Clarks of the JC

Years last beach trip and family goings on...

2009-09-27T14:23:00.025-04:00

It has been a nice last almost 3 weeks since my last post. We went on our last beach vacation, went to Amy's aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary party and done a few other fun family activities. When we went to the beach, the waves were crazy big there those 2 days. We got to eat at a few of our favorite places, and the kids had a blast on the beach. We met my folks there along with Emily and John. When we got back that Saturday night, we went to the Arboretum in Raleigh for the 50th anniversary party and renewal of vowels. It was great to see so many of the family. Most recently, Steven just tested for another tip towards his black belt in Tae Kwon Do. He did great course and is that much closer now to his black belt. I will post some photos of our recent doings.

Our kiddos playing at the 50th anniversary party

Steven testing for his belt tip

Mommy and Emma walking the beach

Steven running from the waves

The kids outside Jolly Roger after dinner

Sunrise approaches

A perfect sunrise
Last but not least, our puppy doo taking a nap. We hope you all are doing well and we will post again soon!!

Labor day - 2009 - We're still here

2009-09-07T08:20:00.002-04:00

It's Labor day, 2009!! A nice day off from work, but the kiddos are off too so we will have a day to hang out together. It will be nice. It has been over a month since my last post and I had hoped to have more to write on but there has not been too much going on other than normal "nearing fall" stuff. I started back to school at Wake Tech and Steven started back to school and now is in 3rd grade. It is really hard to believe. He is getting so big and is so independent allot of the time. He really does well in class though. I think we will be really lucky when it comes to how smart both kiddos are. Also Amy and I just came into the year 2009 and were hearded into joining Facebook. I was thinking that we had done stuff that was photo-worthy, but the only thing I have some pictures of is from Saturday before last when Steven and I had high hopes for the NC State football team and went to meet the pack day at Carter Finley. We did have a great time and got plenty of pictures that I will share some of. This was Steven standing in front of the new wolf statue

Daddy doing the same thing... Steven with the field behind him And this is Steven with one of his happiest moments of recent memory...

It was hard to wipe the smail off his face when we left...

That is all I have for now. Hopefully all is well with everyone. We are going to the beach and an anniversary party next weekend so we should have plenty to report. Take care.

Much to do about alot...

2009-07-20T21:09:00.016-04:00

Hey everyone. We have actually been up to alot lately and each time I go to blog, I remember something else that is coming up so I wait and now have a real big blog to post. Watch it be short now... Anyways, we have been first and foremost doing some home improvements. We started by painting an accent wall in a burnt orange in the bedroom. Then we used that color to do under the chair molding in the kitchen. Then last but not least we did the master bathroom in a nice soft mocha color. It looks like a frosty melted and we rubbed it all over the walls. It really looks good. I thought I had some pictures on here but I guess I did not load them yet. I will have to post them at another time.

Then last Tuesday we took the kids to Wet N Wild in Greensboro. It was Emma's first time at the water park. I think she did well, but she was really a little young to go. She could only ride about a 1/4 of the rides there. I have a few of the pictures we took with the waterproof camera we got just for that.

Amy and the kids ready to go

Emma and daddy in the wave pool

Steven right off the waterslideWE HAD SO MUCH FUN TODAY!!

That was a really good time and we still had a birthday to go this weekend. We had my parents come in town this weekend for Emma's birthday with my sister and niece and other sister and her fiancee'. We had the party along with Thomas for his 2nd birthday since they are only 2 days apart. It was at the Marble kids museum in Raleigh. I had never heard of it before but it was really cool for the kids and alot of fun. There are huge legos, a pretend mini town, a pretend hurricanes hockey rink, ball pit, tool area, drawing and craft area and that is just some of what is there. Most of Emma's friends from daycare were there as well as 2 freinds from where she used to get taken care of that she doesn't get to see much and alot of family. Here are a few pictures from there. This was all the mini bug cakes

Steven building a huge lego house

My beautiful Emma enjoying her juice and cake

Steven playing hockey

Emma in the "peas and carrots" ball pit

The beautiful dancing birthday girl

Steven got his face painted up like an old man

Emma and Gabby driving the bus together

Heading home after a great time at the Marbles party!!

It was really a great 2 weeks as Amy was off so it was nice to have her home every day for 18 days. She is back to work now so that is the pits, but we are getting used to life as normal again. Hopefully everyone enjoys the post and pictures because we sure did have a good time. Just be glad I cut it down. I had over 200 pictures from the party and gift opening at the house. We miss everyone that had to leave and that we did not see. Will try to post again soon. I am still debating on switching blogs. Will keep that updated as well. Bye!!

July 4th weekend

2009-07-03T09:16:00.008-04:00

Hey everyone. We have just been busy doing our work thing, camp thing and preschool things. Now it is nice because Amy is off for 18 days, so we can do lots of stuff together. Last weekend we went to Greenville to build up some good memories there and we had a great time. We went to ECU and saw the campus and all the changes, went by Amy's old house to see how it looked and went to some stores and then to sonic and their really cool playground. We also hit the pool last weekend and hopefully will this weekend. I also chucked Steven way over the pool. Check out some of the pictures. This is the throw from IN the pool.The throw from OUT of the pool. (no children were harmed in the taking of this photo)

Emma LOVED playing with the tea set at the pool.

Steven and Emma and the 50 cent ride at Sonic.

Mommy and the kiddos down the slide.

This was all of us together right before leaving Greenville.

It was a great weekend, and hopefully this one will be just as good. Emily, Katie, Thomas and Grandma are all over here today for the day and we are going there tomorrow. I will be back with more when I have it. Lots is coming up in the coming months. Have a great 4th everyone.

Post fathers day blog

2009-06-27T07:03:00.002-04:00

Hey all, this is my short post fathers day blog. We had a great weekend last weekend with a little pool action, playing together and relaxing. We are actually going to Greenville today down by ECU where Amy went to college. There are a few things we are going to try to do while there: see the old house, go by campus, eat at Sonic so the kids can play on the playground, just basic stuff like that. I am about to wake them all up so we can get started, but first, some pictures from last weekend.

First off, Steven and I got matching haircuts last week.

Yes, we had mowhawks...

We also had fun at the pool...

Amy and the kids at the pool.

Emma giving daddy a kiss.
Daddy chucking Steven across the pool.
Finally, for those of you that did not know, there are super heros in Johnston County. After we got back from Greenville today, the kiddos were playing around upstairs and dressed up and thjis was too cute not to include. I think we may have Halloween covered already of it is not too cold yet. We hope everyone is doing well. Be back soon.

The June update

2009-06-16T19:13:00.011-04:00

Hello all. This is the June update as to our goings on. I just got over some funk of which I am not sure of. Monday morning I woke up with a sick feeling and body ache and left work after 1 hour. I was out yesterday and today with low temp, stomach issues and overall body aches. Amy thinks I got food poisoning from bacon bits, but who knows. I am just glad I am feeling better. Everyone else has been fine. Not much of record has been going on. Just working and playing on the weekend when Amy and I have been off. I must admit, I really do like her new schedule and her being off every weekend. Emma's birthday is sneaking up next month and it is hard to believe she will be 3!! Amy also has her 2 week vacation next month which will be nice. I don't know that we are going anywhere but that is OK by me. Over the past few weeks I was in a golf tournament, Steven was in a Tae Kwon Do tournament and we took them both last weekend to Pullen park and they had a great time. I will post a few pictures of our latest adventures: This was Steven practicing his zen pose before competingSteven running towards the target... A perfect split in mid air... Man that kid is flexible!!

Grandma with Steven and his trophy

This was one of my best golf shots ever. In the golf tourney I was in, I hit a 9 iron from 155 on the par 3 3rd hole to about 5-6 inches. I am placing my closest to the hole marker (which I won by the way) to show the way. Yes...I did make the birdie.

This was the signature par 3 at the Neuse where we played. Great hole.

Emma and daddy on the slide at Pullen Park

Steven, Emma and Mommy giving a poseThe kids ABSOLUTELY LOVED the train ride!!

