THE PORTERS

Ashlyn's 4th Birthday!

2011-12-31T19:20:00.000-08:00

Ashlyn has been very excited for her birthday to get here (although wasn't really too excited when she got a lot of phone calls and became center of attention...she's pretty shy but felt special after the fact). She's always been told that her birthday comes after Christmas so she's been asking every day after Dec. 25th if it's her birthday yet. Her day finally came and she requested her favorite breakfast...chocolate chip banana pancakes:

After breakfast we headed over to eat where both kids pick for their birthdays every year...Chuck E. Cheese! The kids were pretty excited and hyper:

The place was pretty empty and there were no birthday parties going on. Perfect for us!!

After eating at Chuck E. Cheese, we headed home where I put the icing on Ashlyn's birthday cake. I've enjoyed making the kids their birthday cakes every year, but this cake turned out being the easiest and my favorite:

Ashlyn seemed pretty happy with it too:

These kids were very excited to cut into it!:

Present time!!

Thank you, family! She loved every gift and card that she opened!!

After getting their fill of running back and forth through the curtain of streamers Zane and I hung up last night, we headed to Ashlyn's birthday dinner of choice.

McDonald's!! The birthday girl even got to choose chocolate milk as her drink! :)

And Daddy just might have ordered them another dessert for the day...

We loved celebrating our big 4 year old girl today!!!

Ashlyn is 4 years old!!

2011-12-31T06:04:00.000-08:00

Ashlyn Makylee Porter
December 31, 2007
8:42 am
7lbs 11oz
20 1/2 inches

1 year old:

2 years old:

3 years old:

4 years old:
Birthday breakfast:

Cookies, Golfing, and Chipmunks!

2011-12-29T18:51:00.000-08:00

We have been loving all the time we've spent together this week! Zane and Bryson go back to school on Tuesday so we're trying to cram as much fun in as we can. The day after Christmas, Ashlyn and I had a Mommy/Daughter baking afternoon. We made Daddy's favorite cream cheese cookies (for the second time this Christmas) and some of my favorite oatmeal/M & M cookies. The kids like anything so this was the fair thing to do. :)

Ashlyn is getting so big! Not only does she love vacuuming, but she loves washing dishes too. She's my amazing little helper!

And she insisted that Daddy would want his cookies to be blue this time instead of green...so blue they were!

Yum!!

What could the boys have possibly been doing while we were baking??? They left to go use Bryson's new set of golf clubs, of course!! Saying that Bryson was excited was a complete understatement! He could not contain his excitement and couldn't believe that he was going to a real golf course with his Daddy!

I'm so happy that Zane took pictures for me while they were out playing!

Zane was paying to play and I know Bryson's attention span can be short and he wouldn't last long on the golf course, so I told Zane that he could call me to come pick Bryson up when the excitement wore off and he got cranky/restless. I assumed Bryson would last an hour...if that. I was completely shocked when the boys came walking through the door 4 hours later! Bryson played the whole 18 holes with Zane!

Time to head home for dinner!

Zane and I still talk about how amazed we are that Bryson was so well behaved for such a long period of time! And I know Bryson had a blast because he hasn't quit talking about it since! He even announced tonight that I need to let everyone know that he's changed his name to Tiger Woods and people need to start calling him that (Zane told him that he should at least go with the name Rory McIlroy). :)

We had one more surprise activity planned for the kids this week. Tuesday we took them to the movies to see Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked. They loved it and are still talking about their favorite parts. This was a special time for them because we don't go to the movie theater often. It was fun to hear Ashlyn laugh at parts and Bryson was so excited he literally bounced in his chair throughout the movie.

I'm so glad we get to enjoy our Christmas break together and I'm happy we still have a few days left before school starts again!

Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-27T18:34:00.000-08:00

We had a nice, quiet Christmas morning at our house! After a good breakfast of sausage, biscuits, and gravy, we let the kids open their stockings and then rip into their presents. They got so many fun things from all of their family! I was very happy with Zane's idea to videotape their Christmas this year. Unfortunately, the video shut off right before Zane brought out some of their big gifts.

Bryson was so excited to see that his Mimi and Papi and Granner and Papa got him his own set of golf clubs!

Zane and I got him a PSP and he loved it!

Ashlyn was very surprised with the dollhouse Zane and I got her. She is very much into imaginative play, so this was perfect for her!

The kids enjoyed spending the day playing with all of their new toys, dolls, cars, etc.

We couldn't help but laugh at Ashlyn as she decided to roller skate all over the house and has continued to roller skate every day. She just had trouble choosing one new item to play with at a time. This picture made us laugh as she was roller skating, holding her stuffed kitten, and coloring on her new easel. :)

I loved my gift from Zane. I don't think I've ever had something arrive in such a nice box!

