Happy Anniversary!!

Isn't he handsome?

Today is our 9th anniversary!!! It is hard to believe it has only been nine years. Sometimes it feels like we have been married forever; other times is seems like we just tied the knot. We don't have anything special planned for tonight other than going to Will's T-ball practice. Mom is coming over tomorrow to watch the kiddlets so we can go out. We aren't sure where we are going to eat (we've talked about Ruth Chris' or Carraba's) but we know we want to see a movie (probably Prince Caspian).

Pictures

Jack, Will J., Will N. and Luke

These are Will's friends at school.

Will and his teacher, Ms. Lisa.

Will's best friend Luke is in the back by the door.

The marigold Will planted for me on his last day of school.

Isn't the little container cute?

Aunt Carol, Aunt Sybil, Uncle Jim and Aunt Sandra.
This was taken at Aunt Sybil's for her birthday.



Aunt Carol, Aunt Sybil, Mom and Uncle Jim

at Aunt Sybil's for her birthday.

Will on his last day of school.

Additional Information about a Previous Posting

In a previous posting, I mentioned the antics of Will and Hannah from a few years ago. While looking through some old e-mails, I found the letter below. It had been sent out on November 30, 2005 to some family and friends. I had my dates all wrong, but this will give you more in depth understanding of exactly what Hannah and Will got into. Since I thought it was hilarious, I thought you might get a kick out of it too. To give you a timeline, the first incident (the mousse) happened on Friday, November 25, 2005. The last incident occurred Tuesday, November 29, 2005. Please pray for us because we really need it.

Most of you know about the incidences in North Carolina with the kids. For those who have not heard, Hannah and Will put my hair mousse all over Will’s head on Friday and some shampoo in Will’s hair on Saturday (just as we were getting ready to leave for home). The first thing Monday morning, they broke Will’s piggy bank, got into some expensive lotion, and got into the wipes…all within five minutes. Monday evening, they both got into Mike’s foot powder and had it all over our bedroom: bed, computer, floor, television, computer chair, etc. Tuesday evening (they were at school that morning and afternoon), they decided to play with the diaper rash medicine. It is the really thick kind that is very sticky. They had it on Will’s toy tool bench, the dresser, the rocking chair seat cushion, their clothes and in their hair. Will had it all over his head but Hannah had it only in one stripe across the top of hers. We found out that there isn’t much that will remove diaper rash medicine. Mom and I tried Dawn dish detergent, regular dish detergent, clothes detergent, Spray N’ Wash and Vinegar. Vinegar works pretty good; we’re going to try using baking soda tonight to remove the reside that’s left. The tragic thing is most if not all of these things were put up out of the kid’s reach. I think they are related to monkeys.

Pray for them and Mike and me. We all need it.
Michelle

Two Birthdays

Today, we are celebrating two birthdays. The first is my Great-Aunt Sybil. She is a dear, sweet woman who loves the LORD and her family. The second birthday shout out goes to Daphne, Mike's step-mom. She is also a sweet woman. Happy Birthday ladies!! We love you both lots and lots!!!!

Major Kudos for Hannah

This post will be all about Hannah. Today was her last day at school. She also got her final report card today. I am proud to say my baby (not such a baby anymore, is she?) is going into the SECOND GRADE next year!!! I am also proud to say she made the PRINCIPAL'S LIST with all A's!!! Her 4th 9 weeks grades and her End of Year Averages were both all A's !!! Mike and I both are VERY proud of her and her school work.

YEAH HANNAH!!!

Awards Day

Today was Awards Day for First and Second Graders at Hannah's school. Hannah received an award for making A's and B's all year long. Most of the first and second graders received awards for Honor Roll. Quite a few more received one for making all A's. Hannah's best friend Brittney got a Principal's List or Achievement Award for making all A's this year. The curriculum this year was a lot more difficult than the previous years. It was amazing, and a testimony to the school, so see so many students who excelled this year in their studies. We are soo proud of our little scholar!!! Way to go Hannah!!!

