READY FOR COLLEGE FOOTBALL!!!

We have been ready for quite some time around this household for college football, especially the CLEMSON TIGERS! Will for months now has been going to bed and waking up talking about going to see the TIGERS play football! Unfortunately we had our first loss of the season last night against Alabama and boy was it an awful game! We played terrible and they just wore us out! Will and I were at home watching the game and he was so excited about it - he didn't really care about how we were playing or that we lost - he just wanted to see his TIGERS on the field! :) Wish we all could have that attitude about it all but I doubt he'll remain that way forever, especially in this household - we're a little competitive around here! :) The slide show is of Will yelling "Go Tigers" and "1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, C-L-E-M-S-O-N, T-I-G-E-R-S, Fight Tigers, Fight Tigers, Fight, Fight, Fight!" He loves all of the cheering!

This picture is of Will finishing up some of his birthday cupcakes - I thought it was just too cute and funny not to post:

Will's 3rd Birthday Party

We had Will's 3rd birthday on August 16, 2008 at Rick's parent's house in Rock Hill, South Carolina - another POOL PARTY!!! We had a CARS theme this year - No surprise because it's Will's favorite! He had a wonderful time with all of his family and friends! The food, cake and ice cream was delicious and everyone was so generous in all the wonderful gifts that they gave Will! We appreciate everything and he loved everything! We can't believe that our baby is 3 now - time flies by so quickly!

Will's 3rd Birthday Gift

Rick and I finally decided what we wanted to get Will for his 3rd birthday and we bought it tonight and gave it to him a little early so he could actually begin to enjoy it! It's a Radio Flyer Big Flyer (big wheel)! He loves it as you can tell from the pictures...

POTTY TRAINING

Right before the beach this year (2008) we sort of started working on the potty training with Will. We knew that he was ready and he understood the concept - he just wasn't quite getting it so after we got back we tried another method. He absolutely loves the movie, CARS, so we bought some of the cars from the movie as an incentive to go to the potty and believe it or not....it worked! We showed him the cars and told him that if he went to the potty he would get one so he ran straight to the bathroom, sat on the toilet and went "potty!" It was actually hilarious to watch him because after we gave him one car he wanted to keep going to the bathroom for more and we were worried that he was going to hurt himself after a while! He's gotten quite the collection now and is still working hard at this - he's even moved to underwear and is staying dry through the night a good bit! :) I've changed the method a little and made a potty chart for him to put stickers on it each day so at the end of the week he can see the progress he's made and on Friday's we give him a new car - he likes this and gets so excited by the end of the week about this! It's such a relief knowing that we'll soon (for the most part) be out of pull-ups! :) He also picked out a toilet seat the other day (football) and he was so excited about this also! We are so very proud of Will!

The famous football toilet seat:



The potty chart that I made for Will:



The big boy himself and his Lightning McQueen underwear:

HAPPY 35TH ANNIVERSARY!!!

Monday, July 28, 2008 was my parent's 35th anniversary so I just wanted to acknowledge this because it's so very rare these days that we find marriages that last even a couple of years! They have set such a wonderful example for us and many others in the love that they have for each other and the Lord and I know that this love is what has held their marriage together! Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad and here's to another wonderful 35!!! :)

Here's some pictures from the past couple of years of my parents - we love you both so very much!!!

Will's 1st Baseball game

Will and I headed to Rock Hill this past weekend to spend time with my family since it was my parent's anniversary. My dad treated us all to a baseball game - this was Will's first and he loved it! It was the Charlotte Knights vs. the Buffalo Bisons...unfortunately the Knights lost but we had a wonderful time together! Will was taking everything in and was very observant during the game. He also really enjoyed the cotton candy that I got him! :)

Swimming Lessons

Will and his buddy, Jackson, started swimming lessons last week and haven't had many lessons yet due to weather but what they have done so far is learn to put faces in the water, blow bubbles, kick, paddle and try and float on their backs. They've had a lot of fun together and with the other children. Hopefully we'll get some better soon so we can continue with the lessons and have some more fun at the pool! :)

The recreation center where they are taking lessons has a park also so Will and Jackson had lots of fun playing there after lessons:

A date with Will

Rick was away in Connecticut for a couple of days so I decided to take Will on a "date" to the zoo this past weekend (7/20/08). We had a wonderful time together even though it was almost 100 degrees! We were able to see the lion cubs that were born last month, the crocodile being fed, the penguins being fed, played on the playground and rode the carousel and many other animals! I bought him a stuffed elephant while we were there - it was the animal that he chose out of all of the ones that were in the store. He loves the elephants!!! Can't wait for the next time that we go!

Playing in the rain

This past week we had quite a few storms around the area and on one of the days Will and his buddy, Jackson, got out together and played in the rain together - unfortunately I didn't get a picture of them together but they were soaking wet and had a blast! They were running all around in the cul-de-sac and playing in puddles, etc. After the rain died down a little the sun started to come out and we got a beautiful rainbow out of it! Here are some pictures:

Saying our Goodbyes

On the last day at the beach we really just spend it cleaning up, packing up and saying our goodbyes to the beach and each other! It always makes me a little sad but at least we having something to look forward to next year!

Last day at the Beach

On our last day at the beach we, as always, spent all day outside playing and had so much fun! Can't wait for next year! :)

Our little Emma

Emma loves her Hello Kitty sunglasses and loved "chillin out" on the beach in her little chair, drinking her drink and wearing her sunglasses! She was so precious watching all that she did during the week at the beach this year - so different from last year at the beach! She wanted to do everything that Will did so we've decided that we're going to have to work very hard on making Will into a good leader instead of a bad one since he does have little ones watching everything that he does also even as young as he is! I'm so grateful that the two of them are so close to each other - they love each other so much!