Shutterfly Family Picnic

I should either be working or in bed (not blogging), so this will be short. I'll post more detail and more pictures later...

Last Saturday was the Shutterfly family picnic. It was a blast! It was held at a Charlotte Knights (minor league) baseball game. We had a pre-game tailgating party where the kids received plastic baseballs and bats. Carson had fun wandering free and Averie enjoyed playing baseball. She picked it up very well and had many good hits.

These pictures are from my friend Nancy. When I upload the pictures from my camera I'll post with more detail.

School Supplies

Averie starts Kindergarten in less than two weeks. I haven't seen her so excited about something in a long time. This past weekend was "tax free" weekend. Most supplies, clothes and back to school products were tax free. We took this opportunity to buy school supplies. I went online to get the supply list... holy crap! It's a long list! Don't get me wrong, I am happy to support the school system, but it was kind of a rude awakening. Oh well, in the over all scheme of things it wasn't too bad. I'm just glad we don't have 10 kids! The most exciting purchase? A Selena Gomez (i.e. Wizards of Waverly Place star) backpack. It's a little chintzy, I was hoping to buy a cute, nicely-made backpack, but she was so set on it that I gave in (on the plus side, it was cheap!).

Each night she and Justin have a bed-time routine, Justin reads or tells her a story. On occasion, I will tell her a story and she is not remotely shy about expressing her dissapointment that it's not Daddy. Anyway, the past few nights Justin has been focusing on her reading skills. She is doing so well! Her most recent two words are fox and box.

The countdown is on... I'm so proud of my little girl.

Another week... another post! I'm on a roll!

I've finally uploaded pictures from our camera so this post goes back a couple of months. (Most recent pictures are first.)

The kids enjoyed playing in the driveway tonight. Note Carson's 2nd haircut, we wanted to keep the mohawk, but with a squirming 1 1/2 year old, it's easy to take too much off... oh well, another buzz cut!



We told Averie we would buy her a bigger, Hannah Montana bike, when she mastered riding. She's doing very well!



Carson's been getting into trouble. Today he got a hold of one of Averie's markers and decided to decorate the back hallway including the door to the garage and the downstairs bathroom. He wasn't happy that I posed him in front of the evidence.




Carson has not been taking a binky for over a month now. He's done very well, but occasionally we can tell he misses it. When he gets really upset he puts his hands in his mouth and sucks them. Well, today he found this novelty binky. He never liked this one because of it's shape, but I guess it's better than nothing! He was quite pleased with himself and sucked this binky for a while. We finally had to take it away from him. (P.S. In case you can't read it, the wording on the binky says "Mute Button".)



Earlier today Averie freaked out when she saw him with this binky because "He's too big for it". Justin and I assured her that Carson never liked this binky and she has nothing to worry about. Can you see the "I told you so" in her eyes? I think I can!



A couple of weeks ago, I was trying to get a number of things done around the house. I thought it would be fun (and keep the kids occupied) if I let them paint with pudding. I whipped up a batch of instant pudding, added some green food coloring and layed down huge sheets of paper on the table. I figured it would keep them busy for a good 30 minutes or more. WRONG! 10 minutes later the kids were bored. At least it was a good photo op.



After the pudding painting, I let the kids play with the hose in the yard. This kept them better occupied, but it was a constant fight about whose turn it was to hold the hose.

This is my little diva. She did her hair by herself and was so proud.

OK... not the most flattering picture of me, but oh so cute! We were a sleepy pair.

In June, Averie graduated from pre-school. Tutor Time had a nice little ceremony. Justin and I took off work early to attend. As dorky as it was, I teared up... how is my "baby" so old?

New sunglasses for Averie and Carson.

Before the haircut.

After the haircut.

That's my boy!

We thought this was a good photo op. This was taken at Bubba's BBQ. These pigs are staged in front of the restaurant and we thought it was a bit funny to see the cop car in the background.

I'm early!

