14 years ago

14 years ago, we welcomed our second child and our first daughter into our family.  Today is Shelby's birthday and it's hard to believe she is 14! She started out so tiny. Well, that's if you can call a 9 lb. 4 oz. newborn tiny. :)

She made our little family of three into a family of 4..

First picture as a family of 4

And Clay a big brother..

Clay- 2 1/2, Shelby- 3 days

She had some of the sweetest, most chubby cheeks..

Shelby- 4 days

Today she is a beautiful young lady who adds so much to our family and I am thankful she is our daughter.

Shelby- 14

Happy Birthday, Shelby! We love you!

(The first 3 photos are pictures of the originals.. I need a photo scanner!)

My sister

She cracks me up! Here is a conversation from earlier today.

This is the picture I sent her of my niece and nephew from 1997.

Morgan and Jordan, 1997

Then I got this text..

With this current picture of my niece and nephew.

Jordan and Morgan, 2012

I love my sister and her sense of humor!

You know it's summer vacation when...

...you break up at least 16 fights before noon.

...you buy two loaves of bread on Monday and you only have 1/2 a loaf left on Friday.

...same goes for the two gallons of milk you bought at the same time as the bread.

...you don't see your 16 year old before 11am.

...there are at least 2 extra kids in your house at any given time.

...you realize the nice tan your child has going on was just a good layer of dirt after she takes a bath.

...you can still smell the sunscreen on your child even after they've bathed.

...you have to sweep the floors every hour and it's not due to your o.c.d.

...you wash more pool towels than you do bath towels.

...it's 8pm and you have a backyard full of neighborhood kids.

...rarely is anyone in bed by 11pm most nights.

...and rarely is anyone asleep by midnight those same nights.

And finally, you know it's summer vacation when...

...you don't feel like you're sleeping in on Saturday! :)

Kentucky Trip

Every summer the kids and I make at least one trip to Kentucky to visit our family. Jason has been deployed the last few summers, but this summer he is home and was able to join us. Which was nice since I don't like driving through the mountains of North Carolina and I hate driving in the rain which it did a lot of on the trip there.

Somewhere on I-75 with lots of rain

We left the day after the kids got out of school. One of the main reasons for the trip was to attend my brother and sister-in-laws baby shower. They are expecting their first baby and it's a boy! The whole family is so excited. We haven't had a baby in the family since my youngest, Emma, was born over 9 years ago and we haven't had a boy born into the family since my oldest, Clay, who will be 17 this year.

Sara and Trevor- expecting baby Alisdair

We had a great time and it went way to fast. Along with attending the baby shower, we went shopping, stayed up late talking and celebrated my nephew Jordan's 21st birthday. Which I managed to not take one single picture of!!  I'll chalk it up to a rookie blogger mistake!!

On our last night there, we had our traditional fire pit and marshmallow roast with s'mores.

My Dad a.k.a Pa, getting the fire going

Pa adding a few more sticks

Pa helping Emma

Even though my nephew Jordan wasn't there because he was working, his girlfriend Kate joined us.  We all love Kate!

Kate and my niece Morgan

Shelby and my niece Taylor

Jason

Emma and her first s'more of the night

Clay really not wanting his picture taken

At some point it was determined that we needed more firewood and one of my parents trees still had some dead limbs in it from a winter ice storm, so my dad, sister and brother set to work.

Dad trying it the easy way first

The easy way didn't work out the way it should have so Trevor and Amy thought of a better(?) way of doing it.

Amy giving Trevor a boost

Up ya go Trevor

Trevor in the tree

Dad cutting the limb to size

Unfortunately, Emma had a run in with a melting hot marshmallow and burned her top lip and the skin below her nose.  Fortunately, it has already healed and you can barely even tell she had a burn.

Emma icing her lip

It is always a good trip to see family and this trip was no different.  I'm already planning our trip in August to meet sweet baby Alasdair.  Forget the rest of  'em, I can't wait to get my hands on the baby!

First and Last Days

This school year started with lots of mixed emotions. When the kids started school, they knew they only had a few weeks with the friends they had made over the last three years before we would be moving. Our kids have proven time and again that they are resilient, and this move was no different. Each of them made a smooth transition into their new schools and made new friends within the first few days.

 This school year was the second that I have had kids at three different schools.  Clay in high school, Shelby in middle school and Emma in elementary school.  Fortunately next school year, Clay and Shelby will *gasp* both be in high school.  Which, for me, doesn't seem possible!

Clay, first and last day of 10th grade

Shelby, first and last day of 8th grade




Emma, first and last day of 3rd grade

Emma woke up the day before the last day of school with a stomach bug.  Which was hard for me because it meant that she would be missing her very last awards ceremony for her 3rd grade year.  Fortunately when she went in on the last day of school, she was able to get her awards.  She made the "A-B" honor roll for the last 9 weeks and the "Principal's Award" for having A's and B's all year. 




Emma with her year end awards

The only problem I had with Shelby's middle school this whole year was that they didn't have an 8th grade graduation!  They did have an awards ceremony and Shelby received a special award for not receiving any referrals for the whole year.




Shelby and her friends at their awards ceremony