Go Green and Black!

So....I had this nice post written with these pictures and then after I published it I realized it was on my preschool blog instead!! So here I go again.....

Although all our Saturdays are taken until March we are enjoying Upward basketball and cheerleading. There is a different "feel" with this than the rec league....nothing against the rec dept...and we haven't cheered/played basketball with them but we did do soccer. This just seems more organized? Anyway....the kids are having a fun time and learning a new skill. Well....we hope Nate picks up something! There are some really good kids on his team and thankfully he isn't the only one that looks bewildered!

Go Green and Black!

The only cheer I knew was "rah rah rah. Kick them in the knee. Rah rah rass. kick them in the a- the other knee." did you think a bad word???oooooooo:)

Look at that jump shot!! I missed his first game because I was at Red Rooster with Trudy. When i asked him about it he said it was fun. I asked if he made any baskets. he said yea. I was all excited for him. But then he mumbled something that sounded like he was dissapointed...like he wished it was more (i hate when my kids do that! why can't they just be happy with their accomplishments....) and so when I asked him to repeat his last phrase what he really said was "It was NOTHIN' BUT NET" ...in his monotone-Nate voice! Too funny that big kid....and he isn't the biggest 7 year old on his team!

He sure had a hard time getting use to the fact of actually playing basketball. He said he wanted to sign up but then when it was actually time to go for try outs he said I heard him wrong and he changed his mind. The only way i was going to let him get out of it was if he paid me the $70 which would take until May! There were sometimes where he really wanted to do that. Then I told him there was NO way he was getting out of it....he was going to play! After lots of tears and bargaining (he trying to weasel his way out of it....and I making him!) he went. Then there were the tears and anxiety of actually wearing his uniform outside the house! Poor kid.

A cool thing about this experience is that one of his coaches has a masters degree in emotional disorders of children. He use to work with emotionally disturbed kids in one of the schools. Last week at practice Nate got embarassed and started crying. I wasn't there so i didn't see this behavior(although I have seen it at home lots of times). The coach approached me later to tell me about what happened and asked me if Nate did well in school. He then told me about his background and I told him about Nate's history(adopted at 10 months and the neglect). It was nice to talk to someone who understood and he gave me some good ideas to try with him. Poor kid. Those early infant months are SO important! Makes me so sad for all the children out there who aren't held and nurtured that first year!

The armbands they are wearing helps the kids know which guy on the other team they are to cover. Isn't he just so cute in that uniform!

All the cheerleaders and players wear the same uniforms. The cheerleaders rotate through the teams. They are really cute...especially this girl right here! She must have some beautiful parents! ha! Well she really does. If she had our genes she would be even more gorgeous-ER! hardy har har!

Scrapbook Retreat!

So back in Oct. '08 TJ asked me if I wanted to go to the Red Rooster with her and her scrapbook group. I had gone a couple years earlier and had a blast(got 51 pages done)! I didn't want to scrapbook though....I had stopped doing that in January and even given away a lot of my supplies. But then I realized I could go and take other projects...but the fun part would be spending the weekend with my awesome big sister! So it was settled. I was going!

We quickly sent in our deposit to reserve our spot and before we knew it--it was time to fly over to Crane Hill, AL! It is so beautiful up here....right on Smith Lake.

Here we are after working too hard:)

My work station(the whole bottom floor of this house is set up with these folding tables for everyone to spread out all their supplies and work!)

Here is TJ's work station....quite a bit more stuff! She is a serious memory-maker-preserver!

There is a second floor that overlooks the first floor. There is a TV and living room area where we headed to watch "Wife Swap". We brought up some work to do while we watched-Trudy put some vinyl letters on a ceramic tile(like this) and I did lesson plans for preschool.

It was a fab-O weekend! I sure Richard was here to drive me home! I sure am spoiled by him driving us on long trips!

Walking in the rain....

So we talked about going for a walk all weekend and decided to head out after breakfast this morning(blueberry french toast casserole, eggs, bacon, blueberry muffins, juice milk, etc.). It was misting when we started and I mentioned going later but TJ wanted to go now...but she might tell the story differently;) So we headed out and only got 5 minutes from the house when it started really raining! We were laughing so hard as we tried to make it up the big hill we had just coasted down! ha! Great memory!

Talent Show

Last Christmas I gave you my heart....the very next day...oh wait...that isn't was I was going to write about! See what all that early Christmas music does to you!

What I was going to say was the cousins decided they were going to do a talent show last year. There were individual and small groups that performed. But this year they decided to do a group show only. They acted out the nativity story! It was so funny and cute! The top right picture is of Mary and Joseph and then the angel (the little girl in the white dress...Sophia's from when she was 18 months old!) visiting Mary and Joseph(notice Mary has a 'bump'). Then the 3 wise men point to the star(top right). They bring gifts to the baby. Then they all came together to sing silent night...Lea(aka Mary) did sign language too! Then they all took a bow! It was priceless! And they all worked together without any adult help!!!

I sure wish we took a video of it!

Family Pictures

Another tradition Richard's family does at Christmas time is taking family shots in front of the tree....well you can't really see our "Charlie Brown" tree but you get the idea. Each family has a picture with the matriarch also.

This is the Ronald Villamor family from Durham, SC. Myra(or My-My as we call her) had to work so she couldn't be with us. We call this brother "Bobet"(bo-bet). He was a dentist in the Philippines but he just works in a dentist office(i think as a dental assistant) here in the states. Not sure why it doesn't transfer over....but you know....I have never seen a foreign-trained dentist! His wife is a RN.

His children are Femi-11, Rovic-8, and Kyla 7. And since we are telling ages....Richard's mom is over 70! Don't they age so well! One day I will look like I am 8 years OLDER than Richard!

This is the most handsomest family as you can tell! hardy har har

This is the Randolph Villamor family from Rock Hill, SC. Randolph aka Boyet and his wife Shela are doctors. Their children are Vic-almost 6 and Lourdis who will be 5 this year. She has so much personality!

This is the Rommell Villamor family from Albany, Ga. Rommell aka Butch and his wife Margelyn are both Physical Therapists. Their daughters are Laurie 9 and Lea 7. Laurie is a very talented tennis player!

Crabs!

Every Christmas Richard's family gathers together at someone's house to celebrate. We hosted in 2002-when we first moved into this house. It was 1394 square feet then and we had 22 extra people here! 6 years later and with about 800 extra square feet we were ready to host the shin-dig again! This time we only had 15 extra....I don't know how we all fit in here 6 years ago!

The highlight of this weekend probably was the crabs we had shipped from Billy's seafood down in South Alabama. They arrived Thursday afternoon(packed with dry ice). I suggested Richard should open the cooler and put ice on them.,..just in case. His mom arrived midnight Friday and she suggested we...she....cook them now. So they stayed up until 2am cooking all 48 of the blue crustaceans. The next morning there were crabs everywhere I looked! I heard them joking they didn't want to eat them for breakfast because they wouldn't be able to stop....well they did pull them out and start eating them! And every meal someone was eating the crabs! I don't care for them....just because they are so much work but we had a house full of happy bellies that weekend! there were even enough for everyone to take some home with them!

I love when Cleofe visits! She takes over my kitchen!! And most of the meals that come out of her cooking is very yummy!!! Some fish dishes are too much for me!

My mom and my family in Christmastime!