Sean the Chef

When Sean turned 8, he joined the cub scouts. He has already earned his Bobcat and is working hard to achieve his Wolf. For one of his achievements he was supposed to plan and prepare a meal for the family. He chose to make barbecue chicken sandwiches and he did an amazing job. He cooked the chicken in the crockpot with the barbecue sauce and then shredded it when it was finished. It was delicious and best of all he did it all by himself. It was so yummy! And best of all, he is one step closer to the Wolf. :)

Harry Potter!!!!!

In keeping with tradition, some of the young women and I went to see the midnight premiere of Harry Potter. We do this for all of the Harry Potter and Twilight Saga movies. It was so much fun! We bought our tickets weeks in advance, then got to the theater a few hours early and played games while we waited for the movie to start. As always, we had a TON of fun and the movie was great! The only sad thing was how fast the movie went by. I felt like it had just started and all of a sudden the credits appeared! I can't wait for the last and final part of Harry Potter! Hurry up July! :)


These two girls are really a part of our family and I love them dearly! The last time they came over, I told Sean that some of the girls were coming over and when I told him it was Sydney and Maddy, he said, "Mom, those aren't girls, they are family". He was so right! :)

The Math Genius

Sean's school has an awards ceremony twice a year and the first one was in November. Sean was given the Math Award! He was so excited! He loves and is really good at math (something he gets from Eric, definitley not from me)! Eric and I were both there to see him get his award and we were so proud of him! He loves school and works hard at everything he does. We love you Seany!

So much catching up to do...

I have been so busy and haven't blogged in almost two months, so I will try and do a few posts to catch up. :) These pictures are from the state fair in October. After living here three years, this was the first time we acutally made it to the fair. :) It was CRAZY! It took us two hours just to get there from the exit ramp (a distance of about two miles). I have never seen so much traffic in all my life. But, once we were there, it was fun. The kids won goldfish, stuffed toys, rode lots of rides and we all ate like pigs! It was great! We will definitley go again next year, but I think I will pull the kids out of school and go during the day so it is less crowded.

A Howling Good Time

For Labor Day, we went to Great Wolf Lodge for three days and as usual had a blast! We did all of the usual things, like play in the waterpark, but this trip we did a few new things...they had a new program this year in Cub Club (the kids area) and they called it Camp Cub Club. Basically, they offer a camp (babysitting) for a few hours in the evening each weekend. During the two and a half hours of camp, they learned about bugs, made lots of crafts and had yummy treats. Eric and I were thrilled with this idea because it meant we could leave the kids in good hands and run away to do things like ride the Tornado slide (which the kids are too scared to ride). We had an absolute blast and so did the kids. We missed them and went to pick them up a little early, and when we peeked in the windows we saw Avery reading a book with one of the cub club workers, and Sean making yet another craft. They had so much fun they didn't really want to leave when we picked them up. We decided that if they have this option next visit, we will definitely do it!

They also had a special Labor Day carnival, complete with petting zoo, inflatables, rock climbing, etc. It was so much fun and best of all, completely free. Did I mention that I love Great Wolf? :)

Also, this time Avery decided she was big enough to do MagicQuest and wanted a pink wand and cape so she could play too. It is so much more fun now that we can all do MagicQuest together.

Like we always do, we had a fantastic and relaxing time at Great Wolf. We love this place!

Growing Up

In August, Sean learned to ride his bike for real!! We have been trying to get him to do this forever, but the motivation just wasn't there. However, this summer, Sean watched all the other kids in our neighboorhood ride their bikes around together and decided that it was time for him to learn. Amazingly enough, as soon as he had made his mind up to do it, he hopped on his bike and rode off down the street. You would think he had been riding for years. We bought him a new bike (he had already outgrown his other one before he even learned to ride it) and now he rides it as much as he can. One more milestone reached...and one more bittersweet moment for me. So proud of him but sad at how big he's gotten and so very fast.....

Girls Trip to the Beach

Last week I did the most AMAZING thing ever....I went to the beach WITHOUT KIDS!! :) Some of my friends and I rented a house right on the ocean at Topsail Island. It was BEAUTIFUL! :) We left behind kids and husbands for a week of fun in the sun! There are no words to describe how wonderful it was. We are already planning our trip for next year.

We sat on the beach all day, swimming and reading in the sun, then we would eat dinner together at night, and play games laughing so hard there were often tears rolling down our faces! :) Then some of us night owls would take our beach chairs out to the surf and lay back looking at the stars and talking.

