First Day of School!

Today was the first day of school for my sweet babies. Emily is in the 5th grade and has the best teacher -- Mrs. Cutshaw. Caitlynn had her two years ago and loved her so much. So, Emily was so thrilled to have gotten her. Ryan is in the 3rd grade this year and he has Mrs. Butler, who is a wonderful teacher, too. Emily didn't have her in the 3rd grade and neither did Caitlynn or Hunter, so I don't have much to go on, except that from what I hear, she is great. Ryan had a wonderful first day with her. He said that she was so nice. Emily had the best day, too. I'm so happy that they were still smiling when I picked them up.

We did have a bit of a fiasco this morning, though. This has been the first year that we have been allowed to ride the bus, because they said that we lived too close to the school to ride the bus. However, this year they changed the boundaries and if you live 1/2 a mile, or more, away from the school, then you can ride the bus. We live a mile away. Anyway, we were out there early, because we walked to Kelli's so that we could get a picture taken with Caitlynn and Hunter, before they went to school, and the bus was supposed to come at 7:26am. Well, by 7:38a, we got the car and just took them. We are going to try again tomorrow and see how it works. I have no problem taking them, so I will do that if we continue to have a problem.

After school, Kelli, Scott, and I took all the kids to Dairy Queen to get ice cream. They have a fun time. I'm going to close with some pictures from the day!

Emily, my 5th grader ~

Ryan, my 3rd grader ~

My sweet babies. They are growing up too quickly ~

Emily, Caitlynn, Hunter, and Ryan ~

Ryan, Emily, and Jessie (our neighbor), waiting for the bus, that NEVER came ~

All the cousins, after their tasty Dairy Queen treat ~

Update Time!

It's time for an update, since I have been rather slacking in the blogging department lately. This week, Emily and Caitlynn had "Worship Arts Camp" at the church they attended for Bible School. They had so much fun and got to pick three types of art classes to take. Their schedule was: Photography, Sign Language, and STOMP! They really enjoyed their week. Emily's favorite classes were photography and STOMP! I'll have to check with Caitlynn on her favorite classes, but I'd be willing to guess that they were the same as Emily's. I would drop them off every day at 8:30 and pick them up at 2:30. They really enjoyed themselves. While the girls were at their camp, Ryan and Hunter were at skateboarding camp again. They learned a lot of new tricks, which made us feel better since their camp is a bit on the "pricey" side. It was nice to have all four of them at camp, at the same time. While they were at camp, I enjoyed some free time on Monday and Tuesday, which is a coveted luxury, during the summer months! hahaha! I watched Brandon and Joshy the remainder of the week, so they kept me very busy. Yesterday, we had a great day at the pool. It was so hot and we definitely enjoyed the water. Joshy has become very brave. Emily and Caitlynn were taking turns throwing him and he just loved it. He even let them put him under the water and took his water wings off. Brandon is still a bit nervous, but is very slowly coming around. Here are a couple of pictures and a video at the end, of the girls throwing Joshy. To 'hear' it, you will need to scroll down to the bottom and put my playlist on 'pause.'

Em and Joshy ~
Emily and Caitlynn, throwing Joshy ~

Friday, July 18, 2008

Early this morning, Caitlynn got picked up to go camping, with South and his family. So, after I got her off for her trip, Emily woke up with her ear still hurting! Poor Emily, her ear had been hurting for the past few days and I didn't really think that it was anything to be concerned about. Well, I was wrong. When she woke up, she told me that she was up a lot throughout the night. I called the doctor and they told us to come in at 9:40am -- yikes -- we had to rush, but made it! Luckily, Rob went into work a little bit later, so he dropped Ryan and Hunter off, at skate camp (their last day). I took Brandon and Joshy with us. Well, after waiting for an hour and a half, we were finally seen! Dr. Holman told us that Emily had swimmers ear. We were sent home with a prescription and instructions on Emily NOT going underwater for SEVEN days!! He told her that the length of her hair was perfect for "cutting a little deal." He said that she could still get in the pool, as long as her hair didn't get wet! So, at least she is still able to get in the pool and "cool" off. Nana and Poppy have tons of floats that she can enjoy. So, we plan on going tomorrow (Saturday).