Belated Birthday

Happy belated birthday to my GRANDMA!!! Her birthday was Friday. This morning while I was thinking about what all I had going on today, it dawned on me that I did not mention her birthday when I posted last night. Sorry, Grandma!! We love you!!

Good Weekend

Saturday was beautiful! The temperatures were warm, the sky was clear and my dad and step-mom came down to visit. Later that afternoon, Hannah went to a classmates' birthday party at the local bowling alley. All the kids had loads of fun. While we were gone, Mike installed our new water fountain for our front garden. It has an old fashion water pump that pumps water into a small wooden barrel. The small barrel then flows into a larger wooden barrel. It is really cute.

Today, Mike's softball team played a double header after church. The temperature was nice and there was a light breeze blowing. We took a couple of our awnings for people to sit under to stay out of the sun. Our team won the first game but lost the second. After the games, we had hamburgers and hot dogs. The kids are exhausted from playing. They should sleep good tonight.

Will's Last Day of Preschool

Will had his last day of preschool today. Since his graduation was Tuesday, today was basically a play day. The school rented a moonbounce for all the kids to play on during their activity time. Ms. Lisa had to try it out and make sure it was okay for the kids to play on. The kids did plant flowers for their moms and dads. They are cute little marigolds. The container is a clothes detergent scoop with little buttons or wooden circles glued to the side for wheels. It looks like a little wheelbarrow. Lisa, Will's teacher, gave the parents all the papers they did not have time to work on and the workbooks they used throughout the year. Now I have something for Will to work on this summer while Hannah works on her papers. I took pictures of most of the kids in his class and a couple of Will and Ms. Lisa. I'll have to post them later. Right now, I have to fix dinner. Hannah has team pictures at 6:30 p.m. and a ball game at 7:30 p.m.

Have a great evening.

Will's Graduation

Will finally graduated last night from Preschool. He did soo good. He sang all the songs and said the bible verses without any problems. I only got to watch a little bit of the program. Andrew started getting really fussy and loud so I took him outside and walked around with him. Mike videotaped it and we bought a copy of the DVD from the school. At the end, after the kids went to their classrooms, a slide show of pictures taken throughout the year was shown. Mike and Mom both said Will was in just about every picture. The slide show should be on the DVD so maybe I can see it. I did get to watch as he walked across the stage and got his diploma. I started to tear up when one of his classmates walked because she and Will have been in class together since they were two. Boy, how time flies. One of my favorite songs I got to hear the classes sing was "Kindergarten, here I come." It was really cute. I don't think Mike took any pictures of Will with my camera but I'll have to look. My big boy is growing up. Oh, my.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to everyone!! I hope you have had a good one. Mine was wonderful. Mike and the kids made me breakfast in bed. Cereal and milk is what I usually get. Not today. This time I got scrambled eggs, sausage, toast and juice. It was really good. (I guess the hints I dropped before I went to bed last night helped.) Mike also got me a bottle of my favorite perfume, Coco Chanel. After church, Mom, Melanie and Nathan came over and we made Taco Salads for lunch. The kids had fun playing together and we had fun visiting. I even got to take a nap for a little bit. Boy, that was nice!!!

Last night, we were hit by that bad bunch of storms that came through. The winds were about 90 miles an hour at times with constant lightning and thunder. At one time, while it was raining extremely hard, hail was mixed in and hitting the windows. I was trying to rock Andrew to sleep and had to move away from the windows (he was enjoying the light show and the noise from the hail). Mike said the water was so deep and coming down so hard that water covered our carport up to the top of the step into the house. The WHOLE BACK YARD was covered in about an inch of water. If you know how big our backyard is, that is pretty incredible. Mike said all you could see was a lake of water and the trampoline sticking up. He tried to take some pictures. I am going to download them later and see how they turned out. If they are good, I'll post them here.