Everything was perfect about that week except two things....my good friend Erica got stung by a stingray on our third day there. She was such a trooper though and persevered through the pain and still managed to have a great rest of the week. The other thing is that there were lots of SHARKS!! There is nothing like looking next to you and seeing a 6 ft shark swimming around! I have seen sharks before but usually from the bow of a ship, not while standing in the water. After the second day of swimming amongst the sharks, we didn't go in the water much. :)

I am so grateful for the amazing week that I was able to have. It was so nice to have a break and spend some time with some great women. I can't wait till next year!


Erica and I


The Ladies

My Cub Scout

When Sean turned 8, he joined cub scouts and became a Wolf scout. He is loving it so far and this week we are hosting the Pack Meeting at our house. We will be using our fire pit to learn how to build a fire and then cooking s'mores over it...YUM! Ever since we bought our house, Sean has been wanting to have an activity or party here, so he is verrrrry exited about Thursday! :)

Here are some pics of our handsome cub scout...

My Big Girl

Last week, Avery started preschool. I can hardly believe it! She goes Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays for three hours. It is hard for me because it is the first in many steps of her growing up. Next year, in July, she will start Kindergarten and then both my kids will be in school all day.

Avery is outgoing and loves to play and socialize. She has wanted to go to preschool forever and she is really enjoying it. She has two great teachers and lots of nice kids in her class. On the days she doesn't have school, she still asks if she can go. Why are kids always ready to grow up before parents are ready for them too?

I can't even imagine what a mess I will be on her first day of kindergarten! Oh my.....

The best two weeks :)

Our old friends Damon and Shanna came to visit us this month. We had such a blast! We hadn't seen them since before Avery was born so a visit was definitley in order.

We did lots of fun things together...we went to Bush Gardens and Water Country USA and had tons of fun, ate at Friendly's(YUMMMM), went to the beach, and just chilled out.

We plan to do it all again next year. We definitley can't let 5 more years pass between visits!




These are pictures from the best night ever at Busch Gardens! We had come back to the park early that night to ride more roller coasters, and literally as soon as we scanned our tickets in, the skies just opened up and let loose. It was quite the storm with heavy rain and lots of lightning. We had so much fun running around the park in the rain, playing the arcade games soaking wet, and riding the haunted house ride with a real storm outside. Awesome!!!


Shanna teaching Sean to crochet.


Damon playing a game with Avery.

Eric and Damon at the beach.

Sean's 8th Birthday

A few weeks ago, Sean turned 8. I can hardly believe he is really that old!! Where has the time gone? On his actual birthday, I brought in treats for his class party and then we had dinner at Red Robin and then cake and ice cream at home. Sean had wanted a Kirby cake and so I decided to go all out and make one for him, complete with fodant and all. It was so much fun to make and by some miralce, it tasted yummy too! :)

Then, on Saturday, the day after his birthday, he had a bowling party with his friends. It was great! All the kids had a good time and the best part for me was that someone else did all the work. :) I think we might do it again next year.

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First Day of Second Grade

I don't know how in the world it happened, but it did. I am now the mother of a second grader! Last night was Meet the Teacher night and we all went to see Sean's new classroom and meet his new teacher. I was so worried about what kind of teacher he would have because his last teacher was AMAZING and had set the bar high. But I needn't have worried. His new teacher is going to be just as amazing. I was so impressed with all the things she had in the classroom as well as her high emphasis on loving and caring for each other. I think Sean is going to do very well in her class.

When it was time to leave, she gave each student a bag filled with special things and a note about what each thing was for. I was so impressed and touched by it, I want to post it. :)

This is what it said:

An eraser to let you know that it is OK to make mistakes.

A shiny gem because each one of us is valuable.

Smarties to show that everyone is smart in their own special way.

A piece of gum so that we can all stick together.

A star to remind you that you will always shine and do your best.

A heart to show that my class is a safe and caring place.

A team pencil because I am lucky to have you on my team.

I am so excited for the year ahead and feel so grateful that once again, Sean has been blessed to have an excellent teacher.

A Special Day

Last Saturday, Sean's best friend Connor was baptized. It was such a special day and we were so glad that we were able to be there. After the baptism, we all went to Sunny Skies, the best ice cream place ever to celebrate.

Here are Sean, Connor, and Trevor (Connor's brother and also Sean's friend) on the special day!

So Proud of My Boy

What an amazing day! Sean's last day of first grade is this week and today his teacher threw an end of the year party and awards ceremony. My Mom and Dad came with me and went to Sean's classroom where we enjoyed a yummy lunch of pizza, fruit and treats. :)

The best part though was the awards ceremony. A few weeks ago, Sean's teacher had each kid draw a name and they had to write an award for the person whose name they drew. It was so touching to see the amazing things the kids wrote about each other. Sean's was about how he was a math wizard who always raised his hand in class. :) Clearly, the math wizard got his father's genes, cause we all know that's not my special talent. :) Then Sean's teacher said a few words and was very emotional as she talked about how much she loved the kids and would miss them. There wasn't a dry eye in the room by the time she was done. It also meant a lot to Sean (and to me) to have Grammy and Grandpa there to share the experience with him.

