Time Flies When You Are Having Fun

Time flies. I can't believe it is almost Thanksgiving and next up is Christmas. Usually by this time I have at least gotten a few presents purchased, but this year - NOTHING! I realize that was definitely a privilage when I worked at Byrnes Associates. I had all kinds of stores right near me and could go to them on my lunch breaks every day if I wanted too. I miss that. So, after Thanksgiving Chris and I really have to buckle down and get to shopping.

This year for Thanksgiving we are doing the same thing we do every year. We start off going to lunch at someones home for Chris' mother's side of the family. Then we do an evening dinner with my immediate family. Then early Friday morning we drive to Virginia to see Chris's dad, Claudia, and other family members. Saturday morning we will head to the Christmas Tree Farm and cut a tree down and bring it back with us that day. That is probably the most exciting part of our Thanksgiving holiday (besides all the yummy eating). This will be our third year of picking out our tree at a farm in Virginia.

Dylan is playing flag football now. He has had one game, which he caught 3 passes and even ran one back for a touchdown! He definitely loves football. He has been begging to play for so long. Gavin has decided to play no sports at this time. He says he just wants to wait and play spring soccer and t-ball. This is so nice for us since it gives us a break from having to run two kids somewhere to practice or play in something. I consider this our downtime!

We recently had parent-teacher conferences with they boys' teachers and they both received great reports. We have been blessed with smart and well behaved kids. Their behavior is definitely different at home, but I'm grateful that they are well behaved in school.

Grace is getting big and saying a lot more words. She says thank you and please all the time now, sometimes without even being prompted. She is very curious and always points at stuff and asks "what's that." She still is all about the boy's toys and could care less about girly stuff. I'm determined to try again this Christmas though. Maybe a new babydoll will catch her interest. We'll see.


My friend Jennifer came over this past weekend and took some pictures. If was freezing outside and Grace wasn't very cooperative, but we managed to get a few good ones. Here's a peek!

Halloween

We had a fun Halloween night. We went trick-or-treating in a neighborhood that my friend Lisa used to live in. This was our 3rd year going to that neighborhood. We like this neighborhood because it always has houses completely decorated, they give out good candy and it's half-way between our house and Scott and Jessica's house.

This year Dylan was The Joker, Gavin was a fireman, and Grace was Dora the Explorer. When I went to get Grace's costume they had slim pickings. But she still looked super cute in the Dora outfit. Plus half the people thought she was a princess anyway.

Kaleb was Bob the Builder. Ethan was the bloody Scream guy. And for the first time, my wonderful neice Savanna broke our yearly tradition and went to a friends house instead of with us. :( But, what can we expect? She is getting older and at the age where family just isn't as fun as being with friends! We truly missed her.

Have I mentioned.....

how much I LOVE my husband. He is a great man! I know I talk only about our children on here, so I wanted to take a second and post about Chris.

I love him because:
he is patient
he is kind
he is funny
he has a big heart
he is not a worrier
he focuses on the positive
he is a great dad
he is a hands-on father
he loves me even with my faults
he makes up off the wall stories
he loves God
he loves his mother
he loves his father
he loves his brother
he is a great cook (thank goodness!)
he loves Panther football
he loves Virginia Cavaliers
he keeps our yard nice
he is a hard-worker
he is dedicated

There are so many more things I can list about Chris. We all have our faults (or what the partner views as a fault)but I choose to over look his becuase all the positive outweighs the negative. As long as I have him and God, my rocks, I know that we can handle anything that comes our way.

Arrggghhh

Has it really been that long since I have had a chance to post? Wow, time flies.

We have been quite busy the past 3 weeks with soccer. We have a soccer game or soccer practice every day except Wednesday and Sunday. The boys are really enjoying it. Dylan's games are pretty exciting to watch because they are older and actually have rules and it is more competitive. Gavin's are fun too! This year he seems to really thrive at being a goalie. For some reason he is not as aggressive as he was last year. But when he's in that goalie box, he does a great job!

Yesterday was Dylan's birthday. He said it was a good day! Last night we had the opportunity to go the South Point High School soccer game and Dylan's soccer team were the ball runners. So every time the ball went out of bounds they would run and get it and throw it back to the players. Dylan got a lot of action on his side and he really enjoyed it. During half time he was even allowed to go on the field and play with a bunch of older high school kids, kicking the ball around and stuff. I'm really kicking myself right now because I FORGOT the camera! My mom is going to yell at me. :)

What else is going on......oh, Gavin informed me this morning that daddy is smarter than me! It went a little something like this:

Me: "See Dylan, aren't you glad I told you to wear long pants and a jacket since it's so cold out?"

Dylan: "Yes"

Me: "When are you going to learn that mom is so smart?"

Gavin: "Nuh, huh, daddy is way smarter than you!"