After we picked the boys up from camp, we took Hunter to a friend's house to spend the night. Then, we went to IcePlex for Emily's private lesson! She did such a great job and passed to the next level -- Freestyle 2. So, this means, that she can practice on the ice, during Freestyle sessions, without her coach present. What a huge accomplishment. She has only been taking lessons for 10-months and has just soared through the levels. She is quite the natural and I just love watching her.

Nana and Poppy came over tonight, to visit. They are heading out of town and wanted to say "goodbye," before they left. It was nice seeing them.

Thursday, July 17, 2008 - Our American Girls, with their American Girl Dolls!

While the boys were at skate camp, I came around the corner and saw this, in the living room ............



I just love that our girls still play with their dolls. I think that children grow up way too quickly these days, and it's so refreshing to still see the innocence of girls playing with their dolls.


We didn't go to the pool today, because Emily had her Edge Class and Learn To Skate class tonight. Plus, Caitlynn had cheerleading practice. So, it's always too draining for them to be in the sun all day, then have to go and exhaust themselves at their evening activities. Rob took Ryan and Hunter skating, at Mike's, tonight.

Skateboarding Camp!

Before Camp ~~~



After Camp ~~~


I took the above pictures yesterday! I just love the difference in BEFORE camp, versus AFTER camp!! Look at those dirty faces (especially on Ryan) and disheveled hair. LOL!! They skate hard for the four hours they are at camp, and are so ready
to jump in Nana and Poppy's pool afterwards!

Pool Time!

As you can see from our previous posts, we went to the pool today. It was so much fun. There's nothing like a couple of days of rain, to really make you appreciate the pool again!! It was really warm and the water was super cold, because of ALL of that rain. But, that made it for a really refreshing dip, when you got in. Here are some more pictures of our day.


Jenn, this is for you! Emily is making this doll go "potty" just like the doll that Nicole was playing with! LOL!! In fact, it's the same exact doll!


I love the fact that my niece and daughter still play with dolls!!! Children grow up too quickly these days!


Ryan in mid-air! I love when I am able to capture these action shots!

