OUR CAROLINA CLAN

2010-02-13T11:20:00.001-08:00

2010-01-31T18:15:00.001-08:00

2009-10-23T11:46:00.001-07:00

2009-10-23T11:04:00.001-07:00

2009-09-09T16:59:00.001-07:00

Check out Jacob's Ford Toyota Tundra (long story:-)...Ol' Besse

2009-09-07T10:42:00.000-07:00

2009-09-07T10:36:00.001-07:00

hannah praying

2009-08-23T11:41:00.000-07:00

Hannah's new way of praying...not quite sure where she came up with this...she just used her cute little imagination I guess and made it up :-) Whenever it's her turn to pray though, this is now how she does it...dinner table, you name it!!!

F.Y.I grandma & grammy (0:

2009-08-21T10:52:00.000-07:00

If you scroll down to the music playlist...just push the pause button in order to hear the videos.

Hannah's "show"

2009-08-21T09:58:00.000-07:00

Fan Appreciation Day

2009-08-21T09:26:00.000-07:00

Hannah with the USC Gamecock cheerleaders

...and Cocky!!!

...and Big Spur!!!

Coach Spurrier:

The boys getting the players signatures:

The boys are so excited for football season!!! Go Gamecocks! :-)

Back to school

2009-08-21T09:19:00.000-07:00

Josh driving to school for the first time (making fun of me of course for taking his pic:-)...and Jacob and Nate (6th and 7th grade) ... Nate's first day of middle school:

Fan Appreciation Day

2009-08-21T09:13:00.000-07:00

We are true South Carolinians now...we were in the State newspaper!!! (0:

Josh's new car

2009-08-10T07:14:00.000-07:00

Josh is having a BLAST "fixing" up his new "toy"! It was considered a "project car" and he has already bought seat covers, fixed and spray painted a couple dents, put in a new antenna, and is actually in the garage as I type this working on his dashboard. With school getting ready to start, his life will now consist of God (church & youth group), family, friends, school, Gamecocks and his new "toy"...which he's calling his "Silver Bullet" :-) You see, his grandma has a thing with naming all cars and this is the name she and grandpa came up with. He is still looking for a job...worked a lot with his dad over the summer...and says he will spend his $ on Gamecocks (football, etc. tickets) and his car!!! He is LOVING it!!!!

Crossing a new milestone

2009-07-25T08:22:00.000-07:00

O.K...so I am officially "FREAKING OUT" right now...my 'baby' (Josh, that is, who is 16) is taking his class today so he can get his driver's license. Next week he will begin his 6 hours of Behind the Wheel and then takes his test. I am so NOT READY for this...I much prefer dealing with the toddler trauma. I know it will come in handy, and he is so responsible...BUT I also know I will be calling him and wanting to know where he is all time too. Is that bad??? He is ONLY 16...I don't know how much I can "let go" yet. I can see it right now, "Hold on guys, my 'mommy' is calling to check on me."...really! I know I can't do that... but how do you let your baby just go off in the world by himself??? I think I'm going to cry...

Goofin' off at Carowinds

2009-07-25T08:01:00.000-07:00

Carolina girls!

2009-07-17T13:26:00.001-07:00

Hannah enjoying a summer afternoon with some of her best friends.

Picking blueberries with my Lindy Loo...

2009-07-17T06:16:00.000-07:00

...and eating a yummy homemade blueberry popsicle:

2009-07-13T07:19:00.001-07:00

Nate's 11 birthday at the lake

2009-07-01T20:16:00.000-07:00

2009-07-01T20:15:00.001-07:00

2009-05-22T13:02:00.001-07:00

The toilet paper tower

2009-05-22T12:38:00.000-07:00

This is a pic of my sweet little girl who was suppose to be in bed...but instead, I walk into my bedroom to see a tower she made of toilet paper!!! The things this child thinks of when she's stalling just cracks us up...which of course only encourages her more. And then of course I have to take a picture of it:

