New Year's Eve 2005

We had planned for my sister to keep Drew and Mikayla so that Craig and I could get something to eat and then go bowling for a little while. We were planning on being home before 12 though so that we could ring in the new year with our little angels! Those plans changed when my sister informed me that since she had to work all day, she didn't want to keep her sweet niece and nephew. Thanks Jennine (LoL)!! Anyway, it all worked out for the best because we were able to spend the whole evening with our precious angels. We went to Walmart (Craig calls this our second home) to get some snack food and then went to McDonald's to get the kids some supper. Then, we headed back home to wait for 2006! Drew and Mikayla wait for the ball to drop with mommy!

Mikayla and Drew with daddy. Drew isn't really asleep in this picture, he was pretending! It wasn't long after this picture, though, that they were both asleep. Last year, they were awake when the ball dropped to see fireworks and wish everyone a happy new year! This year, though, neither of them had gotten a nap so we didn't think they would make it until 12. They didn't, they were out a little after 10! Still it was a very HAPPY NEW YEAR, and we feel very blessed!!

WHAT FUN!!

We are into our second week of Christmas break, and we are really enjoying this time at home! I love teaching, but I also love spending this time around Christmas and New Years with Drew and Mikayla!! We have been spending our days playing with Power Rangers, baby dolls, play dough, and the kitchen that Santa brought. We have also had fun playing games, reading, and painting. One of my favorite things is staying up a little later and sleeping a little later in the mornings!! Drew and Mikayla like this a lot as well! They don't have to get up so early to get ready for school. I'm not sure how well Mikayla will adjust with having to go back to daycare next Thursday. She has gotten attached to staying with me. She is a daddy's girl, however, when she's tired, sick, or taking medicine, she wants mommy. Since we've been staying home though, everything has to be mommy! She even says she's mommy's girl and when Craig asks for sugar (a kiss), she's says "that's mommy's sugar" and leans over to give me a kiss smiling the whole time. It's the cutest thing ever, even Craig can't help but laugh. I think she just likes teasing him! She loves school, though, and once she gets back in the routine she will be okay. I don't think that Drew will have a problem going back to school! He really enjoys Ms. Rhonda's class at preschool, and he loves Ms. Brown's and Mrs. Hayes's class at my school! He's also older so I think that makes it easier for him to adjust! We don't have to think about adjusting for a few more days. We will enjoy the rest of our break!!

More Christmas with Nannie...

As I said in the post below, we celebrated Christmas at Nannie's on December 18th. Unfortunately, Nannie was in the hospital then. So after we snacked and exchanged gifts with everyone else [Nana (Craig's mom), Craig's Aunt (Susan), his Uncles (Ovid and Kent), and cousins (Katie Beth, Rob, and Claudia Grace), as well as his brothers (Chris and Jason) and their wives (Julie and Angel), and our nephew (Haston) and niece (Belle)], we went to the hospital to visit with Nannie! Once we arrived there, we received the best Christmas gift of all: Nannie had made a complete turn-around from when she was first admitted! It was really great to see her, and to know that she was doing much better! On a side note: she has since been released from the hospital and is comfortable at home!

Here are pictures from our visit with Nannie (Craig's grandma, Drew and Mikayla's great-grandma)

Drew and Rob staying close by Nannie's bed!

Belle and Mikayla sit on the bed with Nannie!

Nannie's grandson Rob, and great-grandchildren Drew, Belle, and Mikayla surround her for this picture!

Christmas at Nannie's!

We celebrated Christmas at Craig's Nannie's house on Sunday, December 18th. I have been pretty upset about not having pictures of this gathering on here. I had already had them developed, and in a rush to another one of our many Christmas gatherings, deleted them from my memory card before adding them on here! So, thanks to Craig's mom and Fred, here are some pictures of our Christmas get together at Nannie's! Thank you very much Nana and Papa Fred for emailing these to me!!
Drew and Mikayla climb in Nannie's tree while waiting on everyone else to arrive! Nana with 3 of her grandbabies: Drew, Haston, and Mikayla!Here are some of the cousins: Katie Beth holds Mikayla while Claudia Grace and Drew try to hold Haston!

Drew and Mikayla opening presents at Nannie's!

Craig holding our niece, Belle, as his brother, Jason, looks on.

