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I realized today that I haven’t blogged in over a week. We have been super busy the last week! The girls were in SC and we were able to get a lot of work done…both at home and at church. We also traded our car for a Chrysler Pacifica. Even though we only have one car still, at least we all fit into it. Hopefully, we’ll get a new van in the fall. After we got the girls on Friday, we enjoyed movie night with the students at church. We watched “The Princess Bride” which is my all-time favorite movie! Then, on Saturday, we ran a booth at the Pikeville Independence Day Celebration to promote our version of VBS…we call it S3 Blast (Super Sonic Summer Blast) and the theme this year is “Xtreme!”. We handed out about 100 bags with candy and information about “Xtreme!” and the church. We also put temporary skateboarding tattoos on the kids that wanted one and had free lemonade. It was so hot, so the lemonade was a hit! I think we gave out 8 gallons. All the other booths were selling things so people were really impressed with free anything. The Shriners were there with their little go-cart 18 wheelers that they race in. You see them alot in parades. I hated that Madi missed that part. She would have loved it!
On Sunday, after church, we left for Ocean Isle Beach. We did a wedding for a friends’ daughter that night. It was really hot and the wedding was outdoors. Thayer did great…the whole thing took about 7 minutes. They didn’t have any music or candles or anything. The reception was inside…actually at a winery in the barrell room. It was nice…great food and dancing. Avery couldn’t wait to get a piece of the cake (and the cake was square so there were actually “end” pieces). She couldn’t understand why we had to wait for the bride and groom to cut the cake. We spent the night and came back yesterday. Our camera was acting funny so we didn’t get any photos from the short trip. On the way home, I did finally get it working to capture this photo…I call it “Sheer Exhaustion.” Notice she has one of the tattoos from Saturday still on her cheek…we couldn’t get it off so she wore it to the wedding!
Today was spent grocery shopping and hanging out at the pool. I feel like this summer is already flying by…we are still entirely too busy! Camps are coming up, I am teaching a preschool music class the week of July 13 for the dance studio, and our S3Blast is right after that, and then there will only be 2 1/2 more weeks of summer.
I want to wish all you men out there a Happy Father’s Day. We are spending a quiet afternoon at home without our girls. This is the second Father’s Day in a row that the girls are in SC on Father’s Day. Last year, Thayer and I were in Wilmington alone and this year, they are at Thayer’s parents house for the week. They have already called him and we gave him his gifts before we took them to SC. Each girl picked out their own card for him…it cost me a fortune to buy 5 cards, but they had so much fun and they couldn’t agree on just one. It was so funny because each of them found a card that was so appropriate to their relationship with him. They also insisted that we go to Build-A-Bear to make a bear for him since I got one on Mother’s Day. So, now Eve has company…we made Adam!
We took the girls to SC on Thursday so we could go pick up Madi’s inserts at the Shriner’s Hospital on Friday. She is going to have to learn a whole new way to walk. She looked like Frankinstein when she first put them on. She’ll be ready by the time school starts back, and we’re hoping they will help strengthen her legs and keep her from damaging her knees and hips by walking on her toes all the time.
We were able to celebrate Father’s Day and my mom’s birthday (shhh! its the big 6-0!) while we were in SC before taking the girls to Thayer’s parents house yesterday to celebrate Father’s Day with his dad. We ate breakfast in Anderson, lunch in Beech Island, and supper in Goldsboro…all in the amount of time you would spend at one day of work! We’ll be lonely this week, but are enjoying some alone time! I was able to finally clean Avery’s room without her being right behind me pulling stuff out as quickly as I put it away. I’ll tackle Bailey and Madi’s room tomorrow. We’ll pick them up in Florence on Friday.
This pile is missing a wedding gift and a graduation gift. June is a busy gift month! Between babies, Father’s Day and Nana’s birthday, we’re busy buying and wrapping!
We had to say good-bye to the O’Neal family today. They were the first family to come meet us when we moved in 4 years ago. Mark, Miranda, Kaleb and Kyle have become good friends over the years. Since this is the longest we’ve ever lived in one house, they are the first family that we’ve gotten to know well that has to move. Sometimes, I hate living in a military town! Mark just got back from serving his year long deployment in Greece and got promoted to Lt. Col. while he was there. Miranda has been the leader of the carpool this year and helped us out many, many times! Kaleb just finished 7th grade and he and Julia were kinda “sweet on each other” in the words of Thayer. Kyle just finished 3rd grade and he helped make mornings interesting on the way to school. They are being moved by the Air Force to Idaho. We’ll miss them…especially on those warm, summer nights when we are taking a walk and come upon a copper head stretched out on the road in front of their house. That has happened twice and both times, we knocked on their door (once it was around 10 pm) so their boys could come look at it (after we killed it of course!). Here are the girls with Kaleb and Kyle.
I took these pictures of the girls today before they left for their last day of school. I am putting the first day pictue first so you can see how much they grew this year.
Here’s Julia:
They had their 10 inches cut off their hair right afte school started, so even though Julia’s hair is up, that is the biggest change! Plus, she got contacts!
Here’s Bailey:
Here’s Madi:
They had braided their hair when they got out of the shower the night before, so their hair looked wavy and sort of like a lion! I think they grew a lot this year…in many ways! I just want everything to slow way down so we can enjoy our summer!
