New Year...New Beginnings

Happy New Year's Eve!

I usually don't do resolutions b/c I think they are silly. But this year, I am going to look at this new year as a new beginning for me. Here are my resolutions this year.

1. Make time to reconnect with friends/family.
2. Spend more time in God's word...daily
3. Blog more!
4. Lose weight...I know, I know.

If I can't do these things, I know that the world will not end and it's not a big deal, but these are my goals for this year.

I can't go back and try to catch up b/c with my ADD, it's too overwhelming so I'm starting fresh.
I had a blogger friend say that she went back to her blog and was able to update a baby book b/c of her blog. I want to be able to do that with Ryland. I haven't posted about him in a while and I know in time, I'll forget what silly and crazy things he's doing right now. Like calling me an idiot the other day. (Good thing he doesn't know what that means)

So I am going to use this as my journal to share with family and friends.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! I'm ready to BRING IT!!!!

Um....Yeah....

So updates were not to come afterall. :o)

I will start with today and maybe work backwards. Today, Ryland was good at preschool so we celebrated with a trip to YOYO Yogart. It's a new place that my family just found and we love it! Afterwards, he and I just chilled outside and rode his new bike. New to him, at least. A friend's son outgrew his bike so she passed it on. Thanks!!!

I decided to try again at taking some pics. I played with the pics in an editing program and here are the results. I think they turned out really well.

Updates to come...

Updates are on the way. When I go out of town, I always wait until I get back in town before I post. I don't understand why people announce when they are leaving town.

Posts to come:
Our anniversary weekend
Scrapbooking with the ladies
Zoo with Grandma

Off to bed...it's late...

Good-bye for now, Mama Jackie

It's amazing how fast life can change. This past Friday my grandmother, Mama Jackie, passed away at the hospital. She had some issues, but we didn't think she wouldn't make it through. She always 'had' issues that turned out to be nothing or at least something that can be fixed, but this time, it was kidney failure. A shock to my mom and aunts.

I have had such a emotional weekend. The childhood memories I have of my grandma are things I'll hold dear to my heart for a long, long time. I know she is with Jesus and I'm thankful that she is in heaven. The hard part for me is her daughters left here to grieve. I will be praying that each day gets a little easier for them. I love my parents so much and the thought of losing them is too much to bear sometimes. But I know that this world is not our home.

God has used this weekend to remind me that we are not promised tomorrow. But if you know Jesus as your Lord, you will live forever with Him.

Mama Jackie, say hello to all our loved ones that have gone before and I'll see you again...

Have you ever seen a Nod-ling?

Ryland was playing outside today and found a toy. I saw him pick it up, look around and start talking to himself. Then he came up to the back door to show me what he found. I have no clue what it is but apparently he does. He told me it was a "Nod-ling" hat. He then told me a Nod-ling was a creature that lived in the forest. He asked me if he was going to come back for his hat.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see....

A Lizard!!!!

On Thursday, I was cleaning the living room and doing something I don't do very often...dusting. heehee I picked up a magazine to dust the end table when a little green lizard jumped off of the table and behind the couch. I screamed like the little girl I am! I can't stand lizards!!! Ryland was watching tv and said "Mom, what's wrong?" I told him there was a lizard behind the couch and started to dial the neighbors house to see if he would come get the thing out of my house.

He wasn't home so I called James. After laughing at me and saying telling me it's just a lizard, I got off of the phone and waited the hour and a half before he got home. When he got here, he couldn't find it anywhere. My brave 3 year old was helping daddy look for it and then he said he wanted to kill it. Boys.... Well, I had to go to bed knowing there was lizard somewhere in the living room and it was still alive.

The next day, I waited all day, hoping the little green guy would come out so I could at least know the area he was at. James came home from work and was on the phone upstairs and I was in the kitchen when Ryland yelled "I found it!" James rushed down to see if Ryland was telling the truth and he was. Hallelujah, the lizard was caught. He gave it to Ryland to hold outside for a few minutes. Ryland just held him so gently and didn't want to put him back in the bushes. He even asked the lizard if he wanted to go back and the lizard "told" him he didn't. :o)

Long, Long story short...Here is the little lizard and he is back safely in the bushes, hopefully never to enter my house again.

First day of preschool

Ryland had a good 2 days of preschool this week. His teachers say he is a character and ALL boy! I'm not sure what to think of that. :o) I don't know if it's a nice way of saying "you have a wild child!".


He goes into his classroom and barely gets a 'goodbye' out before he's running to play. He comes home so happy and says it was "willy gwreat".

I am enjoying the time as well! It was nice to go into the store and be able to think about what I'm doing. :o)

My little Cubbie...

