We had a wonderful Christmas holiday this year! After much travel out of town, it was nice to be together for a couple of weeks . . . the boys had fun doing a gingerbread house, having friends sleep over, watching movies and playing games.
Santa delivered and Mother Nature did too! We woke up to a sunny, white Christmas that made it so much fun. Page, Declan and Jett tore through their presents so they could get outside to sled. Ellie enjoyed it too!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Jett's 3rd Birthday Party -- Arrrfff!
We had a great day yesterday celebrating Jett's third birthday (which is officially September 28). We welcomed Freida and Gilbert along with Courtway and Whitehead families. He had a blast running around knowing everyone was there to celebrate him! We had salad and pizza along with cake and ice cream. The big moment of the evening was when we surprised him with a brand new Shih-poo puppy named Ellie. She's just precious and he dragged her around for the rest of the evening. Enjoy some pictures we've shared. What a big birthday for a big boy!!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
First Day of School 2009
We had a great first day of school yesterday! Here are some photos to share. Declan came home saying the school was too big. Page liked the fact that his teacher plays music in her classroom throughout the day. Good day for all was had!!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
More photos to share
More photos from our Ocean City vacation. These were taken by Mom and are wonderful!!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Beach Vacation 2009
Our beach vacation this year was a trip of a lifetime for many reasons. We had the privilege (and pleasure) of meeting everyone in Ocean City for one full week. Uncle Buddy and Laura generously let us use the penthouse located at 23rd street on the Boardwalk. The "everyone" I referenced above included: Mom, Dad, John, Kari, Jack and Grayson. Uncle Wes and Miss Celina also joined us for four days.
What made this extra special is that we had a lot of interaction with Warren family -- Aunt Kay, Aunt Ginna, Matt and his wife Jessica, Michael and Candance, and Uncle Harry and Aunt Virginia. We even had a chance to visit with Uncle Buddy and Laura.
Because of the Warren family, our children experienced a vacation of a lifetime! Only Disney World could trump this. Here's a quick play-by-play of what we did each day:
Friday (arrival): The Woolsey family departed XNA at 7 a.m. (very early), but the natives were excited so the time was irrelevent. We flew through Atlanta and arrived to a rainy Baltimore. Mom and Dad had already arrived and rented the car. They came to grab us. Dad drove us to Ocean City while Mom stayed at BWI to pick up Wes and Celina. Strange, I know, but Wes isn't 25 years old yet which means he can't rent a car -- ugh!! On the way to the beach, we stopped for dinner at Burger King. To say the very least, the experience at the BK caused much laughter and discussion over the trip. If it could go wrong, it did. The highlight of the drive was watching hundreds of deer in the fields. Wow! It was special. When we arrived in Ocean City, Aunt Kay greeted us and John and Kari had everything unpacked. They brought the food and nearly half their house, so unpacking was quite a feat. John, Wayne, and I stayed up late awaiting the arrival of Mom, Celina and Wes. I am so happy we did. The excitement of our long awaited family vacation still had us hovering above the ground.
Saturday: Dad and I decided that everyday of the vacation would be Saturday. We weren't allowed to move off it. The day was spent on the beach -- the entire day! Mom even brought down a picnic so we could eat lunch on the beach under our umbrellas. That evening, we went to a fun family restaurant called Fish Tails. It felt like we were with Jimmy Buffett in the Keys. Ginna, Aunt Virginia, Matt, Jessica, Michael, Candance, Aunt Kay and Dave met us there. The kids enjoyed playing on a wooden ship in the sand and watching the boats at the dock. The evening ended with all the boys (big and small) playing frisbee on the sand in front of our hotel. They had a blast!
Sunday: This day, too, was another glorious and sunny day spent on the beach. We were beginning to wonder what happened with the rainy weather that had been forecasted. We knew we were lucky!! After another lunch on the beach and lots of sun, we dressed and headed to "the farm." This is property that belonged to Daddy Warren. I was so excited that Wayne and the boys were going to get to see it. Mom, Dad, John and I spent a Christmas with Daddy Warren and Gaye at the farm when I was about 11 or 12 years old. The house on the farm is beautiful, but the property is breathtaking. The boys were able to go crabbing and then Aunt Ginna tied the evening with a bow when she lit a bonfire for the boys to make s'mores. The boys had so much fun.