Ashlyn's easel from Granner and Papa has been a huge hit in our house! She spent much of Christmas afternoon painting a masterpiece. When she finished, she said it was a painting of our tree. Maybe she'll become famous for her abstract paintings!!

We enjoyed a nice ham dinner with rolls, hashbrown casserole, green beans, and deviled eggs. Zane let the kids each have a small glass of sparkling cider which made them feel so big! It was funny, though, that neither one drank the cider because it was "hot". :)

Ashlyn got a gift from Aunt Nichole and Unckie Warren that might be one of my new favorite things! I had never heard of Fuzzoodles before but apparently they're a new popular thing. They're basically really big, fuzzy pipe cleaners. I love them because they're fun and crafty but don't make a mess at all and can be straightened back out after playing. Here's Ashlyn with her earmuffs/headphones, a dog, and a microphone. :)

I can't wait to share pictures of what activity was planned for the day after Christmas!!

Christmas Day Videos!

2011-12-25T17:25:00.001-08:00

Alright Family, here are some videos of our Christmas morning if you want to see a little of what went on (okay, maybe not just a little...over 20 minutes)! Unfortunately the camera shut off right before the big reveal of golf clubs for Bryson from Mimi, Papi, Granner, and Papa, an art easel for Ashlyn from Granner and Papa, and then the huge doll house Zane and I got Ashy. Also, there is a video of Bryson in our church's Christmas Eve performance. The video quality is horrible since we were sitting in the very back and Zane had to zoom in as far as the camera went to get a video, but oh well. We were just glad Bryson made it up there since he was soooo excited to sing but was almost in tears as I left the room. I'm assuming he was overwhelmed with all the kids plus the fact that they were all wearing costumes. Either way, he did awesome and stayed in line and stood like such a big boy on stage!!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T17:43:00.000-08:00

We've really been enjoying our time leading up to Christmas! Bryson was very excited to deliver cookie jars to all of his teachers and therapists at school and private therapy along with delivering some to our old neighbors! Of course, we just had to test a batch before we gave them as gifts...you know...just to make sure they tasted okay. :)

And we even made some small gift bags for all of Zane's friends/fellow teachers at his school:

One of the teachers in Bryson's special education class (who also does carpool in the mornings and always comments on how much she loves seeing Bryson's smiling face every morning) along with her daughter (who happens to be Bryson's "buddy" that makes sure he gets from my car to his classroom each morning) surprised him with a Christmas gift this week. As he was getting out of the car, his teacher said that sometimes there are those really sweet kids who touch her heart and that he was one of them so they just had to get him something fun for Christmas. So sweet to hear how much the teachers enjoy my boy!! Bryson loved the Lightening McQueen mug, candy cane, and hot chocolate he got from them, so we knew we needed to let our kids have their first cup of hot cocoa!! They were so excited and really enjoyed it (who wouldn't??)!!

The kids have really been enjoying our nighttime Bible stories this week since Zane has been drawing the story as he tells it. We've been leading up to Jesus' birth (which will be tomorrow's story) and after Zane tells the story, the kids get to color it. So fun!

Look how close Bryson is getting at writing his name!!:

Tonight we went to our church's Christmas Eve Service where Bryson decided that he wanted to sing with his friends (video to come soon). We were very impressed with how well he stayed with his group and payed attention! I'm excited to see what tomorrow brings!!

Christmas Festivities

2011-12-18T17:54:00.000-08:00

We've been able to enjoy two different Christmas parades the past couple weekends. The Wake Forest parade was crowded but still fun. We don't have any pictures of this one but Zane caught this really short video. It's not very fun but I just loved Ashlyn's shy, little wave that she would do to everyone who passed:

We also decided we needed to visit the Youngsville parade since it's right by our old neighborhood and we've been going to it for many years. The kids scored a TON of candy at this one and had a lot of fun:

Zane ended up taking more videos than pictures so if you want to feel like you're at the parade with us or if you just enjoy looking at my kids' backs then you can watch this collection of parade videos. Nothing exciting really happens unless you want to see Bryson's fun dancing a little after the 3 minute mark:

I've been having so much fun baking with friends and we've enjoyed a few Christmas parties, including our small group party!

Bryson has been bringing some fun things home from school. He made a wish list for items he wanted for Christmas and of course I had to question his 3 items:

He explained that the video game is for him because he wants a new game player that he can hold in his hand (similar to a Nintendo DS). He asked for dolls because he wants to give those to his sister and the tv is because he heard his Daddy say that he wants a new tv. What a sweet boy (although I was tempted to question why Mommy gets nothing)! :)

He brought home some wrapped gifts for Zane and I. We thought his reindeer ornament was so cute:

And I LOVED these candle holders he made for us in art class!

