The Wilson Family

2011-04-22T09:50:00.001-07:00

Yesterday some friends and I took our "Sweeteas" to a tea party/book signing at Wrapsody, a local gift boutique. Caroline was so excited to wear her dress up clothes, crown, boa, and jewelry! They had cookies and tea, southern belles, and the author of the Sweeteas book series was there to read to the girls and autographs their books. If you have never read these books, and you are a southern lady, you are missing out! They are super cute!!!

After that, we headed over to the yogurt shop for a sweet treat! It was a wonderful afternoon!!

The Newest Member of Our Family

2011-04-03T18:17:00.001-07:00

Isn't the newest addition to our family beautiful?? This is our newest niece, Shelby Leigh Street.

Born March 21, 2011

at 12:16pm

7lb 3ozs

19.5 inches

Congratulations to Bucky, Meredith, and Claire!!

Daniel and Porter's Special Day!

2011-03-28T06:13:00.001-07:00

The party theme was Auburn, ofcourse!

Sweet Cunningham boys

Caroline learned to jump rope at the party!

Daniel and his buddy Cameron

PePaw and Daddy

The Birthday Boys!

D and his sweet teacher of two years, Mrs. Bollman

Caroline giving Bella a welcome hug!

The Crew!

Yesterday we celebrated Daniel's seventh birthday at a joint birthday party with his best buddy, Porter. We had it at Vestavia Hills Baptist Church, and it was so much fun! The kiddos enjoyed a jumpy, jumping rope, hula hooping, playing corn hole (it was an Auburn themed party), and playing basketball. We had such a great turn out with many of his friends and family. Daniel has had the same group of kids in his class for the past two years, as his sweet teacher Mrs. Bollman looped up with them from Kindergarten to first grade. Next year will be interesting, as they have all formed a little family!

I just can't believe my little man is seven. He has truly been God's greatest gift to me.

Lovin' Spring!

2011-03-21T09:16:00.001-07:00

DD Bug is Seven!

2011-03-20T17:29:00.000-07:00

It is so hard to believe, but my sweet Daniel turned seven years old today. My how time has flown. It seems like just yesterday, we were bringing him home from the hospital, uncertain of what to do!

We started the morning off with chocolate with sprinkles Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Then we headed to the mall and went to the Lego store, got a cookie, and rode the carousel. He came home and worked on his new lego set for a while, and then we headed out for his birthday dinner. He has always loved Sumo. When he was two and three, he called it Japanese-Chinese and the people that worked there thought it was the funniest thing! One of our favorite cooks was there tonight, and reminded us of how he has grown and changed.

I am so proud of the little man he has become. He is incredibly smart, handsome, and has the biggest heart of any child I know. I only pray that he continues to travel the right path, and love his God, family, and friends with all his heart. I never knew that I could love someone as much as I do him. Thank you, Daniel, for all that you are to me.

Happy Birthday MiMi and Daniel!

2011-03-19T06:04:00.000-07:00

This weekend Daddy and Tammy came up to celebrate her and Daniel's March birthdays! Gran and PePaw came over and we had dinner and birthday cake. It was a wonderful time!

Your Backyard Friends...

2011-03-15T11:34:00.001-07:00

Last night Caroline and Mommy headed to McWane Science Center for a Night Out with the Backyardigans! Uniqua, Pablo, and Tyrone were there for a meet and greet. We also had free reign of the museum after hours, which was so nice because the limited number of tickets meant that there was no crowd! Caroline especially loved the dance party and crafts! It was truly a fun GNO!!

Love December Sundays!

2010-12-12T16:21:00.001-08:00

Daniel and Caroline with Santa

Gran, PePaw, and Caroline just before brunch

Cousin Kate and Caroline with Mrs. Claus

Kate and Caroline with Santa (can you tell we spent a lot of time with the Big Guy and his wife?!)

Daniel and Caroline in front of the tree at the Club

Our tree!! Had to throw this one in there!! :)

Caroline just before going into the church

Playing with her friends before her big performance!

Our little angel is the one on the far right with the halo RIGHT in front of her cute little face!

Walking out after her big debut!

Sundays in December are always so wonderful. This Sunday was certainly no different! We started off the morning at Caroline's Preschool. She attends a church preschool, and this morning they did a performance about the birth of Jesus. It was just precious! Caroline was an angel, and she did such a great job. There was also a little boy who could not have been much more than four who had a violin solo. He was amazing! The performance was absolutely heart warming, and I am so glad Caroline got to be a part of it!

After the program, we headed to the Country Club for Brunch with Santa. Matt's sister Amanda and her little girl Kate came in for the weekend to see the Nutcracker with us, and were able to spend Sunday morning with us too. The kids were obsessed with Santa and Mrs. Claus, and spent most of the brunch talking with them!

I just LOVE this time of year!!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-08T19:32:00.001-08:00

So, I realize that it has been a LONG time since I have posted here! I have been using Facebook on a daily basis, and have certainly let my blogging slide! I promise to do better on updating the blog so that all my sweet friends and family members that are not on Facebook can keep up with the Wilsons!
We are GEARED UP for Christmas! D and C are at such a great age...I am loving how excited they are about everything this year!

Mother's Day 2010

2010-05-09T12:18:00.001-07:00

This has truly been a wonderful Mother's Day!

I was awaken by kisses from the sweetest six year old boy ever! We then laid in the bed snuggling as a family for a while, and then hopped up and got ready for church. After church, we headed over to the Country Club for the best Mother's Day Brunch around!

I am so thankful to be the mother of two of the most precious gifts from God.

Easter Afternoon Fun!

2010-04-06T15:51:00.001-07:00

After church, we headed out to Oak Mountain State Park for an Easter picnic. It was a beautiful day, and we figured this would be a lot more enjoyable than cooking or a crowded restaurant. We were right! We stayed until about 2:30, and then headed home so Caroline could sneak a nap in before our evening at the Britt's. Our sweet friends, Richard and Laura hosted a super fun egg hunt/cookout at their house. Our kids love each other, so they were all super excited. What a perfect Easter Sunday.

He is risen indeed!

A Visit From the Easter Bunny!

2010-04-06T15:46:00.000-07:00

Daniel and Caroline were both very pleased with the Easter Bunny! They both said "Thank you Easter Bunny!"

One Final Sixth Birthday Hoorah~

2010-03-27T18:54:00.001-07:00

Getting Ready for the Laser Tag Battle!

Enjoying a cupcake!

D's buddy Quinn

Enjoying goodies!

Yummy!

D and Cousin Will

Racing with the big boys!

Nascar Will!

Sweet Trey playing air hockey

D and his friend Charlie

Present Time!

Cousin Claire at lunch

Caroline and Cousin Kate

Mi Mi and Paw Paw

Building a fort in the back yard

Matt and Jason just relaxing

Caroline and Claire having snacks on the deck

Matt and his dad

Steph and Uncle Brian

Today was a beautiful day to celebrate a treasured little life. We had one final day of Six Year Old Celebrating!

D and his buddies enjoyed a morning of Laser Tag, cupcakes, and arcade games. Then, we went to the Mexican restaurant for lunch. We finished off the day with a family cookout. Thank you to MiMi and Paw Paw, Uncle Brian, Stephanie, Amanda, Jason, Will, Kate, Meredith, Claire, Gran, and Pe Paw for making this evening special for D. He is a lucky little boy to have so many people who love him so much.

Celebration Number 3-The School Birthday Celebration

2010-03-26T14:54:00.001-07:00

D with his sweet teacher, Mrs. Bollman

D wearing Mrs. Bollman's Birthday Hat--which he proudly wore around school all day!

D with all of his favorite things! :)

Six Years of DD Bug Bliss!

Being sung to by the class

Some of you thought I was kidding when I said we celebrate D's birthday for several weeks!

On Thursday, I took Krispy Kreme doughnuts (chocolate covered with sprinkles, ofcourse), sausage balls, and capri suns to Daniel's Kindergarten Class for the March Birthday celebration. At our school, we celebrate all of the children's birthdays by the month. Since D is the only March birthday in his class, it was all about him! He loved having his friends sing Happy Birthday to him. He also got to wear the special birthday hat around school all day. You could only pull that off in K!

Tomorrow morning he will have his Laser Tag party, and then tomorrow evening we will have the family cookout to celebrate his ripe old age of six! I am so excited to see everyone! We have family coming from Atlanta, Auburn, Brewton, and Panama City. Wow, there is alot of love headed our way. Can't wait!!

A Typical Night

2010-03-26T14:49:00.001-07:00

It all starts with bath...

Bath, which Caroline would be happy to do ALL night long!

Then, we move on to some family fun...this night, it is legos

CHEEEEEESE!

Oh, how we love being silly at the close of a long day!

Celebration Number 2!

2010-03-22T15:10:00.000-07:00

Gran came over today with a special treat for D. We usually have a HUGE cupcake for D to enjoy on his actual birthday, but because everyone was pretty sickly around our house that day, we had to postpone. As you can see from the pics, it was worth the wait!

Happy Sixth Birthday My Baby Boy!

2010-03-22T09:51:00.001-07:00

Daniel with his new DS Lite that Mom, Dad, and Sis gave him for his birthday!

It is so hard to believe that Daniel is six now. My sweet hearted, beautiful, smart boy turned six on Saturday, March 20th. I thank God every day for my little man. Here are some milestones!

*Daniel adores his family. He and his sister are each other's best friend.

*Daniel is very intelligent! He is reading on a level F (first grade) as a Kindergartener

*He can do mental math like no one else! He loves for you to give him situational problems to solve.

*Though he goes to the golf course with his dad, his favorite sport is soccer. He scored a goal (the only one for his team) at his first game!

*He has a MAJOR sweet tooth!

*He loves to cook with his Gran and play with friends.

*He is in the 95th percentile for height and weight, and strong as an ox!

*His hair is jet black, which perfectly set off his beautiful blue eyes. Look out ladies (poor Mom!)! Though he assures me the only "girl" he will ever love is mommy...

