Merry Christmas

What a great Christmas holiday it's been. Spending lots of time with friends and family was the highlight of it all. My Nana really surprised me and my Mom this year by finishing a quilt Mama had been making for me. Mama started this quilt in 2008 and it was almost finished when she had to stop working on it because of problems with her hands. My Nana had it finished and gave it to me as a Christmas gift. Mama was just as excited about it as I was and we were all surprised that Nana had kept it a secret.

Luke sings Jingle Bells

Luke and the potty

December (so far)

Be sure to double click on this picture of Henry in front of the tree to see Nate sticking his tongue out. I didn't even see him when I took the picture.

So far it's been a good December (did I mention I broke my foot before Thanksgiving???) aside from being slowed down by a minor injury.

We enjoyed seeing lots of family over Thanksgiving and we're in full holiday gear with Christmas parades & parties.

Nate & Henry's karate class walked in the Clemson Christmas parade. They stopped in front of the announcers to do some "moves" (see post below)
Luke rode with the Subway man (driven by John Daddy).

Nate sledding down the bank. He finally hit the ramp you see in this picture.

Clemson Christmas parade 2010

Pumpkin Chunkin

Pumpkin Chunkin part 2

Back to blogging

I'm going to make myself blog in hopes that I will want to do it again. I'm out of the blogging mood. Halloween was lots of fun. Nate was a pirate, Henry a vampire and Luke was Superman. We trick or treated in the neighborhood and got lots of candy! The next day, I decided to put my Christmas tree up! If you drive by my house at night, you will still see 4 pumpkins sitting on the front porch with lovely Christmas lights in the background!! I'm almost embarassed to turn the tree lights on at night, afraid the neighbors will think I'm crazy, skipping right over Thanksgiving. But, I guess I am. The boys really wanted to put it up. Especially Luke. He kept asking "how we build a tree in our house, Mama?" It's too much trouble to put up for a couple of weeks, and when Christmas is over, I'm ready to take it down.

Mama had a great idea for a Christmas present for Brent. We dressed Shelby up in different costumes and made a calendar on Snapfish. Here is the June picture. So cute, but so much work.

Tomorrow is the Cub Scout campout at Camp Old Indian. Henry isn't old enough to go yet, so he is inviting 2 friends over the spend the night. Hope they go to sleep....

Henry's Itsy Bitsy Spider

I especially love "out came the sun" part!!

Toodie Tah

Skate party for Henry

Even though Henry didn't feel so good Monday, he had a pretty good time at his roller skating party at Skateland USA in Anderson. He had lots of friends, old and new. Happy 6th birthday Henry! We love you!

Happy 6th birthday Henry!

Count Luke

No new posts

I have taken a little break from blogging. But, I would like to ask you to remember my cousin Faith, her husband Danny and their family in your prayers. Faith just lost her baby boy at 37 weeks in her pregnancy. Please pray for the whole family and especially for Faith during this very sad time. Case Jim Hedden was the most beautiful baby boy, born October 9, 2010, 19 inches and weighing almost 5 pounds.

Pulling teeth

Nate & Henry both pulled a tooth last night. Here is the video of Henry pulling his.

A Breakthrough?

Mama & I went to see Dr. Daws at his Wellness Clinic for the second time last week. He is a surgeon who is now doing a lot of anti aging & bio-identical hormone stuff on the side. We are very excited about his drug-free approach to wellness and I am already sleeping much better at night. Some of his treatments are covered in this fantastic book by Suzanne Somers. Remember 8 years ago when she had cancer & refused chemo? I remember thinking that she was crazy, but she's still cancer free so maybe something she's doing is working! It's a great book, check it out.

Atlanta

Bryan and I rarely go away overnight without taking the boys. Tuesday we managed to go to Atlanta for the night. Thanks to all 4 grandparents, the boys were well cared for. We had such a good time together. It was nice to talk about something other than the "business" of life. We hit the mall of Georgia on the way down enjoying a yummy lunch at PF Changs, then onto Buckhead. We loved Trader Joe's! Fortunately I went in hungry, so we came away with lots of goodies. Our delicious dinner at Two Urban Licks, my new favorite Atlanta restaurant!

