The Rogers Neighborhood

Jesse's 15 minutes of fame.

2012-02-01T19:41:00.001-08:00

Jesse's class is learing the rules of grammer this week and one way they are learning is by writing notes to soldiers in Kuwait. This project is partly because Mrs. Denny's husband is in Kuwait. He has been there almost a year and will be back home in May. Enjoy the video:)

Ok, so it looks like the video isn't working right. So check out this link and you can see it there:

Spaghetti Dinner

2012-01-31T19:20:00.000-08:00

During Christmas break, Jesse and Terry worked very hard on getting caught up on all his activities from his Cub Scout hand book. One of the activities he had to do was cook dinner. So that is what we did. He decided he wanted to make spaghetti so I went and got all the ingredients from the store and we got started. He put on my apron and started cutting the onion, green, yellow and red bell peppers. Once we got everything cut he browned the meat. He did a really good job and you could tell he was really enjoying himself:)

Of course we had to be a bit silly too:)

Look at how proud he is of the final product.

And it tasted good too. It made a lot so we got to enjoy it again a few days later.

***Tonight Terry and Jesse worked on some more cub scout assignments and he is officially a "WOLF" tonight. He is So exctied. And I am very proud of him. He has such a good time with the Cub scouts. I can't wait to see what God has in store for him with the cub scouts/boy scouts. Who knows, maybe HE will go all the way and become an eagle scout!

You've Got A Friend In Me...

2012-01-29T20:04:00.000-08:00

The Friday before Josiah's best friend Walter moved to St. Louis, he got to come over and play one more time while his mom Angie was at home with the movers. They had such a great time together. They got to play the WII, watch a movie and while Walter's sister Hanna was taking a nap the big boys got to play on the trampoline. As you can tell from the pictures, they had SUCH a great time. We decided it would be a great time to have some "silly" pictures taken oven each other. They would run around on the trampoline and tackle each other and then just hug each other. I do think they understood that it was going to be a very long time before they would see each other. We would love to take a trip this summer and see where they are living. I think they would both love to see each other again. And to be honest, I would love to see them again too.

The Bianco Family, we miss you and hope to see you sometime this summer:)

Here is a typical Walter and Josiah picture being silly.

Best Friends...

Best Friends being silly.

What a handsome boy!

Silly Boy..

I can't help but think of this song when I look at these pictures. They both love the "Toy Story"movies. So this is perfect!!!

You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
When the road looks rough ahead
And you're miles and miles
From your nice warm bed
Just remember what your old pal said
Boy, you've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got troubles, well I've got 'em too
There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you
We stick together and we see it through
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me

Some other folks might be
A little bit smarter than I am
Bigger and stronger too
Maybe
But none of them will ever love you the way I do
It's me and you
And as the years go by
Boys, our friendship will never die
You're gonna see
It's our destiny
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me

Raking Leaves

2012-01-21T11:00:00.000-08:00

We learned that mom has a LOT of oak trees in her yard. It was amazing. We told the kids the day before that we were going to Oma's house to rake her yard. And let me tell you, they were not looking forward to it. And honestly, I really wan't either. But if you saw her yard, it was looking pretty bad. you couldn't even see her drive way or even the grass. So...we told the kids that ALL of us were going to help and that the less we complain the more we would get done. We started raking at 11:30am and the picture above was taken probably about 15-20 minutes into it. We made one big pile of leaves so the kids could jump into it. You know every child LOVES jumping into a pile of leaves. Ok, maybe not EVERY child because Jesse decided that he really didn't want to do that.

I am loving these pictures:)

Max even came out to ~~help~~ bark at us!

Jesse's job was to take the garbage bags to the side of the road.

He did a very good job.

Max over seeing our job skills.

I had to add this picture so you can actually see SOME of the leaves in the yard. And yes, I told mom to go inside and relax while we raked her yard but she wanted to help too. So her job was to be the pooper scooper.

Nap Time!!

You get tired from all that raking.

I just had to share this picture.

She's got her daddy's eyes.

I have to say, they all did a wonderful job.There was some complaining but not a lot. They knew we were there to help Oma. It took us about 7 hours but we got it done!!!

77 Bags, 7 hours later and STILL smiling!!!

12 & 50

2012-01-20T19:32:00.000-08:00

I know, I know...its been about 3 months since I have updated the blog. But here I am. Finally:)

Joel turned 12 on December 6th. I can't believe he is 12...One year away from being a teenager!!! NO!!!!! I can't be a mother of a preteen?!?!

We had a nice night. Because his birthday was on a Tuesday (school day), we took it pretty easy. And since he is pretty much (by his standards) "too big" for a birthday party...we just had a family night. I made him his requested dinner: asparagus, garlic mashed potatoes with chives, shrimp and flaky biscuits. This is what he wanted to eat. I believe he enjoyed it.

And as you can tell, Josiah loves the shrimp too:)

After dinner, we went ahead and give him his present(s). Terry and I decided that since he is 12 now he would be able to get his own key to the house. As you can tell from the pictures, he was very excited about it. He feels very grown up now:)

And then he got the big present:) Well, something he could actually do something with. So, can you guess what it was....

You guessed it, a Lego set... The General Grievous Starfighter. You can give him any kind of Lego set and you know that he will be happy:)

We really did have a nice day. As I write this (on Friday, January 20th) he is having a sleep over with one of his best friends, Sal. They were supposed to do it during the Christmas break but it didn't work out. They love being together and it is amazing how much these boys are alike. They have been friends since 5k and they are still friends. I thank God for Sal and the entire family. We have so much fun together!

One Week Later...

It was Terry's birthday. And not just any birthday...

A Very imorpotant birthday.

Yes, he turned...

(As you can tell from the picture, we didn't have a "5" candle so we had to make it a math problem).

Another day that was nice. We didn't do a "huge" thing but had a nice family day celebrating Terry's birthday. We are so thankful for him. He is a wonderful husband and an awesome father to our 4 children. Thank you Terry, for working so hard for us so we can do the things we love:)

Happy Birthday!!!!

The Rogers' Creativity...

2011-10-26T20:29:00.000-07:00

As I am downloading the pictures on my camera, I noticed that the Rogers' children and myself have been pretty creative over the past few weeks. A couple of weeks ago, the kids were out of school for some kind of holiday, and it was rainy and cold. So as you can imagine, the kids were bored. So Joel asked me if he could make a cheesecake we have been looking at for about a year now. So, since we had most of the ingredients, I told him he could. He had so much fun. And let me tell you, it tasted SO good. Who knows, he might follow his two cousin's footsteps and go to culinary school. He did an awesome job on the cheese cake and it tasted AWESOME!!!

The finished product.

Then last week, Jesse had to decorate a paper "pumpkin" after a favorite character and/or book he had read the month before. It was not hard for him to come up with a character. He loves the Dr. Seuss books, so he picked The Cat In The Hat. Again, we (Jesse and I) had a lot of fun coming up with ideas and decorating the pumpkin. I think he did an awesome job:) I think he did a pretty good job.

