National Dance Day

Happy National Dance Day!!!  I had this post scheduled to post for today since I am in Gatlinburg with some friends from my college days at Clemson.  I have a couple of videos from one of my favorite shows, So You Think You Can Dance.  It is a fabulous show!!!  I have an oldie (from a past season) and a newbie (from this season) for you!  enjoy!

the oldie~with Chelsie Hightower (one of the dancers from Dancing with the Stars) and Mark.  Chelsie is my favorite ballroom dancer (ever) from the show.  Of course, this is hip hop...but, she can do all styles of dance!


the newbie~I hope this girl wins this season!

Happy Dancing!!

first day of school

Today was Josiah's first day of school!  Wow!  Ryan and I took Josiah to school on Monday to find out who his teacher was going to be.  We found out that he'll have Mrs. Moss as his teacher.  Josiah acted mostly shy on Monday, but warmed up some more this morning.  (I heard him telling Mrs. Moss some dino information as I filled out some paperwork.  That wasn't surprising!)  The schools here kind of ease the kindergartners into school.  He went today until 11:30, and then won't go again until next Tuesday and Thursday of next week (both 11:30 days).  Today was a "small group" day so it was just him and four other students.  Next week will be half the class.  The following week after next will be a full week (Mon-Fri) (with all the class), but Monday and Tuesday will be 11:30 dismissals.  So the Wednesday of that week will be a full day (dismissing at 2:00) with the entire class.  I took him this morning and was there for about an hour as Mrs. Moss went over some classroom information.  Josiah did fine.

The saddest part was watching Aedan as Josiah left this morning.  Pitiful!  His best friend went off to school.  It will be really different for him.  He kept asking me, "Is it time to pick up Josiah yet?"  He was very eager to have Josiah back at home with him.

Yesterday afternoon I laid out some outfits (5 to be exact) for Josiah to pick what he wanted to wear to school.  Of course, none of them would do!  (He wanted to wear his camouflage shirt.  My thought was ~no way is he wearing that shirt on the first day of school.  (Please don't take offense if you like camouflage...it's just a personal preference, not to mention the shirt he was talking about is a hand-me-down from a friend and a little worn out and faded.  He does like this camouflage t-shirt and he likes to wear from time to time...just not on the first day of school.)  Finally, I just told him that Ryan could help him pick out an outfit.  Once Ryan came home, his feelings changed and he LOVED all the outfits, of course!!  haha!!  He picked out an outfit that Aunt Francie sent him:)

On the way home Josiah said, "What a GREAT day at kindergarten!"    

Yes, I wrote his name on each crayon.  Apparently, there have been disputes in the past over the ownership of crayons...makes sense.

My big boy on his first day of school!

Josiah and I

It's hard to believe this little guy started school!

John's commercial

Here's a peak at my cousin's commercial for adidas.

youth pool party

We had a "back to school" pool party for the teenagers on Friday.  (Yes, school starts this week!)  Josiah, Aedan, and Mercy enjoyed swimming.  Aedan even played sharks and minnows with Ryan and the teenagers.  Mercy was more used to her swimmie boat then the other day at Cedar Lake, or maybe she was just more entertained!  She stayed in the pool for a long time!

Ryan and Mercy

I love this picture of Josiah!

Mercy and I

Mercy in her boat!

Hannah is talented!!  Yes, she made the full rotation of a flip!

Paige

Garrett

sunflowers

We have a field of sunflowers that grow every summer really close to our house.  I've been wanting to take pictures in front of them for a while.  It seems like every year something has come up, and it doesn't happen.  (The sunflowers die too quickly for us!)  Not this year, though.  We FINALLY got our sunflower pictures.  Yay!!  Here they are~

buddies at camp

Liam and Mercy are little buddies!  They were born just two weeks apart, and are together a lot in nursury at church.  (not to mention this past year at CBS)  This past Thursday the kids and I went up to Cedar Lake camp (about 25-30 minutes away) for the morning to hang out with Liam and his mommy, Danielle.  (She invited me at the beginning of the summer, so we finally made some plans!)  We went swimming and stayed for lunch.  Josiah ate a corndog for lunch! (yay!)  Sometimes he can be particular about what he eats.  I told him that it was a hotdog on a stick, and he tried it!  And, liked it!!!  Aedan stuck mostly with the macaroni and cheese.  Mercy, well, she ate it all!  As we ate a big storm came through, so we couldn't stay to play outside after lunch:(  We headed home and all three kids napped once we got back, and all at the same time!  They were pooped!    

Mercy and Liam

Josiah and Aedan in the pool.  (FYI~Christie, the pool was not nearly as cold as two years ago when we were there.  I guess because it has been so hot.)

taking it easy

Ryan took a couple days off after the retreat.  We spent time together going to Burgess Falls on Monday.  We hiked down to the top of the falls again.  The kids love playing in the water and seeing the shells at the top.  Mercy Cate makes me a little nervous when we take her out of the carrier.  The ground at the top is all rock and pretty uneven.  There wasn't as much water coming off of the falls, so there were little pools of water with small fish for the boys to torment.                              

looking at the falls

Aedan at the top of the falls

Ryan and Mercy

Ryan and Mercy again

Josiah and Aedan playing in the water

On Tuesday, Ryan took the boys to see Cars 2 (finally)!  They had fun seeing the movie.  It is always a big treat, and they love popcorn:)  Thanks Gigi, for the fandango bucks!

