So tonight, I bring the laptop with me to Matt’s football practice. Just out of curiosity, since we are at the elementary school, I check to see if there might be wireless internet access (it is 2006 after all) and what do you know? I have internet access! Football practice won’t seem so long now that I have something to do.

I’ve been watching him tonight tackle and block the other boys. He’s been doing a great job and of course, Sam’s been showing me her cheers. I know all the words now. I could be a Titan’s cheer leader!

But just to show you how cute of a cheer leader she is….

That pic was taken last Wednesday before the last day of Cheer Camp (gag) but her team won the Spirit Stick and I did some research…there WAS a Spirit Stick before the Movie Bring It On.

That’s about all from here for now. We’ve uploaded quite a few picture in the last month…you can see them all in the gallery.
The most recent ones are on page 4 and 5 of the album.

Until next time..

Heather

PS. Oh…teacher assignments came today along with SOL results. Matthew has Ms. Lewis and Samara has Ms. Nixon and Matthew scored really well on his SOLs. 400 is passing, 500 is the benchmark and over 500 is, I can’t remember what they call it, but it’s above the normal and REALLY good…he got 586 in history and social science, 536 in Reading, 5 something in math and 498 in science….no one better call my kid dumb…he’s just unmotivated…

and he’ll kill me if I said that to him….

but he’s just so cute…and loving football!

Tonight we add shoulder pads at practice and next week we start with full gear and with the temp in the high 90’s…i feel soooooooooo bad for him, but he doesn’t seem to mind and he’s loving it!

Until next time…

Heather

I was all ready to post about the debacle of a trip…how I forgot the blanket and the memory card for the camera…how I had to make a $100 trip to Wal-Mart the night that we got to the campground and all the improvisations (is that a word?) that we made throughout the weekend…like using unfolded hotdog buns for hamburger buns, etc…but I can’t get past the kids growing up…

This is the third year that we’ve visited this campground for the 4th of July…so that means that the first trip, Matthew was 7, Sam was 4 and Regan 3….

Wel…Matthew now just takes off on his bike…helping out where he can and just playing hard (and helping when he can…) this year, Matt and Tim went to the dirt track races…after they left the girls took off to go on (another) hay ride…and there I sat…just me and the dogs…and I began to think just all that had happened the 2 days that we were there…

the training wheels had come off both Regan and Sam’s bikes…they aren’t hanging around bugging us anymore…they are making their own friends and we never see them…they are going down the slide at the pool without me waiting at the bottom to catch them…Samara without floaties…she’s swimming underwater without holding her nose…and then Matthew…well, like I said…we didn’t see him all weekend…

so I could tell you all the stuff that went wrong, but right now…with the kids just leaving 2 hours ago with my parents, I won’t…I’ll just tell you that I feel like I blinked once and overnight, they grew up…

i wonder how many more summers we can get away with camping trips that EVERYONE wants to go on? My guess is not many…but that’s okay too…we have the memories of these (Which are currently being developed at WalGreen’s one hour photo lab…can I tell you how long it’s been since I’ve taken ACTAUL pictures on film and had to get them developed???????)

Until next time…

Heather

PS…everyone had some sort of BIG news this weekend…while the girls ditched their training wheels, and Matthew ditched the girls, I started a campfire all by myself and Tim won the 50/50 at the dirt track races….$924….

Sometimes I’m amazed at what comes out of my kids’ mouths, but I think today takes the cake…thus far.

Matthew came in from outside and said that he wanted to grow honeysuckle. I was on the phone and I said to him, “Matthew, I don’t know how to grow honeysuckle.”

He replied, “I do.”

He looked down at these two honeysuckle flowers in his bug box.

Why I asked how, I don’t know, but I did.

He said, “you take a male flower and a female flower and you rub them together.”

While attempting to hold back the laughter I said “Tim knows more about flowers than I do, so I would wait until he gets home and ask him”

Out of the mouths of babes…

Until next time..

Heather

Tim’s really booking….

Here’s my second big window. It’s really that dark. It was the middle of the day…the storms were coming.

