It's going to be a long season...

We made our first trip to Fayetteville this weekend. Since we have an extra day off from work and school, I thought this would be a good time to take the kids with us. Mom made the trip with us and after a few hours of tailgating, she took all the kids back to the condo and watched them during the game. (Thanks again, Mom!) We came home around 11pm to find all 5 of them asleep on the sofa bed downstairs.

Evan hasn't been away from his mom or grandma very much, but he did well staying with Fisch. Will asked Jennifer before we got there if we called her "Fish" because she liked to swim. (Funny since she hates getting wet!) The kids actually did really well all weekend.

The Hogs, however, got off to a rough start. Even though we won the game, it wasn't pretty. Looks like we're in for a long season.

The two year olds - Evan and Ashley

The five year olds - Nathan and Will

Jeff bravely took all four kids for a walk around campus before game time. He even took pictures!

(I know I'm her mother so I'm somewhat biased, but how cute is this kid?)

Jeremiah's class room

We went last week to orientation and I took some pictures of Jeremiah's classroom so you guys could see what it looks like.

First day of Kindergarten

Well he did it.  He was really excited.  No tears except from Dad! He is so big and I'm so proud of him.  It's really quiet at my house today and I'm loving it.  

Ohiopyle

We took an overnight trip to Ohiopyle National Forest to have one last get away before Jeremiah started school. Ohiopyle is in PA. Only about and hour and a half from our house, but it's called "Ohiopyle" which means "white frothy water" a reference to the large falls on the Youghiogheny River. It was beautiful and good to spend some time in nature. We stayed in a lodge and the kids had a great time.

Knock, Knock. Who's There? Orange.

Nathan and Ashley wanted macaroni 'n' cheese and cantaloupe for dinner, so we went with an all orange theme. I even let Nathan make orange ranch dressing for his carrots. He will eat/drink anything that I let him put food coloring in. (Not that dressing is really something I have to force him to eat.) I don't usually fix them their own meal, but we made an exception. It sounded kind of gross to me.

And what else would you drink with an orange meal...orange juice. I can't explain the bandanna.

Ashley wasn't so sure about the orange dressing.

Fundraising Already?

At the end of Nathan's first week of school, they sent home the first of many fundraising "opportunities". I hate selling anything, so I have put Jeff in charge of all fundraising events for the Adams' household that require sales. I told him that I would be in charge of any baking or crafting requirements. It sounds fair to me. Anyway, if you are dying to order any wrapping paper or overpriced confections, please log on to https://www.sallyfoster.com and enter Nathan's name and the school code of 220513 at the checkout.

Olympic Overload

Wow! I am glad the Olympics are over! We have been staying up entirely too late. Even though I recorded most of it, all the good events were at 11pm, so we stayed up to watch those live. It was time for it to be over, though. On Saturday, NBC broadcasted live coverage of the entire men's marathon. An entire marathon...they were really searching for something to put on the air.

I guess we will take a bit of a break from television. The conventions will cover the airwaves for the next couple of weeks. I would rather watch the marathon!

A busy week for the Stacy's

We have had a very hectic week here in SW florida



Monday- Brandon's first day of school ( he was very excited and had a good day)


Tuesday- Our first hurricane warning that turned out to be Tropical storm Fay (waaaay to much publicity for just wind and rain) No school due to the storm.


Wednesday- Back at school ( the day off had thrown everyone off so it was a stressful day)


Thursday- Mikayla and I visited Creative world preschool to meet her teacher and they asked me to stay for an interview ( God knows that I am very lazy and he has to pretty much drop a job in my lap to get me to go to work) I should here something from them in a week or so.


Friday- Mikayla's first day of preschool (she cried at home but not when I dropped her off) It is only three hours a day but she thinks it is the worst idea I every had to send her somewhere with out Brandon.


Saturday- We all had a much needed day off and we went swimming in the rain (Fay is still pouring water on us)


Sunday- We had our first "weekly" bible study! We had 6 people, please pray for John and Rachel they live in our neighborhood and are desperately seeking something but I don't think they have any idea that God is what is missing in their lives.

So long, Virgie Mullinax

I'm sure that most people who read the title of this post are going, "Huh?" But, Renee and Jeff will understand completely. Renee and I both received these giant skillets as wedding gifts. (Amanda did not get one. No big skillet as an adult; no Barbie Dream House as a child. She's so mistreated.) Anyway, they came from this old lady at Ten Mile named Virgie Mullinax, so I have always called it "The Virgie Mullinax". Weird, I know. I don't usually name my cookware, but I have used that skillet at least a 3 or 4 times a week for the last 10 years, and it finally wore out. I was just cooking dinner tonight in my other, smaller one and lamenting my loss. So, whoever has my name for Christmas, there's an idea for you!