That is all I have for now. Sometimes I wonder if I should make stuff up to make this more interesting. (LOL) I guess for now I will settle for normal and simple which is just how I like it. I hope everyone is doing well. Till Later~

Our trip to the Outer Banks

2009-05-13T21:03:00.014-04:00

Well it was a great last week as we ended it up at the beach. I had some back issues earlier in the week (again) and had to get on steroids again, but hopefully after some physical therapy, they can show me how to help prevent this from happening every 6 months or so. (It seems that way anyway) We were able to go to the beach though down at the outer banks for the weekend and had a blast. There was a little rain here or there, but mostly it was around 80 and sunny during the day and 60 at night. Most places were not too busy either, so we may start making mothers day weekend a beach trip weekend as things were not too pricey yet and it was not over crowded. The only bad things were that the ocean was like icewater and the outdoor pool was chilly too, but the indoor pool and hot tub were nice. We even had a full kitchen in our room with stove, fridge and microwave. The soap and shampoo were from bath and body works. It was just really nice. I will stop expounding on amenities and get to what we did there. (Duh)
When we arrived Friday morning, we got there just in time to eat breakfast at our favorite place, The Ship’s Wheel. Huge breakfasts, and very affordable. It is also VERY tasty. We then left there very stuffed and went to see if we could check in, which we did. Our room was very nice, and we were right beside the indoor pool and hot tub as well as beach access, so it was really good overall. We went out and hit a thrift store, (I know, I can’t resist) and then Emma came back for a nap with Amy. Steven and I went to Brew-Thru and 7-11 and then back to the room until nap was over. We went out to play putt-putt and made the mistake of not bringing the stroller in… (Big mistake). ** NOTE: children ages 2-3 will not be able to focus at putt-putt for more than 15 seconds and will want to run EVERYWHERE. Anyways, we survived that and went to American Pie for pizza and Ice Cream. (If you want the best homemade ice cream ever, go there) It was great. Then back for pool and hot tub, showers and bed. That wrapped day 1. Day two began with another breakfast at The Ships Wheel and then a trip to the NC / OBX aquarium. The kids LOVED it. They saw all kinds of fish, alligators, snakes, otters, turtles, ect. There is a ray touching tank as well as a place to touch hermit crabs, starfish and sea urchins. After a visit to the gift shop, we left there and headed out thru Manteo and the OBX for some more thrifting and general shopping. (Amy found a new coach purse…) We got lunch supplies at K-Mart and ate lunch at our room. Then we all napped except Amy, who went out looking around and found a great new swimsuit. We then went to dinner at an old favorite called The Jolly Roger. The food was excellent. Then we headed back to American Pie for ice cream and then to the beach until the sun went down. We then headed to the pool and hot tub again and bath/ bed. The kids were really good for the most part. I got up early Sunday and watched the sunrise on the beach, and then headed out for coffee and to gas up. We grabbed some continental breakfast and hit the road to get back in time for Amy to get a nap before work and Emma to get one in general. All in all it was a great weekend and trip. I could have used maybe 1 more day to just lounge the beach, but hopefully we will get to go back by the end of the summer. I will now give you some photos of our doings while on vacation. WELCOME TO THE BEACH!! SHOW ME THE WAY TO THE WATER

WE ARE RIDING THE TRAIN TO PUTT-PUTT GOLF

COME BACK KIDDOS!!

I LOVE BEACH PICTURES...

ON OUR WAY TO THE AQUARIUM

THE KIDDOS ENJOYING THE SIGHTS

WE ARE TOUCHING ANIMALS

YUMMY DINNER AT THE JOLLY ROGER

THE SUN IS PEAKING...

NOW THE SUN IS AWAKE!!!

JUST HEADING BACK HOME...

WE HAD A GREAT TIME!! MORE POSTS SOON.

Another wonderful family visit

2009-05-05T18:57:00.005-04:00

I seem to be getting better as it has been about 2 weeks since the last post. I wanted to get one in because we are supposed to be going to the beach this coming weekend, but it will depend on how my back is doing. I tweaked a nerve again in my sciatica and had to go to the doctor today. It is pretty uncomfortable but the doc put me on rest and steroids again so I am looking forward (NOT) to some weight gain. I also have an appointment tomorrow with a back specialist so I am hoping that they will do an MRI and get to the bottom of this. About a week and a 1/2 ago, my parents, sister and Gabby came to visit and we have a great time. Steven and I took my dad to UNC Chapel Hill to get some championship paraphernalia. Here are a few pictures:

Steven and my dad on Franklin street

Steven at the old well
Steven on the table of many people...(LOL)

The girls went to the mall while we were out on campus. Other than that, we have been just going business as usual. We are just waiting for Amy to start her new schedule so she can be off every weekend. That starts this coming weekend with the coming possible beach trip. Steven also has a concert at school tonight that I will post next time too. I know it is short but sweet, but thats about all that has been going on. I will get some more this weekend and post sometime next week. Happy past birthday to my dad and upcoming birthday to my sis Melanie. Take care all.

Easter, birthdays continued...

2009-04-21T21:55:00.009-04:00

I wanted to finish my blog last night, but could not, and then woke up too late to finish this morning. I wanted to make sure that I got to work early today because they were supposed to be letting some more people go and I was nervous because now days, you never know. Fortunately, I did not lose my job and everything is ok...for now. The economy just needs to pick up soon. It is scary. Anywhoozer, back to the posting. I forgot to mention that I took Steven out to golf with Doug and I the day before my birthday. He did not play, but did really good at watching, taking pictures and behaving. It really got him even more interested in it. I have some pictures and a video from our golf outing: (pay no attention to my fatness(lol))

Steven hanging out in the golf cart at the first hole

Me driving a ball on a par 5

I had to put the video on because of how Steven reacted. It was pretty cool that I did that with him there. I only wish I would have holed it out. That would have been really cool. Just this past weekend, my sister and her boyfriend of almost 7 years came to visit us. We had a great visit with cooking out and a trip of course to NC State's campus. I also took the kiddos who had a great time as well. Below are some pictures of that:

The kiddos and my sister Emily with her boyfriend John

The NC State belltower

Daddy and Emma at the stadium wolf statue

My kiddos at the game checking out the sites

Daddy at the wolf pride statue at the enterance to the stadium

Those are some pictures of our recent happenings here in good ole Johnston County. I will try not to wait another 3 weeks to post again especially since my folks will be here this coming weekend. Hope all is well with everyone.

Easter, birthdays, and more...

2009-04-20T22:28:00.007-04:00

I am feeling good. It has only been about 3 weeks since my last posting, so I guess I am improving. We have actually been having alot go on those weeks, so there is a little to mention and many pictures to show. First was Easter and my 37th I mean 30th (LOL) birthday. Time sure does fly when you are having fun. For my birthday, Doug and Trish watched the kids, so Amy and I got to have a grown up date at Outback Steakhouse all by ourselves. It was nice even though we always miss the kids. We could have made a late night of it, but got home just in time to tuck the kids into bed, which is a good enough birthday present for me. We did get some time alone so that was nice too. The next day we had Easter lunch. Doug and Trish were still there, and Emily, Jody and Thomas came over to for a great Easter lunch and egg hunt. Here are some pictures of the kids playing:

Our little Easter flower

And our wascally wabbit...

Look at all my Easter eggs!! It took a little convincing that the Easter Bunny was not bringing "Easter Leggs..."

I will be hoarding my eggs here if you need me...

Princess Emma blowing out Daddy's birthday candles.

Something has come up and I will finish this post soon. Eveything is ok by the way. :>)

2009-03-28T16:38:00.011-04:00

Well what do you know? It has been another month. I guess I should stop attempting to get on here as much as possible and get here when I can with relevant new stuff. Things are just going to be pretty mundane I guess until summer gets here and we plan vacations and such. We are in the process of planning that now. We know when we are going, we just don't know where. We were thinking of Hershey Park in PA, but checked the prices and thought again. We can do that after Emma can ride everything and then it will be worth it to go. I know we are going to do at least one OBX weekend, and hopefully two. I have loved it there since I was a kid. I did run to VA to do Christmas with Chuck (in March) one of the weeks I was out of work this month. I got to eat at my favorite place there: What-a-burger. Here is a photo.If you ever get the chance to go there, I highly suggest it. The burgers and fries are great. Just grab a drink at the 7-11 on the way. Also, we have been doing alot of yard work, especially one of the weeks I was out of work. I know in 3 days we fertilized and seeded the yard, I cut the grass first, we also threw 45 bails of pine straw, moved 3 yards of playground chips and layed just over 200 lbs of flat stone. Below are a few pictures of the yard:Amy and Ginger working in the yardFlat stone pathway in the backyardAnd the front yard flowerbed

Other than that, a pretty boring March. I am just awaiting some consistant golf weather and the pool opening for the kiddos. Steven is doing great in school still and little princess Emma still says new cute things almost every day and very rarely has potty accidents. Every now and then she has a pee mishap, but I can't remember she went poop other that in the potty. She really is becoming a little lady, but she also has a firey side that is for sure. Here are a few photos of us and the kids playing:

Emma swinging in the big girl swing

Steven also in the big boy swing

Emma and daddy taking a break

Steven dancing with Ginger

And here is Amy, Steven and Emma looking at some bugs...

That's all I got for now. Hopefully something really exciting will happen soon, but if not, I will still give you the skinny. I hope all is well with everyone. Have a great weekend.

Exactly one month to the day...

