Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas once again and hope everyone else did too! I am enjoying my time at home with the boys. The pictures are of our various Christmas activities. Wishing everyone a very happy New Year!

Christmas

We are decorated for Christmas! Actually, we have been since the day after Thanksgiving but since I'm a Facebook addict now, my blog has taken a back seat:) We have always put our tree in the dining room since we moved into our new house but this year we put it in the living room so we could have a bigger tree. However, when we put the tree up and had to manipulate it to stay up and be straight we were reminded why we stopped buying big trees. So far, it hasn't fallen. Griffin has been taking the stockings down and wearing them as socks as you can see.
I went to the holiday market Thursday night with some friends and got some more of my Christmas shopping done. I still have a lot to do though. Oh, the other picture is from the last day of school before Thanksgiving break. Griffin had to dress up as either an Indian or Pilgram. I know the feathers should have been in the front but he didn't want to wear it that way.

Deer Hunting

After many hunting adventures, Gage shot his first deer Thursday. It's a doe but it was pretty big. He was very excited but not so much about having the blood rubbed on his face. Gene insisted it was a ritual that had to be done. Gene killed a buck a couple of weeks ago. He's having it mounted and thinks it's going on our wall. I, however, have a different opinion about that.

Catching Up!

I am happy to announce that I have the internet back!!! I never realized how much I did on the computer until I had to spend a month without it at home. Anyway, I'm trying to get caught up with some pictures. Griffin and I carved the pumpkin for Halloween. As you can tell by the look on his face, he was surprised to see the inside of the pumpkin (he sees it every year but I guess he still finds it gross). He dressed up for Batman for Halloween and Gage decided to go as himself this year. The other picture is of the boys roasting marshmallows in our living room, that was so much fun. We went to the game this past weekend to watch the Gamecocks dominate Arkansas. It was a good game, just a little cooler than we expected. I don't think we'll fair so well this week against Florida.

Gene is 30!

I'm running a little behind with my blogging but Gene turned 30 on Thursday! We gave him a gun safe and a cake then we took him out to eat before Gage's baseball game. We're having a party for him next weekend. The other pictures are from last weekend when Emery spent the night with us. We took her out to eat at Sumo's and she loved it. Whenever she's around it's more like having a baby doll with us. She's never bad or whines and she does what ever you tell her to do while she just sits around and looks cute. The only problem we have is getting her to leave the slide.

Happy Birthday Griffin

Griffin turned 6 on Sunday. We had his party at our house. Griffin wanted to have it at Bounce Around but after two years in a row I decided it was time for a change. So, we rented a bounce house and did a pirate theme. It turned out really cute and Griffin said it was "the greatest birthday he's ever had". He made out his own guest list and wanted to invite his whole kindergarten class but we were able to narrow it down to his closest friends and family. The only problem we had was with the cake. He just had to have the pirate ship cake, so after searching at 4 different stores we finally found one that had the kit to make it. I ordered the cake to be picked up on the day before the party and when we woke up on Sunday morning (party day) the cake had split into three pieces. I called the grocery store in a panic and luckily they were able to make us a new cake and we picked it up to make it back home about 5 minutes before the first guests arrived. So, moral of the story is no more fancy birthday cakes for us!

Go Gamecocks!

Against my better judgement, I took Gage and Griffin to the game Thursday, which means they didn't get in the bed until after midnight on a school night. We tried to leave the game early but they insisted we stay until the end. They were so good and were having so much fun that we let them talk us into staying. They even got up when I called them on Friday morning. We took them into the stadium early and they were able to talk to some of the players and I took their picture with Ryan Succop, which is my personal favorite on the team :) They can't wait until the Georgia game.
On Friday we went to Mallory's birthday party. Griffin's birthday is Sunday and it is sooo hard to believe that my baby is going to be 6!

