Long Time No Blog

Wow! It has been a long time since I have posted!

I'm incredibly bored at work this week, so I thought this might be a wonderful time to update my blog, even though I am sure at this point that I have lost my two readers. Oh well, journaling is good for the soul!

Life has moved quickly since my last post. At that point we had arrived in California and were at the start of an amazing vacation. We had a great time, saw some amazing sights, including the Grand Canyon! It was incredible.

The summer was crazy busy. We traveled ALOT! We were able to take a family mission trip of sorts and went to Liberty Retreat where we have some wonderful friends that manage a camp up there. Tyler was able to participate in the camp, while Kayla helped out. I was the cook for the week and Craig was the handyman. It was a fabulous week!

Summer quickly turned into the start of another school year. Kayla started middle school this year and it was an adjustment, but I'm so proud of how well she has done. The second day of school, she started an almost week long process of trying out for the softball team - which she made. We were ridiculously proud! The coach said that she probably wouldn't play much because he pretty well had his team set, but it would give her the benefit of practicing with the team every day and growing in her game. And grow she did! It was a grueling couple of months of two-three hour practices every day and two games a week, but it was a great time. She did get to play a little and we are looking forward to doing it all over again next fall. She is doing gifted classes and they have been tough, but she is hanging in there with them. She also joined our youth group at church and has thoroughly enjoyed every bit of that. Craig and I have commented several times on how God has put leaders around her in youth that continually reinforce what we are teaching at home. It is very encouraging!

Tyler played flag football this year and had a great time. It was a little like watching paint dry, I must confess, but don't tell him I said so! :) They are so little and sort of clueless about the game, but he had fun anyway! He started first grade in the fall and has the same first grade teacher that Kayla had. She is the most wonderful christian lady and we feel so blessed to have her as his teacher! Last month Tyler made the decision to make Christ his personal Lord and Savior. I wish I had his prayer recorded where he told God that he wanted to follow His Son, Jesus. It was the most precious thing I have ever heard! Craig was the one who led him to the Lord and that was just a blessing! I was able to lead Kayla to the Lord several years ago and I was so thankful that Craig was the one to talk with Tyler.

We are now in the midst of the Christmas season and I will confess that I have kind of missed the point of Christmas this year. Praise God that He is bringing me around this week and showing me that my focus has been all wrong. I have been so busy working, shopping, cooking, etc. that I have turned into a grouch this year. I'm working on that! Things will be done differently within our family next year. Enough said.

Craig is in his final week at his current job. A couple of months ago he was offered a different position within his same company and he will begin making that transfer next week. He will be an Airframe Sales Manager...I think that is the right title! It is a corporate job, but he will still be able to be based at the facility here in Augusta where he is now, he will just move to a new floor. This job is something that we have prayed for over the last few years and God just carved this job out special for him. In September, he had his 40th birthday, and we traveled to Michigan to attend his first University of Michigan football game at the Big House in Ann Arbor. It was a huge deal for us...something that he has always wanted to do. We had an amazing time. It was the opening game in a newly renovated stadium. Very cool.

I'm not going to promise to be a better blogger, but it feels good to reflect on all that has happened the last several months. Merry Christmas!

Arrived!

Yesterday was, maybe, the longest day ever, but we have landed safely in California and arrived at my sister-in-law's house and caught up with all of the family.

We woke up at 3:45 a.m. yesterday to be ready to catch our flight at 6:40. The kids thought that the plane ride was amazing. Kayla did fabulous! Tyler was a typical six year old little boy. A little wild but not too bad. I think he was so overcome with everything going on that he couldn't figure out what to do. He finally fell asleep about five minutes before we landed in L.A. Go figure! We had a short wait in L.A. to wait to meet up with Craig's aunt and uncle. Once we met up with them, we had about a 45 minute bus ride to meet up with Craig's brother-in-law. From there we had about an hour ride to get to their house. It was a loooonnnngggg day! By the time we all arrived we were all tired and hungry. My sister-in-law had a wonderful meal ready for us. We hung out on their outside patio by the pool all evening. The weather here is amazing. There is 0% humidity and a constant breeze blowing. So, even though it is hot, it doesn't feel that warm.

We are staying in a 5th wheel in my sister-in-law's back yard, so even though there is 12 people here, it feels like we have our own little home, complete with running water!

Today's agenda consists of hanging out by the pool and getting caught up from yesterday! More to come soon....

It's Finally Time

Well, after months of planning and saving, the time has come. We are leaving for vacation tomorrow morning! This will be the kids first plane ride and I cannot wait to see their faces when the plane takes off!

Craig's sister lives in California, not too far from Los Angeles. His oldest nephew is graduating from high school on Thursday, so we are flying out for the occasion. His mom and dad are already out there and his aunt and uncle are also meeting us out there. Carrie, Craig's sister, has done an awesome job of planning a vacation for us to enjoy while we are out there. Here is the breakdown:

Tuesday - Get up ridiculously early and fly to L.A. Wait on Aunt Linda and Uncle Dave. Arrive at Bill and Carrie's house around supper time.

Wednesday and Thursday - relax by the pool and attend graduation

Friday - HOLLYWOOD!!! This was Kayla's pick for the day. We are going to shop on Rodeo Drive, see the stars, and catch Toy Store 3 at the El Capitan theatre, where we will also get to meet the cast! My children are going to flip over this. We are having dinner at the original Spaghetti Factory on Sunset Boulevard and then heading home!

Saturday - graduation party and pack up

Sunday - church and leave for Loflin, Nevada

Monday - Hoover Dam and then travel to Williams, Arizona

Tuesday - Travel by train to the Grand Canyon

Wednesday - Grand Canyon and back to Williams, Arizona

Thursday - Home

Friday - relax by the pool

Saturday - back to our own beds!

