I cut Luke's bangs

So it wasn't my most brilliant moment... Luke's bangs have been in his eyes for a few days, really getting on his nerves. So yesterday, I just held them straight up (never do that with bangs) and cut. I didn't think I cut that much...

So this morning I took him to Mrs. Leesa and he got a "big boy" haircut! This is my first and last attempt at cutting my boys hair, at least with scissors. I might try the buzzer next time!

Christmas 2009

We had a great Christmas with Nate Henry and Luke. The boys were up at 5am so excited that Santa had really came! Nate & Henry got electric scooters and Luke got a ridey horse.

Playing New Super Mario Bros for Wii

Parades!

Christmas parades are so much fun when you're 5 and 6 years old! Nate and Henry enjoyed watching the Six Mile Christmas parade (yes those are their Halloween buckets & we ended up with just as much candy), and being in the Walhalla Christmas parade & West Union parade.

Today was the last day of school & Christmas vacation has officially started!!

The Biggest Loser

I love the show The Biggest Loser and as I was watching the finale this past week I decided if they could run, so could I. I haven't ran since I found out I was pregnant with Luke, but I'm signing up for a half marathon on Easter weekend. I decided to blog about this because if you all know about my commitment, it makes it more difficult for me to back out.

Finally a little posting...

Gosh, I haven't blogged in so long! I've let all this great online shopping take priority I suppose. Nate, Henry & Luke are really keeping my hopping while Bryan has been working 24/7 at Duke to get out of this eternal outage.

Please pray for my precious Uncle Brent. He fell just before Thanksgiving and has had a tough time recovering. Today he had hernia surgery (due to the fall) when they discovered that his hip had been broken all this time and required hip replacement. He came through the surgery tonight well, but it will be a tough road for him and for Granny in the coming weeks/months. Keep them in your prayers. My Grandmother (Nana) is recovering from knee replacement and doing great, thanks to many prayers.

The exciting news is that I'm going to have a neice!!! James and Stacie found out this past week that they are expecting a healthy baby girl. Finally, someone to boss all these boys around! I can't wait!

I so wanted to post some pictures from this weekend, but because my Kodak Easyshare program has over 10,000 pictures, it's giving me fits, so no pictures.
This past Friday night was the much anticipated Cub Scout/Parent campout at Camp Old Indian!! Nate has looked forward to this for months, Bryan actually camped here when he was a scout. Nate & Bryan had a wonderful time learning to tie knots, playing games, shooting bb guns and doing other manly things that scouts do. In the meantime, I was busy trying to entertain Henry so he wouldn't be devestated about not being allowed to go. Henry isn't old enough to be a scout. I told Henry that Nate was on an overnight scout trip, but it wasn't until Saturday night, when Bryan had gone to work & we'd settled in for the night that he really heard those words, Nate had been at "Camp Old Indian!" He cried like a baby laying in my arms. Thank goodness that in 15 minutes he was his old self again, excited thinking about HIS time at camp just a short 2 years away.

A Private Blog

Today while sitting in the pickup line at school, I had this terrible vision of a kidnapper driving through and taking one of my boys. I've been blogging since April of 2006 and there's way too much info here to remain public. Hope you'll visit just as often as ever!

Showing off with Lemons

It's a Party in the USA!

Happy Halloween!

Okay, I could NOT get a picture of all 3 of them posing in costume together, but they were 3 really cute PIRATES! We started trick-or-treating around 1 (Bryan went to Clemson Game but I wasn't up for sitting out in the rain with the boys). By 4, they were really tired of getting in & out of the car so we headed home for dinner & to enjoy giving candy out to our own trick or treaters. My boys have always enjoyed being the one's giving the treats rather than getting them. However, I am quite excited about all the Skittles they acquired today! Rainy, rainy Halloween, but lots of fun!!

Luke walking

Luke's first haircut

Luke has been needing a trim for quite a while. His hair is so pretty, but I was dealing with this mess every morning.

