Dad's retirement

Daddy retired after 47 years at Bosch (previously known as Vermont American). He started as personnel manager and has been working over safety training for the past several years. Bosch held a nice reception for Daddy on Friday (his last day), and the family was invited to attend. Then, Saturday night, we held a surprise retirement party for Daddy. Mamaw Ocie, Kathy and Jeff, Bibi and Charlie and the kids, and all of us surprised Dad with his favorite baked spaghetti meal and a cake. We're so proud of you, Daddy - and so happy that you can relax - FINALLY!!!!

VBS

This past week, Rylee and I were very involved in Vacation Bible School at our church. Our theme was "Cactus Canyon". I helped teach the kids the VBS songs, and Rylee attended her pk class. She LOVED her class and all the activities - song time, crafts, snack, Bible study, etc. Although we had a wonderful time, it was quite tiring! This is a picture of Rylee in her western attire.

MONDAY - Maria found out she was having a boy!!! Check out the details on her blog by clicking on my link at the bottom of the screen! Congrats, Maria and Jason!!!

Extra beach pics

Beach Trip

Wednesday was a great day for a trip to the NC aquarium http://www.ncaquariums.com/pks/pksindex.htm - the weather was overcast with some scattered rain showers, Jill was sick (not sure if she had a virus or was just nauseous from something she ate), and I was so sunburned that I wanted to cry when someone touched me! We had a wonderful time at the aquarium, and made it to a special presentation on jellyfish - Rylee's favorite.

Beach Trip

Alice invited us to join her at Emerald Isle in NC for the week! We had a wonderful, relaxing beach trip! Mom, the kids, Jill, and I went down to stay in a house that Alice rented. It was about a block and a half off the beach, so we drove to a public access and parked to spend the day at the beach. It was a nice access area - with bath houses, picnic tables, and "rinse-off" showers. Basically, our days consisted of relaxing on the beach while the kids played, taking showers and cleaning up, going out to dinner, and then relaxing inside for the evening. I have never felt so rested after coming home from a beach trip! The kids were both a little scared of the ocean, but we found a solution - a kiddie pool filled with ocean water under our umbrella! It kept the kids entertained, wet, and happy! We even took our lunch out to the beach most days - the typical peanut butter and jelly sandwich for the kids, a meat/cheese sandwich for the adults, and grapes/cookies/chips for all! We fed the leftovers to the gulls! Thank you, Alice, for inviting us and sharing this relaxing trip with us!!

Beach Trip

Father's Day

For Father's Day, Rylee made Steven two cards, and we gave him a gift card to Lowe's. Caden made Steven a gift in his Sunday School class. Rylee had her card ready DAYS in advance and was so excited to wake him up with his cards. She loves these holidays - I wonder how long she'll love the "giving" thing!

On a side note, I want to say that I feel especially blessed to have such a wonderful husband who is also an amazing father. Steven is definitely my PARTNER in raising these children. He shows them on a daily basis how much he loves them by being there for them!

Father's Day dinner for dad

For Father's Day, we joined in with Maria and Jason, Adam and Jill, and Mom to give Daddy a stainless steel grill. We grilled hamburgers and hot dogs (inside the carport due to rain - this seems to be the trend when we try to grill out) on the new grill. Daddy and the kids pose for a quick holiday memory!

Rylee's Dance Recital

Rylee's 2nd Recital was today - check out our precious doll!

Costume: "Once Upon A Dream" (ballet piece)
Rylee in motion to "Splish Splash, I Was Taking a Bath" (tap piece)

Rylee receiving her trophy for 2nd year of dance and roses from mom and dad! We're so proud of you, Rylee!

June 12-13 - The Pituchs visit with us

Greg, Shelley, Olivia (almost 4), and Cecilia (10 1/2 mos.) Pituch stayed with us when they came into town for a few days to visit some old friends. Greg used to work with Steven at the middle school, and he and Shelley moved back home to PA about 2 years ago. Olivia and Cecilia are precious girls! We had a wonderful time visiting with our friends!!!

June 12-13 - The Pituchs visit us

Rylee and Olivia became friends VERY quickly.
The girls are both into princesses, making crafts, and drama! They had a blast - with only a few tiffs here and there :-)!!!
Greg was the fun guy around the house!

Rylee and Olivia are also both beauticians - doesn't my "do" look LOVELY with my matching t-shirt, glasses, and the "just woke up" look!

