Life and Times of a Teacher Mom

Awards Assembly 2009 and Last Baseball Game

2009-06-13T07:23:00.000-07:00

This is actually from the Raptors Baseball Banquet on Tuesday night. This is Trent with Coach Eric.

Trent is on the right with his big red Under Amour bag on his shoulders.

This is the only picture I got of Trent playing. I was busy trying to keep score for the team this year and didn't have a chance. Glad I finally remembered to take my camera for the last game.

Trent got an Excellent Reader Award for having over 150 Accelerated Reader points.

It only took 4 years but Trent finally got Perfect Attendance this year!

Field Day 2009

2009-06-08T12:15:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to post pictures of Trent (and me) from Field Day today!

Our annual trip down the inflatable slide...

I believe we have a picture like this from every year, too.

Coming down at the end of the inflatable obstacle course.

The middle of the inflatable obstacle course.

Trent and his best friend Curtis. Unfortunately, this was his class' first stop...snowcones for breakfast at 8:30am are yummy but the day got really hot and it would've worked better after lunch!

Trent's Violin Recital

2009-06-06T10:32:00.000-07:00

Ella Graduates from PRESCHOOL!!

2009-06-06T10:10:00.000-07:00

Ella is officially a preschool graduate! Even though the graduation was this past Monday she still has one week left going to school since Trent and I won't be finished until Friday.

Ella is at the end of the line...she didn't have a very big class so she was last.

Mrs. Laura hands Ella her Preschool Diploma.

Having fun at the reception afterwards.

Ella's "REAL" Birthday

2009-05-30T19:39:00.000-07:00

Even though we had Ella's birthday parties last week while Pops, Purson, and Abby were in town we wanted to make Ella's "REAL" birthday (that's what she's called today since this morning) special. So after we went to have her pictures taken we met Grammy and PawPaw at Red Robin for a special birthday lunch. We saved a present for her to open along with the gift Lucia and Mulie Craighead sent to her. Later this evening we went to the Red Sox game for Dixie Youth League Night. Trent had a great time being with friends and watching his favorite sport.

Ella LOVES shoes!! New flip flops from Mommy and Daddy...but where to put them?!?! There's no room left in her closet!

A new puppy from Lucia and Mulie!

Ella loves the doggie carrier!

Parade of Teams onto the field.

The Raptors are walking under the word "Center."

Just a pretty neat picture!

Trent and a few members of his team.

Ella joins the boys.

Luckily, it was Kids Run the Bases night...Trent didn't want to run so Ella and Daddy went out and had fun.

Coming across home plate.

We are growing WATERMELONS!

2009-05-02T19:47:00.000-07:00

Discovered 2 watermelon sprouts today while we were watering! We also noticed a 3rd squash spouting today!

So we now have 5 cucumber plants, 3 squash plants, and 2 watermelon plants. We are still waiting to see if we get any peppers or pumpkin plants to grow.

Trent is still thinking we will have a watermelon to eat by July 4th!

The Overstreets have a "Garden in a Bucket"

2009-04-29T17:57:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, Trent and Ella helped me plant cucumbers, peppers, and squash in a set of buckets. We also planted watermelons and pumpkins in the corner of our backyard! We will see how it goes. I will try to update often to let you know the progress our our vegetable patch.

I was amazed at how quickly things started spouting! The packet said 7-10 days for most of the seeds but the cucumbers sprouted on Tuesday and the sqush sprouted today.

The squash sprouts are hard to see...there's one right under the nameplate and one down near the bottom left hand corner (it looks like a bigger white rock).

Ella HATES Windy Days!

2009-03-29T13:10:00.001-07:00

Ella's dislike of windy days ranks #2 on her "Things I Hate" list...directly under #1-any animals within a 20 foot radius of her body and directly above #3-being told 'No'. I went to wake her from nap this afternoon and found this...

Just too cute! I had to snap a picture to share. I'm pretty sure this is how she slept through her entire nap.

Trent Sings in Church

2009-03-22T11:25:00.000-07:00

Today Trent sang a cute solo in church as part of a piece that the Children's Choir performed. This video picks up in the middle of the song...Lindsey S. sang the first verse and Trent sang the second verse.

Christmas Parade 2008

2009-02-26T17:06:00.001-08:00

This year our church decided to participate in a local Christmas parade. It was absolutely FREEZING but we had a wonderful time and can't wait to do it again next year!

Getting ready at the beginning of the parade route to start!

Ella and her best friend Kayleen from church.

Trent and Ella Enjoy Their Christmas Presents!

2009-02-26T16:57:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, both kids got new bikes. Trent was ready to upgrade to an ADULT SMALL bike. Those legs may look just a bit to short for this bike now, but I guarantee that by this spring we will probably need to look at raising the seat. It's unbelievable how big he has gotten!

Ella wanted a "Big Girl" bike. Not a bike with 3 wheels...a bike that has 2 big wheels. I'm wondering how long it will be before she's asking us to take off those training wheels?!?!?

Gingerbread Houses in January

2009-02-26T16:51:00.000-08:00

Building Gingerbread Houses has become a yearly event with the Wilson family for us. However, both families are so busy around Christmas that we don't get a chance to do them until sometime after the holidays. Last year we weren't able to get together until MARCH! This year we were able to get together within the first week of January. Here are a few pictures of the process.

Tubing in February

2009-02-26T16:42:00.000-08:00

We went to West Virginia with some friends to "tube" for the first time. It was freezing cold but luckily we had all our good snow gear to keep us warm.

Trent and our friend Matt play around in the parking lot before we go inside the tubing park.

Ella and her best friend Kayleen from church.

Trent's "Family" Birthday Party

2009-02-26T16:35:00.000-08:00

Trent had a "family party" at Mema's house after his friend party at the YMCA (see those pictures in the next post). Here are a few pictures of our spaghetti dinner and cake from Mema's house.

Ella teaches Uncle Larry and Mark how to play her Barbie laptop.

Trent was very excited to get a Snugglie. These are the best at keeping warm!!

Trent's 9th Birthday

2009-02-26T16:15:00.000-08:00

Trent celebrated his 9th birthday in January with a party at the YMCA. He was very excited about hi Harry Potter party with all his friends. Here are a couple of pictures from the party. Sorry they are not in the correct order.

Sorry, I'm not good at updating!

2009-02-26T15:44:00.001-08:00

These are pictures from the Talent Show at school on February 17. Trent played "The Superman Theme Song" and "You'll Be In My Heart (Tarzan Theme Song)" on the piano.

2009-01-04T18:39:00.000-08:00

Trent and Ella see what Santa brought for Christmas.

2009-01-04T18:31:00.000-08:00

Ella and Trent ride the Pink Pig during our visit to Pops and Purson's house in Atlanta. This was the highlight of Ella's trip!

2009-01-04T17:52:00.000-08:00

We got a Wii for Christmas from Pops and Purson. Here's a short video of Ella playing the boxing on Wii Sports. Thank you Pops and Purson!

