A Weekend of Anniversaries....

Today, Tony and I are celebrating 12 wonderful years or marriage. The Lord has really blessed our marriage and we have so much to be thankful for. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband and father to our children. We have had such an amazing journey so far and look forward to the years ahead of us. Thank you Tony for making me the happiest wife! I LOVE YOU!!!!We had a fun day as a family celebrating Tony and I's marriage. After a great sermon at church we enjoyed lunch at Jason's Deli. Then, we came home for a nice relaxing afternoon reading and resting together and then headed out as a family to Aye Mount in Hillsborough to walk/run. And then we headed down to Burlington to Olive Garden (one of my faves) and then to the Great American Cookie Company to pick up a cookie cake (another one of my faves). Tony actually proposed to me with a Great American Cookie Cake that said, "Will You Marry Me." The girls enjoyed hearing about how Tony proposed to me and then we were all craving a cookie cake. So, we got a yummy cookie cake to share together. This was the only Anniversary cake they had (did not really care for the picture but had lots of icing so we got it).

Tony and I will celebrate (w/o kids) next weekend. Our friends are keeping our girls overnight and we are going to dinner and a comedy show at the Durham Performing Arts Center. One of our favorite comedians, Brian Regan, is on tour with his new comedy act. We saw him a few years ago at a Chick-fil-A seminar and he is hilarious. So, we are looking forward to next weekend.

This weekend we also enjoyed celebrating Trinity School's 15th Anniversary. The school had a school wide Fall Fun night to celebrate. They girls enjoyed face painting (Regan was a Lion, Riley was a Tiger and Reece was a cat), fossil digging, a Cake Walk, inflatable slide, and watching our talented friend juggle knives, fire torches, tennis rackets and more. And of course the girls enjoyed seeing their classmates and teachers too. It was a fun night. They also did a balloon release (some of the Senior Class - this is the first year to have Seniors at Trinity- and other students held 15 balloons in the school colors) and after everyone yelled, "Happy Birthday Trinity" the balloons were released into the sky. The girls enjoyed watching them drift up, up and away!

I did not have my camera at the Trinity Celebration but here is a photo with the girls' faces painted and sporting their Trinity Anniversary shirts.

Reece Starts School....

Reece started preschool this week at St. Luke's Preschool. Wednesday, Sept. 9 we had "Meet the Teacher Day." Tony and I went with Reece to meet her teachers, Mrs. Sharon and Mrs. Stathelson. Reece ended up being very shy and apprehensive that day. She stayed very close to Tony and I. I think Reece envisioned being in the same classroom and having the same teachers as Riley had last year. So, when we got there and she realized we were going to a different room, with different teachers, and no children she knew she was not happy. I was worried about how the first day of school on Thursday would go but she did great. She was very excited and did not even want to hug me goodbye or even pose for a photo. She walked straight into her room and did not turn back. Her teacher said she had a great first day. When Reece woke up Friday she said, "Am I going to school today?!" She was not happy to hear that she had to wait until Monday. Reece playing with playdough at "Meet the Teacher Day."

Reece likes this cash register

This is Reece's favorite place in the classroom - the class kitchen. The teacher said she spent all of playtime the first day of school in the kitchen.

Reece with one of her classmates, Kate, on the giant slide

St. Luke's has new glider swings - very neat.

Reece's first day of preschoolReece is very excited to finally start school!

Off we go to school...

Reece in front of her class - she was ready to go play and did not want to pose for a photo. I did not even get a goodbye hug because she was off and running for the classroom kitchen. I guess this is a good problem to have since she was apprehensive at "Meet the Teacher Day."

Back To School...

Regan and Riley started school on Wednesday, August 26th. Riley is in Kindergarten at Trinity this year and has the same teacher Regan had, Mrs. Pothoven. Mrs. Pothoven is an amazing teacher and we were thrilled to have her again. Riley has several kids from church in her class and is making new friends too. Riley had a great first day and loves being at the same school as Regan and being right across the hall from Regan's class. Riley is sad that her dear friends Julianne and Emma are not in her class but she will still get to see them. She saw Julianne in the bathroom the first day of school and was so excited and came home talking about it. :) Regan is in the 3rd grade this year in Mrs. Shively's class. Regan's grade has a ton of girls so this year her school decided to have an all girls class and a co-ed class. Regan got in the co-ed class. Regan is very thrilled to have her dear friend, Hannah Stepp, in her class. They have not been together since Kindergarten so this is a wonderful treat! Regan had a wonderful first day of school as well. Reece is very sad that her sisters are gone and keeps asking when they will be home. She told me today, "I want to be big!" I asked her why and she replied, "So I can go to Trinity with Regan and Riley." She really does want to be big like them. I don't think September 10th can get here fast enough for her. That is when she will start her first day of preschool at St. Luke's.

