More pictures / updates

Pictures are first again....scroll down to read the post and come back to the pictures.....yea right :)

Well, it looks like I am just not very good at this. We will all have to settle for occassional updates every couple of months or so. Anything more will be icing on the cake :)

The kids are doing great in school. Everyone has finished their extra-curricular activities for the season, which turned out to be very fun....and very busy! Next up....swimming and gymnastics (and maybe soccer for Regan). We have a big 6 year old birthday party (2 parties actually)coming up this weekend at the bowling ally. They are so excited! I cannot for the life of me believe that they are turning 6 years old!!! That is when I start watching videos and get so emotional. Remember this video? http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=83cfa301eb5c82226fd3d8&skin_id=701

I am so proud of how far they have come!!! I will try very very hard to post pictures from the party! For now, here are some recent favorites!

We were very sad to say goodbye to sweet Ellie a couple of weeks ago. She was 12 years old and became very sick. She is already missed terribly. We have her ashes on the mantle (for now) with a pawprint mold and a statue that Mark altered to look like her. It was very difficult to find a "breed" to represent Ellie. She was one of a kind :)

Love, Wendy

Let's try this again!

The pictures loaded before the print, so if you would prefer to read first, scroll down and then come back to the pictures. I am still having a hard time learning how to upload pictures easily. They always upload backwards too....so the ones you see first are the most recent. One day, I will get it straight. Just too tired tonight to mess with it!! Enjoy!

Adam and his buddy, Pete

Regan's cheerleading squad

Adam's first day of preschool

First day of school...all the kids on our street!!!!

Dylan and Mrs. Weed

Regan at her table

First day of KINDERGARTEN!!!

Destin, FL 2009

Adam's b-day cake

Adam is 3 yrs old

Preschool graduation

Regan doing backstroke

My favorite picture...she is "diving" in!! Love it!!!

Dylan swimming

Swim team...Coles Crocs

Let's go mom!

Dylan gymnastics

Adam swim lessons with Ms Andrea

Regan dance recital

Okay well, to say that I dropped the ball on this whole blog thing is an understatement. I thought I might try another go at it....we will see how long I can keep it up!

So much has happened in the last 5 months!! Regan and Dylan graduated pre-school, a long summer of swim team, pool parties, hanging out and staying up late, Adam turned 3 years old, a family vacation to Destin, FL, Adam started pre-school (again), Regan and Dylan started KINDERGARTEN, Dylan signed up for year-round swimming, Regan is now a cheerleader, and Adam and Dylan are paying tee-ball!!! Whew. I am sure I have left several things out, but that is a summary.

Our newest adventures are cheerleading and tee-ball. Regan cheers for the Sampson Seahawks (her elementary school) flag football team. They are simply adorable. We just got their uniforms, so the next game I can post pictures of them all decked out. Adam and Dylan are both signed up to play teeball (different teams - age), but neither have started yet. First practices are coming up. This should be very interesting, and fun! Dylan's team is the Astros, but we don't know Adam's team name yet.

So far school is going great. Adam is doing so much better this year (vs last year when I had to pull him out). He goes straight into the class and sits at his seat to start his art project for the day. Most of the time, there is no crying. He is growing up fast. Regan and Dylan are also enjoying school. They are in different classes, but they go to P.E., art, and music together. They also eat lunch at the same time and are on the playground together. Both love their teachers and have received great report cards home!!! They are very tired by the end of the day, and crazy tired by Friday.

Mark won a trip to Cabo through work (sales), so we leave for a much needed vacation (just us) in a couple of weeks. I am getting very excited, but it is stressful leaving the kids. There is so much to pull together and so many lists to make, etc. I should probably start now.

I will try my best to keep this updated. I know I have said that before...several times. For now, I will just leave you with pictures.