2009-02-21T09:27:00.008-05:00

So much for me blogging every week. It is now one month since our snow day blog. I guess the good thing is that not to much has happened since then. It is hard to believe though that it is going to be the end of February in just a week. Didn't we just open presents? Now we are 1/6 of the way to Christmas 2009. I remember when I was a kid how it seemed like it took forever to get thru the year, but now it goes at light speed. Emma was nor sleeping thru the night and still wetting her pants, and now she very rarely has an accident, potties like a big girl, (both one and two) and this morning she asked for lip gloss, deoderant, and perfume. God help me. Is she turning 3 this year or 13? Steven is getting more interested in girls, (he is just 8), and way more independent. I feel like I want to prop my eyelids open for fear of missing something important. Anyway, lets see what we have been up to. We had a nice celebration for Valentines day. Amy was off so that was nice. Here are some pictures of the kids getting their presents:

This is the kids getting their Hersheys hearts

Emma riding her ladybug

Emma and her Bubby having a valentines snuggle

Steven also had a chorus concert at school. He has really enjoyed learning and singing his songs. I have a few pictures of him singing and Emma cheering her Bubby on:

Emma and Daddy listning to Bubby

If you squint, you can see Steven 4th from the right on the top row...(I need a new camera)

This is Emma standing up on the table to get a good look at her Bub

I think that's all the events of note over the last month. We have just been working, schooling, and playing. I got approved for a week off in March, so Amy and I will get some stuff done around the house like cleaning the gutters, staining the deck, pressurewashing the house and maybe some yard work. I may even get to run to Virginia for the day and get to do Christmas with Chuck and Lisa and hit some thrift stores. I will try my best to get back in the next week or two. I am also looking at other blog sites like thoughts.com or wordpress.com that Skye suggested. I just want to see what else is out there. When I started blogging, this was the first place I saw. I may stay here, I just want to see what else is out there and compare features. If anything changes, I will let you know. Hope everyone is well. TTYS.

The snow play day

2009-01-21T10:22:00.010-05:00

Here it is another day, and work was called again today due to ice on the roads and slow production. SO, we get to have a family day which is really cool, since Amy works this weekend. Nothing new has happened since I posted yesterday, except our playing in the snow with the kids. They, us, and Ginger had a great time out there, playing in the snow, snowball fighting, and sledding in the front yard. We were chilled to the bone when we came in, but it was a great time. I have some of the pictures below.

Steven throwing a snowball at daddy.

Amy, Steven, Emma and Ginger playing in the backyard.

Daddy, Steven and Ginger playing in the snow.

Steven and Emma sledding.

And... Kabonk at the bottom of the hill.

Even Mommy tried her hand at sledding.

And Daddy... (sorry about that sled)

Emma's first time in the snow ever, and she had a blast, especially with her bubby sledding.

After the playing in the snow, we took the kids in for hot chocolate and thawing out. It was a great time by all. Emma even got a cup of snow afterwards and ate that too. She really enjoyed her first ever experience with snow. This is two posts in two days. Don't plan on me keeping up this pace. :>) We'll be back with another update soon. Drive safe everyone.

Let it SNOW

2009-01-20T11:15:00.007-05:00

I think we may have finally recovered from Christmas. It saddened me, but a few days ago on the 17th of January, we took all our Christmas stuff down and put it away in the attic. I know it was up a while, but it is just sad to see it go every year. It is certainly my favorite time of the year by far. The really cool thing today though, (Tues, Jan. 20), is that it snowed last night here in the Clayton / Raleigh area. It is still snowing right now at 1:40 in the afternoon. The roads are pretty slippery here today, but it is great for the kids. School is closed, and we have at least 4 inches, maybe close to 5. They said we may get 6 plus, but I am always optimistic when it comes to us getting good snow, although we have done well last night into today. The kids are napping currently, which gives me a good chance to blog and do some homeowrk. I will try to get some more recent photos on here. I am doing better with blogging so far this year, but don't give the kudos yet. It is really hard sometimes to find stuff to talk about and even harder to find the time to do it with our work schedules and me taking 2 classes. Classes are going well though. My first paper for Religion and Psychology classes, I recieved an A on both. I am looking forward to taking the kids out in the snow after nap even though it is a tad chilly out there. I think I may even wear pants. (lol) Here are some recent pictures of us and the kiddos.

This is us eating at Jody and Emily's for Grandma's birthday

Emma and Steven in the princess house at TK's jumphouse

Amy helping Emma up the pretend rock wall

Steven hanging on for dear life with Emma below

The snow piling up in our back yard today...

These are just a few pictures of what we have been up to lately. TK's jumphouse was awsome for the kids. there are lots of jump rooms and blow up obsticle courses with sides. It was really hot in there, but the kids had a great time. I am about to get Emma up from nap so we can hit the snow, so I will go for now, but will be back with pictures of the kids playing in the snow for later.

Happy New Year 2009 - year of the anti-slacker

2009-01-01T12:01:00.023-05:00

Happy New Year everyone!! You know as every day rolls by, and life just keeps on trucking. One does not even notice that it has been 10 weeks since the last post. With keeping the house and kids straight, work, school, the loss of dear family members, and the holidays, it seems like last week since the last post, when in fact it was LAST YEAR. It seems almost strange that another year has come and gone. I am finding that with age the years go quicker, which really bums me out. As cool as it is to see the kids grow up, it is also somewhat heartbreaking that every day they get further and further away from being my kiddo's and closer and closer to dating (yikes) and going away to college. Our holidays were great, with the exception of the loss of Amy's uncle George just 2 weeks before Christmas. He was a wonderful person, and was very much missed over this holiday season. It was nice to see all the family so close to the holidays, but a downer as to the reason why. I will try my best over this blog to catch you up on the events from mid October thru the end of our 2008.

First was Steven and Amy's birthdays.

This was Steven's graveyard birthday cake that Amy made.

This was Steven playing his birthday Nintendo DS.

Amy and Emma bear snuggling at the party during gift opening .

After the birthday parties, we had Halloween close on it's heels. Amy had to work that night but was able to get a few hours off to go out with us for some candy scavanging. Here are some pictures of the pumpkin carving, Amy's new makeover hairdoo, and the kids trick or treating.

Amy carving the pumpkin after her new haircut.

This was the pumpkin after carving...

These were our two little trick or treaters, Dumbo and the "Scream Guy.

We also took a trip to the State Fair in late October, of which this was my favorite photo...

Next came the month of November. That was fairly uneventful, except for our trip to VA for Thanksgiving, and Amy and my date day where she finally got her first tattoo. It has the kids initials in it, and it is very cool I think.

Amy's lower back tattoo with an S for Steven, and E for Emma, and a tiny C in the neck for me.

This is the kids swinging in my parents' back yard swing in VA at Thanksgiving.

Now comes December. All of the impending holiday stuff along with life's normal challenges. No problem right? I think we did a pretty good job of managing. We finished all the shopping and wrapping just before the holidays. We also got a new 46 inch TV for the family just before Christmas. Steven had his school chorus concert that he was selected for earlier in the year. I will put some pictures in here from all of those activities.

My beautiful, trim wife and kids trimming the christmas tree.

Our beautiful Emma at Mrs. Debbie's Christmas party.

Steven, Emma, and Grandma making Christmas cookies for Santa.

Emma, her Bubby and their Christmas snuggle doggies on Christmas Eve.

Emma checking out the "loot" that Santa brought for Christmas upon waking up Christmas day.

Merry Christmas to Daddy.

Emma on her Spongebob ball.

Steven with one of his many Nintendo DS games.

Emma driving Mommy to school in her new School Bus tent.

I think that will about do it. We are now up to the first of the new year and last night, Amy had to work, and the kids were in bed by 9. Daddy followed closely by 10:30. We are catching up now with getting the house back to normal over the next week or two, and start yet another wonderful year full of new firsts, alot of the same and hopefully a more timely blog. Time will tell. Everyone have a Happy New Year!!

Did I really skip September???

2008-10-13T14:32:00.005-04:00

They say time flies when you are having fun. My sister informed me when she came down for the weekend with her boyfriend of almost 7 years to spend the weekend with us, that it had been over a month since I last blogged. I thought, "Could this be true?" Alas, it was, and I had been a good 6 weeks without blogging. I was so slack that I had skipped the whole month of September without a blog. While that was depressing, it was not surprising. We always seem to have so much going on, plus, I curently have a month long project test I am doing for work, as well as my classwork, tests, and papers that I am doing for class in school. I will try to stay current, but will make no promises. This past weekend with Emily and John here was great. We had a really good time, except for me messing up my back again. I had to go to urgent care yesterday and get a round of steroids to help get my back right again. I am not sure what I did, but it was pretty painful in some spots. It seems to be getting better today, so hopefully after this week, I will be as good as new. Amy is doing well, just has had a little cold that she is trying to shed for the past week or so. Emma, also seems to have picked up a little cold. Steven on the other hand, seems fit as a fiddle as usual. I also have the cold, and now a jacked up back to boot. I am going to look thru the new pictures and see if there any any new ones of the kids that are noteworthy.

