2010 Fun

I was thinking the other day over all the fun stuff we did in 2010 and said I needed to write it all down so I don't forget so whenever I get back to scrapbooking I can put descriptions with pictures. I don't have time tonight to upload all the fun pictures but here is our 2010 in words.
In January it snowed & Mom put her business into the works.
In February Mom & I opened the doors of Ladybugs Cottage and the boys started full time care with a sitter...she didn't work out but that's ok because it opened the doors for Great Granny & Amber in March.
From March to May Great Granny watched the boys in the morning and Amber watched the boys in the afternoon.
April we celebrated Easter with both families and enjoyed 2 easter egg hunts with our cousins Faith & Evie.
May was a busy month. Kent graduated from Preschool and we all traveled to West Virginia for Memorial Day for a fun packed weekend! Lots of photos were taken including many with MawMaw Crowder. The boys really enjoyed Camden Park with Tayven & Evie too.
June and July were made for Fun in the Sun! We bought a pool that was big enough for adults and children and the boys spent most of their time outdoors with their sitter. Jeff and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary on June 29th. July 4th weekend we went to the river and played in the water. Kent met 2 girls from down the way and talked about them for the remainder of the summer. The boy is bound to have a girl on both arms for life...just like his daddy! Both boys went tubing and were able to ride a neighbor's jet ski!
I had the opportunity to run the store by myself for the entire last week of July and it was the best week of sales all summer!
On the first week of August, Kent started Kindergarten and it was the hardest thing for me to watch him walk in that classroom but he did great and met lots of new friends. On the second week of school he turned 5! I brought in cupcakes (store bought as school procedure) & managed to drop the entire box in the grocery store. Luckily none of them fell out but they weren't as pretty as they were supposed to be but the kids still loved them. I don't think I will ever forget that! Tayven came up for Evie's birthday and we celebrated poolside! We also went to see Curious George LIVE! with Evie & Tayven. It was kinda boring for Kent but Peyton seemed to enjoy the music.
In September, we went to the River for Labor Day and enjoyed the end of summer with lots of bugs...it was nice to get away but miserable at the same time because we couldn't be outside without getting eaten up. Peyton started Preschool & loved it from the first day! He met lots of friends and really enjoys music class. Due to many circumstances I decided somewhere around this time to cut back my hours at work so that the only childcare is school & preschool.
Kent is on a special modified traditional schedule at school so he had a 2 week fall break the last week of September & first week of October so we chose this as the perfect time to plan a mini vacation. We chose to spend a weekend at Great Wolf Lodge in Concord, NC. While it was a nice trip we were a little disappointed because Peyton wasn't tall enough to do many of the slides so we want to go back in a few years so we can enjoy the same slides together as a family. We did enjoy dinner with cousins Sarah & Jeremy and all the time we spent at the huge mall. Later in October both boys had field trips to the same farm so Jeff took off a day and we went as a family with Peyton's class to Vollmer Farms. There was a hayride, corn crib, pumpkin jump & much more. We ended our day with a picnic with cousin Faith and made plans for Halloween. Tayven came one weekend and the boys enjoyed visiting with her. The boys were very lucky to spend Halloween with both Faith & Evie this year which made trick or treating so much more fun for us adults as well! Kent was Buzz, Peyton was Woody, Faith was Jessie & Evie was Mickey Mouse. Lots of cute photo ops for the month of October.
Peyton turned 3 the day after Thanksgiving in November. I was in charge of his class parties so he had many celebrations with family and friends between his friends at school and family at Thanksgiving. We tried to have a Black Friday Dinner and invited lots of people with children but unfortunately the boys were very disappointed because only adults attended.
In December Jeff's Parents bought us all tickets to see Toy Story 3 on Ice and it was AMAZING! The boys were very impressed. We moved the boys to bunkbeds on Christmas Eve and they both received a Twin size quilt made by me! They received lots of Toy Story & Batman toys this year. Their favorite present seriously were their new shoes from daddy! So I told Jeff that he was in charge of Christmas presents from now on!