2009-05-06T13:04:00.001-07:00

Jacob's 6th grade band concert

2009-05-06T12:27:00.000-07:00

Playing Star Wars...unbelievable how much this band learned in one year:

Easter day

2009-04-13T13:33:00.001-07:00

2009-04-13T13:31:00.001-07:00

Fort Sumter in Charleston

2009-04-13T13:16:00.002-07:00

2009-04-13T13:16:00.001-07:00

Fancy Nancy tea party

2009-04-13T12:31:00.001-07:00

2009-04-13T12:30:00.001-07:00

2009-04-13T12:24:00.001-07:00

playhouse disney live

2009-03-06T13:27:00.001-08:00

music

2009-02-26T12:38:00.001-08:00

Hannah teaching Nate's class how to count!

2009-02-22T12:36:00.000-08:00

The Valentine hunt

2009-02-22T12:08:00.000-08:00

Hannah had to follow the trail of heart candies (which of course she ate along the way) to find part of her little Valentine suprise. Notice her giggle when she saw her Valentine petshop pets (she loves those little guys) and her Dora chocolates. And the boys each had a box of Valentine chocolates they had to find and poor Josh couldn't find his until I realized that Bill (not knowing it) was sitting on top of it. Ooops!!! It was hiding under the cushion on the rocking chair and Bill was sitting on it rocking back & forth. We got a good laugh at least.

And then Friday night when I took the boys to Winter Jam, Bill decided to take his little girl out on a date night. He asked her where she would like to go and she said "The Mall!" (My kind of girl:-) So, off they went...she was sooo excited from the start because she got to ride in Daddy's truck which she LOVES to do. She got to pick out a new nightgown (princess of course). Then he let her get Chick-Fil-a, her favorite restaraunt and a strawberry julius. And no trip to the mall is complete without a ride on the carasoul. As if that was not enough, he then took her to build-a-bear to make a teddy bear. And she really wanted her bear to roar so it looks like a bear but sounds like a dinosaur. What a fun date night Hannah and daddy had together!

winter jam

2009-02-22T12:05:00.001-08:00

Ooops!!!

2009-02-21T14:52:00.000-08:00

hannah's valentine luncheon

2009-02-15T06:16:00.001-08:00

Off to school already???

2009-02-07T19:06:00.000-08:00

My little stinkpot just up and decided it was time for her to go to pre-school so she grabbed Nate's bookbag and headed to the front door. I think I am going to cry!!!

Josh's 16th birthday

2009-02-02T12:56:00.001-08:00

Snow Day

2009-01-20T16:44:00.001-08:00

Nate's orchestra concert

2009-01-20T16:21:00.000-08:00

Playing dress up!

2009-01-20T16:15:00.000-08:00

A moment to treasure...

2009-01-18T10:40:00.000-08:00

Hannah is our little chatter box, to say the least, and she wants to know "how?" and "why?" about EVERYTHING! During her bath time the other evening, she started by asking me who made her hair. So, I explained to her that Jesus made ALL of her. Then, of course she had to look around and point to everything in sight and ask, "Did Jesus make that?", etc. etc., and since she is too young to get too complicated, I simply told her that Jesus made everything and everyone. Then I told her that in fact I asked Jesus to give me a little girl and He gave me YOU!!! She looked at me in the eyes very seriously, reached to hug me, and said, "Oh mom!!! That is so beautiful!".... and she is only 2! Priceless!

True and dedicated Gamecock fans!!! (even though we lost...actually got killed!)

2009-01-06T18:30:00.000-08:00

Bill and Josh had some awesome father/son time as they drove down to Tampa Bay, Florida on New Years to watch the Gamecocks play in the Outback bowl (Josh's 16th birthday present from grandma & grandpa)...

unfortunately the game didn't go as well as planned...but they had a blast anyway...here is a pic Josh took as the Gamecocks were coming from the bus into the stadium...Josh got a chance to shake hands with his favorite players which was probably the highlight...he said they were "So PUMPED!" he thought for sure they would win!...

they even got there hours early...what true fans they are...notice the "empty" stadium which soon was PACKED!!!...