On his actual birthday, we headed to the zoo as a family, D went bowling and to Chic Fil A for lunch with Mommy, and then to play golf with Daddy and PePaw. He wound up his day with dinner at Stix, his favorite food! He is going to have a birthday party with friends next Saturday morning at the Laser Tag Arena. Then that night, we are going to have a family cookout. I can't wait to continue to celebrate the life of my little D Bug!

Daddy is in Charge

2010-02-06T06:38:00.000-08:00

One of my friends from work fell last Dec. and broke her femur. Everyone has been taking turns bringing her dinner and visiting, and yesterday was mine. So, Matt picked Daniel and Caroline up from school.
I sent her to school in the most adorable green and brown polka dot flap happy top, brown leggings, brown boots and a green bow in her hair. This is what I saw when I came home. This is Caroline saying "tada!"...SO proud of what she was wearing. Oh my.

Happy 61st Paw Paw!

2010-01-24T18:42:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was my dad's 61st birthday, so we all packed up Friday after school and headed to Brewton to surprise him! We got there about 7:30 Friday night. The kids were sooo excited to sneak in and yell surprise! He was so happy to see us there, especially the grandkids! We gave him a navy blue golf shirt, which Daniel helped me pick out. Mi Mi gave him a pedometer to help him keep track of his walking, and Granny Marilyn gave him some cash to spend on something fun! I think the greatest gift of all was us being together. We love you Paw Paw, and we are so glad that we were able to celebrate the big 6-1 with you!

First Visit From the Tooth Fairy!

2010-01-24T18:35:00.000-08:00

We had quite an eventful weekend! While we were in Brewton for Paw Paw's birthday, Daniel lost his first tooth! The adult tooth started coming in behind it (wayyy behind it in his gums) so I took him to the dentist early last week. I love Dr. Chambliss. He is the absolute best! He assurred me that my son was not part shark and growing a second row of teeth! He told Daniel to wiggle his tooth every chance that he got, and that it would come out very soon. He even gave us a cute little tooth container necklace to put it in. Well, he was right! We wiggled and wiggled, and it fell right out Friday night!! The tooth fairy managed to find him all the way down in Brewton and left him five dollars under his pillow and another dollar under Paw Paw's!

100th Day of Kindergarten!

2010-01-24T15:18:00.000-08:00

Last week Daniel celebrated the 100th Day of School! One of their activities was to decorate a t-shirt with 100 of something. Daniel immediately decided he wanted to do 100 Mrs. Bollmans! I sent this project straight to Gran! She went to Michael's and got fabric paint, stencils, fabric markers, hot glue, and yarn and they got to work! It took several days to complete the project, but it was well worth it! His shirt was the talk of the school!! And ofcourse, sweet Mrs. Bollman loved it!

Curious George at McWane!

2010-01-18T07:34:00.000-08:00

One of our family's favorite places to visit is the McWane Science Center. I love that everything is hands on! It is one of the few places that you can go and not worry about your kiddos touching (or breaking!) something they should not! And ofcourse, the teacher in me loves to see all of the little faces of eager children light up at the discoveries they are unknowingly making about science. SOOO, imagine our excitement when we got the update from McWane that GEORGE THE MONKEY WAS COMING!! George is one of the few things Daniel and Caroline agree on!! We headed over to see the famous money himself after Caroline's nap yesterday. It was a cold, rainy day--perfect for an indoor hands on museum! They had a special room set up with activities in which we could participate while waiting for George. There was even a banana stand set up! Daniel had two!! Caroline enjoyed coloring and both of the kids loved hearing one the McWane workers read them a Curious George book. Finally, the monkey arrived! Caroline was so excited to sit on his lap. She kept saying, "George held me!" I think the visit to see Curious George was more exciting than the one to see Santa!!

Caroline's First Haircut

2010-01-03T16:42:00.000-08:00

Well, those of you who have tracked Sweet Caroline over the course of her life know that her beautiful blonde hair has been slow to come in. That fact has made it really hard for me to let any of it go! But, this week I decided it was time to take her in for her first official big girl haircut. Being my girly girl, I knew it had to be somewhere... pink. Sweet and Sassy was the perfect place. Their hairdryers were even pink! The wrap they used to cover her outfit was monogrammed "princess." Boy, did that apply! She was not sure what to think to begin with, but once we got started she LOVED it! She kept telling Camille (her stylist), "Thank you for my haircut" and "I like this". Overall, it was a blast! To celebrate the big day, we headed over to Edgar's for a chocolate cupcake. I love having a daughter!

Daniel's Class Christmas Party

2009-12-20T09:31:00.000-08:00

Daniel had his Class Christmas party on Thursday of last week. The kids had such a great time making reindeer food, playing a Gingerbread Man gift swap game, decorating Christmas cookies, snacking, and spreading cheer! Luckily, Matt and I were both able to attend. Young children absolutley MAKE Christmas!!

Gingerbread House!

2009-12-13T19:03:00.001-08:00

This morning the kids were so excited to decorate our annual Gingerbread House. Our kit this year came with two gingerbread men (thank goodness it came with TWO so the kiddos could each have one!) and a tree! This was the first year Caroline has really participated, and boy did she take her job seriously! We had a great time, and I think the end result was pretty impressive! Special thanks to Ms. Billie for the kit!

Breakfast with Santa at the Church

2009-12-08T09:24:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, the kids enjoyed a delicious breakfast with Santa at the church! Afterwards, Daniel stayed to create many unique, handmade gifts for friends and family. We are so lucky to be members of a church that goes above and beyond for the youngest members of our congregation!

Unfortunately, this was the only pic I got because my camera battery went dead! Good thing they are so stinkin' cute in this one (notice Caroline holding onto Daniel's pinkie finger!!) :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-12-08T09:19:00.001-08:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Auburn! We have SOOOO much to be thankful for! Our faith and the Lord above, our family, our friends, our home, our jobs, our health...I could go on and on!

Thanks to the Streets for hosting such a joyful time of family and food!!

Family Fun

2009-12-08T09:12:00.000-08:00

We had such a great visit with my cousin Missy, her daughter Sarah, and Aunt Lawrinda last month (I know, I am VERY late posting!!)

We visited the zoo, played at the park, and went to Brewton for lots of outdoor fun!! I will let the pics speak for themselves! :)

Halloween 2009

2009-11-02T14:56:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween! We sure did! We had our neighbors and their kids over and enjoyed pizza, chicken fingers, apps, and drinks then headed out to trick or treat. It was a fun night for all!!!!

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-26T15:33:00.001-07:00

Today Daniel's Kindergarten class went to the pumpkin patch. It was such a beautiful day for the field trip! Sunny skies, a nice cool breeze, and plenty of excited five year olds! Matt went with him today, which was a nice treat for both of them. Matt checked him out after the trip and they went to pick up Sissy from her school. Then, they headed over to the pumpkin patch at St. Mark to pick out a BIG pumpkin to carve with Pe Paw. They are on their way over now, so I will try to post pictures of our masterpiece tomorrow!

Happy Birthday Will and Kate!

2009-10-26T15:21:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we traveled to Panama City to help our nephew and neice, Will and Kate, celebrate their birthdays! Will turned 5 and Kate turned 3. Their theme was "sports teams," so ofcourse everything was decked out in Auburn items! From the huge tiger jumpy to the balloons...it was a blast! The Auburn game we watched later was certainly less entertaining, but I digress.

After the party we all headed to the beach to have family portraits made. I can't wait to see how they turned out!!

Super Second Birthday Party!

2009-09-20T18:47:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrated Caroline's second birthday with a fabulous gathering of family and friends! The first few pictures are actually from the night of her "real" birthdate. She got the adorable Baby Stella baby and stroller from mommy, daddy, and Daniel. Aunt Lawrinda, Aunt Missy, Uncle Steve and Sarah gave her the accessories. I actually picked all of these cute things up at a little boutique in North Carolina when we went up this summer, and have been waiting patiently to give them to her for her birthday!

The Seattle in Birmingham weather that we having did not stop our fun today! We played in the big blow up princess castle jumper during the dry spells and just moved the fun into the garage during the rain showers! The kids never missed a beat! Thanks so much to everyone who braved the weather and helped make Caroline's second birthday party a blast!!

Happy Second Birthday Sweet Caroline!

2009-09-14T15:37:00.000-07:00

And then we were four...

Precious from the beginning

Such a proud moment!

Sleeping Beauty heading home...

TWO YEARS AGO...
The most amazing little miracle joined us here on Earth. From God's arms to mine...I am so completely blessed, and so thankful. Caroline is our little ray of sunshine. She is sweet, affectionate, smart, beautiful, EVERYTHING we could ever hope for in a child.

Labor Day Trip to PCB

2009-09-12T13:25:00.000-07:00

We had such a great time with the Jowers family over the long weekend! Matt was able to take Friday off. Sweet Mrs. Wilson came over at 6:45 that morning to stay with Caroline so he could take D and me to school. Then he finished up the packing, got the oil changed, the tires rotated, the car cleaned up, and all of our gear loaded. Matt and Caroline picked D and me up from VHECH at 3:15 and we were off! The traffic was pretty slow until we got past the Shelby County airport, but then it was smooth sailing! The kids snacked and watch the DVD player most of the way. They both fell sound asleep just before we got to Amanda and Jason's and we were able to just transfer them into their beds. BIG thanks to Will and Kate for giving up their rooms!! :) We did all kinds of fun things!! The guys played golf (ofcourse) and Amanda and I shopped 'til we dropped! Being the amazing bargain shoppers that we are, we found some great deals on some super cute things!! Dillards had their shoes 70% off and a local children's boutique had everything 50% off. DANGEROUS!!! We also had a blast at the pool, riding bikes, cruising on the boat, grilling out, and just playing around. I wish that I had taken more pictures, but we were just too busy!! Hope everyone else had as great of a 3 day weekend as we did. We wouldn't want to spend it any other way! Thanks Jowers!!! :)

VHECH Fun Run!

2009-09-02T18:48:00.001-07:00

Today was the much anticipated Fun Run at D's and my school. It was everything we thought it would be--sooo much fun! We enjoyed awesome music, excited kids and parents, great weather, and popsicles when it was all over! I was sooo proud of Daniel for the great running he did. My fifth graders couldn't believe how fast and far he ran! He ran a total of 36 laps (16 is a mile)!!! To be honest, I was really just hoping he would be able to make the 16 since he had run 1- 1 1/2 miles during our practice, but I guess all of the upbeat music and cheering parents and fellow students sent him over the top! Thanks so much to all of our friends and family members who pledged to support D and his school. He (we) truly appreciated each and every contribution.