Another view of my big window! Now there are 2 and I’ll have LIGHT!!!

He got the glass in and then the sun came out….

A view of both windows….

I’m wondering where Tim learned to wire things…I KNOW that can’t be safe!

This is the picture of the floor that I’ve picked out…no, I’m kidding…it’s what was under the carpet…isn’t it pretty?

It’s all insulated….

and a few of the kids….

Here’s Matthew on the phone with Nana…

More pictures later….

Until next time…

Heather

Oy….

Matthew comes home with a butterfly that has a broken wing. Samara wants to let it out of the box to fly around so it won’t be cooped up while the dogs are outside.

Matthew tries to explain to her that it can’t fly; that it has a broken wing. She’s not happy with this answer…she screams “I WANT A NEW BROTHER!”

So he returns fire “I WANT A NEW SISTER” and I have a war over a broken winged butterfly. Who knew?

The butterfly’s name is Lucky. Lucky needs a new home so says Matthew. Samara wants to take an old pail and have Tim drills holes in it. Matthew thinks that’s stupid and wants to get a jar. Why the bug box that Lucky is currently in isn’t suitable, I don’t know. I spent enough money on it.

But Lucky has caused a war at our house…I keep trying to explain that Lucky isn’t really “lucky” and that eventually he’s (she’s?) going to die…and that neither one of them can have a new brother or sister. I don’t think they understand any of it.

I want a new head…a sane life…i’m not going to have either and I’m dealing with it…why can’t they?

Until next time…
H

Ok, so more people are overly interested in what’s going on in our lives than I thought….

So here goes….a long over due update on what’s been going on with us….

Tim:

Well Tim’s pretty much been gone every weekend. He’s either been in West Virginia helping Scott with his house (you can see some pics here at the blog that Tim installed for him www.outpost19b.com) or he’s been in North Carolina visiting Regan since she’s had soccer games. Which means I’ve been left to my own devices way more than I should be! But he’s been busy.

He’s also been working on the house here and there as time permits and last weekend he replanted my sunflowers and my tomatoes outside.

Let’s see…oh! in March, he bought an ‘02 Dodge Durango. He’s in love with it and I will admit, it’s a nice ride…I got to take it to Tennessee the last 2 weekends. But it’s nice. Now we can take all of us (and the dogs) camping in one vehicle. It’s sweet…gotta DVD player and everything in it! Much fancier than I’m used to!

Me

Well, I’ve been busy. Work, work, and more work! But I have taken some time out for myself. I’ve been to get a manicure and pedicure, and I’ve gone out with the girls and with Tim.

Last week, I joined the gym. I don’t know why. I did. It seemed like the thing to do at that time. I’m enjoying it though. I have a little routine, kinda. Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday is Jazzercise. That’s the only class that I really like that I’m not dying when it’s over and I’m bummed when it ends. I like it. There are other jazzercise classes but not ones that I can get to. So I’ll have to stick with them. Sondra joined too and so we’ve gone together. I went to the step class on Friday night by myself and I thought I would DIE by the time it was over.

I think that they should post a warning outside the step class that alerts people who lack coordination that they should proceed with caution. I don’t think that I could keep up because I didn’t know where that step thing was when I was jumping all around. Either that or I was tripping over my own two feet!

But that’s the gym. The kids like going as well. They have a pretty nifty set up for the kids and each of them are in their own room and have some space, so that’s good.

What else have I been up to?

Um….I think that’s about it. Work, work and more work, but now that it’s summer (or at least getting a little warmer) I’m starting to scale back a bit. There’s just no point in sitting inside when it’s so nice outside. In fact, 3 times in the last month, we’ve gone to the park to eat. Twice we picked up a bucket of chicken and then this past Sunday, we took the kids and grilled out…and that was very nice. I have Tim to thank for this. he’s the one who’s very into being outside. I like it. Maybe when I get older, I’ll like it too…

Matthew

Matthew participated in his first Destination Imagination competition the end of March and I think he did really well, but he’s my kid. They didn’t win anything, but they had a good time and I think he’s going to participate again next year.

