The hair is GONE!

Parker decided this weekend that he wanted to cut his hair. He has had longer hair for so long, I was kind of nervous about what it would look like. Well I love it!  I can see his cute little face now - He looks so grown up! I just love this little man, he is filled with so much personality and seems so much older than he really is!

Check him out!

He was super excited about his new Faux Hawk -

Back to School

Well today I sent my 5th and 1st graders off to school!! I can not believe they are getting so big! Where has the time gone? I must say that I am super proud of the little people they have become, they make me so proud everyday!

Parker was so embarrassed that I was taking his picture in front of the school! Right before I took it he said "Ella please don't blink so we have to stand here and take another one!" What a little turkey! Little did he know I was coming inside to take a couple more!

Her is my little anchorman, this morning was his debut on the school news! I really wanted to stay and watch but he told me that he was a little nervous ant thought he would do better if I just left!!!

He was really mortified here that I was still taking pictures!!! But like one of his teachers told him, I am his mother, I have earned the right!!!! :o)

And here is my little Bell so excited to be a 1st grader - She loves school so much - I pray that it continues each year. She had a super swesome teacher last year, Mrs. Thompson has big shoes to feel!!!

I pray that both of my babies have an excellent school year!!!

How do you feel about Harry Potter?

I am "borrowing" this post from Stuff Christians Like, which I just love - check it out http://stuffchristianslike.net/

anyway - How do you feel about Harry Potter? Me personally, I really feel there is nothing wrong with it. My son has almost read all of the books and my husband has read them all. I know a lot of people get in a tizzy when they hear anything about magic but why? It's not real and my son knows that, isn't it ok to have an imagination? I bet a lot of those same people that dislike Harry Potter so much celebrate things like Santa Claus, Halloween, Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny......aren't all of those things make believe?

I would love to hear your take on this, read the below article and then tell me your thoughts!

P.S. Wasn't there magic in Narnia?



Hating Harry Potter, giving Gandalf a free pass.

by Jon
Once upon a time, there was a wizard. Though his background was shrouded in mystery, there was little doubt he was the most powerful wizard in the land. He had a deadly enemy, but good friends, including a red headed guy he always hung out with. People that should have loved him, once instead made him spend his nights in a small, prison like room. He rode the backs of winged animals and had a bitter rival who hated him. Christians had an incredibly strong reaction to the books he was in, which were written in the United Kingdom. I am of course talking about …

Gandalf.

That’s Gandalf’s story. But it reads a little like Harry Potter’s doesn’t it?

Who knows Gandalf’s back story? It’s as mysterious as Harry’s. (Did you know his last name is MacGargle? True story, Gandalf MacGargle.) Both wizards were powerful and hung out with red heads. Gandalf had Gimli, Harry had Ron. Gandalf was imprisoned on top of the tower by a former friend, Harry was trapped under the stairs by his own family. And Christians have had an incredibly strong reaction to the books.

We love the Lord of the Rings.
We hate the Harry Potter series.

But at the end of the day, they’re both kind of magical. Tolkien was a Christian, so in many ways we weave in Christian theology to Gandalf and the other characters. I think there are a ton of parallels, but I also think we elaborate a little on the story. And Potter author J.K. Rowling? Who knows what, if any, spiritual leanings she has.

The wild card to a debate which I think might have been covered approximately 95 million times prior to this article, is the new theme park at Universal Studios in Orlando.

I am not exaggerating when I say that my brother and I have already talked about going there this December. Our feeling is that to go to a replica of Hogwarts and Harry Potter’s world during the summer wouldn’t make sense. You’ve got to go when it’s cold enough to wear a Gryffindor scarf and you can drink a butterbeer and perhaps get some sort of sweets from Honey Dukes. (Bennett is going to bring his one year old and give the sorting hat a whirl, fingers crossed it doesn’t say “Slytherin!”) Harry Potter never wore shorts that I’m aware of, but that’s beside the point. The point is, I’m going.

I asked my wife about this debate, Harry vs. Gandalf. The first thing she said was that we would not be a family who raised their kids to attend Universal, so great is her love for Disney. The second thing she said was that I couldn’t read the books to our oldest daughter until she was 12. I told her I had a different belief about the likelihood of our pre-pubescent daughter sitting down with her dad to hear a book about magical wizards. But I don’t know if I’m going to read them to her or not.

I don’t love the dark arts undertones and I love the irony of writing about Harry Potter in the same week in which I claim to be getting more conservative. But where are you at on this?

Harry vs. Gandalf.

What do you think about Harry Potter?

Letterboxing - 2nd Attempt - MISSION FAILED!