Baking Christmas Cookies

2008-12-11T17:37:00.000-08:00

I totally forgot that I started uploading this post last month. I apologize for not doing a better job of updating the blog. Most everyone I know has become a member of Facebook and it is so much easier (and faster) to post and upload photos there. I will try to get everything posted within the next few weeks from the Christmas season.

Trent's Baptism

2008-12-06T06:39:00.002-08:00

Trent was baptized on Sunday, November 30, 2008. The first picture turned out well but the others are a bit fuzzy...sorry about that.

Keep Scrolling Down to the New Dance Video Clips

2008-11-08T13:43:00.000-08:00

I finally had a few minutes to post some more dance videos. Scroll down a couple of posts to see them.

Halloween 2008

2008-10-31T19:41:00.001-07:00

Just a few pictures from Trunk-or-Treat at church. Ella and I themed our car as the "Wizard of Oz" and I was Dorothy and Ella was Glenda. Trent was so excited about his Harry Potter costume that Pops and Person sent him!

Visitor's Day at Dance

2008-10-31T19:31:00.001-07:00

On Thursday we were able to go in and watch Ella's dance class. She has come a long way since last year!

There are several more but it's too late to post them tonight. Check back later!
Here's another video! Still have more to come.

Jack-O-Lanterns!

2008-10-27T17:56:00.000-07:00

We had a great time carving our jack-o-lanterns. I snapped a couple of pics of the kids getting messy.

Trent's Profession of Faith

2008-10-19T12:56:00.000-07:00

Today was a very exciting day for our family...Trent became a Christian and accepted Jesus to come and live forever in his heart! I wanted Mom, Dad, and Abby to be able to share in the joyous occasion so I videoed part of it. I'm sorry for the bad quality...I was standing at the back of the church so the lighting is not great and my hands were shaking like crazy. It's looking like we are going to aim for his baptism the Sunday after Thanksgiving since Pops, Person, and Abby will be in town.

That was a very exciting and happy part of our day but leave it up to Ella to throw in some laughs today. This is a video clip of her saying the pledge and singing "My Country 'Tis Of Thee." Each morning at preschool they start their day with the pledge to the American and Christian flags and then they sing. Ella is working very hard to learn her pledges and song but she's getting a little confused...

Trent Playing the Marine Hymn

2008-10-18T07:08:00.000-07:00

2008-09-30T18:55:00.000-07:00

Here are some more clips of Ella singing.

This song is called "Gray Squirrel" and it's one that I learned as a girl scout. I was very surprised when Ella came home from preschool a few weeks ago singing it. After much questioning we discovered that she learned it during a Melody Makers class. There are 2 video clips. Both are funny but see if you can figure out the difference between the 2 clips...it won't be hard.

The words to "Gray Squirrel"
Gray squirrel, gray squirrel, swish your bushy tail.
Gray squirrel, gray squirrel, swish your bushy tail.
Wrinkle up your funny nose, put it down between your toes.
Gray squirrel, gray squirrel, swish your bushy tail.

Gray Squirrell - 1st time

Gray Squirrel - 2nd time

This is Ella's last song. Her teacher has been working with them on learning the months of the year. You will notice that each time she sings it she leaves out one very important month...

Ella's New Songs

2008-09-30T16:36:00.001-07:00

Ella has been learning lots of new songs at preschool. While Trent and Daddy were at Cub Scouts Ella asked to have me tape her singing her songs. Thought I would post them so you could see them.

"The Lord's Army"

Video clips aren't loading so I'll have to post the rest of them later. Sorry.

Annual Sunday School Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

2008-09-28T14:22:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun today at the pumpkin patch! But we are so tired. Here are the pictures from our exciting day.

This year we decided it might be nice to take the new church bus. What a GREAT idea! All the kids had a friend to sit with and all the parents got to sit and talk. Another great thing about the new bus is that it has been equipped with a DVD player and 4 screens so the kids watched a movie on the way up the interstate.

Of course Ella rode with Kayleen.

And even though Trent thinks girls are yucky he rode with Lindsey...and it really wasn't that bad.

Ella and cousin Sydnie started playing as soon as we get off the bus.

Lindsey, Kayleen, and Ella try their hand at pumpking water.

Anyone interested in buying an Ella????

Mommy and Ella enjoy the hayride out to the pumpkin patch.

Trent and cousin Dylan enjoy the hayride.

Ella picked up several pumpkins before she found the right one.

Ella found her pumpkin!

Trent found his pumpkin!

Ella was determined to carry our family pumpkin.

Dylan, Trent, and friend Conner ride back to the farm.

Mmmmm...ice cream!

Ella has a handful of feed that she offered to the sheep but quickly dropped it as soon as the sheep started moving for it. I'm not surprised. I'm actually surprised that she tried it.

She was much happier talking to the roosters and chickens. She was trying to get them to say "Cock-a-doddle-doo"

Trent thought the horse was the best.

This picture was taken before the kids tried out the hay maze.

This is our annual picture of all the kids.

Trent and Lindsey rode back to the church together too.

Trent and Ella at Auntie's Cabin

2008-09-03T17:46:00.000-07:00

When Abby and I were little we always got excited about going down to Aunt Hazel and Uncle Harold's cabin because it meant that we got to ride the horses. It's funny how things have changed...Libby built a new barn and moved her horses over to her house years ago and not long ago the fence around the barn was taken down. Now I watch my children play soccer where the horses once used to graze. And the biggest change?? Since there are no longer horses to ride we must find other types of entertainment..........................

GOLF CART!!!!!
John and Brent take Ella and Cole for a ride.

John, Trent, and Henry finish a ride up to the top of the hill and back.

Who needs horses when you've got a golf cart?!?!

Oh, my! I don't know if Pops knows how to operate the cart!

Love this picture of Brent hanging onto Cole for dear life and Henry telling Pops where to go.

One thing that has changed a lot would be the creek. My mother would've NEVER, NEVER, NEVER let Abby and me in the creek. The creek has been cleaned up a lot since I was little.

Ella's creek shoes didn't get too wet.

ABSOLUTELY LOVE Jill's face in this picture.

Appears that Ella is having a lot of fun!

Trent's Smile

2008-08-27T04:57:00.000-07:00

Trent is very excited about his "upgraded" smile. Dr. D did some fill-in work on his front teeth yesterday and now Trent has 2 regular looking front teeth. The orthodontist is still trying to figure out the next step.

Ella's First Day of Preschool!

2008-08-25T17:42:00.000-07:00

Today was Ella's 1st day of preschool! She was very excited about going this morning and talked the entire way to the school. However, when we arrived she got nervous and I had to leave her crying for Mommy. When I went to pick her up Mrs. Laura said she had a good day but didn't interact a lot. She was quiet most of the day, sat back, and took in all that was going on. Hopefully it won't take too long for her to get comfortable with the other kids in her class and make friends. The only things she really told us about the day were that one of the little boys had a bloody nose and that she got to eat 2 snacks today. I'm hoping that tomorrow she will at least be able to remember what she ate for lunch! :-)

Here are a couple of pictures from this morning.