Only 3 more days of school and both boys get to stay home until January!! I definitely better get working on the gifts for Bryson's teachers!

Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Decorations

2011-12-03T17:59:00.000-08:00

We had such a fun Thanksgiving Day with some great friends!! It was such a relaxed time and we really got to enjoy good company! I just wish I had taken more pictures! While waiting for the turkey to finish cooking, we made domino trains, played some Memory with playing cards, watched the Thanksgiving Day parade on tv, played a little bit of Playstation, and chatted:

Look at this huge spread of food (and this doesn't even include the dessert)! We've always said that our small group is filled with some amazing cooks!:

After filling our bellies, we chatted some more and then the guys played some cards while the girls/kids went on a walk. You know you've had a great day when you look at the clock after everyone has left and you realize you were all together for 7 hours!!! We loved our Thanksgiving day!

The next morning, we began our family tradition of decorating for Christmas. We had to eat some leftovers for lunch first which meant Zane and the kids had to relax before going to buy our tree:

When our fresh tree arrived, Ashlyn was very excited to learn about stringing lights (Bryson was busy playing the Playstation):

One new decoration this year is my wreath. About a week before Thanksgiving, some girls came over and we made coffee filter wreaths...so fun! Here is the only picture I could find of it before I decorated it for Christmas (behind Ashlyn's head):

I added some Christmas touches and it became this:

I love it!

We finished decorating our house and our kids are really enjoying it! We've seen that a real tree has been great for Bryson's sensory needs. He loves running his fingers over the branches to feel them and he's constantly sniffing the tree. And Ashlyn never misses a chance to vacuum up the pine needles that fall throughout the day. It's a win-win situation! :)

Random photos

2011-11-21T18:25:00.000-08:00

This sweet girl trusts her brother...even when he tells her it's supposed to snow when really the weather was in the 70's:

She loves helping mommy cook too:

And she especially enjoys the new hard wood floor vacuum we got recently. She asks if she can please vacuum the floor at least once a day:

Both my kids love hanging out with their Daddy when Mommy is gone. They get to play at parks:

And "help" make a cake and frosting:

I feel like I've been slacking on taking pictures while we've been out and having fun. Hopefully I can get back on track with some fun events coming up. :)

Boosterthon Fun Run

2011-11-05T05:57:00.000-07:00

Bryson's school had their first big fundraiser for the school year and Bryson was sooo excited to participate in the Boosterthon Fun Run. He got pledges from some family members who would pay a certain amount for every lap he ran during the race. He kept reminding us that Friday was his big race. The big day finally came today and although he was very sad Daddy couldn't come watch him, Ashlyn and I showed up to cheer him on. Unfortunately it was rainy and cold today so the big race got moved into the gym at his school but that didn't take away any of the excitement. Bryson's class was named Ms. Preece's Pirates and they were the cutest little pirates ever!

When we got there, Ashlyn was given some fun noise makers and we got ready to cheer on our boy!

The Kindergarten boys waited on the side while the girls raced:

Finally time for the boys to enter the track:

The girls gave high fives as the boys ran past:

I don't think the smile ever left his face:

Good Job, Preece's Pirates!!

Bryson ran 30 laps before time ran out!!:

And who knew that when we got home the noisemakers would make great swords!!:

Until someone loses their sword and gets hit in the face...but still smiling:

Here is a fun video of clips I put together of Bryson's race!

So proud of my boy and thankful for his family sending emails cheering him on and donating pledges!

IEP Meetings and Lots of Progress!!

2011-11-01T18:08:00.000-07:00

How is school going for my sweet Kindergartener?? Great!! We are loving his new school and teachers and had a great IEP (Individualized Education Program) meeting and parent/teacher conference. Bryson has been going to this school for 2 months now and it seems like his regular classroom teacher, special ed teacher, speech therapist, and occupational therapist all know him so well! They work together as a team and are making great progress with him (along with all the great input and help we get from our amazing private therapist).

When we met with all these teachers last week, Zane and I left feeling so grateful and happy. Along with expressing how cute and sweet our boy is, they also mentioned they love his excitement for school and his happy personality. Obviously this is no cake walk for them as Bryson needs a lot of help in different areas but they are working so hard to try different ideas and pinpoint what exactly Bryson needs and how they can give him the most help possible. For example, Bryson is really having trouble processing noise. We recently went out to eat dinner and noticed that Bryson wasn't eating his food. Instead, he was covering his ears and quietly repeating to himself, "Please be quiet...please make it quiet in here..." I ended up taking him to eat his food in the car while Zane and Ashlyn finished their food. We found out in our meeting that noise is an issue at school too. Apparently Bryson has been wearing headphones to the lunch room to help alleviate some of the frustrations that come with loud noise (Zane and I forgive you if you just laughed at that image popping up in your head...we did too). :) They also had a very loud pep rally recently and the headphones just weren't enough to mask the noise so one of the teachers took him out in the hallway (By the way, the pep rally was for the first school fundraiser where the kids are challenged on Friday to run as many laps as they can...maximum of 35 laps...and they are supposed to get pledges...anywhere from $1 to $50...that will be paid per lap...Bryson is so excited so if anyone wants to support him, feel free to let me know...sorry, shameless plug!!). :) Anyway, back to my story, his great teachers are working so hard to help him process noise.