As you can tell, he is very proud of his "Cat in the hat"!

Then a few weeks ago, my friend Angie found this little craft project to do for the kids. I think they came out so cute. They are little jars that have been decoupaged with orange tissue paper and then we cut the vinyl and put it on top of the tissue paper and put another coat of decoupage glue over it. And when its done put a tea light in it and enjoy it. The kids love it!!!

I have to say, this is my favorite one.

Yesterday, Josiah came home and begged me to play with play-dough. I have to say, I don't LIKE play-dough. Especially since we have carpet in our dining room. So, I told him he would be able to play with the play-dough in the mud room. Let me tell you, he thought that was an AWESOME idea. So Josiah and I went down stairs and we got him set up. He had so much fun. And I loved it!!! Because when he was done...all I had to do was grab the broom, and sweep up the play-dough and throw it away.

ALL SET UP...

What a beautiful boy!!! He was having so much fun:)

Finally, do you know what this is and what it belongs to?

Yes, its a foot peddle...but to what you ask???

Yes, is a sewing machine.

If you know me well, you know that I don't sew. But now that my Riley is getting bigger and my sewing sister lives in Alabama...I figured it would be a great idea to maybe learn how to sew. So, a few years ago I got this sewing machine for free from a friend from church. And it has just been sitting on my shelf. So since Halloween is just around the corner, I thought it would be a great idea to make Riley her costume. So when I heard that my friend Rebecca was making two poodle skirts for her daughters, I wanted to make one for Riley. I went to Hobby Lobby and got me a pattern and fabric and all the other things I needed for the skirt. So Angie came over a few weeks ago and we sewed the skirt together. I have to say, it was so much fun. And I am very impressed with the outcome of the skirt.

I think it is so cute. I love the poodle. I am not totally done with the skirt yet. I am gluing pom-poms onto the poodle but I ran out. So I am going to have to get some more. As soon as it is ALL DONE, I will post the final product. But you get the idea.

I am ready to sew something else now:) Maybe an apron or some other kind of skirt or dress for Riley. I am loving this "Crafty Stuff".

3rd annual apple picking trip

2011-10-11T08:55:00.000-07:00

This was our 3rd year in a row to Sky Top Orchard. This year our friends Mike and Angie Bianco went with us. Since Mike is moving to St. Louise in a few weeks and Angie and the kids will be here until the house sells, we thought it would be a fun trip to do together. We had so much fun, and so did the kids:)

Our kids look forward to this trip every year because we pick apples and then I turn them into apple butter. I love making it for teacher gifts. Joel especially likes going so he can climb high into the trees and pick apples.

The Bianco's.

We were trying to get our family Christmas picture BUT...

in every picture, Josiah was making silly faces. So we might have to come up with something else:)

I just love this picture of Josiah. He is having SO much fun.

Walter and Josiah. They are best friends.

Another one of my favorites. I just found them sitting like this looking at the orchard and mountains.

Another picture I just had to take, this boy does NOT eat fruit! But this day he did!!!

Hanna and Jesse. Jesse loves to play with her.

Hanna also loves Riley (Finally a girl she can play with!)

JoJo giving his "thumbs up" on the Sky Top Apple Cider. That stuff is GOOD!!!

And finally, our annual pictures and the "How Tall This Fall" sign.

We had to keep our pumpkin safe. So the extra car seat in the trunk of the van did that job:)

Ready to go home!

I am so glad we got to this again this year. I have to say, I can't help but think of dad every time we go. The first year we went, he got diagnosed few days later. I bet he would have loved to come with us every year. I am glad our kids will have these memories though when they grow up.
Mike and Angie, thanks for coming with us this year. I am glad we got to do this with our families. Its so great to see our kids get along so well. We love you guys, and we will miss you a lot. But look forward to see what God has in store for you guys.

Our little wolf.

2011-09-16T07:00:00.000-07:00

Yes, we have another scout in our family. Jesse is so excited to be part of cub scouts this year. We went to the Scouting store the other day to get his uniform. He was so excited. Terry and him have been working on his work book and I know he is enjoying it. They other day I found him laying in his bed (during the day!!) ~~looking at~~ READING his handbook. He was working on memorizing his cub scout pledge and he did. I was SO proud of him. If you know Jesse well, you know that he does not enjoy reading on his own. He will look at pictures for hours but if you tell him to go read a book for fun...that's like pulling teeth for him. So when I saw him doing this, I was SO excited!!!! I have a feeling this boy is going to grow up A LOT this year!!!

Doesn't he look handsome???

My two scouts!!!

What did you say? We are missing one??? No, we are not. I am sad to say, Joel has decided to step down from scouts and go back to his first love-SPORTS!! I have to say, I was a bit sad when he stepped down because he really thought he would go all the way to Eagle scout. But Terry and I wanted to give him a choice and this is what he wants to do right now. Especially since next year, he owill be elligible to play football at school.

So, if you are reading this and put two and two together....we are now selling popcorn!!!
So if you are in need of some awesome popcorn...don't run to Wal Mart. Send us an email and we will get you set up!!!! And then come on back in the Spring, and we will set you up with some awesome Girl Scout cookies!!!!

ENJOY!!!

Pirate Birthday Party

2011-09-03T21:00:00.000-07:00

In honor of the USC win over the Eastern Carolina Pirates, I thought I would post pictures of a pirate birthday party we were invited to. Enjoy:)

This summer, my friend Angie had a Pirate party for her son Walter. I wanted to blog about it, but honestly totally forgot about it. So...3 months later, here I am blogging-while the husband and oldest son are watching the football game.

I have to say, Angie went ALL out. I think it took her about 3 months to make everything. I think this was probably one of the BEST parties I have ever been too. She went all out.

Since it was a costume party, I figured I needed to make Josiah a little pirate shirt. We had the pants (thanks to Angie and our weekly playdates at her house). I am happy with how it came out. (although not so much after I washed it...but hey, it worked for the party).

Riley and Jesse didn't want to be left out. So, Jesse borrowed Joel's pirate shirt and Riley wore her bandana. I think she thought it was a "BOY" party so she didn't really want to go all out. But once we got there she really got into it, I think:)

Mike and Angie also got all dressed up. Mike went the extra mile and even wore earings:) He did a great job handing out "loot" to the kids. As you can tell from the pictures, the kids had so much fun. Even the older "kids".

Hanna, the pirate.

"Captain Blue-beard" and his prisoner.

"AAARRRGGG"!!!!

The cake and cupcakes were AWESOME!!! I have never seen a cake like this (in person) before. I loved it!! She used her cricut for a lot of her decorations. The cricut is awesome:)

These little guys were made from candy melts. AWESOME!!!!

The bottle invitation.

Pirate ships made out of milk cartons.

Singing "Happy Birthday" to the birthday boy!!!

Present Time!!! Walter's grandfather made the "treasure chest" for his birthday. AWESOME!!!!