Monday: Whew! Monday arrived too soon and this was the last day for Celina and Wes to be with us. The big and small boys went to the Jolly Roger waterpark. On this day, Grayson also started feeling funky. We could tell by his runny nose. The boys came home from the Jolly Roger early because everyone had to get showered and dressed for our family pictures on the beach by photographer, Rob Korb. The boys were in white tops and khaki bottoms. The girls were in all white. We decided that we looked like we were going to P-diddy's White Party! We were quite a sight leaving the hotel and moving onto the beach at 5:30 p.m. We took lots of photos. Of course, Jett didn't want to take photos and Uncle Wes bribed Jett with quarters throughout the course of the shoot. Eventually, Jett ran into the water and I had to grab him. My pants were wet and filled with sand. Jett just laughed and laughed. As a sidenote, my wonderful girlfriends Kamron and Marla let me borrow handfuls of necklaces to bring with me because I didn't know what I was going to wear. In the end, I wore one and so did Mom and Aunt Kay . . . thank you Kam and Marla!! We went back to the penthouse after photos and shared lasagna with Ginna and Aunt Virginia.
Tuesday: We were sad to see Uncle Wes and Celina leave. The nephews loved having both of them to play with . . . on this day, we layed pretty low. Again, the generosity of the Warrens overwhelmed us all. Uncle Harry had brought his boat to Ocean City, and we were invited for cocktails on the boat with extended family. We proceeded to dinner at the Captain's Galley afterwards. It was here that I had the most delicious crabcake I've eaten in my lifetime. Matt's wife waited on us. We knew Grayson really felt bad at this point and Kari left to go back to the penthouse to load him with meds and put him to sleep. After dinner, of course, the fun didn't end because we headed to the Boardwalk for games and rides -- and saltwater taffy! Uncle John won a leopard for Jack. Jett and Declan played skeeball. We all (minus Wayne and Jett) went on the ferris wheel, but no one was up to anything crazy like the roller coasters -- except Jett who went on a wild ride with Wayne. I still can't believe he wanted to go on it. He doesn't like heights but going fast is his thing. I guess he will grow into his name, for sure!
Wednesday: Dad generously arranged for the boys to take a surf fishing lesson in Delaware for a couple of hours. Everyone caught something and had a good time. During our vacation, Dad woke up at the "crack of dawn" each day and went to the surf to fish. In fact, on a few occasions the boys went down to visit with Daddy Frank while he attempted to "slay" the water creatures. The fishing lessons were a neat way for Dad to share his love of fishing. During the afternoon, Wayne and John went with Michael to fish about 6-8 miles (I think!) from the shore. The captain was a good friend of Michael's, so I assume the boys got the "behind the scenes" treatment. That night we had a taco feast.
Thursday: Grayson was feeling better -- thank goodness, but of course, on our last day, the rain arrived! The girls met for lunch at Seacrets. Wayne, Aunt Kay and I have fond memories of this joint because 17 years ago we walked to it for a fun evening. Those coming to lunch were Aunt Virginia, Aunt Kay, Mom, Kari, me and Aunt Kay's dear neighbor Brenda. We all got to know Brenda when Aunt Kay had her aneurysm. It was great to see her. Saying goodbye to Aunt Virginia was not easy. It had been such a pleasure to spend so much time with her. After lunch, we went and grabbed the boys (big and small, Dad included) and headed to the Jolly Roger amusement park. After the park, we ordered in pizza and were joined by Ginna and her boys. Matt went to Thrashers to bring us back some French fries . . . to die for!!! Again, we headed to the Boardwalk for one last "hoorah"! Page went on his first real roller coaster and loved it. Declan decided he was destined to have a Phillies hat which had to wait until our return to Fayetteville so we could purchase the "right" hat for him -- MLB, flat brim, size 6-3/8. John, Mom and I stayed up late talking . . . our last bit of time together.
Friday: Wild morning trying to get everything packed, loaded and the house cleaned. John and Kari had the bulk of the work with everything they brought from Virginia. Goodbyes happened much too fast. The trip to Baltimore came quickly and Mom and I still had things we wanted to talk about. Mom and Dad made it safely to San Antonio and by 9:30 p.m. she was returning from Hondo with Little Bit. John and Kari arrived home unscathed, but we, on the other hand, were delayed out of Atlanta and our luggage didn't arrive. By Saturday morning, it was sitting quietly on our doorstep!
What an amazing vacation!! Note: the slideshow does not include all the photos. More will be posted later!
What made this extra special is that we had a lot of interaction with Warren family -- Aunt Kay, Aunt Ginna, Matt and his wife Jessica, Michael and Candance, and Uncle Harry and Aunt Virginia. We even had a chance to visit with Uncle Buddy and Laura.