Busy Afternoons

2009-08-31T13:08:00.000-07:00

Sissy showing me the flower she has just picked from my flower pot!

Caroline and our neighbor, Bryce ("Byce")

Just too cute for words!

The boys playing T-ball with Davis

Daniel's buddy Quinn swinging away!

Getting ready for t-ball!

Cooling down with popsicles after play time in the yard

Daddy helping D with his swing at the CC

On the road again!

Well, you might think that school starting might slow us down--not a chance! The neighborhood friends are waiting in our driveway for D and C to get home from school so that they can play most every afternoon. We are blessed with a street full of little friends for the kids. After some fun outside, we are usually in for a quick dinner and then on the road again! Church, Gran and PePaws, the golf course, the park for a run...
So is life (and we love it!)!

Here's to the Class of 2022!

2009-08-13T16:36:00.000-07:00

Can you tell he adores his teacher?

Reading books outside the classroom waiting for the bell to ring!

First Day Jitters? NO WAY!

In mommy's room--just before heading down to the kindergarten hall.

Sneaking in a hug after meet and greet

D and Dad having fun in his awesome K room! Look at all the goodies from Mrs. Bollman!

Yep. This is going to be alllllright.

One happy Kindergartener!

How grown up does he look here???!

Oh my. I can't believe it.

Welcome to VHECH!

As hard as it is to believe, tomorrow at this time D will have completed his first week of kindergarten! Time has flown--where has it gone? Seems like just yesterday I was dropping him off at Mrs. Cile's house in his infant carrier as a 5 month old!

Daniel and I both absolutely adore his teacher, sweet Mrs. Bollman. She and her classroom are the cutest things EVER! Seriously, I have been in a lot of classrooms, and his is amazing!!! So bright, colorful, happy, and well organized!

We have both had a great first week. I love chatting with him on the way to school, seeing his smiling face when I walk down to carpool to drop my students off and meet him, and hanging out with him in my room after school while I work. I think that Vestavia Hills is perhaps the best system in the south. Ofcourse, I do work there, so I might be a bit biased! But really, they are truly in it for the kids. They expect a lot of their students, teachers, and administrators and it shows! I am all about high expectations. I thank the Lord for placing us in such a top notch place!

The Tarentinos Visit!

2009-07-27T17:05:00.001-07:00

This past weekend our good friends the Tarentinos came for a visit. Matt and Reid were fraternity brothers, roommates in college, and roommates after college graduation. They are truly some of the best people we know. They have an adorable little girl who is three and a sweet baby boy who is seven months. We had a fantastic time playing at the pool, grilling steaks, playing at the park, etc. We have vowed to get together more often since they are only about two hours away. It makes me sad to think of how rarely we see and talk to people who mean so much to us. We really should slow down in life, and take time to attend to what is really important.

Family Fun

2009-07-21T15:09:00.000-07:00

Matt's sisters and their families and his cousin and his family all came in to Birmingham for a visit this past weekend. I love how all of our kids are just about the same age. They always have a ball playing, and we love seeing them too. We had a blast playing in Gran and PePaw's yard, going out to eat, and swimming at the CC. I did not get many pics, but I will post a few. Can't wait to get together with everyone again soon!

Happy 4th!

2009-07-05T17:42:00.000-07:00

I hope that everyone had a great Fourth of July! I feel so blessed to live in this country. I have such great respect and admiration for those who have fought for and continue to fight for our freedom. It is certainly something we should never take for granted.

I can't think of a better way to have spent our holiday weekend! We played at the pool all day Friday and then watched the fireworks just above the 9th green of the golf course that night. The kids had a ball playing in the sandtrap while waiting for the show. My dad, Tammy, and Brennan joined us for the fireworks. Their plane landed at 8:00, so they made it just in time! Saturday we slept in late. Matt played in the Club's Fourth of July golf tournament and his team came in second place! We grilled hamburgers and then headed back up to the pool. The weather was great, and we had a fun time with friends. Daniel has become quite the little brave one (finally!). He loves to jump off of the diving board (with his floaty ring, ofcourse!). Caroline has been a fish since day one. She says, "I go under!" They both have such a great time at the pool; I know they will miss our days (and nights) there when it closes.

Our Trip to NC

2009-06-21T14:05:00.001-07:00

The kids at the NC Aquarium

Daniel the Crab!

Missy and Sarah admiring the frog

Caroline and NeeNa

Playing in the playhouse mansion--even grown ups can fit inside (as you can see!)

The bubble machine was a huge success!

Love this one of the kids chasing the bubbles

Relaxing on the couch with dad

Happy 2nd Birthday (a little early) Sarah!

This is the cute puzzle we gave her--so much fun!

We spent a lot of time like this--oh, to be back!

The guys closing out the day

Playing at NeeNa's

Watching cartoons on a belly full of eggs, pancakes, and bacon. Thanks NeeNa!

The two women I admire most on this earth. I love you both soooo much and miss you tons!

We have just returned from a week long stay with my cousin Missy, her husband Steve, and their little girl Sarah. Missy and I grew up much more like sisters than cousins. She has been my role model for as long as I can remember. I am not sure that she knows just how much I admire, love, and respect her. Her mother (my aunt) Lawrinda is like my second mother. In fact, since my mom passed away, she has wonderfully and faithfully served as my "mom" here on Earth. I can't put into words how much she means to me. They live in NC and I don't get to see them very often, which makes our time together that much more special.

We had such a great trip! They live in Beaufort, NC--very close to the water. We enjoyed going out in the boat, playing in the pool, eating delicious fresh seafood, walking and shopping by the water, grilling out and sipping fine wine on their deck, and visiting the nearby aquarium. We also celebrated Sarah's second birthday a little early with presents and a yummy ice cream cake! Ofcourse, we had to have a grown up night out, so we got a sitter and headed downtown to Clausen's for dinner and then Cru Wine Bar for a night cap. Such fun!

The kids also had a terrific time together! Caroline and Sarah are only weeks apart, and Daniel enjoyed serving as big brother of two! I was not sure how two toddlers would do, but we were so proud of how they shared and played together!!

I hope that Missy, Steve, Sarah, and Aunt Lawrinda will be able to come to Birmingham soon. We miss them!

VBS '09

2009-06-21T13:57:00.001-07:00

Well, it has been quite a while since I have had a spare moment to sit down and blog. This summer has been super fun, but super busy as well! Daniel had another fantastic time at Vacation Bible School. The theme this year was crocodile dock, and the kids learned more about the miracles of Jesus. They learned songs, made crafts, heard stories, and watched movies. Daniel's favorite part was watching his crocodile "grow" just as God's love for us grows more and more each day. I don't think I can say enough good things about the children's ministry at our church. Thanks to all who helped make this year's VBS fabulous!

Thumbs Up!

2009-06-01T14:24:00.000-07:00

Whenever D does something really well or he is super proud of himself, he gives the thumbs up. Well, HUGE thumbs up to D for his awesome performance at swim lessons today! Many of you may not know that up until today, D has not willingly attempted to swim with his head completely under the water. He is such a cautious child (crazy, but cautious), and the thought of having his head completely under the water... no access to air...not being able to see what is going on around him...just not appealing to one who likes to have things under control. We tried to do swim lessons at the Hoover Rec last year, and it was a complete disaster. He would scream and cry, and panic every time his little toe touched the water. Ofcourse, I did have to bribe him this go 'round--ice cream for a job well done. Small price to pay. Poor parenting? Maybe. But at least we are headed to a five year old who can swim without floaties. SO, thank you to Ms. Chelsea at Riverchase Country Club--the water gods are smiling down on you for bringing another (slowly, but surely) into the wonderful world of swimming!

I Feed Baby

2009-05-27T18:12:00.000-07:00

Caroline has watched her teachers put her and all of her friends in their special chairs to eat and then feed each of them for the past several months. It seems that this has made a lasting impression on her. Last night she started putting all of her dolls and stuffed animals in their own special chairs. Then she would walk to each one of them and "feed" them with her little play fork and bowl. It was sooo sweet! She would say "I feed baby." Or "Teddy eat." She was so motherly--so tender and careful. It really makes me feel good about the way they must be so loving with them at her school. Ofcourse, I am thrilled that Friday will be my last day of work and I can be the one to put her in special chair and feed her!

Chooo Chooo

2009-05-27T17:48:00.000-07:00

Doesn't D look like a Spain Park High School boy ready to hop in his truck?

Ready to get out and play

This is sissy saying choo choo!

Yes, this is me with NO make up! Time was of the essence...

Daniel and his BEST lion face

So, Caroline is OFFICIALLY OBSESSED with trains. This ofcourse, after I sell all of Daniel's Thomas the Train toys and the train table for a fraction of what we paid for it. I never would have imagined that C would love all things trains as much as she does. We went to the zoo this past weekend and rode the train. She loved it! She also got a kick out of ringing the big bell on the path you take leaving the train. Now she walks around saying "I ride train. I need train ride. Chooo Chooo. Ding Ding." Over and over and over again. This girl is nothing if not persistent about her train ride! Good thing we are members at the zoo. I wish they sold a train membership so I didn't have to buy tokens each time!

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T12:20:00.000-07:00

The newest member of our family, Gerbil (see story below!).

Mother's Day pic

Today has been great! Daniel slept in until about 8 and we ended up waking Caroline up at 8:30 to get ready for church. Talk about a fabulous Mother's Day gift to a mommy who LOVES to sleep in! We got dressed and headed to church. Matt's sister Meredith and her family joined Mr. and Mrs. Wilson and us for the service. After church, we headed to the Country Club for their fabulous Mother's Day Brunch. I ate waaayyy too much and even enjoyed myself a nice bloody mary! On the way home from the Club, Matt's dad made a sudden stop on Riverchase Parkway. Apparently, he had spotted what was to be the newest member of our family. See, Daniel and Caroline are both major lovers of animals. Not that I don't like animals, I just don't have time to take care of another living thing!! Anyway, that makes our new baby turtle, adoringly named "Gerbil" by Daniel the perfect pet for us! We have enjoyed watching him crawl around and just be super cute.