This was my sister Emily on her 22 birthday with my lil princess Emma

This was Steven with his attempt to look s-c-a-r-y..., or was it sleepy??

These are my 2 wonderful ones after breakfast, just checking up on the latest Spongebob...

That's all for now. Lets see if I can get back in some time this year!!

Back to the normalcy of school

2008-08-27T03:36:00.002-04:00

I know I have been a king size slacker this month, as it has only been 3+ weeks since the last post. I will try not to go that long again, but there has just been not much blog-worthy going on. We had a few uneventful weeks, of the kiddo's wrapping up their summer going to the pool some, and Steven finishing his camps at YMCA, and his last week was at interskate. I think he had a good time there and made some new friends. Emma did not get a daycare / learning break, but has enjoyed her summer also I think. She LOVES the pool, and is trying to become a little fish just like her brother, although she is still in the guppy stage. The reason my blog is coming at 3:40 am again is due to my darling wee-wie waking up for an unknown reason again in the middle of the night. They are random, and can be from hurting new teeth, to a bad dream. Tonight was no different, she just called for Amy and I, (Amy is at work) until I got up there, and then all seemed to be right with the world. I snuggled her for 5 min or so, and she laid right back down. Shhhhh, hopefully she will stay that way. I can hear her mumbling to herself over the monitor. :>) Like I also said, Steven is now a big second grader. I think he is nervous, but I know he will handle it just fine once he adjusts to being back into school and not at camp where things are more laid back. I took some recent pictures of the kiddo's and once I upload them will post them too. The other thing that changed since the last post is that I HAVE STARTED BACK TO COLLEGE. You heard me correctly. I figured 18 years off school is enough of a vacation. (am I dating myself too much??) Anyway, I am taking a English at Wake Tech this semester to get reaquainted with school, and then will go to 3 classes next semester. After finishing my 2 years there, I will transfer to either NC State or ECU, whichever works out better. (I know that sounds blasphemous, but State needs to get a few online classes to help me out!!) Anywhoozer, I am excited about that. Amy and I slowly continue to lose weight. She has lost about 35 lbs since she really started trying back in May I guess and I have "supposedly" been trying since January, but really trying since about April, and am down right at 30 since the start of the year. Only 50 more to go for me. Maybe I will get there by next summer. Emma has now statred a real conversation with herself. I am tempted to go tell her to go back to sleep, but if she is not crying, maybe she will talk herself back to sleep. On that note, I am going to try to do the same. Hopefully everyone is well and I will have some new photos on here with my next post. We miss everyone and hope you are all doing well.

The delerium blog...

2008-08-01T02:30:00.006-04:00

This is my "Emma woke up at 2 am, and I am hoping she goes back to sleep" blog. We have had a good, pretty uneventful week since her birthday party, but there are some pictures of the kids playing and what not. Steven has been back to YMCA camp, and Emma has been trying to explore new vocabulary. She told me the other day that mommy was at work helping have babies, because she's a nurse. It is very cute. Here are a few photos.
Here is Emma lounging in between the sofa and coffee table

Steven snuggled up on the sofa at bedtime...

Big Bubby helping to catch his sister... she loves to go crazy on the slide

Our little wee wye sliding to mommy. She is trying to become miss independent...

I guess that is all for now. Short but sweet. We are all doing well, and just looking forward to this weekend when Amy will be off. I am hopeful Emma is done fussing and will go back to sleep now. It has been almost 10 min since the last cry, so we will cross our fimgers. My last trip in, she asked if she could go downstairs and play with her dollbabies. After a quick explanation of how it was still 2:45 am and dark outside, and daddy was "so tired" I am hoping that it sunk in. Have a great nite and weekend everyone. Sis, (Em) if you are reading, hope all went well yesterday. We will call you tonight. Take care everyone. We'll blog again soon.

Emma's 2nd birthday weekend!!

2008-07-23T19:39:00.011-04:00

Sometimes it is hard to believe we have a two year old. Sometimes it is even harder to believe we almost have an 8 year old, but that is for a different blog in about 3 months. :>) Emma had her 2 year birthday party this past weekend and it was great. She had family come over, as well as many of the kids from her day care at Mrs. Debbie's and Skye, Carys and Cailyn came over as well. It was alot of fun, and Emma had a princess party which I think was quite appropriate. I will just put some pictures up here, as the party kind of speaks for itself, as the kids all played, and then had cupcakes and ice cream, and then opened presents. It was maybe 2 - 2 1/2 hours of crazy fun for the kids. I think everyone had a good time. Then we went out to McCalls for dinner afterwards. Here is some pictures of the festivities.

This is Emma right after her nap on the day of her party... This is the setup with cupcakes, plates and balloons for the princess party...

Steven helping his sister with the put the kiss on the frog game...

Mommy about to help Emma blow out her candles...

Emma loves her princess blanket that grandma made for her...Emma dressed up in her princess outfit that she got at the party...

Emma and Daddy enjoying a yummy birthday dinner at McCalls...

Emma also had a great time at her cousin Tommy's birthday the following day at Aunt Emily and Uncle Jody's house. There were lots of folks there as well, and lots to do and eat. She had a blast there too. He turned one this weekend. There are a picture or two of the kids from the party at their house...

Steven with his sugary drink, seeing if he can play some more Nintendo Wii...

Emma chewing on her present she got from Aunt Grace at Tommy's party. It must have been yummy. That about wraps up the birthday blog. It was another great year for our little wee-wye, and we look forward to the birthday of our big bubby wee-wye and getting to see them grow up WAY too fast before our very eyes. Thanks to all who came to the party this weekend, and those who did not, we missed you alot. I'll be back soon when there is more to say!! Later.

OBX was lots of fun

2008-07-22T21:06:00.012-04:00

We took a trip down to the Outer Banks a few weeks ago (I know, time has flown) and I just wanted to let everone in on our trip. Amy, myself and the kids went, as well as her parents, my parents, sisters, and niece, and her sister, husband, and our nephew. It was really a good time. We stopped on the way down there at a wildlife preserve so the kids could stretch and pee, and I snapped a picture of Amy and the kids by the sign there. After we left there, we headed down to the OBX. We met my folks at The Ships Wheel, which is the best breakfast resterant at the beach. If you are ever down there, you have to go.

We not only ate there that first day, we ate there all 4 days we were at the beach. The omlets are to die for. then we checked in to the room and Amy let Emma get a nap while I scratched my itch at the thrift stores with Steven. The first night we went and ate at Millers Steak and Seafood which was great too. All the places we ate were pretty good. The only one I would pass on next time would be Western Sizzlin. It was ok, but you can eat at a place like that anywhere, and Emma ended up getting the pukes the next day and we think it may have been from that. he was so pitiful. Amy took first shift with her for about 5 hours, and I took second shift for the next 3. After about 8 hrs of being sick on Sat, she was ready to go to the beach and tore it up at dinner that night. I got a few pictures of the beach activities.

I also went down to the beach every morning except Sunday and took some pictures of the Sunrise. I got to the beach about quarter to 6, and it is a peaceful kind of feeling let me tell you. There is no one there really at that time of day, and just hearing the waves is relaxing.

I told Amy that if we ever won any lotto money, we would have to have a place there on the beach. I grew up vacationing there, and it is nice in the morning, I can tell you that. If you can't relax there, you need to take some meds... (lol) We also went to the Jolly Roger Resterant one night, and their food is really good too. They had some cool pirate statues that Steven and I had our pictures done in front of. He kept asking that night when we would up until we did.

We also did some miniture golfing. Amy's dad and I tied for first, but everyone else did really well too. Steven gets better each time we go, and Emma tried the first hole and the last, but in between, was happy to walk around and have a ring pop. All in all I would say it was a great trip. It was over far to soon, but it was good to get home. Amy is back to work now, so the vacation is really over. It was great to have her around all the time even if it was only for two weeks. I will leave you with a sunset photo. Birthday blog soon!!

Vacation blog coming

2008-07-21T21:36:00.005-04:00

I know it has been a while again since my last good blog, but this will be a quick blog about my day golf trip to VA, and tomorrow and Wed nights, I will blog about our vacation to the beach, and Emma's birthday this past weekend. It has just been so crazy. I went to VA about a week ago for the day and played golf with Chuck's dad at FT Eustis Military base. I left the house at 3:15 am that morning, got to the base at 7:10, teed off at 8am, and was done at noon. I then went by the 7-11, (yeah) went by Chucks, hit a few thrifts, and get a wonderful whataburger. I then headed home, and after 15 miles of creeping down interstate 95 around Halifax due to repaving, I was home at 8:10 and in time to help get the kiddo's to bed. Then to work the next day. I will think twice before doing that again in one day. It is rough. I will keave a few photo's of my trip to VA, and back the next few days for other blogs with more photo's. Take care!!

