephant necklace. That definately gave him brownie points!

Papa Sid in his Alabama hat

My little friend, Logan, had a successful surgery yesterday. The doctors are pretty sure they were able to remove the whole tumor. They did a MRI today and are waiting on the results. He is still heavily sedated. Keep praying please!

a start

2009-01-07T18:49:00.000-08:00

I like to post a lot of pictures but there are just TOO many so I'll try to just pick a few.
The Tuesday of Christmas week we got together at Chris's mom's house. We had an awesome dinner and opened presents. Chris's step-dad got a pair of binoculars and John Evan loved them.

Sydney with her talking puppy, Lexi.

Matt and Sydney and Eric's soon to be step-children (Jordyn, Terrance, and Josh)

As I was looking through my pictures I came across about 5 like this. Chris installed this duck blind on Chad's boat. It took A LOT of hours!

The Saturday before Christmas we went to Chris's dad's house where we ate finger foods and opened presents.

Janet had surgery on her neck today where she had two discs removed. She is doing well and is supposed to have immediate relief from all the pain she has been in.

The kids and I made some goodies and took them around to a few friends and neighbors.

sweet babies

acting out the Christmas story at church-Sydney is an agel in the back row

The kids and I made a gingerbread house. It turned out really cute!

More to come!

My conversation with Sydney Kate today:

SK "Momma, do you want a chocolate chip?"

Me "No, thanks I am trying to cut back on my sweets"

SK "Maybe I should cut back on my fruits"

Me "No, fruits are good for you-maybe you could join me and cut back on your sweets too"

SK "I think you should drink more water"

Me "That's a great idea"

She proceeds to go to the fridge and bring me a drink. After I finish it she says " You look smaller already"

HAHA ! I wish it worked that fast!

Prayers needed

2009-01-06T12:23:00.001-08:00

My beautiful friend, Alice, found out yesterday that her 4 year old son has a brain tumor. He will have surgery on Friday. Please keep him and the whole family in your prayers. Thank you!