Thankful for....

my little man. Here is a layout that I recently made of Matthew. It was recently chosen as the layout of the day here. I was so surprised. I used pictures from his first day of school 2009.

More scrapbook challenges...

Recently, I have participated in several scrapbook challenges. I am really enjoying digital scrapbooking. Here are a couple of pages that I recently made. The first is of John at age 3. He loved this truck.



The next one is of Sarah. We were given these digital papers and elements and challenged to created a page. Here is what I created. This is a picture of Sarah playing in the snow. It doesn't snow often here. It has only snowed 3 times in the last 10 years. Luckily, the last two times have been in the last two winters so the kids have played in snow. It is so exciting for them.



I hope you enjoy!!!

Pumpkin Carving!!

What fun we had carving our pumpkins this year. All of the kids (including Jim)participated. Matthew created a robot pumpkin. John created a scary pumpkin while Sarah created a smiley pumpkin. Look at us working hard.

Sarah's Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday Sarah!!! I can't believe how much you are growing and changing.

We love you!!!!

Braves Game October 2009

Here is another picture from our recent trip to the braves game. I created this layout as another scrapbook challenge. The challenge was to create a layout that uses a photo that has been run through the colored pencil filter. Here is my layout. I really like how the photo was changed by using the filter.



This is the original picture.

John and Sarah

This is one of my favorite photos from Aunt Kim's wedding. It is so sweet!!! I can't believe that it has been almost a year since this photo was taken.

Gotta Pixel Challenge

I have been trying for some time now to learn how to digitally scrapbook. I have been reading tutorials and watching videos. Each day it seems that I learn something new. This week I participated in a challenge at Gotta Pixel. The challenge was to create a layout using wavy paper that I made via a tutorial. The tutorial can be found here:

Here are my layouts:

Braves Baseball!

We love going to Atlanta Braves baseball games!! It is such a fun family outing. Turner Field has lots of FUN activites for the kids. I personally go for the food. I love to eat at the ballpark. There is nothing better than hot dogs, peanuts and nachos. OK, maybe ice cold beer. This was the Braves last game of the season. They were playing the Washington Nationals. We left the game after the 12th inning. It was tied 1 - 1. The game finally ended after the 15th inning with the Braves losing to the Nationals 2 - 1. Oh well, there is always next year. John is already planning on spending his birthday at the park.

Team Gator!!!

Matthew is playing t-ball for the first time this fall.  He is so excited and loving every minute.  He plays 3rd base just like his big brother.  The kids are so FUNNY to watch.  Matthew received his uniform on a Friday.  He did NOT take it off (this includes sleeping in it) until Sunday afternoon when I explained to him that it must be washed for his game.  He wears his hat everywhere we go.  It has become a part of him.  I have people stop me all the time because we are gator fans!!! Chomp Chomp :)  Too funny!!!

Happy Birthday!!!

On Sunday, I celebrated my birthday.  It was a wonderful day.  We went to the movie and saw "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 3D".  The movie was very funny and everyone enjoyed it!!

Jim made me his top secret brownies.  They were deliciously YUMMMMMMY! 

Here is a photo with me and kids.  Look at all of those silly faces. 

Fall Ball Ya'll

The fall baseball season officially started today. John is on team Mudcats and plays 3rd base. He loves to play baseball. This year, he has advanced to the under 10 division. In this division, coaches are no longer pitchers. The team now pitches. This has added a whole new dimension to the game. John does NOT want to get hit by a ball. He is very unsure each time he is at bat. The pitches can be very WILD!!! Today, they played the Padres and the game ended in a 5 all tie.

GO MUDCATS!!!!

Friends!!!

What is better in life than a good friend. Here is Matthew with his friend Grant. They are ready to head to school. Aren't they cute. We are blessed with not only great neighbors but also wonderful friends....

Football!!! Are you ready????

And it is that time of year. Yes, my friends, college football has started again. Jim does such a good job brainwashing our children. On the morning of the first OU game, the kids all got dressed in their favorite jerseys. It makes Jim so proud to see all of his little fans. Josh came over to watch the game with us that evening. Even though OU lost their opening game, we still had a lot of fun. Here is a photo of the "kids".

Matthew's First Day of School

Matthew started Pre-K on August 17, 2009. I can't believe how quickly he is growing. When did my baby get so big!!!

He has been very excited about school this year. He loves each and every minute. He is making friends and learning a lot.

Here he is on his first day of school. Matthew loves music. He loves to sing and play instruments. He has two guitars that he carries around the house with him for when he has the urge to "rock" out. Hence the shirt.

Here are a few more shots....

And our summer is over!!!

Wow, time flies so quickly these days. Where did the summer go???? The kids started back to school here on August 10th. We spent our summer days playing outside, playing inside and by the pool. We all sported quite a summer tan.

The kids are loving being back in school. They are having fun reconnecting with friends and meeting new ones. They both have great teachers this year and I am looking forward to them growing and learning.

Here is a photo of John and Sarah on their first day back. I just can't believe how much they have grown. For reference, you can look here here for pictures of them just last year on their first day of school.

World of Coke and Our Last Hurrah!!!

