Pictures

Ok, you really can't tell where she lost her tooth for 2 reasons. 1) She didn't quite smile big enough and 2) Her new tooth had already grown in so much that you really can't even tell she lost a tooth.
But here she is getting the tooth ready in her tooth fairy box...

Lost tooth!!

Victoria lost her first tooth yesterday morning before school!!

Pictures coming soon.

Tagged by Jan...

I received an "I love your blog tag" from Jan! Thanks!! I love your blog and you always inspire me to post

So here we go....
The rules:

I have to pick 7 of my favorite blogs and…

1. The winners can put the logo on their blog

2. Link the person you received your award from

3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.

4. Put links of those blogs on yours.

5. Leave a message on the blogs of the ones you’ve nominated.

1) Jan I know I shouldn't tag the person who tagged me, but I just love her blog and I love her.... I followed her from SIAS to TLC. No I wasn't very active in either one but she was a great supporter.... ok moving on.

2) Jenn I just love her weather blog and am so happy for her on her recent engagement!

3) Gary ScrappyGuy is a great photographer and an awesome digi scrapper.

4) Amber is a dear friend that I met through hubby's work. She's pretty new to the blog world and has a beautiful new baby.

5) Courtney is an awesome photographer and a scrapping buddy.

6) Meg is another great scrapping buddy and new to the blog world.

7) Rena is very new to blogging, a scrapping buddy, and she makes great handmade soaps.

Happy blogging!!

poor blog

My blog has been neglected lately. Between family activities, school starting, and a thing called Facebook, I have not updated my blog. So come find me on Facebook and say hi!

In other news we are keeping our fingers crossed that Fay doesn't ruin our trip to Tybee Island this weekend, wish us luck!

What's going on?

Quite a lot it seems...

We're finishing up swimming lessons tonight.

Gary went back to work Friday.

Open House is tomorrow evening.

We have an actual babysitter for tomorrow evening (first time it's not a family member watching either of the kids!)

School starts Thursday!

Cleaning up after hubby decided to rearrange our entire living room.

I guess that's all for now, I'm hoping to get some pictures on here during nap time today.

Birthday Girl!!

Our little girl is 6 today!! I made bacon, eggs and biscuits for breakfast this morning. Then the kids and I headed off to the gym, they both love to play there while I get my workout in.

We gave her part of her gifts earlier, some colored pens, a notebook and Pez candy. There's a story behind the pens... she asked for colored pens for Christmas, Santa brought colored pens but they all wrote in black ink. She was very disappointed that they didn't write in colors. So for her birthday we found some great colored pens that WROTE in colored ink too!



Gramma just came by on her way home from a trip to Granny's. She got Victoria a great new scrapbook, a whole stash of scrapbook stickers and such and a new bathing suit! Perfect for her lessons this week and her pool party Saturday!







We're going to eat at Chili's after the baby's nap... then a few more gifts later :)

What's Up?

That's a question that my friend Jan just recently asked.
So here -

going to the gym, working at the shop, planning for Victoria's birthday party next week, swimming lessons start tomorrow, riding my motorcycle (and taking it to work to save on gas $$), cleaning and some organizing, some scrapping and currently watching Design Star!

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks...

Trey hanging out with our cat...



The Fourth of July at the park, playing softball and soccer...




The kids in the bath, too cute!




We've lucked out with pacifiers and our kids, neither of them got attached to a pacifier, they treat it as any other toy playing with it here and there. When I saw Trey with the pacifier I just thought he looked adorable, this is a rare occasion and I just had to get a shot of him!



Gary and I attended a beautiful wedding of some friends last week... the happy newlyweds and hubby and I...





Have a great week!

Baby gate free!!

Lol! We are enjoying not having to climb over baby gates! We dropped the kids off at Gramma's on Friday and they are staying until tomorrow.

We had a great time at a beautiful small wedding Friday night of 2 good friends.

Saturday I headed to Scrapbook Expo with the Peaches group and cropped after for a while. Hubby enjoyed the house to himself all day.

Not much going on today, some cleaning and maybe some scrapbooking in a bit.
And maybe a ride on the motorcycle, no rain on the radar any where for the first time in about a week!

Pictures...

Pictures from last week...

The baseball game with the crazy Reggie character and Vanna White!







Hanging out at the beach and the pool...this first one is Victoria swimming on her own!





Yes, here he is just laying in the sand!




