We miss you, Opa!!! & Happy 11th Birthday Joel!

Opa and Riley

I can't believe it, but a year ago today is when dad (aka Opa) passed away. This year has just gone by so fast and its hard to believe he was not there. He wasn't there to celebrate his 50th anniversary to mom.  He wasn't there to see Joel "grow" in school this year. He wasn't there to see Riley learn to ride a bike. He wasn't there to see Jesse's first tooth come out and he wasn't there to see Jojo FINALLY using the potty. These are all little things that have happened in the Rogers household but its sad he wasn't there for that. Sometimes I wish I could just call him up and hear his voice, but I can't. Sometimes I wish I could see him sitting on his spot on the couch with his grand kids and just talking with them. Or seeing him sit on his little stool in his garage listening to his Brazilian music and smoking his cigar. I can't believe it has been a year. I know its going to get easier but we still miss him a lot.
Thanks for being a wonderful Opa.

Today is also Joel's birthday. He turned 11 today. As I look at this picture of him at age 3 I wonder where that little boy has gone. He turning out to be a pretty great little man. God has blessed us with a wonderful "Joopie".

This is what Joel looked like at age 3.

This is what he looks like at 11!!!

For dinner tonight we went to Ryan's-Joel's favorite place to eat. Then after dinner we went home for birthday cake. Terry had hidden his birthday present (gift card) under his piece of cake. So when we cut the cake we would "scoop" the gift card with it. He had no idea.

If you look closely to the picture below, you can see the gift card. 

 So after taking a couple of bites he asked "why is there a piece of paper under my cake"?

Here he figured out it was a gift card

He thought it was pretty cool:)

Here he figured out for how much!!!



This is what he got with it!

Happy Birthday Joopie:) We love you!!!

Another Giveaway!!!

I follow this blog called Craftomaniac. It is SO awesome!! Right not she is doing a $25 vinyl giveaway. I am so excited about it. They have this one product that I want to try...Iron on Vinyl. You can make all kinds of tshirst and bags etc with them. If I don't win, I might have to go ahead and buy some myself:)

Blog giveaway!!

I just found this awesome blog. They monogram EVERYTHING. And right now they are doing a giveaway...Personalized Christmas Tree Skirt I would love to win one of those:) Go ahead, and visit this awesome blog: the monogram divas. You might be able to find some things that you can check off your Christmas list:)

Toy Story 3 Movie Morning

Since Toy Story 3 came out last Wednesday. A couple of my friends thought it would be fun to have a little Toy Story 3 movie morning. They had pop corn and drinks. They had a lot of fun. Josiah found the safety glasses and a hard hat. So he did not get hurt while watching the movie. Alina had fun too with her friend Hanna. They had a little tent set up and all kinds of other toys for them to play with. Although they did watch some of the movie.

Thursday Morning at 8:00am

This week eighteen25 is doing her weekly Snapshots of Life. The time this week is 8:00am.

I had dropped the kids off at school and the coffee was done brewing. Man, was that a good cup of coffee before my little 3 year old man was waking up:) It got me going for the day!!!

Dam Walk

A couple of weeks ago, my neighbor Tammy and I (and Josiah and Alina) walked the dam here in Lexington. It was such a beautiful day. It started off pretty "crisp" but by the time we were walking back to the car it got to be pretty hot. Both kids did pretty good. Although Josiah was a little scared at first. I think he thought that if he got out of the stroller he would fall into Lake Murray. So at first he just wanted to stay in his stroller. But then he got a bit curious and wanted me to hold him. When we got to the other end of the dam we took some cute pictures of them on the wall and then we walked back. It was really nice but I guess from all the noise and the wind Alina couldn't really stay up so she got a nice little morning nap that day.

Don't they look like a little old couple?

 Josiah holding on for dear life!!

 POOPED!

Halloween Celebration

This year for Halloween we were invited to a friend's house for a little party. We had a total of 11 kids there and I believe they all had a wonderful time. Most of the kids came dressed in costumes but some (2 of mine) decided that dressing up was too "cool" for them. So they wore their "cool" tshirts mom made them:) Which, I think they should have won the "BEST COSTUME" award:) Anyway, Ted and Sarah are great hosts. They had all kind of wonderful games prepared for them. After all the games outside were done, we went inside for a hot dog dinner and dessert. And after they were all sugared up,they played some more games. We all had a wonderful time. Thanks, Ted and Sarah for opening your house to us.

Dessert Table

 Raluca's Cupcakes

Ghost  Cake I made.(idea I got from here)

 The Pumpkin Walk

 Josiah was more interested in all the toy guns Burton has then to play the games.

 Darth Vader and Cowboy (AKA Jesse and Kevin)

 Pumpkin Bowling

 Riley helping Alina with the pumpkin bowling. But Alina really wasn't interested.

Darth Vader & Luke Skywalker

Apple Bobbing

 Joel won the game!

 He found a use for those big front teeth.

"Musical Pumpkin"

 Just playing around