Terrific Kid!

This morning we had our Terrific Kid Ceremony for January at our school. Each month, teachers choose one student who demonstrates good character, good behavior, excellent grades or progress, etc. as the Terrific Kid for their class. This month Mikayla was chosen as her class' Terrific Kid. We are so proud of her!! Daddy brought Mikayla to school early, and Mimi came to join all of us in the gym for the ceremony!
Mikayla accepts her award (certificate, pencil, bumper sticker for mommy's car, and free kids meal coupon) from Kiwanis member Steve Parker, as our principal Dr. Menzer and our guidance counselor Mrs. Holder looks on.
Mimi holds her "terrific girl"!
Mikayla with Mrs. Pryor (assistant principal), Dr. Menzer (principal), and Mrs. Garner (assistant principal)! Way to go Mikayla!!

Awards Day

Today was awards day for the second nine weeks at our school for 1st and 2nd graders. Mimi and Aunt Jennie joined me and the 160 other parents to watch Drew and the other children accept their awards. I am so very excited to announce that Drew got straight A's during the second nine weeks. He also received an award for Perfect Attendance (not missing any days during the second nine weeks), and an award for math (Addition Fast Facts)! We are very proud of our first grade smartie!!

Drew looks over at us while he waits for the program to start. He was more excited about Mimi and Jennie being there than anything (I guess he thought I get to see mommy here every day).
Drew receives one of his awards from Mrs. Garner (assistant principal) as Dr. Menzer (principal) and Mrs. Pryor (assistant principal) look on!
Drew knew mommy would want a picture...

He was excited - can you tell by that smile?

2nd Game!

This past Saturday, Drew and Mikayla had their second week of Upward games. We weren't sure if they would get a chance to play/cheer or not because they were calling for us to get more snow Saturday. They didn't cancel the games, and for that I'm glad because we ended up getting mostly rain with just a little snow (with nothing sticking).

This week, Drew's game was at nine, and Mikayla cheered at 10. Drew and his team played hard, and Drew got the white star to add to his uniform. The white star represents most Christ-like. That's the biggest compliment someone can get! We are extremely proud of Drew!!

After Drew's game, it was time for the girls on Mikayla's squad to cheer! We worried that Mikayla wouldn't do well during the games because "everybody is lookin' at me", but she has cheered right along with the other girls. Even though she seems to enjoy cheering this year, she still says dance is her favorite!

Goats!

Right after Christmas, we adopted two goats from Hollywild Animal Park. Craig had been wanting to get some goats for awhile. Every time we go to the zoo (during the day, or at Christmas to see the lights) he mentions this. A friend of Craig's and his dad have worked at the zoo for many years, so Craig talked to them to see about getting two goats. He took Drew after work one day to pick two out - one for him, and one for Mikayla!

Drew holds his goat, Jackson!

Mikayla pets her goat, Miley Cyrus (can you tell we watch Hannah Montanna??)!

Drew and Mikayla love their goats, and they seem to do well with Drew and Mikayla. Jackson follows Drew around everyone (which Drew thinks is so cool). Molly (our cocker spaniel) isn't real sure what to think of them though! The good news she is an inside pet and they are outside pets.

Four-Wheelin' Fun

Drew, daddy, and Mikayla ride on the four-wheeler. Drew and Mikayla love this, and don't care if they are just riding around the yard, or riding on the trail behind our house. They prefer riding with daddy instead of mommy - especially Mikayla, who repeatedly reassures me that it's okay to go faster! :)

Basketball Saturdays!

Last Saturday, Drew and Mikayla had their first Upward games of the year with Drew playing and Mikayla cheering! The good news is that (for this week anyway) Drew played at 10 and Mikayla cheered for their game at 10!!

Mikayla and the other girls get set for the game! She loves Breanna and is very happy to be sitting beside her!!Drew (far right) celebrates after Bryson scored a goal for their team!
Mikayla in "ready position"!Drew gets open for a pass! Mikayla and the girls cheer at half time!
A picture of Mikayla after the game. I straightened her hair and it gives her a different look for sure! She wants me to straighten it all the time, so I told her we would when we have the time to do that!