Sorry this one is so dark. Our tradition is to measure the kids on the back of the laundry room door at the beginning of the school year, at Trent's birthday, and at the end of the school year/Ella's birthday (Ella's birthday is so close to the end of school that we combine those together). For some reason Ella wasn't measured at her birthday so the last mark is from January. It's hard to see but Ella has grown almost 2 inches in the past 8 months.

This is Ella's very excited picture!

This is Ella's cute picture to make Mommy happy.

This is the only picture Ella was worried about getting...the picture with her bookbag of course!

And a picture so you can see what Ella's pink book bag looks like. I know it's looks a bit big but it had to be big enough to carry her folder back and forth to school. Anybody want to guess what color folder is inside the book bag????? I bet it's PINK!!

Well, Ella wasn't the only one to go to school today. Mommy started her Work Week today and I'm exhausted so it's off to bed for me!

What Ella Learned to Do Today!

2008-08-16T17:50:00.000-07:00

Ella's been working on this all week. She's just watched Trent, caught on, and surprised us in the middle of Play-It-Again Sports this morning. I'm amazed that a 4-year-old can do this!

Now if we can just get her to catch on that fast when we start teaching her to tie her shoes!

A Day with Amanda

2008-08-15T16:47:00.000-07:00

Today we had fun with our friend Amanda. Amanda and her mom, Natalie, came into town yesterday. Natalie has a lot on her plate right now since Edgar's surgery at the end of July so we asked her if we could take Amanda for the day so she could have a little down time. Trent and Ella had a GREAT time! We ate lunch at Chuck E. Cheese then came home to bake and decorate cookies. After making cookies we played outside for a little while until it began to thunder.

The kids got into the dress-up box. I like to call this one SUPER AMANDA and JEDI TRENT.

Ella, Amanda, and Trent decorating cookies.

FYI...no hair was being pulled in this picture and it was not staged. I said "Smile for the picture" and this is what I got.

Myrtle Beach Trip 2008

2008-08-05T06:48:00.000-07:00

We spent last week with the Aldersons at Myrtle Beach. Here are a few pictures of our time there. (sorry, they are not in the correct order)

Ella plays the 18th hole.

Stephanie and Ella getting ready to putt-putt.

Trent and Grant are ready!

Erika, Ella, Trent, and Grant

I took this after we had just climbed all the stairs to the top of the putt-putt course.

Ella must have won the hand

Erika on the board and Ella pushing.

We ate dinner at Margaritaville and Ella wanted me to take her picture with the parrot mask.

Broadway at the Beach

The car ride home

This is how Trent spent most of his time while at the ocean. He really loves his boogie board...thank you Pops and Purson!

Bill with Erika and John with Ella

The Summer has been Great!

2008-07-29T10:57:00.001-07:00

I haven't had a lot of time to sit down and blog since we returned from Atlanta...sorry to my mom, dad, and sister. I've been working on various "projects" around the house over the last few weeks as well as keeping the kids occupied with things to do. Today we went to the free movies and saw "Alvin and the Chipmunks." It was a cute movie and I really enjoyed it. Next week I believe Trent has us planned to go see "Peter Pan."

Ella has been active with ballet lessons since we returned home. She has a class every Tuesday and is having a great time. We are also getting ready to go to the beach tomorrow so I really should get back to washing clothes and getting everything packed. I thought that while I was dumping all the pictures from the digital camera to the computer that I would sit down and show off a few from the past weeks.

The day after we returned from Atlanta (July 7), Ella and I dropped Trent off at church camp. Trent said he had a wonderful time and is already looking forward to next year. This was his first overnight camp and it was very different not having him home that week. Of course, Ella had a blast being the only child for a little while and being spoiled all week. Dylan and Trent roomed together during the week.

This is a picture I took while we were waiting to leave. As soon as we walked in the door it began to POUR down rain and they got a lengthy thunderstorm to start of the week.

Trent was most excited about getting to sleep on the top bunk. I was a bit worried the first night that he would roll off!

We did have to pick Trent up at camp on Thursday evening so he could make an appearance at his baseball banquet. Here are a few pictures.

The following week we joined Stephanie, Erika, and Grant at the Frog Pond. What a neat place to swim!

Hopefully, I won't be as slow getting beach pictures up when we get back on Sunday.

Home, Safe and Sound

2008-07-08T12:46:00.000-07:00

We returned home from Atlanta on Sunday and took Trent to camp yesterday afternoon. Today I've been working on finishing up the rest of the laundry and changing all the sheets. I thought that I would post the last few things from Atlanta.

From our trip to see the Braves play...

From the 4th of July in Marietta Square...

From our relaxing Saturday afternoon at the pool...

Ella got a little braver this summer and made her way into the water. Last summer we could barely get her to put her feet in the pool. So this video will show you just how far along she has come since last year.

An Afternoon at the Fernbank

2008-06-30T12:57:00.000-07:00

Today, the kids and I went to the Fernbank and spent some time looking through all the exhibits. I am very pleased with this museum because they do have a great rotating display...it's been a different hands on exhibit each time we've gone. This membership was well worth our money. Here are a few pictures of our time there.
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Lake Winnepesaukah on Saturday

2008-06-30T06:42:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, we loaded into the car and drove up to Chattanooga to go to Lake Winnepesaukah...Lake Winnie for short. It's a great little amusement park that reminds me of the old Lakeside. It is very much geared to kids so Trent and Ella had a wonderful time. Here are some of the pictures from our day! We had so many pictures that I loaded them into a slide show. Press the start button and it will automatically slide through all 31 pictures.

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Abby Gets a New Car!

2008-06-27T09:28:00.000-07:00

Abby bought a brand new '09 Camry on Wednesday night! We finally got to see it in the daylight yesterday. Happy Birthday to Abby!

After dinner at the Outback last night we came home and ate CAKE!

And Abby opened her present from us...a new sunshade for the new car and an I-Tunes gift card so she can update her Ipod(she can plug her Ipod into her new car).

I forgot to post this earlier this week. Here's a quick video of Trent diving for pennies. It's his new trick!

We Went To A Braves Game! AND MY 100th POST!!

2008-06-25T07:47:00.000-07:00

Wow...my 100th post! It has taken me a little over year to get to my 100th (I began the blog on June 10, 2007).

We've been taking it easy in Atlanta this week spending most of our time at the pool.
On Sunday, we went to church with Pops, Purson, and Abby. Then we came home, ate leftovers, and went to the pool so Purson could have a quiet house. She had to complete a pretty big homework assignment and having everyone around making noise doesn't make it very easy to concentrate.
Monday morning the kids and I packed a picnic and took off for the pool. We spent about 3 hours there. Ella is getting brave about being in the water. We have progressed from just sitting on the side of the pool to getting on the float and riding around. Trent is still a fish...he stays in the pool from the time we arrive until the time we leave. Monday's trip to the pool was exciting for Trent because the guy with the kayak came back and brought his 11-year old son. Trent is learning how to throw pennies in the pool and then go look for them on the bottom. He was quite impressed with the other boy because he could dive to get the pennies in the 8 foot end.

