A Restful Weekend...

Which is something we don't get very often... our choice... sure... we love to be busy... but every now and then it is nice to just stay home and chill! Friday we went to see the Chelsea Hornets play football...no pictures from that b.c it was raining when we left and I really did not think we were even going to get to go but it stopped so we went. They lost :(...

Saturday gogo and grandaddy came and got the kids and took them to breakfast and then to the mall to get some surprises. Daddy had work day at the football field so I had the house to myself for most of the morning...how nice! So I took the opportunity to clean out my closet... and I have a big ole rubbermaid tub full of clothes to take to consignment... it will be neat to see if I actually get any money??? LOL

When the kids came back we just played around here... this is what brylee loves to do... and we actually have a super clean table when she gets done...

so proud... the table is covered in shaving cream... she will write and draw all in it... fun times!

jackson dressed to go "play" football!

We had a lazy day sunday... church and a nap...and dinner with the parents, kk, nannie & mark! I must say it was a nice change of pace.

But we are T minus 4 days until the BEACH!!!!!! I am so excited and ready... crossing my fingers and toes that we have nice weather... and looking so forward to some seafood and shopping... and going to the castles and crowns outlet store and the other outlets too... fun times with the fam!

Leaving friday... and going to be proud of our 6X (unexcused absence)... that is for all you sunday school folks... LOL!!!

May you all have a great week... i will have a new niece tomorrow... say a little prayer for a healthy baby... and hopefully i will have pictures tuesday when i get to see and hold that sweet baby!

The last of the lake....

Today we went to the lake for probably our last who-rah for the summer. They are pulling the water (it is already down about 2in just in the last 2 weeks), football is around the corner, we are going to the beach for Labor Day (lord willing there are no hurricanes this year) so today was probably it for us... kind of sad :( b.c we LOVE the lake!!!!

So we enjoyed some boat riding...

on a beautiful day... the sky was SO blue... and the weather was so enjoyable...

And LOTS of skiing...

from daddy...

and mommy... and Pap Pap ( we will not discuss the WIPE-OUT that took place after this "trick")

and Scott...

(who is not giving us thumbs up... but telling the driver to go faster)

and from this little guy... who has AMAZED us all... he has picked up this whole skiing thing and is doing great... skiing all over the lake... and look what else he learned to do from watching the "big kids" ski go outside the wake... there he goes... and he made it (see the wake to the right) now coming back across is a different story... drank the lake a few time on that one... he LOVES to ski and we LOVE watching him too... we also did some sea doo riding... not sure what bp is doing... probably saying FAST-ERRR since she loves to go FAST!!!! and some tubing as well....

We had an AWESOME day... love me some lazy days at the lake!!!

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And check out the newest member of the Powers Household... Prissy Powers...

Granny and Pap Pap got them a kitten a few weeks ago and this was the first time the kids have seen it. That poor cat I already feel sorry for it... these 5 grand kids are going to torture this poor kitty. Get ready Prissy... christmas is in 4 months you better run fast!!!!! :)

Happy Weekend!!!

"Jen - astics"

Monday was brylee first day of "jen-astics" aka gymnastics. She loved it! She took until december last year but I was just not crazy about the place or the teacher and she stopped asking about it so we stopped going. Well this year i was going to just sign her up for dance but she said she did not want to take is... gasp! I even told her she could take both but she only wanted to take gymnastics. So we are taking gymnastics. I really like this place so far and her teachers seems to be good. At first I was a little sad that she did not want to take dance this year but she has taken for three years and I guess she is done. She really wants to be a cheerleader and she can start next year so I know I would loose dance next year anyway b.c we could not do both so it really is not that big of a deal! Whatever makes her happy... it is not about what I want her to do... but about what SHE wants to do! :)

For the love of the game...

i must love this game... or perhaps it is the two guys that love this game b.c I melted at the blue/white game saturday afternoon... it was SO HOT!!!!!

so proud to be in the pictures... and the guys on the team are so sweet to him... they were calling for him to get in the picture... can't wait to be a "real cheerleader"

loves being on the field...

and takes his job seriously... water boy :)

Hubby's Pad

I thought I would share a few pictures of husbands home away from h0me.

We worked hard getting his room ready this summer. He moved classrooms

this summer (into the room he was originally in 8 years ago;

the pent house as he likes to call it b.c he says it is bigger)

so it was basically like starting over. I told him the next time

he moved rooms... it was going to be out of the building LOL!

Obviously sports is the "theme"... i think it turned out cute!

Check out the all about mr. powers and picture bulletin board...

those are my personal favs! :)

And there off....

To first grade....

with their new snack sacks...

and their new backpacks...

with all their bus stop buddies...

on the cheese wagon

and off to school he goes!

Sister next year it is your turn... (sniff, sniff) but until then you are off to K-4...

pretending you are riding the bus... but really riding with mommy!

We are so proud... we love you both very much...

and hope you have the best day!!!!

And just for fun...

From last year to this year... the first days of school!

Wonder how many years I can get my baby girl in a

back to school smocked bishop on the first day of school?

closing time....

one last call for...

all day playtime at home...

afternoon naps in your favorite chairs and play dates to Chuck E Cheese... and it is time to spend our days in first grade with this wonderful lady... jackson and mrs. prewitt... thank you God for answered prayers... i prayed long and hard for this amazing lady... We could not be more blessed!!!! and days in K-4 with this wonderful lady too... brylee and mrs. dillard... so excited to have her as well...

and today life comes full circle for me... this time 8 years ago i began teaching my first class... straight out of college... green as could be in a small private school in a rural town with 9 second graders... and one of those precious second graders was mrs. dillards daughter... and now mrs. dillard gets to teach my daughter in that same small private school.... isn't God good? :)

We are truly blessed to have two amazing Godly women teaching our babies this year... it is times like this that I am so glad God care about the "little things" in my life too.