To say we are excited is an understatement. We don't usually do big vacations like this and I am in awe of how God has provided for us. I believe with all of my heart that God wants His children to have time away to rest and relax and enjoy His incredible creation.

An obnoxious amount of pictures to come when we get home!

The "Season" of Our Life

Well, 'tis the season, baseball season, that is! It is upon us. It is killing me! And we love it!

Last year Kayla played softball and Tyler did the CCRD B.A.T.S program which is like training for underage T-ballers. We didn't have too many scheduling conflicts last year, but we haven't been so lucky with our schedules this year. Add to that, all of the end of the year school activities, like plays and honors night, and you have yourself a pretty crazy life. I'm not complaining just stating the facts. We are at the ball field several nights a week. Most games are on Tuesdays and Thursdays with a few scattered Monday games. Kayla's coach loves to practice and those usually fall on Monday nights or Saturday mornings. So, there you have it.

The kids are having a blast and so are Craig and I. Tyler's games are a little....slow. We are used to the older kids playing and have forgotten what the T-Ball games are like. BUT, he is learning and has one coach on the team that is fabulous! Tyler listens well to this guy and has improved greatly! Last week he threw a kid out at second base. I was stunned (and I think he was too!)

Kayla's games are a whole other story. They are so much fun to watch and so many of the girls are just getting really good. Kayla loves to play catcher and I just want to say that she is awesome at it! The girls can steal bases in her league and are encouraged to do so. She has gotten really close to throwing some of them out.

For about three more weeks we will eat, sleep, drive, and live baseball/softball and we will enjoy every minute of it. It is so worth it to see everything that kids get out of it. They are coordinated, athletic, and I think it is helping to build their self esteem.

So, here you go, pictures from the first games...










This is the only bad thing about playing catcher - her back is always to me, so it is hard to take a good picture! :)

Pictures!

Here are the pictures of Craig and I's trip to Atlanta last weekend. We had such a great time!


This is what he found when he got home on Friday. I gave him only enough information so he would know to bring his clubs and what kind of clothes to pack. Told him to be ready to leave the house at 7:00a.m. Saturday morning.


Here he is suiting up! He doesn't look a day over 30, does he? I love this man!





Did I mention that I love this man? I do!


This is not good!



Us at the Cheesecake Factory. Craig couldn't believe that I asked the waiter to take our picture, but I did!


Buffalo Blasters - these will light you up! But they were yummy!


Original Cheesecake with cherry topping! Can I just say that it does not get any better than this folks!

Happy Day Before Your Birthday!

Craig and I have a corny birthday wish thing that we do...we (more he than me), wish each other a happy day before your birthday or a happy day after your birthday. I told you it was corny! Anyway, this year my husband will turn 40 years old and I've been trying to come up with fun ways to celebrate the days leading up to this monumental occasion. So, since May 5 will mark 4 months before his 40th birthday, I decided a "Happy Four Months Before Your Birthday" celebration was in order. Since the 5th falls in the middle of the week we had to celebrate a few days early!

Can I just stop and say that this is probably one of the only surprises that I have been able to pull off with Craig not finding out where we were going ahead of time? He didn't know where we were going until we were almost there! It was awesome! We left at 7:00 a.m. this past Saturday morning, stopped for breakfast and then traveled 2 1/2 hours to the Chateau Elan to play golf on one of their courses. Pictures will be in the next post, but let me tell you, it was beautiful! I haven't gone golfing with Craig since we were dating. We had the best time. I didn't golf, just rode along, but I did prove to be a pretty useful caddy! He even let me drive the cart a couple of times! We had a great time. He taught me all about the game and the etiquette involved in the game. Who knew that so much went in to playing golf.

We left the course and drove to Atlanta and got checked in to our hotel, then went to have dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Yum!!! Yes, I took pictures of our food - it seems that, in blogging, that is the new thing to do. Again, pictures in the next post. After dinner, we went to Dave and Busters. If you don't know what Dave and Busters is, let me tell you... it is like Chuck E Cheese on steroids. It is Chuck E Cheese with slot machines. It was so much fun! Craig and I both discovered that I have a little addiction to one of the games - it wasn't pretty. I dropped 15 tokens in about 15 seconds. So much fun!

We spent the night in Atlanta and traveled back yesterday. It really was one of the most enjoyable trips we have had. It is always fun to get away, but this trip was just all about Craig and the kind of things that he likes to do. So, Happy 4 Months Before Your 40th Birthday babe! Glad you had fun!

Spring Break 2010

Ahh, spring break! I have slept until 8:30 or 9:00 for the past two days. It has been bliss!

My in-laws are here this week and they are helping with a few home projects. I think we are always doing home projects. We are a little over half way done with our master bathroom and I hope to be able to post before and after pictures of that soon. However, the big project for this week is Kayla's room. It is being painted today and she is so excited! I didn't really get any great before pictures, but I will post what I took when I also have after pictures to show! It will be a while before it is all complete, because we have a couple of pieces of furniture to buy and that probably won't happen this week. Her room is going from grass green and flowers to a sophisticated brown and turquoise. It has taken most of forever for her and I to agree upon a bed set, but we finally found one that we both liked. Can't wait to share!

Other than home projects, we have made a trip to McDonalds and Monkey Joes -that is always a spring break/summer vacation favorite! Tomorrow we are going to the movies with some friends, and we are even going to try to get in a picnic and a trip to library this week. BUT, today is stay at home and relax day, and I am loving every minute of it! It is almost 11:00 and I'm still in my PJ's! Yay!