Yesterday was Tuesday and we had originally decided to go to the Fernbank Museum. However, plans changed when we decided to go to the Braves game last night. A day at the Fernbank and a baseball game would've been a little much so we will go to the Fernbank another day. So here's a little rundown of the game...

We arrived a little later than usual - the game was already at the bottom of the 1st and the Braves were already behind 2-0. But we got some great seats in the shade on the third base side, field level. Here's a picture to show you how close we were:

Trent was happy with the seats because he had a great view of third base and his favorite player...Chipper Jones. However, I forgot to tell him before we got to the field that Chipper had been on the DL and more than likely would not be playing tonight, so he was a little bummed when he didn't see his favorite player covering 3rd. Since we were late we weren't able to eat dinner beforehand so we all got pizza at the field.

I had a teachable moment with Trent when Yunel Escobar was called out, threw his helmet, and was then ejected from the game. The Braves trailed the entire game but started a rally in the ninth and were only down 4-3. Things got really exciting but they still couldn't pull out the win.

Oh, yeah...as for Chipper...well watch the video...

Although he only came in to hit once Trent did get to see him. And Chipper did get a base hit (that's why we are chopping).

Ella is slowly figuring out the Tomahawk Chop. It looks better than last year!
And I took this video just for John. This is the Chick-fil-A cow that does the "chop" I was telling you about.

Until next time!

Summer 2008 in Atlanta

2008-06-21T15:26:00.001-07:00

I apologize for not updating the blog since we arrived on Wednesday. We really haven't done anything exciting to blog about.Wednesday we went to IHOP for dinner and then spent the rest of the evening just chilling out at Pops and Purson's house. Thursday it was kind of cool so I decided to take the kids to the park rather than the pool.

Yesterday, the kids and I went to the pool and stayed for about 2 hours. Trent and Ella had a great time and it was capped off when one of the neighbors brought their kayak over and started doing tricks in the deep end of the pool. Trent and Ella were eating lunch while they watched him and thought it was the neatest thing they had ever seen. We came back to the house, cleaned up, and took long naps after our afternoon at the pool. When Pops got home from work we loaded into the van and picked up Purson on our way to Joe's Crab shack. I had never eaten at a Joe's but it turned out to be quite fun...it's one of those places that every 15 minutes or so the waitresses start dancing. I took a short video of Ella doing the "Chicken Dance."

The fun part of our evening didn't come until after dinner when Pops went to start the van. Uh, oh! The van wouldn't start! To make a long story short we ended up not being able to jump it in the parking lot so we had to call our friend Darryl to come and get us. We all piled into his Escape (Abby and I sat in the back, criss-cross applesauce) and went to pick up Purson's car (we left it at the beauty parlor on the way to dinner) and then came home. By the time we arrived home it was time to go to bed.

Today Purson, Abby, Ella, and I went downtown to walk around IKEA...and we just happened to bring home 2 pans of their DELICIOUS cinnamon rolls. We also rolled by the mall to do some of Abby's exchanging that she needed to do. Pops and Trent stayed close to the house. They began with a quick trip to Wal-Mart to pick up some oil, ate lunch at a Chinese restaurant, came home and changed the oil in Abby's car, and then began watching the first episode of Star Wars. We ate spaghetti for dinner and Trent and Pops went back to watching Star Wars.

Pops has suggested that maybe we need to make a Bruster's run later on this evening. We will have to see about that. :-)

So that's what has been happening so far. As I said in the beginning...nothing really interesting to blog about. Maybe we'll have something more exciting to write about in the next week.

Trent Receives His Class' Citizenship Award

2008-06-12T10:11:00.000-07:00

We are so very proud of Trent! For the third year in row he was voted by his classmates to receive the boy's citizenship award. He was recognized this morning during the awards assembly.

Here is a picture of him getting his award from our assistant principal.

I forgot to include these pictures earlier. Tuesday night was Trent's final Cub Scout meeting for the year. He was given his Wolf patch and 3 more beads for his uniform. It was also wonderful to get to walk him across the stage as he became a Bear, the next step in Cub Scouts. We are looking forward to another wonderful year of scouting starting in September!

Trent receives his awards from Paul and Keith, the Wolf leaders.

The newest Bear Cubs...David, Garrison, Trent, and Curtis.

Field Day 2008

2008-06-12T10:01:00.001-07:00

Here are a couple of pictures of Trent and me at field day on Tuesday. It was sooooooooooo hot but everyone had a great time.

Trent is getting ready to run through the obstacle course.

Trent and Mrs. Overstreet come down the slide together.

A Quick View of My Plants for Mom

2008-06-09T17:18:00.000-07:00

I know my mom gets a little antsy not being able to look in on my flower beds since she moved to Atlanta so I thought I would give a little photo update to show her that everything is just growing wonderfully. I also noticed on Saturday how beautiful my gardenia looked outside of Ella's window so I wanted to show it off.

Look at the new growth on my holly! Wow, I have to say I think I'm doing a great job...actually, my highly acidic soil helps a lot. :-)

This is my favorite plant in my yard because it has a story (I LOVE things that have a story!). Until my wedding day I had no idea what a gardenia was. I had 2 gigantic gardenias in my bridal bouquet and I've fallen in love with their wonderful scent. My mom gave this to me for my birthday (upon my asking for it...I do ask for weird things for my birthdays) the year Ella was born and I had her plant it right outside of Ella's window so I could rock my baby girl and look at my beautiful plant. However, as of Saturday, the story no longer stops there.
Four year-olds are truly at a wonderful age. Developmentally they are starting to understand so many more complex ideas, two of them being how plants grow and life cycles. On Saturday, the gardenia caught Ella's attention for the very first time. She has noticed the green plant several times when we've been outside working in the beds, but on Saturday she saw the flowers and was so excited. "Mommy, look! That plant can make flowers!" She also noticed that some of the flowers were "dirty" so we had to talk about how the flowers die. She made the comment "Of course Mommy! They have to die so more flowers can grow!" Well, duh mom.
We then got to talk about how that plant got there (so I could rock Baby Ella and admire it) and she proceeded to tell me that "Her Flowers" were now 4 years old, too. I continue to love my-oops, I mean Ella's-gardenia and will now have to figure out a way to transplant it whenever we decide to finally move. Who knows, maybe someday I will be able to give it to my Baby Ella so she can sit and rock her baby and look at "Her Flowers."

PURSON...what a great gift! And you thought it was a weird gift for me to pick out.

So enough of the mushy sentimental stuff. Here are a few more pictures for Mom to check.

Day Lilies...gorgeous! How I ended up with one set of yellow and the rest maroon???

Mom, what's this? I'm pretty sure that it's not a weed.

Another beautiful holly...look at that new growth!