Tomorrow is it... the official last day of summer... closing time for sure!!! I am ready, they are ready, READY OR NOT here we come!!!!!

A Weekend of Firsts....

This weekend we went to the lake for our FIRST "adult only" weekend... we had a BLAST... and we have all decided this is an annual event!!!!

We did a lot of boat riding, sea doo riding and swimming....

rope swinging... water skiing... knee boarding...

We also did a lot of eating... fish frying & grilling... And probably the most fun of the whole weekend was singing karaoke....

the whole gang sang....

and the most "famous" singer of the weekend was dear husband...

he actually sang.... several songs....

in our 9 years of "togetherness" DH has NEVER sang...

and i will say he was really good... i was impressed

Garth you need to watch out!!! LOL

and these two guys were ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS...

just looking at this pictures makes me laugh...

to say that they were entertaining was an understatement!!!

We had a great time with all these guys, the parents and friends...

Can't wait to go back next year!!!

Yes, in the 6 years that my in laws have lived at the lake we have never been to the lake without the kids... i mean how do you show up at the grandparents house without their grand kids... isn't that why they had us... so they could have grand kids... but this weekend we did... sure we all missed them, shared stories about them, and thought about them too but it sure was nice to ride the sea doo ALL BY MYSELF, swim ALL BY MYSELF, ride in the boat ALL BY MYSELF, ski ALL BY MYSELF and even FIRST, eat ALL BY MYSELF, and get up when I WANTED too!!!

Thanks gogo and grandaddy for keeping the banshees... we even picked them up with a bonus... back to school haircuts!!! whoo-hooo!

Well i am off to bed... no more midnight posting from this chickie... back to school bed time routine is in full swing... we will be enjoying the last few days of summer together this week... DH starts back to work tomorrow... it is me and the kids for three whole days... i think it is God's way of preparing me for Thursday... i LOVE His sense of humor! :)

a new normal.....

a new normal is just around the corner and i am ready... i was ready for summer to come when it came because i was ready for a new normal of sleeping late, vacations, swimming, and a much more laid back routine... but now i am ready for the new normal that will happen in about a week... the new normal of the start of a new school year. The routine that comes with school will be welcomed... being still, being at home, early bed times and more frequent home cooked meals... just a slower pace... i am ready, the kids are ready, and i think hubby is ready too as much as he doesn't want to admit it... he is ready!

i love the start of a new school; yes even when I was teaching i loved the start of the year. It is this time of the year that makes me miss teaching a tinsy tiny bit; but not enough to go back! Thankfully husband is a teacher and i can get my "feel" by helping him. I love "decorating" a room, a list of new names and new faces, a fresh start... who doesn't like a fresh start? A fresh start with a new grade, new teacher, new friends, new school, new classmates... it is so fun to experience a new year and a fresh start!

I also love getting ready for a new year... new shoes, new clothes, new backpack, new lunch box, and supplies... check, check, check.... we are ready!

we have our first day of school outfits ready... jackson got a new backpack that HE picked out... and i swallowed my pride and let him get blue camo even though i wanted a solid red or blue... dear hubby was quick to remind me it was not MY backpack and he was right so blue camo he got... and the shoes... lord have mercy and help us all when jackson grows into his feet... those shoes are a 4 1/2... for those of you who don't buy children's shoes... let me just say in 2 1/2 sizes we will be in MENS department... and he is 6!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will be thinking about all my precious friends who babies are going off to kindergarten this year... you will survived and they will too. Just know that THEY are ready and you have done your job as a parent b.c THEY are ready.... YOU are not ready but pat yourself on the back for a job well done...b.c your baby is ready for kindergarten! And just know there is a precious teacher waiting to love on your baby almost as much a you would!!! They will be in good hands... I promise!

And to all my teacher friends... I will say and extra prayer for you... may God grant you the strength to make it through the first day of school and the beginning of the year... as long as those babies go home (the right way... on the right bus) feeling loved and ate something whether it was their lunch at snack or their snack at lunch... you have done your job... and if they show up the next day for more... you are a hero! Good Luck!!!!

Here we GROW again!

I have been going through all the pictures (from the last 4 1/2 years) that are saved on our computer trying to get them saved on CD's and get them in some kind of order. I have enjoyed looking back on old pictures and seeing how much the kids have grown and changed. It makes me sad in some ways because it just seems like yesterday they were babies and toddlers and I miss those days but in some ways I enjoy them growing up because each new stage or phase leads to new things. So here is a trip down memory lane (age above picture)...

2005 (jp 2y; bp 8mths)

2006 (jp 3y; bp 20mths) 2007 (jp 4y; bp 2 1/2y)

2008 (jp 5y; bp 3 1/2y)

2009 (jp 6; bp 4 1/2y)

These pictures are taken every 4th of july on the back of the pontoon boat ... it is now a tradition... it is the first thing we do every 4th!

What changes do you notice through the years?

I think the biggest thing I notice most is Brylee's hair... she goes from having hardly any to tons and my family always talks about how dark brylee's hair is getting but if you look at these pictures her hair has never been as blond as jackson's no matter what age his is always blonder?

I also think my favorite age is 3 for jp and 2 1/2 for bp... they both look so dang cute at those ages... i could eat their little faces up with their precious little smiles!

When i look at these pictures... i really see why we get the "are they twins?" question ALL the time!