Game on!

We celebrated Zachary's 6th birthday on Friday night with a bowling and laser tag party. He invited 3 sweet friends and they had such a great time. We had cake and opened presents at home before heading out for games. Favors with cute bag tags by KK

Zachary didn't want baby brother to tag along so he stayed with Grandmother. (Thanks Mom!) He saw the cake before he left and I felt so sorry for him that I cut him a tiny piece out of the back. We sang and he chowed down...so he didn't miss all the action.

Singing Happy Birthday

He blew them all out with ease...I forgot to remind him to make a wish

Zachary gave Zack Tyler the biggest hug after opening his gift.

Doesn't he remind you of an old man smoking a cigar with his arms crossed?!

Love that 6 year old boys come in all sizes

Little Zack and my Zac ready for some laser tag

Preparing for battleGame facesBrandon on the move

I think it was everyone against BrandonHaving a ball

Then we were off to bowl a game

A few video games

They are so protective of Little Zack. I just love how they watch out for him and even carry him around if needed.

I love the pure joy on Zachary's face

And then more laser tag

Zachary had a great time and the little guys that joined us were such neat kids. We delivered them to their parents and came home to pass out! Wore us out!!!

Happy 6th Birthday Zachary!!

Our Pride

Zachary has been out of school ALL week with the flu. He is feeling much better so we were able to attend the Principal Pride awards assembly this morning. Zachary was surprised and thrilled to be awarded the Citizenship Award for Ms. Sammye's class.

Mrs. Walley, his principal, giving Zachary his awardMrs. Sammye, his teacher, congratulating him

So excited about his award...he really was...I realize this picture does not portray his excitement very well.Posing with the other students who received awards

By the way, the school was having a PINK contest. Zachary's teacher does not sport pink hair on a normal day!:)

We are so proud of our little student. He is a very sweet boy. During our conference recently, his teacher said that he is a helper, a good friend, and is very concerned with others' feelings. May he never grow out of those traits.

Pumpkin Patch

Brain Gym took their annual field trip to the local pumpkin patch last week. It was very muddy, but we didn't let that damper our spirits at all...in fact, most of the kids thought it was an added bonus. The kids geared up in rain boots and we enjoyed everything they offered.

Trent liked the hayride and loved looking at the Brahmas. They decorated the pumpkins that they picked out

Shopped for gourds

Listen to Ms. Sherri read a book about pumpkins

Enjoyed snowcones with friends
Ruby lost her balance near a mud puddle in the hay maze.

Thank goodness for Dads who were there to rescue!

We played tug of war.

Last year my team lost and I was in it for blood this year. Thanks to Trent who is standing behind me and is SO much help in my effort to win!

Ms. Sherri's team was defeated in 2009! I'm pretty sure it's because she was sporting a skirt...who can win tug of war while sporting a mini?!
And the favorite every year is the hay tower (or mountain as Trent calls it.) Trent loved it and talked about it after we left, but was in a little distress in the picture. Mr. John is holding him on the far right.

What a fun day!

Cancer Crusade 2009

Nancy, Amanda and I before the big day began

**Last year Amanda was battling cancer...this year she is a SURVIVOR!

A few weekends ago we held the 2nd annual Mt. Pleasant Cancer Crusade. It turned out to be a beautiful day...an answered prayer. We had 105 runners in the 5k race and a bunch of kids enjoyed the kid's fun ride. It was a ton of work and a huge success! I was proud to be a part of it. We surpassed last year's amount raised and our this year's number was $16,7000. WOW! That money will be split between St. Jude Children's Hospital and our local cancer center, the Patty & Bo Pilgrim Cancer Center.

And they're off.... Zachary loves riding in the fun ride.Trent rode his bicycle this year, tooChapel Hill Cheerleaders did the face paintingMPHS cheerleaders cheered our runners onCuddles the Clown made balloon animals...HUGE HIT!!! Lots of friends came out to support us.

Thank you to all the volunteers, donors and participants. Looking forward to next year!

DAX

A beautiful day and a happy baby called for an impromptu photo session recently. Have you ever seen anything more adorable?!

Fair Day

Today both boys went on a field trip to the fair. Thanks to some help from our KK, we were able to pull off being on both field trips for the duration of the time at the fair.

This is Zachary showing off his field trip t-shirt before school

two cuties!
My sweet little buddy

I loved seeing them all sitting there paying attention to the juggler

Ruby needed a little assistance getting up on the bench. Ally was happy to help

We laughed and got pictures, but we did help the poor child in the end.

Then Z's little group arrived.

This is Jabo--Z's best school buddy...they were trying to make funny faces, but I never got a picture of them both doing it.

Zachary liked the juggling man too.

I think tonight we'll go back and ride some rides. That's my excuse for going, but I'm really just going for the junk food! Funnel cake for dinner!:)

Friday Fun

My friend, Kayce, and I took her sweet girls and my wild Trent on a playdate to Longview last Friday. Shhh...don't tell big brother who was at school. We played at Pump It Up and then had lunch at Chick-fil-A. The kids were perfect and had a fun day out.

Trent loving the slide down!
Emerson LOVED the slide and was a pro on it
Kate was perfect. She never made a peep the whole day.
Friday night we headed to the high school football game. We try to go to as many as we can, but we couldn't miss this one because the youth football league got to run through the huge TIGER before the game. My boys think that the Tiger is the best part of the game so Zachary was thrilled to get to do this. Here he is in action:

Z has on a green shirt and black and white track pants.
(PLEASE, Santa, bring me a zoom lens)

Heading thru the cheerleaders

Little brother got to tag along too...Daddy held onto him tight so he wouldn't get trampled.

The highlight of the event was that on Sunday morning Zachary and his best buddy were on the front page of the paper running across the field. AND...that little friend had spent the night with us, so they saw it together. ECSTATIC!!! Hopefully I will get it scanned in so I can share it with you. It was an adorable picture!