Me: "Really?"

Gavin: "Yes, he put a little water in the soap bottle in the bathroom to make it last longer! He is very smart!"

Me: "Yes you are right, he is very smart!"

HaHaHaHa! Who do you think Chris learned that trick from? I'll just continue to let Gavin think Chris is that much smarter than me since he is a daddy's boy.

My family really keeps me laughing.

Grace is doing well, too. She is trying to talk a lot more. Don't know what she's saying, but she tries.

I only have one picture to post right now. It's from Kinsley's birthday party. Grace was not very excited at first, and Lisa managed to catch this expression. She's such a little stinker!

Birthday's Coming Up

We are getting ready for birthday's around here. It starts with mine, September 11, then it moves into a crazy month in Ocotber. Dylan's on Ocotber 1, Savanna's on Ocotber 4, and Gavin's on October 8. Lots of birthday parties to plan and attend. Luckily for everyone, Dylan and Gavin are still young enough that they are okay with having their birthday parties at the same time without feeling like the other one is "stealing their thunder" so to speak. I know this will change in a few years but for now it's great. Although it does make for a CRAZY, large birthday party, it is still nice to knock them out with one shot. They are both asking for new bikes this year. They both need to move to the next size up. Hopefully Chris and I can go look at some soon. Dylan is really into more of the electronic stuff now. He is asking for a new Pokemon game for his Nintendo DS, a new game for the Playstation 2, a MP3 player, and some other small things. Gavin is asking for a new "swweeeet truck, swweeet car, swwweeet motorcycle, swwweeet 4-wheeler, and a swwweeet monster truck." That's what he said. They all have to be "swweeet." He cracks me up sometimes.

I don't think Chris and I will do much for my birthday. We will probably try to grab some dinner tonight since my mom will have the kids at church. I'm turning 29.....just one year away from 30. Maybe next year we will throw a bash!

I think I mentioned a few blogs ago that our friends Tony, Amanda, and Abbygale came over for dinner. Amanda gave me a CD full of pictures from that night and the camping trip. These are some of my favorites from the dinner night. All the kids climbing in our tree out back and a cute one of my pretty princess!

School, our weekend and more....

School started last week. The hustle and bustle with Dylan to do homework is back in swing. AND we get to add Gavin to the mix. Gavin started Kindergarten! He seems to like it, I guess. I say I guess, because it is like pulling teeth to get him to tell me about his day. Dylan is the same way. This is a typical conversation:

Me - "How was your day?"

Dylan or Gavin - "Fine"

Me - "So, what did you do today at school?"

Dylan or Gavin - "Nothing"

Me - "Really, so why do I even send you to school?"

Dylan - "Because it's the law."

I do know that Gavin's best buddy Benjamin is in his class and sits at his table. I know Gavin is very happy about that! I'm interested to see how this week goes. Maybe I will be able to get more out of them or at least one of them, as time goes on. I also know that Dylan has reservations about his teacher. When asked if he likes his teacher, he said to me, "She's okay, but she has issues." After prying and pleading to understand what he means when he says "issues" he tells me that she is not very patient with a kid (Dylan's friend) in his class because he talks a lot. I'm okay with that, if that is what he means by issues.

Soccer has also started back up. Chris and I are super busy, that's all I have to say. I'm not sure what we will do when Grace gets older and is ready to start participating in activities. We'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Our weekend.....

Saturday Chris went to Trent and Ragan's for the fantasy football draft that he plays in every year. After the draft was over I took the kids there. We had a great time hanging out with everyone. They filled up the baby pool with water and the kids played around in that for the longest time. Grace enjoyed swinging in Tatum's swing.

Sunday we had Tony, Amanda, and Abbygale over for dinner. We had lots of fun with them and I think she took a few pictures so maybe she will send those to me shortly.

Monday Chris stayed at home with Grace while they boys went off with their friend Andrew and I took advantage of shopping alone at the new Marshall's. They have a lot of nice shoes! Then I came home and cleaned! I know this made Chris very happy. I even mopped, which I am embarrassed to say it has not been done for a couple of months. I seriously HATE mopping. I think it is the worst chore and I would rather clean 50 bathrooms than mop my entire house.

Beach Trip Drama

Our beach trip.....where do I begin. It was truly great....until Saturday night. Dylan was laying on the floor sort of gently wrestling around with his little cousin, Kaleb. Gavin then decided to join them, by jumping down on Dylan's neck! Dylan immediately jumped up screaming and crying in pain and holding his neck. He screamed and cried hysterically (calming down off and on only for a few seconds at a time) for almost 25 -30 minutes. I tried ice and gave him Tylenol. He kept saying that he was having shooting pains going down his neck and one time he even said it was tingling. So, I started to panic and we made the choice to call 911. We laid him on the floor and did not let him move his head. Side note: this whole time he could move his fingers and toes and he never loss consciousness. So first a cop pulls up and comes in. Dylan calmed down once he was there. Then an ambulance comes up about 3 minutes later. And then about 5 minutes after that ANOTHER ambulance pulls up. It was kind of like a scene in a movie. Anyway, they check him out, ask us what we want to do, and we said take him to the hospital just to be safe.

