Yard Work!!

We have been trying to get this yard looking better, but it is a lot of work! We have had cold and rainy Saturdays a lot it seems like!!  Last Sat. we had a beautiful day so we decided to see what we could get done! We raked leaves and trimmed a few bushes/trees...after almost 9 hours we had 63...YES you read that right..63 big bags of leaves and branches!!!  Sheesh!  I think we found about 5 more feet of yard we didn't even know we had! lol... It's still a work in progress, but hopefully it will get there soon!!  Ü

BUSY....

Soccer has started again so things are about to get even busier around here!!  Aubrey is on the JV girls soccer team at school and she LOVES it!!  They had their first game last week- they ended up tied 2-2. A girl on the other team hurt her back and couldn't be moved off the field until the ambulance came.. so they called the game.  (still haven't heard - I hope she is ok!!)

She chose #7 this year!  (a good number in our family!)  

In second grade they do Living History Museum- Each child picks a historical person to research. They memorize facts about that person and then parents and other kids in the school come to the "museum" and hear about the history!  Damon decided he wanted to do Michael Jackson. (he is obsessed with him for some reason)  Here are some pics I took from the museum!

Scooter Fun!

Damon wanted to make a little ramp for his scooter this weekend- so with the help of James, a board, and a few bricks, they came up with a little one!

Winter Gala

Jaymz school has a Gala (dance) every couple of months which is basically their fundraisers for the year. They are usually on a Friday night and they have food, a game room, take pics, and dancing of course!  The 6th graders have to leave at 9:00 pm, 7th graders at 9:30 and 8th graders get to stay until 10:00!  They are pretty fun and most everyone goes.  We were asked to take the pics for the Christmas Gala.  James took the pics and I helped get them into groups and looking good! It was really fun to see all the kids and get to hang out!!  Here are a few of J and his friends! There is a whole group from church that go to school together and hang out!!

Its lovely weather for a sleigh ride together....

Jaymz and Erin

The Crew

Hello again...

Yes I realize it has been forever since I have blogged.. don't know what my problem is! I think I got too far behind and kind of gave up.. but here goes again! Going to try and be better since we have no family close to see our every day mischief!! (although I know most everyone see's my facebook posts!)

So a lot has gone on since I last blogged but Im just going to start from recent so I don't feel too overwhelmed!

We bought a house a couple of weeks ago! We are so excited to be in it and finally feel like we are going to settle somewhere! They kept pushing back the closing so it was very stressful, but finally in the afternoon of Dec. 22nd we signed all the paperwork!! It was interesting trying to get everything moved and put away so we could have somewhat of a normal Christmas! BUT- We did it! We about killed ourselves doing it, but we got it done!! We have some AWESOME friends that came over and worked hard to help us get in! We definitely couldn't have done it without them!! I have had lots of requests for pics- and I don't feel like it is where I want it to be, but it will do for now! Im not talented in the decorating area so it will be a work in progress!!

FRONT DOOR



LIVING ROOM

GAME ROOM

JAYMZ ROOM


DAMONS ROOM

AUBREYS ROOM


KITCHEN
FORMAL DINING ROOM
FRONT ENTRY
MASTER BATH
MASTER BEDROOM

Christmas was great! We were all exhausted but it was good. We went to church, hung out with some friends and relaxed at home!

On the 28th Aubrey had to get 8 teeth pulled!! 4 wisdom teeth and 4 others (to make room for her braces to do what they need to do) The poor thing did GREAT! She was most nervous of the IV! She was hilarious coming out of the anesthesia! I got some on video for her to see! She was really swollen for a few days and both cheeks were bruised! She hasn't had much pain though so that was really nice!!

BOXING

So, Damon is really into boxing these days! He wants to be a professional boxer when he grows up! He is a strong and tough kid so I think he could do great at it, but that's definitely not what I would have chosen for him!!

He told us a while ago that he was going to make his birthday really easy for us this year and he only wanted to invite 1 person to his party. He kept trying to make us promise that is what he could do- so I got a little suspicious!! I said well who is the friend you want to invite?? He said JUST Manny Pacquiao!! (his favorite boxer) He's hilarious!!