More pictures from Christmas...

These are more pictures from my Aunt Laura and Uncle Ted's house Christmas Day...

Mikayla and Drew with Mimi and Poppi! I sure am glad they all took time to get in this picture!

Terry, Jessica, and Jonathan try looking busy on the couch. Really they were catching some tv time!

My cousin Gina peeks in to see what everyone is doing in the living room while Jennie tries to figure out her new digital camera that Santa brought her!

Mikayla and Drew with their cousin Samantha. You can tell they sure love her!

Mikayla and her neb..

In December 2003, Mikayla acquired bronchitis. Even though she was on oral medicine to treat this, the cold moved further down her chest and they diagnosed her as having bronchiallitis. She was hospitalized for a day for observation since her oxygen count was low. Ever since then, we have used a nebulizer when needed as a preventive measure. For some reason, when Mikayla gets a cold, it settles in her chest. So as soon as we notice cold symptoms, we start treatments. Typically this happens in November and December.

Mikayla has been coughing and has had a runny nose this past week, so we have been giving breathing treatments. Today, in the middle of one of her treatments, she looks at me and says "I told you". So, curios as to what she had told me, I say "what?". She said "see, I'm not coughing any more". She doesn't like taking her treatments any more because she has to stay still so long! Her other new phrase with this or anything else she doesn't like (mostly foods and drinks) is "I can't like it"! It sounds really cute with her strong southern accent, especially since usually we get her to try whatever it is she "can't like". With her treatments though, we explain that we are sorry she doesn't like it but we have to do them to make her cough go away. This usually works until today when she decided that she was no longer coughing. Needless to say, we finished the treatment anyway!

Christmas at Aunt Laura's and Uncle Ted's!

Drew and Mikayla play cards with Poppi!
Mimi and Mikayla in front of the tree.
Alyssa, Carmen, Jennie, and Nate looking cozy on the couch!

Drew and Uncle Jonathan play outside.
Aunt Jennie, Mikayla, and Jessica in front of the tree.

Mikayla with cousins Alyssa and Maddie. They came all the way from Missouri to spend Christmas with us!

Mimi and Poppi

Uncle Ted and Aunt Laura, with their granddaughter Samantha.

Grandma comes to visit!

Hmmm...I wonder what's in this great BIG bag? Drew opens his gifts from Grandma!

Drew and Mikayla show Grandma all the "goodies" Santa left for them!

Santa came to Mimi and Poppi's!

Poppi talks Mikayla into wearing her dress shoes to church! She wanted to wear her Barney tennis shoes that Santa left at Mimi and Poppi's house!




Santa left some things for Drew and Mikayla at Mimi and Poppi's house!

Craig was VERY EXCITED about his gift from Santa! It was an eight piece tool set including a tool bag! These will go great in his building that he got this past spring! My dad tricked him because this box was not in "our spot", but in daddy's instead. Daddy said "How do you like my stuff over here?". Then he said "oh, wait a minute, these are in the wrong pile!" Craig was ecstatic about that! Then, when we were leaving for church, the tools were the only thing that he packed up! He told my mom and dad he would be back with his truck to pick up the rest! He was afraid daddy would change his mind, and want them back! :)

What a night!!

Drew and Mikayla in front of Mimi and Poppi's tree when we first arrived.
Last night we went to my mom and dad's house to exchange gifts with them, my brother, his girlfriend, and my sister! It was also my sister's 19th birthday, and we had to celebrate! Daddy and Jennie had picked up food from The Beacon for supper - YUM!! We had chicken fingers (mine and Drew and Mikayla's favorite!), pimento cheese, chicken salad, and hash to choose from!! Before we ate, Jennie opened her birthday present from us - Imaginiff - a game! She wanted this game to take on our church's Youth Retreat to Gatlinburg on Wednesday. (She's a chaperone this year!) So after we enjoyed our meal, of course we had to try the game! Then, we had Jennie's birthday cake and ice cream and opened presents!

Can we open them yet??Drew tears into one of his presents while Uncle Jonathan and Jess do the same! (The crutches are Poppi's - he has a bad ankle sprain - thank goodness it wasn't broken!) What else is down there Poppi??Uncle Jonathan and Mikayla play on the "pooter" that Uncle Jon Jon and Jess got Drew! Drew can say computer, but it is so much cuter when he says "pooter"! Last night, I got him on video saying it!!