They also introduced us to the concept of this chew necklace:

We made one to use at home and it's helped to alleviate his desire to put things in his mouth and also helps calm him sometimes when he's getting overwhelmed. And by the way, I love this school photo!!

We recently got the results back from Bryson's Kindergarten assessments that were done on the first day of school. It was a little disappointing to see that he scored a 4 out of 20. Well, as the teachers got to know Bryson and realized how smart he really is, they realized he just needed to be tested in a different way. They noticed that he gets overwhelmed easily and needs time between questions and also needs breaks. He was recently retested and was only asked to answer 2-3 questions at a time instead 20 all at once. Over time, after all 20 questions had been asked, his new score was either a 13 or 14 out of 20. Soooo much better!! I kind of laughed a little when they shared that he also gets easily distracted when doing his work in class. Now they tell him that every time he answers a couple questions he gets to look around the room at his friends or look out in the hallway and then return to his assignment. :) This works so well for him!

I could go on and on writing about the help they're giving Bryson but instead I'll show you some proof. These are the type of homework assignments that come home:

The top square is a drawing of two goats. The bottom is Bryson's attempt to write the number 4. The scribbles on line 2 and 3 are the ones he tried by himself. While Bryson is making amazing progress drawing simple lines and circles, there was no way he would be able to write in these small spaces on his own. So, his homework has been changed so that I write the number on a much larger scale and he traces it 5 times. Now his numbers look like this:

Sooo much better! And do you see those four "B's"? That's the first letter he's ever written and his private therapist has been working FOREVER on that. It's so exciting to see that he was able to write that this morning after I drew the smaller B!!

And speaking of circles and lines getting better, just a couple months ago when he got his first set of homework, he had trouble circling and crossing out:

Bryson's private therapist had a great idea to draw a dot where his circle or x needs to start/stop. What a great idea! While he still struggles making an "x", the dot on top of each answer has really helped him with his homework:

I'm definitely not going to look ahead and get any hopes up about how much progress Bryson is going to make this year because I'm already thrilled with what he's accomplished! However, I know that his teachers are doing their best and they will help us make sure that he will achieve what he is capable of and we're already so proud of our sweet Kindergartner!!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T19:02:00.000-07:00

Much to our surprise after stuffing our kids with candy and desserts, it only took them about 4 minutes to fall asleep! I guess they've enjoyed their Halloween day!

Aaaah, let's reminisce like I always love to do:

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

Today our kids were excited to get to light our pumpkins we carved this weekend. Can anyone tell who Zane carved into his pumpkin (his is the person, mine is the Jack-O-"Lantern"):

Let me help a little...here it is lit up:

Let me help a little more...it has to do with politics!

Any guesses??

Ron Paul:

Pretty good, huh?

Along with Ron Paul, we had my Jack-O-Lantern:

And the kids' pumpkins. Notice their noses are an "A" and a "B":

The kids were excited to go eat at Chick-Fil-A with some friends (and Mommy was excited that costumes got free kids meals):

The kids were also excited to decorate our house for a fun Halloween party we had with our small group friends (my friend and I made these candy corn decorations with coffee filters...so fun!):

We had a great night with our small group, ate tons of food and dessert, and had some brave Daddies who were willing to take the kids trick-or-treating out in the rain! Definitely a fun (but exhausting) day!

Imaginary Games, Frosties, and Swinging

2011-10-22T13:41:00.001-07:00

The kids and I (Zane) decided to go to the baseball field today. We played on the field by hitting, throwing, and trying to tag each other out. After a while of playing and working up an appetite, we went and ate lunch. Then we took some Frosties back to the field for a little more fun.

You can kind of see Bryson in the third base dugout eating his Frosty. He decided that he wanted to eat his alone in the dugout. He is just like his daddy (wanting to be alone). Ashlyn sat with me and we enjoyed our Frosties together.

After completing our dessert, Bryson played some imaginary baseball. Do you remember doing that? I do! I used to stand on the mound and throw "strikes" to the imaginary batters. The crowd would go wild and I would be the hero. Or, I would come to bat in the bottom of the 9th and hit a walk off homerun. It is neat to see him play the same games. Today, he said he was the Texas Rangers and he was playing the St. Louis Cardinals. I wonder where he got that idea?

