Emmy's 5th Grade Graduation

Emmy is growing up!! I can't hardly stand it.  She will be in middle school

 this year and recently had her 5th grade graduation.  It was short and

sweet, just the way we like it. 

She had a great year and we will really miss Timber Drive, but she's super

excited about going to middle school and so is her BFF Abby.

 Sydney, Ashlyn, Emmy....Emmy is by far the shortest of all her friends.  We

hope she gets a bottom locker next year because I don't think she'll be able

to reach the hooks in the top:))

 The moms went in together and got the girls a limo to pick them up from school after graduation.  First they went to Pelicans and had a snow cone and then it took them to Kaze to have lunch.

They thought it was so fun, the only drawback is what will they be expecting when prom rolls

around.  Maybe a helicopter ride?

 

 Emmy is so lucky to have such a large group of good girls to hang out with.  I hope they will

continue to stay close, especially through middle school.

 Her best cousin Elise even got to go along for the ride and that is Emmy's

sweet friend Haven sitting beside her.  Such pretty girls.

 Here they are at Pelicans.  Can I just say it was over 100 degrees that day.  It was

so stinking hot. Gotta love NC.

 Even Charlesy and his best friend Hartley, who happens to be Haven's little

brother got to join in on the fun. 

Finally, we arrived at Kaze, a Japanese steak house, and had lunch.  It was fun

especially with the cool tricks the cooks did.  That little boy is Connel.  He has a slight

crush on Emmy and told her a few days before school got out that he considered her his

best friend.  He also said, "you're always nice to me and make me feel good about

myself."  How sweet is that??  That boys got great taste if I do say so myself.



Marbles

I finally brought my camera with me to the famed Marbles on our last visit. I went with my bestfriend since 1st grade, Joelle and her daughter Ava, or Aba as my kids say. We had a blast. We try to get together once a week and Marbles is one of our favorite places, especially since we have a family membership. It was surprisingly not packed, I guess everyone with any sense with cautious minds are staying home trying to avoid the swine flu. They had some new exhibits since our last visit and one was the Mr. Potato Head exhibit. Mr. Potato Head came out to shake hands and I think literally about 80% of the children were terrified of him. They started running and crying. It was hilarious, mainly because they weren't my kids. Ava was terrified, but when she saw Ally hug him she decided he wasn't so scary.

Here they are driving the car.

Joelle and Ally smiling for the camera.

This was Ally at one of the new exhibits. Not sure what it's called.

Farewell to October

October, my favorite month, is finally gone and I miss it already. Charles-Allen keeps saying that he misses Halloween and I know how he feels. But I 'm glad for November, Emmy tracks out and it's usually the only time we don't go somewhere during a track out. I feel like November is a time to slow down and just be thankful for what we have, and what we don't have that we don't want.

We had a blast at the State Fair with friends and family.

Somehow, Ally managed to get even sweeter during the month of October.

We went trunk-or-treating at church and trick-or-treating at Aunt Kristen's house.

And through it all Parker tagged along and was probably wondering what kind of crazy family she had been born into.

Ode To Summer 2009

Summer has come and gone and although I'm sad to see it go, I'm left with a lot of great memories and a longing for summer to come again.

We've spent the summer kissing on babies, especially

our new little one.....

.

We celebrate birthdays and

our Nations birthday.

we've played ball....and with friends...

We've slept, and snuggled

We've been lazy....

and we've been sweet.

We've had fun in the sun in Orlando, Myrtle Beach, White Lake and my personal favorite Topsail Island, but most importantly we've been together.

So here's hoping that next year is as good as this year.

Ten Things I Love About This Collage

10. The fact that it's a collage.

In case you haven't noticed I'm loving the collage maker on Picasa.

9. Green grass

8. Watermelon

7. Water games

6. Bathing suits

5. Summertime

4. Kids laughing

3. My shinny new deck.

2. Stealing kisses from babies

1. COUSINS-they're the best!

It's Been A While....

Neal and I went to our 15 year high school reunion last weekend. It's been a while since we've seen so many of our old friends. It was neat, but weird at the same time. Neal and I dated throughout high school and we have a lot of the same friends. It was neat to see how some people haven't changed much, and weird to see that some have changed a lot. I also got to see a dear friend that I taught with for 5 years. I miss her sooo much and it was good to catch up and see how her oldest daughter has grown. Time sure does fly by.

Neal and my best friend since 1st grade Joelle.

Me, Debra and Melanie-I taught with Debra and Melanie before moving up to Wake County and I went to high school with Melanie.

We have this exact pose from our Junior and Senior proms.