Getting ready to head out to the movie.  Mercy stayed home with me.

 ICE CREAM TIME!!!!

Aedan declared on this particular evening that he likes ice cream MORE then Aunt Caroline!

Mercy covered in chocolate ice cream.

silly faces:)

 A consignment sale find:

I went to a consignment sale this week at the elementary school.  I found some great things.  I got mostly things for Mercy~  some jeans, a couple of sweaters to go over short sleeved shirts, and this cute outfit above (just $3.00)!  I also got a pair of jeans for Josiah, and a cool (jersey style) Buzz Lightyear shirt for Aedan.  Oh, and I can't forget the Land Before Time VHS movie for a dollar!  I love the local consignment sales here.  My favorite one is coming up sometime in September!!

for Christie~

Christie, the reason for this post is to show you how FABULOUS Rachael looks (and also to show you some more Joshua cuteness)~

Rachael and Joshua

Mercy and Joshua.  Mercy looks like a giant compared to him!

Folly Beach Retreat

At the beginning of July we took the youth down to Folly Beach, SC for a youth retreat.  We stayed at the beach house (owned by First Baptist) right on the beach.  The kids and I came along and had fun visiting family and being on the beach.  The kids had a great week, and were exhausted most of the time from being "on the go".  I tried to plan our days around the schedule that Ryan had for the teenagers (which was planned around the tides).  Here are a variety of assorted pictures: 

The first morning we met my dad for breakfast at McDonalds and then headed to Charlestowne Landing.  We had the play area at McDonald's to ourselves, which is always kind of nice.  The boys love the animal forest at Charlstowne Landing.  The otter exhibit had been redone since we had been there last.  It was awesome, and I think it was the boy's favorite.  After walking through the animal forest, we rode the tram around once.  The kids loved it, especially Mercy.  She was grinning from ear to ear!  (I think she liked the breeze.)  They bypassed the boat since they kids wanted to stay on the tram.  Hopefully, next time they will be up for seeing the boat!

The kids had fun on the beach, as usual.  They do a great job entertaining themselves.  The teenagers did well playing with our kids.  Occasionally, our kids wanted to go out deep with them, as they are getting pretty comfortable with the ocean.

Josiah is building a "wall".

Mercy liked to lay down in the sand.  (probably because she was so tired most of the week)

an upclose shot

my babies

Aedan and I

Aedan enjoyed playing ping pong.  He is playing with Coleman in this picture.  This is in the downstairs area of the house.  The kids and I stayed downstairs in a couple rooms located off this room.  It really worked out well for us-having the kids close by (at night) and yet away from the teenagers.  (I don't think anyone felt like they had to tip-toe around our kids sleeping.  That was great!  And, sound machines always help!)

On Sunday morning, we met my dad up in North Charleston at Chuckie Cheese.  I had some tokens from years ago, and my dad also bought them some more tokens.  They had fun playing there! 

Mercy and I at Chuckie Cheese~ she liked to sit in the different cars, but didn't like them to move:)

After Chuckie Cheese, we went to my dad's place and got ready for Mama's (my grandmother) 90th birthday party.  It was held at the downtown Marriott.  (There was no way I was going to travel back to Folly to get ready for the party.  Traffic was pretty bad getting on the island for the holiday weekend.)

Kim (my cousin) and Mercy at the party

Gigi and Josiah

Josiah, Aedan, and Mercy with Gigi

cute picture

more kisses

Mercy with Emily (a cousin)

Aedan with Chris and Michael (more cousins)

Mama with her great grandkids!

The kids and I with Mama

Mercy and I at the party.  She liked the cake!

Family group shot.  Mama has eight kids~  Everyone is here except for Ryan, Shelby, John, and Elizabeth

The grandkids (and great grandkids) with Mama

My mom, sister, and I

Another mother/daughter picture

Uncle Bill, Aunt Francie, and Unle Bimbo

Kim and Caroline

Mercy and I

Molly, Mercy, and Kim

Caroline and Mercy

A GREAT picture of Mercy

Aunt Francie with the kids

Gigi and the kids

Mama and the kids

We went to the aquarium one afternoon with my mom.  The kids always enjoy going there.  The always look forward to the white alligator!

Mercy chilling at the aquarium

They had a new tank of rays.

We went to an alligator session and the boys got to touch a baby alligator!  I was very proud of them; especially Josiah who is usually timid when it comes to touching animals!  This is Josiah touching the alligator!!  Go Josiah!

Josiah and Gigi!!

Back at the beach with the youth!  The current and waves became very strong the last two days we were there. 

the girls in our pink and white!

Hannah and Cayla

Claire and Paige

Ryan teaching the students

I'm so glad we were able to make the trip!  (Much better then being at home by myself for a week.)  It has been so much better this summer; being able to do things with the youth group.  I was also able to see Tom and Sandra one evening when we went to the Crab Shack with my dad.  I thoroughly enjoyed the yummy seafood!  Love shrimp and scallops!!!