Ryland is starting AWANA this year at church. AWANA stands for Approved Workman Are Not Ashamed (2 Timothy 2:15). He will be in the 3 year old Cubbies class.

He has a handbook that he will be working in this year and learning scriptures every week. I am so excited for him to be part of this program.

Here we go.....

Mother's Day Out

Ryland is starting Mother's Day Out this year. He is in the 3 year old class so I'm not sure if that's classified as Preschool or not. Anyway, today was his open house. His teachers are very sweet and I know he's gonna have a great time!

He is also finishing his 3rd summer of swim lessons. He's doing really well and I'm very proud of him.

My boy is growing up!

Boys and their toys

We went to the store today and the guys got new remote controls. This has been our afternoon. :o)

There you have it!

Okay, I think I'm all caught up now on my blog...

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

A New Truck

New to us anyway....

James was able to get a new truck this summer. It's a 2008 and was well taken care of by the previous owner. We are very blessed to have this and learned through the shopping experience that God always has the final answer and always knows what's best for us.

Puggles

Ryland was involved in Puggles, a children's program at church. Here are some pictures of his final night, getting his certificate.

Myrtle Beach

James, Ryland and I went camping at Myrtle Beach in May. We stayed at Ocean Lakes Campground and had a wonderful, relaxing time. We played on the beach, at the pool (of course I was in the shade) and took trips to the aquarium, Broadway at the beach, Hard Rock Cafe and putt putt. It was such a great trip for our family and it was nice to be able to enjoy the weather. Ryland's favorite thing to do was to ride on the airplane at a kiddie park. It was so hard to let him do it by himself because it just shows me he's growing up. But I was so proud!

We did go to a store where Ryland could build his own vehicle. It was such a neat place! I think James had more fun than Ryland though. :o)

Hilton Head with the Family

Ash, Erik and boys came to visit a couple of weeks ago. Ryland and I met them in Hilton Head and had a great time. Minus the melt downs that Ryland performed in front of everyone in the resturaunt but I'll just leave the details out on that one. The boys loved playing on the beach. Christian had his boogyboard, Tyler and Ryland played in the water and Logan crawled in the sand. I enjoyed sitting in the shade at the pool. :o) Here are some pics of the boys. They are such good kids! Love you all and hope to see you again soon.....

Christian and Tyler

Logan

One wiped out little boy, Ryland

I'm back....

I had a nice post ready to go last night and them I hit a wrong button and it disappeared on me....

I'm going to try to catch up on what's been going on this summer. :o)

Wow!
I can't believe it's been a month since I've blogged. Time does fly, doesn't it?

Let's see...James, Ryland and I went to the Riverbanks zoo a couple of weeks ago as well as Stone Mountain. It was so much fun and Ryland is at such a great age for this quick weekend trips. I will have to post pics later, but I think I got some good ones.

I have decided to TRY to become a runner. I found a website that is supposed to help you go from (as they said it) the couch to a 5K. We'll see about that. It's only been week one and they start you off slow and build up. I've done pretty good, but I don't know how long I'll keep it up or how in the world I am going to be able to run for more than 2 mins at a time. I want to try to accomplish something that is just for me. I hope I don't give up too soon...

I guess that's it for now. Have a great weekend everyone!

He has Risen...Halelujah!!!

I know Easter has already passed, but we need to celebrate the fact that Jesus is alive everyday. :o)

This year we had a quiet Easter. Grandma went to visit her sister in Charleston and she is usually with us each year. We went to Sunday School where we prayed for a family moving to Germany for 3 years b/c he is serving in the military. After SS, James and I had nursery front desk greeter duty. It was a little hectic, but I was glad to see the visitors and pray they heard God's speak to them that morning.

After church, we came home and ate leftovers. Ryland and I took naps and James worked on the trim in the living room. That evening, I cooked Easter dinner and we had a relaxing night before Monday morning started a new week of work.

Here are a couple of pics of us this Easter. I'll try to get some of Ryland finding eggs up shortly.

Ryland

It's been a while since I've posted on my little red head so I thought I'd take a minute to let you know what's he's up to and a couple of his comments that everyone says I should write down.


Ry: Mama?
Me: Yes Ryland?
Ry: You a sweetheart.

Ry on the way home from church: I'm thirsty!
Me: Wait til we get home and I'll get you something.
Ry: But I want it now! (Insert whiney voice)
Me: Well, you'll just have to wait til we get home.
Ry: Mom, God says "Give a child a drink". I guess that's the 11th commandment according to Ryland.


At breakfast:
Ry: Mom, I forgive you.
Me: Forgive me for what?
Ry: I forgive you for frustrating me.


James in the truck waiting for me to get something out of the house:
James: Sigh.....
Ryland: Daddy, why did you do that? You have an attitude.