He spent a week with Mamaw, Nana, and Papaw over Easter Spring Break and he’s come home a “man” complete with a belt, hankerchief, and knows what all the pockets of his jeans should hold. He’s also decided that he’s going to play football this fall and is rather excited about it. And since I’ve joined the gym, he’s very excited about losing some of his gut as well.

He’s taking his first communion at church sometime soon. He’s shooting for Pentacost and he has his books and his notebook to jot down the questions and he’s excited about that as well. He’s also goingto be an acolyte starting in June. He’ll start out as a torch bearer and then work his wa up. I just hope he doesn’t get wax in his hair like I did when I was a torch bearer.

He’s been having some trouble with spelling but we’re working on that now. Of course, I’ve threatened him within an inch of his life to get the grade up and he wants to go to Camp Bethel this summer. He wants to go for at least a week, maybe two…so we’ll see.

I think that’s all that Matthew’s been up to!

Samara

Sam is still Sam. She also participated in Destination Imagination this year and wants to do it again next year. She also started cheerleading but between being sick for 7 days, getting in trouble, and then spring break, she’s not been in 3 weeks. We’ll try again this week…

She was sick for 7 days and missed 5 days of school. She just had a fever that wouldn’t go away and now she’s fighting allergies…poor kid. We just went and stocked up on the Claritin for her. It seems to help and not make her as hyper as the Benedryl.

She’s going to cheer for Hidden Valley this fall and shes excited about that, but in all honesty, Sam’s still Sam. Still doing the same stuff. She did get enough money at Easter to pay for 1/2 of her ticket to see Kenny Chesney this summer. Now she says she just needs $5 more so that she can buy a key chain….

Regan

We haven’t seen a whole lot of Regan since she’s had soccer and Tim’s been going to NC. She was here last week for spring break but stayed with her grandma. She spent Thursday with me and we had a great day at the mall and she helped me pick out 2 new pairs of flip flops…she’s doing well in school and seems to like it. We’re looking forward to getting back to normal with the kid schedule… I’ve missed her!

I think that’s about it…to catch you up over the past 6 weeks…I’ve got some pictures that I will put up soon and I promise (Julie) that I will try to post a little more often!!!

Until next time…

Heather

We all had mops on our heads so we went Friday to get our hair cut…

Samara was the bravest of them all and chopped about 4 inches off her head… (I was cringing as she wanted to go shorter….) but it’s sassy and cute…

Matt looks hip with his new do…

And I’m quite pleased with mine as well…

Take note of the wall behind us…In the next post, I’ll show you what it looks like now!

Until next time…

Heather

I have a son who loves to be loved and wants to make everyone happy. He gets that from me. But today it bit him.

There’s a boy in his class that he wanted to be friends with however this boy would only be friends with him if he kicked another child. Yes, my son kicked another kid.

Matthew came home and told me he pulled a “pink card”. Because I’ve never heard of the pink card before I had to ask if it was worse than the “orange card” (this is where the teacher calls home — we know all about those.) He said yes and I asked if he was sent to the principal’s office. He replied that the principal would be calling me.

I didn’t know what to do. I was in shock. I sent him to his room while I got a handle on myself.

Later I went into his room and we had a long talk about peer pressure and how he gave up alot just to be friends with this child, who isn’t really his friend. Oh it was a long one. I feel bad for him. I know he only wants to be accepted but at the same time, I know that he can’t kick other kids and I won’t tolerate that.

Where is that parenting instruction book?

He’s grounded for awhile. He can’t go to the movies with Julia on Sunday and we’ve put Matthew’s Kitchen on hold for now. (And I was just about finished with the freebie cookbook he was offering and had just installed the shopping cart.)

He was crying earlier when I left him and I just went in to check on him and he’s sound asleep. Oh this is part of being a parent that I don’t love, but I know that I can bring it up to his kids when he has them.

Peer Pressure Sucks…

I just don’t understand why other kids have to prey on kids like Matthew. He’s a good kid, with a heart of gold. I am mad at him but I feel for him at the same time. I was that kid too.

Until next time…

Heather

I can’t believe Mattie turned 9 yesterday! Here are a few pics I snapped!