Then after the game they drove over the bay to St. Petersburg for the remainder of the afternoon. Thank you grandma & grandpa for making this possible for Josh...the best birthday present ever!!!:-)

fireworks fun on new years eve...

2009-01-01T12:00:00.000-08:00

while the girls (both hannah's) tried to stay warm...

Christmas with our family

2008-12-25T16:26:00.001-08:00

our annual gingerbread house decorating extravaganza:

2008-12-21T13:53:00.000-08:00

Snow at the zoo!

2008-12-18T17:06:00.001-08:00

Our "little" drummer boy

2008-12-11T06:03:00.000-08:00

Jacob plays percussion in the middle school band and this was his Christmas concert. He has had a small size drum set in his bedroom for years that he has banged on but this is his first year actually playing in a band. He had to try out at the beginning of the year and he made it in and now he is already learning to read music and we were sooo impressed at the recital. The 6th graders only did "pieces" of songs but they played 5 different songs and sounded wonderful! We got a kick out of watching Jacob and the other percussionists move around in the back to "trade" instruments each song. Drums are definitely his favorite but he also likes the bells. He got to play the drums for "Little Drummer Boy" and I couldn't believe that was my"little" boy up there:) Guess we really have a drummer now!!!

Visit with Santa

2008-12-09T06:06:00.000-08:00

Santa, Will you please bring me a new dollhouse, and a barbie doll and a horsey, maybe a pink scooter, and a Dora backpack, oh! the Elephant game, some mice for my mouse house, a Tinkerbell movie, some lipgloss, oh! and I LOVE candy and lollipops too!!! Ofcourse I prefer "pink" lollipops though. oh yes and I love to sing, maybe you could bring me a microphone. Thanks Santa! And don't forget my mommy could use some of that kitchen cleanser stuff I saw on that commercial to help her clean the kitchen because that is what mommy likes to do:) Thank you Santa!

Our little artist!

2008-12-02T16:42:00.000-08:00

Hannah colored a Thanksgiving turkey for a coloring contest at Bank of America a couple weeks ago and we got a call today saying that "Miss Hannah is the winner!" So we walked in the bank this afternoon to claim her prize (thinking that it will be a candy cane or something like that...she was excited just to go and get her usual pink lollipop)...and when we walked in the door I was very suprised that the ladies knew who we were as they yelled, "Miss Hannah is here!" The lady in charge of the contest came running out from her little office and they all clapped for her...it was soooo cute and she was so proud! And then they handed her a $25 gift card for Wal-mart...how cool is that??? I was so suprised! Mind you, her "art work" was that of a typical 2 year old..."scribbling"...must have been "age appropriate":) It was very colorful! Funny thing though, she looked at the gift card with a "confused" look...I'm sure she was thinking "all I get is a little card?" She then asked for her pink lollipop and was as pleased as could be.

Our family Thankgiving in Carolina

2008-11-30T19:42:00.001-08:00

2008-11-26T14:08:00.000-08:00

The kids had the day off of school today so my girlfriend Heather and I let the boys do a sleepover here at our house and stay home (Josh in charge!) playing videogames all morning while we took the girls on at outing to "Monkey Business". Here are a few pics from our girls morning out:

Monkey Business...

2008-11-26T13:58:00.000-08:00

2008-11-22T15:34:00.000-08:00

Well Bill just got home from a 2 1/2 week business trip to Australia. He went to a town called "Hope Island" which was outside of Brisbane. He stayed in a little condo on a bay while he was installing cabinets for a man who lives there (well when the 24 "thousand" sq. foot house is ready, that is:) But it was a beautiful resort town in Australia. Of course most of Bill's time was spent working, but he did get a chance to walk through a rain forest and visit an animal sanctuary where he got to hand feed the kangaroos and hold a cuddly koala bear. Here are the pics...