Drew shows off his outfit he got from Aunt Jennie!

Merry Christmas!!

Wow! What a busy day...But what fun!! Our day started this morning about 7:30 when Drew and Mikayla awoke to see what Santa had brought! Drew screamed when he saw his Spiderman tent/inflatable bed sitting in front of our tree. Mikayla headed straight for her babies, passing right by the kitchen sitting in front of our tree. Then Drew went around to see what else Santa had brought. He was delighted to see his radio controlled Power Ranger motorcycle, a radio controlled helicopter, a Power Rangers transport vehicle, his VSmile video game system and games, and other goodies! Mikayla got busy feeding her new baby that was seated in a doll high chair! She then started pushing another baby in a stroller. Then noticed her kitchen, though she still didn't have much to do with it until Poppi came over and played with her! She also put her baby in her car seat and crib. She had to try them all out, even a miniature Walmart buggy filled with groceries! Then Drew noticed his Hungry, Hungry Hippo game so we all had to play it several times. Then Drew, Mikayla, and I got out Mikayla's Candyland game and started a game of it, while Craig played Drew's VSmile. It wasn't long after we started Candyland that Poppi and Aunt Jennie came over to see what Santa had brought (Mimi stayed home to finish her part of Christmas dinner)! Aunt Jennie and Poppi played a little while and Jennie took some pictures with her new digital camera. Then they went back to their house so we could get ready for church! Before church, we went to Mimi and Poppi's house to see what Santa left for us over there! We left directly from Mimi and Poppi's and headed to church for our Christmas Cantata! It was beautiful, our choir did an outstanding job! After church, we came back home to wait for Grandma and finish my part of Christmas dinner (brown rice and deviled eggs - YUM)! Grandma came and we were able to visit with her awhile! We exchanged gifts with Grandma, then it was off to Aunt Laura's house. We had dinner, enjoyed spending time with family (especially Gina, Terry, Nate, Alyssa, and Maddie who came from Missouri), relaxed (some napped), and then exchanged gifts! About 8:30, we headed for home with Drew and Mikayla falling asleep in their car seats! They were exhausted, just like mommy and daddy!

Drew checks out the goodies from Santa. "What are we going to do with all of this?"

"Be careful, the floor is wet!"

Drew and Mikayla show Poppi all their goodies from Santa!

What a busy time of year...

Our family always has a very busy Christmas. We went last Sunday to Greenwood for our Christmas get together with Craig's family. Drew and Mikayla had a wonderful time with Nana, Aunt Susan, Uncle Kent, Rob, Claudia, Katie Beth, Uncle Chris, Aunt Julie, Haston, Uncle Jason, Aunt Angel, Belle, Uncle Ovid, and Nanny. We snacked a little, then once everyone arrived, we exchanged presents. Drew and Rob had a ball playing with their remote control trucks, and tanks outside. Claudia loved playing with her lap top. Mikayla had so much fun playing with her baby and the accessories. Haston really just wanted to play with the paper and boxes, and Belle took it all in.

Then last night we went to my Grandma's house for Christmas with my daddy's side of the family. My daddy's family is huge, and growing by leaps and bounds. There's Grandma, Uncle Mike, Elwanda, Denise, Joey, and Hannah, Chris and Dawn, Timothy and Carla, Sed-ne, Rodney, Ryan, Sequoia, Zach, and Cody, Kathy, Hank, Barrett, and Holly, Mikie, April, and Keyleigh, my daddy, my mama, Jonathan, Jessica, and Jennie, Craig, Drew, Mikayla, and I, AuntDenise, Michelle, Tony, Daffney, Nadia, and Cameron, Brandy, and Jason, Allen, Nikki, Chrissy, and Jacob, Aunt Karen. First, we had dinner which included: anything you could imagine to put on a sandwich (ham, turkey, roast beef, chicken salad, egg salad, pimento cheese, hash), chicken tenders, chips, sausage balls, pickles, olives, and other finger foods. Then, there was desert: strawberry pie, pecan pie, heavenly hash, banana pudding, fruit cake cookies, etc. After everyone was finished eating, we started exchanging gifts.