What a day! The kids went back to school today and Tim enjoyed the day together before they got home and he needed to take Regan home. While Matthew was at Destination Imagination, the phone rang and when I answered it was Julia looking for Matthew. A girl calling? He’s barely 9!

Julia’s a household name though…they’ve been in the same class for the past 2 years and she’s been the topic of conversation many times. My only smile came when he was too busy doing homework and planting his chia pet to call her back. (I know he likes her…I think he was afraid of getting teased!)

After Tim left I was working and Samara decided that she was going to mop the floors. We had the bucket of water sitting out all day because it was raining and the dogs made a mess when they came in from outside, so I guess that’s what gave her the idea. I happened to walk into the bathroom and was swimming in soap suds. There was water and suds EVERYWHERE.

I asked her what kind of soap she used and she held up the Dawn and said this. I do know that the bottle was 75% full when I finished the dishes this morning…and when I looked it was 1/2 full. That and she was using the wring mop which is too heavy for her to wring.

So I went to the kitchen to get the dirty towels to help mop up the water and encountered the same issue in the kitchen! That’s my little helper!!!

Until next time…

Heather

Today is Pajama Day at Green Valley. It’s also the last day of school and the beginning of Christmas break. One would think that today would be the easiest day of the year to get children dressed…but you know, you have to have the *perfect* pj’s to wear to school. Well, if you’re Samara you do…

Don’t know what I’ll do with them home for so long. They’ve never spent Christmas break at home…they’ve got a chore list (I’ve needed someone to match all the socks in the odd sock pile…) and they’ll play with their friends and then I guess after Sunday, they’ll play with all the new goodies that Santa left under the tree.

Until next time…

Heather

Been busy and haven’t updated as much as I would like to have! We’ve got the tree up, the shopping is coming along…I think! I still have so much that I need to get for people…but the best thing that I’ve gotten is Matthew’s interim report.

Now, I didn’t post this, but his report card ranged from As to Ds 9 weeks ago. The D was in spelling! Most all of the grades were Cs and Ds and we’ve really been working to bring those grades up!

I got his interim report and I’m pleased to announce that he’s got all Bs (even in Spelling!) and one C (reading…poor kid…if it’s not an audio book or a book that he picks out, he HATES to read!)

So there’s my smile for the day…now if he can just keep it up until the report cards come out we’ll be golden!!!

Every year Green Valley Elementary puts on a phenomenal show honoring our Veterans and this year was no different.

Although I had technical difficulties with the camera, I did manage to record a portion of one of my favorite songs they do called “We Are Proud of Our Veterans”.

View the movie here.

There is also a wall of Veteran’s at the school and I snapped a pic of everyone’s name in our family.

Happy Veterans’ Day!

Until next time…

Heather

I think she’s seen me working too much…

Today she asked to call Scout (her best friend) and when I turned around, this is what I saw…I just kept taking pictures…I couldn’t believe it! (you can also see her hair since she cut 3 inches off of it!)

And then I snapped a pic of my new desk….

And then a few of Matthew and Rhoda so they didn’t feel left out…

Until next time…

Heather

Matthew came home with his first project…to build a deciduous forest. Here we go…

So off to Michael’s we went in search of what we needed. Well, the only “trees” that Michael’s had were the ones in the Christmas section…so we were going to have a winter forest, but we didn’t know what 2 plants grew in the winter in the forest besides trees, nor did we know how to build them. So we have a forest between fall and winter. There are no leaves on the trees but it’s not snowed yet.

He had to have 3 animals…so we have a fox, a deer, and a bunny. He had to show the home of one of the animals, so we cut a hole in the styrofoam in the bottom of the box, cut the bunny’s legs off and stuck him in his new home.

He also had to have a source of food and water for one of the animals…well guess what? Fox eat bunnies. Our lake, and water source, is made from blue construction paper. The floor of our forest is brown moss. The total cost of this project? $35! (The berry bush was free. I swiped that from the Taco Bell drive through as I was waiting thinking that the bunny would eat them. )

Here are some pictures. I can’t wait to see what grade we get on this one!

