It's soccer time!

Blake is very busy playing soccer again this year. We decided that he would play Greater Cleveland this year instead of Upward, just for a change of pace. So far, so good, he's really enjoying it. Today was his first game but he's had a few practices. He's quite the little athlete. I'm not sure if soccer will be a sport of choice for him but he does enjoy it right now and I hope he sticks with it for awhile.



















We won our first game 6 to 7 and Blake scored 3 (I think) of the 7 the team scored. He's got some very good players on his team this year and they are a good little team to watch. They are playing every Sunday afternoon now instead of Saturdays. I just can't wait until it's not so hot outside! The twins are sort of hard right now too, they are too big to just sit in the stroller but not big enough to just let them run around freely. We have to keep saying, no to this, stay here, don't get in her purse, leave that ball over there, stay off the field etc. You get the point? 2 year olds are a challenge in a wide open field. Let's be honest, 2 year olds are challenging in any setting. :)

My work crew

I love my job and I work with great people and they have great spouses. And I love it that we hang out together outside of the office, we always have a great time. I haven't posted much about my job but it is such a large part of my life. So this post is dedicated to my work pals, Cole and Stephanie.







































We also have great students that work in our office as well. The crowd changes about once a year but we always enjoy having students work in our office. They work hard and we really couldn't do all that we do without them.

Here they are: Andrew, Kayt, PJ, Dylan, and Blake...what a crew!

I know, I know, its been 2 weeks!

Okay, so I'm way behing on blogging. I've never waited 2 weeks to post but it has happened. So I will do my best to catch up. I saw a friend today who said, "it's been forever since you blogged." Thanks Cindy, so here's to you, pal! It was good seeing you today, by the way.

We'll start with Mamaw's biscuits. All growing up, we used to take the 3 hour trip to Burgin, KY for the weekend. One thing we all looked forward to was waking up on Saturday morning to homemade biscuits. There is an art to baking homemade biscuits and I am sure I don't have that skill...until last weekend. I know the trick now, the recipe calls for butter and I've always used margarine instead. Don't do that. I used butter this time and they turned out exactly like my Mamaw's.


The boys were so excited about helping me make them. We made a mess! Flour and dough were all over the floor, but it was loads of fun and we made a great memory. I was happy for them to help me because I can remember helping my Mamaw growing up.




Here is the finished product, we were so proud!
Look mom! Look how good they turned out, just like Mamaws.

Our weekend: football, packing, party and Lee U soccer

We had a relaxing fun weekend. It feels like September for sure because football is in full bloom from the middle school level to the NFL (fantasy makes me want to puke!). Friday night we met our sunday school class at Dairy Queen for dinner and then headed out to Walker Valley to see them beat White County. It was hot and sticky but lots of fun. I don't have any photos from that evening, I didn't take my camera. AL had her camera there but she hasn't sent me any of those yet, I'll post those when I get them.

Saturday we started the packing up process. We are trying to get a jump start on it since its coming up very soon and its virtually impossible to do anything like that during the busy work week.
We started with things we know we are not going to need for the next 3 weeks. That's easy, we picked extra sheets, beach towels, books, a few toys and pans that I never use.

Saturdays are always full of college football this time of year and Will has a new partner to watch games with. Who would think that a 2 year old would sit and watch for long periods of time, not me. But Tucker loves to do this with his dad.
It's pretty cute.




Also, the boys put these hats on Saturday too, I think so they could look like their dad. It was too cute to not take a picture.










Then it was off to Rachel's birthday party. She turned 32 Friday and Saturday she had a little get together at her house. I have several cute photos from that event.



This is cutie Harper, the only little girl in the mix of 9 children, that's 8 boys and 1 girl...poor thing.
I'm pretty sure Rachel and I will have similar posts from this event but who cares, we have show how much fun we had, right?

Then we packed our clan up and went out to support the Lee University soccer teams. We played William Carey, men first, then the women. By the time we got there I was almost ready to call it a day but we went for a little while. Free snow cones and free Lee U. soccer shirts were available to any and all children, good stuff.
I'm pretty sure Brett had 3 or maybe 4 snow cones. By the end of the night, he was best friends with the snow cone makers. Brett is Mr. Personality, he makes friends with everyone wherever he goes. He especially is good friends with tons of Lee students since he spends lots of time on campus and in the dining hall. I'm pretty sure also that he thinks he's 18 just like the rest of them. Funny kid.




The babies had snow cones too but we decided to just get plain ice without the coloring to stain their clothing. They liked it too and were soaking wet by the time the night was over. They were some busy soccer fans, that is for sure!







This is our friends the Strong's. Their baby is Jeremiah and he's such a little cutie pie. They were also out to support the soccer flames!

New Wheels and New Kicks

Blake and Brett got an early birthday present this weekend. Both of them got brand new bikes, one from Mema and Grandaddy and one from Mamaw and Papaw. Their birthdays aren't until November but we asked if they could get them early. Both grandparents agreed to it and we were off to Walmart to pick them out. Who knew they have 28 bikes per size to pick from with every kind of bell and whistle that you can think of on it. We got very simple bikes that could stand the weather and being tossed around a little. We've got 4 boys so the chances of wrecks are pretty good, on purpose and on accident. So, happy early birthday to B&B and thanks to all 4 grandparents for going along with us in getting these new rides.




Please note that Brett's clothes don't even come close to matching, he picked them out himself that day.

Also the bare feet on both children, note that too. Who can do that?


Also, Graham and Tucker just had a birthday. Well, their Mema and Grandaddy decided to buy them new tennis shoes for their birthday. Their feet grow so fast! So, here's a photo of their new kicks, they love them and they are SO easy to put on their feet. They both are wearing size 8 shoes these days.

Anniversary and The House

On the 22nd, Will and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary. We got married the August right after we graduated from Lee in May of 1998. It has been an eventful 10 years that is for sure. We have moved 5 times in those 10 years but only between Atlanta and Cleveland, let's face it we couldn't make up our mind. I feel extremely confident that we have made our mind up this time and we are here to stay.
We had a trip to Nashville planned that kind of fell through at the end but we postponed our reservations to October, so we'll go then. We did get to go out to dinner, just us, to the Chop House to celebrate. After that we just shopped around and looked in stores. It was a great evening and Will gave me a very beautiful present. My original diamond was set alone in a yellow gold setting. On our 5 year anniversary, he surprised me with the addition of two diamonds on the side of the center stone. For a few years now, I've wanted to change the color of the setting out to white gold. We have talked and talked about it and basically decided to wait until we could set aside the money.

Well this was the big surprise of the evening. We had discussed what I would like and what was realistic etc. and this is what he came up with. It is my same center stone but the setting is completely new and even the wedding band is new. I was so excited, its absolutely gorgeous and he did such a great job picking it out. Way to go honey!

Also, check the nails. If you know me well, you know I normally have very short and nubby nails. Well, I've been keeping them long and painted these days. Interesting, huh.

Also, most of you have read my earlier post about our house in GA. It's still there and still for sale. However, we are making the plunge to go ahead and purchase a house here in Cleveland. We have found a great house for a great price and plan to close end of September. I am posting a photo of the outside just so you can see. It's in a great location and has lots of space for our large family and dogs.