Australia

2008-11-22T15:18:00.001-08:00

2008-11-15T19:06:00.000-08:00

We are all excited dad (" daddy" to Hannah:) is on his way home from a business trip he took to Australia!!! (Since I messed up his camera at the beach last summer:), he took mine along to take pictures, hence the lack of pics and posts the last couple weeks) So, hopefully I will have a few pictures up soon from "down under".
I just home Bill doesn't get sick when he gets home traveling from summer weather to the colder weather here on the East coast. The Fall colors here have been beautiful the past few weeks and we are now hitting the 30's at night and only highs in the 50's and 60's during the day. Anyway, I will share more about his Australia trip when I get the pictures to post (hopefully he will have taken some as he is not the "picture taker" in our family:)!!!

Trick-or-treat!

2008-11-01T07:42:00.000-07:00

My fairy princess at library story time...

2008-10-31T13:25:00.000-07:00

Boo at the Zoo with my fairy princess

2008-10-30T12:50:00.001-07:00

Harmon's pumpkin patch and hay ride

2008-10-20T11:04:00.001-07:00

2008-10-17T12:30:00.000-07:00

I pulled the kids out of school early Wednesday (in order to miss the HUGE crowds over the weekend) and we headed off to the state fair. Bill was out of town so it was just the kiddos and me. Well, actually the boys got their wrist bands for unlimited rides (since that's all they cared about:) and they took off. So, Hannah and I enjoyed our afternoon together (which is why almost all the pictures are of her:) We found the boys a couple times and got a couple shots of them on the rides. There were hardly any lines so they hit EVERYTHING and there were a TON of rides there. They were actually pooped by the end of the day. As were Hannah and I. We missed having dad with us though:(

a day at the fair

2008-10-17T12:07:00.001-07:00

our 2 hour tour through the corn maze

2008-10-14T06:22:00.001-07:00

Prayer Request:

2008-10-13T13:43:00.000-07:00

Please keep my friend, Michelle, and her family in your prayers as she just lost her baby. She was Josh's favorite teacher in elementary school. Check out her link under my blogs: Castro family...what a wonderful testimony!!!

jacob's birthday take 2...with family

2008-10-10T11:25:00.001-07:00

morning out with my lil' carolina girl

2008-10-06T18:13:00.001-07:00

This post is for my grandma and grammy...

2008-10-05T12:49:00.000-07:00

This is the smock dress mommy got me when we were in Newberry. (She took the pic after I played in the park so as you can see my hair is a mess and my bows are falling off my shoulder) but anyway you can see what my mommy was talking about at how easy it would be for you to make these cute dresses for me:) Just a little hint in case you get bored and decide to take out your sewing machines on a rainy day:) Love you grandma and grammy...miss you!

An afternoon in downtown Newberry

2008-10-05T12:37:00.001-07:00

Happy 12th birthday Jacob!

2008-10-03T17:50:00.000-07:00

Suprise!!! He knew about his sleepover but his friends beat his bus after school so everyone was here when he walked in. They played dodgeball on the trampolene, played some video games, went on an "air heads" treasure hunt all over the house, had pizza and ice-cream cake, put together some legos Jacob got, and now they are all watching "Iron Man". And tomorrow I was planning on taking the kids to a Fall Festival they are having in one of the nearby towns but we have to be back for the Gamecocks at 2pm. I'm sure I'll have some tired kids tomorrow! At least Hannah's in bed. She's so funny, when we were eating the cake she kept thanking Jacob for his birthday so she could have cake. And she was sooo excited for him to open his presents but I think she was dissapointed there was nothing cute or "girly" for her to play with:)

Our newest addition...Happy Birthday Jacob!

2008-10-01T05:16:00.000-07:00

Jacob has been asking for a parakeet, so we let him pick one out last night for his birthday present. Can our house get any noisier??? Josh has a cockatiel so now with 4 kids, 2 dogs and 2 birds...we are turning into our own little zoo:) But, really, he (or she?) don't know which yet...too young to tell, but he is a beautiful tropical blue color and he is sooo sweet!!! Already loves to be held (and you never know with a parakeet what kind of temperament they'll have at first) but this one LOVES to be held and is not biting...Jacob is so thrilled!!! He named him Kokomo...calls him "Koko" for short.