Well our second attempt to locate a letterbox was not a success, but we still had a great time! We arrived on Sunday afternoon around 3:30 and had a quick picnic lunch. Man was it hot! The clues for this letterbox said it was located in Clinton Park like the first one. The directions had us going deep into the woods, we followed the clues and we were beginning to think we were not going the right way, so we turned around and started over!


Ella, Murphy and I decided to sit by the pond and watch the frogs while Keith & Parker started the hike again. They called me about 5 minutes later and said they had found the correct path all the way back into the rocky flats area. And let me just say - those rocks were so hot the heat was radiating from them. I bet we could have cooked our lunch on them! Poor little Murphy, was pooped! He was so hot I was really worried about him. Keith had dug all around in the place it was suppose to be, I was really nervous he was going to stir up a snake!!! Parker had already ripped his shirt off and Ella was begging to take hers off. I told her that little girls do not take their shirts off, She came back with, "Well I don't have boobies yet!"

Well after poking around awhile we decided the box was not there, maybe someone found it by accident and took it! So we started our journey back - with Ella whining that she was too hot and that she could not take another step. Well she and Murphy felt the same - we got ready to walk and Murphy just laid down, so Keith picked him up and put him in his backpack, I so wished I would have taken a picture! Parker was leading the pack with his shirt on his head and "staff" in hand looking like he was about to part the Red Sea. (should have gotten a picture of him as well)

We finally made it back to the car dripping with sweat, the first thing I did was pull up the clues on my phone and email the folks who placed the box, to see if it had been removed or if we were looking in the wrong area.

Later that evening I received an email from the "placer" - She said that she has been meaning to remove the link, she thinks the box was lost in the flood in September!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy Cow - so we looked in those woods for 3 hours and the box was not there and has not been for 10 months!!! Too funny! At least we got some good exercise in!!! :o)

Letterboxing - Something Fun for the Family

If you have not heard of Letterboxing - it is a blast!! We went out on our first "hunt" last night! The kids had so much fun! After Keith and Parker solved all of the clues we went out in search of  "The Medieval Mystery". This letterbox was hidden at Clinton Nature Preserve in Winston. It was well hidden, we were beginning to think we were on the wrong path when Parker spotted our last clue!  We had so much fun, Ella was ready to go find our next one last night but it was beginning to get a little dark and we were without a flashlight!!!!

We can not wait to go on our next journey!!!!

Want more information:

http://www.atlasquest.com/

http://www.letterboxing.org/

Our Busy Memorial Day Weekend!!

Wow - this weekend was super busy but super fun!  Ella was a flowergirl in a wedding, and she was BEAUTIFUL!!! Parker was in a baseball tournament in Woodstock, this was their first tournament playing together as All-Stars and they did FABULOUS!!!! They played 7 games in 3 days, with 3 of those games being on Monday. They battled the heat, humidity, rain & THUNDERSTORMS!!!  But after all was said and done they won FIRST PLACE!!!! I am so super proud of them!

Parker is playing 2nd base and pitching. He did great, had a lot of great plays!

Here are some pictures of our weekend:

Parker with Coach Collins

                                                      

The #1 Winston All-Stars

The group with the little fans (sibilings) My Ella thought she was one of the boys this weekend!

The team trophy was huge - Taller than Park as you can see!

They were so excited!!

And last but not least my very pretty flowergirl, I just love this little girl!

I can't wait to see the "professional" pictures - I am sure I will have to share those with you all when I get them!

Parker and his All-Star team start another tournament tonight - I hope they will WIN it again!

My Ladybugs

I am so super proud of my Ladybugs, they won First Place at the End of the Season Tournament last night. After two night of double headers (which is a whole lot for 4, 5 & 6 year olds) they did it!  They have came such a long way, at the beginning of the season a couple of them could barely even hold a bat, let alone swing it! They all did so great! My very favorite little Ladybug, Ella did awesome last night, she caught her first pop fly and also had the most awesome play at home to tag a runner out. The umpire said that it should be on the play of the week on ESPN!!! :o)

I have had so much fun this season with these little cuties, but let me tell you it is HARD work!!!  If you have never been a coach I am telling you it is really tough, and before you get all huffy and puffy at your kids coach take a minute and ask yourself, what would you do in their shoes and remember we are human and make mistakes too!!!!

Here are some more pics:

My favorite little girl

As fun as the season was I am a bit relieved it is over - Parker has started All-Stars and is in his first tournament this weekend in Woodstock, it's tough when you got 2 running in 2 different directions. But I love it and wouldn't change a thing!!!