Christmas Choir Show

Boo with her bell

Warming up (this was pre Mr. Josh so you can see she isn't doing it:)!

Mackenzie is continuing to love going to choir. She loves going, and loves practicing, but is still a bit shy "performing." Well, this is until this past weekend's Christmas show. During practice, she stood beside her friends and was kind of just taking everything in. She wasn't singing, she wasn't ringing her bell, UNTIL Mr. Josh came. Mr. Josh was her choir teacher last year, and she really took to him. Unfortunately he now teaches the older children, so she doesn't get to see him much. Well, tonight, he helped their choir group warm up by playing the piano for them, and in case you can't tell, he is sitting at the piano which is right in front of Mackenzie. Let me just tell you, that as soon as Mackenzie saw Mr. Josh, it was like a light bulb went off...she just starting belting out the songs, playing her bell when she was supposed to, and acted out the songs when she was supposed to! The smile she had on her face when Mr. Josh noticed her doing all this was PRICELESS!!! Luckily, during the actual show, Mr. Josh played the piano again, so Mackenzie performed her stuff. It was the best Christmas present ever to see her do all her songs, but more importantly it was to see that she was proud of herself:) Go Boo!!!

Home Depot Project number????

The first Saturday in December was our monthly Home Depot Project. This time, Daddy was planning on taking Mackenzie and Zach, but at the last minute had to go to work, so the kids and I joined Meme, Dub, and Thomas. This month's project was a tiny wagon.
Mackenzie worked on her wagon with Meme, Dub helped Thomas, and I helped Zach. These projects are so much fun, and really get the kids to excited to build something of their own.

Zach is an old pro at the hammering thing now. He really gets into it, and usually wants to do it without any help.

Of course, Home Depot Project day wouldn't be complete with out going to McDonalds after wards. I don't have any pictures from McDonald's, but trust me when I say it was crazy....Mackenzie, Thomas, Zach, me, Meme, and Dub all sitting together in one booth with Zach making sure that everyone is at an arms length from his food. That boy is VERY protective of his food...especially at McDonalds:)

Mackenzie's Thanksgiving Day Feast at School

Mackenzie's school celebrated their Thanksgiving day feast the Monday before Thanksgiving this year. All the older kids in the school were dressed like pilgrims or Indians. Mackenzie was dressed as and Indian and had an Indian name of Little Sunshine. She was so excited to sit with her friends and celebrate, but was even MORE excited that "Auntie Marie" and Daddy came to school for the feast!!! It was a fun day for everyone!!! Thank you "Auntie Marie" for coming to see the feast!!!

Halloween

Mackenzie and Zach had such a great time this year for Halloween! A couple days before Halloween, we carved our pumpkin. Zach was so into getting all the goop out, while Mackenzie was busy saying things like "ooey, yucky, Don't touch that!!!" The more she screamed these things, the louder Zach laughed:)

Halloween night was busy for us. We hadn't planned on it, but we ended up having quite the party at our house that night. Uncle Kyle, Aunt Cathy, "Uncle" Charlie, "Auntie" Marie (the usual Halloween crew)came over, but then b/c it was a Saturday night, Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Chris, Aunt Jamie, and Mia came over too. It was a lot of fun to have everyone over. As for trick or treating, Zach is the pro in our house. I honestly think that he would have gone all night if we let him. However, we had to stop b/c his candy bag was so full, that he was having trouble carrying it, and he WOULD NOT let anyone else carry his bag:) He was too funny!!! Boo had a great time too, but the novelty soon worn off and she was ready to eat pizza (our usual after TorT dinner).

Corn Maze fun with Auntie Marie and Uncle Charlie

Hay fight on the hay ride!

This is what Zach does when you ask to take his picture...he is such a ham!

In the corn maze....

Corn Maze here we come!

On Sunday after noon, we went to a local farm that has a corn maze. It was the first time we had been, and it was so much fun! We started off going through the corn maze, and the kids loved it! They ran and ran and ran! Greg and Charlie had to stay ahead so the kids wouldn't get lost...it would not have surprised me to loose Zach there...it was crazy! But we did all make it out..even after the snake incident! Halfway through the maze, we came to an opening in the field, and just ahead of Marie and I and the kids, Greg and Charlie took a big step back and made some comment about something they were looking at. Well, this could only mean one thing, and I went literally into panic mode...SNAKE!!!! Greg immediately looks back at me, and I'm already shaking, sweating, crying, you name it. I guess at this point I should let you know that this snake, as big and bad as it was...was FAKE...yep, the farm people had placed it there to spook people! It took me a good 5 minuets to stop shaking and regain my composure!

After the corn maze, we went and played on haystacks and took a long hay ride! It was a lot of fun, and it was so great to have our dearest friends with us. Marie and Charlie really do go out of their way to do extra special things with us and the kids, and we are so glad they do! Not sure what we would do without our Auntie Marie and Uncle Charlie:)

Home Depot and the Fire Truck

Zach driving the fire truck!


The pictures are out of order, but here is Boo's project all complete! Pretty cool!

Meme and Zach hard at work!

Zach laughing at Uncle Chris and cousin Meghan who just happened to be at Home Depot that morning.

Look at Mackenzie go! She really knows how to use that hammer!