There is a gym by our house that does boxing. James works out there on the weekends and knows the owner really well. He talked to him about getting Damon into boxing. He told him that they usually don't take kids until they are 8 years old because their attention span isn't usually there. He told him to bring him over a couple of times to try it and he would see what he thought! (Damon won't be 8 until Nov) So we took him there a couple of times and he absolutely LOVED it! The coach told me he was better than the 10 year old and he was really focused and did great! So, Damon has been taking now for a few weeks! He absolutely loves it! It helps get some energy out and he is learning a lot! I keep reminding him that we only box in the ring-- NOT at school or if someone makes us mad! (that is what makes me nervous!!) So far so good though!

This last pic is Damon and Deontay Wilder (an Olympic medalist) He is from Alabama and came to the gym to sparr before a big fight. He autographed a picture for Damon and he thought that was the coolest thing!!! Damon was a little embarrassed of me- he kept begging me not to go in with him.. seriously kid? you are 7!!! Ü

Are you ready for some Football!!

Football has started up again!! Jaymz is playing for the middle school 7th grade team this year and he is so excited!! He is number 41~ They have just had a little jamboree so far, but we won 16-0!! Hopefully that is a good sign for the year! We are staying busy with football and boxing (for Damon) and soon soccer will start! Gotta love it! GO EAGLES!!

Trying to Catch Up!!

I have a TON to catch up on..
The middle of July, James got a job offer to go back to Alabama and run some Fitness Centers. He was getting tired of Retail and all that it entails~ so we decided to go for it! Needless to say, in about 3 weeks we came out to AL found a place to live, got the job together,went back to FL, packed up and moved back to Birmingham!! It was crazy but it all worked out! J started his job here Aug. 1st and he really likes it! It is a lot less stress but still doing what he was doing with Foot Locker just on a little bit smaller scale!
School started yesterday for the kids (8/11) so it was lots of running around trying to get them enrolled and getting everything they needed to start. The schools in FL had just gotten out for the summer so they weren't even in the offices to try to get them withdrawn and the right paperwork for Alabama!! After a week long of a headache I got it all together and all 3 kids started school when they were supposed to!! YAY!! Ü

Since we were in such a hurry to get out here we decided to rent for now until we find a house that we want to buy. We had an offer in on a house in FL but we were able to withdraw the offer since the bank hadn't gotten back to us- (it was a short sale and we had been waiting to hear back for over 4 months) Thankfully it all worked out great for us!!

We were SO sad to leave all of our GREAT friends (and the beach) in Florida, but we have GREAT friends here in AL too! The kids were happy to come back to all their friends here and are adjusting awesome! It kind of feels like we were on a 9 month vacation! (that's how long we were in FL) I realized the other day we didn't even miss a Halloween here! CRAZYY!!!!
Here are pics of the kids first day of school- I can't believe Aubrey is in HIGH SCHOOL!!

D excited to get on the bus with his friend from church! (2nd Grade)
Aubrey excited but SUPER nervous for high school! (9th Grade)
Jaymz too cool to smile and exhausted from football kicking his butt! (7th Grade)

I will post pics of the house as soon as I get it together- it is getting close!! Ü

Summer Craziness!!

This summer has been full of fun cRaZiNeSs!! That's all I can really think of to sum it up right now!! I have LOTS I should post, but Im too tired right now, so I will post more later!
We have had some deer running around our yard the last few weeks. We have tried really hard to get a good pic, but they are fast- and when they are just standing there I don't have my camera-- of course! but here are a few shots we have gotten of them.

Look close- there are 2 deer in this pic
The momma- I think

If you look really close there is a baby deer in the corner bushes!

It seems weird to me that in our yard we have Lizards, turtles, Gators, and then DEER??

Also, Aubreys cute friend Sydney from Birmingham came to visit us last week! They have had a blast hanging out! Here are some pics from the past week