Baseballs and Bows

Brunch with Santa

2009-12-09T13:51:00.006-05:00

My parents recently had their grandchildren over for a Christmas brunch. A special visitor, Santa Claus, came, too! The kids had so much fun. (I think the parents and grandparents did, too!)

Merry Christmas!

Terrific Tuesday

2009-12-08T13:27:00.001-05:00

Much love--

Weston's week

2009-12-07T10:16:00.004-05:00

At Weston's class at school, they rotate letting students be the "Special Friend" of the week. This week is Weston's week to be "Special Friend". He is so excited! Here are two pictures of him before heading to school this morning...he got to carry in some of his favorite toys and books in the "Special Friend" bag. Then, he (or should I saw we) had to make a poster telling his classmates and teachers all about him. We had to put pictures on there that told about Weston - when he was born, milestones, things he likes to do, places he likes to go, and pictures of his family and friends, etc. Then, later in the week, he gets to bring in a special snack to share with all of his friends - and he is taking in Pizza! I know you'll have a great week, Weston...enjoy your "time to shine"!

*Kind of a side note, a little laugh for me this morning, was when (while driving to school) Weston looks at me and says, "Mommy, this is how it goes...the Mom takes the poster in and the kid takes the bag in"!

Advent Calendar

2009-12-01T14:08:00.004-05:00

Today the kids started their advent calendar...they can hardly wait to "open the window" again tomorrow!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-29T14:07:00.009-05:00

We have had a great Thanksgiving week! On Monday, Weston had a Thanksgiving Feast at his school. Here is my "little Indian"!

Bob and Weston didn't have school Wednesday through Friday and that was nice to all be home together! On Wednesday, we tried a local restaurant for the first time and started getting everything in order around the house for Thanksgiving day. We hosted our family this year! AND, this was our first year making the turkey. We got up on Thanksgiving day at 5am to start food preparations. Here are some pictures of the table, and the turkey after it was cooked!

Here are some more pictures from Thanksgiving day...guests around the table, Addison playing BINGO with Aunt Becky, and Karagan enjoying the pin the hat on the turkey game! By the way, my Mom won BINGO and Weston won the pin the hat on the turkey game!

And finally, as a family tradition, we always go to the Christmas tree farm on Thanksgiving day to choose our Christmas tree!

We've had a great week and hope you have, too! We have MUCH to be thankful for!
Much love--

My Birthday

2009-11-19T21:52:00.002-05:00

I had a great birthday today! This morning, I took my two kiddos to one of my dear friends house, who had offered to babysit for me so that I could do some shopping in peace, by myself, without kids. It was so nice to get some Christmas shopping done! It's amazing how much faster you can move around when you're not taking two children in and out with you! Thanks, Jennie. :)

Then, this evening, my wonderful husband threw a lovely dinner party for me. Our family and a few close friends came and I had a great time. Thanks, honey! I'm so blessed with a wonderful husband, two great children (who managed to keep the surprises true secrets - yay Weston!), a lovely family, and terrific friends!

Terrible Twos

2009-11-18T10:46:00.003-05:00

I think we are officially in the "Terrible Twos" stage with Addison! She is INTO more than ever!! I have recently found her in my makeup bag and her face and hands were covered in lipstick. Another day, she went into her room and took ALL of her clothes out of her drawers and put them all in one drawer, so that it was overflowing...and nothing was folded, she had unfolded everything. I had to re-organize her dresser! She is also testing limits, trying to see where exactly the boundaries are, and spending some time in "time out"! Wow...and we are only one month in to being TWO!! I better brace myself...this could be some ride!

My silly girl

2009-11-14T21:13:00.002-05:00

Laughing at my sweet Addison...she told her first joke tonight! Made it up all on her own.

Addison: "Knock, knock"
Mommy: "Who's there"?
Addison: "Piece-of" (pronounced alot like "pizza")
Mommy: "Pieceof what?"
Addison: "Pieceof candy"!!

She's so funny...I think that was a pretty good joke considering it came from a newly-turned two year old!

Have a good rest of the weekend,

Weston turns FIVE today!

2009-11-13T15:19:00.003-05:00

Five years ago today, God blessed us with an indescribable gift! Weston Williams was born into this world and our lives and we love him so much. We can hardly believe that today he is FIVE years old! He is a "whole hand"! We've had a great day with him so far, celebrating with him at his school and then going to "Daddy's school" to eat lunch in the cafeteria...and tonight he gets to open his presents from Daddy and Mommy and go to a restaurant of his choice - and he has chosen Chuckie Cheese. We love you, Weston, and are so proud to be your parents! Happy Birthday sweet boy!

*He and his teacher have the same birthday...so the second picture below is of the two of them!

