Why I Love My Neighbors

The Lord is so sovereign and I am so grateful. When we were house hunting in Raleigh, I fell in love with a home off of Capital Blvd. It was my dream home. It had a beautiful porch and when you walked through the front door, you entered a large foyer with high ceilings. To the left was a large sitting room with glass, french doors, to the right was a spacious dining room, and in front was a large staircase and family room. Anyway, I'm rambling. Though I was disappointed when we pulled the contract from this house, I am so grateful that the Lord directed us to Breckenridge in Morrisville. Our neighbors are the best. On evenings when the weather is good, we are usually in the cul de sac between 4 and 6. The kids play and the moms talk and laugh and run after children. The husbands join us as they come home from work. It is such a blessing.

Tonight we had a girls' night at Shanda's house. We watched a movie and then. . .we played Rock Band. Shanda and I were on the guitars, Jennifer was on the drums, and Roxann and Tara (with baby Grady) alternated singing. We had a blast, as our babies slept and our husbands watched TV at home! Thank you Lord for these sweet ladies and the blessing of this neighborhood. Your gifts are so good. And tomorrow at 11am, everyone's coming to my house for lunch. The fun never ceases on Willingham Road in Morrisville. :)

September Days

This month, Ry is doing a Kinderdance class at the Community Center. He loves it and I love watching him. He is such a good listener and he follows all of the teachers instructions. I am SO proud of him. I sit at the edge of the room against a wall. After completing each activity, he runs at me full throttle and wraps his arms around me, and usually says, "I did great, Mommy". Look at that sweet face!!! I love you so much, baby!

This past Sunday, the Bridge had another Lake Day at Jordan Lake. As you can see, the kids had a great time in the water and playing in the sand. Madeline's girlfriends, Jessica and Jenna, were there. This was a real treat for Madeline because church events are usually dominated by little boys! While Madeline spent most of her time on the beach in the sand, Ryan spent his time in the water with Jackson.

Ry and Jackson enjoy a sweet moment together as they watch their mommies and daddies play wii fit. Though their volume together can be deafening, it is a JOY to watch them together. They LOVE playing together.

Go Andy, Go Andy, Go! Here is Mr. Andy hula-hooping on the Wii board.

Courtney reaches to catch a hula-hoop. Courtney's talents never cease to amaze me, as she has so many of them and such a variety! Did you know that Courtney is a phenomenal hula-hooper and that she has almost perfect balance?

I cannot remember what Mike is doing here--it might be hula hooping. Regardless, he started doing a funny dance that had us ALL laughing.

Ry and Jackson enjoy swinging together at the Morrisville playground. Of course they were inseparable.

Madeline, Daddy and Ry on the day of her first soccer game. Madeline did great. She kicked the ball and chased after it, and even stopped some balls from going in the goal when she played goalie. Go Cougars, Go!

Maddie and Ry before the game. They got crushed, but Madeline had no idea. She was just excited because we told her we would take her out for ice cream anywhere she wanted to go after the game. Courtney calls soccer at this age "ameba soccer". How right she is! The children form one big mass running together up and down the field.

Madeline and Jessica enjoy some swim time in the lake.

This and That

Attention all bloggers. I found a fantastic sight that allows you to download and print your blog as a book. Though I have not received the finish product yet, it appears that the book is printed on scrapbook like paper. If you would like to print your blog, check out scrapbookblogger.com.

Most times I post an entry, Matt jokes with me about my grammar and goes on and on about how he's going to contact UVA to get money back for my education. After spending the last couple weeks editing my blog on scrapbookblogger.com, I am embarrassed. Yes, my grammar is horrendous, especially my tense transitions. All I can say is that I am usually in a rush to type an entry while Maddie and Ry are watching TV or playing together. Since the time is short I rarely proof read or edit the entry. Though embarrassed, this is the only way I will have time to capture our lives on "paper". So, please forgive me for this here grammar, okay everyone, it might get better when the kids are older, okay? :)

Yes, homeschooling is still a joy! Last week we learned about hygiene. As a special snack, we made a mouth. It's actually an apple slice covered with peanut butter, and the teeth are marshmellows. Madeline is doing a GREAT job learning how to read and how to put letter sounds together to decipher words. I am SO proud of her.

Maddie with her best friend Allie. Allie is two years older than Madeline, and Madeline just adores Allie. This picture was taken at the playground last week by Tara. Since Daddy and Mr. Tom were traveling last week, Tara and I spent some time at the playground with the kids in the evening.

