My how life does change!

In the last couple of weeks our life has had a drastic change. After being employed with his company for 10 years, my husband was laid off. Thank goodness I have a fairly decent job that I enjoy. Our initial reaction was total shock. Like my husband said, we built a family with his company. He worked there when we were married and through the births of both of our boys. It almost feels like a stage of our lives has ended. We have had to do a lot of thinking and figuring out how we're going to make it until he finds another job. Thankfully, we have the support of a loving family that gives a lot more than they should have to. I am so THANKFUL for them! My prayer and hope is that C will take this situation he's been dealt and make it an opportunity to grow in his career. Like my mother says, everything has a way of working out. I'm anxious to see how this does!

my first tulip to bloom this spring

my first iris

In the meantime, we're enjoying some soccer! With the rainy weather these days, Isaac has only had 2 practices and 2 games. Hopefully we'll get to make up the two games we've missed. I think Isaac is enjoying it as much as he can with the limited exposure he's had to it to this point. We remembered to take the camera to his second game, so here are some of the shots.

Isaac's really excited to be goalie. Can you tell?

Our "little" Alex is growing up more every day and is always keeping us on our toes. It is such a joy and blessing to have two healthy beautiful children.

riding his tricycle in his batman pjs



it's always a competition!

Isaac will be 6 years old this Friday, and I can still remember the day he was born like it was yesterday!

An ending and a beginning

Well, Isaac's first basketball season has ended. He played his last game on February 28th. It was a nail-biter (screaming match, really)! I was so irritated with the referees. Oh well... it's over and done now. The season ended with a record of 5 and 3. That doesn't mean much to the boys on the team, they just enjoyed playing. The players received medals from the league and Isaac's coach gave all the players mini basketballs after the last game. Isaac really enjoyed it, and we are looking forward to next season.

Isaac's first season of playing soccer begins this weekend. His first practice is this Thursday and we're hoping the rain will hold off for a little while while the team practices and again on Saturday. Isaac's not too sure how he's going to like playing outside in the rain, so we'll see how that turns out! There will definitely be pictures from the game!

Spending some time outside

When it was warm a couple of weekends ago, the boys spent a good amount of time outside. So I decided to take some pictures.

Fill me up!

Helping Daddy 'wash' my car

Isaac with a big Kool-Aid smile.

This is the picture we sent in our Valentine's Day cards.

It's been a month?!

Well, it has been a month since my last post. Where has the time gone? We've been busy with work and school as usual! Isaac is doing very well in school and has amazed us with how far he has come with his reading skills, among other things. I can hardly believe he'll be six in a few short weeks. His birthday will be here before we know it! Alex is doing well too. He's talking all the time and is such a character! Seeing him interact with his brother now can be very entertaining, heart warming, and "stressful" at times.

Our weekends have been busy with basketball games over the past six weeks. Isaac has two games left, and we have seen great improvement from his first game. Thank you to everyone who has come out to watch him play. He really feels special when he sees all our family and friends.

Isaac with cousins Paul and Donna

Isaac and Amy

Amy and Alex



Aunt Kim, Isaac and Jaylen

The basketball season ends February 28th, but then it's time for soccer! We have registered Isaac to play soccer this spring. The season starts March 14, so we have two weekends to enjoy without a game! Isaac is excited about playing soccer, and we're glad that he likes sports so much! It is definitely a great outlet for all his energy!

Isaac's 1st basketball game

Isaac is playing basketball in the West Nashville Sports League this winter. This is his first time playing an organized sport, so we are having a lot of fun watching him learn! He had a jamboree Friday night at Lipscomb University, and his first game was played yesterday at St. Paul. Isaac has several teammates who have experience, so his team is pretty good. They won on Saturday with a score of 21 to 3. Here are some pictures from the game.

Isaac has the red wrist band on in this picture. The wrist bands help the boys keep up with who they are supposed to be guarding.

Coach Potts would ask the boys where their "man" was, so they pointed...

Isaac taking a break. He got to play for the majority of the game.

Isaac bringing in the ball

The final score

Holiday Fun

It has been a busy couple of weeks! Here are some pictures of the fun things we did and the family we visited over the holidays.

A few days before Christmas, we were at Providence Marketplace and they just happened to have Santa's reindeer for everyone to visit. So, of course we had to stop by for a few minutes.

During the last week of school before the Christmas break, Isaac had pajama and reindeer day at school. He was the cutest Rudolph ever!

On one of the coldest nights of the year, we took the boys to the Opryland Hotel to look at the Christmas lights. Despite the cold, the boys really enjoyed all the lights!

The nativity scene outside the hotel was amazing!

On Christmas Eve, we decided to make cookies for Santa. Isaac was into putting the icing and sprinkles on the cookies.

Alex seemed more interested in eating them...

We spent time with a lot of family and took a lot of pictures. But this one is one of my favorites. Aunt Kim's hat was just too cute not to post!

Aunt Kim with Jaylen and Camden

My family

Christmas morning at our house

Isaac is opening gifts in his new pajamas. As soon as he opened them he had to put them on.



Alex did the same thing.

I hope everyone had a wonderful time enjoying your families over the holidays.

Happy New Year!!

Pictures and A Gingerbread House Disaster

"It's the most wonderful time of the year..." Yey! Christmas is just around the corner. In the spirit of the Season, we have made a couple of trips to have Christmas portraits taken. We took the boys to have pictures for our Christmas cards, and for us. Then C's family wanted the boys to have their pictures made with the cousins... So we've been to Portrait Innovations three times in about a month! The boys have done an exceptional job considering how many times they've had to say, "cheese"! Here some pictures from the first two photo sessions.

Saturday night we decided to make a gingerbread house. Well.... at least we tried to.... Unfortunately, we failed to read the directions until most of the way through decorating it. Apparently, this is what happens when you don't wait 15 minutes to add the candy...

We still had fun though... the boys enjoyed eating the candy and icing. I guess that's what truly matters anyway, right?!

In other news, Alex is officially potty-trained! YEY ALEX! I guess he decided that 3 year olds don't need diapers, and boy, are we glad!

Alex showing me his big boy underwear. And yes, he dressed himself... pjs, shoes and a hat...just to hang out at home.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you are mostly finished with your Christmas shopping! Christmas will be here before we know it!