Ashlyn just wanted to swing. She loves to swing. We have a swing set in the backyard (from her Mimi and Papi) that she swings on, but these swings were much bigger. I was swinging next to her and watching Bryson play. I forgot how peaceful it is to swing and just let the gravitational energy take you along.

It has been a fun day. Tara is at a Women's Day at the church so we got to have a little daddy/kid fun.

State Fair 2011 (and 2010, 2009, 2008...)

2011-10-15T18:26:00.000-07:00

Every year I get so excited when the State Fair comes! I love getting to enjoy the day with my family, see my kids get so excited over everything, watch them fill their bags with all the free goodies, test free samples, and then eat some yummy food!! As we walked through the gate this year I mentioned to Zane that we needed to go visit this one specific area that we hadn't been to in a really long time. He laughed and teased me saying that we might have skipped the area last year, but that doesn't really count as it being a "long time". Then we both laughed when I reminded him that the only time we had been to this area was when we stopped to sit on the big stairs to feed Bryson (who was 8 months old) his baby food the first year we lived here. It made us realize that we have been to the State Fair 5 years in a row!! I can't even believe we've lived in North Carolina that long! So, in the spirit of reminiscing...

2006

We went to the fair twice this year...once when Zane's mom and sister were visiting and again with some of our friends.

2007

This year was fun because Bryson had a little more understanding about what was going on and was at an age where he loved seeing that animals were real! And we knew baby sister was coming in only 2 short months so we enjoyed some of our last time as a family of 3!

(Ashlyn was there, she just doesn't know it):

2008

Ashlyn got to experience the fair for the first time and Bryson was finally old enough to ride some of the rides by himself which he was so proud of!!

2009

Ashlyn got to see what all the excitement of the rides was all about and Bryson got to ride his first roller coaster (and all by himself)!

(I'm pretty sure I've enjoyed a gyro every time we've gone):

2010

The first year we were able to go with no stroller and no diapers!! It's so much easier to maneuver your way around without having to push a stroller!

2011
And now to this year...
We really enjoyed the fair again this year. This year might have been the first time we went on a Saturday (which is definitely more crowded than a weekday), but I really don't have much to complain about. The kids didn't whine at all, the lines weren't tremendously long, we found an empty picnic table to eat lunch on, and the weather was perfect!

Ashlyn was a little scared (okay, maybe a lot) of Smokey the Bear, but Bryson really liked him. It was pretty funny when the worker standing by Smokey would ask the kids their names as they came over and she would repeat it so another man (who was hidden) would hear her and would be the loud voice of Smokey, calling the kids by name.

Zane got to test the importance of seat belts when he tried this simulator that hits something head on at about 5 mph. I told him that now he needs to imagine what Ashlyn and I felt when we hit something head on at 55 mph. :)

Bryson and Zane raced each other on these bikes.

Of course Zane won, but we were surprised at how well Bryson did!:

Rides were a little different this year because the kids almost always chose different ones. Bryson chose the bigger caterpillar roller coaster while Ashlyn chose a much smaller duck ride:

Then we took a lunch break.

Yep...a gyro:

Bryson rode on the monster trucks and the bumper cars while Ashlyn and I rode the swings:

The carousel is always a favorite of Ashlyn's:

This clown walked by when we were waiting in line for the ferris wheel which helped pass some time since this was the longest line we had to wait in:

The wait was definitely worth it, though, because they loved this ride that they got to go on with Daddy (mommy was still trying to keep her lunch down after the kiddie swings). :) They loved being able to see the whole fair from above and then yelling and waving to me every time they came around:

Do you see me down below?

We really enjoyed the State Fair this year and now we'll wait patiently for next year's fair!!

Fall Zoo Trip

2011-10-09T18:13:00.000-07:00

Zane decided to take Friday off since it was just a teacher workday so we kept Bryson home from school and decided to make a fun day out of it. We surprised the kids by taking them to the NC State Zoo. We have a membership so we decided the weather was perfect and it might be the only chance we get this Fall to go. Our state zoo is divided into two sections (North America and Africa) and there is a lot of walking between the two. We went ahead and parked in the Africa parking lot and took this bus over to the North America side to start there and conveniently end up at our car. This was one of the highlights of the day for the kids. Bryson has been begging me to let him ride the bus to school and I told him that this was the closest he was ever going to get to riding the bus. :)

It was so nice having two kids who can walk on their own, don't need a nap time, don't need diapers changed, etc. (The baby age definitely has its own perks, but at this phase we're just enjoying the convenience of the preschool age).

After looking at many animals in North America, we were crossing over into Africa when I offered to take the kids' pictures in front of Dora and Diego (I have no clue why it looks like Ashlyn is saying the pledge here). They thought this was neat but then they were really excited when Zane decided the $3 was worth surprising his kids with a 4-D Dora and Diego adventure!