This is one of the par 5's on the front 9 over water

Me swinging away on a par 3 on the back side...

The long second shot on 18...

I'll be back soon with the other blogs. Gotta get some sleep... :>)

Vacation countdown 3,2,1

2008-07-06T19:56:00.008-04:00

This is a tired blog, but it should not be as it has been like 2 weeks plus since I have entered anything. We have just been really busy, but it has been nice the past few days because I had a 4 day weekend, and Amy started her 2 week vacation last Friday. I only have a 3 day week this coming week, then we have another 4 day weekend, but this time to the OUTER BANKS!! I can't wait! The following week, I am taking a day during the week to go to VA to play a round of golf. It will be nice to get somewhat of a break, and especially to have Amy home for the better part of 2 and a 1/2 weeks. It really sucks when she has to work. Anywhoozer, I will go over a few things we have done recently.

We did some fun stuff the weekend of the fourth. First we had Doug and Trish come over on Friday, the actual fourth. We had a parade that went up to our pool thru the neighborhood. When all the kids got there, they had popcicles waiting for all the kids. It was nice.

We also had a picture of us taken together at the pool.

After the festivities at the pool, we cooked out and then shot off a few fireworks. Amy then took Steven up the road to see some "real" fireworks, and then home again for the neighbors fireworks show. Steven finally went down at 10:20pm. I think the kids had a good day.

Saturday, we went to Morrisville to Emily and Jody's house. We went to the pool, I took my token trip to look around at Goodwill, and we had chicken smoked on the grill with mac and cheese, and lots of other fixins. Here are a few of those pictures. I think all in all, the kids had a great weekend as did we. Sunday was a chill out day or so it seemed. We went to Lowes to get a new front porch light. The one we had was beyond crappy. It was one that had the 3 little candle size bulbs and they would burn out every week. The plastic in the sockets had dry rotted and the bulbs would hardly stay in. I took the old one down, (after shutting off the power of course) and rewired the new one that now works perfectly. It feels good to do your own stuff around the house. Amy did some stuff in the yard, and we did a quick store trip for a few items we were short on. I am back to work in the morning, so I will get going. We will be on vacation soon, so I will be back after we return with more news and definitely more pictures of the little "wee wies" on vacation. Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!

Happy Belated Fathers Day blog

2008-06-19T21:09:00.005-04:00

Just a quick blog to wish everyone a belated fathers day!! Mine was great as I spent it with the kids. Amy had to work and that was the only bummer. Just wanted to post a few pictures of the kids from that weekend.

Just a quick look at Emma snuggles with Daddy and Mommy, and Steven's new haircut. I love it!! I think the mowhawk is awsome for the summer. Have a great weekend!!

Vacation countdown

2008-06-14T13:37:00.007-04:00

We are well into our vacation countdown. It is less than a month until our long weekend to the beach. I think we are all just a little excited. I really am trying to blog at least once a week, but that is just not happening. I think my better 1/2 does not think about the blog as much as I do, and neither of us has the extra time to do it. I will persevere though so that our family and friends can see what is going on, as we get to actually talk to folks even less than we get to blog.

What has been happening lately?? Well, Steven graduated first grade, and Emma's daycare was close for a week of vacation, so since it was a good week for Amy, she had a mommy and kids week, full of sleeping in and going to the pool. I did not like it much because since everyone got to sleep in, I did not get to tell the kids goodbye before work for like 4 days in a row, and that was really the pits. I look forward to that every morning as much as anything. Next week things get back to normal as Emma will go back to daycare, and Steven will start one of his 3 different summer camps. I know he is looking forward to that. Everyone is well that I am aware of, and since Emma just nodded off and we just got back from lunch, I figured I would take a few min to do a quick blog and leave some new pictures to show what we have been up to.

Steven Hugging Daddy in the truck on the last day of school

Emma and Daddy snuggling right before bedtime

Steven resting at the pool

Emma styling like a princess at the pool

Steven's award at school on his last day

I guess I will go get some more stuff done around the house now while everyone is resting. The next time I post, I will make sure to include some new pictures of Steven and his new summer haircut... the mowhawk!! It looks really good beleive it or not. Take care all!!

Memorial Day Weekend...

2008-05-28T19:57:00.011-04:00

I hope you all had a good Memorial day holiday. We actually had a very good weekend. We started out Friday by going strawberry picking. Emma and Steven had a great time. Emma really picked it up quick, but was not as keen on weeding out the bad ones. Saturday we had the family over as Doug, Trish, Emily, Jody, and Tommy came over for a cookout. I cut the grass early that morning, then we went shopping and then back to the house so the kids could play. For dinner, BBQ chicken breasts on the grill with hot dogs, corn on the cob, rice, green beans, walnut ginger salad, strawberries, (that we picked) and last but not least, smores... Sunday we did some yard work and just hung out at the house. Monday, I got to go hit some balls and practice golf for a few hours in the morning, and then we hung out a little bit before Amy laid down for a nap. (she had to work Monday night) She got up a little early and we took the kids to the pool. They really love to go there. Emma eats it up. I will post some of the pictures from the weekend.

STEVEN PICKING STRAWBERRIES

EMMA PICKING SOME TOO...

STEVEN RESTING AND TOMMY AND EMMA PLAYING

OUR PUPPY DOO, GINGER

THE GRASS IS REALLY FILLING IN, AND LOOKING GREAT

A HAPPY EMMA THAT JUST ATE CORN ON THE COB

STEVEN RELAXING AT THE POOL
EMMA RELAXING AT THE POOL TOO

Hope everyone had a great holiday!!

It has been a while!! Blogging is hard, with 2 kiddos

2008-05-17T13:09:00.009-04:00

Hey everyone. Like the title says, blogging is hard with two kiddos. By the time you are done running, and eating, and cleaning up after everyone..., there is not much time left to blog. I promise to try to do better. Maybe Amy and I can rotate, and each blog every 5 days to a week. My sis and her boyfriend are here visiting this weekend, (yay) and are crashed on the sofa resting. Steven is downstairs playing, and Emma is napping as well as Amy (she has work tonight), so I am taking what window I have to get a quick blog in. We have done quite a bit since the last blog. We went to Asheville, NC. to visit Amy's grandmother on Mothers day weekend. That was a long (but nice) trip. It was good to see everyone, and the kids did pretty well in the car on the drive. I don't think Emma is ready for a trip over 4 1/2 hrs for a little while. It was very pretty there in the mountains, and there was plenty of good food. we stayed in a nice hotel with a pool which the kids of course loved. The weather here is looking good. Supposed to be in the upper 70's to mid 80's all this next week. We just got ginger bathed up and shaved for the summer, so she looks really good too. Steven also got his first buzz cut of the impending summer. Emma and I have a litte bit of a cold. Just a little sniffly and she is coughing a little, but nothing bad, and no fever. hopefully this is the last cold of the season, and we can move on to the fun of summer. Steven only has a week or two left of school and then he will be in summer camp of one sort or another for the next few months. Hopefully we can catch up with some friends over the next few months we have not seen in a while, and maybe get to Va once before our beach trip in July for Emma and Tommy's birthday's. Out yard work is finally done as well, and we actually have some grass!! Hopefully we can continue to get rain a day or two a week and it will keep growing. Anyways, let me conclude with some photos of those said kiddos, and some of the stuff they have been doing. Emma in her NC State cheerleader outfit cheering to DaddySteven playing in Asheville with his cousin Tommy Mommy Amy with Steven, Emma, Tommy, and an unknown hound dog...
Emma and Daddy having a huggle in Asheville
The mountains were beautiful
Mommy and Daddy watching a thunderstorm on the porch. Daddy got a shot...

Thats all I got for now. Everyone have a good weekend!!

Productive Weekend... where's the rest...

2008-04-27T21:17:00.012-04:00

Productive Weekend

Let's just have a relaxing weekend at home.... That was the plan. Here is what we did instead. Saturday morning, we woke up at the crack of dawn to go to a nice community yardsale. The neighborhood was so crowded with cars that we decided, like most, to park on the side of the road and walk through. We found a few treasures, mostly clothes and a few toys. The best find was a racecar style four wheeler for Emma. We couldn't wait to get home, and test it out on the cul-de-sac. The fourwheeler would have to wait for a quick breakfast at the newly reopened McCalls Restaurant. (You may remember that a single passenger/piloted airplane crashed into the the entrance of the restaurant 7 or so months ago.) McCalls has been a family favorite for birthdays and large family gatherings over the years. We are glad to see it reopen this week.