***Disclaimer: I am bragging about my kids in this blog! Since it is my blog, I feel entitled to do so! 
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We spent most of our days yesterday and today at the elementary school for Bailey and Madi’s Award’s Days and the parties they had. We are so proud of all of the girls…they all had a wonderful year. You know that the schools and teachers are doing something right when the children get upset with you for making them miss a day because you want to stay at the beach an extra day. When we went to the beach in March, we stayed until Monday afternoon and that was the only day Julia missed. She was so upset not just because it cost her perfect attendance, but she also missed being in the band, Beta Club and Student Advisory Council pictures in the yearbook. How was I supposed to know they were taking all those photos that day?! Also, last week after the recitals, I offered to let Bailey and Madi go to school late and they passed!
I’m very thankful for the wonderful teachers we have had this year, and all throughout their school years. There is one teacher, that has stood out…Mrs. Tracy Edmundson has taught all three girls. She was Julia’s first teacher in Goldsboro…when we went for Open House, Thayer was out of town so I had all three girls in a new school pushing Avery (5 months) in a stroller through very crowded hallways. After meeting Madi’s Kindergarten teacher and Bailey’s first grade teacher, we realized they had put Julia in a second grade class instead of third. She was so upset…so we went to the office and they assigned her to Mrs. Edmundson. We went to her room (by this point Open House was almost over) and Mrs. Edmundson welcomed her so graciously…when I know she was really thinking, “oh no, not another student already!” She had put a little gift on each students’ desk, and had an extra one ready so Julia never felt left out. That year, Julia had migraine headaches and passed out in class twice…once she actually had a mini-seizure. Mrs. Edmundson was so kind through it all.
Then, Bailey had Mrs. Edmundson two years later and excelled! She tested well enough to enter the Academically and Intellectually Gifted program as a result of Mrs. Edmundson’s stong emphasis on math. And now, Madi has finished her third grade year with Mrs. E. We never thought Madi was as strong a student as her sisters. She much prefers art, music and talking! But, due to Mrs. Edmundson’s belief in her, she scored two 4s on her EOGs and was 5th in her class in Accelerated Reading…she used to hate to read!! We have to wait 4 more years to see if Avery will get to have Mrs. Edmundson too. Here are all three girls with Mrs. E.
Here are a few pictures of Bailey and Madi getting their awards. We were surprised today that Madi was given a “Special Effort Award” for PE. They were so kind to do that for her. She always tried, even though there was no way she could ever achieve any of the goals for the National/Presidential Fitness Awards. Here is Bailey getting the National Fitness Award. She also received the Citizenship Award and got the Honor Roll medal. She missed being on the Principal’s List by one B last nine weeks, and one B this nine weeks. She also was on the Battle of the Books team that won 2nd place in our county.
Here is Madi getting her Honor Roll medal, and she also won a Citizenship Award.
We attended Julia’s 6th grade Award’s Night at Norwayne on Thursday night. The gym is not air conditioned, so they tried to make it nice, but quick. There is a rule at Norwayne that you can only win one award from your team (two classes), so they are able to recognize more students that way. Julia won the Accelerated Reading award for her team. She has always loved reading and has been recruited by the Media Coordinator to be on the school’s Battle of the Books team next year. She was also recognized for being on the Student Advisory Council (one per homeroom), a member of the Beta Club and she was also the September Student of the Month for her team. She was upset that she missed getting the Presidential Fitness Award. Out of the 5 activities, she missed the time she needed by .3 of a second in the shuttle run…in all the other events, she met the standard. She is really the classic “first child” personality! So competitive…hmmm, just like another first child she is related to!
It has been a great year for her. I was nervous about her starting middle school, but the administration and teachers at Norwayne have done an excellent job in making her first year so successful. After teaching in middle school for 2 years, I know how difficult those years are for so many students. The friends she has made are a lot like her…except they all seem to have their own cell phones! We had 3 of them sleep over not long ago, and I’m so glad that they still act like they are 11-12 year olds and not like 16 year olds!
Here’s Julia with her two main teachers, Mrs. Pittman and Ms. Darden and when she received the AR trophy.
Last night, Thayer and I decided we were going on a mini-Date Night. Julia is old enough to watch them for a few hours at the time, so we went out to eat alone! They were pretty offended that we didn’t take them, but it was wonderful! We did go by Wal-Mart on the way home and got several “movie candies” so we could have a family movie night. We got the “Hotel for Dogs” movie On-Demand and had a great time.
Its late, but I wanted to post the pictures of Madi from her recital tonight. She looked adorable and did a great job. She loves dancing and we had a good relationship with the teacher so that she was able to participate in such a way that you never would have known she muscular dystrophy.
We offered to let the girls sleep in tomorrow morning since we’ve been out late 3 nights in a row, but neither of them wanted to. I hope Avery will, though. She really loved watching all the dances, but has had a long week so far! Tomorow night won’t be any better…we have Julia’s 6th Grade Awards Ceremony. Maybe we’ll catch up on Friday.
Tonight was actually night 2 of the dance recitals this year. There is always a rehearsal on Monday night and because they took dance on two different days, their recitals are on two different nights. So, its off to Smithfield for three nights in a row. Two down, one more to go.
Bailey danced tonight and did a beautiful job. She was in a tap routine to “Hey Mr. Postman” and a ballet routine to “Draw Me Near” which is a Christian song. She has grown so much since last year. Her teacher, Ashley, was a senior this year and she got to dance one song by herself in addition to the 6 or 7 other dances she was in. Her dad brought her a huge bouquet on stage when she finished. I hope Bailey will continue in dance, but I’m pretty sure I’d never make it through her senior dance. I cried while Ashley was dancing!
Here are a few pictures from tonight…I’ll post Madi’s tomorrow night.
This picture was taken at the end of the recital…about 9:30 and Avery has missed her nap yesterday and today…we may sleep in and go to school a little late on Thursday morning!