At the end of July, Nanny and Papa came and stayed a week with us. We had great plans but the weather did not cooperate. So we scrapped all of our original plans and made new ones. All of our new ones included indoor activities. We went to the movies and saw Ice Age 2...Dawn of the Dinosaur. I would highly recommend this movie. It was very funny. We went *GASP* shopping. We went to the World of Coke. The World of Coke has been relocated to downtown Atlanta in Centennial Olympic Park. The new museum is fantastic. It has a great 4D movie. The kids LOVED it!!! The sampling room is always a favorite. They have over 60 different fountain drinks from around the world. You can drink as much or as little as you want. There are no limits. You will however succumb to the sugar and stop. On the way out, we were each given a small glass bottle of Coke to take home with us. Matthew could not stop talking about his "beer". He couldn't wait to get home to drink it. He wanted it for breakfast the next day. Finally, we purchased ice cream and created Coke floats. The kids loved them. It was a success!!!!

Fourth of July.....

Each year we attend the annual Peachtree City Golf Cart Parade. It is so much fun. The kids had a wonderful time and it was a perfect day.

Here are the highlights.

xoxoxo,
Debbie

June 2009

Wow!!! I can't believe the summer as flown by and school has begun. I haven't updated our family blog in months.


Here are some photos that summarize what we did this summer....



In June, we took a trip to the beach. We spent one week in Gulf Shores, Alabama. This was my kids first trip. Needless to say, they LOVED every minute of it and can't wait to return.









We just generally had a wonderful time. We ate and played and enjoyed our family!!!!

xoxo,
Debbie

Azaleas..........

The azaleas in our yard are so pretty this time of year. The colors are so beautiful. We have all shades in our yard. They range from salmon to hot pink to purple to white.

Enjoy,

Debbie

Easter Sunday

Easter morning...the Easter Bunny was very good to us this year. Each kid got assorted chocolates, a webkinz, and a pair of summer pj's. It was all so exciting and fun. After the festivites, we got dressed up for church.

It was chilly on Easter morning as we all stood outside for a family photo shoot. It is very difficult for us to get a family picture. Here is one...enjoy.

Right before our photo shoot. John and Sarah both picked some flowers from our yard to take to church to flower the cross. They picked some of the beautiful azalea flowers that are shown in this picture. This is the prettiest time of the year in Georgia. You can tell it is spring when the azaleas start to bloom. I only wish they lasted longer.

John flowering the cross.
Sarah flowering the cross.

Hope your Easter was blessed.....Debbie

Bathroom Remodel Part 4

Our upstairs bathroom is complete.....

I love the new floor in the bathrom. It looks so good. The kids are now moved into their new spot. It is fantastic. We no longer share a bathroom with them. YAH!!!

Jim worked very hard on this floor and we learned a lot of valuable lessons along the way. What I think that we know now is that we will not take on our kitchen by ourselves. ;)

Debbie

Braves Pre Season Game vs Detoit April 4th

We decided that as a part of John's birthday weekend we would take in a Braves game. It was a beautiful day to be outdoors. It was sunny and 74. Although the Braves lost, we had a wonderful day at the ball park. We met our friends Mark, Kelly, Jack, Abby and Uncle Josh at the game. We enjoyed hot dogs, peanuts, sodas and beer.

Uncle Josh with Abby on his shoulders on the BIG coca cola chairs.


John getting ready to run the bases. This is great area at our ball park for kids. Our kids ran the bases at least 50 times. They had so much fun.....

Matthew taking in his first major league baseball game.

The kiddos...John, Matthew, Abby

Matthew prepping for the big run of the bases. You can see Jack and Abby right behind him. The man at the first base was fantastic. He was so great with the kids. He had nicknames for all of them. He called Matthew "robodog" because of his shirt. He was very kind to each child that ran the bases.

Our day at the game was a success. Everyone had a great time!!!!

Debbie

John's 8th Birthday!!!

We recently celebrated John's 8th birthday. Wow, how can he be eight? He is growing into such a great boy. We had a small party at home. All he wanted for his birthday was some Pokemon trading cards and brownies. Jim and I decided to surprise John this year with a Nintendo DS for his birthday. What a surprise it was!!!

Getting ready to open presents. Why is dad making us pose for photos?????

John with his new pokemon cards. He LOVES these.....

John posing with his new Crimson Red Nintendo DS. He was so excited. It was not a gift that he expected to receive.

The aftermatch...all of the kids checking out John's new goods.

Debbie

March...another month of adventure

We started off March in a very unique way.....it snowed. On March 1st, it snowed in Georgia. We have had the strangest weather this year. Georgia is usually very mild. We do not tend to have any extreme temperatures. Snow is almost unheard of in this area. We have lived here for almost 9 years and this is the second snow. It actually snowed so much that they cancelled school. Here are some highlights.Watching the snow fall from the front window....so exciting.Sarah with her snowball.
Jim and John playing in the snow.

Matthew loves a mohawk. One day before school, I asked Matthew to brush his teeth and comb his hair. When he returned, this is what he showed me.....

Look at my mohawk Mommy. I did a great job. Isn't is super cool.






We finally had a warm sunny day and the family headed to our neighborhood lake for an afternoon of fishing.


The fish were biting and we had a great time. Sarah caught 2 fish, mommy caught 1 fish and daddy caught 1 fish. Not a bad day. PS - we don't keep the fish. We are strictly catch and release.


And lastly, the neighborhood planned and Easter egg hunt and lunch at our clubhouse. Jim got nominated to dress in the costume and be the Easter Bunny. We all had a lot of fun. Don't you think that Jim makes the best Easter Bunny ever. What a great sport he is. This is why we love him.

Jim the Easter Bunny

Suess Kids with Easter Bunny

Debbie with Easter Bunny

xoxo,

Debbie