Once at home we unloaded and proptly hit the street. Steven alternated between his four wheeler and bycycle, sharing with a neighbor, Trey. Emma learned quickly how to drive her green, purple, and pink racecar. I stayed close and showed her the ropes. We had a blast, and got a little pink during our 20 min test drive. Adjouring to the shade of the back yard swingset, we watched as Chris mowed the yard, then tilled the barren areas in preparation for the landscaper who promises (for the third time) to aerate, fertalize, lime and seed the yard on Monday. I hope he likes working in the rain.

Emma, lulled to nappy time by her baby swing, slept for two hours. This gave me the perfect opportunity to finish my longtime work in the flowerbed. I planted 23 perinials that guarantee to bloom for three seasons of the year. Then I dropped 14 bags of mulch. Soaked in sweat and caked with dirt, I went straight to the shower. Chris made dinner while I chased the kids around the living room. We were all in bed by 9:15. Relaxing weekend at home, right?

Today was a little slower paced. We all slept in, ohhh 'till about 7:40... We did our weekly grocery trip to Wal-Mart while most were at church. While Emma napped, Steven and I workd on his "Independant Project" for school. He decided to do a presentation about snakes, complete with flash cards to read from and a picture of our temporary pet snake. A few weeks ago Steven and I caught a 12 inch Brown Snake in the new flower bed. We kept it a few days, and even fed it an earthworm after some internet research. We let it go before Steven got too attached. It obviously made an impression. The presentation is due in a week, and he is done. I'm a proud mama.

After a few finishing touches on the flower bed, we headed out on a family bike ride. I towed Emma in a trailer. We had a great time, despite how out of shape we are. Steven spun circles around us. We we panting and grunting up the hills, and he never broke a sweat. I guess we need to do it more often. Back the the ever popular swingset we went to unwind. Chris stayed behind and straightened up the garage. The rest of the day was more relaxed. Lots of playing and tickling. What a great weekend!!!

Here are some pictures of the goings on from the past week and weekend...

Emma riding her new racing 4 wheeler

Steven riding his bike with Amy and Emma

Emma riding her scooter / 4 wheeler

Our Puppy Doo!!!

The completed wall and mulched bed...

A closer View...

We hope you are all doing well!!

The birthday week of bad backs and sickies...

2008-04-17T19:56:00.006-04:00

What a week it has been. Things really do happen quickly, so let me catch you up on the events of the last week or so. To start things off, Emma ended up getting hand, foot, mouth disease. She had a fever for a day or two, and then got little blisters on her hands, feet, and around her mouth that laster about a week. It is caused by a virus that you mainly get as a kid, and usually do not get again, kind of like chicken pox. Little beknownst to me, I had also never had the illness, but rest asured, I have had it now. I got really beat down Friday, April 3, and came home from work. It had me out of commission until Sunday afternoon, and by then my fever broke and the blisters came. That part sounds worse than it is, as the blisters were the size of a pin head, maybe a little larger. I got a few on my feet, maybe 15-18 on my hands and a hanful inside my mouth. (that was a treat) I did go back to work that Monday, so life got back to another semblance of normal. We looked forward to the arrival of my birthday weekend, and the coming of my parents to visit with us. They arrived on Friday, April 10, but my dads back was messed up. (he did get to retire on the 3rd of April by the way :>) ) I also did something at work on Thursday of last week to tweek my back as well. It was only moderately injured, and then I played golf Friday, (shot 85), and that night after dinner while I played with the kids and visited, it really began to hurt. It was pretty miserable most of Saturday as well, and my dads back was so bad that they went back to Virginia. We did manage to go eat that night at Outback Steakhouse with me, Amy, the kids, Doug and Trish, and Em, Jody, and Tommy. It was nice, but my back still was mesed up. I went to urgent care on Sunday and got some steroids and muscle relaxers, and things have improved greatly. I did go to work Monday, but tried to take it easy. I also can't golf or lift weights until after Wednesday according to the doctor, but that was no problem, as I really just want this to get better. I took a few pictures from this weekend of me, Amy and the kids from my birthday weekend, and a picture of a lizard that Steven found too. I guess that is about it for now. I will go ahead and wish my parents an early 40 year wedding anniversary. It is really warming up here and should be 75 – 80 for the whole next week, so hopefully we can get all of our yard work done we are in the process of and just be able to enjoy it. Hope everyone is well.

STEVEN AND DADDY ON MY BIRTHDAY

ME AND MY BEAUTIFUL WIFE ON MY BIRTHDAY
STEVEN'S LIZARD HE FOUND ON THE DECK STEVEN HOLDING MY BIRTHDAY BALLOONDADDY AND EMMA AT OUTBACK

THE FUTURE PRINCESS...
HOPE EVERYONE IS DOING WELL. WILL POST AGAIN SOON!!

Happy April everyone

2008-04-03T14:49:00.007-04:00

I am doing pretty well on the making sure I get at least a post a week right now, so I just wanted to start by saying I hope everyone is having a good start to their April. It is hard to beleive that we are already on the 4th month into the year, and it is flying by so fast. I want to start by saying happy belated birthday to our Niece Gabrielle. I know we sent a card and gift on time, (I hope it got there on time), the belated is because the posting date is after the B-day. My birthday is coming up as well, and maybe I will get a walker and some motrin for as old as I feel..., just kidding. Things are good here, Emma has just had a little of a runny nose, but seems to be much better today, so hopefully that is on its way to being better. Now I know why it is hard sometimes to post more than once a week, not much changes sometimes!! We did however do some major yardwork this past weekend, which we hope will payoff this spring. I have some before and after photos, as well as some of the work being done I will post. It has gone from cluttered and crappy, to spaced out, colorful and beautiful. Once the seeding and mulching is done buy the end of the weekend, I will post some more photos of the completed work. Here are some photos so far and of this past week.

This is me getting ready to pull bushes out of the ground with the truck...

Amy and her dad working on breaking the roots free as I pull...

Above was the way it looked right after the wall was done with the plants all bunched together, and no fill dirt behind the wall yet...

Here is the bed as it looks now from a distance...

Here is a view from up closer

And even closer...

As you can see, we did a good bit of work to the bed that my wife planned out, and it looks good to start. Hopefully, when all done, it will really be something. I also tilled the whole yard where there were spots of no grass, or hard as a rock spots, which was basically 1/2 of the yard. I will post next week after we get fertilized and seeded, and hopefully it will look even better and I will have more to say. See ya.

Spring seems to have sprung

2008-03-28T08:39:00.003-04:00

Hey everyone. Back with another quick post, as not much has changed. Steven has a little bit of a congested cough, but no fever and no signs of it slowing him down. We think it is just due to the new abundance of pollen. He also just lost another tooth. If there are 2 things that suck about spring, it is pollen and BUGS. They are starting to come back out now, spinning webs to walk thru and flying in my face during my backswing. Oh well, enough complaining about that. I won't even get into how our cars are turning yellow, and there is apparently not enough water in NC to wash them...
On to other stuff. Emma and Amy are great, and I am doing well too. This weekend will be a good one, as Amy is off all weekend, and we are going to be tilling the yard and planting bushes, trees, and flowers. Maybe after we are done, I will post some early stage photos of that. she has it planned out to where I think it will look pretty good. Hopefully we can get some grass to grow too, and then we will be in business. The kids loved Easter, and of course got plenty of stuff. I am going to put a few pictures from Easter down here, and that will about conclude this post.

This was the kids Easter morning

This is the beautiful and talented Emma

This is Daddy whacking golf balls... this one actually looks good...

Here is Steven, learning the game early..., do I see another Tiger in the works...

That is about all I have for now. I will try to make sure I get in in the next 4 days or so with more pictures and updates. That IS the plan anyways... Take care all.

Just chiming in...

2008-03-20T08:52:00.005-04:00

Just wanted to drop a line in here, as it has been at least a week since I have been here, and I need to lay down a post so I don't get to slack. I know when there are blogs I usually read, if they are not updated at least once a week, I feel like my favorite TV show has been delayed. (lol) Everything here is good. We are winding to the end of Amy's good week, where coming up this weekend,it starts to suck where she works all weekend, and then works 3 of 5 days next week. That is the hard week, as we don't see her enough. But the following weekend will creep up on us, and we will be back to the good week. The good thing is that I think Doug and Trish are coming over for Easter to have an early dinner with us and celebrate with the kids. the only two things that I really wanted to make sure I put in this post were a picture I took of just how talented my wife is, and an Easter picture of the kids from Wal-Mart.

First the freakiness that is my wifes talent level. I know that she does alot of things well, but the other day it crossed the line. She was fooling around with Steven's etch a sketch and here is what we got...

I know, it is scary. She did a house, tree, dog, and a rosebush. I thought my retarted whale I had done was good. I just had to take a picture of this because I had never seen anything like it.