An ariel view…

From the front

The deer

The fox…hiding behind the trees (waiting to attack the bunny when he comes out of the hole…lol)

The bunny…hiding in his hole…staying away from the fox…

Until next time..

Heather

The first day of school…I’ve been waiting all summer for this!!

The kids are donned in their new outfits (Matthew’s shirt says 99% perfect.  He opted for this one instead of the one that says “Lost Sister, if found, please do not return…) and Samara has her clothes laid out for the week.  It’s tough to be a popular first grader!  Last year, she competed for cuteness with Hannah S. and I’m wondering who the new threat will be…

Matthew wouldn’t let me take a picture of him by himself…in fact, he really didn’t want to take this one…he’s growing up and I’m becomming more and more uncool…but hey!  He’s a 3rd grader now and that means he can vote for SCA president!  That’s all I’ve heard for months…and his buddy is running for president so yesterday, Matthew was named campaign manager for Noah…this ought to be good!!

Until next time…

Heather

Or is it? I always remember the camping trips I went on as a child and how much I really liked them. As soon as we got there, Dad would tell us to get lost and we pretty much stayed lost unless it was time to eat.

I was in search of boys and my brother just rode his bike around and found other little friends.

I’ve figured out that as an adult there’s alot more work involved in these trips and getting lost as soon as you get there really isn’t an option! However, depsite the work involved they are rather nice.

We went to the Wytheville KOA and were in the same site that we were in last year. What are the odds of that happening? Tim got there first and by the time the kids and I got there (there was an accident on the way down so the hour trip turned into two!) he had the tent and screen porch up. I had the bikes with me, so we got there, took the bikes off and told the kids to get lost while Tim and I finished setting up.

The first “I’m bored” came about 30 minutes later. How can these children possibly be bored? We were literally right across from the playground, game room, store and there are a gazillion other little heathens running around! And they have their bikes! We put a stop to that real quick, but the bottom line is that “I’m bored” translates into “I want to go to the pool and nothing else!”

Tim got our campsite set up really nice…

Like I said, it’s the exact same site we were at last year!

Friday night, we didn’t do much, the kids rode their bikes, and Tim and I relaxed a bit. Tim didn’t even get a fire going…but it was a long day…

Saturday morning the people next to us were up early…and so was Rhoda, so I got up with Rhoda and Matthew and putted around. Tim got a new camp stove for his birthday last week so I made coffee on that with our new coffee pot that we bought last camping trip.

The girls got up and since Tim was still sleeping, I took the kids down to play putt putt…thank goodness I didn’t play, I would never have been able to concentrate.

We got back and Tim was up so I took the kids to the pool. They were so excited. The slide wasn’t open yet, and it really wasn’t that hot, so we didn’t stay that long. We came back and had some lunch and then headed back to the pool to leave Tim to his horseshoe tournament.

This time the kids got on the big waterslide. Matthew just goes. He doesn’t care…face first, feet first, sitting up, on his back, on his belly…and he loves to make a splash. Most of the time I had to catch the girls. They did brave going down without their water wings as long as I promised to catch them. They would go down without being caught if they had their wings on. I attempted to teach them to doggie paddle, but that didn’t go over real well. There’s always next time.

We went back to the site to watch Tim finish up his tournament…

While watching Tim, the girls decided to pose for a few pictures…

What hams!

Tim won…he’s now the proud owner of a tee-shirt that says “I’m a winner at the KOA Wytheville”…i confiscated it for a sleep shirt since I forgot Sam’s pajamas and I had to give her my shirt…

Tim took me to play putt putt for my annual butt whooping…I only lost by 2, but I lost…and then Tim discovered the quarter game, where you stick quarters in the machine and try to get more out…I finally left the game room…I was out of money…

Back to play…Tim read and eventually we had dinner and headed down to Kareoke…well Sam, Regan and I did. Somehow I got swindled into singing “Dancing Queen” with the girls. I’m not sure how…but there we were…and then all of a sudden I see Matthew in front of the stage screaming “Tim said it was you!”