Because of the Warren family, our children experienced a vacation of a lifetime! Only Disney World could trump this. Here's a quick play-by-play of what we did each day:
Friday (arrival): The Woolsey family departed XNA at 7 a.m. (very early), but the natives were excited so the time was irrelevent. We flew through Atlanta and arrived to a rainy Baltimore. Mom and Dad had already arrived and rented the car. They came to grab us. Dad drove us to Ocean City while Mom stayed at BWI to pick up Wes and Celina. Strange, I know, but Wes isn't 25 years old yet which means he can't rent a car -- ugh!! On the way to the beach, we stopped for dinner at Burger King. To say the very least, the experience at the BK caused much laughter and discussion over the trip. If it could go wrong, it did. The highlight of the drive was watching hundreds of deer in the fields. Wow! It was special. When we arrived in Ocean City, Aunt Kay greeted us and John and Kari had everything unpacked. They brought the food and nearly half their house, so unpacking was quite a feat. John, Wayne, and I stayed up late awaiting the arrival of Mom, Celina and Wes. I am so happy we did. The excitement of our long awaited family vacation still had us hovering above the ground.
Saturday: Dad and I decided that everyday of the vacation would be Saturday. We weren't allowed to move off it. The day was spent on the beach -- the entire day! Mom even brought down a picnic so we could eat lunch on the beach under our umbrellas. That evening, we went to a fun family restaurant called Fish Tails. It felt like we were with Jimmy Buffett in the Keys. Ginna, Aunt Virginia, Matt, Jessica, Michael, Candance, Aunt Kay and Dave met us there. The kids enjoyed playing on a wooden ship in the sand and watching the boats at the dock. The evening ended with all the boys (big and small) playing frisbee on the sand in front of our hotel. They had a blast!
Sunday: This day, too, was another glorious and sunny day spent on the beach. We were beginning to wonder what happened with the rainy weather that had been forecasted. We knew we were lucky!! After another lunch on the beach and lots of sun, we dressed and headed to "the farm." This is property that belonged to Daddy Warren. I was so excited that Wayne and the boys were going to get to see it. Mom, Dad, John and I spent a Christmas with Daddy Warren and Gaye at the farm when I was about 11 or 12 years old. The house on the farm is beautiful, but the property is breathtaking. The boys were able to go crabbing and then Aunt Ginna tied the evening with a bow when she lit a bonfire for the boys to make s'mores. The boys had so much fun.
Monday: Whew! Monday arrived too soon and this was the last day for Celina and Wes to be with us. The big and small boys went to the Jolly Roger waterpark. On this day, Grayson also started feeling funky. We could tell by his runny nose. The boys came home from the Jolly Roger early because everyone had to get showered and dressed for our family pictures on the beach by photographer, Rob Korb. The boys were in white tops and khaki bottoms. The girls were in all white. We decided that we looked like we were going to P-diddy's White Party! We were quite a sight leaving the hotel and moving onto the beach at 5:30 p.m. We took lots of photos. Of course, Jett didn't want to take photos and Uncle Wes bribed Jett with quarters throughout the course of the shoot. Eventually, Jett ran into the water and I had to grab him. My pants were wet and filled with sand. Jett just laughed and laughed. As a sidenote, my wonderful girlfriends Kamron and Marla let me borrow handfuls of necklaces to bring with me because I didn't know what I was going to wear. In the end, I wore one and so did Mom and Aunt Kay . . . thank you Kam and Marla!! We went back to the penthouse after photos and shared lasagna with Ginna and Aunt Virginia.
Tuesday: We were sad to see Uncle Wes and Celina leave. The nephews loved having both of them to play with . . . on this day, we layed pretty low. Again, the generosity of the Warrens overwhelmed us all. Uncle Harry had brought his boat to Ocean City, and we were invited for cocktails on the boat with extended family. We proceeded to dinner at the Captain's Galley afterwards. It was here that I had the most delicious crabcake I've eaten in my lifetime. Matt's wife waited on us. We knew Grayson really felt bad at this point and Kari left to go back to the penthouse to load him with meds and put him to sleep. After dinner, of course, the fun didn't end because we headed to the Boardwalk for games and rides -- and saltwater taffy! Uncle John won a leopard for Jack. Jett and Declan played skeeball. We all (minus Wayne and Jett) went on the ferris wheel, but no one was up to anything crazy like the roller coasters -- except Jett who went on a wild ride with Wayne. I still can't believe he wanted to go on it. He doesn't like heights but going fast is his thing. I guess he will grow into his name, for sure!
Wednesday: Dad generously arranged for the boys to take a surf fishing lesson in Delaware for a couple of hours. Everyone caught something and had a good time. During our vacation, Dad woke up at the "crack of dawn" each day and went to the surf to fish. In fact, on a few occasions the boys went down to visit with Daddy Frank while he attempted to "slay" the water creatures. The fishing lessons were a neat way for Dad to share his love of fishing. During the afternoon, Wayne and John went with Michael to fish about 6-8 miles (I think!) from the shore. The captain was a good friend of Michael's, so I assume the boys got the "behind the scenes" treatment. That night we had a taco feast.