Riley with her teacher, Mrs. Pothoven on "Meet the Teacher Day."Riley with her assistant teacher, Mrs. Federman, on "Meet the Teacher Day."
Regan organizing her desk on "Meet the Teacher Day."Regan with her teacher, Mrs. Shively, on "Meet the Teacher Day."Riley's first day of Kindergarten!Regan is excited to be in 3rd grade this year.

First Day of SchoolTrinity has uniform day every Thursday. So, this is Riley's first time wearing the Trinity uniform. They have chapel every Thursday and Reece and I attended today. They introduced the school's theme for the year which is Peacemaking. Their school verse for the year is "Blessed are the Peacemakers for they will be called sons of God." Matt. 5:9

Beach Trip - Summer 2009

Last week we ended our summer with a wonderful beach trip to Holden Beach with our dear friends, the Stepp's. We have gone to the beach with them since Regan was 6 mos. old (they have a daughter, Hannah, that is 2 weeks younger than Regan). We started out 8 years ago in a condo in Myrtle Beach for a long weekend. We did that for 4 years until our families got too big. Then, we moved to a house at Ocean Isle Beach that was on the Intercoastal Waterway for an entire week. We stayed at that same house for 3 years in a row. This year we decided it was time to find a house on the beach and boy was it nice!!! We enjoyed going to Holden Beach for the 1st time and had a 5 bedroom, oceanfront house. It was very roomy and very convenient. Now that we have all been spoiled with oceanfront, I don't think any of us want to go away from that amenity. We had a wonderful week with perfect weather (for August), calm waters (until the end of the week), and the kids played very nicely together. We adults had fun catching up, exercising, relaxing, going on dates and playing with the kids. The kids had fun building sandcastles, boogie boarding, swimming in the tide pools, jumping waves, riding scooters, playing Wii, and just being together. It was a wonderful week and a great way to say goodbye to summer. Here are some photos of our fun week. (Some of the photos are somewhat small so you can click on them to make them bigger.) This swing was on the backporch of the house. We loved reading and resting in this swing while watching the ocean.

There were many great places to read at this house. Regan took advantage of them.

The beautiful view from our back porch.

Reece enjoyed splashing in the tide pools.

The pretty sunsets

Here is a photo of Dave digging a big hole. He is working so fast and hard that sand is flying and the shovel even broke. I am surprised Dave did not find hidden treasure since he dug so deep.

Riley doing a cartwheel in the water.

Reece Boogie Boarding

Tony and I got to go on a date night to Wilmington on Tuesday. We had a nice dinner, a boat ride, walked along the waterfront, had ice cream at Kilwin's and watched the sunset behind the battleship. It was a wonderful evening, Thanks Dave and Lori!!!

Holden Beach had some waterslides that we went to one day. Riley and Reece were too short for the bigger slides but they had two kiddie slides they could go on. This slide above is where Riley and Reece stayed because the other slide was too fast and sent Riley sideways. Riley only did the other slide once. Luckily, I got a picture that one time. :) Regan was not interested in the slides so she just brought a book and read.

Reece coming down the small slide.

Riley coming down the faster slide - this is her first and last time down it.

This is a view of our house from the beach - we were spoiled being so close to the ocean.

Dave and Tony (w/ a little help from the kids) dug this huge hole in hopes that when high tide came we would have a pool for the kids to play in. This is the same hole Dave was digging a few photos ago.

Hannah and Regan playing in the hole.

The kids decorated the front wall of the hole with shells.

Regan and Hannah had fun playing in the waves together. This was Regan's first year to really enjoy the water/waves. In the past years, she mainly just played in the sand or very shallow surf. We were excited to see her venture out more.

Dave made this canal during the day with hopes that it would make bigger tide pools for the kids in the afternoon when high tide hit. Dave worked very hard on this. It actually created a great waterslide for the kids. They enjoyed running from the waves and boogie boarding through it as the waves came crashing through.

The waves were pretty powerful on Thursday afternoon - Saturday due to Hurricane Bill moving up the coast. We had rip current warnings for Friday. These are some of the waves crashing right at the shore.

Our boogie boarding waterslide/canal.

Every morning and evening the high tides would create these wonderful, deep tide pools. The kids LOVED playing in these. It was like having their own pool on the beach. They surfed, boogie boarded, swam and jumped in them.

All the kids enjoying the great tide pool. Dave and Lori went on their date Wednesday night and Tony and I took the kids to the beach. They played in this tide pool and the canal for almost 2 hours. They had such a good time as did Tony and I.

Riley doing a canonball into the tide pool. It was about thigh deep in this area so the kids were jumping into it.

Regan and Hannah surfing in the tide pool.

Reece boogie boarding

Daddy and Riley

All the kids (Jonathan, Riley, Reece, Regan, Hannah, and Daniel)