Aunt Jennie helps Mikayla open one of her gifts!

Drew doesn't need any help unwrapping his gifts. Sometimes the boxes are a little tricky though!!

Tonight, we go to my mom and dad's house to exchange gifts with Mimi, Poppi, Uncle Jon Jon, Jessica, and Aunt Jennie! Then we come home and get ready for bed so Santa can come.

In the morning, we will wish Jesus a Happy Birthday, see what Santa has brought, go back to Mimi and Poppi's house to see what Santa left there, and then it's off to church. Once we get home from church Drew and Mikayla's Grandma (Cheryle) will come by to see what Santa brought and visit with us for awhile! We sure will miss Grandpa, but we know he's spending his Christmas with Jesus this year!! Then, it's off to Aunt Laura and Uncle Ted's house to have Christmas dinner with my mom's side of the family! (I will post pictures as soon!!)

It sure is a busy time of year, but it's our favorite! From our family to yours, Merry Christmas!!

Almost Twins!

Last night, we went to my Grandma's house for our Christmas get together with my dad's side of the family! My cousin Mikie has a little girl named Keyleigh who is 18 months old. People always say that Mikayla and Keyleigh look so much alike. They truly do!! I wanted to make sure that I got a picture of them together! So, here is Keyleigh at 18 months (on the left) and Mikayla at 28 months (on the right)!

YEAH VACATION!!!

Today was our last day of school until after the holidays! Don't get me wrong, I love teaching, but I also love spending this time with my family every year!

Yesterday was Polar Express Day, where the teachers and students could wear their pajamas to school. We watched the movie and had hot chocolate. We also tried to catch up on some things that we were not able to do last week thanks to the ice storm of 2005! It was Drew's last day of school until after the break, so he also had his Christmas party. The day went by so quickly!

Today, we only had a half day (students dismissed at 11:00, we were able to leave at 11:30)! At 8:30, we watched our 4th grade Chirstmas program. We were also trying to organize all that the students had to take home. At 9:45 our party started, and then the children were dismissed at 11:00! Today also went by quickly.

I went to Drew and Mikayla's preschool after I left my school! They were both having their Christmas parties today. I was glad they chose today for their parties, because Drew and Mikayla will stay home with me for the next 2 weeks!! Can you tell I'm excited? When I got there, Drew and his class were playing a game of pin the star on the Christmas tree (a take-off from pin the tail on the donkey). Craig came in just as they were finishing this game up. Then, they were able to exchange their gifts. Boys brought boy presents, girls brought girl presents. Then the children drew numbers to see which gift they would receive. Drew got to bring home a big monster truck, a book about a racing car, and a Spiderman sticker book. He was very pleased. Then, they were able to open their gifts from "Mrs. Nana Gale" (the owner of their daycare). Drew was very tickled with this gift as well and ran over to give "Mrs. Nana Gale" a hug and told her thank you!

Then, Craig and I walked over to Mikayla's building to see how her party was going. She was already eating when we got over there. Of course when she saw us, she was finished eating, and came running to us. Her teacher packed up what was left on her plate for her to bring home. We had to get her gift from "Nana Gale" out of her cubby for her to open. She was thrilled when she found a puzzle! So Mikayla, Craig, and I went back to Drew's building to see if he was ready. Mikayla also had to tell "Nana Gale" thank you for her puzzle. Drew's class was just beginning to eat when we got back over there, so I grabbed some bags of food and helped pass it out. After Drew finished his plate, we wished everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and we left to come home.

My only regret...not having my digital camera to take pictures of all of this!!

Power Finally!!

