My Nastics...

This is the second year that Henley has done gymnastics. It is her absolute favorite thing to do and she looks forward to it every week. Last  year was a mommy and me class and this year she is able to do the class by herself. It takes her a bit to get warmed up in the beginning. In fact, she will sometimes not even participate in the warm up? I am not sure why? Maybe she thinks it is silly or maybe she just does not want to do that part? Regardless, after the warm up she loves to do everything else. Brian and my mother have come to watch her and you can bet she is making sure they are! I sometimes utilize this time to catch up on an email or get some things done, but if she sees me not watching her...well she will scream at me!

They do all sorts of things from balance beams, the parallel bars, floor work, climbing and jumping into a big foam pit, trampoline. The kids have a blast and she loves it. I have tried to see if she wants to take dance class, but no, just gymnastics or “my nastics” as she calls it. We will continue it as long as she wants too. Who knows, she might be the next Mary Lou Retton?

Christian’s 5th Birthday!

 It hardly seems as though five years have come and gone. It feels like yesterday that we were getting ready to bring him home. Now he is 5 years old! He has gotten so big, but he will always be my baby!
There are few things we love about Christian and hope they never change.

First, his smiling face! I do not think there is a moment where he does not just light up the room with his smile! He is such a happy child, full of energy and ready to take on just about anything you throw at him.
Second, his loving nature! It does not always come out with his sister...however, he has such a sweet heart. I see it with his family, friends and just everyday people.
Third, his gregarious and out going personality! He is very much his daddy’s boy! He loves people and loves to make friends. I love to watch him go up to complete strangers and try to meet them.
The last thing is his love for the girls! Already at the ripe old age of 5, he is already a ladies man. The girls love him. In fact, they chased him into a wall at school. He came home with a huge gash on his face. I asked him, what happened? He told me, “ some girls were chasing me at school because they thought I was cute!” Hilarious!!! He will pick out a pretty girl out of no where and tell you, “ She is a hottie!” Thanks to dad for that one. I always thought he would get his heart broken, but maybe he will be doing the breaking? :)

Christian started kindergarten when he was 4 years old. His birthday being late August falls after the start of the year. I wanted to wait and have his birthday because I thought it would be fun to invite some of the kids in his class. I did not want his party to be ridiculous big, so I only invited the boys to come. We rented a big water slide again...there is not much you can do outdoors when it is 100 degrees! The theme was SUPER MARIO! We have an obsession with the Super Mario Galaxy Wii game and that is where it came from.

Super Mario is back again and becoming popular like he was in the 80’s. There were party favors and decorations everywhere, but the cake pan...not so much. For those of you who do not know, I make the children’s cakes every year for their birthdays. It is something special that my mom did for me and I like to do for them. I finally found a mario cake pan...for a nice price on Ebay. I plan on turning around and selling it again! The cake turned out adorable and the kids loved it.
















We also had a Mario pinata, which the birthday boy picked out himself and helped fill with candy. I just prayed that nobody got hit with the bat! The kids went crazy when the pinata split opened! It reminded me of my childhood and all the pinata’s we had at our birthday’s.






















The party was a success! Once the cake had been eaten, the kids headed back out for more water slide fun! Here are some cute pictures of the kids on the water slide and even some adults!

Once the party was over some friends and family hung around to watch Christian open gifts. He had plenty of them...I think one of his favorites were his transformer costumes. The kids love to play dress up when friends are over and they have already been washed a dozen times over!

Once everyone left, his little friend Delaney stayed to play. They have been friends for two years now and just are so cute together. They will tell you that they are boyfriend and girlfriend and one day are going to marry each other! Ha...too cute. They dressed up and played on the water slide some more and even shared each others clothes. These pictures will surely embarrass them one day. Delaney loves to play with boys and in fact her two best friends are Elijah and Christian! That night he had two friends spend the night for his birthday. Preston and Elijah Copeland...his two other brothers! They had so much fun!

The Musketeers!

Kindergartner in the house!!!

On August 11, 2011 our little baby started kindergarten. I still look at him sometimes and can not believe how much he has grown up! Quickly, if I have to admit. Time flies by so fast. It seems like yesterday that we were in the delivery room and he was just born.



















We had many reservations when it came to starting kindergarten this year. The first being that his birthday falls so late in the summer. He barely makes the cut off to start school! However, last year he was in such an amazing school program that we decided he was more than ready intellectually! Besides, what was the worst that could happen? He had so many friends starting school and I knew he would have someone in his class that he knew. Not that it mattered, but I figured it would be a better transition to have someone he knew there too.