Mackenzie, Zach and I went to Home Depot with Meme and Dub this past Saturday for the project of the month. This time was really neat because Zach actually did his own project (with help from me and Meme), and a Fire Truck came for the kids to see. The project this month was a firehouse bank. The bank had 3 slots in the top so the kids can choose where their money goes...spend, save, or share. Of course, Boo puts her change into the share slot, while Zach takes after me and his change went straight to the spend slot:) Mackenzie had a blast climbing all over the firetruck with Dub, but Zach was a little taken aback by the whole thing. He did sit in the drivers seat, but didn't really care for it! Can't wait till next months project! Thanks Meme and Dub for going with us:)

Jennifer and Bryan's Wedding in Ohio

The weekend after Zach's birthday, Greg, Mackenzie and I headed to Lima, Ohio for Greg's cousin's wedding. Since the drive was so long, and we were not going to be gone long, Zach stayed with Meme, Dub, and Aunt Cathy and Uncle Kyle. It was a long road trip (we were away from home about 53 hours, and about 20 of those hours were in the car...so I mean LONG road trip)!!! Mackenzie did great in the car...she watched movies, talked, and talked, and talked (I think she really enjoyed not having to share the spotlight with her brother), and took a few naps. I think the highlight of the trip for her was definatly staying in a hotel. This had been her first trip to a hotel and she loved it! We were really glad we were able to make the drive and be with family on Jennifer and Bryan's special day!

Zach is 2!

I can't believe Zach is 2! I know I've said it 100 times on this blog, but boy, does time fly!!! We had a great time at his birthday party with lots of friends, family, and of course food! I did not get any really good pictures from his party, but here are just a few. I guess I have to get used to not getting pictures of a 2 year old boy sitting still:)

Lulu's 95th Birthday Party

On Saturday September 5th, we had a birthday party to celebrate my grandmother's 95th birthday!!! She was able to leave her nursing home for a couple hours, and return to the house she lived in the majority of her life, to celebrate with her family. It was nice to have so many people able to get together to celebrate this day. Lulu was especially happy to have so many of her grandchildren and great grandchildren there with her.

July 4th at Holden Beach

We spent last week at Holden Beach with Auntie Marie and Uncle Charlie!! As always, the kids had a blast! Zach LOVED everything about the beach...the sand, the water, the crabs...everything!! He had a great time in the water jumping waves with and without help. One wave even took him out, and he didn't seem to care to much. He was also into catching all the little crabs that were out our first day there. Needless to say the little ones he caught didn't survive!

Boo had a great time too, but didn't really like the water too much. She did get in, but had more fun building sand castles and looking for shells.

On the 4th of July, we went to watch the fireworks in Wilmington. Just like last year, they were awesome. Mackenzie loved them and didn't want them to end. Zach was ok with them...they didn't scare him, he wasn't crying or anything, but he just wanted to watch them sitting in the stroller, which is really weird, because Zach doesn't sit still!

Race for the Cure

A couple of weeks ago, we did our annual Race for the Cure with Meme and Dub and Aunt Cathy! Since we have started doing the race, each year, I make a shirt for Mackenzie to wear in honor of her Meme! I keep the shirts in a special place each year and one day I hope to turn them into a quilt for Meme (ok, when I say "I" hope to turn the shirts into a quilt, I really mean I hope Cathy will turn them into a quilt since she is awesome at making quilts!!)!

This year, we also wanted to acknowledge my cousin Diane who was recently diagnosed with cancer. Mackenzie wore a Celebration sign in honor of Diane on her back and we wanted to share that picture with Diane and her family to let them all know we are thinking of them.

We are already looking forward to next year's race in honor of it being Meme's 1oth year as a SURVIVOR...WOO HOO!!!!

Airport Playground

I took the kids over to the airport playground one morning so we could play and watch the planes take-off and land. While this was a great idea, it was not so much fun!!! The runway that the observation deck is on was not being used so we couldn't see any planes. There were a few parked on the side of the runway but none were moving. The "playground" part of the observation area had some sand which was so dirty with trash and stuff that the kids didn't even really play in it, and it only had one climbing structure which was a little scary. Oh well, at least we tried. Next time we will try in the indoor observation area which overlooks the other runways. We have never been there, and I hear it is a really neat place to take kids!

Choir

I wasn't sure if I had posted a picture of Mackenzie in her choir robe, so I wanted to post this one. She had such a great time with choir, and is really looking forward to doing it again in the fall!

Last day of School

On Mackenzie's last day of school, her class had a lunch picnic with all the families in the room. It was a lot of fun and Boo seemed so excited to eat lunch with her friends. Zach had a great time too, because he was able to play on the playground, and we all know how Zach is always (ALWAYS) on the run:). It will be great not to have to worry about getting to preschool on time during the summer break, but come fall it will be so nice to have Boo in class 3 days a week and Zach will be there 2 days a week for Mother's Morning Out (and yes, Zach goes to school the same days as Boo so it will be really nice for me:)!!!

School Play

Back in May, Mackenzie's class had a spring show for all the parents to hear all the songs they had learned through out the year. Boo had been so excited about her show....talking about it almost everyday! Well, the day of the show she was even more excited that Mommy, Daddy, Zach and Isabelle (our friends little girl who I keep during the day) were coming to see her show. I had heard Boo practice her songs and she knew all the words. However, when it was time for her to sing she just sat there. She could have cared less about it...she looked like she was bored silly! The ONLY time she smiled and participated was when the class played a song on their kazoos! Silly girl!

Pictures

In May, we had a friend of Chris and Kristy come over and take pictures of the kids. It was time for their yearly professional pictures, and we were tired of the same old studio pictures, so the photographer was able to take some "real life" pictures for us! We love them!!! If only I knew how to take good pictures...