You Know What? This is Silly.

And by "this" I mean my continuing to (attempt to) upkeep this blog. I started it as a way to share pictures and stories about the boys with our family and friends, but now the vast majority of you are on Facebook, so the blog is basically superfluous. So if you want to know what's going on with us, see pictures and videos, and all that good stuff, you can find both Joe and me on FB. I update my Facebook page WAY more often.

I also have a new personal blog, Meeting God in Memphis. I'd love for you to check it out! (It has its own Facebook page, too.)

The Annual Quest for a Christmas Card Picture

In December, we took advantage of a festively-decorated courtyard in Kernersville as the backdrop for our Christmas card photo shoot. Catching BOTH silly, wiggly boys being still, looking at the camera and smiling is not easy!

This photo was the winner!

The next day, it snowed at our house!

We didn't expect more than a flurry, but we ended up getting enough to make two snowmen! (One for our neighbors and one for us!)

We Now Return to Our Irregularly Scheduled Catching Up...

Perhaps foolishly, I am still determined to catch up to the present. Therefore I now give you: Halloween and Thanksgiving, 2010!

Halloween: Riley created his own pirate costume: button-down shirt partially opened to reveal a temporary tatoo on his chest, khaki pants, pirate captain hat, and snow boots. I bought the beard, but unfortunately it wouldn't stay out of his mouth (yuck) so he only kept it on long enough for me to take one picture. Donovan would never commit to any particular idea, so at the last minute he chose a Superman suit from among their dress-up stash, but for whatever reason only he knows, he refused to wear the Superman cape. Hey, it didn't matter to me... this is the first Halloween I didn't have to do anything for their costumes! Anyway, we did Halloween up pretty big this year by trunk-or-treating at our neighborhood church AND trick-or-treating with Will in his neighborhood! We found out that Will's neighborhood is THE place to trick-or-treat in Kernersville, because the boys got TONS of candy!

Thanksgiving: As always, we began our Thanksgiving festivities in front of the TV with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Then the boys got Papa to make leaf piles for them to jump in!

Meanwhile, I played Betty Crocker while making Thanksgiving dinner, which I organized by cooking appliance. :) Yes, I made all this food for five people. (Though the toaster oven could have stayed cold were it not for a certain small, picky person.) Riley provided our table centerpiece by filling a hurricane vase with huge acorns from our bur oaks.

Moving Update

By now I think everyone knows we are moving to the Memphis area... Joe started his new job as Senior Membership Director at the Ric Nuber YMCA in January, and our original "plan" (to the extent that we had one) was that the boys and I would stay here through the end of the school year. Well, long story short, that plan has changed and we are trying to get everybody to Memphis before the last quarter starts at Riley's new school on March 21. (Guess what the Assistant Principal's name is? Debra Ball!) The movers will come to our house on March 7 and whisk almost everything off to our apartment in Lakeland (where Joe has been living with very little furniture), and then we will live with no furniture (except the TV and Wii... I'm not crazy), Joe will return to NC, and we'll spend about a week painting, fixing, cleaning, etc.  And then we're off! I am already finding it hard to say goodbye to my friends, the boys' amazing teachers, and my home state, but we are all looking forward to being one big happy family again! Please keep us in your prayers, and if you feel like doing a little manual labor, come on over! (wink wink)

Fall Soccer!

Riley played soccer at the Y again this fall. He moved up into the next age group and had a new coach. He did pretty well running with bigger kids, and (of course) had a great time! When Riley runs, he's like a dog with its head out the window - so happy and free, and more often than not, sticking his tongue out! He's decided to give flag football a try this spring. He'll have to really love it to like it better than soccer!

Still Catching Up: Summer Vacation 2010

(I know one photo is turned sideways. And I REALLY want to fix it... but that would take a long time. So my apologies to Allison S., but y'all will just have to look sideways for 5 seconds.)

Catching Up: Birthdays 2010

A week before Riley's birthday, he participated in a fundraiser for the St. Baldrick's Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research. Riley raised $300 by promising to shave his head! Here we have the "before" look...

...and "after!"

Having almost no hair feels good on a hot summer day!

Riley's birthday arrived - The Big Six!

Our bigger boy needed a bigger Auburn jersey!

Look at all that loot! Somebody must love this kid!

Birthday party at the park - Riley is still good buddies with his first three friends from preschool, Jordan, Will, and Jake.

Instead of presents, Riley asked his friends to bring packaged macaroni and cheese (his favorite food) to donate to a local food bank. His new friend from Kindergarten, Coulson, helped him count them all.

Papa came to visit for July 4th and Donovan's birthday! We celebrated with ice cream...
...water balloons and popsicles...

(it took a long time to fill up the wagon with water balloons, but not long at all to empty it!)

...and, of course, fireworks!
Donovan got one of his favorite foods for breakfast on his birthday - bacon!
But not even bacon would get him to put up 3 fingers for the traditional birthday photo.

He was OVERJOYED to receive the "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" movie!

This was just PART of Donovan's loot... seriously!

(more arrived later)
Alas, I didn't make it to Aldi before they sold out of red-white-and-blue ice cream cake, so we put candles in three cookies instead. Make a wish!

More Catching Up: Spring becomes Summer

Donovan rounded out his first year of preschool with a Grace House tradition: Beach Day!

Donovan and his good buddy Calvin (which he pronounces Cal-uh-vin) loved the squiggly sprinklers...

...but nothing beat the huge inflatable water slide!
A class full of wet burritos!

Riley's school put on an end-of-the-year Kindergarten Celebration, full of songs, poems, and a slide show. Each "group" (class) wore its color. Riley had a great year in Purple Group! Riley even had a speaking part in the program, and he did a fantastic job!

Mrs. Rossi and Ms. Jones were WONDERFUL teachers for Riley! We miss them!
Mrs. Rossi chose one of Riley's favorite "journals" (the topic: his favorite part of Kindergarten) to display in the hall at the end of the year. She said Riley was a great storyteller and that he always made her laugh!
Literal transliteration: "I liket when we took naps. Becus I am tiyerd. Evrey day. And ar field Day."

English translation: "I liked [it] when we took naps, because I am tired every day. And [I liked] our Field Day."

A banner on our front porch greeted Riley when he got home on the very last day! He's wearing a crown because his class celebrated all the summer birthdays that day.

Got any fries? Here's some "catch up!"

Rewind the clock... way back... Here are some highlights from Riley and Donovan's spring!
Palm Sunday

The boys got balloon creations at the church Easter party!

Easter!
photos at WFU on Easter afternoon

Taking in a game at our new minor-league baseball stadium

Finding springtime visitors in our yard

Playing with cousin Garrison

Playing with cousin Joe

Stay tuned for Spring, part 2!