So that's a quick view of my flower beds for my mother. Everything's going well.

Our Little Ella is 4 YEARS OLD!!!

2008-05-30T18:35:00.000-07:00

Today is Ella's actual birthday. It's hard to believe that at this very time four years ago I had a hospital room full of people looking at our brand new baby girl. I thought everyone would enjoy a look back at May 30, 2004. I've also stuck in a few pictures of the days following Ella's birth since I had the CD out.

Poor Trent...if he only knew what he knew now. And if John and I only knew how much we'd see this crying face in the future years!

It's amazing how much Trent and Ella have grown. Think of it this way...when Ella was born Trent was only 5 months older than Ella is today. It's hard to remember him being that small.

This was Ella's "Going Home" day. Many of you will remember that this is the same dress that I wore home from the hospital in 1978. Still looks like new, huh?!?! It wasn't that long ago.

Tonight it was Ella's turn to pick where we were going to eat dinner. She of course picked CiCi's Pizza. Here are a few pictures of Ella's fun night at CiCi's followed by a trip to Gander Mtn. to exchange her sleeping bag (we took it out of the carrying bag on Sunday and found out that the drawstring was broken so back to exchange we went). After spending some time looking around Gander Mtn. we made a stop at Bruster's. Here are a few pictures and a video of our evening.

Grammy and PawPaw have been saving this present for Ella since Sydnie's birthday in March. Sydney asked for a pink bible for her birthday so they went ahead and bought Ella's at the same time. The new Pioneer Clubs at church are really stressing getting children into the habit of bringing their Bible to church so now Ella has one! And a hot pink case to carry it in!

Trent went to spend the night with Dylan at Grammy and PawPaw's so Ella had Mommy and Daddy all to herself.

Mommy's a little pooped...we had our field trip to the park today to meet our PenPals from West. We only picked the hottest day this week to go!

I'm not quite sure what has gotten into Ella and all the funny faces.

Ella's 4th Birthday Party

2008-05-27T18:10:00.001-07:00

Even thought Ella doesn't turn 4 until Friday we went ahead and had her birthday party on Sunday evening while Mom, Dad, and Abby were in town. Here are a few pictures of her Princess Party.

Trent picked out 2 books for Ella during the school Book Fair a few weeks ago.

Ella made us all laugh when she opened up Pops and Purson's present. I asked her, "What did you get from Pops and Purson?" She pulled out the hangers that were laying in the bottom of the box and started laughing.

But hangers weren't the only thing that Pops and Purson brought for Ella. Now she has a new bathing suit to wear while we are in Atlanta this summer!

Pops and Purson also gave Ella another dress with a matching dress for her doll.

Aunt Abby always does a great job shopping for cutie dresses! And of course we must have matching sunglasses.

Now Ella can go camping! Mommy and Daddy gave her a new pink and purple sleeping bag.

Ella's Class Performs Their Recital Piece

2008-05-20T17:33:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, Ms. Leslie asked for Ella's class to wear their costumes to today's class. One of the little girls in Ella's class is not going to be able to attend the recital so they did a "mini" recital today for all the parents. Here are some pictures and video to enjoy. The video had to be broken in 2 parts so you will miss a few seconds in between.

Ella's Ballet Pictures on Tuesday

2008-05-07T18:56:00.000-07:00

Tuesday was picture day for Ella and Sydney. Here are a few pictures and videos of the ordeal.

This is a video clip I took of Ella's teacher trying to get everyone placed for the group picture. Ella is sitting on the stool to the left of the screen.

Trent's Baseball Game Monday Night

2008-05-07T18:43:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of Trent's baseball game Monday night.
Trent played catcher again at this game.

Ella and Mommy have a little fun while the other team is up to bat.

Ella is very lucky that there are other little sisters on the team this year!

Jordan and Emily go to the Prom!

2008-05-03T18:55:00.000-07:00

We are all so excited that Jordan and Emily finally decided to go to Prom together. They are going to Emily's Prom and Jordan's After-Prom. We were invited to Donny and Chris' for pre-prom pictures. Then we went and ate dinner with our friends, Stephanie and Bill. Then it was right back to Donny and Chris' for Adam's college graduation party. Here are a few pictures from the exciting afternoon.

And where would these 2 be tonight if it weren't for John helping to get them together?

Terry had a great time entertaining Trent and Ella during Adam's graduation party!

Strawberry Festival

2008-05-03T12:18:00.000-07:00

This weekend was the Strawberry Festival downtown. We went, ate our shortcakes, walked around, and then went home. Not much excitement but it sure was delicious!

Of course, we had to make a stop at the old #1 fire station. Even though it officially closed up last year when the new station was built the city sends a few firefighters down there when special things are going on in the downtown vicinity. They do it so people like us can come in and see some of the older engines that are stored.

Ella always asks if they make PINK fire fighter coats. We will have to ask cousin Robbie about that one!

John Camps Out For Chick-Fil-A

2008-04-30T16:08:00.000-07:00

Many of you already know how much John LOVES Chick-Fil-A. He eats lunch there almost everyday and knows everyone in the store by name. We were even sent an invitation to attend Premire Night last night. Premire Night is an invitation only event in which they do the ribbon cutting, give tours of the new store (including a behind the scenes in the kitchen), raffle off prizes (John won an I Love Chick-Fil-A t-shirt), and give away tons of free food. It was kind of neat pulling up to the parking lot last night and having to show our special invitation to even step foot on the property.

Tomorrow is opening day...6:00 am. Chick-Fil-A has a tradition of giving the first 100 people in line a year's supply of chicken sandwiches. However, in order to be one of those 100 people you must camp out overnight to reserve your space. So John packed up his stuff and went out at 8:30 this morning to reserve his spot. He is number 48. I later found out that several people camped out last night in order to get a spot and the last spot filled up at 3:45 this afternoon.

Since Trent got out of school early this afternoon Grammy picked him up and took him to see daddy. Ella and I went before church so we could get a few pictures to remember this event...even thought it is a weird one.

The staff at Chick-Fil-A has taken really good care of all 100 customers. They provided them with lunch this afternoon and dinner tonight. They also have supplied the bottomless glass of tea and water. There's going to be an ice cream party, karaoke, and a DJ later this evening. If you will notice in this picture John is picking up his dinner...it's not very often that you get to walk through the drive-thru to get your food. Even Ella got to have a bag.

No joking - this is only half of the Chick-Fil-A "Camp". John said a lot of the people here are college students but I did see several dads with their kids. It was definitely a crazy sight.

It is supposed to get into the 40's tonight. Hopefully, he will stay warm.

Dogwood Festival ALMOST Rained Out

2008-04-30T15:51:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a busy day for Trent. The morning began with a fishing trip (see the post below) and ended with the Dogwood Festival. It appeared that it was going to be a fairly nice afternoon for a parade. The weatherman did say there was a possibility of scattered thunderstorms in the evening but everything was clear after lunch so we decided to go ahead to the parade.