Thursday: Grayson was feeling better -- thank goodness, but of course, on our last day, the rain arrived! The girls met for lunch at Seacrets. Wayne, Aunt Kay and I have fond memories of this joint because 17 years ago we walked to it for a fun evening. Those coming to lunch were Aunt Virginia, Aunt Kay, Mom, Kari, me and Aunt Kay's dear neighbor Brenda. We all got to know Brenda when Aunt Kay had her aneurysm. It was great to see her. Saying goodbye to Aunt Virginia was not easy. It had been such a pleasure to spend so much time with her. After lunch, we went and grabbed the boys (big and small, Dad included) and headed to the Jolly Roger amusement park. After the park, we ordered in pizza and were joined by Ginna and her boys. Matt went to Thrashers to bring us back some French fries . . . to die for!!! Again, we headed to the Boardwalk for one last "hoorah"! Page went on his first real roller coaster and loved it. Declan decided he was destined to have a Phillies hat which had to wait until our return to Fayetteville so we could purchase the "right" hat for him -- MLB, flat brim, size 6-3/8. John, Mom and I stayed up late talking . . . our last bit of time together.
Friday: Wild morning trying to get everything packed, loaded and the house cleaned. John and Kari had the bulk of the work with everything they brought from Virginia. Goodbyes happened much too fast. The trip to Baltimore came quickly and Mom and I still had things we wanted to talk about. Mom and Dad made it safely to San Antonio and by 9:30 p.m. she was returning from Hondo with Little Bit. John and Kari arrived home unscathed, but we, on the other hand, were delayed out of Atlanta and our luggage didn't arrive. By Saturday morning, it was sitting quietly on our doorstep!
What an amazing vacation!! Note: the slideshow does not include all the photos. More will be posted later!
Saturday, July 11, 2009
San Antonio for the Fourth of July
We decided (almost at the last minute) to drive to San Antonio to celebrate the Fourth of July and had a blast. The kids begged to stay longer with Mama Dear, Daddy Frank, Little Bit and Bess. Of course, the trip was also special because we were able to spend precious time with Grams and Grandpa.
Considering we were only there 4-5 days, we did a lot . . . Ice Age III (3-D), swimming, mass, Mexican food, Incredible Pizza and watching the fireworks at Fiesta Texas roadside on I-10!
Watch the storyboard created to see a few pictures we took!
Considering we were only there 4-5 days, we did a lot . . . Ice Age III (3-D), swimming, mass, Mexican food, Incredible Pizza and watching the fireworks at Fiesta Texas roadside on I-10!
Watch the storyboard created to see a few pictures we took!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Catching Up
So much has happened since Christmas! Needless to say like the rest of the world, we've been busy . . . We spent the entire winter with the boys playing basketball. When spring arrived, the anticipation and excitement turned to baseball. We all loved it. There is just something about being at the baseball park.
The boys' desire to play baseball certainly comes from Wayne. He has worked so hard as a member of the Fayetteville Youth Baseball Board. He took on a project in March and April to raise money to place a new scoreboard on one of the fields to honor two young men (15 years old) who died tragically in a fire this winter when we had the awful ice storm. Wayne also put orchestrated the dedication ceremony honoring the boys and kicking off the new baseball season. He had Roger do a fly over in a fighter jet. The families were overwhelmed. News coverage was awesome -- ABC, NBC and CBS affiliates all covered.
Speaking of the ice storm, we lost a tree to the ice. It is still unbelievable. We were eating dinner with the Courtway's, our neighbors, in candlelight since we lost power, and Page came running into the kitchen askng if we'd heard the tree crack. Much to our amazement when we opened the door, we witnessed our Bradford Pear tree resembling a "bloomin' onion."
The boys participated in the talent show. Page is recognized by the kids at the school for his "hip hop" dancing the last two years. This year Declan was added to the show. They practiced a lot, and Wayne helped choreograph it. Wayne was known in his school for dancing in his parachute pants with bandanas! We've posted the performance on video for you to watch. The link to their video is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNWgQbk75uc.
Another big happening was Wayne's 40th Birthday celebration. We hosted an intimate dinner for 20 of Wayne's friends and spouses. We had a fun night --good food, good drink, good friends. The evening was capped with a round of toasts (and roasts) from everyone. Not to mention that I tried to use sparklers in the house since it was raining outside. It didn't work! I ended up setting the fire alarm off. Needless to say, we will remember the night.
Page played on a rec baseball and competitive baseball. With competitive ball, it meant we were playing games most weekends. Declan is playing pitcher on his rec ball team and having a blast. Jett thinks he's quite the pitcher and hitter. We play outside endlessly.
Declan received a batting cage and pitching machine for his 6th birthday (March 5). We use it all of the time. For Deck's birthday, we had Paiden and Bode, his two best friends with us for a movie, pizza at Mellow Mushroom and a sleepover. Paiden ended up breaking his arm on a scooter while he was at our house. Memorable, for sure!
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