Our Family Vacation to Myrtle Beach

My, my where does time go. Since my last blog entry we have been so busy between vacation, birthdays, wedding showers for Patrick and Juliana and the beginning of my favorite season fall there has been left little time to record some of our favorite memories to our family blog. Enjoy!! I will try to go easy with pictures though I love them, especially with my wonderful new camera.

First there was our family vacation. We always get to enjoy a trip late in the summer after school has started back for most. This year Brad chose the location and yes my wonderful hubby chose with the delights of his children and their mommy in mind. So yes that means to the beach! We decided on Myrtle Beach this year. On our way we went through Charlotte, NC to detour to the new NASCAR Museum then on to Myrtle Beach for the week. On our way home we decided to catch a game in Atlanta to break up the dreaded ride home when vacation is over and you know the work week is close at hand. The kids were wonderful riding in the car to our delight. Our first stop at the NASCAR Museum was a little of a challenge due to only one stroller but nothing a quick trip to Wal-Mart can’t fix. Then on to the beach. This year the kids were a little older so we were able to enjoy the beach a little longer each day than last year. After all day at the beach and a quick nap it was on for shopping and eating. Beach days were over but vacation was not one last stop just for Brad. We caught a Braves game on September 11th which ended with a concert by Montgomery Gentry. What a wonderful time we had.

A day at the NASCAR Museum



Our Family Beach Trip 2010



Me and Carson at Myrtle Beach. I love this picture!



What could be better than a day spent at the beach!

This was the morning I got up to watch the sunset and Caroline woke up just as I was getting settled with a cup of coffee to enjoy a very special moment God sent to us to share.

the best of friends

On to Atlanta

Ready for the game

What's a game without food

Carson's first taste of cotton candy was a success



Yes that's me

I debated on whether or not to blog about this. NO one ever wants to show a bad picture of themselves but this is our family blog and a family shares all and makes memories with all events so it seemed fitting to have this event in our family scrapbook for 2010. So this is how the story goes: All of us that have boys and girls know of all the differences that come with raising boys from girls. For that matter just the difference of each child we raise. Carson is my sweet, loving little boy but as little boys go he can be a little rough. It is not a trait he does on purpose to be mean only that he does not do things soft or delicate so to say. Carson is loving to do all things boy which falls on the side of being rough. Now that said he is also my big helper and can be so tender hearted. Last Thursday, it was my day off and what do we spend our time off doing but cleaning the house and catching up on chores. We were starting some laundry and Carson was "helping" me. That's his version. My version was he was strowing the laundry as I was trying to get it into the washer. As I bent down to pick the laundry up from the floor, Carson picked this moment to jump into the air to hand me what he was holding. Our heads collided and the was the result:

Yes that's right a big black eye!

Now since I debated on adding this to our blog these pictures are a few days after the fact but eas this is still what my eye looks like a week later.  And now it is starting to eem even a littl funny as things many times do after the fact.  Just one more story for our family to remember of the things that came when Carson turned 2!

I sorry mommy, not mean tooooooo

Happy Birthday Patrick!

Happy Birthday Patrick!

Christi, Patrick, Aimee: Just the 3 of us with that special brother sister bond
( and no Christi never has her eyes open in pictires)

Not many pictures for our recent celebration but just a few of the three of us.  Last Friday August the 13th, was my brother's 24th birthday.  We celebrated Sunday with a family get together for dinner and cake.  It was all so yummy.  It is hard to believe Patrick is grown up.  He has always been my baby brother and I have always tried to take care of him.  I sometimes forget he has already entered the adult world and then he will call me and we will have one of those conversations full of worry, advice or problems that you only encounter once you get to the "grown up" world. And that is when reality hits... Patrick isn't a baby anymore.  I am very proud of the man he has become with that go get um attitude based on strong beliefs in God that always pick him up and get him through that next trial of life.  It is funny to me how much we are a like.  I know that when something so small is important to me and doesn't seem to be to anyone in the rest of the world I can always count  on Patrick to find that same importance in what is so important to me.  He is my very best friend somone I can always count on, to share a good cry with or a good laugh.  Worry with or share a problem with someone I always count on.  It's hard to believe that he is getting married in just 2 short months, but I guess that's what happens when you grow up.  So for my baby brother who totally gets this next statement even if no one else does:

Happy Birthday day, Happy Birthday week, AND Happy Birthday Month!

Caroline and her Uncle P!

Christ and Patrick together for Patrick's Birthday

Me and Patrick celebrating 24 years of best friends!

