Read Across America Week

Klaus

Riley as a pirate! It almost looks like a witch's hat, but is is just the way he was standing in front of the window that made the point on his head!!!!

As part of Read Across America they boys had to dress up as their favorite book character for school. Riley dressed as a pirate from "Do Pirates take a Bath?" and Dylan dressed up as Klaus from his favorite books...A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. I just love the name of that author. It is ironic because this series was also one of Taylor's favorite books when he was in the 4th grade.

Taylor and Kevin's Birthday

Taylor and his good friend Kevin's birthday are just one week apart. They wanted to celebrate their 16th birthdays together....which worked out great since they have the same friends. We took the boys down to Hot Shots in Dothan. HotShots has dedicated 45,000 Sq. Ft. of the facility for 2 Indoor Karting tracks. With speeds over 40 MPH, and a timing system that times each racer to the 1/1000th of a second, you are in for an experience that is found no where else in the region. They use Rimo Karts for your the driving experience. These karts are found in many top tracks around the country and through out Europe. They also have The Slick Track, which is a polished miniature road course that will give anyone the excitement of racing on a slick ice. They have unlimited paintball and video game rooms that are something that has never been seen before anywhere that we know of. The Video Game Rooms utilize "State-of-Art" audio & visual equipment. The 'Game Rooms' use High-Definition Panasonic 1080i, 100ft screen- projectors. With the state of the art Dolby Digital Surround Sound System, and these projectors connected to Xbox 360's and a Nintendo Wii video game console. They ended the evening with a sleepover at Kevin's house that consisted of Rockband and Guitar Hero all evening long. It definitely was a party that was talked about for a long time.

Basketball

Winter always brings us a fun time with basketball season. Taylor decided not to play for the high school this year, but to spend his time coaching the rec center league. He started out coaching Dylan's team, and did such a good job at it that they asked him to take on another team. He ended up coaching a league in the next age bracket above Dylan's also. He really enjoyed coaching the boys and put his heart into it. The kids loved having someone Taylor's age and their coach.

Riley's team had a fantastic year. They didn't lose a single game. Riley was awesome at defense and scored several points for his team. Basketball will always be one of my favorite sports.

Happy New Year!!!!

Distinguished Gentlemen (in training)

We were blessed to spend New Years with some great friends (Tim and Kim) and my Aunt Gail, Darrien and Dakota. We went to the bowling alley for a some fun and food. It was a bittersweet evening since we knew Jeff was leaving the next morning.

Birmingham/ Dec. 2007

This was a fun pic.....I love the shadow screens.

At the mall we met Freddie Roach from the Alabama football team. The boys are huge Alabama fans and Riley just happened to be wearing his Alabama jersey. He was thrilled to get Freddie Roach to sign the back of his jersey.

Great Friends....Great Times

Me and Billie Jean...I was SO excited to see her again....I really miss having her around.
Two cool guys

They are both so cute!

Taylor, Madison and Jeff had fun building the St. Louis arch!

In December we drove up to Birmingham to spend a few days with a great friend of mine, Billie Jean and her kids. We spent the day at the McWane Science Center and has a total blast. It was so much fun the kids wanted to go back the next day.

December 2007

Pinedale's Christmas Program

Dylan had a speaking part as the Lumberjack. I'm shocked because he used to be so shy (and still can be at time) but he has turned into a very good speaker.

Winter Formal....watch out girls...here they come!

Field Trip

In October, Jeff and I chaperoned Dylan's 4th grade field trip to Ft. Toulouse, AL.

Nestled at the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers 15 miles north of Montgomery and just south of Wetumpka, Alabama, Fort Toulouse-Fort Jackson State Historic Site has been a part of over 6000 years of history. The 165-acre park, operated by the Alabama Historical Commission, is open year-round for the public's enjoyment where you can step back in time, wandering through the French and American forts or walking to the Mississippian Mound site. You may choose to visit the William Bartram Nature Trail, named for the famed 18th century botanist. The trail winds through the southern edge of the park to the Tallapoosa River. Browse the bookstore and museum in the Graves House, with archaeological collections featuring French colonial, early American and prehistoric Indian items. The Park also boasts of a 39-site campground overlooking the Coosa River. Almost every month includes a weekend of living history by the French Marines at Fort Toulouse along with a weekend of living history by the Tennessee Militia and the U.S. Army Regulars at Fort Jackson. One weekend a month is also set aside for historic black-smithing. There are special events throughout the year such as Frontier Days in the Fall and the French and Indian Encampment in the Spring.