I'm a big girl now!

2008-09-28T13:14:00.000-07:00

Look at my big girl!!! She went on the potty today for the very first time! Her incentive was these little doggies she really wanted for her little"mouse house" she LOVES to play with. It was soooo cute...I kept telling her all she had to do was "go" in her potty so today she decided she wanted to take off her diaper and REALLY try this time. So, we went about a half hour-45 min. with no diaper and I'm not kidding she kept going to sit on her potty, probably about 15-20 times. We brought it to her room so she could play and Bill was SUPPOSEDLY playing with her (although he was actually trying to nap on her carpet:) while I was cleaning the kitchen. I sent Josh up to check on the "two" of them and he walks in and says "What's that smell in here?" So, sure enough, Bill looks in her potty and THERE IT WAS!!! I hear Josh yell, "She did it!" so we all ran upstairs (yes, this is a very exciting event for the whole family:) She was sooo excited! The first thing out of her mouth (after we all calmed down) was "My doggies!" So, off we went to the toy store (good thing there's one just around the corner:) and here is a pic of the proud "big" girl:

Take me out to the ballgame!!!

2008-09-22T11:41:00.000-07:00

Jacob's opening scrimmage game for the season was Saturday morning...looking forward to a fun fall baseball season with the "Riverdogs"!!!

And here's dad and Nate later that afternoon off to Nate's first Gamecocks game...he had a BLAST! And we won!!! Go USC!!!

Just being cute!

2008-09-19T10:35:00.000-07:00

She put on Jacob's baseball cap and said, "Let's play baseball, mommy!" I'm really pushing for the dance (which so far she LOVES) and the "girly" stuff, but I have to admit she looks pretty darn cute wearing a baseball cap:)

The results from eating "1" oreo:)!!!

Josh's 1st high school ring:

2008-09-17T05:47:00.000-07:00

Josh's ROTC won best in the state and they were able to purchase these winning rings with their names, etc. engraved on them. I couldn't get a good picture(hoping Santa will bring me a new camera for Christmas) but it's really neat. Josh's lawn mowing paid off!:) We told him just don't ever let a girlfriend talk you into letting her have your ring:) "He's not dating yet, just for future awareness!" I think we've scared him off from girls anyway with all our talk about how pesty and how much trouble they can be. He's having too much fun just hanging out with his buddies and going to football games, etc.

We're off to a busy start this school year...

2008-09-12T10:24:00.000-07:00

Here's a pic I just couldn't resist of Nate and Hannah reading together on my bed last night:

Well, school's off to a strong start...kids are doing great! Josh is taking health science classes at school and, for those of you who don't already know this, he plans to become a doctor. He is currently getting CPR trained and certified. He's already coming home and telling me what I can't feed Hannah anymore (ie. chicken nuggets due to plaque build-up on the heart from the batter)...oh boy! living with a "doctor" in the house might not be too fun:) He plans to go to USC "Carolina" and then to med school in Charleston. He's only a Sophomore in high school this year but they had to pick a career plan last year so they can plan their classes around it and he chose this field. So far is really excited about it. He is also in ROTC at school and is getting more involved with his youth group at church.

Jacob was thrilled to make the drum section in band this year at the middle school. He's also playing baseball again. And Nate is doing "strings" at school and he chose the viola. He is also practicing tennis with dad (he used to play) when we can squeeze it in to the schedule. And Hannah started tap and her and I are also doing MOPS, library story time, and a bible study. So we are keeping plenty busy this school year.

Oh and can't forget Gamecock football...Josh is working at the game tomorrow, Saturday, with his ROTC and Bill is taking Jacob this time. So, Nate and Hannah and I will be watching from home.

GO COCKS!!!