Our kids have never seen any 3-d/4-d movies so they thought this was so neat! It was hilarious hearing them yell out the answers to questions that Dora and Diego were asking, watching them reach out to grab things/push buttons/swing on vines, and hearing their excitement when their chairs were vibrating like they were in an airplane with Dora/Diego.

Like I said earlier, the weather was perfect but these misters were still fun for everyone!

And then we rounded out the day with playing on the helicopter and seeing the elephants.

When we pulled into the driveway at 5:45, our day still wasn't over. Ashlyn and I left to go to a princess birthday party at a local candy store for a friend and the boys went to eat dinner and go watch a High School Football game. Talk about a busy but super fun Friday!!!

New Bedroom Makeovers!!

2011-09-30T18:19:00.000-07:00

We were sad to see Mimi leave on Tuesday but we had so much fun while she was here! We had to be patient all day last Thursday since her plane wasn't landing until after Bryson got out of school. Ashlyn spent her rest time setting up a picnic with her babies that she insisted I let her leave set up so Mimi could see it.

While Mimi was here, we enjoyed playing inside, taking walks, playing outside, shopping at the Farmer's Market, and having lots and lots of fun. I wish I had taken more pictures, but we were so busy and the days went by so fast!

We got to go out to eat at a few of our favorite restaurants:

But what we spent a large majority of our time doing was shopping for the kids' bedrooms and painting. I've been excited for Mimi to come because we had big plans to paint the kids' rooms and decorate. Gigi and Grandpa got the kids their new comforter sets and Grandpa Chet helped buy a lot of our paint which was soooo nice of them!! Bryson was at school on Friday when we started our project and Ashlyn loved that we could open the bedroom windows while painting and watch her swing and splash in the rain and puddles:

She also did a little painting of her own:

So, what did we do to their rooms? Well, we scored a super cute bedding set on clearance for Ashlyn's room so we picked out the bright green coloring to paint one wall and then decorated it with hearts to match her comforter. We also added some green to the pink shelves Zane had built her a while ago. She loves it!!

And she really loves that before moving her babies to her closet, we painted them a special "room" to match hers (even down to the pink rug):

She loved her bedding set even more when Mimi offered to add some coins to this matching piggy bank:

I'm pretty sure she enjoys her new room...at least I know she looks pretty comfy sleeping in her bed!!:

Bryson's bedroom was an idea that took a little longer to decide on. We went ahead and got him a blue comforter set but still had no set plans for his room. He's very hard to excite since you never know what type of change will upset him. Finally, my mom thought of this camping theme and he loves it! We added his bean bag chair to this corner so that he can sit and read or play a game under the tree by the fire. Bryson talked non stop about how we all needed to go camping in his room. :)

He really enjoys these glow in the dark stars/moon we put around his walls:

And instead of a baby bedroom in his closet, he has his drums set up in there: :)

My mom definitely had to make this black bear friendly so Bryson wasn't scared to go into his room. I still can't believe my mom painted him free hand:

I have to explain before you watch this video that when we asked Bryson how he wanted his room painted, he kept saying he wanted Iron Man 2 painted on his walls. He's never seen the movies or had any Iron Man toys, so I'm not really sure why he loves Iron Man so much but I knew we weren't going to use that as the theme for his room. So, Mimi picked him out a fun Iron Man 2 toy to set on his bed for when we reveal his new room to him. I think that was the highlight of his bedroom! But I also know he loves telling people about his bedroom walls. :)

Thank you, Mimi, for helping decorate and paint their rooms!!

I guess while we're on the track of revealing rooms, I'll share some much anticipated pictures of our house. I'm really hesitant to even do this because the house still isn't decorated with what's planned out in my head, but you can at least see what the furniture looks like in our house for now. :)

Our bedroom is huge compared to the last house we were in! While our bed used to take up the entire bedroom, we now have so much room to walk around. We were even able to comfortably set up Ashlyn's toddler bed in our room while Mimi was here so Mimi could stay in Ashlyn's new big girl bed (which was given to us by some sweet friends in our small group...thank you Nick and Ashley!).

Bathrooms are just naturally boring, but here's a quick glimpse into ours:

And the kids':

We also love our kitchen and all the space in there!:

And the living room:

Obviously none of that was as fun as the kids' rooms, but at least you got to see inside our new home (which we are still loving)!!!

Bryson's New Book

2011-09-19T18:13:00.000-07:00

We are loving Bryson's new school and all the effort they are putting in to him. They go out of their way to get him the services and help he needs! He loves this special book that one of his teachers made for him so I thought I'd share it:

(That necklace idea was GENIUS and we have implemented that at home too! It really helps his sensory processing and oral stimulation he needs so he quits chewing on EVERYTHING in our house!)

