(Handmade pillow made by Jacob)

Not that you care or anything, but we sure do!



31 days and counting until we are enjoying 80 degree weather and bright sunny days on our 5 day cruise :)

I think it goes without saying that Stacy has been extra nice this year! This is her EARLY Christmas present:



(stock photo, it was too late to take one of the actual Nissan Murano that we purchased)

It drives great! We drove a few different vehicles today, including 2 different Muranos. The only difference was the one we didn't get had a sunroof and this one has over 20,000 less miles! It's actually a 2005 with only 18,000 miles, the other was a 2005 with 40,000 + miles.

Not us, but my niece is! It appears that we are adding another birthday to the already busy month of July. What a wonderful early Christmas present to Wendy and Brandon!

To this day, it never surprises us when we go somewhere and Jacob is immediately ready to return home. He is definitely not one who enjoys traveling. After arriving at grandma's on Wednesday evening, we were fully expecting him to ask to come home on Friday - but to my surprise it was Stacy!

After a delicious feast prepared by Stacy (very little due to obvious reasons), her mom, her sisters and myself - Thanksgiving dinner was absolutely wonderful. I think after 8 plates, it was pretty obvious that I was pleased. We also enjoyed the view of snow covered ground when we arrived, but we weren't the least bit envy because we already experienced our first snow more than a week ago!

Hopefully tomorrow will give Stacy and Jacob both a day to rest and medicate their body before returning to school/work on Monday!

What ever happened to Brianna and Jacob giving me 2 and 3 pages of ideas for Christmas? This year it started out with 1 page, as of today, 0. That's right, 0! The ideas I have given to others are still on their list but as far as their "list", they are non-existent. I foresee myself still shopping on Christmas Eve this year - ugh.

Granted, we were both hoping we would be 1/2 way complete with all the painting, but needless to say, we are only on room 3. I have to admit, it takes a lot of time to repair and patch walls! Not to mention the lack of time in the evenings after work. So far, Brianna's bedroom and the master bathroom are complete. We are in process with the living room and it *should* be complete next weekend.

On a side note, after having two cheap made dining room sets, we finally decided it was time to invest in one that would last a long time. Not to mention our previous set had two chairs that we could no longer use. Being surrounded by towns with major manufacturing companies, we had plenty of options. After looking around at what seemed like forever, we finally found a set we were very pleased with.




The set is counter top height, has a lazy suzy in the center (granite), and has storage in the bottom of the table. We also purchased two extra chairs (not pictured) since it seems Brianna/Jacob always have a friend (s) over, or when we have company. I must say, it is extremely sturdy, as well as heavy. Let's hope that is a sign that this set will last for a very long time!

After trick-or-treating at the mall, Brianna and Jacob were both eager to get home to see if anyone would stop by to get candy at our house. Much to our surprise, we had approximately 30-40 trick-or-treaters - that's from 8-9:30pm! This was the first year Brianna and Jacob "treated" other children, and as you can see by the video below, they loved it! Brianna doesn't want to trick or treat anymore, she decided she would rather hand out candy for now on. (Hey Brianna, you're growing up a bit too fast dear!)



*sorry for the poor quality, Jacob was moving so much, we finally gave up on getting a "great" quality video*

I do know one person who has not voted yet but I don't think she/he would count for an "undecided" in North Carolina.


**Updated**

Apparently, those "undecided" people in North Carolina aren't so undecided anymore. But why are there even more states in gray now?!?!

Four years ago, Stacy made me the happiest man alive when she and I were married in a small church in Lexington, NC.

The last four years have been the happiest of my life, and I am so happy to have Stacy, Brianna and Jacob in my life. It seems like it was so long ago that we were married, yet it also feels like time goes by so fast.

Thank you Stacy for always being there for me, and I know we will always be there for each other for a very long time to come.

P.S.
I'm still waiting for that 'I will obey' part of Stacy's vows to come true.. I'm sure it will some day!

Okay, I understand that Hurricane Ike puts pressure on the oil companies with refineries being shut down temporary, or chances of being shut down (I'm still not clear of whether they were or not yet)... however, I think making anywhere from .40 - over $2.00 increases within 24 hours or less (!) fits the "price-gouging" theory.




(taken in Troy, NC on September 12, 2008)

Update:

A report from our local news at 10pm tonight stated that several gas stations did indeed run out of gas today, and spokespersons for the two oil pipelines that supply gas to the Piedmont Triad said they are operating on a reduced rate. Apparently the Colonial Pipeline runs from Houston through the Southeast U.S., into Greensboro, N.C. and up the East Coast. The Plantation Pipeline runs from Louisiana runs through Greensboro and north into Virginia.

On another note, (at no surprise really), a large portion of Texas (where the storm will actually hit (!), is staying steady with gas prices around 3.50 - 3.65

Even with extremely warm temperatures today, Stacy and I ventured out to take Brianna and Jacob to the Winston Salem Air Show. It is pretty safe to say that although we are all sunburned now, both children really enjoyed watching all of the airplanes flip and do tricks in the air. Of course, they also loved the rock climbing, power jumping and other attractions too.

