Here are the stories of our busy life. We hope that you see God's Hand at work in our various adventures! Running/Flooring Vice President Al, Teacher/Photographer Lisa, Swimmer/Writer Addie, Master Mischief Maker/Swimmer Alden, Jewelry/Hello Kitty Lover Annalise, and Water-Obessed/Car Expert Asher.


Saturday, September 26, 2009

LOTS of Posts

Life has been well, busy around here! School has started back up for me- so I'm up to my eyeballs with essays to conference. I'm the Co-Director of my local MOPS group. I have 2 kids, 1 dog and 1 husband- so my house is in constant need of attention. And on top of all that, we travel and do all kinds of cool things!!

Finally, tonight, my essays are all graded, and I have had time to put a ton of posts here. Please keep reading until you find one that is familiar! God is good- and we are so blessed to have so many wonderful things to share with you, our family and friends that follow this! Thanks for your patience- and yes, this will probably be a trend- a long lag in posts, and then a whole bunch. Such is the life of a stay-at-home-part-time-writing-teacher!

A Fun and Safe Day

Saturday was a day full of adventures!! We first visited the local hospital's fundraiser- Fun Fest. We drive past this horse farm every time we go to Rehoboth, and now I'm afraid Addie and Alden will think all this fun stuff is going on!

We started out the day with a pony ride! Addie was SO excited! She rode all by herself. Alden only wanted to look from a distance. How's that for a change? Miss Meek is now brave and Mr. Rough needs some distance?


Next, the "Train"- they both loves this as it toured the entire farm!



Next we checked out the barn and visited some horses in their stalls. Once again, Addie would walk right up to a horse and pet it, but Alden wanted nothing to do with them- notice how far away the stroller is!


A rare picture to prove I was there with them! Here we are on the Hay Ride!


And the last event was a horse "show" various horses were ridden around the ring, and an announcer read about them- the riders were all dressed up as various characters- Pony Express Rider, Polo Player, Joan of Arc, Jockey, etc. The kids LOVED it!


Once that was done, we headed to our local Lowe's for Safety Day!
Daddy was working the Kids Build- which was a part of SD- but he got to take a little break and take a ride on the big fire engine with us! The kids favorite part- when the sirens were turned on and the horn honked!


What a special day!

Big Firsts

We have had some pretty big "firsts" around here this week!

Addie, inspired by the videos of her good friends Lexi and Lainey riding their bikes without training wheels, decided to finally, ride her bike!
Alden, not to be out-done, LOVES riding his his tricycle


Alden has also totally given up his crib. He insists on sleeping in the Big Boy Bed- so we had to swap out the big bed in his room with the futon in Addie's.
Here he is, all ready for bed! So far he's taken 3 naps, successfully, in there- not getting up until I come and get him for 2 mornings! I guess we will be taking the crib apart and selling it this week....


Here is Addie in the bed my Dad made for me- so sweet!
Our dear, sweet kids are growing-up so fast- sigh.....

Richmond Fun

After arriving in Richmond Sunday afternoon, we headed to a favorite, Huegenot Park! The kids loved swinging and sliding, we enjoyed spending time with our dear neighbors, Scott and Kelleigh!

Addie getting Scott and Kelleigh to swing her!


Swinging again- her favorite passtime!



Alden showing off his slide-climbing skills....

Playing the "Music Game"- dance until Scott stops playing- and then drop to the ground!
Scott holding DeeDee still so Addie could pet her- so sweet!
Loving on Addie and Alden- we miss you guys!!


The next day, we met up with some other friends at Wishing Well Park!
Elsie and Jocelyn- I spent many, many days praying for these 2!


Aidan and Addie hit it right off and had fun playing together


Nothing like a good, ol' classic, merry-go-round!


Amy and her crew showed up, too, to play!
Addie, Renna and Daniel enjoy the tire swing! Baby Germain #4 should arrive soon!


At Hannah's house- these 2 did "school" together!
Addie LOVED the salad Miss Karen made
So did Alden!

All good Richmond trips include a stop at Ukrops- we stocked up on muffins!
Thanks Karen and Baby Hannah for hosting us, feeding us, and spending so much time with us! We had a great time!