Much love--

Gifts

2009-11-12T13:35:00.004-05:00

The kids recently enjoyed getting a birthday package in the mail from our friends, Matt and Pamela, that now live in Virginia. Thanks, guys! They LOVE the toys. We really miss you guys! We hope to see you over the holidays. :)

Much love--

Weston's Superhero Birthday Party

2009-11-09T15:21:00.008-05:00

On Saturday, we held a Superhero Birthday party to celebrate Weston's 5th birthday. He officially turns 5 this coming Friday the 13th of November! We had a great time, with lots of family and friends present to help us celebrate Weston and what he means to all of us! He told me today, "Mom, I had the coolest birthday party ever"! We are so glad that you enjoyed it, buddy...we love you so much! Here are some pictures from his special day.

Food and decorations...

Here are some pictures of the children enjoying different activitites. We had pin the badge on the Superhero, Superheroes vs. Villains (with silly string), Pass the Kriptonite (like hot potato, except using "kriptonite" aka a green glow stick), a bounce house, and a candy filled pinata!

Here's a group shot of all the children...

Some closeups of Weston with Mommy, Addison with Aunt Becky, and Weston with a couple of this friends.

Weston is about to blow out his candles, we are singing to him!

Daddy and Mommy with the Birthday Boy!

And, at last, it is time for the birthday boy to open his presents...he got lots of fun toys!

Much love--

Children

2009-11-05T20:28:00.002-05:00

Weston looked at me today and said, "Mommy, on Saturday at my birthday party, I'm going to be THE BIRTHDAY BOY, aren't I"?? I smiled and said, "yes, of course you are"! He grinned from ear to ear. :) He can hardly wait! Every child loves their time to be THE birthday boy or girl...their time to shine!!

More Halloween

2009-11-03T08:24:00.004-05:00

Here are some more Halloween pics...some from a Halloween party that we went to at a friends house and a few from Halloween night trick-or-treating in our neighborhood!

Here is the first pumpkin that we have carved as a family!

And, finally, here are a couple of shots from Halloween night in our neighborhood...the kids had a great time!

Much love--

Weston's Halloween Party at School

2009-10-31T18:49:00.005-04:00

Weston was so excited on Friday morning to get to wear his Halloween costume to school! He is batman this year. At the end of the day, his class enjoyed a party to celebrate...here are some pictures! Addison enjoyed tagging along and participating, too. (In fact, she didn't want to leave school, she wanted to stay!)Make sure and check out the cupcakes that one of the mom's made...I thought they were super cute!

Happy Halloween!

My Mom's Birthday party

2009-10-30T10:15:00.005-04:00

We celebrated my Mom's birthday last weekend by going to Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC for brunch. It was a beautiful fall day, the leaves were goregous, the food was delicious, and the company was the best part! Here are some pictures from the day...

We finished off the day, with a birthday dinner that my dad and brother, Ryan, prepared. It, too, was delicious! We had a great celebration!

Here is the awesome birthday cake that we got for her...it was red velvet and was DELICIOUS!

Outta the mouths of babes....

2009-10-27T13:31:00.001-04:00

Weston: "Mom, is there any way to send a text message to God?"

Addison

2009-10-26T14:18:00.005-04:00

On Addison's birthday we took her to Ruby Tuesday for lunch...she loves to eat off of the salad bar there. Addison is not a big eater, so we took her somewhere that we knew she would eat!! Bob was able to leave work and meet us there and so did Gram. Later that evening we went to Fall Night at Bob's school, then headed to Charleston to spend the night because we had to be at MUSC the next morning for an endocrine appointment for Addison.

After we left Addison's appointment at MUSC, we headed to the Fire Education Center / Museum and the kids loved it there! They loved looking at all of the firetrucks, riding in the simulator, and sliding down the fire poll and the slide. If you're ever in Charleston, you should really check it out!! After we left there, we stopped in to eat at Jim n Nicks...this is one of my favorite restaurants and we used to live near the one in Bluffton, SC. However, we do not have one in the Upstate, so it was a real treat to get to have lunch there!

Much love--

Happy 2nd Birthday, Addison!

2009-10-20T10:10:00.002-04:00

Happy 2nd birthday precious girl!

We can hardly believe that you turn two today. You are the sweetest, most strong willed, funniest, stubborn, fun-loving, and happiest little girl!

At two years of age, you really enjoy talking, climbing, jumping, singing, playing with your big brother, and playing with baby dolls, strollers, and baby accessories. Another favorite of yours is going outside to ride in your "buckle", this is what you call your pink car that you received on your birthday last year. You LOVE the outdoors! You know what you want and when you want it. You are a Mommy's girl, but recently decided that Daddy can be quite fun, too. You remain quite dainty, yet are growing at your own, slow pace. We love watching you change and grow each day and enjoy seeing your personality blossom. We love you Addison Alyse, Happy Birthday!

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-19T15:58:00.006-04:00

We were supposed to go with Weston's class on a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch on two separate occasions and both got canceled due to rain! This past Sunday, it was finally sunny again (after days and days of rain) and so Bob and the kids and I headed to Nivens Farm after church! We had alot of fun and the kids got to pick out their pumpkins. I'm going to post some photos below from the farm and also some of the kids in our front yard.