It is SO hard for kids to sit down and "watch" the birthday boy to open all the presents. They ALL wanted to open them:)

"Which way is north"???

Angie, you AMAZE me!!! You did an awesome job. And can't WAIT to see what you are going to be doing for Walter's 5th birthday!!!

If you are impressed with Angie's work, and you live in this area and you are interested in "hiring" Angie to decorate your next birthday party. I think she might be interested:)

Celebrating the first day of school.

2011-09-02T06:41:00.000-07:00

So after I picked Josiah up from his first day of school, we went over to daddy's work for lunch. We wanted to take Josiah out to eat so he would be able to tell us ALL about his first day of school. When we got to daddy's office, he was not there yet. So Josiah wanted to draw him a picture. He has learned how to write "JoJo" and loves doing it. So he drew some smiley faces and his name. I have to say, he looks pretty cute behind daddy's desk:)

Josiah telling dad all about school.

For lunch we decided to go to the lizard's thicket. They have some good southern food. I think Josiah enjoyed it. Although asking a 4 year old about what he did as school is like pulling teeth. They all have the standered answer, "I don't know"! We did get out of him that he had a snack,grapes, cheese stick and water. But he didn't drink his water because he wan't thirsty. He also went outside and rode bikes. And they were "funny looking" because they had two seats. He wished his friend Walter was at school with him so they could both ride it. And that is about all he told us.

Josiah and his yummy food:)

Fried chicken, macaroni and cheese and apple sauce. Every childs DREAM lunch:)

Mommy and Daddy with their youngest school boy.

Getting ready to take daddy back at work.

I am going to have to take every minute in that I get to spend with him this year. Because next year he will be going to school all day long. How can that be??? How can my baby boy already be going to school? He just seems too little. This morning he got up for his second day at school. And he was SO excited that Mrs. Tammy drove him to school. He just looked so little. I made sure I told Riley to walk him to his class. She was excited about that. He loves to be the little mommy.

What's This???

2011-08-31T07:12:00.000-07:00

Toys waiting to be played with...

"Night-Night" to be held...

Being able to drink coffee while its HOT...

I wish I could take a picture of how quiet it is in the house right now. I walked into the house after dropping everybody off at school and just stood in the middle of the living room. There was no sound, just quiet. Its a good think Josiah goes half days. I don't know what I am going to do when he is going full time next year. YIKES...I can't think about that yet.

Nellie having to keep herself occupied.

It must be Josiah's first day of school!!!

Can you tell he is excited???

I wanted him to wear something fun for his first day of school. So I decided to make this tshirt for him. I think it came out great:)

I don't know who was more excited, Josiah or his brother's and sister.

He woke up with the biggest smile on his face today. You could just tell he was ready to go to school. He got dressed and went downstairs to eat his breakfast. You could tell he was tired but so excited. At 7:00am we all got into the car and drove to school. Daddy followed us in the truck because he wanted to go too. I am just so excited about him going to school. He is going to grow up a lot this year. And he is going to learn SO much. I can't wait to see what God has in store for our little JoJo.

Daddy walking with Josiah to his class.

We had to get his picture in front of the sign.

The Rogers kids with the principal, Mrs. Watson.

Josiah with his teacher's...

Mrs. Ward, Mrs. McMurphy and the student teacher,Miss.Senn

Does he look excited, or what???

I can't wait to hear how his day went!!!

Hiking in Alabama

2011-08-24T06:11:00.000-07:00

The week before school started, we packed Oma, Max and our family up into the car and drove to Huntsville, Alabama to spend some time with the Thompsons. The kids were a little sad because the Thompson kids had to go back to school the Wednesday we were there. But me made the best of it. On Tuesday, Rich; Terry and I packed ALL the kids up (9 of them) and we went on a hike. We all had a lot of fun. I have to say, I was very proud of Josiah who walked the entire hike. But then, he was Christopher's hiking buddy so he had to keep up:)

The ENTIRE Gang.

After about 30 minutes of going down the mountain, we found a little stream that the kids just LOVED playing in. Especially the girls-Taylor, Noelle, and Riley. They had so much fun getting dirty:)

Josiah also had a blast getting wet.

They were DIRTY by the time we got to the car!!

We all had so much fun this week. I think Riley especially likes being with the Thompson's because she has 2 other girls to play with. She gets to play with girly toys and gets to play girly games:) It is great to see they are so close even though we live so far away.

The first day of school.

2011-08-18T07:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a big day at the Rogers' household.It was the first day of school. It was especially a BIG day since Joel started middle school. He was so excited but also nervous. He went with us to drop Riley and Jesse off first. I have to say, my kids love going to school. They were all very excited. Jesse got the same 2nd grade teacher that both Joel and Riley had-Mrs. Denny. We asked her if it was OK for him to bring a special cupcake treat for his class to share on the first day of school. So we did (see pictures below).

All packed up and ready to go!!!

Our Middle Schooler!

Our 3rd Grader

Our 2nd grader.

Jesse with his teacher, Mrs. Denny

Jesse's "Hamburger and Fries" Cupcakes for his class.

Riley with her teacher, Mrs.Sundberg

They all had a wonderful day at school. Joel expecially had a great time. I asked him if he found all his classes ok, and he didn't really answer it. So I am thinking he might have gotten lost a bit:) This is also the first year he has a locker. He said that since he only has 3 minutes to go to his next class.opening his locker is hard to do., He said that when he is in a hurry he can't open it the first time.I told him that it will get easier:) I can't wait to see what God has in store for all of them:)

Josiah starts on August 31st. Let me tell you, it was heartbreaking to have to remind him that he was not going to school yet. He was so upset:( I have been telling him for a while now but the first thing he said when I told him we were going to take the kids to school, he said "No, I am going to school". Luckily Terry was still home and he got to calm him down:) He is going to have SO much fun this year and I believe he is going to LOVE school. On Monday, we had open house at the elementary school. And we got to see his classroom. He was so funny, he walked in and got SO excited. He ran around the room just taking everything in. He walked up to the sink and just turned it on. He was EXCITED about the sink. I will defently be taking pictures on HIS first day!!!

Saying goodbye is the hard to do!!!

2011-07-14T11:38:00.000-07:00

This has been a hard week for the Rogers family. Justin & Raluca started packing up. OnTuesday afternoon I took Jesse and Josiah over to the house to help them pack some more. Justin had already started putting stuff in the Penske truck and Josiah thought that was pretty cool So he would open the front door for Justin and then run up the ramp (to make sure it was safe enough for Mr. Justin to go up with all the boxes). We helped them box some more things up and then I had to leave to pick up Joel and Riley who were at a friends house. So I packed up Jesse, Josiah, Jesse's friend Burton and Nathaneal (because he needed to take a nap and he wasn't going to take a nap at home with people packing things up).We picked up Joel and Riley and some dinner. Went back to our house, ate dinner, packed the kidss back into the car and drove back to the Liles house. By then, the men had closed the truck up and put the "little" truck onto the trailor. We all went back inside and thats when it HIT me...they were REALLY leaving.!!! I could not stop crying. I am going to miss Alina. She has been with me since she was about 3 months old. And its not just Alina, Raluca and I have had a lot fun these past 2 years. We ran our first 5k together. I have never done that with anybody!!! We have become good friends. I really hope we can go and visit them sometime. I have never been to Colorado.