After waiting for what seemed like eternity for Jacob, he finally lost his very first tooth. Knowing that everyone else his age has lost at least one tooth, Jacob was really beginning to question this entire ordeal. Much to his surprise, he lost his bottom front tooth during breakfast this morning, without a clue that he even had a loose tooth! For him, the biggest concern is whether the tooth fairy still visits "even if you don't have the tooth." Yes Jacob, the tooth fairy will still come.

Wow, I didn’t realize it had been so long since we updated this blog. I guess that goes to show that I haven’t kept up with the “online world” lately. I’ll try to update with the latest going on with our family in this one post, but be prepared for a very long post!

Brianna and Jacob returned to school last Monday. I honestly think I was the one who was most nervous. They were not only going to a new school, with new teachers and making new friends, but on this very same day – they were going to start a new daycare after school. All summer, they had attended summer camp at the YMCA. We already discovered that Jacob wasn’t adjusting well because of his inability to adjust well to large crowds. We were informed that when school started, they would actually not only be with the same group of 75+ kids, but an additional 150-200 kids! I immediately began looking for other locations for after school care. They are now attending a location that only has 35 kids – this is so much better for Jacob and Brianna is really enjoying the smaller environment as well. Needless to say, both children adjusted very well the first day and Brianna talked non stop the evening of her first day. Jacob had very little to say but at least he didn’t refuse to go back the next day!



We are in the process of a lot of projects around our new home. Hopefully we will remember to take pictures as we progress. I am sure we won’t be completely finished until spring time next year (or later!) but I think we will be pleased once everything is finally finished. By the way, if anyone knows of any tips to keep fingerprints and other marks off of walls, please share! It has only been 3 months since these walls have been painted and I am already seeing the marks – ugh! Maybe that is just my OCD of cleaning coming out of me but still…it’s driving me crazy!

We are very excited to know that our cruise is less than 150 days away now – 141 to be exact! For now, our concerns are just focused on whether these not so nice storms do any damage or not to the Bahamas. I’m sure they can do a lot of repairs and it would look a lot better by January, but I am guessing we may want to rethink where we go if any of the major storms would happen to do any massive damage there.

Speaking of storms, North Carolina is in danger of two that I know of currently. Hanna, which is supposed to arrive sometime Friday night into Saturday morning, should hit land around our coastal line. However, we are being told that with the way that this particular storm has changed so much, they aren’t taking anything for granted. For now, we should just see a lot of rain and some wind. (Really thinking positive here!) In the instance that the storm would move any closer to Raleigh or further west, we could see a lot more damage in our area. At this point, it is so hard to tell. I will say I don’t see us in any direct danger, but if the storm path would change, we could very well see damaging high winds and flood levels of rain. Ike, a very stubborn storm (ironic? lol – sorry Isaac!) seems to be a bit more powerful currently but is still so far away that there is absolutely no way in telling which direction it will go really. The professionals seem to think it could possibly follow the same path as Hanna but aren’t 100% positive just yet. The one thing that I am concerned about is that I hear the weather men compare these storms and their paths to Hurricane Hugo – really not a storm we like to compare things with!)

Am I the only one that is already thinking of Christmas shopping? I would really like to be finished by Thanksgiving this year, sooner if possible. I thought Brianna would be really hard this year but she has actually given me a two page wish list. Two pages!?!?

Typically, I stay clear of political conversations. However, I will say that as much as I have tried to stay quiet during this Election...John McCain makes that a harder job everyday!

McCain Defends Charge that Obama playing race card

I struggled hard when Sen. Clinton was an option but now that we will see Sen. Obama and John McCain on the ballots, I have absolutely no doubt where my vote will go to!

This is what we experienced today, thanks to our lovely storm (extremely heavy rain, thunder, lightning, strong winds and hail) that we received! Guess I had better get in touch with a roofer first thing tomorrow before we get more storms this week.

Having two very picky eaters who would much rather play with their food than eat it, I think this may be one way to entice them! Besides, Brianna and Jacob love any type of crafty ideas so I am sure this would be a winner!

Painted Toast

This year Isaac and I decided rather than having Brianna and Jacob's birthday joint birthday party at a desired location, we would simply invite friends and family to join us in celebrating their birthday at our home. Considering our weather can get quite warm, having a pool for the children to enjoy sounded like the perfect idea - did they ever prove that we were correct! I honestly believe the only time the children left the pool was to eat, open gifts and eat cake :)

Wow! 6 years has flown by so quickly!!! I continue to find myself reminiscing about how Jacob was once a newborn, and now, he is a very intelligent, fun to be around little guy. It has definitely been a joy to watch him grow the past 6 years, but I worry that time is going too quickly! Although Jacob may be a child who really doesn't do well in crowds or with strangers (which we have found, is basically just his personality), he has never failed to give us humor! A few of our favorites are:

During one of our trips to visit my parents, we happened to stop in Winston Salem (before we moved) for dinner before the trip. Wachovia Bank happens to be the largest building in the city. At this time, the building was lit up very nicely for Christmas. Suddenly, Jacob informs us that "hey, there is a booby building! You can get pink ones, blue ones or brown ones (the different colors on the building). At first I couldn't beleive what I just heard but he was very happy to repeat to me what he had said. I have to admit, while this may not be funny to some, we couldn't help but laugh. We have heard it called several other names!