Happy Mother's Day to all the super fab moms out there!

Mother's Day Tea and Preschool Graduation

2009-05-10T12:11:00.000-07:00

singing their hearts out

WOW! My baby is all grown up--a preschool graduate!

Carefully bringing mommy treats

Mommy and D at the Mother's Day Tea

This past Friday, Daniel's preschool class hosted the sweetest little Mother's Day Tea. He had made me the cutest magnet with his picture in the middle and a precious card with his handprints and a poem. I have to brag on him here--the other kids had signed their name. Daniel had written "I LOVE YOU" and signed his name. LOVE IT! I am a sucker for anything with a handprint! He also served me cookies and juice and sang me two songs with his classmates. They also handed out the preschool graduation certificates at the Tea. I can hardly believe that next week will end his time as a "preschooler." Time has certainly flown! I adore my sweet little man. Thank you Lord for allowing me to be his mommy.

Trey's Creepy Crawly Birthday Party!

2009-04-19T09:58:00.001-07:00

Cool!

The tarantula!

Caroline admiring the shoes she stole from the pile in front of the bouncer!

A very attentive group!

Playing with friends

Yummy!

Taking a break from the fun to enjoy a sweet treat!

The birthday boy with his spider cupcake!

Caroline enjoying the icing of her "take"

Daniel's little buddy, Trey, had his fifth birthday party yesterday. We all had a great time! They live just down the street, so we loaded up in the wagon and headed down for a big day of bouncing, playing in the yard, and seeing lots of creepy crawly creatures! Trey's mom Abby had the people from Ed's Pet World bring some very interesting friends to the party. I have loaded some pics of some of them. Sadly, it began to rain before he brought out all of the critters (including the 8 foot snake that apparently got out of its box on the way over!). Since we were in the wagon, I thought it best to get on home before the bottom fell out and I was stuck pulling two kids up a large hill in the pouring rain! We still had a blast -- and note the super cute cupcakes Abby had made at Louise's! Love them!

Thanks for a fun party, Elliots!

Our First Professional Family Portrait...Or Not...

2009-04-15T18:49:00.000-07:00

So, we have been all set and signed up for months now to have our family portrait made at the church. I have been so excited...thought of the outfits and the pose over and over again. Hmmm...things never go as planned, do they? Poor Caroline was absolutely terrified of the entire process, and she screamed and cried hysterically the whole time! Needless to say, we did not get a picture worth anything from the "pro". I did manage to get a few cute shots (thanks to the Tootsie pops the youth gave the kids) with my camera outside after the fiasco!

Easter Weekend

2009-04-15T17:00:00.001-07:00

This whole Easter thing can really wear a boy out!

And a girl too!

Caroline running and playing in the HUGE yard!

Checking out nature!

This is sweet Daniel picking a flower for mommy

Daniel and Paw Paw in the big chair on Easter morning

Easter morning smiles before church

Caroline with daddy--ready to eat the M&M's (her favorite) that the Easter Bunny brought

D loved the Wubzy movie the most!

The Easter Bunnys sure was nice this year!

We had such a blessed Easter weekend. I hope all of you did too! We headed down to Brewton on Friday afternoon. The kids both slept the WHOLE way! It was likely the best ride we have ever taken with them! When we got there, we enjoyed some fun outdoor time with bubbles and riding the gator. Uncle Brian came too, which was a special treat! We had not seen him in quite a while. Saturday morning we headed to the big Easter Egg Hunt at the church. Daniel was one of the winners, and chose a big blue stuffed bunny as his prize. I was sure Caroline would claim it as her own, but she was actually more interested in taking apart and putting together the plastic eggs that she had collected. They were both given amazing goody bags--seriously, the best I have ever seen! We grilled pork chops and enjoyed spending time together that night. The next morning we were excited to see what the Easter Bunny had brought. Daniel swore that he saw him hop by the night before (love it!). They had a wonderful Easter music special at church that morning. It was nice to visit the home church. It always reminds me of my granny, and others who are no longer with us. I am so glad Matt, the kids, and I were actually able to slow down and enjoy some quality time with my family. I usually feel like those trips are so rushed! Time with family is to be treasured, and I certainly love and value each minute I spend with mine.

Daniel's Fifth Birthday Party

2009-03-29T10:21:00.000-07:00

WOW! That pretty much sums it up! The jumper arrived at 1:00, and that is when the party began. The neighbors came over and they started jumping and playing and did not stop until about 8:00 last night. There were some of the prettiest princesses and strongest superheroes around celebrating with Big D. It was a great time and I was so glad that so many of our friends and family were able to share the day with us. The Lord answered my prayers and the weather was perfect! The kids loved jumping in the bouncer, playing ball, coloring princess and super hero pictures, playing in the playhouse, dancing, playing games, and having an egg hunt. After the party several people stayed and Matt grilled us some yummy hamburgers. I am sure that everyone slept well last night, and I can't wait to do it again next year!

Spring Break Fun!

2009-03-25T18:36:00.001-07:00

Okay, for some reason I can't move the pics. SOOO, they are first and totally in the wrong chronological order! Sorry!

Paw Paw has the touch!

D loves getting cards with money inside!!

"Baby" Sarah with her mini-cupcake (which, believe it or not, she spit out!)

Blowing out the candle! (see explanation below!)

D's birthday cupcakes

Paw Paw and D just hanging out

How cute is this pic??

Sarah on D's Star Wars cot in Brewton

Enjoying his doughnut (his requested birthday breakfast)

D in the rhino transport at the zoo

Caroline checking out the big spider web at the zoo--she wanted to climb on it sooo badly!

Well, I am finally getting around to posting pics and more details about our Spring Break. The beginning of the week was very laid back. EXCEPT the zoo where we (along with about 1,000 other families) spent about as much time parking and walking in as we did exploring and playing! See, Caroline is no longer content to sit in her stroller and take in the sights. She has got to be down and running! It is very hard when she and Daniel both want to head in opposite directions, and it just about wore me out! Anywho, the weather was beautiful, and I did get a few cute pics so it was not a total waste!

Wednesday my sweet family from North Carolina came in. We had such a great time! Their little girl Sarah is a complete angel. Caroline called her "baby" the whole time, which is funny considering Sarah is a few months older than her. Friday, we all headed to Brewton for a wonderful weekend at my dad and Tammy's. Sadly, Sissy got sick on the way down so she and Matt stayed home and she is not in the pics from there. I have posted the funny pics from D's make-shift birthday party in Brewton. I think we did pretty good!! Notice the Yankee candle he is blowing out since we did not have any little birthday candles. Hey, whatever works! It was fine and dandy with him!! I am excited about his real party this weekend. I hope that the storms will have all passed by 3, but we are ready to party--rain or shine! We have rented a moonwalk that has a cover so they can bounce in mild rain. I think the kids would probably like to jump more in the rain (the superheroes more than the princesses) anyway!

Well, hope you enjoy the pics!! Happy Hump Day!

Daniel is Five!

2009-03-21T06:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Daniel's fifth birthday. It is sooo hard to believe! His arrival marked the greatest change of my life, as well as Matt's. Things have been wonderfully challenging, and I know that God has the most amazing plan for his little life. My prayer is that we can be the parents he needs to guide him down the right path. He is a terrific big brother to Caroline. I am so thankful for my family.
At five he can:
count as high as you will let him!
identify numbers through 100
tell you his full name, address, and phone number
add in his head!
use robust vocabulary correctly
identify all letters of the alphabet--upper and lower case
tell you all of the sounds of the letters
read! (Dick and Jane and Dr. Suess)
lead the blessing
make his sister smile like no other
hop on one foot
do a sumersault
do the triangle at the park--back and forth!
bless our day...
LOVE that little guy!

We are in Brewton right now. Last night we celebrated his birthday with some mini cupcakes here, and we will have his party next weekend. We are excited to see many of our friends and family members there. It is going to be a blowout--the party to attend...just ask him! ;)
Caroline got sick on the way to Brewton yesterday, so she and Matt are home. Daniel and I are headed to Pensacola today for a family reunion of sorts. Then, we are headed back to Birmingham after lunch tomorrow.
I can't believe Spring Break is almost over. Seems like it was just beginning yesterday...
Oh, well. Maybe the next two months will go by as quickly as March. This weather is amazing, and they days are brighter and happier. Have a wonderful spring, everyone!

Father's Night and Big Girl Bows

2009-03-16T19:06:00.001-07:00

Well, I know it has been a while. We have just been super busy! Most recently, Matt and Daniel attended Father's Night at his preschool. He was so proud and excited! Before the big event, Daniel, Caroline, and I spent a wonderful afternoon at the park. The weather was so nice, we even ate dinner there! Then, we met Matt at the preschool and he and Daniel went through a typical day of preschool. They even got snack and visited his specials classes!

We are now enjoying our Spring Break! This is one of the MAJOR perks of being a teacher! We are just hanging out the first part of the week--the gym, the park, the library, ect. then on Wed. my family is coming in from NC. I rarely get to see them, and they mean so much to me, so I am very excited!

We may try and go to the zoo tomorrow if the weather is nice. What are all of you up to this week?

Oh, and Sissy wore what I consider to be her first big girl bow today! You know, the one that is obnoxiously big, but completely adorable. She looks so grown up!

Matt and Daniel on Father's Night

Caroline in her big girl bow!

Who's the cutest thing in the world? Me?

Seriously?!?!

2009-03-02T20:23:00.000-08:00

So I just got home from watching the Bachelor with some girlfriends (thanks Sena for hosting) and I am completely shocked with the results. Even if it was totally scripted, which I am not ruling out, what does that say to America!? Sure, treat a lady like crap, and you still win in the end! I love you, no wait, I don't...I love her. Hmmmmm...
Okay, just had to get that out of my system!

A Southerner's Kind of Snow...