We went back to their house on Wednesday afternoon after VBS. Their house was empty but it just needed to be cleaned. So Jesse and Josiah kept Alina busy and I helped clean bathrooms and finish vacuming. I think we got everything done around 2pm and they ate lunch and drove away at 3pm.

JoJo and Alina eating a popsicle.

Just one more hug!!!

Playing ring around the rosie just one more time.

Alina and Alex.

Funny Faces.

Leslie and Raluca.

Driving out of the neighborhood ONE last time!!!

Goodbye South Carolina! HELLO Colorado!!!

2011-07-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

We are the champions - my friends
And we'll keep on fighting - till the end -
We are the champions -
We are the champions
No time for losers
'Cause we are the champions - of the world -

OK, so most of you know that I am not much of a sport fanatic but with 4 boys in my family it is bound to happen. And when there is something BIG happening with the Gamecocks then I can get pretty interested. So for those of you who don't know, the Carolina Gamecock baseball team just won the College World Series (CWS)...the second year in a row. So that is pretty big around here. So today the city of Columbia was having a parade in honor of the USC Baseball team. Since Joel had watched all the CWS games this season, I thought it would be fun to take the kids to the parade and let them see the baseball team and their trophy in person. So my friend Angie and I packed up the kids and drove to the USC horse shoe and let the kids play.

Joel decided to take the camera and take a bunch of pictures. So most of the pictures here on this post are his. I think he did a pretty good job.

Around 11:20am we decided to start walking toward the state house. We got a pretty good spot except there are not many trees or shade on the street. So let me tell you, it was HOT! I think it was about 95 degrees. Since Joel, Riley and Jesse got a spot in the front I let Joel take the camera too. He had so much fun. The parade started right at noon but since I guess you can't have a parade with just 2 floats decided to invite all the beautity queen pagents from each county. It was SO long.
Carolina GameCock Flag flying over the state house.

But after about an hour of waiting in this heat they finally showed up!

The kids had so much fun. I am glad we got to do this.

Blueberry Picking

2011-07-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

On Thursday we went to go blueberry picking with Raluca, Alina and Nathanael. We had so much fun but it was very hot.

Josiah and Alina are ready to pick berries.

I think Alina only picked one berry but ate about 50.

Our bucket of blueberries.

Riley enjoying her time:)

Joel picking blueberries.

Our group picture.

Mohawk Boy!

2011-07-01T14:48:00.000-07:00

Ok, so the other day Jesse came up with the idea that he wanted a Mohawk. And Terry thought it was a wonderful idea. So on Monday evening after dinner, he took Jesse down to the mud room and started the transformation. Let me tell you, Jesse was so excited. And so were the other kids (only because they weren't getting it done to them).

Jesse sitting very still for daddy.

Now we are at the point of no return.

As you can tell, there was an audience.

The final product!!!

He wanted to get it colored in garnet in honor of the Carolina Baseball team. but we couldn't find it in the store. Oh well, maybe next year when they win their 3rd year in a row.

Swimming Lessons

2011-06-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

Our Swimming Ninja's!

Josiah's Story:

I have to say, I am so proud of Josiah. He was such a trooper with the swimming lessons. The first time he got into the pool, he went down the steps one step at a time and when he got to the bottom he just kind of sank to the bottom. Sarah pulled him up and he just kind of laughed.He was a pretty quick learner. Having the goggles on helped with him putting his face in the water. He was not scared of doing that at all. He just could not remember or just didn't understand that he can NOT breath under water. He tried twice and it was pretty bad. The first time he did it, he started caughing, and choking. He had a really hard time breathing. It was really scary. He thru up into the pool-but at least it was all water. He was so scared, I could tell. And so was I. But then he started crying and calming down. I really thought we were done. He kept saying he wanted to go home. But then Ms. Sarah told him he could use the kick board and he went right back into the water. He was awesome!!! He did it again a few days later and got back into the pool after that one too. Hopefully he has now learned his lesson:)

We are all done with swimming lessons for this year. I have to say, he did awesome. I wouldn't say he can "swim" but it is something to work with. Hopefully next year he will get stronger.

He loved the kick board. He thought it was so much fun. He said " it looks like I am surfing".

He did not like laying on his back too much because his ears would get wet. (Like that doesn't happen when he is under the water, but whatever).

He also LOVED to jump in. Especially when he got "brave" enough to do it without holding her hands.

Here is our "swimming Nija" running around the pool with his cape on. He looked SO funny!!!

Jesse's Story

This was Jesse's 3rd year (if I remember correctly) of swimming lessons. And he is getting really good at it. He got the breast stroke down pretty good and also learned the back stroke. He loves to swim and be in the water. So this was just up his alley. He had so much fun. I think his favorite part was jumping in (as you can see from the picture above). He also liked the kick board.

Floating was another one of his favorites. Ms. Sarah would be explaining something to him and all of the sudden he wold be laying on his back. I think this boy would be in the pool ALL DAY if we had a pool. I am so glad he got to do the swimming lessons.

We are so glad Ms. Sarah got to teach some of our kids to swim. I am sad to hear that she will be moving to Chicago this year so she will not be able to do swimming lessons next year. Hopefully we will be able to find somebody just as good.

The Rogers' first EVER yard sale.

2011-06-27T17:00:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, we decided to go ahead and have a yard sale with Justin and Raluca. Since they are getting ready move across country, they needed to get rid of some stuff. We decided to go ahead and do it at our house because their house is on the maket right now and we didn't want to take a chance of doing it at their house and then people wanting to come and see the house. So I went through all of our "stuff" and we got rid of some things. I think we calculated we made about $60 not too much but I know that Raluca and Justin made some good money, so it was worth it.

Joel had a watch that he wanted to sell. I have to say, from my personal taste it was a pretty UGLY watch. But he was going to sell it. I think he started with $10 or B.O. Then it went to B.O. Only. Well, it was getting close to about noon and it still had not sold. SO, he brought it down again, to $5.00 "But that is the lowest I will go, Mom". Ok, Joel:) Terry had told him he would give him $2.00 for it. But he was determined to sell it. Then "THEY" drove up. They got out of their car and started looking around. This one guy, picked it up and was very interested. He went up to Terry and asked how much he wanted for the watch so Terry said $3.00. I could not believe it, the man bought it. Joel was very excited about it. I think he did the happy dance in the drive way. Even though he did sell it for only $3.

Riley and Alina just hanging out and waiting for customers.

Here is our early morning set up. I thought it looked pretty good.

Justin had this drum he was trying to sell that Terry "found". He just loved drumming on it. I think he might have woken some of our neighbors up with it. Ohh, Ohhh!!!

