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.