Our 6 year old princess.

I hope this is going to work, but we got Riley's 6 year old pictures taken this week and here are the proofs. We get them done at Picture People here at the mall and LOVE them. I always get the same photographer-Rob and he is GREAT. It takes him about 5 minutes to get some WONDERFUL pictures of our kids. Enjoy:)

Smiles,Sleepovers and more...

What a great Spring break the kids have had. Like I have mentioned before, Tuesday Riley had her very cold birthday party at the park. Then Thursday Joel and Riley got to got to Monkey Joe's with Mrs. Barbara Rogers from church. She had her 2 grand kids in town who are about the same age as Joel and Riley. So she invited them to go to Monkey Joe's with them. They had a blast. I wish I had some pictures but didn't think to have them bring a disposable camera. Oh well. After Monkey Joe's they went back to Mrs. Barbara's house for lunch. After that they got back into the car and got to go to the new McDonald's here in the town of Lexington for some ice cream and play time. They had such a good time. Mrs. Barbara said they got along so well and they were already talking about having a sleep over and playing together again when they are back in town.

Then yesterday Jesse got picked up by Bo & Tirsah Rhodes and they the boys to Monkey Business. They had a blast too.I played for a long time and then came back to our house for lunch after Mrs. Tirsah droped Bo off at their apartment. We had hot dogs and Mac & Cheese. Because the Rhodes family are moving back to Tennessee next week we thought it would be nice for Jesse and Jackson to have a sleepover together. So Jackson stayed over here and had dinner with us and then had a sleepover. Daddy made them a club house in the bedroom and they felt like such big boys. It was very cute. I am just so sad that they are moving. It is amazing how well Jackson and Jesse get along. It is kind of funny, because this is actually Jesse's first "boy" friend. He has all kinds of "girl" friends but now he finally has a little boy his own age to play with. The really neet thing is that they actually share a birthday too. We are going to miss them greatly. Maybe we can come and visit them sometime this summer.

Joel was invited to have a sleepover at Noah's house last night. So for dinner we had Jody and Malia over for dinner and when they left they took Joel with them. So, since the boys were having a sleepover I kind of felt bad for Riley so I invited her friend Samantha over. So she stayed and had a sleepover with Riley. It is just so funny to see the difference in boys and girls. The boys went straight to sleep (probably because they were SO tired). The girls however talked and giggled for about an hour. But they finally went to sleep around 10:30pm (I think.) So this morning for breakfast we had sticky buns and Mrs. Tirsah's specialty: Chocolate milk with whip cream. It was GOOD!!!

So, right now it is 11:30am and every body has been picked up or dropped off and things are back to normal (as normal can be). I believe a good time has been had by everybody!!!

What is wrong with these pictures?

...the boy in the bed and the puppy in the chair. I think the Thomas chair has been "officially" taken over by Nellie. She loves to sleep in it. I am thinking she is so little she probably feels very secure in it. And the bed is so big she will need to grow into it. Although she has started laying in it a little bit.

This afternoon I decided we needed to go play in the yard a bit. Josiah LOVES to play in the yard and I was feeling a bit "grumpy" so thought it would do us some good. The kids (including Lilli) were playing hide and seek while Josiah was finding rocks (learned that from his big brother) and Nellie was running after a ball and chewing on sticks. It was works great because now she is fast asleep in the closet upstairs. I am still trying to figure out how to "leash train" her because she really does not like it. My friend Callie told me that when her puppy was this little she let him walk around the house with the leash for about a week or so and this way he gets used to it. So I think that is what I am going to be trying with her today. I just feel so bad when I have to talk her because I just have to pull every where. I guess pretty soon she will be pulling us every where though. So... if you have any suggestions on puppy training, please email me or leave a message. I would greatly appreciate it (and so will Nellie, I am sure).

She is doing great though. For the past two days now she has slept all night without whining or crying or for me to have to take her out in the middle of the night. So that is wonderful. I just hope house training will be that easy too.