The Anatomy of a Relay Race ~~

There's Nothing Like This ~~~~

~~~~ to set your nerves on EDGE!!!! My gosh, I was laying out by the pool taking pictures of the children, when all of a sudden, I snapped a picture of this!!! "This" happens to be Hunter, who is doing a twisty back-flip, onto a raft!! Through my camera lens, it looked like he was about to break his back! Scary!!!

Rainy Days = Craft Time!

What do WE do on a rainy day???? CRAFTS!!!!


Joshy showing off the lion that I helped him make. Ryan showing off the puppy that he made. These were only $1.00, at Michael's. They were made of foam. What an easy and fun project!

Emily showing off the monkey that she made!

Caitlynn showing off the mouse that she made!

Brandon showing off the lion that he made ALL by himself!

Hunter showing off the puppy that he made!

Joshy's and Brandon's picture frames that they painted! We bought the sports balls already pre-painted!

Ryan's and Emily's picture frames that they painted! Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of Caitlynn's and Hunter's, before they went home.


The girls did some sand bottles, with lots of different colors of sand, while Ryan and Hunter did a peg project. During this time, the little boys (Brandon and Joshy) were watching a movie ("quiet time").

We are still working on some pom-pom projects. Emily is working on a monkey, Caitlynn is actually finished with a fluffy dog, and Ryan and Hunter will be working on sharks. I'll post pictures, once those projects are completed!

Bowling!!

Today, we went bowling with Nana! She treated us to lunch, at the bowling alley, some video games, and three games of bowling! The children had a blast! This was the first time that we had been bowling in a LONG time. Before we left her house, she added some pink hair pieces to Emily and Sarah's hair. They looked so cute and the girls loved them. Caitlynn was spending the night with her friends, in Virginia Beach, so that's why she is not in any pictures. Luckily, Poppy dropped by, after work and went home to get his camera. I didn't know where mine was, because Rob had used it last night. He had actually put it in Emily's skate bag, but I thought he had left it in his car. So, I didn't have any pictures. Poppy drove all the way home and got his camera for us -- he's so sweet! The first two games, were played with the bumpers. The third game, was played without them. They did wonderfully without the bumpers! Enjoy the pictures!

I'm not sure about Emily's "pouting" in this picture. I think she may have just gotten a "gutter" ball and Sarah was comforting her! LOL!!

Emily and Sarah ~ such sweet cousins! You can really see their hair pieces in this pictures!

Hunter did a great job. As you can see in this picture, he knocked down all but one pin, on his first ball!

This was Sarah's second ball and she only left one pin!! Great job!

Ryan's turn!!

He's getting there!!

Emily setting her ball up!

Umm, I'm not sure what went wrong with her technique! LOL! It's right in the gutter. At least she's smiling!! he/he/he!!

Skate Park and Fun Forest!

Today we went back over to Chesapeake to go to their skate park. Hunter hadn't been, since he was in Tennessee the first time that we tried it out. We ended up running into a skate friend, who skates with the boys at Mike's. They all had a lot of fun. The girls watched the boys for awhile and then we went to the playground. Emily was looking forward to showing Caitlynn all the equipment. One of their favorite things to do was climb the huge rock. We enjoyed a nice picnic and stayed for a couple more hours, after lunch. You never know how the traffic is going to be, so I didn't want to stay too late, since we had to go through the tunnel. We had another fun-filled summer day. Here are some pictures, to enjoy!

Emily and Caitlynn, waiting outside of the skate park ~

Ryan and Hunter, waiting for them to unlock the skate park. Unfortunately, they seem to be about 10-minutes late ALL the time! ~

Ryan dropping in ~

Hunter dropping in ~

The girls in Fun Forest ~



Lunch Time ~

Getting some "end-of-the-day" jumps in, before we leave ~

Monday Fun Day!

We had a really great day! It is so nice to have Caitlynn and Hunter back home. They all played so nicely together. I took everyone over to the other house this morning, so that Caitlynn could get all of her posters off the wall. Then, I took their computer monitor and food, from the fridge and freezer, to the new house. After we did that, we went to the beach, for a couple of hours. We took Nick with us and they all had a blast. The boys brought their skim boards. We only had two jelly fish stings (Caitlynn and Nick). There weren't very many jelly fish out at all. In fact, they didn't even see them, before they got stung. A lot of times, we see them and it's too late, before they "get" us. Or we see them and can avoid them. Today, they snuck up on the two victims!! Poor Caitlynn and Nick!

Emily ~

Caitlynn ~

Ryan and Nick ~

Hunter "wiping" out ~

Ryan "wiping" out ~

Emily and Caitlynn enjoying their conversation (gosh, they missed each other so much!)~

Hunter and Emily ~


While we were at the beach, they also built sand castles and had a contest to see which one was the best. I actually didn't even "judge" them, because we all forgot about it and I also hate to have to choose a winner. I always end up having "ties," which they really dislike. They'll usually say, "And, Mommy no ties!" Or, "Amy, ties aren't allowed!" Oh my gosh, the pressure!!! LOL!

Nick and Ryan ~

Caitlynn ~

Caitlynn's Heart ~

Emily and Caitlynn ~

Hunter ~


Emily went to Hooter's for dinner, with Kelli, Caitlynn, and Hunter tonight. Ryan didn't want to go. After dinner, we met Hunter up at Mike's to skate. Emily ran some errands, with Kelli and Caitlynn, to pick up some more things for the house. After they finished, Kelli dropped them off here to grab their things. After Emily was all packed up, with all the necessities for the sleep-over, they happily walked to Caitlynn's house. I had to run in and get my camera, to capture those sweet girls, who were so oblivious to the fact, that I was watching them and taking a picture! They are so precious!!



Oh, and we finally got our external hard-drive, so I am back in business, with my pictures!! Yay!!!

Goodnight!