The day before school started all the kindergartners went to discover who their teachers were and who was in their classes. I had no expectations of teachers and have heard many stories about different teachers, but would decide for myself once we got started in the year. There were 5 kids that Christian knew in his class, so that was a plus. Having a familiar face would make the first day a little less scary.  None of these children were his good friends, which I preferred. I wanted him to make new friends. If he would of had his best friends in his class than he probably would be in trouble a lot!

The Big Day! We had been starting our schedule for school a few weeks before hand. Getting up by 6:30am would be a challenge for a child who likes to sleep in! Now, our kids go to bed by 7:30 at the latest and get up by 6:30 at the latest! This is great except they get up this early every day...even weekends! This allows a little time to wake up, eat breakfast and get dressed.

The first day was so fun! I think I was more excited than he was! We rode with our good friends the Copeland’s. Since everyone has golf carts out in our community, many people drive the kids to school in them. The school is right in the neighborhood, which is convenient! I drive usually because Henley goes to school right after he does and I have to drive her. However, the first day we took the golf cart! There is a tunnel that goes under the road for the kids to walk through. It leads directly to the school. We picked up Preston, Elijah and off we went. I was not sure what the reaction would  be from the kindergartners...turned out I was more sad than I thought I would be. The first day was the only day that we were allowed to walk the kids to class. I walked him to his classroom and sat him next to the wall in the line outside the teachers door. They are not allowed into the classroom until the bell rings. I stood there with him until he went into class. He was definitely unsure of what was going on, but he kept his composure. A little boy next to him was hysterically crying and I was worried it would upset him, but he was fine. Thank Goodness! I watched him walk into his class with a big smile on his face...then I left.

As I walked out the door the reality of what just happened hit me. I could not believe my baby was growing up! He was growing up and there was nothing I could do about it. That sweet innocent baby of mine was stepping into the big bad world that I could no longer protect him from! He would now start being exposed to real life and everything that it has to offer. Not that kindergarten exposes you to much, but it is where it starts! Every year forward he will grow up even more and there will be less momma I love you for no reason, less kisses and hugs and no more sharing information. On the other hand, I can not wait to see the little person he turns into. A more dependent, self sufficient little boy.

I could not wait for the end of the day and to pick him up in carpool! I was so excited to hear about his day. How it went, what new friends he made, did he like his teacher, what did he eat for lunch and who did he play with at recess.What he thought about kindergarten? I was pleasantly surprised...he LOVED it! What a relief! I had heard so many horror stories about kids not responding well and he did great! At the ripe old age of 4...one of the youngest in his class, he did wonderfully!

Avalon 2011

As usual I have taken a hiatus from my blogging! Thus is what happens when you get very busy with summertime and the kids. Occupying little ones is a FULL time position...

Every year we travel to the Jersey Shore with Brian’s side of the family. This year was not any different. We packed up, loaded up and went on an airplane ride. This was probably the first airplane ride that  will remember. The past few years she was to young to realize what she was doing. We always fly together with Julie, Steve, Bennett and Preston, so that is fun for them. We fly into the Philadelphia airport and drive down to the shore. There is always an adventure to be had and this year it was in the beloved Atlanta airport. The worst airport in the world...I think! We almost missed out connection, so imagine 4 adults and 4 toddlers running for their lives through the airport! I think the youngest were practically dragged through the halls! We made it though and were in for a another fun week at the shore!

The whole Eastern part of the United States seemed to be going through a heat wave during this past July, so it was extremely hot, more than usual. I always count on the shore to be cooler than the Florida beaches could ever be, but not this year. The water was still chilly, but you were so hot it did not seem as bad.

I do love Nene!

Linebacker anyone?

Hilarious...is that how they use to dance back when?:)

Tiny Dancer!

We were only going to be here for only 5 days this year, while Julie,Steve and the kids, Debbie and Lynn would be there for a week. Debbie and Lynn always rent the same house for our families every year right next to the beach! Thanks to them for the wonderful vacation up at the shore. It is always great for everyone to spend time together, especially the kids with their grandparents! This year our wonderful master of ceremony, Debbie Forrey had just gotten back into the country form Italy. We all decided that it would just be easy to go with the flow this trip and not have everything planned out each day. I think it went rather nicely. Debbie put together a few activities that people could choose to do each day and of course the beach was always on the list. There were walks on the beach, trips to the boardwalk, miniature golf, pedicures, ice cream adventures and the most fun of all dinner at the Forrey’s. Debbie, as usual made some wonderful dinners and everything was laid back and very low key. One night there was even a dance off with the kids, which was very fun to watch. I think even a few adults, which might have had to many cocktails joined in too. It was a wonderful week and we left once again with wonderful memories.