We made it!

Two days down; two thousand more to go! I figured that if each year is divided into four 9-weeks, times 13 years, that's well over 2000 days of dropping-off and picking-up! I think that is the most overwhelming part of all of this--it's every school day for the next 13 years. And in addition to that, Nathan's school starts very early. The tardy bell rings at 7:40!!! So far we've been on time, but it has required a serious adjustment to our morning routine.

Nathan had a great first day. His teacher was really nice, and he got to be the class leader. (Having the last name "Adams" comes in handy!) His favorite part of the day was lunch time. He took his lunch the first day and wanted to eat in the cafeteria today.

I handled the big day pretty well myself. I teared up a couple of times at school, but I pulled it together. Then I went to Wal-Mart, and while I'm standing in the check-out line these two women in front of me were talking about dropping off their Kindergartners at school. I almost lost it right there in Wal-Mart!!! Luckily, I got it together before any waterworks started.

Overall, the day was a success. Ashley, however, started crying when we were leaving Nathan at school. She wanted to go with him, but she got over it pretty quickly. I talked to both Amanda and Jennifer, and they reported that Brandon and Will both had good first days as well. Jeremiah doesn't start school until next week.

Nathan's First Day of Kindergarten

Picture with Little Sis

Nathan with his teacher (Mrs. Cooper)

Ready or not, here it comes!

Tomorrow's the big day...the first day of Kindergarten. Nathan is very excited. We went to Open House tonight to meet his teacher and drop off all our school supplies. His list of supplies was very specific. For example, "1 box Classic Crayola washable markers – not thin" and "Fiskars brand scissors – child size". Then there was the mandatory "2 boxes Facial Tissues" (which should have included an optional box for mom). I'm really struggling with the idea of Nathan starting Kindergarten. He's been going to preschool 3 or 4 days a week since he was three years old, but this really is hard. Maybe it's the structure or the permanence of it. I don't know.


Today Jeff helped the freshmen move into the dorms at UCA. He told me about how some of the parents were reacting to sending their babies off to college. At least we've got a while before we have to deal with that!

We had lunch today with the Krebs and Stanisors. Morgan and Jenna will be starting Kindergarten this week as well. Good luck to all my fellow mom's out there who are going through this as well! I'll let you know how it goes for us.

Class of 2021 - Jenna S., Nathan, and Morgan

Stunt Double

I know this isn't a very good picture, but I tried to take it while this girl wasn't looking. She was our tour guide (pardon me, "naturalist") on the whale watching trip. Doesn't she look like Amanda?

Bye Bye, Papi

I set today as the "quit date" for Ashley to get off her pacifier. She will start her new class at school on Monday, so I thought it would be a good time to get rid of it. Jeff was home with them today and again tomorrow, so he is bearing the brunt of her displeasure. It has not been an easy day, and I'm sure that tonight will be even worse! Wish us luck!

Whale of a time...

Hands down, our favorite part of the trip was going whale watching. We took a 3 ½ hour tour on a big speed boat. We saw seals, sea lions, a bald eagle, and several killer whales. Two grown killers whales (25 ft. long) and a baby swam right under our boat! It was crazy! Even the tour guides were blown away by that. It was hard to take pictures of them because you never knew where they would surface.

No, we didn't dress alike on purpose. It was really cold out in the boat, so the guides provide you with these jackets prior to launch.
One of our first whale sitings
A picture of one of the adults with her baby coming right at us! They are not aggressive. If fact, the politically correct name for them is "orca", not "killer whale". I guess that's a misnomer.

O Canada

We then headed across the border to British Columbia. We drove to Vancouver and then took a ferry to Victoria. It is beautiful there! We had perfect weather for the entire trip to the Pacific Northwest and had to wear jackets/sweaters most of the time. It was a nice break from summer in Arkansas.

Victoria's most famous hotel - the Empress - where we stayed while in B.C.
B.C.' s Parliament Building

Mount Rainier

After a couple of days in Seattle, we rented a car and drove to the mountains. The top picture is of Mt. Rainier. It's the highest point in Washington. It is snow capped year round and is actually a volcano (inactive, I hope!)

Seattle Pics

As promised, here are some pictures from our trip to Seattle and B.C. I took lots of pictures, so it was hard to narrow it down. Here are some of the highlights:

View from our room in the Pan Pacific
View from the top of the Space Needle
Self-portrait on the Observation Deck

The famous Pike Place Market

Sleeping in Seattle

It's about 8am local time in Seattle, but I'm wide awake since my body is still on central time. Jeff, however, has had no trouble adjusting to the time change and is still asleep. We have had a good time so far. We did some tourist things yesterday...Space Needle, Pike Place Market, etc. Today we are planning to drive to Mt. Rainer if the weather holds. So far, it's been very clear here in the city known for rain. (They even provide you with an umbrella in the hotel closet!) The temperature is perfect - in the mid 70s for the high. I'll post some pictures when I get a chance.