My biggest accomplishment in 2010 was learning to sew! I made 7 Quilts!!! I also made a few purses, a wallet & a wall hanging. I had no idea that talent lived with me but now that I do the skys the limit! Not only did I learn to sew but I started teaching kids a few months later and those girls continue to amaze me not to mention Kent & Peyton and the small projects they completed. 2010 was truly a great year for me I can only pray that 2011 will be even better!

Long Time since last post!

Sorry its been so long but I've been posting pictures on Facebook since most of our family is on there now. I probably will stop posting here unless I think people will read this instead of Facebook.

Our Family Vacation

We just completed our very first week-long family vacation. We stayed in a friends home in Swansboro, NC. Here is a day by day account of what we did.


We arrived on Saturday afternoon and while my mom and I walked around Swansboro the boys were treated to cookies with Daddy & Papa at the local bakery. We all ate dinner at Captain Charlie's Seafood Restaurant. Later that evening Jeff & I had a short date to a local Pub & then to the bar for a blue margarita!

On Sunday we (Me, Jeff, the boys, Nana & Papa (my parents) met up with Mawmaw & Pawpaw (Jeff's Parents)at the campground they were staying at in Emerald Isle & went to the pool. After a picnic lunch Nana & Papa headed home. Kent with to the beach with Aunt Immy to meet up with his cousin Tayven & her parents Jenny & Joey. Jeff & I stayed behind while Peyton took a little nap in the camper. Later that evening we hosted a birthday cookout for Tayven who turned five. The boys really enjoyed playing with their cousins (Tay & Evie) with chalks & swinging on the front porch.



Monday the 14th Kent went to the beach with Tay while Jeff & I shopped the Emerald Isle tourist shops like Wings. Our goal was to drive around while Peyton napped but it didn't quite work out that way. Late in the afternoon we went to the aquarium (pictures to come soon) Then we ate dinner at the Sanitary Restaurant in Morehead City. It's popularity is highly overrated as the food is too expensive for the quantity & quality. Kent spent the night with Tayven.

On Tuesday morning Peyton woke us up at the usual 7 o'clock (no sleeping in on this vacation) so we walked down to Yana's Restaurant in Swansboro for breakfast. Jeff & I agree that this is the best restaurant down there. The service is wonderful, food tastes great & even better the prices are cheap. I had Strawberry Fritters (just like Grannys Apple Fritters just Strawberrys) & Peyton had a pancake in the shape of a mouse. Jeff ate too but all I remember was eggs over easy which to me isn't as exciting as my fritters & Peyton's mouse cake :) After lunch we drove over to Emerald Isle and enjoyed a lazy swim in the indoor pool at Kim & Jenny's condo (Pebble Beach) with the entire family. After swimming we went to the campground & the boys played at the park there for a short while. We went back to the house in Swansboro and while Peyton napped, Kent worked on his homeworrk then we ate dinner (hot dog stuffed twice baked potatoes - my new yummy creation) & settled in for a good nights rest. I wish I could have taken a picture of the boys cuddled up together while they were sleeping. It was soooo sweet.

Wednesday was probably my favorite part of our entire vacation. We took a ferry over to Bear Island/Hammocks Beach State Park and walked the beach. We collected a lot of shells & played in the water. It was a beautiful day with perfect weather. Jeff and I did get burnt but let me tell you this tan I have now is so worth it (I did put sunscreen on but for some reason this week it just wasn't working because both times it was applied I got burnt) As we were walking bac k Peyton fell asleep in the stroller which is highly unusual for him. As you can tell we took a lot of pictures!










On Thursday we met Jenny, Joey & Tayven at Emerald Isle and then drove to Fort Macon. It was a very neat place to explore. This was also another photo taking day for me. We had a picnic lunch nearby in a large gazebo overlooking the beach. Then we all went to The Lost Treasure to play miniature golf. It was Kent's first time playing. Peyton enjoyed it as well because we rode a mining train to the top and then played our way down the gold diggers course. Afterwards we went swimming at the indoor pool since the outdoor pools felt like they were filled with ice cubes.