Snowball Fights, Snow People, Fun, Oh My!

Poppi and Aunt Jennie came over to play in the snow with us. Drew and Mikayla laughed as they threw snowballs at Jennie and Poppi. I even caught several snowballs myself.

Drew and Mikayla loved dropping snow on Poppi's head, and Poppi did the same to them!

Jennie, Drew, and Mikayla laugh as they play in the snow. Your never too old to love snow!!
Poppi, and Drew laugh as Drew snowball just barely missed me. Mikayla was busy rolling a ball for a snowman.
The finished "snow people". Drew and Mikayla loved rolling the balls so much, we had enough to make two.

Poppi, Drew, and Mikayla pose with the "snow people" after Poppi added these hats for Drew!!

First Snow 2008!

Beautiful snow as it fell last night!
Drew and Mikayla LOVE snow, and I'm so glad that we get to play in it this year!
Drew and Mikayla having a snowball fight!
Last night about 9:00, we noticed the first snow flurries. Drew was so excited to finally see SNOW!! Mikayla was asleep, but she sure was excited to see the ground white this morning. We are all extremely happy to have a SNOW DAY!!

New Refrigerator

We noticed our old refrigerator's water hose leaking right before Christmas, and when Craig's attempt to fix it failed, we just decided to turn the water off (just a little inconvenience of not having water and ice in the door) and call someone after the holidays to fix it.

The Thursday we were to return to school, Craig opened the freezer to find that the food was defrosting. So, instead of calling someone in to fix the old one, we decided we would be better off buying a new one (and fast so we would have food to eat). We had bought the old refrigerator from Craig's mom when we bought our house in 2001, but she had had the refrigerator since 1992.

After going to Sears, and not getting the service that we expected, (there were 3 families looking at refrigerators and only one associate available - that associate was helping a family that was on the phone the entire time) we decided to look at Lowe's. At Lowe's, we had someone helping us within a minute of walking into the kitchen section. She was very helpful and answered all of our questions, and helped us to find what we needed - we even saved money!

We got this 26 cu ft Samsung model with ice and water in the door (which I had as a non-negotiable since our family drinks a lot of water). I also loved the fact that it is black to match all of the other appliances in our kitchen. Our old refrigerator was white, but I'm not one to go out and buy new stuff just to match unless the old stuff is broken so we made do. We have been extremely happy so far, especially with the amount of space. I haven't been able to fill it yet...

A New Baby!

No, not ours - had you goin' for a minute didn't I? We wanted to congratulate Craig's brother, Jason, and his wife, Angel, on their new little one who is due in July. They are already the proud parents of Belle, who will turn 3 in April. We can't wait to find out if we will have a second niece or if this baby will be our second nephew (Craig's brother, Chris, and his, wife, Julie have Haston)! We wish Jason and Angel a healthy pregnancy, and we can't wait for July to be here so we can hold that new little bundle!

In with the New...

Since I posted Out with the Old... (several days ago), I thought it only fitting to post what our New Year looks like already. Many dates on our calendar are already filled, and by the end of the year we will have fewer empty spaces than full. So, welcome 2008 (albeit a couple weeks late).