2009-03-01T11:43:00.000-08:00

This morning I woke up to a very excited "Holy Cow, Mom! It's snowing!" You would have thought it was Christmas morning by the way Daniel went racing down the stairs. After getting Caroline up, we headed straight to the back door where we could admire the beautiful white snowflakes that where falling as gracefully as ballerinas. Matt had lit a fire, and I loved the winter scence we had created in our den.

BUT, the best part was, we were able to admire the beauty, play in the snow, and then be done with it a mere 5 hours later. That is gracious plenty for this southern girl! I don't know how people who live up north do it!
We have some friends in Georgia who are from up north, and they have confirmed time and time again that the southern weather is the way to go! Thank you, Lord for placing me in the south!

Our house coated in the white stuff!

D and Dad by the snowman

8:00 this morning...

and 1:00 this afternoon!

Snowball fight!

The Wilsons house... in a Winter Wonderland!

The Big 31!

2009-02-28T16:31:00.001-08:00

The Wilsons sent me this pic that was taken with their camera. I love it!

Despite the fact that my house has been a bit sickly for the past week, I did still have a great birthday! My sweet students at school gave me a nice gift certificate to Brookwood Mall, my fellow kindergarten teachers gave me a generous gift card to Starbuck's (since this was one of the things I was going to have to cut out on the Dave Ramsey plan) and a beautiful Willow Tree piece. My secret pal gave me some silver and gold combo hoops, which I can't wait to wear! I also got a gift certificate to Victoria's Secret from Matt and the kids, money from daddy and Tammy, shoes, money, a scarf, clothes, and lotion and body spray from Matt's parents. I am sure I am forgetting something, but just know that I love and appreciate everything from all of my treasured friends and family members. I can't wait to spend my 31st year with each and every one of them! Tonight we enjoyed a delicious strawberry cake with strawberry icing from Edgar's. Mmmmmm!

Caroline staring adoringly up at the cake

Happy Birthday to mom!

My yummy strawberry on strawberry cake

Sissy enjoying her cake

Daniel--the cake eating machine! The flu can't stop him!

And Daniel Makes Three...

2009-02-26T14:49:00.000-08:00

So, D had to go to the doctor today. He was complaining that his whole body hurt, his throat hurt, and throwing up. Diagnosis? THE FLU!! Seriously, I am certain that I am next. Caroline spiked another fever of 101 (on day three of her antibiotic). Her teacher at school has the flu as does her closest companion, so I feel rather strongly that she too has come down with it. Oh, and did I mention that Sat. is my birthday. Guess what I will likely get? You got it--a big, colorful gift box of the flu!!! Happy Birthday to me.

Daddy's Turn...

2009-02-25T17:58:00.000-08:00

Sweet Caroline is back! After two days on her antibiotic, she is feeling MUCH better! She is still not eating very much, but she is laughing, playing, and singing again! BUUUUT (isn't there always a but?!) now Matt is sick! He has had fever for the past several days, so he went to the doctor and is now on a Z-pack. D and I are just trying to stay well in this sick house, although he is now complaining of a sore throat. Keep your fingers crossed that he is not coming down with something! Stay well everyone!!!!

A Sinus Infection Already? Better than the Flu!

2009-02-24T05:46:00.000-08:00

Well, we spent another afternoon at the pediatrician's office yesterday. Good thing we love Dr. Dudgeon! Actually, Caroline does not. She does not like anything about Greenvale! The moment we walk in she screams bloody murder and does not stop until we leave! Daniel was never really all that scared of the doctor. He actually enjoys going there because he gets a sticker! I guess Caroline does have to go through a bit more in order to rule out anything serious. Any time there is a fever, there is a chance of a UTI because of her kidney reflux. She has had a fever for the past three days, so we took her in to see what was going on. After many swabs, blood tests, and chest x-rays, it was determined that she has the baby's version of a sinus infection. I am thankful it was not strep, the flu, or pneumonia. Lord knows she is exposed to everything under the sun between school, my school, the church nursery, and what Daniel brings home. Lord, help us make it through! At least the poor thing has not been as sick as D was at her age. If we can avoid that terrible RSV, I will consider us very fortunate! Below is a picture of my sick sissy--looks pretty cute, even when she is under the weather!

My First 5K

2009-02-14T15:06:00.000-08:00

Today was a big day for me! I ran in my first official 5K (I have the shirt to prove it)!! My friend Laura and I decided last week to participate, so needless to say I was not sure how I would do. I did not get to run as much as I would have liked this past week for one reason or another, but we did still finish the run in 34 minutes. I was pretty proud of us! Matt and Richard (Laura's husband) took all of the kids up to the Country Club for breakfast and then back to the Britt's for a playdate. Laura and I enjoyed the morning off--being able to have a nice run, enjoy the after party, and even stop by Starbucks for a latte on the way home. I am now hooked on races! We are planning to run as many as we can register for. Who knows, maybe I will be ready for the half marathon by next year!

After the run...sweaty and refreshed!

D proudly holding mommy's number. I think he was pretty proud of me too!

Our Sunday

2009-02-08T16:13:00.000-08:00

Well, Miss Caroline decided at 3:30 this morning that she was ready to get up and play. First, we heard the music from her crib toy playing (she has to pull the string to start it) over and over again. Then we heard her. After some tylenol and a bottle (I know, I know...), she was back down until about 8:00. We got up and going around then and headed off to church. After church we enjoyed a wonderful brunch at the Country Club and then came home. Daniel played with his buddies outside and C took a nap while I tried to catch up on laundry. I swear that stuff is never ending!

This afternoon, Matt played golf and Daniel, Caroline, and I headed over to Homewood for a playdate with our friends Mrs. Morgan and Bella. We met up at Soho Sweets for ice cream and candy shopping and then headed to the park to try and run off the sugar. We tried to go to Homewood Park, but everyone else in Alabama had the same idea! Seriously, I felt like I was back in Auburn trying to get a parking spot in C zone!! So, we just headed to the Edgewood playground where I quickly discovered the things I am going to have to work on with Daniel before he gets there next year as a kindergartener (swinging on your bottom, NOT THROWING ROCKS, taking turns, etc.) I got some cute pics at the ice cream shop but was too busy watching the kids to get any at the park!

Sweet Bella hugging Daniel while trying to decide which ice cream she wants

The girls playing and dancing to the music

Bella sharing with Daniel

Sissy enjoying her ice cream

Bella waiting for her next bite!

Super Saturday!

2009-02-07T17:08:00.000-08:00

Well, I hope everyone had as wonderful of a Saturday as we did around here. There is just something about a beautiful day that make life so grand! This morning I went with Matt's mom and sister to his cousins baby shower in Decatur. It was so nice! His Aunt Wanda, the hostess, always outdoes herself with a ton of fabulous food! Jessie (the mom to be) got so many adorable things. I just love baby showers. There is something about the anticipation of a new little life that takes all woes and worries away. While I was there, Matt took the kids to the zoo, Chick-Fil-A, and the park so they had a great time too.
When I got back from the shower I enjoyed a nice 3 mile run at the park. It was awesome to be able to run OUTSIDE and not inside the gym on a treadmill! I plan to do the same tomorrow.
We have a playdate planned for tomorrow afternoon with Morgan and Bella. I will try and remember my camera and get some cute pics for the blog. Bella is such a doll!
Have a great rest of your Saturday!

too cute from two you

2009-02-02T17:16:00.000-08:00

As hard as it is to believe, Daniel will be five years old next month. I mean, seriously, a whole hand! I just can't believe it. He is such a wonderful little man, and the best big brother a mom could ask for. It is like God granted him a special little spot of patience in his heart reserved only for his lil' sis. For those of you who know him, you can likely guess that his birthday party is quite a big deal to him. He wants ALL of his friends and family to attend, and he wants it to be "a blowout"! SOOO, in order for everyone to have the most fun possible, he feels we must equally cater to the boys and the girls. In keeping with the dream, his vision on the perfect party involves the boys coming as superheroes and the girls as princesses. The Ben 10 costume for D and the smocked Cinderella dress for C have been ordered and are on their way!
We have completely gone overboard. Separate, but equal to say the least. A superhero cake for the boys, a princess one for the girls. Superhero goody bags for the boys, princess ones for the girls. Superhero game prizes for the boys, princess game prizes for the girls...you get the picture! Let me tell you friends, birthday party invitations for such a "blowout" DO NOT exist. Lucky for me, there is Two You! Monique, the co-owner of this awesome stationary and invitation company designed the perfect invite. I can't wait to send them out! Check out their link on my blog.
Well, off to get the little dears to sleep. Happy Monday! View the awesome party clothes below!

Daniel's Ben 10 Costume (not D pictured!)

Sissy's Cinderella Dress

Circus Fun

2009-02-01T09:45:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! Well, we went to the circus yesterday with Matt's parents and his sister and her family. It was amazing! I have never been to the circus, and I was very impressed! My children are very hard to entertain for any extended period of time, but this absolutely captivated them! Even Caroline was mesmorized (sp?) by all of the music, costumes, lights, and animals. My favorite part was when the elephants all stood on each other's backs. Caroline loved the music, and Daniel said his favorite part was the pretty nice girl that sat behind us. Oh, boy! He also liked when they shot the ladies out of the cannons all the way across the room. I would have to say that Matt's favorite part was, um, the beer?
Ofcourse, I had charged the battery for our camera the night before so we would be all ready for the show. Hmmm, if only I had remembered to put it IN the camera before we left. Matt's mom did take a few with her camera, so I will post them when I get them from her. Enjoy your Sunday!

Here they are!

Date Night!

2009-01-30T18:32:00.000-08:00

Tonight Matt and I headed up to the Country Club for a much needed date night! Our club has Lakeview Live every Friday night. It is so relaxing and intimate! There is always live music, candle light, and a fabulous menu. We had seafood, steak, wine, and chocolate cake for dessert. What a perfect, scream free dinner! We had to remind ourselves to slow down and enjoy the food! And as wonderful as the dinner alone was, it was still absolutely heaven to come home to our precious little boy waiting up for us! Life is Good.

Loving our evening out!

And loving coming home...