My "Stud-Muffin" with some cool cowboy boots!!

The kids decided they wanted to to have a lemonade stand. I don't think they made any money but all the lemonade was gone. Oh well, they tried:)

I say, it was fun. The kids enjoyed it too. Especially Joel. He was the money holder:)

Jesse's Birthday Update

2011-06-25T18:41:00.000-07:00

So this past Wednesday was Jesse's 7th birthday. We had a lot going on that day. In the morning we had Vacation Bible School from 9am-11:30am. Then we came home and had lunch and we packed up again at 1:30pm and drove to swimming lessons from 2pm-3pm. It was a crazy week. Can I say, "I am glad this week is over"!!! Anyway, Jesse was very patient. We waited till Terry got home around 5pm and sent the kids up to the bedroom so we can get his present out for him. He was SO surprised!!!

He could not believe he got a bike:)

They are all admiring the new bike.

"Did I REALLY get a bike?!?

Not sure if I like the name of this bike!!!

All ready to go!!!

For dinner, Jesse and I went and picked up some "Hot and Ready's" and enjoyed some good pizza. Then after dinner our neighbor's Tony and Marlene came over and had some birthday cake with us. It was a nice ending to a wonderful day!!!

I know it wasn't JoJo's day, but I just had to share this picture. Can you say, "CUTE"!!!

2011-06-22T14:07:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday, Jesse!!!

7 years ago, our life changed for the good:)

I remember it was a rainy and stormy day. I started having contractions late afternoon, but I was in denial. I was not ready for you to come yet. The main reason was because Opa and Oma were taking a trip to Atlanta to get their passports and then they were going to Alabama to celebrate Matthew's 1st birthday. I remember Opa kept asking me if he needed to stay home but I told him it was fine, I was NOT going into labor while there were gone. BUT, God had a different plan. Terry had come home and went straight to bed after dinner because he already "KNEW" you were coming, but remember...I was in denial. So I finally went to bed around 10 pm and at 10:30pm I had a REALLY bad contraction. It finally hit me that we probably had to go to the hospital. So I called my neighbor and Mr. James came over and slept on the couch to be with Joel and Riley. We finally got to the hospital at 11pm and the nurses "watched" my contractions for about 20 minutes and she finally decided to check me at 11:30 and I was 8-9 cm. So that is when it got to be CRAZY!!!! They immediately took me to the delivery room while I was in SO much pain. They did try to give me an eppidural and it worked for a little bit but then once my water broke it hurt like CRAZY!!!!.Jesse was born at 1:45am with the cord around his neck twice. It was very scary because the moment you came out they moved you to a different table and worked on you. It took him an entire minute for to start crying. I was very scary for the both of us. They ended up putting him in the incubator and wheeled him to the nursery. I didn't get to hold him until about 9am that morning. But after all that, he was a very healthy baby. We could take him home on time.

And look at you now, you finished 1st grade and ready to start 2nd. You are so funny and love to laugh and make jokes. You are an awesome little brother and BIG brother. And you LOVE to snuggle and for people to tickle your feet. You don't care what people think and love to be silly (look at the picture below-Tacky day at school)

I thank God for giving us our Jester:) I love you and I hope you have a wonderful birthday.

Birthday Recap!

2011-06-08T08:51:00.000-07:00

Since it was Josiah's birthday he got to chose his birthday dinner. And his was home made pepperoni pizza. I have to say it was good:) Riley helped me make the pizza and she thought it would be great idea to put a J on one of the pizza's. Josiah especially liked it:)

The kids with the birthday boy.

"CHEESE"!!!

We waited till after dinner to do the present and cake. We invited Alina and Mrs. Raluca to come and celebrate his birthday with us and have some cake. He was very happy Alina was there.

Joel and Riley wrapped the present for Josiah.

Mrs. Raluca and Alina, THANK YOU for coming and celebrating my birthday with me!!!

This is Josiah the next morning. I THINK he likes his new present.

2011-06-07T13:22:00.000-07:00

My baby is 4 today. I can't believe it. He has grown SO much.

June 7th, 2007

June 7th, 2011

Cookies and Milk Baby Shower in March.

2011-05-31T03:45:00.000-07:00

So a few months ago, I did a baby shower for my friend Raluca. Can I tell you, I had SO much fun. I had been searching the internet for some cute ideas. And since this was her second child, I thought it would be fun to do something different. So I came across this website...a Milk and Cookies theme baby shower. I had so much fun getting it ready. I had to drink LOT of these. But I didn't mind, and I think I got Joel into drinking these now too:) Luckily people were willing to help me out with making cookies.

Before the shower, the kids each drew a picture for Raluca.

2% Milk because this is Baby number 2!!

My friend Angie and I made these cookies. I think they came out very cute.

Thanks Raluca, for letting me do this for you. I have really enjoyed helping you and Justin out with Alina while you guys were going to school and work. I will miss you guys when you move. Thank you for trusting me to take care of your little girl for the past 2 years. I love you guys!!!

Teacher Appreciation Gifts

2011-05-24T06:39:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I think I am able to post pictures again. We will see how it goes. I am trying to start my own website but still in the middle of figuring out how to do it. But so far, it looks like I am able to post pictures here again. So hopefully I am BACK!!!!

I wanted to share my little Teacher Appreciation gifts I made a few weeks ago for the teachers at school. I think they came out very cute.

Its been a while

2011-04-22T18:46:00.000-07:00

I am sorry it has been so long...I am trying to figure out what I need to do about my blog. I seem to have run out of room to add pictures. So my next step is to either start another blog or pay money to buy extra space. I don't know yet.
I just found out that the Pink Stamper is having this awesome giveaway. She is giving away a brand new Cricut Expression 2 machine. And one way to get an extra chance to win it...you need to blog about it. So I had to blog about it. Check it out here. It would be awesome to get:)

I really hope to be back soon with family updates and pictures. But for now, I wish everyone is wonderful weekend.

Pauline

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

2010-12-06T18:01:00.000-08:00

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!!!

2010-11-14T09:18:00.000-08:00

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!!

2010-11-12T07:57:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-09T12:43:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-05T11:41:00.000-07:00

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

2010-11-03T07:53:00.000-07:00

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

2010-11-02T06:00:00.000-07:00

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

Pizza Party & Pumpkin Carving

2010-11-01T07:38:00.000-07:00

On Friday, my neighbors Tony & Marlene invited the kids to come over and "Help" them carve their pumpkin (more about that later). So I thought it would be fun to have a little pizza party for dinner and then ~~let the kids~~ let the adults carve the pumpkins. So I made two home made pizza's (Thanks Merry for that wonderful pizza crust recipe) and Marlene also made two home made pizza's. So around 6pm we crossed the Cull De Sac and brought our pizza's over to their house and enjoyed some wonderful pizza and brownies.We all had a wonderful time at dinner.

Mr.Tony was on the phone, so he is telling us to be quiet!

