Carowinds....Again.

Guess what?  We brought back home two cousins from Virginia when we dropped Michael off and guess where we went?  Carowinds!  Maddie and Margaux came to spend 3 days with us.  The Charlotte public school system was still in school so we had the entire park to ourselves...no lines, no waits.  It was the perfect day to go!

 

Charlotte thought she was something else playing with big girls all week. 

 

Maddie, Roy Austin, Charlotte, Margaux and Caroline with Snoopy himself!

 

Roy Austin and Margaux on the Crabby Cabby.  These two are only 6 months apart but I always feel like Margaux is about 2 years older!  She is so mature and so grown up!

 

Poor Charlotte.  Now that her older siblings are into the roller coasters, she has to wait patiently each time until we can visit the baby part of the park.  She loves these helicopters.

 

This boy finally got up the nerve to ride the Carolina Cobra, which is his new favorite ride.  He is SO over Planet Snoopy...he wants to hit the roller coasters right when his foot enters the park.

 

Margaux with "Margo" the carousel horse.

 

These two are buddies. 

Sweet Charlotte.

This is the longest time we have ever spent at Carowinds.  We arrived at 10:30 and left at 5:30.  As you can see, we were Carowinds'd out when we left.  I couldn't wait for a shower and to prop my feet up!

But when you see cousins like this, all smiling and loving on each other, everything is worth it.  I love these kids!

And Just Like That...Kindergarten is Over.

 Last night, this guy graduated from Kindergarten:

 

 

The same boy who made me want to pull out my hair when he was 18 months old.  The same boy who was always into everything, climbed everything, ATE everything and was just always on the go.  This sweet boy wants to "tell people about Jesus and help the poor" when he grows up---and fly an airplane on the side:)  He has made me one proud mommy!  I told him not to be embarrassed last night if he saw me get a big ladder and climb up it during his program to get my heart off the gym ceiling!

I loved his class this year.  Sweet kids from really sweet families.

 

 When I asked Roy Austin who he wanted to come to his graduation, he said without a hesitation, MICHAEL!!  We didn't think he'd be able to come and Roy Austin was so sad, but it turned out that he could and we kept it a surprise.  Roy Austin didn't know until he walked down the aisle and saw him!


He did a double take!  Sidenote: a few months ago I found Roy Austin crying.  When I asked him what was wrong, he said he was sad because he didn't have a brother:(  I told him that we would have Michael come visit one week for a "Brother's Week".  So, as of last night, the first "Brother's Week" has officially begun.  I listened at their bedroom door last night to their conversation in bed---so sweet:)

Roy Austin had the best teachers!  This was Mrs. Rebsamen's (on right) first year lead teaching and she did so well.  I know God hand picked her for Roy Austin.  She was so patient and so sweet to him...the picture perfect Kindergarten teacher:)

Nana came to see the graduate....

...and so did Grammy, Grandaddy and Auntie Dawnie! 

 

We went home for a special party.  It was a little chaotic at our house with it being after bedtime, lots of sugar going around, lots of kids running around,  a little boy who was dying to open his presents and a cake getting ready to be cut and then BOOM!

 

This happened.  Poor Charlotte was running to the table and fell into a kitchen chair.  On the way to Urgent Care she said, "They're going to eat all the cake without me!!!"

 

Charlotte is a big Daddy's Girl.  Needless to say, she had his full attention last night. Eight stitches later we were home and she had her big piece of cake!

 

So, Roy Austin's kindergarten graduation will be remembered in many ways.  We are so proud of him and how much he has grown this year--academically, spiritually and physically.  Bring on FIRST GRADE!!!!

Just Because...

Charlotte was thrilled that she got to visit the dentist again. 

I'm glad I documented this moment because the outfit she's wearing is her "go-to outfit".  Every time she goes to dress herself, this is the outfit.  When she walked in, the ladies oohed and ahhed about it, which made her day:

This boy read this book all by himself! He was very proud...so was Mommy!


He was also very proud of this Easter message he wrote and when he asked me to get a picture, he quickly struck a pose.  Yes, Jesus Christ is God!

Holy Cow, This is a LONG Post!

So, I'm continuing to play catch up on my blogging by posting pictures from my phone.  This is an incredibly long post that starts in early November, with a celebration of Billy Graham's 95th birthday party!  What a fun and special evening:

Me and my three sisters in law:

Roy and a few of the Graham cousins with 2 of the moms:

After the party was over, my sister in law, Kristy, and I were talking near a table and I realized it was the table that the Trumps had sat at.  This was Melania Trumps cupcake that was untouched:)  I had to get a picture with it!

