Wow....it has been a while

I have been seriously neglecting my blog, mainly because this last quarter of school was insane, long, heartbreaking....I can not name a single good adjective to describe it! The good news is that it is over and now that the holidays are over I can spend time with some of my favorite things. This week I am going to post some of the highlights of the last three months. Obviously I will not be able to post everything.....

Starting with Aidan's first Midnight Madness, and HALLOWEEN...yes I know that we just had Christmas, but gotta start somewhere.....Aidan is finally in Step One Competition and LOVES it!Here are a few pics of her in with her "I'm so Pretty" ballet costume, plus a little snippet of the girls performing after only a few weeks of practice.

Here are a few videos of the girls...one from Midnight Madness "I'm so pretty", and one from parent observation"Walk the Dinosaur".This was a few months ago, and they had just learned the dances....some of the girls are in their first year in competition, some have done it a few years all ready!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef7HPM1gRmQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiUNh_Qf9kI

I'm not going to say much about our Halloween happenings....but I will post a few pics of the kids in their costumes....just for memories sake!

School Picture Day

Matching of course....Love these beautifully handsome faces

Boyscout Troop 471

Blaise is officially a boyscout....which is a really big deal in the scouting world. We decided on Troop 471, which we both feel is a really good fit for him. Look in later posts for some fantastic trips that Blaise is participating in! Good luck Blaise....maybe we will ave an Eagle Scout in our family.

Back to the Ballfield

It is time for Fall Ball. Well honestly it has been time for quite some time....I am just now getting around to catching up on our blog! I have been very busy making some updates around the house....which will be seen a little later. Blaise is on the Blue Blasts, with Coach Zody. We have seen significant improvement since his start back to baseball last spring. Very exciting....

First day of FIFTH and SECOND grade

Wow...I am lonely all ready! I wish my kiddos could be at home with me, while I enjoy my little break! I hope that you school year is fantastic! Aidan has Mrs.Katz again this year...at Pointview the first grade teachers move up with the students to second grade. Aidan really liked her so we were really happy about that. Because the kids are at different schools I didn't get a pic with Blaise and Mrs. Roberts I will have to do a post about that later!
Becasue the kiddos looked so georgeous and I think the first day of school is so important I stopped at Inniswood after school....awesome photo opportunities! I LOOOVEEEE the close-ups of Blaise and Aidan...and the fauz modeling pose of Aidan was so dorky that I had to post it!

Sorry Blaise

Blaise I first want to say that I hope that you forgive me someday for accidentally cutting off all of your hair right before the first day of fifth grade....I love you and I am sorry! The story is that I was thinking about a million things at once(as usual) and I was totally done giving you a haircut and I suddenly saw a few hairs that I missed....I quickly saved them, and also quickly realized that I forgot to put the guard back on the clippers. Needless to say my options were to cut it, or to let him go with a bald stripe down his head! I went for the earlier....I cut it! Again sorry Blaise and I promise I will pay more attention in the future! Of course you look handsome anyways....

BTS Traditions

I have been making back-to-school cake since Blaise started Kindergarten. It is a silly, fun tradition that we enjoy eating on the night before the big first day. I love the first day of school and all the excitement....I even love to start a new quarter still and I'm 30.....here is last years cupcake...my all-time favorite the "chalkboard" cupcake
I had the best of intentions this year with a "math book" cupcake but writing math on a little cookie proved to be impossible...and they ended up looking similar to last year...oh well! They were still yummy!

The end of a great season

We completed our Red Sox season, with a loss in the final leg of the tournament. We ended up fourth place overall, which is quite an accomplishment, and alot of tournament games. After all was said and done we had a team picnic, complete with a father-son baseball game(which matt seriously injured himself in!!!)

Here is a pic of the cake

Most of the boys are moving up to blue hat for fall, and Blaise will stay in Red hat both in the fall and spring. We are really really going to miss the players, parents, and most of all Coach Kyle, Kyle, and Dan! We were given a whole CD of pics from Alan Geho(who owns Ralphoto) and had a son on the team! Here are a few of my favs....

watch for this guy in sports somewhere...he is only 12 in this picture

What do you see in these pics?

Here is the culprit...I secretly think that this is Blaise's favorite part about baseball!

These last ones are just amazing sports photography

We are really going to miss this team!

Pre-Tournament Cook-out

Tuesday starts the post season for the Red Sox....and they had some fun team scrimmages and a cook-out! It was great fun for all the boys.

Last game of the Regular Season

....and it was another incredibly exciting game. We were down 1-4 in going into the top of the last inning, and we were up to bat. The cards played out perfectly....Blaise had another great hit which loaded up the bases. One of our sluggers Thomas can up to bat and eventually we were able to comeback to a 5-4 score. Then it was all up to defense.....they also played perfectly and the first three batters were out at first.....and it was an exciting win for the Red Sox! The boys finished up the night with a water fight.

We finished the season with four wins and eight losses and we play the Cubs in the first round of the tournament

One Baseball Game to Remember

This particular game will remain fresh on our minds probably forever...and it goes to show what a dependable little guy Blaise is. Here it goes....

It was the bottom of the last inning and we were up to bat....we had two outs, the bases were loaded, and Blaise was up to bat. He managed to work his way up to a full count.....and then bammmmm he hit it hard, right over the first baseman's head and way out into the outfield. We got everyone in accept Blaise because his coach ran up and lifted him into the air. They gave him the game ball.....we all will remember this for a long long time!

Family Moments in the Outer Banks

I have been going with my family to the Outer Banks every year since I was about six years old. We started going after my Uncle Larry discovered Kitty Hawk, and the next year and every year we went as a big group of cousins, and grandparents. We usually always stay in Southern Shores, the beaches there are not tropical in style...but their beauty is amazing...and they will always have special place in my heart... I look forward to this trip every year. Here are a few family photos from over the years.....

Blaise's First Look at the Beach 1998

Chubby Aidan Toddling along the beach 2003

I love getting the kids an OBX T-Shirt 2003

Of course I love evening photo shoots when the light is beautiful...2003

2005

These are just a few that I had handy... I love OBX