Ourside our hotel after breakfast. We ended up at IKEA where we spent about 5 or 6 hours redoing the boys playroom.

Bryan is a such great husband and I am so blessed to have him in my life... I can't wait to go on another date with him!

Leah's wedding

Copy & paste this link to see pictures of Leah & Chris's wedding!

http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2981874017/a=3371453_3371453/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Marlowe's dedication

Marlowe was the center of attention Sunday when she was dedicated at church. We celebrated afterwards having lunch at John Daddy & DeeDee's.

A little swimming for all the kids plus James & Bryan


Chilling out with John Daddy after the pool.

Oh, by the way, Nate pulled another tooth that night. This time I got it on video but I'm afraid it's a little graphic for the blog!

Luke starts preschool

Can he really be old enough to start preschool? A new friend

Happy to be a big boy!

He wasn't quite this happy when I picked him up, but he wasn't crying either. Not sure what to expect tomorrow morning.....

Luke's most favorite video

Fun hanging with Bennett & Walton

Riverhouse fun

We had a great visit with Bryan's Aunt Mary and Jim while they were here from Seattle. But, a little work was necessary! Here is Henry and Nate working the blower.

Cruising with Papa on the golf cart

Going to get the okra from Betty's house

Hanging out with MeMaw

Building a fire with Papa & Jim.

The Pigs Feet that Mama Aiken wanted for dinner. I think she and Papa may have been the only takers!

Bear Doo Doo! How exciting! We had to go look at it 2 times!

Swinging on the tree swing

Marlowe's visit

Luke & I had the pleasure of taking care of Marlowe today for a few hours. She was just adorable!
When you really know for sure that you're never going to have another baby (which I do), when your own baby is already 2 years old, there is something so beautiful about caring for your next of kin.
While Luke was napping, I rocked Marlowe on my back porch. She talked to me a little bit, fussed at me a little bit, I even got sugar from her neck! Sweet!

Makes you realize how fast they grow up. Makes you realize that all those days you worried about their schedule, all those times you worried that if you gave in they'd be spoiled forever- don't matter so much anymore.
Makes you look back and wish that you'd went ahead and crawled into their beds at bedtime when they wanted you to, ate a little more ice cream together, forget about brushing their teeth just that one night and enjoyed your baby while he was still a baby.
It might seem slow while you're living it, but before you know it he will be in second grade missing several teeth and you wish you could just kiss his neck, one more time.

Waiting on Marlowe

Keeping Marlowe

Kindergarten, Homecoming etc.

Henry had a rough first week of kindergarten. A little girl kissed him on the first day, he got really hungry before lunch and he doesn't know anyone in his class except Brianna Gooding. Things seem to be improving, slowly.
Nate has been invited to escort Alyssa to homecoming. (this is rec football players & cheerleaders homecoming) After he said yes, he was invited by another sweet girl, Seana. Unfortunately he can only escort 1, but I'm so glad the girls think he's nice. : )
Luke wants to go to school so bad he can't stand it. He puts on his Elmo backpack and says "Luke go school." I ask "what's in your pack?" because he calls his backpack a "pack" and he replies "homas" which means a Thomas train and "ammer" which is a hammer. (watch out Mrs Leesa!)
Every morning when we drop Henry & Nate off he tells them to "put on your pack enry and nate" then as we drive away he says "me go school?" Well, I don't think he realizes that next Wednesday I will drop him off at Golden Corner Preschool and drive away!!! he thinks he wants to go to school now, not too sure what he's gonna be saying in a week or so! Thank goodness Mrs. Leesa knows that if he cries for more than 5 minutes, she is to call me on the cell and I will come pick him up.
Tomorrow I have the privilege of babysitting Marlowe from 10am til around 1 or so. Luke & I can't wait! The age difference between Luke & Marlowe is about the same at the difference between Nate & Henry. Can't wait to see how they interact when there isn't a crowd around.

Luke holding Marlowe

Uncle Cliff goes to Clemson!

My brother Cliff moved on campus last weekend to begin his college career! He is majoring in History and living in the Shoeboxes. The boys and I met him after school today for dinner at Moe's and to check out his dorm. Here is a picture of them downtown after Nate & Henry bought a Clemson jersey. Henry, of course, had to put his on in the store and wear it out. Luke wouldn't leave Uncle Cliff's arms! Whenever I tried to relieve Cliff's arms by carrying Luke, Luke would cry "Cwiff" and reach his arms to him.

