10 years

I know it has been awhile and I promise to catch up sometime, but I couldn't let tomorrow go by without a little reflection.

Steve and I will be celebrating 10 years of marriage tomorrow, July 10th. It is really hard to believe that time can go by so quickly.

10 years ago tonight, I was just coming off a great time at our rehearsal dinner and spending my last night as a "Gregg."

I remember waking up pretty early the next day and just being so excited. I don't think I ever got nervous. I just couldn't wait to see him, to be his wife, to go on vacation with him.

We had a wonderful wedding full of great memories...those of which I will probably watch tomorrow. Our family and friends surrounded us and made it a perfect day.

We didn't have much money in the early days and it was okay. We ate a lot of "jalapeno poppers," hamburger helper, and Lean Cuisine Frozen Meal kits. We played Playstation and even went to bed at the same time.

We went through one of the hardest things we have ever had to deal, but we had each other.

We loved our little apartment and we loved our first house. And we loved our little Ethan.

We made a very difficult decision to move away from what we knew as home. We have now lived in TN for as long as we lived in NC together.

The first years in TN were hard, yet brought us closer...because all we had were each other.

Then we were so blessed with our Sammy Girl.

You know, change is not a fun thing for me, but when I look back at all the changes we have had to make...they were worth it...because I had/have the love of my life right next to me.

Sometimes I say I want to go back to that time...to feel the way I felt...to look the way I looked...to have the simple life again. But, I am just not sure I would...because life with Steve is now richer...fuller...sweeter.

Happy Anniversary Sweetheart! I love you to a million pieces!

Kim

Happy Mother's Day!

The card I sent my Mom on Mother's Day

Make a Smilebox greeting

Ethan's Zoo Book

Ethan has been into making "books" lately. He uses A LOT of our printer paper and I feel like the paper Nazi. Tonight he read us his "Zoo Book." The premise of the book is to tell the reader what the different animals like to eat. I will state the animal that he drew, then his words and then the translation...think phonics...He is really applying a lot of what I am teaching him.

Page 1: Bunny
WODR AND CARRT'S (water and carrots)

Page 2: Crocodile
WODR AND LEG'S (water and legs)

Page 3: Person
WODR AND BSGDE (water and "bsgetti" or spaghetti)

Page 4: Butterfly
FOLIING FROOT THEET FOLLIIN (falling fruit that falling)

Page 5: Rat
RATS LIK TO ETE GRBIJ (rats like to eat garbage)

Page 6: Mouse
MAWSIS LIK TO ETE CHE'S (mouses like to eat cheese)


The way he spells "eat" as "ete" he is using the rule that if the vowel has a silent "e" on the end it is most likely the long sound. I love that he is applying what I am teaching him. You just never know how much they retain. Our language is so complicated and I wonder how I am going to explain to him all the exceptions to the rules, but I am pretty sure he will get it! He is one smart kid.

I hope this made you smile!

Bragging

I have to brag on Ethan a little....

He is doing great with school. He gets a little frustrated with reading, but is actually reading well. He made a 98 on a "test" I gave him this week...which means he only missed one and he really didn't even miss it. He thought the picture he was looking at was "toothpaste" instead of "tube." So he picked the long a sound instead of the long u sound.

He also loves math! Which I am VERY excited about! He can do things in his head that he shouldn't be able to do.

The other night at dinner, he says, "When I am 30, Sam will be....28." I was stunned and asked him how he did it...and he just said, "in my head."

Homeschooling is hard at times. But it has been so worth it this year.

Sam's big mouth

As we were walking out of Mom's Day Out today, we passed a Dad in the hall. Just as we got past him, Sam says, "Whoa, he has a cool arm....he has a lot of stamps on his arm!"

You guessed it, the man had an arm full of tatoos.

I couldn't help but laugh.

Consignment Sales

I used to LOVE to go to consignments sales. When we were in NC there was a Mothers of Multiples Sale and we would go early and wait in line to get the good deals.

Here, it is a different story for me. I have friends who are all into it. They work shifts just to get in to the sales early.

Me...not so much.

You see, I think they over price stuff in this area. Maybe that is because I am not willing to jump through the hoops to get in early, so all the good deals are gone. I have friends who can walk away with a ton of stuff for little money spent.

Now having said that, I do find some good deals sometimes. And today was one of those times. I went to the first day of the public sale for Kids Klozet here in my area and I did okay for Sam. Not really anything for Ethan, except a bag of 21 transformers for $5. He is loving his Mommy today!

Here are some of my finds...I can't remember the exact prices, but I didn't pay more that $5 for anything. I am way to cheap!

I got 6 shirts, 4 skirts, 4 pair of shorts, and 1 dress for $50.00

A lot of the clothes are Gap, Gymboree, and Children's Place.

All are in really good condition except for a shirt that I paid $1 for including shorts.

No more braces!

Not the best picture...but I had to take it myself!