Next was the kids Photo at Wal-Mart with the Easter Bunny. When we went grocery shopping last, we found that they were doing free pictures with the Easter Bunny, but we were not sure how Emma would handle it. She actually did well, maybe because she was with her "bubby", or maybe because she was more curious than scared. The picture turned out well though.
I know they are both ready for Easter, Steven a little moreso than Emma, as she knows "of" the Easter bunny, but not what he brings. She will know after Sunday. That is about all. Amy and I just got bikes as well, and Emma a carrier so we could have family bike rides together and get more excersize. Other than that, life is good, and running normal. Hope you all have a good Easter Holiday!!

Another trip (to VA) and now back to normal

2008-03-07T08:52:00.012-05:00

Some more time has passed, and I think we are back home for a while. Last weekend we went up to VA, to my neck of the woods to visit, for my Mom's birthday. The trip was good. Emma and Steven both did well in the car both ways, and we had a great time as usual.

As you can see, they both had a good time in the car together. They really do get along great, and entertain each other whenever boredom encroaches. Once there, Emma got to play at my parents house, and Steven went with me over to Chuck and Lisa's house to open Christmas gifts, (yes, in March) and he also got to see the dogs.

He really loves playing with them, and Ginger too at home. Steven also got his first taste of getting to ride in the front seat when we went over to Chucks. He needs to be 8 yrs or 80 lbs as a rule here in NC, but I am not sure what the rule is in VA. I just felt that he was close enough to 8 anyway, plus it was vacation, and it was a little something special. He really enjoyed it.

After the trip we have just been hanging out at the house and enjoying being home together as this was Amy's week to be off more during the week. I got a good picture of the kids snuggling on the sofa in the late evening, watching Spongebob Squarepants on TV.

Steven has also been doing really well at Tae Kwon Do lately. He just tested for and passed his test for high green belt. If he works hard and keeps practicing, he could be all the way to black belt in another year so so. He does a really good job in class with his sparring and board breaking. We have some pictures from his last class of him breaking a board, and kicking the standing bag.

I think that is all the news that I have for now. Amy has to work this weekend, so that is a bummer, but I am going to try to play golf at Heritage this weekend with Doug, Ken and Tommy. Hopefully we will get plenty of rain for the area Friday, but it will be long gone by Saturday morning. I will try to get some pictures of that if I can this weekend, and will hopefully be back soon with more news and stories. Hope everyone is well.

What a week...

2008-02-21T20:04:00.009-05:00

It feels good to be back even if I have slacked some on the posting. We really have been busy, and get to take a breath this weekend as Amy has to work, before we make another trek to my part of VA the following weekend for my mom’s birthday. What seems like constant traveling every other weekend seems hard, but it is worth it. We are looking forward to seeing everyone the last week of February.
We also had a really great time at Candice’s baby shower last weekend in Herndon, VA. The trip up and back were not too bad. Doug drove up, and I drove back. It was colder there than here in NC. You could tell where they have been salting the roads a lot up there. We stayed at the Hampton Inn I believe, which was really nice. We had a huge suite on the first floor with a pack and play for Emma, and a fold out couch for Steven. The bed slept great, and we had a 32” at least, flat screen TV in our room, so we could watch Sponge Bob and Scooby in larger than life color. (that was for the kids by the way, even though I do like S.B.) The bathroom was also extra large, with no tub. There was just a huge stand up shower, with a drain in the middle of the floor, and a seat on the wall. The pool and workout rooms were right across from our room which was nice, and the kids loved the pool. Sunday morning the had a continental breakfast, which was probably the worst thing about our stay, but was still not bad. There were some biscuits and gravy, plastic looking eggs, coffee, juices, cereal, milk, yogurt, and pastries and fresh fruit. So, all in all, not bad. It doesn’t hurt when you stop for dinner at Cracker Barrel. While at the shower, the guys were kicked out, so I took Steven to Goodwill nearby, and got him a new toy, and Emma some new clothes and her very own little baby Nike golf putter. I also got to hit the 7-11 for slurpees before we hit the road. The cake Trish made for the shower was awesome as usual, and once it was over and we got back there, the kids really had a good time too. It was nice to see family that we don’t get to see much. (enough) Hopefully it will not be too long before we get to see everyone again.
The kids have been good for a while now. All sicknesses seem to be all better. We were all playing around the house the other night, and Emma was dressed up as the “coat monster.” When she had the hood pulled up, she looked a little like Kenny from South Park. It is just adorable. Her and her “bubby” get along very well for the most part. She loves to run and be chased. We all take turns being “base” and she runs up to whoever is the “safe” one at the time just screaming and giggling. She was laying on Amy, snuggling after we were done playing, and I crawled up to her and said, “love you Emma.” She said back, “I love you too Daddy.” That never ever gets old. Even Amy thought that was so sweet. We really do have fantastic kids. All kids can give you the “pull your hair out” moments, but the vast majority of the time, ours are just too good to be true. Emma has really gotten into Scooby Doo lately. She will grab the remote (mote’ mote) and sit on the sofa, hand me the remote and say, “Scooby Dooby Doo daddy.” Just wait until she starts watching all her princess shows and what not. Steven will love having to share TV time with that. He does do a really good job sharing though.
Other than that, I think I am done for this post. Amy went with Steven not long ago to the circus and took some pictures of that field trip, but I will let her tell that tale. Hope everyone is doing well and healthy. Tomorrow is Friday!! :>) Have a great weekend.

Happy Weekend

2008-02-09T22:27:00.000-05:00

Hey everybody! This is just a mid weekend post to let everyone know that we are all doing better on the wellness front, and we may all be ok now. I am still crossing my fingers on Emma's ears, but she has not complained in a few days, so I am optimistic. Amy worked last night and tonight, so I am just here watching over the kiddo's and getting ready to crash myself. We are trying to eat better and be healthier this year, and so when we can, we go for a walk in the evening as a family, and take Ginger for some exersize too. Tonight on our walk, I got a few pictures on my phone I am going to post.

This was a picture of Amy and Emma on our walk in front of the neighborhood

This was Steven, Daddy and Ginger

Thats about it. We just wanted to say we miss you to all we haven't seen in a while, and we can't wait to see those of you in VA who we will see in the next few weeks. Amy is off tomorrow night so that she can go to the Circus with Steven on Monday on his field trip. So it will be nice to all be home tomorrow night. Anyways, everyone have a great weekend!!

2008-02-05T14:48:00.000-05:00

This is Chris, and I am going to try to blog in some form of red from now on so you will know when it is me and when it is Amy. (Like it would be hard to tell otherwise)
I am posting my first ever post super bowl blog. Also, just a mid week type blog. All football is over until fall, and it is a little depressing. You wait for a certain amount of months, to get to the big event, and then once it is over... blah. It sucked enough that the Giants won, since I am a Dallas fan. I wanted the cowboys and the chargers in the big game. I guess I was not too upset though since I really did not have a dog in the fight. I will have to make do with college basketball for the next few months, along with the start up of the PGA tour, (yea golf weather), and NASCAR. I am definitely not as in to that as I used to be, but I am anxious to see how JR will do with his new team. Nuff said...
In matters of family, we are still on the mend, but are doing better. Em is still phlemmy, but is noticeably better, and we are crossing our fingers on her next checkup on the ear infection. She was tired last night, as she got to go over to her buddies’ house with Steven and they all got to play yesterday afternoon. We have not seen them in a few months, and they had a really good time. Steven still has not been sick, (that is me knocking on wood), so that is good. We had a good weekend last weekend of lounging around, and resting some. This weekend I may take the kids to hit some garage sales, or thrift stores, to see if I can find them some good stuff, and maybe a few gifts for Valentines Day, which is rapidly approaching. I have some good ideas for that, but I am keeping them to myself. I am better, which is a relative term. The antibiotic seems to have killed my phlegmmies, and they are almost cleared up, but I am still tired. I am hoping that will be better by this weekend, as this is Amy's good week, and I get to see her a lot this week, as well as by increasing my exercise this week too. We are trying to get healthier this year, but my loss in January was only 4 lbs, which was not what I was shooting for. I am hoping for double that this month. Amy looks good though as usual. Anyways, that is all for now. I will chime back in later this week, hopefully with some new pictures of the kiddos. Take care everybody.

On the Mend.....We hope.

2008-02-03T12:19:00.000-05:00

This is my (Amy's) official first blog entry. We have officially spent a car payments worth of money on ER and Dr. Office visits copays in the last two weeks, between Emma, Steven, and Chris. Hopefully everyone is on the mend now. Today, Emma will get her fourth Rocephin injection. The pediatrician sent me home yesterday with the last dose. It's nice to have inside connections. But now I'm left giving it to her myself....or not. Luckly, one of our neighbors is a nurse, and has agreed to do the dirty deed. I've learned that "nasty" is a medical term that can be use to describe my daughters right ear drum, as two different pediatricians have diagnosed it as such. Chris seem's to be doing better today. The Z-pack is helping. Since last years episide number two of pneumonia, we border on paranoia everytime Chris gets sick.