Yesterday Mrs. Leesa gave Luke a beautiful haircut. He sat in my lap & enjoyed a sucker and all the attention. He sure looks like a big boy now.

Happy Birthday Henry!

More new shoes & fun playing together!

Another great week! The weather has cooled & the rain has passed giving us low to mid 70s & sunshine! Couldn't ask for more! Here is Henry at his preschool's fundraiser and here is a huge tent, tube & teepee that the boys set up in the hallway. Luke loved it, of course!

I said earlier that we'd bought shoes for Luke in Gatlinburg at the outlets. Well, they just wouldn't do. You've got to get "fitted" at Cochran's in Anderson. So, we headed over with Granny and found a lovely pair of bright white shoes. I was quite surprised to see that Luke loved them! He's doing great taking a few steps here & there. He's trying to say lots of words, today was "tee" (tree), and "ki ka" (kitty cat).

Be sure to notice the new shoes here in this picture of Luke in the tree house. This is the very day we bought them & they are already very scuffed!

Halloween costumes came in the mail & I'm so excited to have 3 pirates in this house!

I'm so glad to have James & Stacie back home from England! She is doing well with her pregnancy, although she's had plenty of morning sickness (but she's had it all day). They decided now is not the time to spend a year in England.

Bryan's Aunt Mary is in town from Seattle and Mark Denise & Silas will be visiting next week! So much family to enjoy. I love October...

200th Post!

Tonight starts Nate's journey as a Cub Scout! He's been waiting for this for years, always looking up to the Boy Scouts he knows & meets. Bryan and I are the Tiger Scout den leaders. We will lead a group of first graders as they meet the goals & challenges of being a Tiger Scout! A responsibility that we aren't taking lightly.

Henry was so excited that he could go & just watch. I made it very clear that it would be 2 more years before he could be a Tiger Scout. I think Cub Scouts will be something Nate really enjoys.

I had the pleasure of meeting my dear friend Caroline's little girl today, Madeline. She was just beautiful! I thought she looked just like her mom.

Wrestling

another for Silas

For Silas

Happy Grandparents Day!

The best place to go when you're sad is Grandpa's lap.

The reason grandchildren and grandparents get along so well is that they have a common enemy.

"If I'd known how wonderful it would be to have grandchildren, I'd have had them first!"

An hour with your grandchildren can make you feel young again, anything longer than that and you start to age quickly!
When grandparents enter the door, discipline flies out the window!

They say genes skip generations. Maybe that's why grandparents find their grandchildren so likeable.

"Grandparents hold our tiny hands for just a little while, but our hearts forever."

Aunt Joy! (again)

James & Stacie left for England yesterday. They'll be gone for a year while James studies at the University of Bath. They also just found out that they are expecting their first baby! Yippee! I'm going to be an Aunt (again!). So, while they're gone I will try to keep them updated on our family by blogging. They will probably feel more connected & know what's going on (thanks to the internet) than when they were living right here in Walhalla.

Tonight was Nate & Henry's first soccer game. Here is Luke cheering them on. We had to rush home to watch the Tigers play. Luke has had terrible nights this week. For some reason, he wakes up at 3am ready to get up for the day. He stands up in our bed & climbs all over Bryan. I try to cuddle him and get him to be quiet & go back to sleep, but he is wide awake. I finally put him in his crib at 4am this morning only to watch Bryan get up to bring him back to our bed when he started crying. I had him back to sleep by 5:30, but Henry was up by then. I will remember what I tell everyone else - everything, the good & the bad will pass in time. Hope this phase passes sooner than later. It's almost 9pm here, guess it's around 2am in London. Goodnight James & Stacie. Hope you are already fast asleep!

Luke laughing at Henry

Happy Labor Day!

