Happy 5th Birthday Peanut!!

Madison Caroline turned 5 years old and we were able to celebrate with her!! It was such a blessing to be there!! She had her birthday at McDonald's with all her family there! She got a lot of fun toys and cute clothes for the winter! They played, had happy meals and cake! It was a very nice party, Maddie really enjoyed herself and I am so glad we were a part of all that!!!

Weekend in NY

After being more than 2500 miles apart for the last 3 years I am finally only a few hours from my sister and her family! We have always talked about being able to be there for birthdays and holidays but have never had the opportunity. Now we can! So of course when my nieces birthday rolled around we decided to take a trip up to New York to celebrate her 5th birthday! Now unfortunately we were not able to see much of Hudson (it's a small town so there isn't much anyway) because the entire time we were there, it rained. Even though it is a small town, we would have loved to see it. They have a lot of history there! However, we can always go again since it's only a 7 hour drive!!!

Growing Pains

This picture was taken just before we left
California. It was super short because I had to cut off all the dead hair (thanks to lovely 29 Palms weather & water). I didn't mind it but I have started to get bored with it. I love doing different styles with my hair and I get bored very easily so I have decided to grow it back out. It won't be as long as it was a couple of years ago. I am just trying to get it an inch or two past my shoulders. As long as I can wash it and put it up to run out the door, I'm good! The second picture was taken about 3 weeks ago and I'm not too far from where I want my hair to be!! I'm excited! I can actually pull it up but it's like this mini-ponytail, ha ha! I can feel it barely touching my shoulders!! Hopefully by Spring I'll have it where I want it! It's been a pain waiting for it to grow but I knew when I cut it I'd be in this position, lol! I do it all the time!! ha!

Tootie-Ta

Caiti first learned about this dance from her cousin, Madison. Now she has learned about it again at school and it is her favorite dance!! She does it all the time and I can't get enough of it.

Trip to the ER

Caiti had her first trip to the ER here in Virginia. I picked her up from school one day and she wasn't acting like herself and she was a bit warm. She passed out as soon as we got in the car and slept almost the entire day. Her fever spiked up so I gave her medicine but it didn't get any better. So I took her to the ER and was told "it's just a sore throat" and we were sent home 30 minutes later...quickest ER trip ever!!! Well, to make a long story short, 3 days later she still wasn't better (now day 5 of fevers) so I took her to her doctor. He did everything he felt possible and told me she did have strep throat but also had sinusitis. So he switched her medicine and in 24 hours she was feeling better! I love their doctor here!!!

Fall Family Picnic

One day we went to drop the boat off and saw how beautiful Lunga Park was and decided to plan a family BBQ to ring in the new season. Jay and I prepared a bunch of yummy food, packed up the kids toys and headed over to the park. The day was absolutely beautiful!! The kids had fun running around the park finding rocks, throwing the ball around, playing on the playground and eating yummy food. We have not had a picnic with just the four of us in a while so this was really nice! Everything about the day was perfect!!

Tigers Football

This sport has been a bit of a challenge for Cory. He's had so much to learn but so much to gain!! I was very hesitant when Jay wanted to put Cory in tackle football but I am really glad we did it. He has grown a lot from the beginning of the season. They have now played 6 games and have two left. Cory will be missing one of those games however. It's so fun to watch him. When his heart is really in it, he really shows us how much he's learned. There are times where he gets bored and lazy (based on the position he is playing). He has a preference for defense but gets more play on offense. We keep telling him to prove to his coach that he is a strong defensive player. He tries!! Below are pictures from recent games...