Praise and Prayer

2009-01-29T04:22:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! Well, first and foremost (sp?) let me say Praise the Lord! As many of you know, Matt works for Compass Bank (that's right, the one that just laid off 1200 people...), and they told him yesterday that he would not lose his job!!! Let's just pray that the economy will turn around before there has to be another round of layoffs. Pray for the state of our country and economy!
Also, Sissy had a rough night last night. Poor sweetie was doing great, and then as I was rocking her before bed, she threw up alllllll over me and herself! She had trouble getting the medicine down last night, and that was the result. Any suggestions on ways to get her to take her medicine more easily?!?
Oh, and I finally joined facebook last night. What fun!

70 Degrees in January?!?!?

2009-01-27T18:31:00.001-08:00

Wow! Could you believe the weather today? It was near 70 when I picked the kids up, so we headed straight for the park! What a FABULOUS day--there were sooo many people at the park!!! Daniel has gotten so strong and so good at all of the playground equipment. Sissy was born to be on the playground! She loves to go "side" and gets so excited she can hardly stand it when she knows it is an outdoor type of day. We decided to take advantage of this weather in every way--even into the night! Matt's dad grilled some yummy steaks for us for dinner. It totally felt like a nice fall evening! I'll take this type of weather ANY day!

Oh, and Caroline is doing much better with her reflux (fingers crossed!). We put her back on her Axid (50.00 with copay) rather than the Zantac (5.00 with copay). Yes, they are both essentially the same thing, but the Axid is much less bitter and younger children do better with it. I will pay the extreme price it will help little sissy!

Girls Night Out!

2009-01-27T18:27:00.000-08:00

I had a wonderful Girl's Night Out last night! It was actually more like a Girl's Night In. Sweet Danette had everyone over to her house for pizza, salad, brownies, and wine. We had a great time analyzing all of the crazy women on the Bachelor. Thanks again for a fantastic night, and don't forget to wear your scarf with EVERY outfit (even your bikini, Mindy!).

Happy Birthday Paw Paw!

2009-01-25T12:47:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning we got up and dressed and headed down to Brewton to help Paw Paw celebrate his 60th birthday. Daniel was soooo excited for him to see the cake we had made, and I must say when we finally dug into it on Saturday night, it was fantastic! I don't want to even think about how many calories were in the piece I ate! On the way down we stopped to eat at Beef O'Brady's. We don't have one here in Birmingham, but we used to eat there when we lived in Georgia. It is a great little sports bar and grill type of place. Each booth has it's own little flat screen tv. Daniel was in heaven! Getting to eat a hamburger with the fam and watch Scooby Doo on his own private tv--what more could a 4 year old ask for?!?! Caroline really enjoyed her grilled cheese as well. In fact, Daniel was so impressed with the place that he insisted on eating there for lunch today!

Sadly, it seems that sweet Caroline has had a relapse with her reflux. We have had her off of medication for several months, but a few days ago, she starting throwing up again. We called in the medicine (Zantac) from Brewton this morning and picked it up on our way in. It must taste terrible because she pitches the biggest fit ever when we have to give it to her, and she spits most of it out. I may have to put in a call to Dr. Dudgeon and see if he has any other suggestions. Always something with little ones! Oh, and apparently she slept in a poopy diaper for several hours last night. SO, she has a major diaper rash. Poor thing. She is napping right now. I hope we can figure out this whole reflux thing. D went through the same thing when he was her age. He did finally outgrow it, though he still has a sensitive stomach. They are my children after all! Okay, now to the pics!

Ready for my grilled cheese!

This place is soooo cool!

Paw Paw and Daniel with the famous cake. Notice the "1" candle--hee hee!

I thought this one was cute of sissy peering around at the cake!

This whole birthday party thing can sure wear a girl out!

Sissy Speaks (A lot!)

2009-01-24T13:39:00.000-08:00

Well, I finally got around to recording Caroline saying a few of her favorite things. Enjoy the show!

Sissy Speaks (A Lot!) from Tracie Wilson on Vimeo.

Just Call Me Betty Crocker!

2009-01-23T18:45:00.000-08:00

I am so incredibly proud of myself right now! Today is my dad's 60th birthday. I decided that I would go all out and make him his most favorite cake--Italian Creme Cake. My mom used to make them for him, so it is kind of a special treat in many ways. For those of you who know much about baking, you know that this is not an easy cake to make. And for those of you who know me, you know that NOTHING is easy for me to bake! Let's just say I am not the greatest cook in town. But I love my daddy bunches (Caroline got her "daddy's girl" trait honest!) and I was determined to do this for him. SO, sweet Mrs. Wilson dug through all of her many cookbooks and recipes a few nights ago and helped me find one in the Southern Living cookbook for a delicious Italian Creme Cake. I must say, I think Daniel and I did a pretty good job! Daniel loves to bake with me (it is usually not too involved!), and he REALLY loves to lick the spoons, beaters, and spatulas! This batch was so tasty even Matt was licking it up! He kept asking why I have never baked a cake like this for him. I promised to make him one for his 60th birthday (it might be that long before I make another cake!!!). We are heading to Brewton tomorrow to deliver the cake and visit with daddy and Tammy. Can't wait for him to see and taste his cake!!

We just got the THREE cake layers out of the oven and are about to mix up the icing while they cool.

Daniel mixed for a while, then I took over the mixing while he added in the powdered sugar bit by bit.

Spreading on the icing...mmmm...almost time to lick the spatula!

The moment D has been waiting for! (Don't worry, I had finished icing the cake before I let him do this!)

The finished product. BEAUTIFUL!

Grilling Out in January

2009-01-18T10:10:00.000-08:00

Like many of you, we love to have friends over and grill out--even if it is January! The kids even summed up their dinner with some ice cold popsicles. Who says we can't pretend it's July? :)

Our good friends the Britts came over last night. They have two adorable little girls. One is Caroline's age and the other is two. We had a blast! Below are a few pics from yesterday. Actually the first one is from Sat. morning. Caroline is sporting her new Strasburg pjs that I got for her Thursday. The next one is Caroline giving me a kiss. Notice how she is kissing with her mouth open!

Daddy's Girl

2009-01-15T19:59:00.000-08:00

Daniel spent the night with Gran and PePaw again last night, so it was just Matt, Caroline, and me. C is SUCH a daddy's girl. She prefers him over anyone else in the world. This is a cute pic I snapped of the two of them last night. Doesn't it just warm your heart--you can clearly see from their faces how absolutley happy they are to be together!

Good Food, Great Friends

2009-01-15T19:52:00.000-08:00

Tonight I went to dinner at Brio with some dear friends. Elizabeth, Abby, and Morgan were teammates of mine when I taught second grade at Edgewood. Actually, Morgan and I were preggers together through the hottest summer in recent history! Her daughter, Bella, was born only days before Caroline. They are big buddies! Morgan is now pregnant with a sweet baby boy to join us in May. We can't wait to meet him! Abby and I are still together at Edgewood, but now that I am in a different grade level, we rarely get to see each other. :( Elizabeth is now teaching in Vestavia, so I hardly ever get to see her either. We do dinners and get togethers as much as we can with our crazy schedules. These are three of my most favorite people!

me, Elizabeth, Abby, and Morgan

sweet tooth or teether?

2009-01-14T17:06:00.000-08:00

After school today several of Daniel's friends came over to play. They were all having popsicles and Caroline nearly had a fit to have one too! She keep saying "me, me, pop, me". Yes, I promise she is that verbal. I swear the child can carry on a conversation like no other! Anywho--I am not sure if she likes the sweet taste or the fact that the treat is so cold on her poor mouth. All of a sudden, these baby teeth (including molars!) decided to make their grand appearance all at once! No matter why, Caroline is just about the happiest thing ever after a nice dose of "pop"!

The Washing Machine Song

2009-01-13T15:18:00.001-08:00

Daniel is such a little entertainer! He goes to choir at our church on Wednesday nights, and his wonderful teacher, Mrs. Sarah, teaches them some silly songs along with the traditional church songs. Ofcourse, D prefers the silly ones to the "ones to sing in front of the church"! This is a clip of him singing "The Washing Machine Song" (I am not sure what the actual title is!). Notice the emotion in the ooh-ah part. Sissy hears his awesome singing from the kitchen and comes be-bopping in to see the show at the end. Never a dull moment--I love it!

The Washing Machine Song from Tracie Wilson on Vimeo.

Catch Up

2009-01-11T18:05:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone! Sorry it has been a while. Last week was quite a week. I returned to work on Monday, and Daniel and Caroline went back to their schools on Tuesday. Well, by Wednesday at noon, Matt got the call from Caroline's school that she had a fever of 100.7 and would not eat her lunch. She is getting 6 teeth, so we thought maybe that was all it was. Matt's mom came over to keep her Thursday, and by 1:00 that afternoon she had a fever of 104.5. Needless to say, she took her immediately to the doctor where they remained until 4:30! Poor sissy and Mrs. Wilson!!! With no nap and nothing on her tummy she had to have several tests run, much to her dismay. They finally came back with the fact that her white blood count was up, which could mean strep (her throat was red) or a urinary tract infection (for those of you who don't know, she has kidney reflux). They cultured the samples and two days later they were still negative. Apparently she just had some sort of a fever virus combined with a sore throat. Poor baby! By Saturday she was back to herself and ready to play! We just took it easy and played around the house yesterday. Today we took the kids to McWane Science Center. They both had a great time! Daniel's favorite thing was laying on the bed of nails and Caroline loved the fish and the water area. Luckily, I remembered her liking the water area A LOT last time, so I took a second shirt for her to put on when we were finished there! Daniel is spending the night with his Gran and PePaw and sissy is down, so I think I am going to close this up and head to bed early. Tomorrow starts another week! Hope all of you have a great one!

TAGGED!

2008-12-30T14:04:00.001-08:00

My sister-n-law Meredith tagged me! I am to post the fourth picture in the fourth folder of where my pics are stored and explain it. Then I tag four people. Boy, did this activity take me back! This is a rather blurry picture of Daniel on the Fourth of July at the lake. It looks like he is either really confused or about to pitch a fit! He really was a very good baby, and I think I remember him being a little under the weather at this function! Look at that tiny little guy!

Now, I tag

Shea Crowder
Barkley Busby
Ashley Sellers
Kelly Ellis

Christmas with the Wilson Gang!

