1st Grader!

WOW! It's hard to believe our FIRST born is in FIRST grade already! We had a fun summer, but it was back to the daily grind today. Carter is in Mrs. O'Neal and Mrs. Mallard's class at Fair Grove Elementary. It is a large school so he only has about 3 friends from last year in his class, but I'm sure he'll make lots of new friends. He was very excited and had a great day.

I, too, had a nice day at work! I think I'm going to like my job very much. Right now, there's lots of paperwork and I won't actually start teaching for a couple of weeks. I'm anxious to get started!

God Bless Macy!

Macy was dedicated at church on Sunday. She is such a cute little butterball! What a blessing to add another little girl as one of God's children.

Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho........

It's off to work I go!

Well, for those that may not know, I have taken a part-time job as a Title I Reading Specialist at Silver Valley Elementary School, working Mon. thru Fri. from 8-12. This job is such a blessing and the story of how it came about will explain why:

I had high hopes of working at Cooper's preschool so we'd be on the same schedule and it's very convenient to home. I had already talked to the director (Blair) and she was supposed to call in June. In the meantime, I went for the Title I interview with Gail and left not wanting the job b/c I didn't really want to work 20 hrs. a week, the location/distance was unknown, and there seemed to be a lot of extra staff development hrs., too. After a week or so, I prayed all day long on a Thurs. for God to show me what gift he had given me to help support our family but still be here for the kids. On Friday, Gail called to tell me I had the job and that she'd call next week w/details. I said "Ok, God, that's not the answer I was looking for so let me see what else I can do" and hung up and called preschool. Blair had gone home. I called back Mon. morning and she had stepped out. I left a message and she never called back. Gail called back on Tues. morning w/the details and said she needed an answer by Wed. afternoon. I called the preschool a 3rd time and was told that Blair was at the beach and would be back next week. So, I said, "Ok, God, I get it! This is the job you want me to have." I got on the phone and worked out preschool, school, and childcare issues and immediately everything just fell into place. I talked to Gail again and she answered all of my questions and relieved all of my fears. I still didn't feel absolutely certain about it so after many emotions, tears, and prayers, I woke up on Wed. morning w/a peace and knew I was making the right decision! I called Gail w/my answer and told her that I felt like this is what God wants me to do. The best part is when she told me that she lifts each candidate up to God and there was just something about me in my interview that told her I'd be perfect for this job. This was obviously already in God's plan, although it wasn't in mine at the time. Yes, I'm a little stubborn and it took Him 3 tries to get through to me! Now, I feel really good about it and I'm excited about what's to come. I hope I love it and if I do or don't, I plan on working as if I'm working for the Lord and doing so to the best of my ability!

Now, about the job......
I've had 2 workdays and I really like the full-time Title I Reading Specialist that I'm working with. We seem to have a lot in common. We share a trailer. But, surprise, I went in today to discover that the school may be getting a new teacher, who will inherit the trailer and we'll be moved to a room that already houses 2 teachers and will need to find room for 2 more!!!!!!! Any of you in Education knows that this is how it goes! You don't get too comfortable in 1 spot b/c you can be moved at any time on a moment's notice. It will all work out for the good. I'm sure there will be many stressful days and tears, but all in all, I'm excited and ready to get started! I'm up for the challenge and ready for this new chapter in my life. Keep me in your prayers as our family adjusts to all of our new schedules and routines.

Happy Birthday, Alexis!

My niece, Alexis, had a pool party for her 6th birthday. She had a cute Hawaiian Luau theme. Jamie going down the slide
Cooper in the baby pool
Abigail, Chase, & Alexis
Even Macy stuck her little toes in!
Abigail lounging on the raft
What a cute (and delicious) cake!
Birthday Girl

GO WOLFPACK!

Carter, Daddy, & DD went to the 2007 Meet the Pack Day at NC State on Saturday. Carter enjoyed meeting the players, getting their autographs, and taking pictures with them. These are the memories that Carter will someday cherish of spending time with his Daddy and Granddaddy! Especially at NC State because there's no place else they'd rather be!

We are Family......

I got all my sisters with me!Front Row: Theresa, Danielle (Theresa's daughter), Tonya, Savannah (Michele's daughter), Danielle (Lisa's daughter)
Back Row: Sherri, Sandra, Renee, Mary Ann, Lisa, Michele

We had a cousins reunion last night! Some of my cousins from my Dad's side of the family got together for dinner at Kabutos because Mary Ann, who now lives in Ohio, was home for a visit. We had so much fun that we decided to make it a semi-annual event! All the stories brought back so many memories from our childhood days. Since we're all of varying ages, it was so interesting to hear the different things we all remembered. This isn't all of us, of course. My dad has 2 sisters and 1 brother. He had another sister, but she died as a baby. Here's the full list (I think!?!):

Charles (my dad): Debra, Sandra, Charles, & me
Mamie: Theresa, Donnie, Sherri, & Tonya
Thomas: Michele, Lisa, Mickey & Ricky (twins), & Crystal
Betty: Mary Ann, Billy, Michael, & Laura

Anyway, I'm already looking forward to the next one!

Chuck E. Cheese

Carter, Elizabeth, Alina, & Cooper in Chuck E. Cheese's car!