It was a fantastic experience and I feel so grateful that Sean was blessed to have such an amazing teacher. He has grown so much under her care and she's really set the bar high for his next teacher.

Sean and his AMAZING teacher, Mrs, Romines. :)

Out with the old, in with the new....or is it old friends are the best friends?

We have been talking about getting a van forever and finally decided to just do it. Everything just sort of fell into place and we knew it was the right time. We traded in our Honda CR-V that we've had for 7 years and replaced it with a Toyota Sienna that can seat 8. I have to admit that even though I love our new van and we desperately needed the extra seats, I am missing my old friend, Hondi Hondi (the kids named it that years ago). It was our family car for 7 of the 9 years that we've been married. Sean grew up in it and Avery rode home from the hospital in it. We have taken so many vacations and trips inside it. It protected us when we were in an accident. It sounds silly to miss a car, but I found myself tearing up as my new van was parked next to it at the dealer. I just couldn't help but think of Hondi Hondi as an old friend that I was saying goodbye to. Laugh if you will, but I do miss my old friend. But in the interest of moving on, here's to all the new memories we will make in the new van. No doubt they will include a million trips to church, tae kwon do, preschool, carpooling, etc...

Race for the Cure

Every year since we've moved here, I've been involved in someway with Race for the Cure. It's an important cause for me for more reasons that I can name. This year, I was able to go with just my Dad and support him as he raced. I am so proud of him. He is my hero in so many ways and it was a pleasure to be with him on such a great day! I feel so blessed to call him my Dad! :)

REAL MEN DO WEAR PINK!! :)

Cone of Shame

Poor Emma! She was spayed yesterday and because she keeps trying to lick her stitches we had to put her in the protective collar. Now, since my kids have seen UP about a million times, the only name they call it is "the cone of shame". Everytime they see her, they say "Poor Emma, stuck in the cone of shame".

I really hate that we have to put her in it, but everytime I take it off, she goes right to lick her stitches. Poor Emmy! It's going to be a long 7 days for her.

Disney Magic

Last month we went to Disneyworld for a week. This is our absolute favorite vacation spot and we would live there if we could. :) This time, we drove to Florida and it went great. The drive was about 9.5 hours but it went by pretty fast. The kids did great and had plenty of things to entertain them. It was easier and less stressful than flying in some ways.

Our favorite way to do Disney is to stay at a Disney resort and let Disney take care of everything while we're there. So, we stayed at one of their resorts and just hopped on a Disney bus or monorail anytime we wanted to go anywhere. It was wonderful. And perhaps the best part of staying at a Disney resort is Magic Hours. It's the best way to see all that Disney has to offer without the normal crowds. This time, we also did the two waterparks and those were amazing!

We all loved different things about the trip. For Avery it was breakfast with the princesses in the castle, and riding Peter Pan as much as possible. :) For Sean, it was all about the mountains....Splash, Space and Everest. :) And he was finally big enough for Rock N Roller Coaster at Disney's Hollywood Studios. He LOVED it! That's my boy! For me...well, I love everything. I have too many favorites to name. I love the mountains and the classic rides (like Peter Pan and Small World). I think Eric's favorite part was the food. Disney is truly amazing for people with allergies. He was able to go anywhere and get gluten-free food. Even the little food stands and small quick service places had gluten-free buns, fries, pizza, burritos and even dessert. He was sooo happy!

The only bad part about going to Disney world is leaving. It took all our willpower to pull away and watch it get smaller and smaller in the distance. Eric even talked on the way home about moving to Florida so we could be closer and go more often. But we decided that North Carolina is just to awesome to leave. :) It is the best place we have ever lived, hands down.

Ay-ya!!!

Sean has wanted to take Tae Kwon Do for a long time and about two months ago, we finally signed him up. :) Better late than never, right? He goes to classes three times a week and he is loving it. And so am I. He is learning so many important values and skills and the focus has really been good for him. Here are some pics I took on his first day...

A Day at the Farm

Yesterday, we went to Farm Days put on by NC State. They do it once a year and it's a chance for kids to come and interact with farm animals. It was amazing! Avery and I spent almost three hours there just petting and holding animals. :) She is so my girl!

Avery was able to get in the pig pen and pet and chase piglets, pet a one month old kid goat, touch horses, cows and sheep, and hold rabbits and baby chicks. The highlight for her (and I) was definitley the baby chicks! It was so amazing to be able to hold those sweet fuzzy chicks and feel their soft downy fur and hear their little cheeps. Soooo cute! I think if Avery could have smuggled one out she would have.