Mother's Day Presents, Part Deux

Thursday evening, as we arrived home after Hannah's baseball game, there was a package waiting for me. In it was half a dozen chocolate covered strawberries from my husband. The writing on the box was hilarious: Open box carefully, hide behind a big piece of furniture, be extremely quiet, enjoy and don't share with anyone. Inside was a packing slip on how to get the most enjoyment from your berries. On it, it said to get the most from your berries you need to eat them within 48 hours. Mike laughed when I told him that if they were gone before he got home Friday I had a legitimate excuse. So far, I've only eaten two but I am going to eat one after all the kids go to bed (Hannah and Andrew keep stalling). Hannah also gave me her present which was a beaded necklace and bracelet she made. It is really nice and I really enjoy it. Instead of have just one Mother's Day, I am having a Mother's Week. Isn't that nice?

On a side note, Hannah's team won their game last night 15-5. The Diamond Dolls were hitting really good. The Lady Sluggers kept running us down but we were still able to score. GO DIAMOND DOLLS!!!

Lots of Pictures

Andrew as we are getting ready to leave the reunion on Sunday. He had the burp cloth in his mouth but took it out and put it behind his head just before Melanie took this picture.

First Round of Mother's Day gifts. Today the boys made flowers with their fingerprints and put them on the little poems. Will made the paper heart flower and decorated the flower pot. The roses are from Mike, Hannah, Will, Andrew, Baron and Gracy.

A closer look at my flowers. Aren't they beautiful?!

Will fishing in the backyard from the top of his little black truck.

These two pictures were taken last summer.

Another picture of Will fishing off the truck.

Nathan, Will, Hannah and Melanie at the Family Reunion. They are watching Debbie's dog Daisy run around the yard on her lead.

Mike and Andrew.

This is the way I usually see Andrew: playing while sucking/chewing on the burp cloth. He does this all the time. Would you believe this is the first picture I have of him with the cloth in his mouth? Usually he takes it out as I snap the picture.

The three rugrats on the way home from the reunion.

Family Reunion and Play

Sunday, my dad's family had their annual family reunion. It is in the country outside a quaint little town. It is held on the property where my grandpa and his brothers and sisters were born and grew up. I love to go out there. It is sooo peaceful, beautiful, and quiet. The kids had a ball, chasing each other around the yard, throwing rocks across the little street, and playing with the dogs. I took some video and pictures of the kids and my cousins. It's funny. We all live in the same area but drive a couple of hours away once a year to see each other.

My cousin, Michelle, was there with her husband and daughter. She commented that we are close in age (about a year apart); have the same name; our anniversaries are within two days of each other; and my youngest and her only child were born within a month of each other. She was even married by one of the ministers at my church and lives next door to the director of our Senior Adults Ministry. Isn't that neat?!

Yesterday was so beautiful the boys and I went outside and played a long time. Andrew wanted to ride in one of our battery-powered jeeps but is too short and young to drive it. So, I showed him the Little Tikes Coupe that we have in the backyard. My step-mom found it at a carport sale and bought it for Hannah when she was about the same age. It has been loved and used quite a bit. Andrew was fascinated with the door that opened. He would climb in, sit down, close the door and sit there for a few seconds. Then, he would open the door, get out and close it again. Andrew did this over and over for about 20 minutes. He would have gone on much longer but I made him go in and eat lunch. Will was playing with the Little Tikes truck that Joan found at another carport sale. She bought it for Will just after I found out I was pregnant with him. He really likes that truck. His favorite thing to do with it is stand on the top and fish off it in the backyard.

Andrew had decided that on random mornings, without warning, he wants to wake up at 5-5:30 a.m. He just talks very loudly and plays with anything he can find. This wouldn't be so bad but he shares a room with Will. Poor Will can't sleep and ends up talking and playing with Andrew until either Mike or I get up to get him. The days Andrew picks are usually ones where the kids have a late game and both have school. On these days, he doesn't get a long nap and is unable to sleep later (unless it is in the car) because of the running around we have to do. I hope that this will end soon. Will has three more days of school left and Hannah has two and a half weeks and I don't want to get up that early unless I have to.