St Louis

The famous St. Louis Arch

Jeff and Tim getting ready to ride to the top of the Arch

Metropolis, IL...home of Superman

Robin, Donnie, Jeff and Lisa

(Jeff's brother and their childhoood friends)
Tim and Robert Wadlow
Robert Wadlow's chair
Jeff and Robert WadlowRobert Pershing Wadlow (February 22, 1918 – July 15, 1940) is the tallest person in medical history for whom there is irrefutable evidence. He is often known as the "Alton Giant" because of his Alton, Illinois hometown.
Wadlow reached 8 feet 11.1 inches (2.72 m)[1] [2] in height and weighed 440 pounds (199 kg) at his death. His great size and his continued growth in adulthood was due to hypertrophy of his pituitary gland which results in an abnormally high level of human growth hormone. He showed no indication of an end to his growth even at the time of his death.

The first of December, Jeff and Tim drove up to St. Louis to visit with his family before he left for Korea. They had a great guy trip!

Beach Photos

My 3 boys!!!!!

Love 'em!!!

Can you say handsome.....WOW!

I couldn't be more proud of these three guys! They have my heart!

He definitely favors his mom What a cutie!

My little model....

This was our Christmas card photo....I was told it should be an album cover...they are such cute boys!
Mom

In November we drove down to Destin, FL for a day of shopping and to take some beach photos for our Christmas card. The weather wasn't the best for the pics, but we still got some good shots.

Update!

Wow...didn't realize it had been so long since I updated this blog.....thanks to a friend for bringing it to my attention. I am glad to know ya'll are watching it for updates. Where do I begin???
Well the year started off with Jeff leaving on New Years Day for a one year tour in Korea. Seems hard to believe that he has been gone 5 months now. Wow...how time flies. During that time our lives have been busier than ever...which is a good thing. Just to update you real quick...Feb 10th, Taylor turned 16 and is now legal on the road. I thought I would dread the moment he got his license....but it has been a good thing. I feel very comfortable with him on the road and he has been a HUGE help in getting the other two boys back and forth to practice/church etc. Plus it is great that he can get himself back and forth to football. This really has lightened my load quite a bit.
This past week ended the school year for us. I am very proud of how well my boys did this past year. They ended the years with all A's except for Taylor getting one B in Honors Biology. I totally understand that as I helped him with a few of his projects and know that I couldn't have done as well as he did. One project we had over 900 chromosones and we had to pair them up and figure out what kind of disease the person had by the missing chromosones....WHAT...we never did that kind of stuff in high school. But...Honor classes weren't offered as part of our curriculum.
Dylan ran for the school Student Government Association for next year and was elected the new school secretary. I am very proud of him....he had 4 opponents and there were approximately 500 kids voting....so it is an honor for him to get to serve the school next year. I think he is most excited that he will get to lead the entire school in the morning pledge throughout the next school year. That is just one of the jobs that he will fulfill during his term.
Riley is just finishing off his baseball season. I think he will be the only one of the boys that really gets into baseball. He played 3rd base throughout the year and had 2 homeruns this season. I'm very proud of him. He has potential being a little lefty player.
Well I think that covers some of the basics....I'm off to find some pics to put up and I will add more updates along with the pics.
Stay in touch....we love ya'll.

Hooter's Girls in Training

As part of the fun, Jeff agreed to take them down to Dothan to visit Hooters in their costumes. They got a standing ovation when they walked in and the Hooter's girls loved them. Of course, these two jokers ate it up! They loved the attention.

Halloween

Riley and Michael

This is Taylor and Aaron's girlfriends.....they dressed up like boys and

the boys dressed up like girls.

Taylor, Jarrod and Aaron as their favorite Hooter's girls.

This was the only picture I caught of Dylan. He took off with about 10 boys from the neighborhood and we didn't see him again till it was all over.