Happy Birthday Pop

Happy Birthday to Pop. We love you very much.

Happy Birthday Mom/Nina

Happy Birthday to you.

Happy Birthday to you.

Happy Birthday Dear Nina.

Happy Birthday to you.

We love you,

Bart, Sharie, Ryan, Cale, and Natalie

Happy 60th Anniversary

Happy 60th Anniversary to Grandmama and Pop!!! What an example you have set for the rest of us married couples. I can see that you are still very much in love even after all these years.

Birds, Birds, Birds

Every day this week our yard has been invaded by birds. We have (had) a peanut field by our house and I guess they were eating the left over peanuts because they left peanut shells everywhere in our yard. They were very noisy birds too. The boys had a good time chasing them and yelling at them trying to scare them away. It would work for about a minute and then they would all fly back. I was amazed at how many birds there were. They were literally in every branch in every tree in our yard and they covered the field by our house.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone. We love you all!!!

Granny sent the kids Valentine cards. Natalie's had a crown with stickers (jewels) to decorate it with. The boys had fun decorating it and Natalie thought she was a princess with her crown on. Thank you Granny and Chief. Thanks to Rylee too. The kids were so excited when they got their packages in the mail. The boys wanted to eat all of their candy right away and Natalie loved giving kisses and hugs to her tiger. How sweet of you to think of them. The boys said, "Rylee sure is a nice girl."

"We need help getting the cadillac up the driveway."

Pete, Jessica, and the Rolands left the mountains Sunday while my family, Mom and Dad stayed until Monday. Our driveway was really steep and when Pete and Jessica went to leave they started spinning and sliding back down the driveway. We all tried to help push it back up the driveway but it only kept spinning and sliding further down. We tried for a long time to get it out but it only got worse every time we tried to do something. It eventually got in a spot where we couldn't move it at all so we had to call a tow truck to get it out of the driveway. They couldn't come until Monday morning so Pete and Jessica drove Mom's car home and Dad drove Jessica's car home Monday. The tow truck had to pull the back end of the car over in order for it to be driven out. It only took a minute or two, we just didn't have the right equipment to do it. At least the car didn't have any damage. We just needed some excitment. That one can go down in the memory books.

It may not look stuck but I promise it is.

Tow Truck Man to the rescue! I was a little worried this would mess up the tire but I guess he knew what he was doing. It was a little scary when the tow truck started sliding down towards the car.

That's all it took. It drove up the driveway with no problem after that.

Georgia Mountains

Mom and Dad gave all of us a trip to the mountains for Christmas. The first weekend in Feb. we all headed up to Cleveland, GA. All of us that is except for Bart. He couldn't go at the last minute because of problems they were having at work. I was so sad that he had to work and couldn't do with us. We sure missed him. We stayed in the most beautiful cabin with an awesome view.

This was looking back at our house from the water. It was a VERY steep and scary climb. The boys loved the hot tub. I wasn't sure about getting in water in the freezing cold even if the water was warm, but Sunday it was so warm I decided to let the boys get in. They had a great time and thought it was so cool that they could touch the bottom and "swim" all over.

Sat. afternoon we went shopping in Helen, GA. We walked around for hours with 5 children 3 and under and didn't have one problem with any of the children. I was amazed at how good they were. Natalie loves to ride in her Snugli. Daddy Daddy and I split the time of carrying her around. She's getting a little heavy for it. We window shopped a lot because I was scared to take the boys into shops with lots of breakable things. Time to take a break!!! Poor Ryan had to be the woman in this picture. He doesn't mind now but years from now he probably will not like this too much.Thomas and SarahPete and Jessica were forced to take this picture.

Thanks Mom and Dad for a great weekend! We had a great time together and made lots of memories. Bart, so sorry you missed this one. We missed you so much. I guess this means we'll have to go back.

Our New Pet?

These pictures are really dark and hard to see but we have had an owl in our yard every day for about a week now. We first saw it in the front yard in the middle of the day. The next day it was sitting on top of our mail box, and we've seen it many times in the back yard. I decided to finally try to get a picture of him. He is sitting on top of the trampoline in the top picture. Bart took this one. He could've gotten a little closer but once that owl starts staring right at you it gets a little scary. The bottom picture he is sitting on top of the basketball goal. I thought this pic was funny becuase Lucy is walking right beside it and has no idea.

Feeling Better

After a few days of being stuck inside because the boys were sick we were all very happy to have a warm day so we could go out and play. I sat Natalie in the boys jeep and ran inside to get my camera because she was having such a good time. When I got back outside like 10 seconds later this is what I found.

The boys had climbed in with her which she loved even more. Cale drove them around the yard They were all having a blast. It was a tight squeeze but I guess they didn't care.

Santa knew what he was doing when he brought these boys a trampoline. They love it. They can stay on it forever and play and I don't have to worry about them at all with that safety net.

Garden City Barbecue

Barbecue cookoffs are starting up again. This was in Orangeburg. I love it when their close to home because we can go Friday night, go back home to sleep, and go back Sat. morning. This weekend was pretty miserable though. We bundled the kids up and went Friday night for a little while but did not go back Sat. because it was pouring rain. Flavor Masters did good though. They finished 1st in anything but pork (shrimp nasty), 7th in barbecue, 6th in ribs, and 3rd in chicken. Not a bad start. They were 2nd in Grand Champion. Congrats!!!We gave Dad this sign for Christmas.

Dad, Pete, Jessica, and Bart hanging out by the fire.

Sarah is always so happy. She sat in the stroller almost all night and didn't fuss a bit. What a good girl.

Thomas loves Natalie. He is always hugging and kissing her. It is so sweet.

Chillin like a big girl. She has on so many layers she can hardly move.

As you can see, Thomas did not want to be in this picture.

Looking back I can tell that this is a sign of a boy that isn't feeling too good. All night Cale was quiet and freezing. He spent most of the night snuggled up by this heater. Saturday morning both boys woke up with fever. No fun. They were both very sick little boys. By Monday morning they were much better though and thankfully no one else got sick. They were still coughing pretty bad but no fever thank goodness.