Better Pics

Adam and Jill were able to get a few better pictures of Rylee's graduation and of her baptism - I just wanted to share! Thanks, ya'll!!!

Rylee's Preschool Graduation

Caden attending Rylee's preschool graduation: Yes, Caden is wild and rambunctious, BUT he did sit in his chair and politely watch as "Sissy" marched in and out of her graduation ceremony. He did very well with the nearly 100 degree temperature, little amount of shade, and lengthiness of the ceremony. There was one small meltdown when his feet touched the grass as he was trying to step gently from one chair to another without letting his feet hit the ground. Maria jumped in to calm him (so Mom and Dad wouldn't miss any of Rylee's special moment), and he was able to join the audience again to finish watching the ceremony!

Rylee's Preschool Graduation

It took all I had to hold back tears on June 7, 2008! My baby graduated from preschool!!!!!! I can't believe she's 5 years old, finishing preschool, and heading off to kindergarten in the Fall! Can time REALLY have gone by this quickly!!! I feel like I've only blinked and 5 years have just zoomed past me!
Maryvale has a very cute graduation program - the graduates march to their designated spots, recite a poem about their preschool experience, accept a trophy containing a label about what they will likely become as an adult based on their type of play, sing a song, and march out to hug their first playmates goodbye! Rylee was voted most likely to become an infant pediatrician because of her interest in baby dolls. This picture is snapped with friends Jordan and Sydney.

Rylee and playmate Ashton after removing cap and gown.

Progress on the garage

Some of you have been asking about our garage, so here's an update! We're ALMOST finished with the exterior - we still have a door to paint, a step to be added, and OBVIOUSLY some landscaping!!!
This is a view from the back side of the house - you can see the beige door that still needs a coat of white paint!

This is a picture of the new bonus room above the garage. This room, as well as the laundry room and mud room downstairs, still needs some trim work, but we're getting there - we do have tile in the downstairs rooms and carpet in the bonus room!

ON A SIDE NOTE........CHECK OUT MARIA'S NEW BLOG FROM MY LIST OF BLOGS BELOW!!! SEE UPDATES ON HER PREGNANCY!!

Rylee's Baptism

Today, Rylee was baptized! On April 29th, Rylee decided to ask Jesus to live in her heart. She's been asking questions about how to make this decision for about a year. We've been talking about how Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins; and how if we ask Jesus to forgive our sins and ask Him into our lives, we can live forever with Him in Heaven. Rylee became very emotional the evening that she told me she was ready to ask Him into her heart - she knew she needed to make a decision to follow Christ in order to live with Him eternally. I told Rylee once she makes this decision, Christ becomes a close friend and she can count on Him to be with her through anything while living life here on earth. This also means that we give Him the "driver's seat" over our earthly lives - we allow Him to help us make all our choices. Rylee has learned that we obediently follow our decision to ask Christ into our hearts with baptism. This is an outward symbol of what has happened inside our hearts - the cleansing of our sins to make us like new! When Christ forgives us of our sins, He literally WASHES them away. When Rylee first asked Jesus into her life, she was very frightened of this step. We prayed that God would give her the strength and courage to do this, and you know what, HE DID!

These images aren't very clear - hopefully our video will be much better! One picture is of Rylee under the water in the baptistery - the other is of her drying off with her towel after stepping out of the baptistery.

Saturday evening - Lauran's wedding

Saturday evening, Steven and I went to Lauran's wedding. Lauran is a friend of mine from grad school. At Lauran's reception, I was able to sit with my friend Kristen (also a friend from grad school) and catch up with her a little bit - Kristen was one of the bridesmaids. Kristen has a precious 3 1/2 month old little girl, Julianna who was able to travel from Memphis with Kristen and her husband Phil. Kristen also has a sweet 2 year-old little guy, Chase. Check out her blog from my list below!

Lauran's wedding was BEAUTIFUL! She was married at The Little Church on The Lane in Charlotte, NC, and her reception was at The Big Chill. CONGRATS, Lauran!!!! I wish you and Shane the best!!!

Staff BBall

Friday night, our school staff played the fifth graders - a yearly tradition at our school. After the game, several of us (teachers only!) went to a movie and to dinner. Don't Ashlee and I look super cute in our staff shirts?

Wednesday 05/28/08 - It's a.....

Adam and Jill found out that they were having a GIRL!!!!!! Although Adam was so certain that this baby was going to be a boy, he was WRONG!!! Congrats, guys!!!