Bryson loves this book and many times it is his bedtime book choice at night!!

Butter, Pickles, and Mudcats!!

2011-09-12T18:14:00.000-07:00

We spent last Saturday shopping outside at the State Farmers Market, the Flea Market, and then Trader Joe's. After filling our house with groceries, Ashlyn and I had two fun projects we decided to attempt. First we used some heavy whipping cream that was leftover in our fridge to make some butter. She thought this was so fun (and really so did I)! We enjoyed shaking the jar up and rolling it back and forth. Then the next day it was fun to make waffles with the buttermilk that was produced and spread our homemade butter over the top!

Ashlyn's jar of butter and a cup of buttermilk:

We also bought some pickling cucumbers at the Farmer's Market and I used my new canning skills to make 10 jars of pickles! They turned out pretty good for my first try but they are soooo sour!!:

Aside from shopping and cooking, we spent a lot of time outside watching baseball! We decided that since this was the last weekend for the Mudcats to play since baseball season is almost over, we needed to take the kids. Plus, since this was Labor Day weekend, they were having a Sunday night Fireworks Extravaganza! Neither one of our kids have ever been to a fireworks display but they always hear the 3 fireworks that are shot off during the National Anthem at every game we go to. So, Bryson was so excited to stay for fireworks after the game, but Ashlyn was very hesitant (she covers her ears during the National Anthem because she knows those loud pops are coming and she also covers her ears every time the crowd cheers at a good play because the Mudcats also shoot off a few fireworks when a homerun is hit by their team).

We sat up at the very top with hopes of catching a fly ball or a free t-shirt, but it didn't work...this day:

Bryson was pretty excited to get their mascot, Muddy the Mudcat, to sign his t-ball hat, though:

After the game, the fireworks came! Ashlyn was cuddled up in her Daddy's lap and keeping her ears covered:

She did admit that she liked the colors, just not the noise.

Bryson really shocked me with how much he loved them! We spent a lot of time preparing him for the noises he would hear and that the stadium would be dark and we were surprised at how well he did considering his SPD and the fact that he hates loud noises. He even said to me during the fireworks, "Mommy, this is the coolest thing I've ever seen in my whole entire life!!!"

The best news came when we were told that our tickets for Sunday night's game would also get us into Monday's game for free (the very last game for the Mudcats). So, of course on Monday we packed some hot dogs and chips to eat in the car and drove out for the afternoon game. We got lucky at this game and caught a free t-shirt that Bryson got Muddy to sign. :) I guess we'll start looking for some football tickets now since I don't think Bryson can wait until next baseball season to watch some live sports!!

Swings, Schools, and Lots of Fun!

2011-09-01T16:34:00.000-07:00

So, I apologize for my blog absence lately. It seems like we've been so busy with all the changes happening lately. I promise I have not forgotten about house pictures...they will come soon, but until then I'll fill you in on some of what has been going on around the Porter house.

We pulled up into our driveway not long after moving in and noticed a large box on our front porch. Zane and I both knew we hadn't ordered anything so we were shocked to see a swingset was sent to my kids from their Mimi and Papi. Zane immediately started putting it together in our new, fenced in, backyard!

While waiting patiently, the kids discovered the swingset frame could be put to good use as a soccer goal:

And they loved when it was finished and they could play on it!!! Thank you, Mom (Mimi)! It's been used a lot already!!

And we got the swings up just in time to have our old neighbors over to play on it and have pizza for dinner (sorry for the blurry cell phone pic)! The kids have missed playing with their friend from Youngsville:

We've also recently sent our big 5 year old to Kindergarten (and pulled him out of school to transfer him somewhere else...but that's a whole 'nother story):

He's been switched to a new school and he's loving it! I know this was a great decision and the Lord has us where we're meant to be! We're excited for what this school year will bring!

Zane had some time still at home after Bryson started school so we also enjoyed some time with just Ashlyn:

Ashlyn and Daddy enjoyed taking nature walks around our house/neighborhood:

And the 3 of us even got to go out to eat lunch a few times (which Ashlyn made sure to always tell Bryson about):

Our Kindergartner lost his 2nd tooth and was so excited about it!