We are all home from school, and Craig is home from work again today. The roads are clear and passable, however power has been out almost everywhere. I shouldn't have said anything about us having power yesterday!! When I posted it was around 8:00 am, and right after 9:00 we lost power! So, we packed the kids up and headed over to my mom and dad's house. They still had power at 9, however, when we arrived there a little after 10:00, they had lost their power as well! The good news is they have 2 fireplaces, so we could at least stay warm. About 4:00, Craig and Daddy went to get pizza! After calling Little Ceasars and Pizza Hut and finding out they didn't have power either, they were finally able to order at Dominos. When daddy called, there was a 2 hour wait for delivery. Daddy told them that he would come get it, so it was only a 30 minute wait. When they got back from getting pizza, they said Dominos, Applebees, Walmart, and Lowes were packed. I guess with so many people without power, they were getting out of the house. About 6:00, we decided we would take the kids to get more batteries since it had gotten dark and they were getting a little bored. By this time, all that was open was Lowes. Dominos, Applebees, and Walmart had all lost power. So we went and got batteries from Lowes, and then we just rode around for awhile. I was amazed at the number of houses/businesses without power. The only things open were Zaxby's, Macdonald's, Race Trak, Corner Store, and a few houses around those businesses. Everywhere else we went was dark! When we got home, we found out that all Spartanburg County schools would be closed again today. So, we talked, listened to a little music (thanks to my sister's battery-powered radio), played a little (all by candlelight) and then went to sleep a little after 10! This gave us a small glimpse of what life must've been like before power. This morning, we called our house and were soooooo excited when our answering machine picked up! WE HAVE POWER!!!! Mom and dad still are without! If they don't have power by tonight, they may be sleeping over with us!

Snow Day!

Today we are all home from school thanks to an ice storm. We would rather have snow since it is more fun, but we are enjoying our morning at home!! So far we still have power, though the lights have flickered a couple of times! We are counting our blessings, as there are about 41,000 outages in the upstate!

We will spend the day playing, wrapping presents, and straightening the house! I will be taking pictures, especially when we go outside later to get some icycles! I will add those later.

Visiting Santa!!

As soon as we got home from school today, we began to get ready to go see Santa. It was our first trip this year with both Drew and Mikayla!

Mikayla got to see Santa at the mall while we were in Florida. Since just Mikayla, Juanita, and I were there, I did not want to have her picture taken. I just wanted to see if she would sit with him. She had been saying that she was not going to! The ladies there were so nice, they said if she did sit with him, I could take a picture with my digital. She did really well at first, she even started to walk towards him. She took just a few steps, then turned and came bounding back to me. She was able to talk to him though, and she gave him "five".

Drew got to sit with Santa a couple of weeks ago at our school, as he comes every year to take pictures with our students! Drew did have his picture taken, but before we bought those I wanted to see if I could get a picture of them both with Santa (since we haven't been able to get one with both of them because one or the other wouldn't participate). I wasn't sure if I would get one this year, but I sure was hoping!!

This was before we left for the mall. Mikayla and Drew looked so adorable, I had to take their picture in front of our Christmas tree!

We got to the mall about 5:30, and found out that Santa was eating dinner and would not return until 6. So while we waited, we decided to do some shopping. I was so glad we did because we found little Belle (our neice) a precious Christmas present! When we returned to Santa's "wonderland", there was a line. Good news...they have all sorts of pretty things to look at while you wait! As we got closer we were even able to see Santa! Mikayla would yell "hey Santa", and Drew would wave to him. The whole time we were in line, we kept asking her "are you going to sit with Santa and take a picture?". She kept saying "yes". One time while trying to encourage her I said, "Santa won't hurt you" and she replied "he won't bite" like she was trying to convince me! My children are sooo funny!! When we were two families back, Mikayla really started yelling "hey Santa", and we had to explain to her that he was visiting with those two little girls then but that it would soon be our turn. We were just glad that she was so excited! Drew was busy looking at a BIG Thomas the Tank Engine model that was there. Then, when the family right in front of us was visiting with Santa, Mikayla's face changed. She did not have the excited look anymore, and I was afraid that I wasn't going to get a picture with both of them this year either. So when it was our turn, I asked Drew to climb up in Santa's lap first. He had been acting like a big boy the whole time! He knew he was going to sit in Santa's lap, and he knew exactly what he was going to ask him for!! I thought that this might help Mikayla see that Santa was okay. Well it must have worked because as soon as Drew was in his lap, I put Mikayla down and she was fine! YEAH!!!!! I finally have a picture of both of my angels with Santa!

Mikayla and Drew with Santa, 2005!

Drew's new song!

Drew has come home the last two days singing a song that he learned from one of his friends in 4K. I have heard the song WE WILL, WE WILL, ROCK YOU many times before, but I never knew any of the words (besides those of course)! Well Drew has learned some other words (we don't think these are correct), and I thought I would put them on here so you all could see how he sings it!

