Halloween 2011- A cool Monday night, where we walked and walked and walked! We stayed in our neighborhood this year which was great! We all ate hot dogs and had some yummy snacks before trick-or-treating!

A Gamecock player as if he would be anything else!A WILD rock star!

The perfect ANGEL!
All the cousins together!

Time Flies

I cannot believe I haven't updated this since August. Well, school has started and everyone is finally doing well. Halle was first with the back-to-school anxieties...lasted about two weeks. Poor thing she works so hard and is so committed and dedicated to school that she worries about not doing her best. I think it was just her getting used to a new teacher, new rules, procedures, expectations, etc. She loves her 4th grade teacher and class and is doing so well. I am so proud of how hard she works to always do her best. She is running for 4th grade Senator; she was already elected for student council in her room. Her 'platform' for her campaign is bullying and making the restrooms cleaner. Gotta love that! And she takes her platform very seriously! It is so funny! Then it was Gracie getting off to a rough start....we'll just leave it at that b/c the memories of those weeks are very painful and not pleasant. I feel certain I don't need a blog to help me remember those days! WOW! She is now back in school mode and doing great! She is quite the little whiz too....LOVES, LOVES, LOVES to read and write and is very good at both! Then there's my little Cade. He was this year's first Terrific Kid of the family and was very proud. He feels really 'big' this year b/c he has real 1st grade work to do!

Soccer is now off to a start w/ games on Saturdays and practice on Tuesdays! Halle is about
10 x more aggressive than last year. It's amazing. Gracie is awesome and so smart about how she plays the game. And Cade is faster than a speeding bullet and has more energy than the other 2 put together. He can chase a ball down from anywhere on the field. Not the smartest way to play soccer, but it is quite comical! I'm coaching Halle's team w/ the help of 2 assistants that I could not do without. They begged me to coach b/c they needed a warm body, so I did it, but I have no clue what the rules are----but I'm learning.

Game time!


My Terrific Kid!

Summer Has Come and Gone!

Well summer has officially come and gone and yep, I'm just now posting since the summer began. That's how busy we have been. So just a few pictures to capture our summer.


1st trip: THE BEACH! The kids and I were accompanied by friends and this is how our day went: wake up, breakfast, beach, pool, lunch/rest, beach, pool, dinner, bed. REPEAT! We had a great time and can't wait to go back.

2nd trip: DISNEY WORLD! That's right, we loaded up and both sides of the family went to Disney World. We left on Saturday, June 25 and drove all the way down and stayed in a hotel so we could check in Sunday. We hit Magic Kingdom Sunday, Animal Kingdom Monday, Hollywood Studios Tuesday, Epcot on Wednesday, Magic Kingdom again on Thursday. Then Friday we loaded up and headed to the beach again for the weekend of the 4th. We were worn out and exhausted but had a great time.

3rd event: Camp Cherokee! Gracie went to Camp Cherokee with some friends and had a great time. She went to 1st timers camp so we took her on Sunday and picked her up Wednesday evening. She was ready to come home but says she is staying for a whole week next time, and I don't doubt it. She lost her shampoo on the first night and had to borrow some from friends the rest of the time---or so she says!

Then sadly poor Halle went and I have no photo b/c busy me walked out and left the camera. Halle had a blast but got homesick so I'm not sure she'll return next year. I'm hoping she'll find a good friend to go with her for next summer but we will see. She is so brave though. She went without really knowing anyone in her cabin and I know I wouldn't have done that at 9.

The kids and I went for one last trip to the beach the week before school started and that wrapped up our summer! Good-bye summer 2011--we will miss you but we have lots of pictures and great memories to share and talk about forever!

Cade Loses His 1st Tooth

About a week or two ago Cade came running up to me saying "mom, is this tooth loose?" I thought to myself "surely not....he's not ready to lose a tooth." Duh- mom, he is in Kindergarten. I think Gracie lost several last year in k5. It about broke my heart. I have no babies anymore, they are losing teeth, and even this month we are allowed to report back to the dentist after school instead of during the day, b/c they are all now "School Age." So, not fair! I know they get big, but wow how time flies. He lost it at school and was so proud when he brought it home in the little treasure box. He put his treasure under his pillow that night

and was a little concerned about this whole tooth fairy thing. Cade's not a big fan of 'people' coming in at night and doing mysterious thing: Santa, Easter bunny, tooth fairy. He woke up that night and came to crawl in bed w/ us, which he often still does....I don't even notice it half the time. He's very sneaky and quiet, and goes to the foot of the bed where he can't be noticed. I woke him up the next morning to get ready for school, he was buried under 3 blankets all snuggled up. In his tiny hand he had a five dollar bill all wadded up. He was so proud. He ran to put it in a safe place...the Gamecock wallet of course. Til the next tooth I guess........

Airbrushed T-shirts are Back

Airbrush T-shirts are so very popular with the Wilson kids. Last year their Gram brought them each one home from the beach. There is a shop at the Tanger Outlets that does them. Then when we were back this spring for spring break, Halle--who never forgets anything-- asked to go back.....so here we have it:

Easter

We enjoyed a great Easter at church, followed by a family picnic at Westminster Park where we played volleyball and baseball all afternoon. We were all a little sore the next day, but we had a great time. And what a blessing it is to have both sides of our families to celebrate with. Great- grandparents, grandparents, and parents all in one place!

Spring Break

You would think after spending a week at the beach I'd have more than 2 pictures....but I don't. And poor Gracie didn't even make an appearance in one. We arrived Monday evening, and returned Friday.....and I had planned to get some group shots on Friday but the weather turned cold and dreary so we never even made it out on the beach. The water was frigid but the kids didn't mind. It was by no means like summer, but it was nice to get away from Rock Hill and enjoy some sunshine and water. We'll be back in June for some more fun in the sun...can't wait!

Cade enjoying the view from the 'timeout' towel. Poor thing........