2008-12-29T15:11:00.000-08:00

After opening Santa and a yummy breakfast casserole and biscuits, we headed over to Gran and Pe Paw's house for more Christmas fun! I think one of the main reasons I married Matt was his wonderful family! :) They were so gracious to invite my family over for Christmas lunch as well. We had a wonderful time! Daniel and Caroline had a blast spending time with their cousins, and Matt and I enjoyed the gathering as well. It makes me so sad to hear other people talk about how they don't like their in-laws--mine are wonderful! Enjoy some pics from the Wilson Christmas!

Hope Everyone Had A Merry Christmas!

2008-12-26T14:09:00.000-08:00

I hope that all of you had as blessed of a Christmas as we did. The kids had a blast, and I loved that my family was able to come into town and be with us on Christmas morning. This is an extra special Christmas for me to have with my dad. We came very close to losing him to a heart attack last January, so it really puts everything in perspective!

We started out with the Christmas Eve service at our church and then everyone came to our house for Christmas Eve dinner. It was so nice! Daniel, Caroline, and Cousin Claire made sure to sprinkle the reindeer food out beside the house before they went to bed to wait for Santa to come!

D and Caroline both got everything they wanted from Santa this year. D was so funny--when he was finished opening all of his Santa presents, he looked around at everything and said, "Wow! I didn't know I had been this good this year!" So cute! He got a bunch of big boy toys--I am not really even sure what half of them do or are--Santa just followed directions and got the things he pointed out to mommy! He also got his very first North Face jacket. It matches Daddy's--they are sooo cute! Caroline got a shopping cart with food, a pink pony to ride on, Noah's Ark Little People set, a counting piggy bank, books, stuffed animals and a ton more! Then ofcourse, Paw Paw and MiMi and Gran and Pe Paw had a ton of goodies for them as well. SPOILED!!! :)

My camera had a smudge on the lens that I did not know about, so the pics are a little blurry, but I still treasure them and want to share!

Daniel was so sweet to let C help put out the reindeer food he made!

Uncle Bucky and Cousin Claire

Caroline was very excited about the candy in her stocking. She has a bit of a sweet tooth!

This is D and his new big boy North Face!

Already learning to save those pennies--daddy's girl! :)

Wow! This is just what I wanted! (We heard that a lot!)

C's most favorite things were her suckers and her pink pony!

These are our neighbors--some boys near Daniel's age who came over to play one of the games D got. Notice Caroline right in the middle of things!

Zoolight Safari

2008-12-26T13:59:00.000-08:00

Well, we did get to go to Zoolight Safari the other night! It was pretty neat. Tons of Christmas lights and festive Christmas music! As I said in an earlier post, Caroline LOVES Christmas lights, so she walked around the whole time pointing at everything and saying OOOOHHHH! She also likes anything hanging from above, so she really got a kick out out of the large ornaments hanging from the ceiling near the Children's Zoo. Daniel enjoyed having his face painted (a scary Christmas snake, ofcourse!) and pretending to drive the big tractor while it was decorated for Christmas. We are actually going back to Zoolight Safari tonight. Matt's sister and her family are in town, so we thought her kids might enjoy the sights as well. Caroline and D are both taking super late naps, so there is no telling what time we will actually get there tonight. It was quite crowded the first night we went, but maybe things have calmed down a bit by now!

I hope you enjoy the pics from the night. Notice that Daniel has on his most favorite shirt (for now!). I also like it, so it works out well that he wants to wear it so often!

A Weekend Getaway (10 minutes from our house!)

2008-12-20T13:17:00.001-08:00

Friday night Matt and I headed out to Ross Bridge for a much needed weekend escape! Though we did not go far, we felt like we went on a major vacation!
We actually started our night with a delicious dinner at Bonefish. After a nice, relaxing date there, we checked into our beautiful room overlooking the golf course and then headed down for drinks on the balcony area. The weather was absolutely wonderful! There were even a few people out swimming in the super fabulous pool they have there! This morning we woke up and casually sat and drank our coffee (which we never get to do!) then got dressed and headed downstairs for breakfast. After eating we began our awesome visit to the spa! We visited the steam room, whirlpool room, "quiet room," and then had a couples massage. I adore my kids, but Matt and I really enjoyed the time alone. SPECIAL thanks to GRAN for keeping the kids for us. Thankfully, they both went to sleep early, slept all night, and slept late this morning. I guess everyone feels rested and relaxed today! :)
If it does not rain, we are going to ZooLight Safari tonight. I know the kids will love it!

The Rockettes and Brunch with Santa

2008-12-15T09:32:00.000-08:00

We had a super busy weekend! Saturday morning, the kids let us sleep in until almost 8 (which was awesome)! We headed to Olan Mills to make a rather traumatic picture with all of the cousins. See, we were told we had the first appointment at 10:00. Well, they apparently decided to take some groups early because we arrived to a room full of people being photographed and waiting (ahead of us) to have their pictures taken. So imagine this: FIVE anxious children ages 7 months to four years old in a perfect mood for pictures at 10:00 (our appointement time) but by 11:30 (the time we go in) tired and hungry. It all turned out okay, and I think they got a decent picture. BUT I DO NOT recommend Olan Mills in B'ham! We will definitely go the independent professional route next time!

This is the Olan Mills pic we finally got!

The afternoon was much better. Caroline took a long nap and D and I had some down time. Then we got all dressed and ready to go see the Rockettes! They were amazing! Beautiful ladies dancing in perfect sync, a flying Santa, exploding streamers, the show had it all!
Sunday morning we went to church and then ate brunch with Santa and Mrs. Claus at the Country Club. I will have to post the pictures later. I wish that our visit with Santa at the mall could have gone as well! I don't really like the pic we got at the Galleria because neither of the kids are really smiling. We got some great ones at the Club. Caroline just loved the Santa there, and she did not want to leave his lap! I guess everything is better with a belly full of brunch!

A Star Is Born!

2008-12-14T14:18:00.001-08:00

Daniel had his preschool Christmas program Friday morning. He did such a wonderful job! His class were the elves. They wore jeans, white turtlenecks, green elf collars complete with jingle bells, and cute little Santa hats (which D claimed were extremely itchy!). A sweet friend of mine at school, Frances Patton, watched my kiddos for me so that I could attend the big show! Matt took the morning off, and Gran and PePaw came too. He did such a great job that he earned a happy meal for lunch! I tried to load a movie, but they take FOREVER, and as all my busy mom friends know there just is not time to sit and wait on technology! Maybe I will get a chance to try again later. Until then, enjoy the pics below!

Thankful Thursday

2008-12-11T11:06:00.000-08:00

So, through linking from one person's blog to another, I have come across so many blogs of women I don't know (families, really) who have lost babies before birth or shortly thereafter. I never realized how lucky I am.
I have known many close to me who have struggled to get pregnant. Matt and I got pregnant (twice) with such ease. I never realized how lucky I am.
This morning started out rough. Daniel would not cooperate, and I lost it. I just wanted him to get dressed--is that so much to ask? I yelled at him, in a mean voice. I know that we have all done this. But today, I feel extra bad about it. I should just be happy I have a healthy little man who can ask for "just five more minutes, mom."
I stress about the fact that neither of them will cooperate for our Christmas card picture. They are both all over the place! I should be thankful for children who can run and play, and busy themselves with things other than having their pictures made.
Lord forgive me for being so shallow.
Thank you for my children.

Polar Express PJ Party

2008-12-08T18:32:00.000-08:00

Sunday night Matt, Daniel, and I went to see the Polar Express on the IMAX screen at the McWane Center. It was a pajama party for the kids (and some parents had theirs on too!), and we had a wonderful time! It was kind of our special time to be just with Daniel. For those of you who have more than one child, you know how you can feel like you are not giving them each enough individual attention. Caroline requires constant supervision and attention at this busy age, so we like to take Daniel out on special "dates" as much as possible. We are so thankful to Matt's mom for watching Caroline for us so that we can do things like this. Matt's favorite part was the "before" music. They played Sweet Child of Mine on recorder and AC/DC on xylophone (seriously!). (Jason, you should have been there!). The IMAX is sooo cool! The clarity, sound, and overall experience is awesome! And the popcorn is good too!!

Decorating the Tree!

2008-12-08T18:22:00.000-08:00

Friday afternoon Matt, Daniel, and I went to Home Depot and picked out the most wonderful tree! We thought it was absolutely perfect! After stringing on the lights (Caroline's most favorite part), Daniel and I added the finishing touches--our beautiful ornaments. It was so much fun looking back at his and Caroline's first Christmas ornaments and all of the adorable hand-crafted specialties that Daniel (or his teachers!) has made at school over the years. See our before and after pics below!

So proud of our sweet tree!

Sissy just loved the brilliance of the Christmas tree lights!

Notice the toy closet has been opened during the decorating process. This was after the third glass ornament had been dropped! Ah, the joys of decorating with a toddler!! :)

With beautiful Christmas carols playing in the background and a great fire going (and ofcourse red and green pjs on)--it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Always An Adventure

2008-12-04T17:02:00.001-08:00

So, Daniel has always LOVED popsicles. No matter when, where, what flavor, he loves them. He has passed this love on to his adoring Sissy. The two of them are so cute! Daniel always makes sure to get a popsicle for Caroline when he gets one for himself. He also insists that she get a "girl" color like pink or purple. Caroline is very good at sharing things, and I know it is because Daniel does such a good job sharing with her. For those of you that know Daniel, he can be quite a live wire and is certainly a handful. But those he loves, he loves with everything he has. His sister is certainly the apple of his eye!

Every afternoon when we get home from school, we unwind with a cartoon or two. It is usually Daniel and me on the couch and Sissy playing on the floor. Today she decided that she wanted to sit up on the couch with us. She started beside me, barreled over Daniel, and finally made it to the other side of him. She loves being close to him! However, this cuddling on the couch with Ba Ba lasted about 90 seconds, then she was climbing off the couch to play! The camera just happened to be on the table next to me, so I was able to capture this series of events (notice Daniel never takes his eyes off of the tv!). See below!

Playing Outside While We Can!