A few random days of summer

So recently Brad got me a surprise! A very big surprise for someone who doesn’t like to spend any money. He surprised me with a new Nikon Digital (D5000). I have loved my 35mm Nikon but have wanted to upgrade to a digital for some time now. So here are a few random shots of the kids from the last month to catch us up to date as I play with my new camera.

Bubble Bath time is always a happy time around our house

time for silly hair

lots and lots of bubbles

Carson is always my happy helper

summer means swim time

with lots of water and fun

My sweet little girl!

time for sidewalk chalk

Carson has to get in on the sidewalk chalk time this time too

My happy boy

Just a few from a day at Papa and Nonnee's

One of my favorites!

I love those eyes!

God has blessed us with two amazing and happy children!

Always a project to have fun working on...

Here are a few pictures of our latest projects. We decided to change our kids bath to a kid friendly bath. So now we have the monkey bathroom adorned with a monkey shower curtain and now new monkey pictures I painted this weekend.

sorry can't figure out hw to load this so it isn't sideways

Also I have finally finished typing up all of our family recipes that I have to put into a book. I am quite happy with how it turned out.

Now time to find another project to work on... IMaybe I will experimant with icing flavors for Caroline birthday hmm...Maybe this time they won't overlap...

Where does the time go? There is never enough time in my day to complete all the tasks on my to do list but it’s times like right now that I have a minute to sit and look back over things and realize that’s okay. So where have we been? Making memories that’s where so now I will have to take a minute to update our family blog.


As you all know we have had much trouble with Carson’s teeth after his fall. On our first visit we learned that one of his two front teeth was chipped pretty bad and that the tooth we thought was the worst was in fact pushed back into his gum, not broken off as we suspected. We were told most likely it would come back down on it’s own so we waited. Great news, it did in fact come back down. A few weeks ago we went back for our check up and bad news from the x-rays the tooth that had made it’s way back down appeared to be abscessed, so we were to come back in 2 months for more x-rays to make sure and decide what to do. That was on a Thursday. The following Monday, Carson spiked a fever and cried and cried all he would say was “teeth hurt” I couldn’t get him to eat or drink ANYTHING. Finally I convinced him to try some applesauce but he wouldn’t eat it cold so I think maybe his teeth really do hurt. We called the dentist who got us back in the very next day put us on an antibiotic and after a week of crying and applesauce at room temperature, our follow up visit seemed to be looking up. We still have to go back in October for another check up but as of right now there is no major outcome in the near future.

So after taking off work all week to stay home and do what I could to console Carson what did I learn? That being a stay at home mom is just as hard as I knew it would be but it is the little things that you take for granted. This was the first week that I can recall since I had Caroline and Carson that I actually got to cook supper and we could sit down and eat as a family for 7 nights in a row. My current work schedule just doesn’t allow for that. So for all my friends that are stay at home mom’s, I will continue to wish that I could stay at home with my children every day and I will continue to cheer you on for all the little things you do that make our kids lives great.

July Celebrations! Happy Birthday to you!

Our family always celebrates birthdays. We have always made them special in some way. This year we celebrated for Daddy and Juliana’s birthdays together. Juliana's birthday was July 21st and Daddy's was July 26th.  With a cookout and homemade chocolate cake. Yummy! Happy birthday to both of you.

Helping in the Garden

There are so many things we pass to our children. Some of those things are our very own past times that we cherish so much and when we are able to recreate those memories for our own children it some how makes our own memories seem even more special. As a child I can remember helping my Papa and my Dad in the garden. Now my own children are helping my dad, which they call Papa. What a fun day!

WE WILL MISS Anna!

In memory of Anna
My brothers horse recently passed away. It was so sad. We have had Anna since Patrick was maybe 10 or so. The other night when it stormed so bad, lightening struck in the pasture. We are not certain if it struck Anna or what but early the next morning my brother found her as he left for work. We will definitely miss her. She was a wonderful horse, so gentle.

Juliana on Anna

Caron moved to a big boy bed!

Carson got his big boy bed!

Carson is growing up he has moved to a big boy bed. Does he like it? No, not at all. Brad and I put it up for him one afternoon while he took a nap in our bedroom and a couple of weeks later he is still whining about it. He will sleep just fine but he goes to sleep saying it’s scary and wakes up saying the same. I myself dreaded the move to the big boy bed because I just knew he would start climbing out in the middle of the night to come to our room, which he had not yet started from his crib. But no he won’t even get out of it by himself the next morning.

Carson's first impression of his big boy bed.

I'm thinking he doesn't like his new bed.

After he finally got in his bed.