First Day of School!!!

The kids are officially both enrolled in Lake Carolina Elementary. What a great feeling! I can't believe my little boy started Kindergarten. He is really loving school. I can't believe how fast they grow. Hannah is in 2nd grade and loves her teacher. She is fortunate to have a few friends in class this year and is thriving in her classroom. We are so happy with Lake Carolina and the kids look forward to going daily. That is a great feeling. We are also fortunate to have one of our dear friends pick the kids up from school everyday. They get to walk home with the Watts boys. I love them having the opportunity to be walkers this year. This is what I remember about my childhood. Until next time....

Disney Again!!!

This was a very unique experience at Disney. I had a work meeting and last minute decided to ask Mandy to come and bring her kids. We ended up going to Disney for two days. We had a blast. This was their first time going. We are officially Disney experts. I loved watching the kids faces as they experienced everything for the first time. I was a little nervous because Buzzy is always with me but we managed. We had a blast and rode each ride 2 and 3 times. Again the favorites were Splash Mountain and Thunder Railroad. I love this picture overlooking the castle. What a great experience and again memories that will last a lifetime......

July 4th!!!!

This year we were in Litchfield until July 3rd. We had a wonderful experience with several military people. They were getting ready for the the July 4th fly by. The jets fly right over Litchfield. What a need experience and a beautiful flag. We had the opportunity to thank them for what they do on a daily basis for our country. I love this picture. Beautiful....

Look At Me!!!

We were out ghost crabbing one night and a fisherman caught this baby shark. Alex was fascinated by it. He ran up and wanted to hold it. This was so funny because he was just scared to pick up a ghost crab. Seriously crab or shark!! I can't believe the picture turned out so well because it was so dark. This was definitely a first at Litchfield. There were so many baby sharks this year. We went later the end of June so it was a lot warmer. Interesting......

The Russell Girls!!!

What a special treat to have all the grils at the beach at the same time. Unfortunately my mom went to the ER three times because of an inflammed thumb. We have since found out that she has metastatic melanoma. We would never have even imagined this. She is so strong and we are so very proud of her. One thing she can be sure of she will never be alone during this. She has so many friends and three daughters that will be there for her every step of the way. I look back on this picture now and still can't believe it. We all love her dearly. Hang in there mom.....

Cousin Time!!

This was the first year we had all 6 cousins at the beach. Caroline was asleep in this picture. What a blast! They are all growing up so fast. We use to collect shells and build sand castles all day. We are now ghost crab hunting and digging enormous holes to play in. I look forward to this trip every year. What a great tradition! The kids have grown up at Litchfield beach. I hope they will cherish the memories forever like I do about going to Hilton Head when I was young. I am smiling thinking about next year already. Until next time.......

One more Easter picture!!

I still love this gate. Every year it truly reminds me of the true meaning of Easter. I had to laugh this year because Alex figured out how to get into the gate. It is usually locked. He was so proud when he told me look at the flowers everywhere. I discovered this is a memory garden. I had to get him out so he would not disturb anything. He kept wanting to sneak back in and look at the flowers. I love this picture as well. Until next time....

Tulips Again!!!

Every year I take the kids to get their pictures taken by the tulips. This year was much easier. I could actually get them to pose for me. That was a first. This was my favorite picture. The most difficult thing is getting them to pick only one tulip for the road. They always want to pick a bunch and I tell them they have to choose their favorite one only. I love comparing my pictures from the previous years. This is something the children will love when they get older. I will continue to go every year. This was year 7 for Hannah and 5 for Alex. Until next time.....

Daddy Daughter Dance!!!

This was year 4 for the Daddy Daughter Dance. Buzzy and Hannah really enjoy their date night. They practice there dance moves for weeks prior to going. Again this year Hannah would not let Buzzy sit down. I love to hear that. One of our friends told me that Buzzy had to dance with all the little girls. They are already working on their moves for next year. I love this picture. You can truly see how much she has grown. She will remember these dances for the rest of her life. She truly is her Daddy's little princess. Until next time....

My Baby Boy is 5!!!!

Alex turned five this year. We ended up going tubing with his 3 best friends- Harrison, Jackson, and Ryan. They had a blast. All of there birthdays are within 2 weeks of each other. WOW!! Kindergarten better watch out. The house we stayed at you could tube out of the back door. It was so steep. I was scared but the kids thought it was a blast. The only problem was it took about 20 minutes to walk up the mountain to go again. It was a workout but worth every minute. Until next time....

1st Performance!!!

Hannah and her best friend Madison performed today for the half-time show at the basketball game. This was their first real performance. They did great. Buzzy was laughing because after each part in the routine she would look up at us and wave. She had to do 3 cartwheels in a row and she did them perfect. I was so proud of her. She really shines when she performs. You can tell she really loves being on stage. I can't wait to continue to watch her performances. She even has the gamecock hand signal down. Look at the photo. Until next time...

Snow Time!!!

December 26th. We were so close to a Christmas snow. The children had a blast. It ended up snowing 4 inches in Columbia. The kids went sledding down the YMCAs hills. We met a bunch of their friends and played and built a gigantic snowman. Wow do they love snow. We are surprising Alex and taking him tubing for his 5 year old birthday. He enjoyed himself so much that he and his best buddies are going to celebrate their birthdays on the slopes. He will be so excited. He is really growing up and developing a personality of his own. No longer following his sister and her friends around. Until next time...

Christmas Traditions!!!

I miss the holidays already. We really enjoy the time at home with the kids and family. We have a few traditions that we have developed over the years.... Elgin Christmas trains a must, Christmas church service always beautiful, Visiting multiple Santas, Seeing the cousins, Writing notes to Santa, The Elf on the Shelf, The Naughty and Nice list which Alex loves to put Daddy on, Making cookies, Leaving out a large carrot for the reindeer, The reindeer taking bites out of the carrot and leaving it behind, Santa rips his suit coming down our chimney, and lots of Family Fun. Just typing them out make me excited for next year. Until then....

Nana and her munchkins!!!

Christmas 2010 was a blast. The whole Atlanta crew came to Columbia. This was a first. The kids are really starting to enjoy each others company. They had a camp out in my playroom. 6 sleeping bags all lined up and believe it or not they were asleep by 10. Ages here are Hannah 7, Thomas 6, Braden 5, Alex 4, James 4, Caroline 2. I enjoy when we can all get together. I wish it could be more but life gets in the way. New Year's resolution is to see the cousins more.