And, finally, check out these cutes snacks that Bob made for Weston. Weston had found them on Handy Manny's website, so Bob decided to make them for him. They are hammers made out of pretzel sticks and cheese! I thought they turned out cute. :)

,

This week

2009-10-16T09:45:00.003-04:00

We've spent alot of time indoors this week because of all the rain we've had. Weston's field trip to the pumpkin patch got cancelled for the SECOND time due to rain. We're really hoping that over the weekend the sun comes out so that we can take the kids to the pumpkin farm.

This week we've done lots of playing with baby dolls and strollers, watching cartoons, reading books, and yesterday I took the kids to Monkey Joe's since it was raining again, to let them get some energy out!

Have a great (hopefully sunshine-filled) weekend!
Love,

Addison's 2nd Birthday Party

2009-10-13T14:08:00.027-04:00

Our sweet Addison turns two on October 20th. We celebrated with a Carnival Birthday Party this past weekend. I have lots of pictures to share and to document for her!

Let's start with the invitation...

Now, onto the party pictures...

Here are some pictures of the front entrance to our home and the foyer.

Here is a close up of the favor boxes and also a shot of the goodies that were inside the favor boxes. (I ordered these from Oriental Trading.)

And here are some pictures of the food tables. We set up the dining room table with the lunch foods - hotdogs, chips, and animal cookies. We set up the kitchen table with dessert foods, which I called the "Sweets 'N Treats" table. The Sweets 'N Treats consisted of Cupcakes (and ice cream in individual cups to go with the cupcake cake that was in the shape of a clown), Ice Cream cones filled with cotton candy, a candy ferris wheel that I found at Hobby Lobby. The popcorn bags I picked up at the Dollar Tree. The plates and napkins also came from Oriental Trading as well.

It was raining the morning of Addison's party, so we had to change our plans of having the party outdoors. We moved the party indoors and set up our bonus room (that is normally our play room) into a "carnvial"! Here are some pictures of the different booths that we set up. My Mom and I made the signs for the booths. I made the pennant banner out of scrapbook paper. I borrowed some of the rides from friends and family members and I bought the ring toss game at Party City. I picked up the face paints at our local Wal-mart store.

The prizes...

Let the party begin! Here is a photo of the guests beginning to arrive...

Before we let the children go upstairs, I gave out tickets for them to turn in to go to the different booths. Here they are at the bottom of the stairs and going up the stairs to the carnival!

And here are pictures of the children at the different booths...everyone had lots of fun at the carnival!

The circus elephant pinata...

The cake...Addison wasn't too sure about blowing out the candles so Mommy and Weston decided to help her!

Time for presents!

And here are some other pictures from the day...I wish I could put them all on here, but I really am trying to narrow them down, although it doesn't look like it! Between me and our friend Michael, who does a little photography on the side, there were LOTS of really great pictures from the day!

We had lots of fun celebrating our sweet Addison! Weston's 5th birthday is next month, so I'm busy planning the next birthday party!! Stay tuned...

Much love,

Weston's letter

2009-10-12T12:52:00.004-04:00

Weston has a friend at school. Her name is Sallie. When I picked him up at school today, his teacher told me that Sallie had put a note in Weston's bookbag. Look how precious...

I love that she colored a picture of her and him at the bottom. She even gave him spikey hair b/c that is usually how he has been wearing it lately. Guess what Weston is doing right now? Yep, writing Sallie a letter back...

Much love--

Brother and sister

2009-10-07T15:30:00.004-04:00

They love to roughhouse and play hard!

Much love--

Weston's Never Ending Questions

2009-10-06T15:04:00.004-04:00

If you know our sweet little Weston at all, you know that the child is an incessant question asker. Alot of children go through this stage, but for Weston, it isn't a stage, it is who he is! He has always been a child that wants to know how, why, where, when, who, what, etc. He is so persistent with his question asking skills, that it has gotten to be a joke for us with our close family and friends. I love hearing stories that our family members and friends report back to us of conversations and questions that Weston has had with them. I often times think that I should write them down, but don't. Well, this time I'm going to! He has been asking lots of religious questions recently. About 5 or 6 months ago, he asked Jesus in his heart. It seems like the religion questions have really picked up since then. Here are a few recent examples...

After Sunday School and church, we're eating lunch out, and Weston looks at me and Bob and says, "can you explain the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament"? He's learning a lot in Sunday School and we really enjoy his "recap" of the lesson that he gives to us each week! Apparently, that specific week his teachers referenced the New and Old Testaments. He really wanted to know the difference!

Then, on another day, it was just me and kids at home and we were eating lunch together around the table. (I see a pattern here - give Weston food and the questions start! But seriously, they don't end there...he asks them all hours of the day and night!) This time Weston asks me, "Mommy, where does Satan live"? I told him that Satan was in hell. Well, of course this leads to his next question. He says, "Mommy, is hell on the Eastside or the Westside"? After getting my laughter under control, I respond, "ummmm....well, hell is kinda on the Southside"!

My new goal is to get better about writing these things down!

Weekend

2009-10-05T11:05:00.003-04:00

This weekend I went out of town with my Mom and sister, Becky. We went to help and celebrate the upcoming birth of a new member of our extended family. Here are some pics from the shower!

Happy Monday, everyone!
Love--