After dinner we took our two pumpkins out to the back deck and ~~let the kids~~ let Marlene;Riley and I clean the guts out of the pumpkins. My kids are funny that way, they do not like to get dirty. Except for Riley and maybe Josiah. The other kids were either inside or running around in the back yard. UNTIL....Mr.Tony pulled out the power tools.

I was having a very hard time getting my knife into the pumpkin so he got his saw out and cut the top off. As you can tell from the pictures below, Riley and Josiah helped me clean the pumpkin.

Jesse tried, but got grossed out by the texture.

Riley is just LOVING this:)

After the dirty work was done, we brought the pumpkins back in and started drawing and carving. I really wanted to do ours. But I don't know what was up with our pumpkins...maybe the pumpkins in NC are really hard but I could NOT get into that pumpkin. So Terry had to do it.

Here is Marlene, very serous about her job of carving her pumpkin.

Finally made a shirt that Joel would actually wear to school. He saw it laying in the living room and said "Oh man, can I have this shirt? It is SO cool". I am pretty happy with the way it came out too:)

The final result!

After we were all done, Mr. Tony gave the kids some lights to play with in the back yard. They had a blast!!

Marshmallow Frankenstein.

2010-10-29T04:46:00.000-07:00

I came across these cute Marshmallow Frankenstein's on this blog and thought they were so cute. So I just had to make them!! Since I have 3 kids in school that means LOTS of Marshmallow Frankenstein heads...67 of them!!!

I have to say, they were not hard to make just a little aquard. Especially when it was time to figure out how to "transport" them to school. I ended up making boxes for each class and putting them in there. For their faces, I used Wilton's Black Decoration Gel, which I probably won't use again. That stuff looks great on the marshmallow's but I found out that it doesn't really dry. So after being in the fridge for about 3 hours it was still wet. So the idea of putting them in individual little treat bags went out the window. So if I make these again next year, I will probably use chocolate instead of the gel. But they still came out very cute:)

Green Candy Melts

NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Chocolate Chips

Nellie layed on the kitchen floor the entire time we were dipping marshmallow's in the chocolate. I think she was hoping we would drop something!!

The Final Result!

Thanks craftomania for this great idea. My kids loved them!!!

Join me at Eighteen25!!

2010-10-28T05:15:00.000-07:00

I follow this blog eighteen25 Blog and they are starting something new today. Every Wednesday evening, they will post a time on their blog. Then on Thursday, At That Time, you need to take a picture of WHATEVER you are doing, if you are cooking, working something; changing a diaper...whatever!!! Then on Friday morning, you go back to eighteen25 Blog and link up your picture.

Today is the very first day!!! So, whatever you are doing at 5:00pm today(Thursday)...stop what you are doing, grab your camera and take a picture of it. Then link up with eighteen25 Blog on Friday and show us all what you are doing. I think this should be a lot of fun. Hope you will join them:)

Happy Halloween T-Shirts...

2010-10-25T09:46:00.000-07:00

Last night Tammy and I finally had a chance to make the kids their Halloween t-shirts. I have to say, I am very happy with the way they came out. I made 4 and Tammy made 2 (one for Lilli and one for herself). Before I went to bed, I layed their shirts out so they would find them in the morning when they were getting ready for school. Guess what...2 out of 3 wore them to school. I guess Joel is getting too big for mommy's little craft projects:( I have to say, it made me sad. But I just have remember that he is ALMOST in middle school:( He did say he would wear it to the Halloween party on Sunday (we will see).

Anyway, here they are:

something CUTE!

2010-10-12T18:20:00.000-07:00

T Pink Stamper is having a challenge today to make something cute. Lucky me, I had to make a couple of invitations...a baby shower invitation (which I got the idea from here) and an Halloween invitation which I did on my own, with some help of my neighbor. I think they both came out very cute.

I am very happy with the result of both of them. I had a lot of fun working on them. I look forward to what else she has in store for us this week.

New Neighbors

2010-10-12T11:35:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we had some new neighbors moving into the house next to us. So to be a nice neighbor we made a little goody bag. I made a stack of 6 blank cards for them to give away. Riley, Jesse and I made them some chocolate chip cookies. So today, Alina, JoJo and I took a trip to Target and got one of those cute tins in their dollar spot (the big ones) and a little halloween hand towel to put it all together. Here is the end result.

This is just a little note I wrote to welcome them to the Cul de sac.

Riley and Jesse also made them some cards.

I know, its not a halloween bag but thats all I had...either a valentines day bag or a blues clues bag. I figured the hearts would be better:) (since they don't have any kids yet)

I think it turned out really cute.

Playing Dress Up...

2010-10-08T06:54:00.000-07:00

You know Halloween is around the corner when the kids get all their costumes out. Today we got Alina involved with it too:) Riley got out her old Cinderella costume and we put it on her. I have to say, she looks pretty cute.

Here is a picture of our little "Larry Boy". Terry was getting him dressed for bed and did this too him. He LOVED it!!!

Ok Raluca, I made a new post. Where is yours???

All I want for Halloween is my two front teeth.

2010-09-16T07:54:00.000-07:00

Well, last night (Wednesday Night) Terry pulled Jesse's second front (top) tooth. I have to say...he looks pretty cute with no teeth. I took these pictures this morning before going to school. Aren't they cute??
Now the next picture was taken when Riley tried to kiss her brother. He was not too happy about it...

He loves sticking his tongue in the hole. If you look close, his permanent teeth are already coming in.

He just looks scary in this picture.

Losing teeth is not easy.

2010-09-11T18:22:00.000-07:00

Tonight after dinner I told Jesse he needed to start working on his top front tooth because it has been lose for a couple of months now and it was really starting to get wiggly. Terry tried to pull it but couldn't get it. I tried and I couldn't get it either. So we gave him a paper towel while the little ones were watching two Veggie Tale movies and right before bed daddy pulled it out. I could not believe it. He cried for just a few seconds because he said it hurt but once daddy gave him his "tooth-dollar" bill everything was forgotten. He did awesome. I told him that he needs to work on the other top one because that one is lose too. So we might have an update on this post tomorrow:)

I was trying to figure out when his first bottom teeth came out and it has actually been about a year (September 28th and October 4th I think). You can see the two "big" teeth on the bottom.

I was trying to get a picture of the hole in his gums but it didn't really work. Sorry about the booger, I didn't see that until I uploaded the pictures. YUK!!

He is SO excited about his "tooth dollar" bill.

Here again, trying to get his gums but no luck. At least you don't see the booger this time.

Just enjoying his "tooth dollar" bill:)

REMEMBERING!!