Love, Wendy

Avon Walk For Breast Cancer

We did it!! Julie and I walked 39.3 miles in 2 days. The Houston walk alone raised over 1.8 million dollars. WOW!!! We had a great time and met some amazing people. We stayed at The Westin Galleria Friday night before the walk, and went to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. Yummy!! We met the NICEST couple at dinner. We ended up sharing a table, as they were "crewing" the walk. Donna is an RN and worked on the medical team at various stations throughout the walk. Tony worked the "clean-up crew" helping to take down the stations as the walkers passed through. They are hilarious, and we had such a wonderful time meeting them!

Tony, Wendy, Donna, Julie

We got a great night's sleep and were up at the crack of dawn Saturday morning to catch the bus over to the opening ceremonies at Stude Park. Very emotional opening ceremonies. We cried. It was a great motivator though, so off we went to walk our first 26.2 miles. WHOO HOO!!!

Over 1600 walkers registered

The first half of the day was a piece of cake. We were trucking along at the front of the pack, feeling great. We made it to the lunch stop at 9:30am. It was not until about mile 17 or 18 that things started getting a little uncomfortable. I had blisters that wrapped around the back of my heels. They did not feel good. By mile 23, I was walking on my toes. Julie did great!!! She didn't get blisters at all. Teach me to go buy BRAND NEW SHOES 2 days before a walk. I know, stupid. Anyway, we finished the marathon walk with 3 other amazing walkers. One young man, Mickey, is a 23 year old graduate from The University of Michigan working in Houston at Shell Oil. He was so sweet. The kind of guy that I hope Regan grows up and meets. His mother passed away last year from breast cancer, and he took it upon himself to raise the money and walk the Avon Walk all by himself. He was even a "Champion Fundraiser". Great guy!! The other 2 were a mother/daughter team. They were so sweet and kept us going. It really helped to have a support team there to keep pushing you. We were so tired and hurting those last 5 miles or so, it was entertaining. We just kept laughing at ourselves. The funniest line was "How are you doing, Mickey?" "Oh, I'm fine, I am just trying out different limps to see which one works best". I was so true of everyone. I guess you had to be there. :) Not so funny in type.

Just 2 more miles to go....the smiles are FAKE....we are HURTING!!!!

WHOO HOO!!! We finished the first day!!!

That night, Julie and I had lights out by 7:20pm. We were exhausted! We were up again at the crack of dawn again to walk another 13.1 miles. We stopped at the medical tent for some blister wrapping and advice on Julie's hurting hamstring. I got tape, she got ice. We were good to go. Piece of cake.

We were so ready to finish the 13 miles, we skipped lunch on Sunday. We were done by noon!!! It was such an amazing experience. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone!! We met so many people along the way and had great conversations about why they were walking. Amazing people. Many people actually follow the walk across the country and raise the $1800 for EVERY walk. WOW! That is dedication.

My blisters are now healed. I feel great. I am ready for next year :) Bring it on!!!!

Love,

Wendy

Adam's video

So it was still a little time consuming, even though I had already done one. I realized that I have very few pictures of me pregnant with Adam. I guess juggling two 2 year olds during the pregnancy did not allow for many photo shoot opportunities. Anyway, the beginning of the video is an attempt to show what the pregnancy was like.

Overall, I think it turned out great. I love the songs. I will treasure it forever!!!

Enjoy!


Adam Cade 2006

Keepsake video #1 finished!!!

I have been wanting to make a keepsake video of the pregnancy and birth of all the kids. I finally got around to it the other day and now that I have completed one, I don't think it will be hard to make more! I love watching this...it brings back so many memories!!! Some of it I remember like it was yesterday, and other parts I barely remember at all.

I have not figured out how to download video from our video camera onto the computer, but when I do, I will add the birth video to the movie. If you don't care to see me at my ABSOLUTE WORST, I would advise that you not click on the link! Don't worry...there is nothing graphic other than a pregnant belly. I just look horrible during the hospital stay.

Adam's video is next!

MAKE SURE YOUR VOLUME IS TURNED UP!!!



Regan & Dylan 2003


Love, Wendy