There we were...sitting out on the side of the road, complaining about how hot it was, Trent and Ella are having a great time playing with Dylan and Sydnie. Then it starts to get a little gray over in the distance. We figure it's nothing to worry about and the parade will be over and done with before it starts to rain. BOY, WERE WE WRONG! All of the sudden, without even one tiny rumble of thunder as a warning to seek shelter, the skies open up and the rain pours. Luckily, we sit in the same place every year and there was a porch of a local business available for shelter. After standing there for 10 minutes the rain dies down and we walk the 2 blocks back to Aunt Rinkie's house.

Well, the parade started 30 minutes later than expected but the show did go on (and I found out from Aunt Rinkie that the Dogwood Festival has only been canceled 1 time in its longstanding history). Here are a few pictures of our second try. As you can see, Ella is not at all excited about being back with the possibility of getting rained on again.

It was nice to have the umbrella for shade. It got very hot after the storm.

Trent and Ella's cousin David, Sydnie, Dylan, and Trent wait for the parade to start.

Trent's Fishing Trip on Saturday

2008-04-30T15:36:00.000-07:00

Trent had the opportunity to go fishing at the Children's Home on Saturday morning with some other children from church. Although he did catch anything he did have a lot of fun so here are a few pictures for you to see.

Nationals Scrimmage

2008-04-24T17:55:00.000-07:00

So here's the story...

Monday night was supposed to be Trent's first official baseball game of the season and it was to be against the other East team(Nationals). Unfortunately, Monday it rained all day long so his game was postponed until later in the season. Tonight was supposed to be a regular practice night but it quickly turned into a full uniform scrimmage.

On Tuesday, we got an email from Coach B that one of the Nationals players was moving out of town this weekend and Monday's game was the only game he was going to be able to play with his team before leaving. So it was decided that tonight we would scrimmage the Nationals in uniform to make it feel like a real game. It was a great game and Trent will miss his friend Reese. The neat thing about Reese moving is that they are relocating to the Atlanta area so we will be able to visit him this summer! Here are a few pictures and video clips of tonight's scrimmage.

Trent was very excited because he got to be catcher for the entire game!

Trent up to bat against his dad the pitcher.

This is Trent at 3rd base . His friend Reese is the 3rd baseman.

An action shot of Trent playing catcher.

Trent and Reese after the game. We will all miss Reese!

Ella is enjoying this season because for the first time she has other girls to play with while the boys are out on the field.

This is a clip of Trent covering Home Plate and ending the inning.

Trent was just full of doubles tonight!

This was the last play of the night!

Dixie League Opening Night

2008-04-19T17:01:00.000-07:00

Tonight was opening night for the Dixie League baseball teams. Check out the pictures and short video from the Av's game. Unfortunately, it rained off and on, before and during the game. We left at the end of the 3rd inning. On the good side, the rain stayed away while the teams were being introduced.

Trent's First Scrimmage

2008-04-17T18:11:00.000-07:00

Tonight was Trent's first opportunity to play an actual game of baseball. His team scrimmaged another East team. Here are a few pictures and videos of the game.

Trent was right back in one of his favorite spots to start the game! He played catcher for 2 innings.

These are a few pictures I took after Trent's first hit. The video clips are at the bottom of this post. Notice that John is in charge of the pitching machine. Trent LOVES when dad's pitching. If you get a chance, ask Trent about his line drive past dad's head at practice last week!

It's soooo exciting. With t-ball and one year of coach pitch under the belt it's finally making sense to Trent. You must always be ready to run home!

This picture is from the end of the game. Trent's teammate AJ finished the game in a grand fashion...he made a home run at the last at-bat. It was really awesome! Coach Brad is telling them what a great job they did and GETTING READY TO PASS OUT UNIFORMS!!!! Trent's team will be called the Giants and team colors are black and orange. I've never seen such a bright pair of orange socks! The best part of this year's uniform is that they have the boys' names on the back!

Here are video clips of Trent's first at bat and running to each base. Sorry I had to break it into several clips but the blog never would've been able to upload a 5 minute clip.

This is Trent's second bat that I recorded in the stands.

This is a video of Trent playing catcher.

Last Night's Trip to Bruster's!

2008-04-05T19:29:00.000-07:00

Since Daddy was not home last night we decided to go to Bruster's after dinner. It was a beautiful evening so we celebrated the warm weather with ice cream!

Here is a BEFORE picture of Ella with her chocolate ice cream cone.

That would be a pink sprinkle stuck to Ella's forehead.

Trent was very excited about his Purple Dinosaur ice cream which he ordered on a sugar cone and then promptly dropped into a bowl so he could eat the cone first.

Trent Attends Scout Day at VT

2008-04-05T16:48:00.000-07:00

I know that Pops, Purson, and Abby (especially) will not be very excited about this post. So those three people might just want to bypass the following pictures...they could be harmful to your mental health Abby!

Because Trent sold so much Scout popcorn this fall he was invited to participate in a special "Scout Day" today at Virginia Tech. Mommy and Trent left Ella at home with Emily D. and drove all the way to VT. Daddy was not able to go with us since he was at Aunt Frances' memorial service. Upon our arrival we went to check in and Trent received his offical VT Boy Scout hat. Then it was off to eat some lunch before the opening.

We started out at Cassell Coliseum and then went to Lane Stadium to participate in several hands-on demonstrations. Here are some pictures from the hands-on experiements Trent got to see and do.

Putting together some robots with other scouts.

Trent had to build a boat that could float marbles and he could only use a plastic bowl, 2 small paper cups, 1 large paper cup, and a piece of aluminun foil. He also had to make sure that the marbles didn't touch the blue part of the bowl. The boat he developed was able to float 24 marbles.

Trent was able to see VT's "self-driving" SUV that won 3rd place in national competition. We had to take this picture just for Pops.

Following our visit to the South Endzone we went on a tour of the athletic facilities. Our tour began Cassell Coliseum. We were taken through the Hall of Fame and were shown all the behind the scenes areas.

Here is a picture of Trent taken in the room with all the football trophies (the room has an official name but I can't remember what it is). This room looks down on the practice field and out towards Lane Stadium.

One of the first things we saw when we walked into this room was the large Hokie Bird. We actually took this picture to show Sarah...she was the person in charge of making the original prototype and was the artist for one of the Birds showcased in downtown Blacksburg.

Before walking out towards Lane Stadium I stopped to take this picture for Abby. I believe it's probably the only thing on campus having to do with UVA. This banner, sent to campus after last year's tragedy, hangs in the foyer of the athletic building.

Finally, it was out to the stadium. We were able to spend some time playing on the practice field before walking through the tunnel to the stadium.

Our final stop of the day was English Field to watch the Hokies baseball team take on the University of Maryland. Unfortunately, it was getting cold so we left during the 3rd inning. Trent and Mommy had a great time during "Scout Day" and we hope that we get a chance to go again next year!