Since I typically lag a month or two between posts most of you will be surprised that it's been a mere week! Many of you may not even check our blog until some-time mid August only to find that you're behind on our blog, not me!


Anywho...


We just returned from a busy weekend in PA. As most of you know, we STILL haven't sold our house in Marietta. We have taken it off the market and have listed it for rent. Our property management company seems to think it will rent pretty easily, but it needed a fresh coat of paint in the living room and a water-proof seal in the basement. I got some quotes for painting... yikes - $$$$! So we decided why not make a trip and get the house-work done and visit with friends? This was my grand idea... one day doing home improvements and the remaining three chillin with the McBrides. Justin knew better but he let me dream. Friday, Jeanette watched the kids while we taped, painted trim and pretty much prepped the living room... there goes my one-day theory. Saturday, Justin painted while I put a coat of sealant in the basement. Sunday, Justin continued painting while I put a second coat of sealant in the basement. We left Monday morning feeling pretty good about what we accomplished. And, it wasn't all work (well, maybe it was for Justin) we got some other things in.


Friday night we went to dinner with my friends Jeanette and Lisa and their kids. It was fun to catch up with them, but Carson was terrible! He knows just which buttons of mine to push and it made for a stressful evening. Averie loved playing with Molly and Tyler then enjoyed a sleepover with Molly.


Saturday, Averie went swimming with Molly. Then the kids and I went to a 24th of July picnic with our old ward. It was great to see our Lancaster 2nd friends. Averie and Carson played to their little heart's content!


Sunday, the kids and I went to church. Again, Carson pushed my buttons and we spent sacrament meeting in the foyer, but he did well in nursery so I had a bit of a break. Then Sunday evening we spent some time with our friend's the Allens and later with the McBrides. At least Justin got to join us Sunday night!


I brought the camera, but didn't take many pictures (I stole the picture of Averie and Tyler from Lisa's Facebook!). Out of the whole weekend, the pictures we took were from Justin's phone on the ride home... I know, we're wierdos!


This trip was bittersweet for me. It is probably the last time we will stay in our PA house. However, next time we can focus on playing!

Averie and Tyler under the table at dinner.

Whose great idea was it to give this boy chocolate? (OK... it was me... it was a long drive and I was ready to give him anything just to keep him happy)

Averie and Sadie...



Taking a break from her movie to pose.

Justin played with the camera while we all took a nap. Glad he at least kept one eye on the road and got us home safely!

Despite the cramped quarters, Sadie had a good trip.

Summertime...

As you can probably tell by the re-design of our blog... I'm totally in a summery mood! It's hard to get into the swing of summer when you work full-time, but we try to take full advantage of the weekends.

If you're anything like me, you may skim through the text on a blog and look for the pictures. For those of you, I apologize, this blog is heavy on the text. I haven't taken many recent pictures. The few I have taken are still locked away in the camera waiting patiently for me to upload them. Until then, this post contains one, ugly, lonely, grainy picture (thanks to Justin's phone). We had a run-in with wire cutters. Carson got a hold of them and when Justin tried to take them away, Carson clamped Justin's finger. The result... a frantic call from Averie, "Mommy, come home VERY quickly!", four hours in urgent care, and four stitches. As badly as I felt for Justin I couldn't help but be thankful that it wasn't Carson. His sweet little toddler fingers might not have fared as well.

Aside from the stitches incident, our summer has been fairly low key.

We got season passes to Carowinds (a local amusement park) and have spent a number of days there to ride the rides or lounge at the water-park. Averie and Carson are little dare-devils. Averie has ridden on every ride that her height allows, including some pretty fun roller coasters. If only she were two inches taller, she could ride ALL of the thrill rides. Carson LOVES the toddler pool, where he goes down the little water slide, head first, over and over and over. The kids love Carowinds, but Justin and I have had our share. We've definitely gotten our $$$ worth out of the passes and I think Justin wouldn't care if we never went back. But I'm sure there will be many more days that we will brave the miserable (humid) heat, long lines and obnoxious people to have "fun" at the amusement park.