Our night out..



And our attempt at family photos on the beach, the wind was so bad...

We have a swimmer among us....

Victoria and I had a great day yesterday. We started off going to the beach, built a great sandcastle with moat and a pool next door. We splashed around in the waves and took a walk to the pier.

We were supposed to play at the pool with a girl from a neighboring condo, but they were power washing the pool area so no play date.

So, we came home and had lunch, visited the local bead store and by the time we got back the pool area was done. She and I had a great time visiting with a baby at the pool and just playing around. Gran got her some goggles the other day and she has been jumping in with no one catching her! We practiced some swimming without her floaties but every time I let go of her hands she put her feet down. So we practiced a bit more and then she put her floaties back on. A bit later I was sitting out and she decided to practice with no floaties on her own. She gets out to the top of the steps and says she going to push off the bottom step.... as I watch her it was like slow motion for me to realize that SHE IS SWIMMING!!! No floaties, face IN the water, legs kicking, arms going, SWIMMING!!

I about jumped out of my seat, hopped in the pool and gave her a huge hug! So much for me drying off, lol. Her face just lit up as she realized what she had done! Then she kept practicing, pushing off from the step and just swimming away. We said that we'll have to show Daddy later and I made a comment that I would call him but I didn't have my phone with me. A great couple sitting next to us offered their phone and Daddy was soon at the pool watching his little girl swim on her own.

She is so excited to show Gran and Grandpa this morning and talking about her birthday pool party and swimming there next month.

After our pool adventure we cleaned up and had dinner. Then headed to the beach for some family photos. The wind was crazy!!! Trey was running around getting full of sand and therefore covered me in sand when I picked him up. Gran came down to get some pictures of the four of us, BUT all three sets of batteries that I had DIED! AAUGHH! Thankfully Gary had his film camera with us, but there is no telling how those pictures came out and we didn't get any of the four of us on the digital camera. The wind was really bad but I hope we got some shots, I think I got some good ones of the kids but I haven't looked through them yet.

The pool today, Panda movie this afternoon, and then time to pack it all up!

another shadow

While Trey found his shadow on the beach, Victoria has been Gran's shadow all week long! Wherever Gran is you are sure to find Victoria.

Another morning at the beach yesterday, Gran and Grandpa joined us this time. Afterwards, lunch and to the pool for Victoria and Gran. Later in the evening hubby and I had a night out. We ate at Phillips Seafood, delicious crab cakes, stuffed flounder and shrimp but crummy service. Then we walked around Broadway at the Beach... found a scrapbook store, I contained myself and walked out with nothing...then a walk on the beach.

Breakfast out today, Chocolate pancakes... Victoria has been waiting for this breakfast since we got here!

Then to the beach maybe... the pool area is closed for power washing this morning, bummer!! To the park later and some family photos on the beach I hope.

My shadow

This week I am trying to utilize my blog like a journal so I can remember moments to scrapbook about later (at my pace it will 2 years from now when I scrap these pictures).

Soo... this morning we hit the beach. Victoria never liked the sand much when she was little so we were curious about Trey's reaction. He didn't mind the sand at all... he was ALL BOY! Being in the water with me was the part that he didn't like much. He was digging in the sand and walking around. He did walk towards the water and sat right at the edge. Then laid back in the sand and the water... needless to say, he was COVERED in sand from his head to his toes! He really had a good time playing around.

The cutest part was when he found his shadow!! He was just standing on the beach and saw his shadow, then the arms started flapping around like a bird and he was just so interested and curious. He stood there for a good 5 minutes just waving his arms and watching his shadow, so Cute!!

Now he is crawling under my stool and getting himself caught like he is in a cage.

And how dare Grandpa accuse me of stealing and doing his Sudoku puzzle!! He usually has a Sudoku book here at the beach house that we will finish each other's puzzle if you leave it half done. No book this year, but he does the ones in the paper... he just came out of his bedroom and accused me of finishing his puzzle.... I wish I had found it, then I WOULD have done it :) Then he says that saying I would do his puzzle is just as bad as cursing... what are we going to do with him?? I need to make sure to find the paper tomorrow morning and DO THE SUDOKU!

At the beach...

We are currently enjoying a relaxing week at the beach at Gran & Grandpa's condo. So far lots of time by the pool. We went to a minor league All-Stars baseball game last night, loads of fun and are planning to hit to beach this morning. And a night out tomorrow for hubby and I!