Prayer Request:

2008-09-10T12:12:00.000-07:00

For our family and friends who do not know the Kostjuk family (a family from our church back in California), their baby daughter Reese has been in the hospital since she was born. She is about 10 months now and it looks like she will soon be going "home" to be with the Lord. She has serious health problems and has even had a tracheotomy. But, they thought they would be bringing her home with them soon and even moved to a one story house for her. But she took a turn for the worse the other day, the doctors had to revive her and she is now basically on life support. They have decided to take her off her sedatives as she will not be in pain and see if she will be able to be stable on her own or not. If not, they have to make a decision and if they keep her on sedatives, she is unresponsive. They are praying the Lord will make that decision so they do not have to. Please check out their blog under my links, "Kostjuk family" and keep them in your prayers these next few days especially.

Our little dancer...

2008-09-09T17:22:00.000-07:00

Hannah had her very first tap/clogging class today...this is a pic of her right after I put on her tap shoes...she was very excited to get to "business"... Here's a pic of her trying to "shimmy"...

She did get sad when her teacher made all the parents leave but I think once she gets more comfortable she'll be O.K. I told her I would stay and watch her from the other room. Next week they get music and pom-poms...I think she'll like that, she LOVES dancing to music. The teacher asked the 4 little girls what their favorite colors are and I think one said "red" and Hannah and another girl said "pink" so she said she's going to try to do their costumes for the recital in red and pink...how cute!!! Don't know if Hannah will actually stay on stage for it, but at least she'll look cute anyway:)

monkeying around at the zoo

2008-09-06T14:44:00.001-07:00

Chapin Labor Day parade

2008-09-01T09:14:00.000-07:00

Josh's high school ROTC: poor Josh...his brothers were determined to embarrass him. We couldn't find Josh at first (so I finally just snapped this picture so I'd at least have one) but Jacob and Nate start yelling out, "Oh Josh! Josh! Where are you? We can't find you!!!! You all look the same!! Josh! Oh, there you are Josh! Hi Josh! Hi Josh!" etc. etc. ...Poor Josh....he was trying so hard not to laugh and to look forward and concentrate on his marching.

And this one had a ball catching and eating all the candy, and putting on the stickers, etc. Her favorite I think were the Miss teen Chapin and South Carolina, etc. with their gowns and crowns. She was waving saying, "Hi Princess! Hi Princess"!

And these 2 got more candy than Halloween I think!!! Of course Jacob got twice as much as he kept holding out his bag yelling, "candy for the poor...candy for the poor!" That child is so embarrassing!!! Don't know where he came from:)

Baking an apple pie with mommy...

2008-08-28T05:23:00.000-07:00

Uh-Oh!!!!

2008-08-28T05:19:00.000-07:00

We had to have our very first time-out today! Very sad!:(

our trip to the apple orchard...

2008-08-25T11:07:00.000-07:00

hannah riding with her friend lindy... she filled up her little basket all by herself and even insisted on carrying it herself...

just a pretty pic of the beautiful blue ridge mountains...can't wait to go back in Fall for pumpkins and see all the colors...

hannah holding hands with her friend, Erin (who she calls "Moona" for some reason)...

jacob hangin' out..

and Nate...

Jacob, Nate and Kie goofin' off on the haystack..

a stroll through the bamboo forest...

A BEAUTIFUL DAY AT THE APPLE ORCHARD!

Back to school...

2008-08-21T16:43:00.000-07:00

The boys getting ready to take off for their 1st day back to school..."can you tell the smiley faces are fake?!?"... But here is Nate getting off the bus...he had a good day nonetheless.

Jacob came home pooped after his 1st day of middle school. But he said he really liked it and had no problems finding classes, etc. He took off on the bus this morning and I was dying all day to know how he did. But if you know boys...they don't give you too much information without you prying so I had the cookies all ready so hopefully he would tell me all about it:)...kind of worked! Of course the face is a "Oh brother, mom...not another picture" face:)

P.S. Josh did super also...loved his day and classes. And Hannah asked if she could go to school too. Daddy told her that mommy still needs her home for a while and she said, "O.K!"

End of summer weekend...