My Ry Guy. I love you bub bubs!

Guess what the Wells' now have. . .a Wii. A couple Sundays ago after Bible study, Ty and Ry and Mr. Tim jammed on Guitar Hero. The boys are so fun to watch, as they get really into it. And I must confess that Matt and I also get really into it when we play. A couple of nights, I have begged him to play one more song with me before he goes to bed. On Matt's trip last week, he found a Wii Fit. I am proud to annouce that my Wii Fit age is 45.

Our Dear Old Treadmill is Dead

I know this is strange. Who blogs about a piece of electronics that breaks? Really, I would not have thought this event would be blog worthy. But I am actually overcome with sadness. Truly, I was looking forward to the death of the treadmill for 2 reasons. One, since our move 4 years ago, the incline function has ceased to work. Of course this occurred as the treadmill was actively inclining, so I have spent the past 4 years running on a slight incline. Two, because I REALLY want an elliptical. Why the sadness??? Well, this was the first large purchase Matt and I made as a married couple. And this is the treadmill that has seen me through the last nine years. It has trained me through one marathon, a number of 10 milers, and a half marathon. It has trained me in pregnancy and gotten me back in shape after delivery. It has lived in all three of the houses Matt and I have owned. Strangely, it feels like such a part of me.

Happy Birthday Lynn!

Look at those beautiful ladies.  Jen and Amanda pose with birthday girl Lynn.

The guys (Mike, Jamie, and Matt) feeling happy after a meal of bbq, beans, hushpuppies, and fried okra.  Thank you Lynn for introducing us to fried okra. . .it was delicious.  

Sweet girlies--Stacy, Courtney, and Christy.

Jamie cuddles baby Zach, and Matt holds sleeping Kate-Kate, while Stacy and I chat and the Flynn's hit the dance floor (with the Chandler's, Joyner's, and Windley's).

Me and my girl.  I can't get enough of her!!!

This is not a hug. . .it is a burly, man hold. :)  Jackson and Ryan are such good friends.  They love spending time together.  After the adults finished dancing the boys ran circles around each other on the dance floor, squealing as they ran.  I pray one day, as they get older, they will spur each on to godliness.

Daddy and His Mohawk Boy

Daddy and Ry pose for some sweet pics together. The boy LOVES his daddy. Ry sits next to Daddy at dinner and is constantly hugging him or kissing his arm or placing his head on Daddy's arm. On workday mornings, after waking up, Ryan rushes down to the basement to say good morning to Daddy before having breakfast.

Ryan's vocabulary is exploding. He will often talk for three minutes straight without taking a breath. It makes Matt and me laugh, as it is hilarious to hear his thought process. Anyway, he is saying something very funny that I must record. Ryan pronounces the word "movies" as "boobies". Often, he says, "I need boobies" or "I want boobies". I'm laughing now just writing it.

Madeline is doing GREAT with homeschooling. We are learning word families right now and one of the first word families we learn is the "it" family. In this family, we have learned the words it, sit, and hit. Last week while Matt was painting us a chalkboard in the classroom and Madeline and I were doing school, Madeline started to come up with her own "it" words. Can you guess what "it" word she came up with that caused Matt and I to burst out laughing. We both tried to hold the laughter in, as she had no idea that she had just used an inappropriate word. As soon as Matt let out the tiniest snicker, I lost it and started laughing uncontrollably and so did Matt. Madeline asked me why I was laughing and I told her that Daddy's little snicker made Mommy laugh. It is such a joy to be a parent and walk through such innocence with your children.

Orthorexia

Did you watch 20/20 last night? If so, you know what orthorexia is, if not, you are probably stumped. I had never heard of it prior to last night's 20/20. It is an obsessive compulsive disorder focused on health food.

This was a timely episode for me, as I have been on an organic kick. I took a trip to Whole Foods this week and purchased some items. And at home I made homemade graham crackers and homemade nutra-grain bars (after reading the ingredients in graham crackers on the beach last week with Christy, I vowed to attempt to make home-made snacks for my family. . .I hate putting ingredients into our bodies that I have never heard of, especially Madeline's and Ryan's bodies). Yesterday at the grocery store, after looking at the ingredients in a loaf of bread and then looking at the price of organic bread, I decided that I would go home and make my own bread with my kitchen aid mixer. And then I saw the 20/20. Thank you 20/20 for stopping me before I developed orthorexia!!! I still might make the bread, but I'm not going to obsess over food.

You can check out 20/20's story at http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Stossel/story?id=5735592&page=1. It's fascinating.