2010-09-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

Although I am not an American citizen and I have only been to NY once (and don't remember too much from that trip) I do believe it is important to remember this day. In some ways its seems like yesterday and in other ways it seems like forever. I know people will look back on this day and remember where they were when the attacks happen. I remember I was driving to church because I was working in the nursery that morning for a bible study that was going on. We were listening on the radio getting the latest updates. Joel was only about 21 months old so he had no idea what was happening. Now 9 years later, he is in 5th grade, helping with the school radio station and he has to do a report on the 9/11 attacks. Thats pretty interesting I think. If you want to listen to any of the past shows they have done on their radio station, click on this link: http://web.me.com/johnpaulsellars/Mr._Sellars_Class_Website/Kool_Kidz_and_a_Radio_Show/Kool_Kidz_and_a_Radio_Show.html
I think he said he is still working on the 9/11 piece but I would think it will be up pretty soon. Don't be suprised if you don't hear Joel too much on this show because he is one of the "producers and writers". So he does a lot of the "back ground" work. But he is loving it:)

I came across this blog last night and it has some amazing pictures. I would love to go there sometime with my kids and show them. http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/2010/09/remember.html Who knows, maybe one day!!

Very First Soccer Practice.

2010-09-10T18:21:00.000-07:00

This past Thursday was Jesse's first soccer practice EVER!

He was SO excited. His coach is a friend from Church and his son Kevin, is in Jesse's class. The pretty much just worked on kicking the ball this week and then next week they will probably do some more "technical" stuff because the following Saturday is their very first game.

Kevin and Jesse running to get some water.

I love the way this picture came out.

Jesse and coach Eddie

Josiah and his Carolina helmet and football.

"Why can't I see anything"?

"Maybe if I run this way somebody will help me figure this out".

"MOMMY, I can't see anything"!

"Is Jesse done yet? I am hungry. Can we go home?"

Joel teaching his little brother how to kick the ball.

Another great picture (can't take credit for it thoug-thanks Terry).

"Kick it in that goal! Kick it in that goal"!!

Another great one (and another Terry shot).

What can I say...God gave us some beautiful children! (and yes...I took this one).

Sewing 101

2010-09-08T11:11:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we took the kids to visit their my sister and their cousins in Alabama. And while I was there my sister gave me a sewing class:) I told her that I had gotten a sewing machine from a friend from church but had NO idea to get started. So she told me to bring it with me and if she felt up to it she would show me how to use it. So on Saturday we went upstairs and got ready to sew. She told me to pick a pattern that was easy and she would help me put it together. You would be amazed at how many patterns she had. I think she could probably start her own "pattern store". Anyway, we ended up making a dress for Kit, Riley's American girl doll. I think what would have taken her about 1 or 2 hours to make took me 6 hours. But hey, I think I know how to use it. I am really wanting to go to Joanne's or Hobby Lobby and getting some kind of fabric and a pattern and try it on my own. I will let you know how it comes out when I do that:)
Thanks Vicki for handing down your sewing machine to me. I hope to use it a lot:)

Dog Sitting

2010-09-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

On Monday and Tuesday we got to watch Bitsy-Jody and Melia's dog. They had to go out of town unexpectedly and asked if we wouldn't mind watching her. Of course this made all the kids very happy:) Except for Nellie. She did not know what to do with such a tiny dog who has a BIG bark. So lets just say we played "musical rooms" for two days. I let one walk around the house for a few hours and then put either Bitsy back in her kennel or Nellie back in our room or outside. It was pretty interesting. At one point Bitsy noticed that Nellie was laying right in front of the door. So she would sniff the door and just start barking like a attack dog. So I would have to move her away.
When Terry came home from work on Monday night she would just bark at him for the first few minutes. But as you can tell from the picture above they became pretty good friends:)

Alina especially liked Bitsy.

Thanks Jody and Melia for trusting us with your little dog:) We had fun!!

Court House Visit

2010-09-01T07:41:00.000-07:00

While we were visiting Aunt Merry this weekend, she showed us where she worked. We got to see her office and also one of the court rooms. Pretty interesting. The kids thought it was pretty cool:)

Court is now in session!

Aunt Merry explaining all the things that go one in a court room.

The jury box.

The witness stand

Don't really know what she is doing here.

SummerFest

2010-08-31T10:48:00.000-07:00

Aunt Merry and Jesse holding hands. I just love this picture.

This weekend we went up to McConnells, South Carolina to visit Terry's sister Merry. We had not seen her in a while and had a wonderful time. We went to York where they were having a Summerfest/Car show. They kids had so much fun, and as surprising as it may sound...I had a really good time. You cars...there really not all that much fun. But they really had some beauties there:) The kids had a blast too.

Thanks Merry for inviting us over. We really did have a wonderful time!!!

I had to get a picture of the BIG gun!!

Just thought these two pictures (the one below too) would be cool:)

I don't remember this car being so small but with them two in front of it...it looks really small!

Ok, so is it just me or does this picture look like a "my first car"picture? NO, I have 6 more years or so before that happens right???

Daddy's favorite car!

You think they love their aunt Merry???

I LOVE this picture!

GIRLS RULE!!!!

They also got their face/arm painted.

Jesse is so smart...he got the guy to put it on his arm so HE could look at it too!!

Since Joel is too big to get his face painted...he got to climb the rock wall.

He made it ALL THE WAY to the top. You ROCK Joel:)

The petting zoo.

On the way back to the car.

Jesse LOVES his aunt Merry!!

Going Back To School...

2010-08-18T06:53:00.000-07:00

Yes, today was the first day of school for our kids. I believe everyone was very excited. They ALL jumped right out of bed and got dressed within a few minutes. It was amazing-I wish it was like that every day. Joel said he was actually a little nervous today. This is his last year in elementary school. NO WAY!!! I still remember him on his first day to kindergarten with Mrs. Morrow. He looked so small.

August, 2005

And look at him now...

August, 2010

My 5th grader; 2nd grader and 1st grader.

I had to take a picture of all of them with Lilli.

All packed up in the van-ready to go!!

Jesse and his teacher-Mrs. Dew

Riley and her teacher-Mrs. Denny

Joel and his teacher- Mrs. Parker

JoJo in the Van driving back home. Now what is he going to do without his brother's and sister???

Play with Lilla, of course:)

Story Time With Joel

2010-08-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

So...after the car wash on Friday it was time to cool down. Josiah and Alina had just finished watching Toy Story and Joel, Riley and Jesse were trying to cool down. So Joel sat down on the floor with Alina and started reading Good Night Moon. Joel loves reading and he loves reading to little ones too. He really tried to get her involved with the story. He is getting so big. It is great to see him with her like that.

Slowly the other kids came to listen to the story.

Now its Riley's turn.

At the car wash...

2010-08-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago while my sister's kids were in town, her oldest- Christopher asked me if he could wash my van. So I told him he could and he cleaned it very well. He even showed Joel how to do it. So Joel has been really wanting to clean cars lately. So Friday morning he asked us if today would be a good day to clean the truck. I personally would not want to do it in this HEAT but we gave him permission and told him that Riley and Jesse could help too. They had so much fun. They vacuumed; cleaned the dashboard and washed the windows. I think they did a pretty good job. So for payment Terry took all the kids to Sonic for some milk shakes. I think they thought that was the BEST part.

Riley, the official vacuum holder!

Vacuuming is a hard job!