Drew's song: We will, we will, rock you-
sock you, pick you up and drop you-
with "dirt" on your face and a "b-d-skrace" (I think it is suppose to be big disgrace, but his way is so much cuter - don't you think?)

Then he starts over with: we will, we will, rock you

I'm pretty sure he doesn't understand what this means, so right now it is funny to hear. He was saying "with blood on your face" yesterday, but Craig told him that didn't sound very nice. So, we changed it to "with dirt on your face" and Drew is fine with the change. He has been singing it this way since.

It doesn't take kids this age long to pick up new things that's for sure...

Mikayla "reading"!

Mikayla loves reading!! She loves for people to read to her, and she loves to "read". Tonight, while in the kitchen fixing dinner, I began hearing a sweet little voice say "2 little monkeys jumping on the bed, mommy called the doctor, he fell off and bumped his head". I kept listening as our little Mikayla was treating us to the song (I thought) of 5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed. It wasn't long after she started that Craig called me into the living room. When I went around the corner, I was surprised to see her "reading" the story of 5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed. She had picked up a book with a monkey that squeaks on the front cover, and started reading. Even though this book was not the story of the monkeys jumping on the bed (and it was out of order a little), we were sooo proud. At just over 2 years old, she picked up a book that has a monkey on the front, and without any prompting from anyone else, she began "reading"! I didn't have my digital handy (sorry, no picture), but I did grab the video camera. How cute it will be to look back on this and see our little baby "reading"!

Christmas Lights!!

Drew and Mikayla enjoyed looking at the Christmas lights at Hollywild Zoo!

Last night we took the kids to Hollywild Zoo for the Lights Safari! Hollywild Zoo is in Inman, and many of the animals housed there have appeared in movies, commercial, or other media. They also put on an annual lights safari where they decorate the whole zoo with lights. There is a petting area with a bonfire, and also the deer enchanted forest where you can buy food to feed the deer from your car. We take the kids every year, most years 2-3 times! They really enjoy seeing all the lights, feeding the deer in the enchanted forest, and petting the goats, camels, bisons, long-horns, horses, buffalo, etc. Santa Claus is at the exit giving out suckers to all the little boys and girls.

Drew feeds one of the goats a bottle!

Mikayla also liked feeding the goats from a baby bottle!

Character Dress-Up Day!

Today, we had character dress-up day. The students and teachers could dress-up as their favorite book characters. At first Drew wanted to dress-up as the red Power Ranger. If you have been reading my blog, you know that's what he was for Halloween! I tried to discourage that because we do not have any Power Ranger books, plus, I wanted his costume to be one that he would be comfortable in all day - even at preschool this morning. So, he decided that he wanted to dress-up as Clifford. This sounded like a good choice to me because it was something I thought I could handle. I'm by no means a seamstress, but I thought surely I can sew a tail on a red jogging suit. I knew a way to make the ears - thanks to teaching kindergarten. We are always making hats using sentence strips as bands around the head, so I thought I would use the same concept for "Clifford's" ears. Instead of stapling a hat piece to it, I would staple ears to the side. I brought home a sentence strip and Craig colored it red. Then, I began working to sew a tail. While sewing, I had an idea to use some of the fabric that left to cover the top of the hat so Drew's blonde hair wouldn't show. Craig handled that while I finished the tail. This morning when Drew got up, he was surprised to see his complete Clifford costume.

The Silver Ring!

All Craig talked about when I first met him were the crab rolls at The Silver Ring in Florida. Then, the first time I went to Florida with Craig (and Drew) in April 2002, we went there to eat. One time and I was hooked. They are famous for their Cuban sandwiches. They also serve other sandwiches, soups, and of course the famouse crab roll! So when we were planning our trip back to Florida, we made sure our plans included The Silver Ring!

GG ma, GG pa, Aunt Susie, Drew, Mikayla, Craig, and I enjoyed a late-afternoon lunch there on Friday! Drew really liked the Cuban and the soup, but didn't really care for the crab rolls. Mikayla really liked the crab rolls, and enjoyed some of my pressed turkey sandwich.

GG ma and GG pa wait of their lunch!

You can tell by that smile that Mikayla enjoyed her lunch at The Silver Ring!

Drew enjoys his Cuban sandwich as GG pa looks on!