So, since I sang a song with Samara, I had to sing one with Matthew…well we all got up there and sang “When the sun goes down…” Yes, I do believe we won’t be able to show our faces in Whytheville anymore…

The girls were tired, so I got them bathed and into bed, and Tim and Matthew guarded the fire and made s’mores.

Sunday I slept in a little…not much..the people next door were loud. The girls didn’t get up until almost 10…and then they were off playing.

Tim took them up to the pool for a bit…and I snapped a few pics of them…

I got ready for my volleyball tournament…and yes, now I have my own “I’m a winner at the Wytheville KOA” tee-shirt!

Tim comes back and says that he needs to find an ATM since his money mysteiously dissappeared…I start freaking out, only to learn that the money mysteriously dissappeared into the quarter machine! So he goes and comes back and gets Matthew to go go cart riding.

We had dinner and then putted around waiting for the fire works to start…we went on a hay ride…

And Sam tried her hand at horseshoes…

And Tim relaxed…

Then the boys got the fire going and the s’mores set up…

Once it was time for the fireworks we all went up to the bon fire and the girls entertained us…

And then the kids and I had fun taking pictures of ourselves…

Then the owner thought we were off our rockers and took a picture of all of us…

I snapped one of Tim and Regan…

Then the fireworks started…and Rhoda took off…so did Tim…not voluntarily though. Poor thing was scared to death, so Matthew, Samara, and I stayed for the show…not too bad…but poor Rhoda…scared the pee right out of her…all over the tent…it’s funny…we’ve used that tent twice and twice she’s gone to the bathroom in it…

Matthew reached his limit and he went to bed and the girls and I sat around the fire…

Off to bed and up this morning to pack up and head home…

Happy 4th…

Until next time…

Heather and the gang…

My goodness! I’m so tired! I’m sore…I’m ready for a nap…and the kids are still going strong…I don’t know how they do it. My station was the jump ropes, but my kids didn’t come through there. Luckily for me, not many classes signed up for the jump ropes so I had LOTS of free time to go and hang out with the kids and their friends. I even got to have lunch with both of them! (I had grilled cheese, chocolate milk, goldfish, an apple, and a pudding.)

So here are the pictures!

Matthew in the relay race, running backwards!

Matthew in line for the race.

Samara after the sponge relay!

Samara waiting patiently for her turn in the sponge relay

Samara squeezing the winning sponge into their cup!

Matthew, Nicole, and Nick at lunch

Matthew at the batting station

He knocks it pretty far!

Samara’s class

Jared, Samara and Hanna S. (I think Jared is one of her boyfriends, but I’m not sure)

Samara waiting her turn to get more water.

I’ll go back next year…I just need plenty of rest before and after!

Until next time…

The James H. Drew Expo rolls into Roanoke the Tuesday after Memorial Day every year. You can bank on it. They set up in the Civic Center parking lot, draw tons of people, and some other creatures that I’m not sure how to describe…and take all your money.

This year was no different…

On Monday, I told the kids that if they could be good all week, that we would have a suprise…well they were good and so we all got to go to the Expo.

Here are a few pictures of our night…

The girls on the flyer…this is one ride that I didn’t think they would get on…

The ferris wheel…my favorite part of any fair…but we didn’t get on it this time around…

Matthew on the flyer

Samara has no fear…her arms were up on every ride

I asked Matthew if he wanted to go on the Moon Rocket. It goes in a circle and stops when you’re upside down. He said no, so I told him I’d pay him a dollar…he decided to do it…

There he is all strapped in…and as they are starting the ride, he’s yelling at me “you owe me a dollar”…

Poor thing…this is him when he got off the Moon Rocket…I think I’ll keep this one to show future girlfriends…hee hee

The only ride I went on. It cost me $2, but I couldn’t pass it up…

I can’t remember this guy’s name…Tim told me…Tim ran into him at the Country Club when he was playing golf…Yes, Tim plays golf at the country club…so Matt’s on this ridge with former Virginia State Senator What’s His Face…

The next big event will be the Salem Fair…look for pictures in about a month…

Until next time…