We've been going to a local park a couple times a week where we walk a couple laps around the trail, then let the kids play on the playground. Then Justin had a "great" idea... We can use this time to get in shape. We will alternate one of us jogging a lap around the 1/2 mile trail while the other walks with the kids, then when the jogger catches up to the walker we switch. Seemed to me like it would be a piece of cake. So, after a warm-up lap, we started off and I jogged first with Sadie in tow. One lap down, I can't see them so I figure I'll walk a bit to catch my breath... Two laps, they're still not in my sight, I feel like I might pass out... Two and a half laps, I see them, but I swear Justin is walking at lightning speed, how can I ever catch up with him? My legs feel like rubber and I'm afraid that if I go any faster I might trip and fall. Driven by my deep desire to be done with this misery, I sprint the last little bit and catch him. It took one full lap of walking for my heart to slow down enough before I could be certain that it wouldn't thump out of my chest. Needless to say, I'm out of shape! Justin didn't do so badly. I like to think that maybe since I jogged first, I was completely worn out and walked at a slower pace so he didn't have as many laps to catch me. Anyway, it's a good family activity and the kids enjoy it.

Justin has pulled out the bikes and bike trailer and cleaned them up. Last night I took Carson and Averie for a quick ride around the block (Carson in the trailer and Averie leading on her bike) just to make sure the tires stayed pumped and Averie could ride at a reasonable speed. Hopefully we can get some nice bike-rides in through the rest of the summer.

That's the update for the month. I vow to take more pictures so the next blog is more interesting!

Catching up...

I know, I know... I'm not a good blogger. What can I say? It's my MO... Post a blog, wait a couple months, post, wait, post wait...

Anywho... Here's the low down on the past couple months.

We celebrated Justin's B-Day. He and I had a romantic dinner and enjoyed a relaxing evening to ourselves. Then the night after his B-Day we celebrated with the kids. Instead of a regular Birthday cake Justin asked for Molten Lava Chocolate cakes. They turned out AWESOME!

Averie had her first dance recital, she did ballet and tap and did a wonderful job. She's a gorgeous little princess!

This is dress rehearsal.

After the performance Justin presented Averie with a bouquet of flowers. She was so pleased and excited to have gotten flowers, especially from her daddy!

Proud Dad!

Jared and Renae came to visit us. We toured some historic sites. Jared and Justin went to the Nascar Coca-Cola 600 race and it was rained out... bummer! We went to the first gold mine in the US where we toured the gold mine and panned for gold. Little known fact... the first gold found in the US was just outside of Charlotte... who knew?

We celebrated my 30th B-Day! We went uptown Charlotte with friends. Since it was race weekend, SpeedStreet was going on and uptown was a pretty happenin spot.

That's it for now (short and sweet). See you in a couple months!

Beautiful April Weekend!

We just had a gorgeous weekend! Saturday we did yard work (blah). But yesterday we went to see Playhouse Disney live. We took the train uptown (which is just as much of the excitement for the kids). The show was fun, Averie had a great time! Carson, on the other hand, was difficult. He didn't get his full morning nap and was restless and fussy for the first 10 minutes of the show, then he fell asleep and all was good! After the show we stopped at Costco and ran into the Easter Bunny! Carson was intrigued, but very leery of him and would not go close. Averie sat on his lap and enjoyed having her picture taken. We then went home and spent some time in the backyard. As you can see in the pictures, Carson was filthy from exploring, but he was happy and content, so oh well.

Waiting for the train... notice Carson's cool mohawk!



Averie with the Playhouse Disney stage in the background.



Outside the arena. Carson had more fun playing on the benches and bike racks than he did at the show. He's a little dare-devil and got himself swinging pretty well!









How precious is this picture?! I love it!

Here's a random little video clip we took while hanging out on the patio. These are two sweet kids!