Friday we went to the beach at Emerald Isle & unfortunately I forgot my camera but it was a cloudy & kinda rainy day so they probably wouldn't have come out that good anyways. The kids played in the sand while Jeff & Joey hung out in the water & Kim, Jenny & I chilled under the umbrella. We left at lunch time & had I known that it was going to be our last trip to the beach I probably would've packed a lunch because it was another perfect day at the beach. We had lunch at a yummy mexican restaurant in Swansboro called Buena Vista. Great service & atmosphere. Later that evening we met with everyone at Flipperz in Emerald Isle for dinner & to say good bye to everyone (Jenny, Joey, Tayven, Stephen, Kim & Evie) because they all left on Saturday morning and we stayed until Sunday.

Saturday, my mom & I shopped while dad & Jeff took care of the boys. I honestly have no idea what they did other that walk around town at least 6 times! We all went to dinner at the Red Barn which is a little hole in the wall in the middle of nowhere...seriously.

Sunday we got up, cleaned the house, and while the linens were washing my mom & I took the boys to the local park. It had a cute pirate theme & the boys really had a good time. Kent did embarrass me by calling out, "Good Morning, Old Lady" to a very nice woman walking out of her house to go to church. She even stopped later to invite him to sunday school with her.

Kent's 4th Birthday :)

Kent turned four today at 1:56pm!!!

We spent the day by going to Krispy Kreme for breakfast, shopping at BJ's with Nana & lunch at Chick fil a. He had 2 parties this weekend, one on Saturday & one on Sunday. Here are pictures from Saturdays party since he slept thru yesterdays party. A couple at the bottom are from this morning at Krispy Kreme. Thank you to all for helping make his day special!
The theme this year was Mickey Mouse (if you can't tell from the pictures :)
We moved this 4ft blow up Mickey inside later to hold Kent's Balloon's & all the kids loved him!

This is Ethan with Mickey. I never could get a picture of Kent with Mickey.


Mickey Mouse Cupcake Cake :)

Yummy Cake & Ice Cream





Pinata Time! These pictures are out of order but all the kids had a swing, starting with Kent & then went from smallest to largest to make it fair for them all.



























Opening Presents was more difficult than expected. Kent was very tired & reluctant to open any of them. In fact on Sunday he made me open them while he watched.


Kent took time out of his busy party to sit & feed Baby Dustin because he wanted to!


Krispy Kreme this morning

Peanut Butter & Peyton :)

I fixed PB&J sandwiches for lunch today. I don't know how Peyton managed to get this 'do but it was too funny not to get a picture of! Enjoy....

Long time

WOW it's been over a month since I last posted. I have a bunch of pictures to share but they'll have to wait for another day. I had to share this funny thing about Peyton before I forget. He has learned the art of knock-knock jokes & even though his doesn't make complete sense it's still pretty dang funny to hear him. Here's how it goes:

Peyton: Mommy-Knock-Knock
Mommy: Who's there?
Peyton: Me-you
Mommy: Me-you who?
Peyton: Knock-knock...

The same thing is repeated over & over again until we are both laughing. Maybe it's only funny to us since he's ours but it's really hard not to smile when Peyton is smiling.

Kent went to 3 out of 5 days of VBS & I think for him that's good. He is so bored this summer he asks at least once a week when is he going back to school. I'm trying to enjoy every minute with him while I can because it's sneaking up on me that he goes to school this time next year.

Jeff & I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary on June 29th at Fine in Wake Forest. It is currently our favorite sushi place because we didn't have to spend a fortune on dinner like we normally do each year. Its hard to believe that it's already been 7 years but we say that every year.

New Hope Railway Musuem

Today we went to the New Hope Railway Musuem in New Hill, NC just outside of Apex. It was an interesting experience to say the least. The place is rather small but they have a really neat model train set up that the kids loved to walk around. We took a one hour ride on the Steam Engine train & as it was pulling back into the station some idiot ran right into the middle of the train! So we were on the train an extra hour because the State Highway Patrol needed everyone's name, address & phone number that was on the train. Here are some pictures from our wild adventure :)