First Day of School

Well, this morning was very stressful at our house, to say the least! Gage started middle school which meant for the first time in 6 years I was not allowed to walk him into class on the first day of school (his rule not the school's). To make me even more sad, Griffin started kindergarten today. Luckily, he did want me to walk him into class and even let me snap a quick picture. Of course, since I wasn't even allowed in Gage's school I couldn't take pictures:( It just amazes me how fast they grow up. Everyone's always said "enjoy them while they're little", but I'm really beginning to appreciate the meaning of that statement. It seems like they went from babies to young men overnight. After getting the kids to their schools for their first day I then had to go greet my class, which went well. All in all the kids and I survived our first day of school and I managed to make it without shedding any tears.
Someone gave me this poem a while back:
They are little only once, Lord. Grant me the
wisdom and patience to teach them to follow in your footsteps and prepare them for what is to come.
Make me take the time to play, pretend, to read or tell a story, to cuddle.
Don't let me for one minute think anything is more important thatn the school play, the recital, the big game, fishing or the quiet walk hand-in-hand.
All too soon, Lord, they will grow away and there is no turning back.
Let me have my memories with no regrets.
Please help me to be a good parent, Lord.

Party

Gage's baseball team had a pool party Saturday. The kids had a blast playing in the pool. Now we've moved on to another baseball team and we're already practicing. Gage decided not to travel this year since all of the tournaments were scheduled on Carolina home football games. We left the decision up to him but since we have season tickets we were glad he decided against it. He will be playing fall baseball at Polo road which is nice because they schedule their games around Carolina's football schedule for the Thursday night games and they don't play or practice on Saturday.

Cruise Pictures

Family Vacation

My family came to visit us from Tennessee for the 4th of July. We ate and shot fireworks. On the 5th we left to go to the beach for the week. We stayed in a house in Garden City. We had a good time and saw a lot of people we know there. It was nice to spend some time with my sister and her new baby, which I haven't seen since she was born in February. My brother announced that he is engaged to his long time girlfriend, Maggie. I am so excited for them, I love her! They are getting married next year on June 13, which is the day before Gene and I got married. I must say that although we had fun, I am glad to be back home and get my kids back to normal! We'll be packing again to leave for our cruise in 2 weeks. Friday night I took Gage & Griffin out to eat and to a movie so Gene could have his friends over to play cards and Gene played in a softball tournament for our church today so we're pretty exhausted. I think we're gonna try and get some rest if we don't go with our friends to Jammin in July.

Happy Father's Day and Anniversary!

Gene and I celebrated our eleventh wedding anniversary this weekend. Friday, he gave me flowers then on Saturday he took me out to eat at one of my favorite restaraunts, Solstice - we had a private table and a bottle of our favorite wine, it was very sweet!

For Father's Day, I had no idea what to get Gene, so I took the boys shopping with me Friday to help pick something out and they decided Daddy needed a TV for the bedroom, so that's what he got along with a home-made card from the boys (Gene thinks those are the best ones). Since Griffin's not a very good secret-keeper we gave Gene his gift Friday night. Needless to say he was very excited and loved it. He's a great dad to our boys. They would rather play with their daddy than do anything else in the world and even though I know he doesn't always feel like running outside or upstairs when they call for him, he rises to the occasion. He would do anything to make us happy and we love him very much!!!

Away at Camp

Gage went to Look up Lodge which is a church camp in Greenville. He was gone for 4 days and we really missed him. We were worried about him getting home sick since he wasn't allowed to call home unless it was an emergency. He went last year and after the first night he was missing us. This year he had a great time and although he missed us he didn't get home sick. While he was gone we took Griffin to see Kung Fu Panda. We had fun but we felt like we were missing something the whole time Gage was gone. We're glad to have you back home Gage!

Graduations

Griffin graduated from 4K a couple of weeks ago (I know I'm a little late). It was a very cute ceremony. Griffin counted from 1-100 and cited the one vowel rule. He was nervous but he did fine. Now its time for me to get ready for another first day of school. It doesn't seem like its been that long since I dropped Gage off on his first day of kindergarten and I was just pregnant with Griffin. The other picture is from Gage's 5th grade graduation/awards day. He won the presdential award for academic achievement along with some other awards. He's going to be in middle school now and I still can't believe that!