I gave the kids haircuts last night. I must toot my own horn, and say that I did a good job. Emma now has a little curly bob. She did surprisingly well, and sat fairly still.... Okay, she was all over the place. So again, I did a good job. Steven rolled around on the floor to help her look down for me. Chris stood at her side to keep her from wiggling off the stool. We would have taken pictures, but that would have required the assistance of another adult. Steven is as handsome as ever. I shaved his neck for the first time, at his request. He was terrified that I would cut him, and asked, "Have you done this before?" I wanted to reply, "I only shave a third of my body on a regular basis." But that would have led to more questions, so I just said, "Yeah, a few times."

I'll leave you with my favorite picture from our recent trip to Myrtle Beach. This is Emma and her cousin, Thomas.

Hope everyone has a Great Super Bowl Comercials, and game too. We'll post some pictures from our little family "Super Bowl Comercial, and game too" party at a later time.

Do we live on Johnston or Sick-ton county...

2008-02-01T09:10:00.000-05:00

Well, it is a new month, and we are still fighting the sickies...

Emma will be back to her doctor today to get her ear infection status checked. If it is getting better, we are good there. If not, I think he is going to give Amy 3 doses of Rocephyn to bring home to giver her as shots to kick this thing out of her. She continues to get better on the RSV front, but is still congested and rattles in her chest some. She does well with the inhaler though and has not complained as much as I would. :>)

I am sickly as well. Have been all week, starting last Sunday night. I just went to the doc yesterday, and she was not sure exactly what it was. Could be a sinus infection moving to my lungs, so I got a Z pack for my antibiotic of choice. Hopefully I will feel better by the end of the weekend. I already feel better knowing that it is Amy's weekend off and we can just rest and relax.

Steven is the lucky one in this mixing bowl of illness. He has managed not to get sick yet..., knock on wood. He does have some sniffles, but I think that is due to so much changes in the weather. He just got another report card from school and he did super. He got all S's and is on grade level for everything. I think he is supposed to get tested next year for the accelerated class, so he is really doing well.

I guess that is all I have for now. We are going to enjoy our weekend at home this weekend, as the next 2 or 3 weekends that Amy is off, I think we will be traveling. We are going to Northern VA for a baby shower the next weekend she os off, and will try to get to VA from my neck of the woods the last weekend in Feb. I have been slack on the family photos lately, so I will try too get camera busy and post some pictures soon of the kids. They just grow up so fast!! Everyone have a good weekend!!

Some good news...

2008-01-28T15:43:00.000-05:00

I have been hoping for some good news as we all seem to be getting a sickness of some sort lately. Today we got a little...
Steven went to the doctor for his checkup of his EKG he had done last week to check on any signs of long QT syndrome, which is a heart problem which can be fixed by beta blockers and sometimes a pacemaker. There was a history of that on a "distant" side of the family. Symtpoms can be fainting and sometimes cardiac arrest. Amy knows much more about this than I, but the one thing I do know that is GREAT, is that Steven's doctor said that is EKG was perfectly normal. So, all we have is one "possible" fainting episode for Steven at school and a history on one side of family. The doctor suggested that everything was ok, and we will just continue to monitor every year. If no change, then he is a Ok. If there was some change, we could take him to see a pediatric cardiologist. I know all of this sounds scary, because it was, but the important thing to remember is that the doctor just said everything looks fine. So, we will keep a close watch on him.
Emma had a checkup as well. Her ear still looks kinda nasty, but she feels alot better, so she stays on the antibiotic she is on, and goes back in another week or so. Her RSV is clearing up nicely according to the doctor, so we should keep treating as we have been and that should also be fine. Both kids are real troopers when it comes to being sick.
Amy and I on the other hand are begining to feel like crap. I think whatever Emma has had that we managed to steer clear of for a week or so, has decided to hit us after all. I feel like a small garbage truck has started to run me over, but hasn't yet pulled all the way off of me yet. I know Amy is also starting to feel bad, and this is her tough week at work. I feel even more for her. We had thoughts of going out of town to visit relatives this coming weekend, but we will have to do some quick mending if that is to be the case. Our family seems to be like a walking medacine ad lately. (lol) Anyways, that's the latest update. Just wanted to let everyone know what was going on. Take care and I'll be back soon.

Here we have gone again...

2008-01-25T11:13:00.000-05:00

As the title says..., here we go again. As I wrote in the last blog, Emma had gone to the ER in SC. for her breathing troubles. They thought RSV. When taking her back to the ER in Wilson Sun night, that was confirmed, and she got plenty of meds to treat her and make her all better. Or so I thought...
Wednesday evening when picking Emma up from Debbie's, she could not help but notice Emma's blood curdling screams of pain for some unknown reason. She just kept saying "owie" over and over. Motrin did the trick for the pain and she was able to calm down, but did wake up 4 times that night which is very unusual for her. Back to her normal doctor on Thursday, where we found out that her eardrum was bulging outward, as she had an inner ear infection as a side effect of the RSV. So, off the Ammoxacillin and on to a really strong antibiotic. (than you insurance) Anyways, the crankiness has mostly subsided, and she only woke up once last night around midnight thirty, so things are getting better. (I hope!!) My wonderful wife let me sleep, but even though I was glad to get that sleep, I miss taking care of the kids when they feel bad when I don't get to be there. Hopefully after this weekend, everyone will be feeling better, and we can exhale for a bit. Steven is going to the doctor today for a precautionary test, but I will let you know more on that when that is done. Amy knows more about that than I right now. Work is good all the way around, and we have lots of little trips coming up, but we hope you are all doing well, and I will chime in again soon I hope with more pictures and a better understanding as to how to place them. B-Y-E.

Back from vacation..., is that what that was...

2008-01-21T09:53:00.000-05:00

Well it sure is Monday, and we are back to normal I guess, as normal as things can get. My previous 3 blogs from the first of the year until now have dissappeared, and so I am starting anew on that. We also just got back from our family vacation to Myrtle beach, (yes the beach in January, it was an indoor water park), and boy was it cold!! The high while we were there was 45 degrees, and we even had a bout of wintery mix Saturday afternoon. Good thing that the parks were inside the Condo we stayed at, which was very nice. (chosen by my wonderful wife) Nice job I must say. We had a 3 bedroom Condo, with an Ocean view. We were on the 4th floor of 14 floors, and the 4 of us (me , amy, and the kids) had a room, Amy's parents had a room, and her sister, husband, and our nephew had a room. There was a living room area, balcony with view of the ocean, full kitchen, and even a washer and dryer. We all had a good time at the park and the kids loved it!! We went out to eat twice. Once at Original Benjamin's Calabash seafood, which I thought was "fit", but pricey, and Cheeseburger in Paradise, which was also good. Of course I hit a thrift store while we were there too. The only part of the trip that sucked, was that Saturday night Emma had some wheezing and trouble breathing, and we ended up having to take her to 82nd street Medical Center Emergency Room in Myrtle Beach that night to get checked out. She was a trooper and had a breathing treatment and some steroids there and was released. We got back to the room about 1am, which was good time, seeing as how we left at 10pm. We got there, were seen, and went to a 24 hr CVS for perscriptions and back to the hotel all in 3 hrs. They were very efficient and very nice at that hospital. (if you ever need emergency care in Myrtle beach SC, I highly recomend them) Emma did fine for the first 1/2 of the next day, but by the time we got home was cranky and obviously not feeling well. Amy called the doc here, and was instructed to bring her back to the ER in Wilson as she now had a temp of 102.5. (the night before, no temp) Anyways, I lost it of course, because I hate when the kids get really sick. I would rather it be me than them. Steven is such a big boy now when he feels bad, and Emma is too, (big girl :>) ) but Steven understands why he is sick and what we are doing to make him better and Emma does not. I think that is another reason I felt so bad. I love the kids when they are so little and cute, but when Emma hits 5 or so, and Steven is 11, that will be nice, because they will both be able to understand stuff like trips to the doctor, and the reasons why, as well as what is being done to make it better. Anyways, she got Motrin, Tylenol, some x-rays, breathing treatments, steroids, and a shot of Rocephin, as well as some perscriptions to be picked up later. She was diagnosed with RSV I think... It is a respratory illness, but not as bad as the Pneumonia I was worried she had. So, she is on the road to recovery, we are home and unpacked, and life is getting back to "normal" as we get back into the swing of things from our fun but interesting vacation. I am hopeful that we are going to be able to get to Virginia for my moms birthday in late February, but we will see what we see. Let cross our fingers for W2 statements soon, so we can get our tax money. Hopefully everyone we know is doing well and I will be back on here soon for an update.