A family cousin from Texas recently adopted a little girl from Russia and they came to visit this week. Grandmommy took us all to Chuck E. Cheese so we could meet them. The kids had a great time playing together. Alina is such a sweetheart!

Dan Nicholas Park

Nana, Abigail, Alexis, Carter, & Cooper riding the train
Abigail, Nana, & Cooper on the carousel
Mining for gems
Picture Time!
They had these photo opps set up throughout the park.

My mom came and took me, the boys, and 2 of my nieces to Dan Nicholas Park in Salisbury on Monday. That is such a wonderful place with so much to do. There's putt-putt, 3 huge playgrounds, splash pad, gem mine, train, carousel, petting zoo, aquarium, paddle boats, and wildlife nature center. It was hot and of all the days, the water plaza was closed for repairs! Just our luck! We did find some water sprayers throughout the place to cool us off, though!

Poor Carter!

Carter had a terrible week! These are all the things that happened to him last week:
*Cooper hit him in the face with a toy and left a scratch and bruise.
*Cooper hit him in the face with a baseball bat.
*He was trying to put his bike up in the garage and hit a shelf, which fell on top of his back.
*He fell off his bike and scratched his knee and elbow.
*He hit the floor during his basketball game and got a black eye, which he is proudly showing off in this photo, although you can't see it very well.
*He fell off his bike again and scratched his chest, leg, and hands.
Today, I had to take him to the doctor for possible strep throat. We'll know in the morning. Bless his heart!

Happy Birthday, Papa!

Our family came to our house to celebrate Papa's birthday. His favorite food is seafood so we took him to dinner then came back to our house for dessert and gift opening. Papa bought himself a new truck!

Happy Birthday, Aiden!

We went to Aiden's birthday party. Our old neighbor and Carter's good friend, Cameron, was there, too. The boys had a blast swimming and riding the horse and just being together again!

The Cooper Chronicles

This has been an interesting week with Cooper. He has thrown a toy at Carter and hit him in the face leaving a terrible mark and also hit him in the face with a baseball bat. Yes, our 2 year old beats up on our 6 year old! And, on top of that, there's the sleep issues..........

Since our trip to the beach Memorial Weekend, Cooper decided that he didn't want to sleep in his crib anymore. So, every night when he'd cry, his daddy would go and get him, hence spoiling him to sleeping with us for the past couple of months--much to my disapproval! One thing I can't do without is sleep and I certainly don't like for it to be disturbed during the night. So, I decided that Cooper was going back into his crib once we returned home from our beach trip last week--do or die. Since I have to start work then, things have to change in the sleep department. My plan is to have them in bed by 9pm this week, 8:30 next, and 8pm the next so we'll all be ready for school to start.

Oh, by the way, he figured out how to climb out of the pack and play while we were at the beach. So, of course, the first night home, he figures out how to climb out of his crib and comes to bed with me at 4 am, after crying up to that point. The next day, I put one of the safety covers on the inside of his doorknob so he can't get out of his room (I LOVE this child with all of my heart so I'm not really that mean--I just need to sleep!) and I changed his crib into a toddler bed so we wouldn't have any broken bones, at least. All week, he has cried so much during nap and bedtimes that he is very hoarse. What little he has slept has been on the floor directly behind his door. By this point, he doesn't even call my name anymore b/c he knows mommy is NOT coming. He spent all of last night calling "Dabid, come get me out my woom white now." (phonetically speaking, of course!)

Now comes the funny part: Today, I feel horrible for lack of sleep and allergies. But, I decided to take the boys to the library to get us out of the house for a bit since we've had a slow week. When we get there, I get out of the van and looked down to find that I was wearing my bedroom shoes!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, fluffy pink thongs, that luckily look like flip flops! That's what happens when sleep deprivation sets in!

"Sand-tastic!"

Our annual family beach picture

We just got back from our annual Pollock Family beach trip! What a great week! Our brains are still on vacation--none of us wanted to come home. It's so hard to get back on a schedule! We spent most of our time at the pool mainly because Carter wanted to swim. I don't much care for sand. Daddy is the only one who really prefers the ocean. Cooper enjoyed jumping and swimming in the hot tub, I guess because it's more his size. He finally warmed up to the pool and had a great time jumping and floating around with his swimmies. This was the first year that we didn't go out much. We were so lazy and enjoyed hanging outside until late evening and then coming in for dinner. I read 2 books and did one of my favorite things to do at the beach.......SHOP! We always have family game time...our favorites are Sorry, Scrabble, Uno, and Trouble. The kids' favorite book of the week was "Oh, A Hunting We Will Go." They read it over and over and laughed as if it were the 1st time seeing it. The sound of their laughter is worth a million! Cooper and Elizabeth were inseparable all week. They woke up each morning asking for the other. As usual, Cooper wore her pink crocs every chance he got (although not allowed in public!)

3 little cuties

I love this mid-air jump shot of Carter!

We took the boys to Alligator Adventure. It was a fun thing to do, but one of those where once you've done it, you don't need to do it again. There were lots of animals that we didn't expect there like bears and tigers. Daddy, Carter and Cooper touched a snake, lizard, and alligator, but Mommy was perfectly fine to sit back and watch! We watched an alligator feeding, which was interesting and scary. We saw "Bob", the alligator who was born without a tail (pretty weird).


Our Family

How sweet is this?!?

Cooper