So here he is with the EMT before they toted him out to the ambulance. We couldn't help but laugh because he was just so little and cute and all bundled up. Plus the EMT started laughing so it kind of broke the ice and made Dylan smile
So anyway, Dylan had a CT scan and a neck XRay. Everything ended up fine and it was just a neck contusion. So an expensive lesson learned......Dylan is a dramatic child and we could have probably done without the hospital trip. But, on the other hand, a neck injury is a serious thing and you can never be too careful.

Now on to the fun part of the trip. We had beautiful weather the whole time. Our only complaint was the wind was crazy! It was so strong, which made the waves very rough and sand would blow by us and it would sting when it hit you. The boys had a blast running around and playing in the water. Gavin did great this year and was not scared at all. Grace did not enjoy it too much the first two days. She would sit on your lap and touch the sand. She eventually got up and walked around and played. But on the last day, she had a blast. She wanted to be in the water playing. This was brought on by Grace seeing Kaleb in the water and laughing and having fun. Once she saw that, she was ready to play. I have a few pictures from my camera. My mom has much better ones that I hope to get next week. But for now here are some.

My studs, Dylan & Gavin
Pretty girl, Grace
And this is a picture of my weirdo husband and weirdo son! They decided they would sculpt me in the sand. So apparently this is what I look like. :)

Headed to the beach

Dylan and Gavin left Sunday with my mom and dad for our yearly beach trip to Oak Island. Chris, Grace, and I are leaving for the beach today after work. I'm so excited! I spoke with the boys a couple of times and they are having a wonderful time. I can't wait to get there!

Weekend of Camping

We went camping this past weekend with our friends, The King's. We had a blast! I'm generally not into the camping thing, but the boys really wanted to go so I toughed it out and went. The whole trip was very enjoyable minus the sleeping on the hard ground in our tent. I have requested that we purchase a blow-up mattress for the next time we go. Momma won't go again without one and that's a promise! We (or maybe I should say, I) learned a lot from our camper-savy friends, Tony and Amanda. They were so prepared and had everything! I just assumed that since Chris grew up camping every summer with his dad and brother that he would know what to pack and how much to pack. Well, I wasn't thinking about the fact that he has never camped with two kids. We will be much better prepared next time.

Friday when we arrived Chris and Dylan put up the tent. Then we cooked our hotdogs over the fire and hung out the rest of the evening.

On Saturday we went to Chimney Rock State Park and took pictures at 2,280 feet elevation. It was beautiful. We also walked about a mile to see the bottom of the waterfall. It wasn't much to see due to the drought they are in. That afternoon we went back to the campsite and played in the creek the rest of the day. Then on Sunday it was more playing in the creek and packing up our stuff to head home.

Swim Lessons

We have just finished our fourth week of swimming lessons. What a draining four weeks it has been. Monday - Thursday from 6:15 - 7:00 pm. Busy, busy, busy....but it was well worth it! Dylan was not really a swimmer before this. He would not jump in the pool unless he had a life jacket on. So he was never able to keep up with his two cousins, Savanna and Ethan, who are like little fish and are great swimmers. NOW, he can keep up. He is still not the best swimmer but he can do the freestyle stroke nicely and he is all for jumping in off the diving board and doing cannon balls!

Dylan jumping off the diving board

Dylan practicing his strokes

Gavin was frightened when we started swim lessons. He would never get in the water at Grandma's house except for on the stairs and when you hold him in the water he grabs your neck so hard you can barely breathe. Well, he did the same thing the first week and a half of swim lessons. This kid cried and screamed and was petrified. I literally would have to pick him up and throw him in the water to the lifeguard. I was finally told that I couldn't watch and I had to go hide somewhere. The day I did that he quit crying and tried. The next day I was allowed to come back and watch and he has been great since then. He still cannot swim, but he is not scared at all anymore. He enjoys jumping off the side of the pool and off the diving board to you and he will kick his feet as hard as he can. He still has not mastered moving those arms though. This was the last week for swim lessons at the Cramerton pool so we will continue with them again in the Spring and hopefully he will pick up on it then.

Gavin - clinging to the lifeguards neck as they jump in the pool (1st week) Gavin practicing his kicks

Gavin getting ready to jump off the diving board by himself!! (3rd week)

Grace - walking around the pool

Today Is A Good Day!