Those are just a few that stood out to me while I'm typing this but the list goes on. It's so amazing to see what he comes up with. He is a spitfire and the saying about having a "red-headed temper" proves true with him.

He loves to play outside in the dirt and wants so bad to catch a lizard. I hate lizards and won't go near one so I've told him he has to wait until Daddy gets home. The other night, I asked James to help him catch one and so off the two of them went. James sticks his head in the door and tells me to come outside. Ryland is sitting outside with a lizard in his hand. The look of accomplishment and excitement was a picture moment so I had to run get the camera.


See what I mean?????

Thanks Kim for reminding me to post pics of the carpet and tile on the fireplace. I also posted a pic of the bookshelf I bought for Ryland's room.

I am still loving my carpet so much. It's so nice to pass the carpet section in the home improvement stores and think..."Ahhhh....I love my carpet!!!"

Anyway.....here you go...enjoy!

It's so pretty!!!

My carpet is in and looks WONDERFUL!!! I was so pleased with the outcome and the color is great! It feels like you're walking on a blanket!

We also have our fireplace retiled and it looks great!

I love the smell of new carpet........

Yea!

This weekend we are getting new carpet! I am so ready, I've been waiting for 10 years to get it! Thanks to tax returns, the time has finally arrived!

We also are redoing the tile on our fireplace. I'll post pics when it's completed. We have to grout and seal it and we'll be done. I am so thankful James is a great handy man. That guy can do anything!!!!

Whoo Hoo!!!!!

Winterplace, WV

We are back from our ski trip to West Virginia! We had a wonderful time even though getting up there was so tough, I thought I was going to soil myself or throw up!!!

We left at 4:30 and arrived at 11:30ish. The last 1.5 hours were rough b/c the roads were covered in snow and the wind was the strongest wind we have ever felt. James held on the the steering wheel with both hands the entire drive up there. We had to stop at a Walmart 20 miles away from the condo b/c that was the closest one. When our truck got sideways in the parking lot b/c of the snow, I knew the next 20 miles were going to be rough. We traveled slowly on the interstate, following any semi truck so that we could see tire marks. The rest of the road was white, plus the wind...not a fun ride. Turns out that a snow storm was blowing through and they got 8 inches just that night.

We finally got to the ski resort. Our condo was at the top of the mountain so we drove up there and we got almost to the top when we got stuck. Our truck is not 4 wheel drive so we had to stop and James parked the truck in an empty cabin's driveway until the next morning, when James took it back to the lodge parking lot. Our friend Charles drove to our truck and he and James unloaded our stuff into his truck and brought it up the rest of the way to the condo. Craziness!!!! AND our next vehicle WILL BE 4 wheel drive!

Once we were settled into our condo, it was wonderful! The deck was full of snow so Ryland was able to play in it while I stayed indoors. He also tried to ski this trip and did wonderful!!! He loved it and got tired after about 10-15 mins so we had short trips with him. James, Charles, Amber and Nicole skiied every day and night and had a great time. Vickie and I stayed indoors and enjoyed our books. Everyone was happy! My first successful ski trip that I enjoyed!

We probably got 12 inches of snow there and I have never been in snow that deep. In some spots, it came up to my knees. It was so much fun!!!

I am so glad to be home and so thankful that I don't live up north with all that snow!

Our deck

Family picMy guys

Playing

My little guy skiing

Looking good!

My two guys...loving the snow

Stomach virus go away!!!

Well, Ryland started the stomach virus off last week with a bang! James and I did good to miss it, but on Monday I was around someone that had it and I didn't know it. By Wednesday, I had it and I have never puked so much in my entire life. I am so thankful that I don't throw up...hardly ever. It's probably been 7+ years since I've done that. I didn't even throw up when I was pg with Ryland. I am blessed that way. :o)

James stayed home from work to watch Ryland on Thursday. Thanks again baby! We thought we were in the clear by Friday until BAM...it hit James Friday night.

Needless to say, this weekend wasn't the best weekend but we made it through and I think we are all on the mend!

Hopefully, this virus is long gone!!!!!

Snow...for real?????

The forecast called for snow a couple of weeks ago and we got nothing. So when it called for snow again, I was very doubtful, even though the radar map had a huge snow cloud coming right toward us. Boy was I wrong!

It started around 2:30 and stopped...then it started back around 4 and snowed into the night. We got about 5 inches!

We all had a ball and it was so pretty! It's amazing how peaceful and still everything looks when it's covered in snow. Pictures can't show just how pretty it was or how much fun we had but I'll post these anyway.

A day later and it's all gone at our house. There still a little bit on the sides of the road in some areas but we had a wonderful weekend.