Yesterday was Riley's birthday party. What a day to have it. It was FREEZING!! You would think April would be pretty warm in the south. But "Oh my goodness", I think it was in the 30's or so (or at least it felt like it.). We went to the park and everybody brought their lunch and the kids had a blast. The girls were chasing the big boys and the big boys were chasing the girls. It was funny how the girls kept tattling but then started running after them again. We had some cake (thanks to Ms. Callie helping me make it) and opened presents and then RAN to the car to go home. I have never seen kids run to the car so fast when they were at a park. My friend Mari and her kids came over for a while to play. The kids had fun. Joel does not see Sal very much since he is homeschooled but they still love to play together. I think they played Leggos for about 4 hours together. I am so thankful that our kids like playing together. I really hope and pray that God will have a job for "daddy Sal" here in the Lexington/Columbia area. I would HATE for them to move.

She is finally here...

Well, Friday was the BIG day. We got to go up to Peachtree, NC to pick up Nellie. We left the house around 4pm and drove for about 2 and half hours and then stopped to get some dinner. I think we got to Tom & Nancy Christensen's house around 9pm. When we came walking inside the door, the puppies were everywhere. It was amazing, we had to really pay attention to where we walked or we might have stepped on one. There were 9 puppies there. I guess earlier that afternoon/evening somebody had come by to pick their puppy up. So when things calmed down a bit we got to figure out which puppy we wanted. So we tried to put all the boy puppies in the welping box with one of the girl puppies that was already taken. Can I tell you, that was a bit of a task. They kept climbing out. But we finally got them put! Terry had said he really wanted to to pick the puppy out. He picked one up and she started smelling him and licking him in his face. So after about 5 minutes of snuggling with her he decided that she would be it. Well, let me tell you- she is beautiful and the BIGGEST pup of the litter. They took her to the vet on Friday and she was already 9 1/2 lbs. So I have a feeling she is going to be a very big puppy. Her daddy "choco" is a huge dog. So she has it in her genes. Both the mom and the dad are very sweet. I am looking forward to seeing what this pup is going to bring the Rogers family (besided a wet carpet)!!

So Saturday morning while we were having out with Tom & Nancy (and the puppies of course). We decided to go on a little hike up the mountain (in their back yard). Joel had a blast. He found all kinds of rocks. Some really big ones and he is dying to bring them to school to show his teacher and all his friends. A little up the mountain is this little cabin that one of their son's had build. It is amazing. They kids had a blast in it. It has a hamock hanging in it so the boys had to climb in it.

6 years ago (yesterday)

...my one and only girl was born. I cannot believe it. She has grown up so much. This has been a big year for her. She got her ears pierced; started Kindergarten (and is almost done) and has learned a LOT! (Thank you Mrs. Walsh & Mrs. Joiner!!). And now she is 6 years old. She woke up yesterday morning and the first thing she said was "Mommy, I am 6 now". Everybody wished her a Happy birthday and off to school (after breakfast of course). I actually went inside with that day because I had made her some cupcakes for her class. When we walked in, Mrs. Watson (the principal) was standing right there and noticed all the cupcakes so she asked if it was her birthday and sang "happy birthday" to her right then and there. I am sure she was loving it.

Daddy came home a little earlier that day so we could give her her present(s). Daddy again, came home with a
bouquet of flowers for her. She felt so special. I think he might make that a yearly occasion. I just think that is really cute:)

She then got to open her gift from all of us. She was so excited!!!! Here are some of the pictures.
After opening the present we packed up and went to Chapin to have dinner with Opa & Oma. Of course she had to bring Kit. She even buckled her up in the seatbelt. Usually while we driving long ways (ok, so 45min is not that bad) we let them watch a movie in the van so we had to watch the American Girl movie "Kit Kittredge". When we got to Chapin, Opa and Oma had bought her a beautiful (and very good) cake and they also gave her a card with money in it. She was so excited! I think she is planning on buying another outfit for her American Girl doll. There is all kids of "Stuff" you can get.

Dinner was great and she got to play with Kit for a little while while the boys were playing with cars. They had a good time and so did Terry and I. We hope to do it again soon. Thanks Opa & Oma for having us over for dinner and helping celebrate Riley's birthday with us.