Two essentials to washing a car: Water and Music!

I think Joel is liking all this work he has been doing: Dog sitting & car wash. He might start his own business at age 10.

SOOO....if you need somebody to wash your car or dog sit I am pretty sure I have 3 (maybe 4) little people around here that are interested in helping you out!

Bath Tub Buddies.

2010-08-15T07:30:00.000-07:00

This past Wednesday we got to watch Alina at night so her mom and dad got to go on a date to celebrate their anniversary. She came over around 6pm and ate dinner with us. After dinner I had to give Josiah a bath and I thought it would be fun for him to take a bath with Alina. They had so much fun. I think I got some great pictures of them. Enjoy.

"Look Alina, this is how you do this".

"Ok Josiah, its time for another kiss".

Beautiful Girl!

Look at those blue eyes!!

"Whatttt????

After Bath time, I set her down on the couch with her milk and Riley read them a story. I think they all enjoyed that time together. Riley loves having Alina over. Its her little "adoptive" sister.

After story time it was time to pray and then bed time. I put Alina in Riley's bed for a minute and they had so much fun. Typical girls giggling:) Too cute. Riley would have loved to have had her in her room with her. Maybe next time.

Snuggy loves her Lilla.

The next morning Alina was over again because her mom had to go back to work. So Riley and Alina pretty much started playing where they left off the night before except this time it was on the living room floor.

Such pretty girls.

The Meeting!!!

2010-08-14T09:00:00.000-07:00

This past Monday Terry had to take my mom to get some stuff done so we invited her and Max over to our house. We thought it would be nice for her to get out and have dinner with us in the evening and then Terry would take her home at night. So because she would be out of the house the entire day we thought it would be nice for her to bring Max and let him be introduced to Nellie. When we first got to our house we just left Nellie outside and let Max get acquainted with the house and be free for a while. After Mom and Terry got back from their errands we decided that if we were going to get them together now would be a good time. So we took Max to the front yard and Terry got Nellie on her leash and brought her to the front. I have to say, I really thought she was going to be all over him. But she did really well. She let Max sniff her and lick her. She was really calm. They got to be friends really fast.

So after a little while we decided to bring them in. We made Nellie get in her bed (and she actually stayed) while we let Max of his leash. And he just could not leave her alone. He was all over her. He loved her bed too. And to my surprise Nellie didn't mind him being in it either. He would lay next to her in the bed.

So after a while we decided to "seperate" them in their own corners. Nellie in her bed (if you look close she has her TOE in her bed) and Max on his leash next to the love seat with mom. They could not get enough of each other. It was very cute! I hope they get to be "best friends".

You Get What You Pay For....

2010-08-13T19:14:00.000-07:00

and let me tell you...its NOT cheap!!! This summer our generous neighbors gave Joel a job-to dog sit their dogs while they were gone. He got to do it a few times this summer and made some good money. He immediately knew what he wanted to buy with it. So the day after he got paid we searched all over Lexington for the REPUBLIC ATTACK GUNSHIP! We went to two different Targets and one Wal-Mart but non of them had it. Then our smart little RiRi said: "What about Toys R Us?? So we drove over there and guess what...there were only 2 left!! He was SO excited. And I have to say, the other 3 were just as excited for him. It was very cute to see that. A few weeks before he got it he actually took a pole in our family to see how long we thought it would take him to build it. I think the majority of the Rogers family thought it would take him between 3 or 4 hours. But it took him a bit longer...10 hours to be excact. But he did it in two days. He started out down stairs in the play room on mommy's craft table.(See Pictures Below)

Here is his very FIRST piece completed!

All the people that came with it!

Concentrating!!!

Then on Sunday after church we went over to Oma's to spend the night. So he decided he wanted to take it with him. I was a bit scared about that because I didn't want him to lose any of the pieces. But he said he wanted to do that. So when we got to her house he got himself settled in the kitchen and stared building some more until dinner time and then he stopped for the night...

We told him Sunday night that he would be able to go down stairs at 7am on Monday morning to start building again. I think he said he woke up at 6am and just laid there waiting for 7am! But he finished it in an hour. He was SO happy.

The final result!

Now lets hope no little hands will touch this.That would be bad!!!

A lesson in building!

2010-08-12T07:13:00.000-07:00

Since I will be watching Alina again this year we thought it would be a good idea to put another gate up by the stairs, since she is not all that good at going down stairs yet. So some great friends of ours donated their old gate (they never used) to us. So last week Terry went ahead and put it up but he needed some help from his little JoJo. So Josiah got his tools together in his tool box, put his safety glasses on and showed daddy how it is done!!!

JoJo's Astronaut City

2010-08-10T11:29:00.000-07:00

If you have been around JoJo the past few months you know he LOVES astronaut's and anything that have to do with space. He especially loves the movie Planet 51. My dear friend Mari let us borrow their copy and to be honest, I don't know how many times he has watched that movie. He tells everyone about it. He even invited the librarian at our local library to our house so she can watch it with him.
So I guess he even takes the stories to church. This afternoon I went to check my email and got a message from church. She didn't really know the entire story but evidently he built an astonaut City in Sunday school yesterday. His teacher, Mrs. Ann was so impressed with it that they took a picture of it. (See below). Look at his face, he is SO proud of it. Thanks Mrs. Ann and Mrs. Francis for sharing this with me. It is always nice to see what our kids do when we are not around. I am pretty proud of my little JoJo:) Now if he would just use the potty!!!

Becoming a member & Lake Day at the Brewer's.

2010-08-02T09:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a big day for the Rogers, especially Joel. He joined the church. Terry and Joel took a class at church which was about a month long to see if he was ready. He went before the session (actually just one of them) and talked to him. So yesterday he got to stand in front of the entire church to become a member. Terry and I are very happy for him. He was very excited...when we were leaving the house to go to church he said "I am becoming a member today, Mom"!! Another neat thing about this is that he got to do it with some of his very close friends. Most of them he has known since birth. Philip and Joel have been close friends since they were in diapers. Noah and Joel have been friends for a little less then 3 years now. But I am so glad they are friends:) It was very neat.

All the kids that became members

Riley and Jackson.

Jesse & Caroline (Husband and wife one day???)

The flowers that were bought for this special occasion.

Josiah with his "listening ears" on.

"Listen to God and Talk to God"...is what the ears say.

At Ted and Sarah Brewer's house.

Joel & Burton in the "TUBE"

Josiah and Daddy in the "TUBE"

Burton & Joel. "That was AWESOME"!!!

JoJo LOVED it!!

Jesse didn't want to do the "TUBE". He liked the boat better:)

Riley & Mommy's turn.

This is what happens after a very busy day.

My little man dancing for Jesus.

2010-07-29T12:47:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago when we had our closing VBS ceremony at church they had all the kids (5k-5th grade) show the parents what they learned in dancing class. Since Josiah is just 3 he didn't get to go to that class. So when they were dancing in their little groups Josiah didn't want to be left out so he joined his own group. I think he is a natural!