2008-08-18T11:07:00.000-07:00

So, we decided to take one last trip to the amusement park before school begins this Thursday. Well, actually the kids lucked out because I took them on Friday with Nate's buddy, Kie and his family for Kie's birthday (Happy Birthday Kie! 'even though you ARE a clemson fan:)...and we had a great time with his family. It was sooo funny, Nate had on his Gamecock jersey and Kie his Clemson Tiger jersey (these are the 2 rivals of South Carolina...everyone is one or the other...so funny!) and Kie's dad won them both footballs and of course they picked USC and Clemson ones)...you have to understand...it's rare to have these 2 rivals in the same household...it's called "a house divided" if you do...and they definitely got lots of comments...but it's all in fun for them:) "Go Gamecocks!!!"
So, since Bill didn't get to go with us "my other boy:)", he wanted to go on Sunday as a family before the kids go back to school. (We have passes) So, the boys had one last day to soak it all in...they made us take turns going on rollercoasters with them this time (instead of me hanging out in the kids land the whole time) and boy is my throat sore today! We're getting too old...we're pooped! So sad! Here is a pic of the boys on the bumper cars:
Here is Nate... Jacob bumping into dad...

Hannah watching daddy and her boys...

The spoiled princess...

I asked Bill to get her a little lollipop while we were riding the rollercoaster, and this is what he came back with!

And just look at this face...she was COVERED in lollipop!!!

And funny story...(well, kinda':)...a little girl asked Hannah what her name is and she replied, "Princess!" (Ugh-Oh!!!)

Just an ordinary day...

2008-08-12T12:09:00.000-07:00

Step 2: from crib to toddler bed:

2008-08-08T08:24:00.000-07:00

We went ahead and did the toddler bed and she is sooo excited to have her first "big girl" bed!!! She picked out her Tinkerbell blanket and does absolutely wonderful at naptime AND bedtime...in fact, she still calls me when she wakes up before she gets out of bed. One night I put her to bed and she got out to play but I told her she needed to get back in bed and I closed her door. I walked to my room to peek on her through the video monitor (how did I manage with the boys without this???) and she had already climbed in bed and was off to sleep!!! As long as she has her princess music playing, her tinkerbell nightlight on, and her blanky, she is all good:)

Nate's 1st tennis lesson:

2008-07-30T10:00:00.000-07:00

He had his first tennis lesson today and he loved it! The instructor even told him he was the best he's ever had for a very first lesson:) He's played with his dad (who used to play some in high school) a couple times, but he did really well...and he looked about as sweaty as Josh when I pick him up from football. I think he's found his "nitch"!!! If he keeps it up, the high school has a good tennis team too!

just 4 fun!

2008-07-29T10:53:00.000-07:00

pb&honey playdough fun!

we are "fish sitting" for our neighbor...Hannah just LOVES animals and pets of any sort!!! Here she is lovin' her doggy..

Jacob and his friend, Matthew goofing off at the pool...

Hannah LOVES playing with dishes...

Here she is watching cartoons with her friends, Lindy and Erin (who she calls "Moona"...no clue where that came from but it stuck and now she has me calling her Moona)...

That's all!!!

I'm a big girl!!!

2008-07-26T11:41:00.000-07:00

Since I've caught her with her entire leg over the bars of her crib a couple times, we decided it was time for step one toward her "big girl bed". Bill took the side off her crib yesterday morning and she did soooo good for both her nap and bedtime last night. She went right to sleep...no problem! In fact, I just put her down for her nap today and again, no problem. She actually climbed out for a minute but I told her she needed to take her nap, I walked out of the room and watched her on the video monitor and she climbed right back in. I'm so proud of her!!! She was so excited to get a big girl bed like our neighbor (her friend), Vanessa! That was the first thing she said, "It's like Vanessa's bed!" She was so proud! When I was pregnant we got this baby furniture to get us by for the first 2-3 years, (which is kind of funny because she is child #4 and the only one we had to buy baby furniture for...we got rid of the other that was given to us after Nate)...anyway, we can't wait to go shopping for cute, frilly little girl furniture. Bill's thinking the princess canopy bed, I'm thinking more of the off-white with detailed etching (maybe canopy) and pottery barn style bright floral prints to go with it. We'll have to see, either way we will wait a bit, probably when she's 3! For now, I need to go out and get her the side rail thingy so she doesn't fall out at least:) Boy they grow too fast!!!