• Drew starts his second year of Upward Basketball
• Mikayla begins her first year of cheering for Upward Basketball
• Alison continues in 2 graduate courses (1 more class and I'll have 18+ hours towards my Masters Degree - I know that doesn't sound like much but with two little ones that's all the time I'm willing to give toward this endeavor at this point in my life)
• Craig continues as supervisor over the HUBBLE account
• Mikayla continues her year of dance (2 nights a week of classes)
• Drew made straight A's on his report card for the second nine week's (he doesn't know yet because report cards don't come home until Thursday)
• Alison will attend the State Teacher Forum Winter Workshop at Myrtle Beach in February
• Drew will begin his 4th year of baseball (where he moves into the division using the pitching machine - which is why Santa brought him one)
• Craig and Alison will attend the State Teacher of the Year Banquet in March where the 2008 - 2009 SC Teacher of the Year will be announced
• Craig will turn 36 (I love that he has 7 years on me...)
• Mikayla will participate in her 3rd dance recital
• Summer Vacation!!!
• Drew will turn 7 years old (I can't believe it...)
• Alison will turn 29 (ahhhhh one more year in my twenties...)
• Drew will start second grade (no matter how hard I try to convince him to come back to kindergarten)
• Mikayla will start kindergarten (no matter how hard I try to convince her to be my 2 year old again)
• Mikayla will turn 5 (another I can't believe...)
• Drew will more than likely begin his second year of soccer (unless I give in and let him play football)
• Mikayla will begin her 4th year of dance
• Craig and Alison will celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary

2008 looks pretty full already, and this list doesn't include appointments, birthday parties, etc. The fun has already begun!!

Out With the Old...

I got this idea from Melanie's blog and meant to post yesterday. 2007 was a year of many "firsts" for our family, and we each learned a lot along the way. What better way to say goodbye to 2007 than to list our Year in Review:

• Drew played his first year of Upward basketball where he scored many baskets, including several from half court


• Mikayla danced in her first dance competition where she, Abbi, and Annabeth earned a first place trophy


• Drew learned to ride his bicycle without training wheels


• Mikayla had her first trip to the dentist, which she didn't like at all


• Mikayla's dance company performed in the Food Lion parking lot, but Mikayla was afraid to dance


• Alison got a brand new van


• We went to the "Greatest Show on Earth" - Ringling Brothers/Barnum & Bailey Circus


• Drew had his first visit to the eye doctor


• Drew got glasses


• Drew played baseball for the 3rd year


• Craig was supervisor of HUBBLE account at work


• Alison was named BSES Teacher of the Year


• Mikayla had her tonsils and adenoids removed


• Drew lost his first tooth (loosing 4 total this year)


• Drew sprained his ankle badly (twice)


• Craig turned 35 - only 5 years 'til the BIG one


• Mikayla participated in her second dance competition, placing 1st in both dances


• Drew got his first home run


• Mikayla became 2007 Petite Miss Rising Star


• We adopted 2 birds


• Alison completed her application and interview for District Teacher of the Year


• Alison attended the Author's Tea in Drew's Kindergarten class


• Alison's Kindergarten class hosted their first annual Mother's Tea


• Drew and Mikayla decided to cut their own hair
  
  
• Mikayla participated in her 2nd dance recital


• Drew had 2 weeks of golf camp


• Mikayla had 1 week of dance camp - even participated in a sleepover on the last night


• Craig got a new truck


• Drew turned 6


• Alison, Drew, and Mommy took a "mini-vacation" to Myrtle Beach


• Craig, Alison, Drew, and Mikayla took a "mini-vacation" to Gatlinburg


• Alison was presented the District Teacher of the Year award


• Drew started 1st grade


• Alison turned 28 (only two more years in my twenties?!?)


• Mikayla started 4 year old kindergarten


• Mikayla turned 4


• Drew played AYSO soccer for the first time


• Mikayla danced at Harvest Fest - even by herself at one point


• Poppi got a brand new truck


• Drew was a top writer


• Mikayla was October Studio Star for dance


• Alison, Drew, and Mikayla rode in the Homecoming Parade


• We adopted Molly, our beautiful Cocker Spaniel


• Drew sprained his arm


• We went to the Piedmont Interstate Fair


• Drew got straight A's on his first report card


• Spent Thanksgiving at the beach


• Drew and Mikayla rode in the Boiling Springs Christmas Parade


• Went to Hollywild to see the Christmas Lights


• Mikayla sang in a Christmas Program at church


• Mikayla was the Grand Marshall of the Inman Christmas Parade (Craig, Drew, and Alison rode with her)
• Alison mailed her application for SC Teacher of the Year


• Alison got a new "hair do"