Playing Baseball

2008-03-29T17:33:00.001-07:00

Grammy and Paw Paw came over this evening to eat dinner with us. After dinner the kids went outside to show them how well they could pitch and bat. Here are a few clips I took of Ella and Trent.

We are hoping that Ella may attend college on a softball scholarship after watching her hit the ball a few times. Notice that she's hitting it left-handed Pops!

Here's Ella trying to hit the balls coming out of Trent's pitching machine. She wasn't having as much luck.

Ella Reads Her Book

2008-03-29T17:08:00.000-07:00

I forgot that I had taken this video last weekend. We were waiting for our table at Red Lobster so Purson went ahead and gave the kids their Easter gifts. Both Trent and Ella received a Dr. Seuss book and stuffed animal to match the book. What got us so tickled about Ella was that she licked her fingers everytime she went to turn a page in her book.

Mentos and Diet Coke Experiment Video

2008-03-29T16:59:00.000-07:00

I've tried several times to get this video to load in the following post but have been unsuccessful. Hopefully, this will work.

Wednesday at Pops and Purson's

2008-03-26T14:52:00.001-07:00

Today we took it easy and made a quick trip to the mall...shopping with Ella without a stroller is not the easiest thing in the world. We ate a quick lunch at Dairy Queen in the Food Court and enjoyed a "Dilly Bar" for dessert. Then we moved on to the park where we spent about 45 minutes. Trent was not the happiest camper because he didn't have anyone to play with while we were there - schools in the Atlanta area are not on Spring Break so there were no school age children to hang around with. It was also time for Ella's nap so we went home earlier than I had expected.

Earlier this evening Pops and Trent finally got to perform the Mentos & Diet Coke experiment. I hope you enjoy the photos and short video clip.

Visiting Pops and Purson in Atlanta...again

2008-03-25T13:05:00.000-07:00

Here we are in Atlanta...our 3rd trip! Trent, Ella, and I arrived last night and will be staying here until Thursday. As I type, Trent and Pops are in the kitchen cooking dinner and Ella is finishing up her nap.

Today I took the kids back to the Fernbank Museum. We bought a family membership last summer and were not able to see everything so today we went back and were able to accomplish it all. Some of the things were the same as last time but they did have a few new things to play with. Here are a couple of pictures and a short video of our outing.

Ella feeds the baby birds in the interactive Life in Georgia exhibit. She really enjoyed this exhibit last summer.

This is the tree house in the middle of the Life in Georgia exhibit.

Where's Ella???? She's learning about camouflage, of course! This is a vest the kids wear and then they are able to stand in front of the colored boards and look at themselves in a mirror. It is pretty neat.

Trent and Ella learn more able plant and animal life in the state of Georgia. Here they see if they can snag any native fish of the state.

Trent enjoys catching Blue Crab in his net. Another sea animal native to the state.

Ella remembered making bubbles from this summer. She was excited to get to do it again.

Trent thinks he looks like Harry Potter in this picture.

The Fernbank has a great dinosaur display. This walk-through exhibit takes you through the entire scientific history of the state from the earliest one-celled organisms that lived millions of years ago, through the age of the dinosaurs, and into the present day.

Trent remembered the weatherman display from this summer so it was high on his list of things to revisit. Last time Ella wasn't to excited about it but this time she seemed to do a little better.

Going to See the Easter Bunny!

2008-03-21T17:18:00.001-07:00

Since we had the day off today I took the kids to the mall to see the Easter Bunny. Since it was a beautiful day outside this afternoon I thought I would take a picture of the cuties.

Thank you to Abby and Purson for all the hours they spend looking for just the right outfits for the kids. I wish the picture was better but it was time for nap and Ella was not completely cooperative.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY POPS!

2008-03-20T19:39:00.000-07:00

In celebration of Pop's birthday today the grandkids will perform "Happy Birthday to You."

The Harlem Globetrotters

2008-03-20T18:40:00.001-07:00

Tonight we had a great time getting to see the Harlem Globetrotters play. And guess what???? They won!! Can you believe that? They must be the winnest team in basketball! I wonder how they do that!?!?! :-)

I had never seen the Globetrotters play until tonight...with the exception of seeing the cartoon version on an episode of "Scooby Doo" back when I was a kid. If you don't remember the episode I'm talking about here's a link to a synopsis and a short trailer of the episode. I couldn't find a link for the original from the 70's, so this link will take you to the remake from a few years ago:

http://whv.warnerbros.com/WHVPORTAL/Portal/product.jsp?OID=25414

This Scooby-Doo episode should've been my sign that this is no ordinary basketball team. After watching them play tonight I will now refer to the Globetrotters as the WWF team of basketball. It reminded me of professional wrestling, except it was basketball. Yes, they are still awesome ball handlers but I never knew how "staged" the game was. It was quite funny and enjoyable and Trent had a wonderful time. Now to share with you a few pictures.

Tonight offered a special opportunity for Cub Scouts. We received discounted tickets and were able to enter early to visit with some of the players. This was a combined outting for both the Cub and Boy Scouts which Trent thought was pretty cool. We also had several sisters join the group! Trent's Cub Scout Master, Jimmy, is standing in the back on Globie's left side (he's the bald one).

I was amazed that it was actually ELLA'S IDEA to take a picture with Globie. She's always been scared to death of these kind of creatures.

Ella waits very patiently to go inside the coliseum.

I'm not sure what this player's name is but Trent was amazed at the spinning ball.

Trent enjoying the beginning of the game...watching the Globetrotters perform a "Magic Circle" to the tune of Sweet Georgia Brown.

During halftime Trent played around with one of the other Wolves from his pack. This is David and he was in my class last year. Like I've said before...every kid in Trent's pack has either had me for a teacher in the past or is in my current class. It's unusual but kind of neat.

Second Grade PTA program

2008-03-18T17:21:00.001-07:00

I'm so glad tonight is over! For the past month all I've been thinking about is our second grade PTA program. Well today was the day and it went very well. We picked a play about Egypt and it was quite cute. We performed the play this morning for the entire school and again this evening for the PTA meeting. Now it's just smooth sailing to Spring Break...YEA!!!

Trent was picked to be a dancing mummy. John took a short video clip of him doing his dance since I was backstage running the CD and microphones.

Trent is the second mummy from the right.

Ella's Choir Sings during Morning Worship

2008-03-16T11:25:00.001-07:00

Just a few weeks ago Trent's choir sang during the worship service, so this week it was Ella's turn. Here are a few pictures and video clips from our Palm Sunday service.

It is hard to see here, but Ella IS SINGING during this song. I was very impressed. During rehearsal before Sunday School she just stood there and looked around. I wish I had zoomed in a little closer to her so you could see her mouth moving.

This was a cute song. During dress rehearsal Ella didn't want to do anything but stand there...no singing, no movements, no nothing. So Mommy spoke to Ella and told her that she had to do the movements so we could send it to Pops and Purson so they could see. Here's what she did during the service:

One other wonderful thing happened during today's service. Our nephew, Dylan, joined the church by his profession of faith. We are so happy and proud of Dylan!