Here we are getting ready to check out Cliff's dorm, Geer! The boys loved it and hope to get to spend the night one day, not sure how that would work out, the dorm's nickname "shoebox" is there for a reason!
Getting ready to leave. They loved the communal bathrooms and Cliff's roommate, whose name is Nathan!

We love you Uncle Cliff & we are so proud of you! Hope to have many more dinner dates in Clemson with you!

Happy Birthday Luke

Well, I can't avoid blogging any longer.
Too much going on. Luke turned 2 today and Henry started kindergarten. Nate went to second grade.
I had an experience yesterday and hesitate to type lest I start crying again. I'll sum it up quickly.. Luke's swimming party, he had no float on b/c I ( I is capitalized here) took it off him to sing "happy bday, etc. Big crowd, 25-30 kids, 50+ adults. Everyone was watching Luke, but no one was JUST watching him. He was playing in the cooler of ice with a couple of other toddlers. I was trying to organize pinyata. Being fearless of the water, he apparantly ran and jumped into pool without anyone noticing. Not sure how long he was in there. Somehow he kicked to the top and turned around to grab hold of the side of the pool. I shouldn't say somehow, because I am certain angels were all around him and lifted him up from the water to grab hold.
I looked and noticed I didn't see him so I said "where's Luke" and ran. I saw 2 little hands holding on to the concrete and found my baby screaming. I lifted his limp body up and he was completely terrorized.
I cried until I fell asleep last night. How long had he struggled to get hold of the side? How much longer could he have held on before he'd slipped under? How many close calls do we or our children encounter throughout the day that we don't even know about?
I know I can't keep going over the "what ifs" but I do know this: I want to be a Mom who covers her children with prayer from morning to night. I will not take this responsibility lightly because I believe prayer will change things for my boys. I don't want to just pray without ceasing, but I want them to know that I am praying, so they will learn to pray also.

I thank God that I was able to hold my sweet Luke last night all night long, watching him breathe, rousting him when I kissed his lips and holding him close to me until he woke me up this morning.
Children are a gift from God!

On another note,
I bought a camera! Just haven't taken any pictures yet.

Salmon Patties

Well since my last blog post I have completely OD'ed on salmon. I have made the boys salmon patties twice. I told them they were homemade fish sticks and they loved them. If you want to make them they are so easy:
1 can wild salmon (take big bones out if you want to) and drain.
Put in bowl and mix with 1 egg and a little flour (either plain or self rising). Press into a patty then coat on each side with crushed up saltine crackers (or anything else crunchy). Fry until golden brown & serve with mashed potatoes! Yum!
I have also had grilled salmon and I made some chowder last night (just for me) and poured a can of salmon in it. I do seem to go overboard sometimes.

Last nights Back to School night went great. Nate & Henry can't wait to start on Monday. Henry's teacher better look out, Henry thinks he is hot stuff just because he knows his way around the school and has a brother in second grade.

Tomorrow morning we are taking the Cub Scout pack roller skating, then Sunday is Luke's 2nd birthday party. I'm also getting the boys on a schedule of bed around 7:30 or 8 and waking up around 7 or so. Hope to have a camera soon! Too much going on to miss out on pictures.

300th Post!

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Happy Birthday to Bryan & DeeDee & MeMaw

Today is Bryan's birthday & my Mom's birthday, tomorrow is MeMaw's birthday!

Happy Birthday to all 3 of you! We love you so much!

Still no camera

Still haven't got a camera so I thought I'd post this picture of Henry around Christmas of 2005.

Soccer coaches left yesterday morning, whew! They were so nice but it was a lot of work making sure 6 guys got fed in this house. It was a great experience for us all and I hope to see Liam & Stephen again one day.

One more week until school starts. Last night the boys tried to camp out in the living room in this huge elaborate tent they worked on all day. By 10pm they were still awake lying on the hardwood floor and somehow I convinced them to go to their beds. I'm gonna try to figure out some comfortable way for them to sleep somewhere exciting before school starts.