Harvest Party 2009

This year marked the 11th Annual Harvest Party- yay! After much debate, Greensboro was the chosen local and plans were made by 7 families to descend upon the Woody household! The original group of 7 guys has now grown to 13 adults and 14 kids- whew! Sadly, due to illnesses, 2 families needed to bow-out, and 1 family had a church commitment, leaving us with 7 adults and 5 kids. Even though our numbers were drastically lower, we still had a fantastic time!

Friday morning, the kids and I jumped in the car and drove to Richmond. After playing for a bit, we packed into the Wasch's SUV and drove to Greensboro. Once there, Addie and Kyla hit it right off and played like they had know each other forever! Alden, Hannah and Kloe had fun playing near each other! That night, Al and Mikey arrived- and Dave even came up for the Guys Night Out. It sure is wonderful that this group of guys are still friends even though they are all in dramatically different places in life and parts of the East Coast!

Saturday morning Woody made a breakfast that put Shoney's to shame-yum! Then, since the weather wasn't exactly nice, we played in Woody's gym- the kids LOVED it, as did the Dad's who all played PIG and enjoyed the fact that they could all dunk! Lunch was an "authentic" BBQ place, and then thankfully, nap time!

Saturday, the ladies were given a Girls Night Out and Kelly showed us some neat shops and then an amazing cheesecake shop! It was nice to know that our kids were all safe and happy with their Daddy's and we could have adult conversation without having to cut-up someone's food, wipe someones face, or tell someone to share!

Sunday morning we hit-up McDonalds, crammed in a few more good conversations, and the the kids burn off some energy playing on the playground. We made it to Richmond in record time were we would spend the rest of the weekend. But that is a different post!

Princesses watching Dora before bed.


Mikey was a hit with the kids- here he is sitting on the floor putting together princess puzzles for the Big Girls!


Our cute little crew!


The guys playing PIG


Principal Woody explaining a fun running game


Our Group Photo


Karen playing her first ever, game of Wii- she rocks in bowling and baseball!


Kyla is 1 amazing driver and drove Addie and Hannah all over the cul-de-sac!


Alden choose to drive this "truck" and keep an eye on all the girls?


The men playing Corn Hole with the kids watching on!


Kelly playing with the kids before the outside dinner!


Everyone ready for bed!


Girls Night Out- we all got a different cheesecake and split them- yum!


Breakfast at McDonalds!


All tired out!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

First Day of Preschool

Today was Addie's first day of preschool at Mother Goose. She has been SO excited- asking about when she could go.

All dressed up in the apple dress she picked out


Ready to go!



Going in with Grayson!


And she's off- notice how independent she is!


Here come Grayson!


And there are no more pictures- she marched in, not looking back at all! She had a blast- she played with dolls and adores her new teacher, Miss Alison.

Labor Day Fun

This holiday was lots of fun! Orginally, Al was supposed to go to West Virginia, but that plan had to be postponed at the last minuet.

Sunday was lazy- church and then spending the day with friends- the kids napped and I was able to scrapbook- yay!

Monday, we went to Lewes Beach with our friends, the Hunts. It was cool, breezy, and overcast- which was a perfect day to build sandcastles! We did encounter something we never have before- aggressive seagulls! They snatched Aldens pb&j when he sat it on his chair, and this actually embolden them. As they swooped close to me as I was eating my lunch, Al was actually able to hit it- yikes!! Once the food was away, we had fun!

It isn't super clear- but a seagull is about 5' from Addie's head- and it swooped to inches above her head right after I snapped this- she is holding a sippy cup!


The group of kiddos having fun together!


Elijah and Sophia- the same size for once!!

After naps, we met at James and April's for a BBQ- what fun! We actually had a cook out with them on Memorial Day- so it is only fitting to end the summer with the friends we started it with!
There are 4 Dads, 4 Moms and 9 kids- all under 4 years old!


The kids playing in the backyard- there are 5 kids in the car and Sophia is keeping an eye on them!
Anna and Addie are such sweet friends!
Alden is patiently waiting for his favorite part- the FOOD!
The food was yummy- but I was so busy helping with the chaos, there are no more pictures!