Kayleen's Birthday Party on Saturday

2008-03-10T16:51:00.000-07:00

Saturday was very busy for Trent and Ella. Trent went to his best friend Curtis' birthday party beginning at 2:00. We picked Trent up a little early and made our way to the other said of town to Kayleen's birthday at 4:30. Luckily, Ella got a good nap before we left:

Ella enjoyed jumping into the foam pit but wouldn't go in unless she got help. Scott was really great at helping Kayleen and Ella into the pit of foam.

Ella also got some help from Trent.

Ella and best friend Kayleen.

Ella tried out a few pieces of equipment...her favorite was the balance beam.

Kayleen had a lot of friends at her 4th birthday party!

Even Daddy got to have a little fun playing on the tall balance beam!

Trent loved jumping with Jonathan and Jacob. Here's a video clip of the young jumpers:

And a video clip of the older jumpers:

Third Annual Gingerbread House Get-Together...in MARCH?!?!?!?

2008-03-07T18:51:00.000-08:00

It has become an annual festivity - making gingerbread houses with Jeff, Sharon, Jonathan, and Elizabeth. But this year was a little different than in the past.

Usually we meet together sometime during the week following Christmas. I know what you're thinking, "Don't most normal people decorate gingerbread houses before Christmas?" Well, there are several reasons for waiting until after Christmas...
#1-we are all too busy before Christmas
#2-The Gingerbread House Kit is a great Christmas present(thank you to Jeff, Sharon, Jonathan, and Elizabeth for picking out a great kit!)
#3-The kits go on markdown after December 25th if you need to purchase one
and most importantly #4-Who said any of us are "normal" :-)

Now that Mom and Dad live in Atlanta we spend the days following Christmas at their house. This meant that our after Christmas festivities would have to be postponed until January. However, January was jam-packed as was February so we had to hold off until March. So tonight was the night. As we listened to Christmas carols (Jeff insisted) we enjoyed laughing together as our family made a ST. PATRICK'S GINGERBREAD HOUSE. Here are a few pictures from tonight.

One thing we did discover about making Gingerbread Houses in March is that the frosting and candy are not as "fresh" as in December.

Children's Choir Sings Today

2008-02-24T13:24:00.001-08:00

Trent's choir sang during the service this morning. I found out on Wednesday that he had a solo...and he came home with NO MUSIC! As you can tell from the short video he didn't really know the words.

Preparing for Baseball Season 2008!

2008-02-23T09:26:00.000-08:00

We took a short trip to Target last night. You know the kind of trip I'm talking about...the one that we go to walk around and only need shampoo and then we end up walking out with $40.00 of other stuff.

Well, Trent was excited because he found out that the 2008 baseball cards have arrived! Only one change from last season...the price has gone up dramatically. Last year a single pack of Topp's cost 99 cents. That was great for Trent because he got $1.00 for his allowance each week(minus the amount taken out for his offering at church and 25 cents put into his savings bank) so he could purchase a pack every 2 weeks.

Now the cards are $1.99 a pack and Trent's allowance has only been raised to $1.50 per week. He still takes out 25 cents for offering and 25 cents for savings a week so he is left with $1.00 of spendable "income." However, Trent was very excited that he was going to be able to purchase a pack of cards each week (Mom and Dad cover the tax) instead of every 2 weeks. It really busted his bubble to find out that was not going to be the case this year.

Oh well! I guess Trent has learned a great lesson about inflation.

Trent Plays the Piano

2008-02-16T06:59:00.000-08:00

Trent gave a short concert this morning during his practice time. Here are his 3 best songs...

The Superman Theme Song

You'll Be in My Heart from the movie TARSAN

The Battle Hymn of the Republic

Celebrating Scout Sunday

2008-02-04T18:53:00.000-08:00

Thank you to my sister-in-law for telling us that this Sunday was Scout Sunday. Trent was very excited about getting to wear his Cub Scout uniform to church. I thought I would post a picture of three of the Cub Scouts from our church.

From L-->R - Conner is a Tiger, Trent is a Wolf, and cousin Dylan is a Bear.

A Fun Time with Ella!

2008-01-29T15:33:00.001-08:00

John took Trent to Cub Scouts tonight so Ella and I got to spend some time together at home. We began the evening by preparing our Valentine's. Here's a short clip...

Then Ella spent some time serenading me so I thought I might video a bit of it for everyone to enjoy. I must say that she gets a little less "tone deaf" each time I hear her sing. Now we just have to work on singing on the beat.

Trent Turns 8!

2008-01-21T18:50:00.000-08:00

Trent turned 8 earlier in the month but we waited until Saturday to have his birthday party. And Pops, Purson, and Abby were able to come from Atlanta to help us celebrate! Since there was a Moon Bouncer we had a small friend party at the church and a family party at Mema's house later in the evening. Here are a few pictures of the whole day to enjoy!

Everybody enjoys a pizza lunch!

The 2 things Trent wanted most for his birthday were a digital camera (thanks to Pops and Purson)...

and a Science Kit(from Mom and Dad)!

After opening presents everyone was ready for more time in the bouncer - including Daddy!

Even Purson took some time to jump around!

After a quick stop at home it was off to Mema's for spaghetti with the family. We celebrated Trent's birthday along with Grammy and Daddy's.

It's a SNOW DAY!!

2008-01-17T08:42:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I last posted...that's because there hasn't been a lot to blog about. Life has been "normal" since we returned from Pops and Purson's house after Christmas.

Today is what all school-age children and their teachers hope for...a SNOW DAY!! We had our fingers crossed and we did everything possible yesterday at school to get it to snow - we did a Snow Dance, shook the Snow Basket during math (I know that you have no clue what the Snow Basket is, just go along with it), wrote short stories about what we like to do in the snow, and then drew snow pictures (with white chalk of course) to go along with our writings. The only bad part of a snow day is that we have to make it up, but this one came at a good time for me personally so I don't mind making it up next week. It does mean that teachers will have to go to school next Saturday for inservice because we are losing our time for the make-up day next week. Oh well!

The snow has been falling off and on all morning and I heard some freezing precip. hitting the kitchen vent a little while ago. I hope that the kids will get a chance to venture out this afternoon...we will have to see how long it takes to let up.

I snapped a few pictures out front. These are especially for my cousins Don and Carol in Florida...we all know how much they enjoy a good snowfall (ha, ha). It doesn't look like a lot in the pictures but it's about 2-3 inches I imagine. Enjoy!

This is a look from our front porch down to Paul and Kim's house.

ADDED AT 3:30pm.............................................................

We were able to go outside for about 30 minutes after lunch today. There was still some precipitation falling and we were wet when we got inside, but it was so much fun...and I was able to shovel half of the driveway. Here are a few pictures and video clips. Ella had a hard time trying to walk.

This is the BEFORE picture! It took a while to get everyone dressed.

I told you the snow was deeper than it looked in the pictures at the top.

The AFTER picture!