I was going to post some pictures of the reunion and of Will and his truck but Blogger won't let me. Maybe I'll try again later.

Painting with Noxema

Will has been at it again. Tonight, while he was suppose to be taking a shower in mine and Mike's bathroom, he decided to paint the shower door with Mike's Noxzema. Why he decided to paint with the face cleaner, I have no idea. You can smell it all the way into the living room. Mom says I should write a book about everything my kids get into and say. She says I could make a fortune. I might just do that.

Let me refresh every one's memory, or to fill you in, on the beginning adventures of Hannah and Will. It all started in November of 2004 in North Carolina. Hannah was 3 years old and Will was 17 months old. Mike, I and the kids were visiting Mike's family for Thanksgiving. We had the car packed and were ready to leave but couldn't find the kids anywhere. While looking all over the house, we heard Will start to scream. He and Hannah were in the downstairs bathroom attached to the room we had stayed in. Hannah wanted to give Will a bath and wash his hair. The shampoo she used was not the baby shampoo so when it got into his eyes, it started to sting. We had to unpack the car to get the kids some dry clothes before we could leave.

In December, 2004, Hannah and Will emptied a bottle of Mike's foot powder all over our bedroom carpet. We are STILL vacuuming the stuff up.

In January, 2005, Hannah wanted to spike Will's hair (like Daddy does) so she used the diaper rash medicine that was with the diapers in the changing table. She had it ALL OVER Will's head and a little bit in hers. I called every company I could think of to find out how to get this stuff out of my child's hair. No one could help me. My mom and I used peanut butter, oil, shampoo, and I don't know what else to get it out. Finally, I called Gould's Hair Salon to see if they could help. One of their hairdressers recommended mixing baking soda and baby shampoo together and make a paste. We then applied to to Will's head. IT WORKED!!! That poor baby's head was red from all the rubbing we did trying to get this diaper rash medicine out.

Then, the piece de resistance occurred in February, 2005. (Yes, all of this happened over a four month period.) Hannah had been at the coffee table cutting some paper out. I walked through the living room to the kitchen to make dinner. Normally, I wouldn't let her have scissors but I thought it would be fine this one time. Boy, was I wrong!! A few minutes later she came into the kitchen and said, "Mom, look what I've done." When I looked up I didn't notice anything wrong then Hannah turned around. She had cut off all of her long, curly red hair in the back and had left the front long. I was in such shock all I could do was laugh. Of course, I called Mike, who was at work, and told him to come home because we had to go get Hannah's hair cut. When I told him, he just laughed. I told Hannah that I couldn't spank her because if I did, I might kill her because I was SSSOOO mad. The ironic thing was it was the first time Hannah went to have her hair cut by a professional. In the past, either my mom, step-mom or I cut it. I had been planning to take her to get it done, but she beat me to the punch. When I asked her why she did it, she told me she wanted hair as short as mine (my hair was at my shoulders, not cut short like she did hers). The hairdresser was able to cut it into a pixie cut, which is really short in the back and long in the front. It looked cute afterwards but was really, really short.

You might ask where I was when all of these events happened. I was trying to make dinner while Mike was working late when my children decided to become adventurous. Hey, I could use that as an excuse to eat out. "Hey, whenever I cook, my kids get into horrible things. We have to eat out to save our kids and my sanity." It works for me!!!

Hannah in Uniform

Finally, I have pictures of Hannah in her uniform. We got the shorts on Monday and they had a game on Tuesday. She also has a pink scrunchy for her hair that she occasionally wears. The pink on her shorts is her number: 2. Her number is also on the back of her shirt.

Hannah is one of the tallest players on the team. When she is up to bat, all you see are arms and legs because they are so long. She is really cute and is doing a great job out on the field. Her coaches rotate their positions so everyone gets a chance at each one. Hannah has been in the pitcher position (this is coach pitch so she is behind the coach in the pitcher position), catcher, short stop and between first and second base in the infield. I am so proud of her and what she is doing!!!