Just last night at dinner, Isaac accompanied Jacob to the restroom at Chili's. During the walk to the restroom, Jacob asked Isaac "Isaac, can I say hi to a real woman? I won't tell her to kiss me!" It makes me wonder what the difference is between a "real woman" and just your typical female.

Thanks for the wonderful laughs son!

Happy Birthday Jacob!!! We love you!

Birthdays are a fun way to celebrate someone's life...and today was no different. Although I have seen it with my own eyes, I still struggle to believe 9 years has already gone by!

Brianna began life as a very small baby (2 lbs!) and has grown into an amazing child! She has always had a great sense of humor and a joy to be around. Now that she is getting older, I have noticed that she has not only grown a lot, but she has matured so much too. Sometimes I feel like I am talking to an adult when I have a conversation with her!


Happy Birthday Brianna, I love you!

Potentially Offensive License Plate To Be Replaced For Free

Since we moved, Brianna and I have been going to the YMCA. It is so much fun! We get to play, cook, make stuff and go swimming every day! One day each week, we go on a field trip too. I always have fun when we go somewhere. Brianna missed out this week because we got to go to a Park and we also rode a train! I have made a lot of friends at the YMCA that I will also get to see at my new school. I love going there.

Although I haven’t been involved in the “blog world” all that long, I was recently tagged to participate in a mere. I was tagged by Amber, who is not only my wonderful sister-in-law but also the amazing mother to my youngest nieces (Avery and Josie) and nephew (Cayden)! Here are 6 random facts about me:

1) I am a clutter free person. I cannot stand clutter and will readily throw anything away that I don’t feel is necessary to keep or have no use for it within a certain period of time. I love to tease my mother because I think she is the complete opposite. She will keep any and everything!

2) I love to read, however, I cannot stand for someone to read something to me word for word. It drives me crazy! I would much rather read it myself and be finished.

3) My family has decided I have an OCD – in cleaning. I am a nervous wreck if the house is not completely clean all the time. I cannot go anywhere or go to sleep until I know that everything is clean and finished before I leave. On the flip side, don’t look at my car. With all the errands and running we do, having two kids in the car constantly – my car never sees a “clean” day!

4) I am definitely not a morning person. I tend to be a huge night owl and could very well do fine if I could stay awake until around 3 am and sleep until about 9 or 10 am (however that isn’t possible with work!)

5) I am not a fan of chocolate. Never have been and really don’t see this changing. I will eat a slice of cake or something very small every once in awhile but it is very, very rare.

6) It is possible that you may never and if you do, it would be very rare, to see me try a food that I haven’t tried before. I have this thought that if I haven’t tried it before or if it doesn’t smell/look/sound good – I’m not trying it.

Considering I have just recently started blogging, I don’t know that many people who blog so I won’t tag anyone else. Thanks for the tag Amber :-)

In the past, Brianna has always chosen to take a short trip to visit with grandma and grandpa during the summer. The longest she has ever been away has been 2 weeks tops and I was a nervous wreck by the time I was able to pick her up. Now this summer she decided she wanted to not only visit the above mentioned grandparents for 2 weeks beginning this up coming weekend, she also decided that she wanted to spend this week with her dad - 3 weeks without her. I'm not quite sure how I will deal with this summer "vacation" of hers! Jacob is also already showing signs of separation anxiety too. This comes from a child who loves to be with his big sister 24 hours a day. He enjoys including her in all activities that he does and it shows very well when she isn't around. Considering she was with her dad this past weekend, today made 3 days since she has been at home for any length of time. Is it time for her to come home yet?!?!

Kitty Witty is alive and kicking!

Finally, at this point, I will safely say there are only 4 boxes that we have to finish going through- mostly the kids' games. At the other house, we had a closet area that we put them in, whereas we don't have that space here so I am still trying to figure out where to put said games right now (hence why they are still packed up). The rest are just random items that have a place to go, just belong in random rooms. I hope to get all that put up in a day or two. So far, I think Brianna and Jacob's rooms are finished, with the exception of some of their room decor stuff and their baskets to put their stuffed animals in.

I basically let them do their own rooms but I have to admit, for kids' bedrooms, they look decent. Our bedroom...well, is it just us or does it seem that if nothing has a place, it always ends up there? Currently that is where the above mentioned games and other items are (no surprise, no complaints).

Both bathrooms and laundry room are pretty much finished with the exception of something here or there...


The kitchen is almost finished, we need to rearrange where some counter stuff should be, but that is basically it, I think.




That leaves the living room, hmmm...I'm not sure I am liking how it is arranged right now. It looks in the pictures below like we have a sectional but it really is a couch close to the wall and the other is a love seat. Anyone have any ideas? They would be greatly appreciated! Maybe slide them apart some?


We didn't touch the outside this weekend, I'm sure that will come over the next few days but for now, I am very pleased overall and I am sure everyone else in the household is too!