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far! I can't believe that June is almost over already. July should be quieter around our house, but we'll see what happens.

A few things about the ballgame that I don't want to forget...

Pelicans is the home team and they were very well represented on the Carolina league All-Star Team. One of the Pelicans won the Homerun Derby! They played against the California league All-Star Team. We sat next to the family of one of the pitchers of the California team, #19. That was pretty cool but I wished they had sat closer so they didn't have to yell up 2 rows all night long!

The Pelican mascot Splash was running around the stadium. Victoria tried twice to get a picture with him, but each time she got near him he was off to perform somewhere. Reggie, the Purple Party guy was awfully silly!! He was out on the field dancing, then his mom Regina showed up and was flirting with the home plate umpire. Reggie was signing autographs at the end of the game, so we thought cool, if we couldn't get a picture with Splash we'll go see Reggie.

All was good while waiting in line... Victoria was going to have him sign the back of her ticket...one of Reggie's helpers was talking to her... all still good... we're next in line... then I hear, "Mommy I don't want to!!" ... she got all upset! And we had been doing so good! So I handed Reggie her ticket which he signed and kissed for her and he tried to talk to her but that about made her worse... no picture with Reggie!

What else... hot dogs of course, Dippin Dots Ice Cream, Cheeseburger and Buffalo Tenders, fries with daddy.

For a little girl who is normally in bed at 7:30 she was great at 10:30pm when the game ended. She was so excited to see the fireworks after the game but once they started she was ready to go home!!! Too loud she said!

One of the best parts was the special guest who threw out the first pitch.... Vanna White!! One of Victoria's favorite things right now is to watch Wheel of Fortune just before bed. So when we saw in the paper that Vanna was going to be there we were very excited. She was riding in the back of a car around the field and we wathhed her as she rode right past us.

And.... The Carolina Team WON!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the great dads!

I am blessed that my dad lives close by and is such a part of my family's lives. Gramps loves to come visit and play with the kids. He was a great dad when I was growing up. I have him to thank for my love of motorcycles (which I have been riding again recently!!) and so much more!!

Dad and Trey on the day he was born ...



And of course I couldn't ask for a better daddy for our children. 'Little Bit' and 'Big Guy', as he calls them, just love their daddy with all their heart and with good reason. He is such a great dad, loves to spend time with them, playing around, reading with them, teaching them science and sports!

Gary and Victoria at a recent baseball game...

Remembering...

Less than 10 minutes after posting about Mrs. Willo last week, we realized that we had lost one of our dogs.

Rocky was our cocker spaniel that we have had for almost 8 years. Gary and Victoria noticed that he didn't come to eat his dinner earlier in the evening and when Gary went to check on him again he realized that he had died in his sleep. Victoria happened to come down after going to bed already and we told her the news. She was quite upset and it took a while to calm her down and get her back to bed. After that night she has been very matter-of-fact about it all. She'll tell someone 'One of my dogs died. He was old and we think he was sick for a while, my dad buried him in the woods in our back yard." All very true but it's crazy how factual she is about it. She has now taken time every day to go out and brush Sammy (our golden retriever) and talk to him, he's been quite sad.

Here are some pictures that I found, they are both quite a few years old, I'm sure I have some more recent ones but these were the easiest to find.

The one is Mr. & Mrs. Willo and Victoria when she was just a week old. Then of course Rocky and Sammy playing at the park.




In other news... It's been a very busy week, we had VBS this past week. Both Victoria and Trey had a great time during the Olympic themed week. Trey and Andrew (a grandson of a close friend who's in the 7th grade) became great buddies. Andrew was so good with Trey and they were giving hugs and kisses before the week was over.

Things have been a bit slow at the gift shop so lately when I go to work I have been bringing my scrapbooking stuff. In the last 2 or 3 weeks I have gotten 14 pages done! This past week I was at the shop Thursday, Friday and Saturday, I think I got 6 pages done. Now the issue is pictures. I have scrapped all the I had ordered and our printer is low on ink... hopefully I can print a few more pictures before the ink totally runs out!

This week is going to be busy too, but I will be home with the kids by myself most of the week. Gary has a local basketball camp Mon- Wed, he'll be home after dinner. Then on Thursday they head to a camp in Tennessee and will be spending the night until Saturday evening. THEN we are supposed to leave VERY early Sunday morning to head to the beach for a week! I'm excited about going, but trying to get ready is going to be a bit crazy with hubby out of town.