2008-12-03T17:33:00.000-08:00

This afternoon, the weather was actually pretty nice! After picking the kids up, we played outside until it got dark. Daniel played with some of the neighbors, and Caroline and I played in the back yard. I bundled her up in the most adorable white sweater that I bought while we were in Brewton. I absolutely love it! I think it makes her look like a snow princess. Check out the pictures of her below.

The weather report says that rain is on the way, so I am glad we took advantage of the beautiful weather today!

Hanging of the Greens

2008-12-01T17:50:00.001-08:00

This past Sunday was the Hanging of the Greens at our church. This is a beautiful service where all of the different choirs sing and we light the first of the advent candles. They also light the two huge trees on either side of the pulpit. We love this time of the year, and this service is really the kickoff to Christmas for our family. Before the service, Daniel, Caroline, and I baked cookies and then when Matt got home we all went out to dinner. Caroline showed interest in coloring her menu picture for the first time. She did a really good job! She did hold the crayon at the very end, but managed to create some very nice rainbow streaks.

Pictures with Santa

2008-11-30T07:53:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning we got up and dressed and headed to the mall to see Santa. We got there around 9:30 a.m. and got the kids McDonald's, then headed over to the Santa area about 9:50. We wanted to make sure that we were the first in line! Two years ago, we made the horrible mistake of waiting until after nap time (around 2 or 3) to go, and I think every child in Alabama was there too! We waited in line for TWO HOURS to see Santa! Oh yes, two miserable hours! We took turns holding the spot and walking the mall with Daniel. I will NEVER do that again! This past Saturday was much more enjoyable. We only had the 10 minute wait until Santa arrived at 10. The kids both loved him! Caroline really enjoyed walking around the festive Christmas display. I am excited that she will really be able to appreciate the excitement of Christmas this year! Below are some pics from our wait in line. I did not get any of them with Santa because I was behind the camera trying to get sissy to smile. Matt's parents got some on their camera, so I will get them and post later.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-30T07:35:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone (posted a little late!). I hope that you all feel as blessed as we do this season. Daniel and Caroline are both doing wonderfully. Daniel is quite possibly the smartest kid I know. Seriously. He is able to manipulate numbers in his head quicker than I am! Caroline is trying so hard to communicate. She says ma ma, da da, ba ba (Daniel), bite, hi, bye, me, cat, and likely some others I can't think of right now. Daniel was speaking in complete sentences at 15 months; I think C might be on the same track! They love their little "schools", which has made teaching even more enjoyable for me. I feel so lucky to be working for such a top notch school system.

We are most thankful for our wonderful family and friends. We enjoyed a delicious dinner at Matt's mom and dad's house, complete with ham and turkey, dressing, yummy casseroles, and ofcourse DESSERT! After we ate, we drove out to Ross Bridge to see their mini-Whooville. It was adorable! Their Christmas decorations were breathtaking. I was totally inspired to decorate as soon as possible! I am posting a few pictures from the day, including one of sissy WALKING!! I forgot how incredibly cute it is to see a little one just learning how to walk. I love it!

150 Years!

2008-11-17T17:47:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we went to Brewton to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of North Brewton Baptist Church, the one in which my dad and Aunt Lawrinda grew up. There was a wonderful singing group, celebration of veteran members, memorials for those from the past who helped build such a firm foundation, and ofcourse the best homecooked spread you can imagine after church! Boy, do I miss "dinner on the grounds" at NBBC! They even had the first full time preacher come and speak. He baptized my dad as a young boy! He was feeble, but had a great personality and seemed to truly treasure being a part of such a special service. My great great grandfather was actually the founding preacher. There is a great deal of our family history built into that church. It will forever represent my grandmother to me. She was the godliest woman I have ever known, and likely ever will know. I miss her so much. I know that she would be proud of her beautiful family and how we have grown. I did not get many pictures, but we did manage to snap these few before the service.

Homecoming in Auburn (Finally a W!)

2008-11-11T08:00:00.001-08:00

Hi Everyone! This past weekend was Homecoming for Auburn and Matt and Daniel rode up with some friends of ours. Greg and his little girl Ansley, who is five, met us a Chick Fil A Saturday morning for breakfast and some play time and then they were off to the plains! The kids had a fantastic time. Daniel saw his first Tiger Walk (that he can remember) and was amazed at the "huge paw prints on the road!" He was so excited about them--he said a real tiger even bigger than Aubie must have made them! They played at the park near the baseball field and even sat inside the baseball stadium. Matt and Daniel met up with his sister Meredith and her baby Claire. Daniel really wanted them to stay, but he understood that Claire could not make it through the game. He just loooves baby Claire! In fact, he wanted to sell Caroline in a garage sale to make room for cousin Claire in our house. Silly guy! He loves his sister, too. He is such a good big brother. He shares and takes care of her, and always tries to make her laugh when she is crying. She is a lucky little girl, and I am lucky to be their mommy.

Below are some pics from Homecoming. Enjoy!

Turkey Trottin'!

2008-11-02T18:51:00.000-08:00

Okay, so every November my school does it's annual Turkey Trot. Each grade level K-5 runs a one mile race through Homewood. I decided that since Daniel loves to run, and is actually a very good runner, we would participate together this year. After all, he has run the track with me since he was two! We ran a practice mile yesterday, and he did a great job. My little man ran an entire mile without stopping! I knew that today would be no different, and he did not disappoint! Since Matt has had the stomach bug today, he did not get to go. :(
But Daniel, Caroline (who rode along happily in the jogging stroller) and I ran our mile like champions! He was so proud of himself (and I was proud of him too!). We stayed after the race and played on the playground for quite a while and then headed home. Caroline's most favorite thing was the slide and Daniel loved the swings. I wish that I had brought my camera--I will take a picture of us in our Turkey Trot shirts and post it another time. Again, my little boy is growing up so fast--I can't believe that he will be at Edgewood as a Kindergartener next year!

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-02T18:31:00.000-08:00

I hope that everyone had a Happy Halloween! Matt, his mom and dad, the kids and I enjoyed a yummy neighborhood cookout at our friends Abby and Larry's. They have a little boy Daniel's age named Trey. Trey and Daniel have deemed each other their best friend and they were so cute trick or treating together! Trey is the Spiderman you will see in the pictures below. Abby says that every time they drive by our house on the way to or from theirs, Trey points to our house and says "my best friend lives there; that is my best friend's house!" He is the sweetest! Enjoy the pics, and welcome to November!

Daniel as the all powerful super scary Transformer Bumblebee and sissy as the sweet little bumblebee with sparkly wings (that I wish you could see better in the pictures!)

Caroline's favorite treat from the night was a tiny little "dum dum" sucker. Don't worry, she was supervised at all times to prevent choking!

Some of the boys at the cookout

Ready to put out any fire that comes his way!

Daniel and his "best friend" Trey

Happy Fall Y'all!

2008-10-14T16:52:00.000-07:00

Well, we are loving this beautiful fall weather! We go for walks, to Aldridge Gardens, Star Lake, to the park...something outside every day! We just can't resist! Daniel and I both love Halloween and all that comes with it. We are going to have a cookout and then go trick or treating with some friends from the neighborhood on Halloween night. Daniel is going to be the Transformer named Bumblebee and Caroline is going to be an actual little bumblebee. We thought that would be sooo cute! I am attaching some pics of some of our outings below. The last one is of Caroline in her adorable little Halloween pajamas that Aunt Vanessa and Uncle Tom sent to her.

Caroline taking in the sights

Stopping for a picture on the bench at Aldridge Gardens

This is what we have lovingly termed the "Pe Paw" face. Matt's dad (AKA Pe Paw) taught Caroline to make this um, interesting face when we tell her to say cheese!!! Thanks, Pe Paw!

My handsome boy at Aldridge Gardens. He truly looks like a boy (not a little boy) in this one. He is really growing up...

Sissy in her Halloween pjs. Thanks Aunt Vanessa and Uncle Tom!

Caroline is one!!

2008-09-15T17:19:00.000-07:00

We had Caroline's first birthday party yesterday, and it was wonderful! Our theme was polka dots, and Gran made Caroline a huge cupcake with big polka dot sprinkles as her "smash" cake. She was definitely more delicate and girly than Daniel was. We had to take him straight to the bathtub, and she barely got any icing on her bib! She loved playing in the little ball pit, and grabbing at the balloons. One of her most favorite presents was a little horse and carriage blocks thing that her Uncle Brian gave her. She is very good at putting the blocks together and taking them back apart again. She gets so proud of herself! She also loves sitting at her big girl picnic table that her Uncle Jason made for her. She and Daniel ate their afternoon snack at it today. They looked too cute sitting there together enjoying the afternoon. We loved having all of our family and many friends here to celebrate with us. We are so fortunate to have so many wonderful people in our lives. The Lord has truly blessed us with a wonderful little daughter who has brought so much love and joy to us as a family. I can't believe how fast the year has flown!

Below are some pics from the weekend!

Daniel and Paw Paw in their orange and blue on gameday!

Daniel and cousin Will--always a lively pair!

The Wilsons and all of the future Tigers!

Matt and Caroline saying "Warrr Eagle, hey!"

Mommy and Caroline just before the guests arrived. That smile is too perfect. She knew it was her special day, and she was sooo excited!

Daniel and Caroline in the ball pit. This was Daniel's first birthday present, and I think he had just as much fun in it yesterday as he did when he first got it!

C taking a break from all of the action!

Shea, AR. and Lauren

Caroline has never seen a treat this big! Happy First Birthday, Sissy!

Everyone is turning one!

2008-09-08T17:43:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday we attended our friend Ann Rogers' first birthday party. We had so much fun! It is crazy to see everyone with little ones, or with little ones on the way. How different things are from just five years ago! Ann Rogers and another friend Bella were born a few days before Caroline, and it seems like yesterday that we were all in the hospital with our beautiful newborn daughters. We have Caroline's first birthday party this coming weekend, and we are very excited for all of our friends and family to share this special day with us. Something else that is really neat: Caroline and her Pe Paw (Matt's dad) share the same birthdate! We are so blessed.

Caroline playing with her learning table before church

I treasure moments like this! :)

The proud daddy and the birthday girl

Sammy and Charlie enjoying the festivities

Whitney and baby Claire

Caroline having a blast at the party!