Broken camera

The bad news is Henry accidently dropped my camera & now it's broke... very broke. Gonna have to be replaced. It was a Nikon Coolpix and I didn't like it anyway, so it's really for the best.

The good news is that we volunteered to be a host family for the British Soccer Camp that Nate & Henry are attending this coming week. We are excited to have 2 British coaches (one 19 yrs, one 20 yrs.) staying with us for the next 7 days. Stephen Lindsey is a serious soccer guy who is actually in charge of the camps going on this week. He is a health nut & hardworker. Liam is the other coach, his "real" job, when he's not coaching soccer is a breakdancing/hip hop dance instructor. He is also learning trickin', which is a combination of martial arts & gymnastics. He can do a standing back tuck and a back layout! He is funny & outgoing and very attentive to Nate & Henry. Stephen even mentioned letting Luke try the mini soccer camp tomorrow!
Hosting the coaches will be a great experience for Nate & Henry and will make for a fun week for me and Bryan.

Hope I can steal some pictures from a friend to share our new friends with you. 2 weeks until school! Have fun while you can!

Robotics Camp (Robocital)

Scene of the Crime

Henry had his buddy Walton over for the morning while Nate was at robotics. They had a nice morning playing and then settled down to watch a little Sponge Bob while Luke napped. Little did I know they were concocting a plan: a plan to escape! One minute, they were sitting in the living room, the next, they were gone! For the first 10 minutes or so, I called outside, looked all through the house, including basement, bonus room, went around the house a few times. Then I started getting worried. Luke was still asleep in his crib, so I grabbed my cell phone in case I needed to call 911. After a few more stressful minutes I noticed that their scooters were gone. So I sprinted across the street to Walton's house (where no one was home) and found them inside playing. They said that snuck out because they knew I wouldn't let them go if I knew, which was exactly right considering Luke was asleep and no one was home at Elizabeth's house. Henry is grounded for 40 years and Walton is in trouble too.

I didn't know I'd have to worry about my children sneaking out at such an early age!

Monster Spray

Don't let this bottle fool you. To Nate & Henry this is "monster spray." Henry still gets scared at night and after many rational discussions, I decided to try something else. I went to the laundry room and grabbed the first thing I could get my hands on, Swiffer Dust & Shine. I returned to the bedroom and told the boys that this wasn't cleaner, it was really monster spray. Made from a secret recipe only Mom's know. They had to know the ingredients. I told them that it had vinegar, baking soda (deactivated, whatever that means), raisins, coca-cola, clorox and some other secret ingredients that only Moms know. I told them that when they were Dad's I would tell their wife the secret. Are you surprised that this worked? So every so often when Henry is scared I whip out the monster spray and spray under the bed, in the closet, down the hall and everywhere else monsters hide during the night.

Catching up!

I'm so behind on my blogging I've even gotten notes from Caroline & Denise (thanks for checking in guys!) Only 3 weeks left of summer vacation and we're trying to pack in as much fun as possible!

Here we are saying goodbye to Silas, Mark & Denise. The boys had so much fun with all their cousins this summer!

Silas hugging Luke!Here is Henry showing Luke his preschool scrapbook. Henry is explaining that Luke will have Mrs. Leesa, just like he did. We've had lots of fun visits with friends lately! A McDonald's playdate with Christie, Joseph & Zach, swimming & dinner with Greg & Stephanie, Reese & Collin and here we are with Miller, Sarah, Gracie Claire, Wright & Calla!

Henry & Nate took a martial arts class at the YMCA and loved it! In fact, Henry starts a weekly class this Monday!

I love this picture of Henry because it reminds me of myself. They spent the last 2 nights camping with MeMaw & PaPa on the Eastatoee River. Henry discovered his most favorite song was Love Potion #9 and he stands here listening to it over & over.

The camping trip with so much fun! Nate caught lots of fish & Henry enjoyed taking them off the hook. They killed a terribly poisonous snake! Swam in the creek, built a fire and did lots of boy stuff! Luke was a day camper, coming home at bedtime. While they were away, I had a shopping trip with Mama. We spent over 2 hours in TJ Maxx. The next day we saved hundreds of dollars at Belk - It just wouldn't do for the boys to be gone too much !