Ridiculous

Ok - This is ridiculous.... last time I blogged - Jan 6th. It is now Aug 5th! So here is my futile attempt to do the last 7 months justice....

Price finished Kinder. He had a great year! He made some great friends and we are so pleased with our choice of schools for him. He had a wonderful teacher and we are so proud of all he has accomplished! He has GROWN so much!!

Rylee just turned 4. WOW - where has time gone! She is such a little princess. She loves playing with her kitchen and her Easy Bake oven, dress up, and of course cheerleading!

Chris and I went to Cancun in April for his brother's wedding. We are so excited to have Lacey as a part of our family. She is so sweet and is just a perfect fit. We loved our "adult time" as my dad came up to keep the kids. Yes, my dad - all by himself - kept 2 kids under the age of 6 by himself! He is a terrific grandfather and the kids adore him. Mom couldn't come bc of school. Cancun was beautiful, and Chris and I really needed the time away to just relax.

June was filled with swimming lessons and play dates for the kids. Both of them are little fish in the pool. Rylee was a flower girl in one of Chris' cousin's wedding. She was cute and did so well even though the ring bearer bailed on her! I had cheer camp at UT Knoxville and then my kids went to Texas to my parents for a week. Chris and I saw 3 movies at the theater in 1 week!! We ate out, went out with the Hutchins and just had a great time together... even when we stayed in to declutter the office one night!

We took our trip to the River in Texas in July with my parents, my brothers and their families. My kids really loved cousin time. Cute memory from the river: Rylee got several spedito bites (also known as mosquito bites, but it was so cute to hear her say it her way!) It is nice to just relax and enjoy the beautiful scenery. My favorite part was sitting on the porch with the just the adults talking about anything and everything - eating watermelon. We then went to San Antonio and enjoyed the Riverwalk and Alamo with Darold and Tara and my parents. From there to Dallas to a Rangers game, Six Flags, train ride, and the highlight for me .... seeing Steph. We were able to have dinner together one night and then she joined us with her kids for the day at Six Flags. How different my life would be if we lived closer!!! There are just some people in your life that are those 1 in a million type friends... the kind you don't have to dress up for, the ones you tell anything and know they will get you... Steph is one of those and I wish we got to see each other more.

We've been home for a couple of weeks - Rylee had her bday and school starts next week. I can't believe I will have a 1st grader!! They are both anxious for school to start, and I have to say I am somewhat ready for Fall. I will post pictures in a minute from the past 7 months! So much for journaling via blog!

Time to catch up!!

Ok - seriously, it has been almost 5 months since I last blogged. Honestly, I'm just tired of being the last one on Joy's list for updating. So I thought I would catch people up.

Here's a short list of the things that have happened since August.

1. We enjoyed a great vacation in Destin with our friends Betsy and Eric. We had a blast and the kids loved having someone to play with!

2. Price turned 6! YAY!

3. Thanksgiving was at our house. I feel very grown up all of a sudden to have been responsible for cooking a real Thanksgiving dinner. It's funny how an event like that makes it real that we are adults.

4. Christmas was a hoot this year. Santa was good to everyone. Price got the Wii he has begged for. He is addicted!! Rylee got a new kitchen. Chris got a blue ray player and a pass to the shooting range, and I - well - I guess I wasn't very good this year. I got Mario Carts from Santa???

5. My mom and dad came up for Christmas. It was great to spend the holidays with them.

6. My niece is ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE!! We went to LR the weekend after to see them.

7. Cheer is in FULL SWING!! Nationals is 5 weeks out and I am ready for it to be over!

8. The kids went back to school today. Not sure how I feel about that. We had fun over the break.

9. I am addicted to facebook. I have caught up with so many friends and that is the main reason I have not been on here much.

10. I am officially running again - after a short month off.... I am back at it!

Happy New Year to everyone!

First Day of School - Price

Price's first day of Kindergarten! Where has time gone? I can't believe that he is "in" school now! He was so very excited about it, and unlike Rylee - didn't change his mind once we got there. He already has a best friend whose name is Jacob. He was a little concerned that his "tote bag" that he has to carry looks like a purse. He said that it looked like a girls. I had to assure him that it was a book bag not a purse and that all of the boys would have them! Here he is - all dressed in his uniform with his "book bag".
Here's Price with Chris outside of school on his first day.
Price with his teacher, Mrs. South. She is a true blessing to us as it is so evident that she genuinely loves and cares for all of her students. She is such a sweet lady, and Price adores her! She had to remind Price to give his mommy a kiss and a hug the first morning. Of course, I was a little teary, but I managed to hold it together. He has done GREAT at school - even learned his first 2 memory verses rather easily. It took us a long time to decide where he should go to school - public or private and which private. But we feel sure we made the right decision and we couldn't be happier!

First day of school - Rylee

Rylee's first day back at Mother's Day out! She was very excited!
Until we got there... then she had a change of heart! This is the face I got!!


















She finally warmed up to the idea as she saw some of her friends from last year!

Rylee's 3rd Birthday

Here's my Rylee - all dressed up in her "party dress". I can't believe how grown up she looks in this picture. When we went to order her cake, she was so excited to pick it out. But when it was time to leave, and we were leaving without a cake... on her actual birthday.... her little lip puckered out. She tried not to cry, but she couldn't hold it in. Chris couldn't stand it. We tried to explain it to her, but she kept saying but it is my birthday! So, we got some cupcakes for that night. We had a great time celebrating her birthday with friends and family. I can't believe my baby is 3!!! Below are pics from our little party at home and then the big party with her Hello Kitty cake.

2008 Summer Vacation in Texas

Contact info for Wendy and Brian

Here is Wendy's email address: shackleon@aol.com
and here is their new mailing address: 1615 Cole Mill Road Durham, North Carolina 27705-2407
I copied and pasted the following from their caringbridge site. It is a way to send a telegram directly to their room... fast, easy, and free!

"Another way that we can receive contact that is relatively easy is by going to Dukehealth.org. Check the Patient and Visitor Info Tab to the left column. Check the Send a Card Tab and then click on Duke University Hospital. Brian’s room is 4206. This is a quick and easy way to send sunshine to our room. They deliver the telegrams with a smile- for FREE! We are finding all the "little things" mean so much."