Dylan is officially a Maynard! We received the letter yesterday in the mail that Chris' adoption of Dylan has been completed. Now all we need is a new birth certificate. This is so exciting as he will be able to start the 3rd grade with his new last name. We always sign him up for sports with Maynard, but the school would not let us do that because it legally was not his last name. Dylan is so excited also!!

Dylan Maynard
A couple of weekends ago we went went to the Belmont Festival with our friends Trent, Ragan, and Tatum. We had a wonderful time with them. The boys (big and little) loved all the rides. These rides tend to make me nervous because well it is a Carnival and you must wonder how safe these beat-down looking rides are. Let's face it, this is no Carowinds. Anyway, here are some pictures from that evening.

Me, Grace, Ragan & Tatum

Gavin riding the airplanes, which Ragan saw a few days later stranded on the side of the highway. I assume the trailer it was carried on was broken or something. Weird!

Dylan riding the bull

Chris and Gavin riding some kind of spinner Trent and Dylan riding an airplane

Grace and Tatum - Friends!

And a cute one of just Grace in her pigtails that I am now able to get her to leave in!

Gavin and his.....I don't know what to call it

Gavin makes me wonder sometimes. This child truly knows how to test you and I don't always know how to handle him. One day he is so sweet and wonderful to everyone, including Grace. The next day he is as mean as a snake and only wants to hurt or aggravate you, especially Grace. I think, well actually, I know at times he gets jealous of Dylan and Grace. Grace, because she's the baby and she needs "special" attention. This has been going on since she was born. Dylan, because he is older and gets to do the cool stuff, like go to Carowinds with his friend Braxton. Evidence of that jealousy was just found this weekend when Gavin decided to take a permanent magic marker and mark out the picture on a keychain of Dylan and Braxton when they were on the rollercoaster at Carowinds. This picture was one you buy from Carowinds and was a big deal to us and Dylan because it was his very first rollercoaster ride. Now it is ruined. When we talked to him about it he was truly sad and embarrassed and understood what he did was wrong. He really felt bad. I think I need to do some research on "the middle child syndrome" or whatever it's called. Maybe I can get some insight on what to do differently or maybe I should just pray a little harder! :)

Speaking of God......this Sunday after church Gavin just melted my heart. Every Sunday Chris and I ask both Dylan and Gavin how Sunday school was and what did they talk about. Neither of them really like to talk about it and just give me the typical 'it was fun and we learned about God'. It's very frustrating at times. They do the same thing with school also. Anyway, so after Sunday school Gavin says to me "God is with you, even when you are by yourself." I was completely caught off guard because I hadn't even asked him about Sunday school, but I'm elated that he even brought it up and tell him that is true and I'm so proud of him for listening in class. He then says "So, can I go somewhere by myself now, because I won't be by myself, He will be with me!" Hahaha....now that made us laugh. We told him he still had to be with an adult until he was older.

I hope to have pictures soon of the boys and their swim lessons. That has also been quite an adventure for Gavin!

Grace's 1st Birthday

June 26, 2008 - Gracie turned one! I can't believe it has been a year since this precious little girl was born. She is truly a sweet, loveable princess. Although she does not like girly things, I still consider her my princess. She is very much into cars, balls, and anything her older brothers do. However, she did receive a Fisher Price purse for her birthday and I've actually seen her carry it around the living room every now and then. She has also let me put rubberbands in her hair a couple of times to create a ponytail on top of her head (like a little sprout) and in piggtails, which is so cute! Before, she would immediately rip them out. She still rips out hair clips and bows. But.....the rubberbands give me hope! :)
Grace at her 1st birthday party!
I tried to keep this party at a minimum of people. One, because she will not remember and two, becasue my house will not hold as many people as Chris and I really wanted to invite. So we kept it more to family and just a few friends with younger babies. But you can tell from this picture she still got WAY too much stuff!
Cake time! Grace really enjoyed the cake. I just love it when they dig in and go to town! I have pictures from all three of the kids at this age. The pictures are all the same....they give it a taste, they go back for more, and they end with the messiest, cutest faces!

The party was great and everyone had a blast. I can't help but wonder what her two year old party will be like. I just hope it doesn't come too fast!

My first attempt

So this is my first attempt at a blog. I have a few friends that do this and I just love reading their blogs and catching up on what their family is doing these days.

If you don't know much about me, then I will just give you a quick tidbit. I have a husband and three kids. Therefore, my life is crazy and busy! I actually consider my husband my 4th kid at times. You'll understand as I update my blogs.

Below are two pictures of the kids so you can see what my world revolves around. They are good kids - smart, fun, and athletic (well we don't know about Grace yet, but we'll see)

Dylan - 8 and Gavin - 4

Grace - 13 months

Stay tuned.....I hope to update reqularly.