080808

I have to make a confession...we are Olympic junkies. I DVRed the Opening Ceremonies, and we're going to finish watching it after Jeff puts the kids to bed. If you want to know the truth, I set the DVR to record all of the Olympic events to be broadcasted on NBC. Now, I'm sure that we won't watch all of it, but since we're not going to be home, and I didn't want to miss any highlights. It's lame, but true.

Jeff has finished posting his grades for the summer term, so we are leaving tomorrow for our belated anniversary trip. I'll post some pictures when I get a chance!

No need for napkins!

What do you do at your house when you run out of napkins? Maybe you use paper towels, maybe even drag out a wash cloth. A "local inventer" has come up with a new and improved option!

All day today Brandon and Mikayla have been playing dress-up which always involves lots of winter hats and gloves. So when I called them for supper (we still say "supper" down here) I did not really notice when they both came to the table wearing gloves.

Josh (ever the observant parent) asked why they had on gloves and Brandon informed us that he was going to eat his taco with them on so that he would not get grease on his hands. If you are not the parent of a five year old you may think that this was because he did not want to get dirty. If you are the parent of a five year old you will understand that the real reason was "So when I'm done, I can just put these in the hamper and not have to wash my hands". And as always around here Mikayla will try any crazy idea that he can come up with. Josh and I just could not argue with that kind of logic. We did insist that they let us fix the tacos for them so that the gloves would not be dragging around in the bowl of shredded cheese.

Yes Brandon is wearing Mikayla's Tankini- cross dressing is suprisingly routine at our house.

New 'Do

I'm getting my haircut tomorrow, and I can't decide what to do with it. Renee told me about a virtual makeover on MaryKay.com. So while my kids were sleeping this afternoon, I tried it out. It wasn't very useful, but it was funny!


Flashback to 1995

Redhead?

Bangs?

10 Years and Counting...

Jeff and I celebrated our 10th Wedding anniversary yesterday. I scanned a lot of our old pictures and made him a photo book of "The First 10 Years". Here's a short trip down memory lane...

The Big Day - August 1, 1998

Our honeymoon cruise

February 1999 - Sunday School party at our apartment

May 1999 - You would think someone getting his Master's degree wouldn't let his wife highlight his hair. Good thing there was a cap with that gown!

My pharmacy school graduation - every time I see pictures from Spring of 2000, I say, "I can't believe how short my hair was!"

Alabama 2003

P.S. I Love You

The best movie I have seen in a really long time, if not ever.

The plot is: A young widow discovers that her late husband has left her 10 messages intended to help ease her pain and start a new life. You have to rent it, but don't forget to pick up a box of tissue. It's one of those movies that makes you realize what's really important in life. Here a hyperlink if you want to check it out. (I'm so proud of my self for installing a hyperlink, my husband won't believe it)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0431308/

Renee Day

There is a new holiday celebrated the first Friday of every month called "Renee Day." Maybe it's not on your calendar, but is certainly is on mine. Aaron volunteered to watch the kids so I can have some much needed time to myself on his day off once a month. If you are reading this and you are a mom I encourage you to take a day for yourself at least once a month. I'm sorry if your name doesn't rhyme with "day" because it just sounds so catchy. "Renee Day" Rach-good luck coming up with a clever phrase that rhymes with your name. I enjoyed my day off yesterday then Andrew and Allie kept the boys last night. Some much needed time of rest. (sorry no cute pictures to attach)

Happy Birthday Lily

Okay I know this picture is almost a month after her birthday, but give me a break it's the third child. She should be lucky to have any pictures taken at all right?

Station Square

No, it's not raining. It's a water show set to music in downtown Pittsburgh's Station Square. We went a few weeks ago for lunch at Hard Rock Cafe then hung out downtown for a couple of hours. The boys had a great time. (we don't know who the random little girl is, but she had fun too)

Super Heroes

Nathan-

I few weeks ago you put a picture of your superhero from Build-A-Bear and the boys wanted me to take one of theirs to show you. Sorry it took me so long to get it on the blog. Nini bought the monkey and bear from Build-A-Bear for the boys and they picked out the batman costumes.

Off we go

Andrew and Allie recently bought a new house and the boys have been DYING to spend the night. So they went last night. They are still not back this morning and so I have a little free time to blog. The house is so quiet without them around.

Homemade Headbands

I was recently given a bag of hand me downs for Lily. The boys found these homemade headbands and had the best time playing with them. Disclaimer: we did not keep them for Lily to wear, they were for entertainment purposes only.