Blueberry muffins

2008-07-24T15:01:00.000-07:00

We went blueberry picking again today and this time I made some muffins before they were all gone. I went on-line to check out some different recipe's and I found this one that looked the yummiest. It was called "To die for blueberry muffins". And boy are they yummy with a cinnamon crumble topping. But, would you believe after we spent over an hour picking and we had dumped all the blueberries in the basket, I let one of the boys hold them (we won't mention any names here) but yup! ...he dropped and spilled the whole entire bucket of blueberries!!!:) ALL OVER!!! So, we picked them up of the dirty ground and payed for them anyway, nothing a little water can't rinse off...right?? The lady that owns the farm was so sweet though. I think she felt sorry for me and since we had lost some in this little "accident", she added a fresh bowl full she had picked with no charge! So sweet!!! Anyway, the muffins are yummy just the same!

Guess who???

2008-07-24T14:59:00.000-07:00

Check out this awesome backyard!!!

2008-07-21T11:46:00.000-07:00

This house on the lake belongs to one of the moms from Hannah's playgroup we occasionally attend. Oh my goodness, they have their own personal beach! It's gorgeous.

Goofin'off at Carowinds...

2008-07-21T11:26:00.000-07:00

Hannah LOVES singing and dancing...especially with her favorite Nicktoons:

Dora and Diego...and can't forget Spongebob! (She just HAD to grab his nose too!)

Look at my crazy girl already on rollercoasters!!!

And of course Daddy had to prove how strong he was when this other daddy that was walking by challenged him to the hammer game. A "boy" just can't say "No!" to a good competition you know. (But of course Hannah's daddy won!:)) Hannah was very excited to choose a doggy and she tells everyone her daddy won this and shows them a hammering motion while she says "Kaboom!" She's so proud!

Blueberry picking!

2008-07-19T06:52:00.000-07:00

I took the kids blueberry picking yesterday...something we've never done before. It was fun and so worth it. At the end between all the kids we had about about a bag full and it only cost $3.00. (Not to mention all the blueberry's Hannah ate!) She ate more than she had in her bag. We are going to go back next week and pick some more...they are already all gone!

And at the end the kids cooled off with some blueberry popsicles...Yummy!

Our trip to Hilton Head Island!!!

2008-07-16T08:06:00.000-07:00

We took our motorhome to a little island on the southern tip of South Carolina. We spent a few days here riding our bikes around the island on bike trails, swimming in the warm ocean water, and walking around the harbor. Here's a pic of us riding to the beach (which was about 1-2 miles from the campground):

And here's a gator that we caught swimming under the bridge we were riding on:

Here we are on the harbor and we found out that we have a little "rock star":

It was sooo funny! She just climbed up on this stage and grabbed the end of the electrical cord (unplugged of course) and pretended it was a microphone and started singing and dancing!!! No joke! Some people were sitting in rocking chairs nearby and they started cracking up and clapping for her...which made her do even more! They were such sports, they clapped after every song! I think she's a natural performer!

And here's a pic of us on the top of the lighthouse! We had to climb 114 steps to get up there! And of course our little miss "independent" wanted to do it all by herself!!! (I know what you're thinking mom!!!)

And here we are at the crazy crab for lunch...my boys LOVE fish (Yuk!):

Double yuck!!!

Back at the campground:

Grilling burgers for dinner:

Taking "froggy" for a walk:

Playing at the beach:

And here's Nate after he got stung by a jellyfish!!! The lifeguard sprayed him with something and told him to put sand and the salt water on it to make the "sting" go away:

And here's a few pics of our little princess:

Hair Bows!!!

2008-07-09T06:59:00.000-07:00

Like her new hairstyle??? The boys decided to do her hair while I was in the shower this morning! I never know what I'll find when I let the boys babysit!

The Carolina princesses...

2008-07-07T10:34:00.000-07:00