Well, we had a good labor day considering Henry is STILL running a fever! AAAHHHH! We thought he was better, it sort of comes & goes. But this evening, he was hot again. We did take a quick trip up to Stumphouse to see Isaqueena Falls, caught a very large insect and had a late lunch at Mexican. It's not even 8pm and all 3 boys are asleep! I hope to follow them and get to bed very soon. I'm used to interrupted sleep, Luke still wakes to come to our bed around midnight and Nate & Henry wake me up often, but the last 5 nights have been really rough.

Just wanted to share a couple of pics from the weekend. The batteries have been charging on the 4 wheelers for about 3 months, so we just discovered that Luke loves to ride with the big boys!

And this picture of Nate is such a common sight, he is so patient and just loves to burn things using the magnifing glass.

Enjoy the short week!

Henry

Today is day 5 that Henry has been sick. Fever, no appetite, no energy. Poor Henry. Silas wanted a video of Henry because he'd watched one of Nate & Luke but hadn't seen Henry. Henry was so excited to send one. Please pray that he will feel better soon and that the rest of us won't catch this icky flu-like virus.

Luke is a mess!

Luke is needing a bath after every meal lately. Unfortunately, he only gets one bath a day, so he's dirty quite a bit. I scooped mashed potatoes and mac & cheese on his tray today to buy me enough time to care for Henry (who is still not feeling well) and returned to find a huge mess.

The Saxophone

Nate and Henry found the saxophone that I attempted to learn how to play in the 7th grade. They are eager to start a band. Nate wrote a song last night, while Henry lay in bed with a 103 degree fever. (he's feeling much better today) Thought I'd share it with you. By the way, they're already much better musicians with no training at all than I have ever been.

Lynx

We are proud to announce that we have a new addition to our family.....
Lynx!
What a beautiful cat (she takes after her mom)!

James and Stacie are leaving on September 9 for the University of Bath in England (just left of London). James will be getting his masters degree and they will return next summer. In the meantime, we are thrilled to be the caretakers of their beautiful cat. We are "cat" people. At one point, before Nate was born, Bryan and I had 5 cats!!

James & Stacie are sure that Luke said "kitty kitty" this evening when he saw Lynx. Nate & Henry are so excited. They've been looking forward to Lynx moving in for weeks now. Hope Lynx enjoys living here. It's sure to be a little louder than she's used to!

School Daze

Whew! What a day! Back to school time is so busy. Nate had a fantastic first day of first grade. He woke up excited and ready to get to school. I am so thankful that he loves it. He's never said "I don't want to go to school today." I think that says lots for his great school.

Henry also started school today. He is going to another Elementary School every afternoon for 2 1/2 hours for a unique program that puts 9 special needs children in a class with 4 non-special needs children. It's designed to help the special needs children learn to play & socialize with other kids. Henry is sort of a role model. Scary, huh! He will start kindergarten next year (finally!) I sometimes forget that Henry is only 4 years old.

Luke had a great 1 year well visit at the doctor while everyone was enjoying school. So far, he's been measuring and weighing a little more than Nate did at that age and a little less than Henry did. Well, today, he topped them both. He weighed 24 lbs. 4 oz. Nate didn't weigh 24 lbs until he was 2 years old, and Henry weighed 24 lbs at 18 months. He measured almost 33" tall which is taller than Nate & Henry at 12 months. I guess he's my big boy. I love it!!!

Happy Birthday to Luke!!

Last night Henry told Luke, "Today you're zero, but tomorrow, when you wake up, your gonna be one year old!" Henry was up at 6 eagerly awaiting any signs of waking from Luke. By 7am, Nate & Henry were singing "Happy Birthday to Luke." They were sure that Luke would walk by himself on this day. (he didn't) Turning one was a big deal in this house. The party was great with lots of family and friends. Luke wasn't interested in his cake, but Nate showed him just how it was done.

Luke was in bed by 6:30 and happy as could be on this very happy first birthday.

What blessed

parents we are to have these 3 precious children.