middle school and 4th

I'm not even going to say the "I can't believe SK is old enough for middle school...or....time slow down....or.....what happened to my baby?"  BUT SERIOUSLY WOW!

SK will start 6th tomorrow and JE will start 4th.
 We had some issues at schedule pick up and had to wait a few days to get SK's correct schedule and had to change to a bottom locker because she couldn't see the numbers on the top but other than that things are going pretty well.  She has some sweet 7th and 8th grade friends who helped her decorate her locker and find all her classrooms etc.  Things would have been tough without them for sure! She is excited and nervous for sure! Luckily she fell asleep reading (she literally has like 10 pages left in her summer reading book)! I imagine her nerves would have made it difficult to fall asleep if she had not.  She isn't too thrilled about having 1st period PE:( I have really done ok until today.  She stood up tonight to take a picture with her uncle Chad and it hit me....she is a BEAUTIFUL young girl...a middle schooler.....she is about to start a new journey and I could not be more proud of the person she is!

Sweet JE is exited about his friends and his school supplies:)  Him and his best friend Jackson are in the same class together for the first time.  Christy and I have been trying to make this happen since preschool! YAY! They have Mr Oden ( who SK had for 4th). He is a great teacher.....so smart and organized and fun! They will have a great year!

Chris gave the kids a special father's blessing (prayer) for the new school year. I always tell the kids to be a good example and make good choices.  I pray that they can always remember that and make their Heavenly Father proud. 
Now to get some sleep.

I worried for nothing

Why is it that kids always sleep in on a day they need to be up and wake up early on the day they could have slept in???
 I had to wake CB up, she ate bacon (she loves bacon and we hardly ever make it) , and then we started getting ready.  The night before we picked out a dress and then it was on to panties.  We tried on at least 5 different pairs and she had to run through the house in them to see how they felt.  In the end she picked out a plain white pair with a little tiny bow in the front.  She fussed about it but never cried.  She walked around and kept kinda picking at them and I told her that she didn"t want her friends to think she was digging in her hiney.  She didn't like that.  We moved onto shoes and she never said a word!!! It was amazing! I was literally holding my breath all morning waiting on a fit to break loose any minute but it never did.  Sydney Kate was so much help getting her ready! So, when we got to school she walked right into her room and said "what should I do?" So she signed in by putting her name card in the slot and started doing a puzzle. I talked to her teachers for a few minutes and she looked at me and said "bye momma".  I am so so proud of her!!! No tears from her or me! I know it helped having SK and JE with me so I didn't go home alone.  Around 9:30am I got a little sad thinking about the fact that she had been there an hour and wondering how she was doing.  I picked her up through the car pool lane and Ms Nan said she had a great day and was a very good listener and was going to do great! The best thing was that she still had on panties and shoes!!!!! These are the things CB had to say.........
-I got to be the line leader. 
- We read  a book about raccoons. Me- was it "The Kissing Hand"?  CB- No, it was about raccoons.
-We didn't get to play on the playground but we did go for a walk and I saw TACO CASA!!!!!
       (TC is her all time favorite and it's right next door to her school)
- We sat on tape (their spots on the rug) and a little girl pulled my hand and it made me scrape my knee on the rug.  (that made me sad)
-I have a boss (preschool director) and she has a red chair in her room.
-One friend had to sit in time out but it wasn't me.
-I had fun and want to go back everyday.

SO......now to work on wearing shoes and panties at all other places! HAHA

mommy problems

It is 1am the morning of Charley Bec's first day of preschool.  She will be 4 next week.  She has begged for at least a year to be able to go to school like Bubba and Sissy.  She is so ready! She wants friends so bad. She is ready to play and to learn.  I am not as emotional (yet) as I was with Sydney Kate and John Evan.  There is one thing that bothers me.....she refuses to wear panties or shoes.  "well just force her" you would say.  In my experience you can not force someone to wear something when they can physically take them back off 2seconds later.
Here's the back story.  About 6 months ago CB got really picky about what she wanted to wear and what was comfortable.  Somehow she got to where she wanted to remove all her clothes when she was in the car or in the house.  I let her do this for a few months.  I would undress and dress her a million times a day.  It was exhausting.  At some point she stopped wanting to wear panties too.  After a while I decided to toughen up and we did "clothes boot camp".  I refused to allow her take her clothes off.  There were lots of tears and sadness for a few days but eventually she stopped fussing about it...but still no shoes or panties.  She has been promising that when she starts school that she will do it.  We have been doing a lot of talking and preparing.  My mom took her shopping and let her pick out some shoes and panties that she really liked. So, tonight we layed out a pair of panties ( after her trying on 4 different pair and running around the house in each pair to see how they felt) and a pretty dress and her new shoes.  I am just so nervous about how the morning will go.  She is a very strong willed child! Other than that I know she will love it.  She has Mrs Nan and Mrs Kim who are the teachers that John Evan had.  I am super excited about that and I know that she will be loved and taken care of. 
At open house she wouldn't really talk to her teachers but she did play and meet a new friend named Maggie.  She asks Sissy and Bubba a lot of questions about what she will be doing.  When asked if she is excited she answers "yes, but not about wearing shoes and panties".  She also says her room is very small. 
I love this little tiny child of mine and I pray for a good first day and year!

Things I love about my babies

SYDNEY KATE (9 next month)

She LOVES herself! She is always looking at herself in the mirror and I love it! I hope she keeps up the confidence! She says "hey, watch this" about a million times a day.

She always tells big detailed stories and then says "you know I'm making this up, right?"

She is such a momma to her brother....always saying "JOHN EVAN......."!!!!!!!!

She is SO sweet! There have been several times where a parent has told me a story about her being extra sweet to their child. 

JOHN EVAN (6 1/2)

He LOVES LOVES LOVES his baby sister! He always wants to snuggle with her and play with her and loves to hug her.

Every night when I put him to bed he asks me to sit in his blue chair.  I am pretty sure he thinks I stay there all night!

He loves school!!!!

He always ask me which child I like the most. HA!

CHARLEY BEC

She says "ma-ma"

She is so so sweet and snuggly! She LOVES her pink minky-dot blanket.

She puts her foot in the air and says "more"......that means she wants me to do This little piggy.

She loves to brush her hair. 

She will eat just about anything.

CHRIS (ok i'll add him)

He calls me goregous.

He says "i love you" all the time.

He calls me just to check on me.

He works so hard for us!

He truely loves his kids and prays for them individually.

He has a tender heart and would do anything for anybody!

There are so many more things that I love but these are just to name a few.  My heart is so full!

short update

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

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!

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!