I'll try to post some pictures of VBS, my layouts, and Father's Day before we go!

In Memory...

Our dear friend and hubby's surrogate mom growing up, Carolyn Willoughby passed away. Her memorial service was last Tuesday in Peachtree City. Mrs. Willo (as we always called her) was an incredible lady. She was small in size but huge in heart and spirit. She shared her love with Christ with anyone and everyone that she met, always praying with and for anyone she knew. She loved her walks with friends and God. The memorial service was filled with friends and family who loved her and will miss her dearly. There were some wonderful stories told... a few about her love of health food, very untasty health food! Hubby and his brother were best friends with Mrs. Willo's two sons and spent MANY hours at their house. They were lucky enough to be able to ask what was for dinner each night. If it was wheat germ pizza or something similar they would go home and come back after dinner :) But Tuesday nights were Del Taco nights with Mr. Willo and the boys and Sundays were usually safe with Fried Egg Sandwiches. She made spinach pasta before spinach pasta was cool.

We love you and will miss you Mrs. Willo!

I need to look for a picture to scan and post.

Summer Stuff...

• warm days
• basketball camp for Victoria
• basketball practice for hubby
• swinging on the porch
• VBS next week
• dinner on the grill
• family time
• reading
• scrapbooking
• walking
• gym
• climbing - Trey has been doing a LOT of climbing
• friends
• laundry
  
• dishes
• cleaning
  
• budgeting

Thanks for the list idea Jan.

WHY are my bullets not showing up??

Kindergarten Graduation!

She had the kindergarten graduation and celebration yesterday. All the K classes had a few songs and poems that they recited and then they did a number to 'New York, New York' Victoria was chosen as one of the dancers and was so excited about it. She had been practicing at home and did a great job!!!



Then they all lined up and said their name and received a certificate. She also won the Bus Award for excellent behavior on the bus. From what we understand each bus driver chose one student and she won for her bus, their were very few Kindergarteners who won this. We are so proud of her and she is very excited about First Grade.

More pictures soon.

No photos today....

But some recent adventures to share...

We've been going on some family walks in the evenings, such beautiful weather lately and Victoria loves walking one of our dogs (the other is too slow moving for our hilly neighborhood). So Sunday evening we start out and she has the dog... we go to turn the corner and as we got left, the dog goes right and down goes the girl! We had told her again and again to hold the leash with 2 hands but with only one hand on it she hit the road pretty hard. Both knees scraped up, her left shoulder and the left side of her face near her eye. Overall she's fine but that put an end to that walk pretty quickly, came home and got her cleaned and bandages up.

Then Monday she was ready to go again, we tried taking both dogs but brought back the slow one. She hung on with both hands this time but wanted to push the stroller too. I thought she had bumped a pine cone in the road...nope, it was a little turtle! She didn't hurt him so I picked him up and we brought him across the street to the lake. Wish I had my camera for that one, he was so little and cute!

Had a teacher phone conference yesterday, end of the year testing, she did above average in every area! One section was working with sounds and the requirement was to do 25 in 60 seconds, she got 57! I think she's ready for first grade! She's pretty excited about it already.

Then this morning I had an appointment with a trainer at the gym. I have gained weight since Spring Break and have got to get some nutrition assistance and change up my workouts. Well, he had a motorcycle accident yesterday! Thankfully he's ok, sounds like he was just being stupid. So I worked with another trainer and one of her clients, it went ok but not what I was expecting and didn't really give me the foundation that I was hoping for so we will see what happens next with all that!

Last soccer game of this season is Saturday, then we're going to watch the Rome Braves baseball game that evening! Should be lots of fun.

P.S. If you are in the ATL area, turn on 11Alive news tomorrow morning from 5-7am and check out the little birthday boy's picture! A little late, but that's ok!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day.

My dad & brother met us at Shogun Japanese Steakhouse. (My mom was out of town visiting my grandma) The food was so yummy and Victoria loves watching them cook, she even requested a volcano because the last time we went the chef didn't make one.

Turns out I have a strained arch in my foot. So slowing down at the gym and going low impact for a couple of weeks, some new arch supports for my shoes and a pain reliever. Hopefully these things will help and the pain will soon be gone!

Off to fix breakfast.