Sweet Daddy Bill being sung to:


After that party, we headed to Virginia to meet our new niece, Beatrice Yeatts Seckman, also known as "Bertie":



We had our first "snow" in Charlotte in early November!  The kids loved it!  It didn't stick.

Caroline began to take on the roll of dish cleaner:


We celebrated VIP day at school with two school programs:




I joined two of my sisters, my niece and three other 15 year olds for a shopping weekend in Durham:


We celebrated Thanksgiving at the Cove:



We attended the Teddy Bear Tea at the Billy Graham Library with sweet friends:




Maddie came to visit us for a long weekend.  What fun we had!!  We started off the celebration by going to the Nutcraker:


Bless his heart.  His reaction to the show was HILARIOUS.  I promised him I would NEVER take him to see it again.



Maddie is a hit in our house.  She is very fun:)



This little girl was in heaven all weekend with such a cool girl to look up to:


We decorated and redecorated out tree:


Roy and I surprised the kids one weekend by going to Great Wolf Lodge.  We had a blast, but it was cold!


This was them on the way home after playing hard:

We visited the Billy Graham Library's Christmas display.  Here is our annual shot.  I love it!


Here is our Christmas Card that said "Happy Birthday, Jesus!".  This was an impossible picture to take.

Roy Austin led the Christian Pledge in his chapel on Thursday morning:

We made an unplanned trip to see Santa one day while running errands at the mall.  A certain boy and 3 year old were being awfully naughty.  Santa helped nip that in the bud:

I LOVE Roy Austin's face here!  Santa was asking them if they had been good for their mommy:

Charlotte was a little nervous, too:)


The best part of Christmas 2013 was that our sweet boy accepted Christ.  They way it happened was so sporadic and so great.  I will treasure the story in my heart forever.  Here is his picture he drew right after of the party taking place in Heaven that night.  There is an angel, Jesus in the house, and a birthday cake:)

We had a Christmas Eve brunch with the Capins.  What a sweet couple. 


We changed it up this year and celebrated our first Christmas in Charlotte.  It was really enjoyable and such a nice day.  Here are our three babies on Christmas morning:







Someone's little fingers took a swipe out of Jesus' birthday cake:


We drove to Wilmington after Christmas to visit Mama Jane:

Nana was also visiting so we were able to see her, too!


We returned to VA for New Year's and had fun playing Bingo with the cousins:





We played a little, too:






Roy and my brother in law, Leland, took Roy Austin and Michael to Indianapolis to see Uncle Corey and the Colts play in the playoffs.  It was a very exciting game! 

We started the Upward season with a basketball player and cheerleader...

...and a wannabe cheerleander:)


We went to Boone over the Martin Luther King weekend and got to visit with Aunt Cissie, Uncle Corey and sweet baby Margaret:




It was such a COLD winter, we experimented with placing wet tee-shirts outside over night only to find them frozen in the morning.  I love little boy bed head:

We had Spirit Week and celebrated Tacky Day:

Character Day:

Decade Day:

and Blue and Gold Day:


Roy celebrated the big 37.  We took him to Maggianos:

But first we had a celebration at his office.  Here is a sweet picture of siblings during the party.  He in no doubt playing Angry Bird Star Wars or Candy Crush:



Here are our Valentine pictures for 2014:







These two decided to go for the record of making the world's longest hopscotch course.  I love Roy Boy's pose here in his Turtle pajamas and crocs:)  I think they got to 120 something before I told them that the world record was 3 miles.

We finally got a GOOD snow in February.  We missed 3 days of school!

My three angels making angels in the middle of the street! 




By that Friday, we HAD to get out of the house!  We met sweet friends at the movies to see the Lego Movie.  These kids have been friends since birth!


We went to VA over the President's Day weekend.  It was so nice playing in the snow and sitting by the fire:





All three kids got a random throw up bug.  Here is Charlotte waiting by the "bucket".


Caroline celebrated President's Day by dressing up and doing a report on Nancy Reagan.  Just say NO!

Grammy and Grandaddy came to see Roy Austin play basketball one weekend:



And I celebrated 34 years on March 3!  Roy was in India so I took these three to Chuck E. Cheese!

Phew!