Then it was time for Daddy to go to school which left only us girls at home. We have enjoyed going on walks, going to parks, playing in our backyard, having friends over to play, meeting friends around town, and so much more. But our favorite thing to do when we get home is to cook something new. We got a huge freezer from our friend, Molly, and her family so I've been trying to make some breakfasts that I can freeze for the kids to eat before we take Bryson to school. Ashlyn really loved making french toast muffins. I think she enjoyed it because her job was to tear up pieces of bread and smash it into muffin tins:

She's also our puzzle expert! She's just recently gotten into doing them and she started with a 24 piece but it was way too easy for her so we moved up to a 48 piece puzzle. That was still pretty easy so now she's getting used to 100 pieces. She's going to be like her mama (I just finished a 1,500 piece puzzle):

And these floors are just perfect for doing puzzles on!:

So, as you can see...we've been busy but still having fun! My mom (Mimi) comes this month and I'm excited to do some decorating in the kids' bedrooms with her...as long as the earthquake and the hurricane we had recently didn't make her change her mind! :)

Wet N Wild

2011-08-18T18:03:00.000-07:00

A couple months ago, I was listening to the radio while cleaning/packing and won 4 tickets to Wet N Wild. When we realized our summer was quickly coming to an end and much of August would be spent moving, we decided to take the kids to enjoy the pools! We packed some sandwiches and water bottles and took off. The kids were so excited to swim!

We needed a water break and some sunscreen before we got started!

Bryson LOVED the slides. He did such a great job of walking up to the line, waiting patiently, and then telling the lifeguard which slide he wanted to go down. Zane, Ashlyn, and I were able to just sit in the water and relax.

The lines on the big slides were pretty short too. Zane got to go down some of those and the kids enjoyed watching him

One of the favorite slides for everyone was the tube slide that the kids could even go down with us. There were never lines on this one:

But overall, it was just fun to enjoy the water and amazing weather and take a break from all the cleaning and packing...and especially with free tickets!!

The New House "Before"

2011-08-11T17:44:00.000-07:00

We have been so busy since moving and as much as I'd love to share photos, our house is definitely not done yet. It seems so different knowing that this is our house now, so we're still working on painting and bleaching. :) But until then, here's a video of our house we took last week. I guess you could call it a "before" video!:

Dates, Runner's Camp, Haircuts, Birthdays

2011-08-04T04:12:00.000-07:00

What else has the Porter Family been up to??

Well, Zane and I went on a much needed date night. We had actually not been out alone without kids in over a year and a half. So, our sweet babysitter, Molly, is home from college for summer break and offered to watch our kids for us. Zane and I went to Raleighwood to eat dinner while we watched a movie. We really enjoyed our chicken sandwich and nachos while watching Water For Elephants:

And how awesome that our babysitter accepts cake for payment!:

While we were at our movie, we had ingredients ready for the kids to make personal pizzas with Molly and then decorate cupcakes:

Thank you, Molly! The kids loved their time with you!!!

Our family also participated/helped with our church's Runner's Camp. It is similar to VBS but we spend time leading a Bible Study with our age group (Zane led 10 year old boys and I led 6 year old girls) and then we walked them to the different rotations that teach them track and field events. And Bryson and Ashlyn were a part of the "Mini Camp" for kids who weren't quite old enough to attend Runner's Camp, but their parents were teaching:

Then on Saturday morning there is a big track meet where the kids get to compete in events that they enjoy. Bryson waited patiently as I pinned participant numbers on some of my 6 year old girls:

And they enjoyed watching some of the events:

But Bryson's favorite was participating in the "Sibling" race for kids who were too young to attend Runner's Camp. Ashlyn cried the whole way down even though Zane held her hand and ran with her. Oh well, they both got ribbons at the end. :)

We also spent one day on a Family date using some Groupon deals we had. We started with mini golf which everyone loved:

And then we went to eat dinner with a Groupon deal we had for Chubby's Tacos. We had never been there before, but this has quickly become one of my new favorite places to eat! I LOVE guacamole (even though I'm allergic to it and it slightly closes my throat), but I don't love paying extra for it at every mexican restaurant. This place had some AMAZING guacatillo on their free salsa bar. It was *obviously* a mix of guacamole and tomatillo salsa and Zane and I were both very impressed with it! Their burritos are huge and their tacos are really good!

To keep cool this summer, Zane gave Bryson a matching haircut:

And took us girls to get ours cut (definitely not the best picture and our hair isn't styled, but you get the idea):

We have been watering our garden which was doing amazing! I say "was" because one night I had at least 20 green tomatoes and one red one but the next morning when I went to pick my red tomato, this is what I found:

And that chewed up piece of tomato was ALL that was remaining of my tomatoes. I guess the deer had themselves a nice feast!

We also got to celebrate Zane's birthday recently:

The kids enjoyed making him a birthday sign and I enjoyed making him the cherry cobbler he requested with fresh cherries and a flaky crust:

We loved celebrating him!

And the last bit of fun summer news I'll share in this post is a HUGE accomplishment for Bryson. We got the kids bikes with training wheels over a year and a half ago. Ashlyn had turned 2 and Bryson had turned 4. Ashlyn picked up the concept of riding the bike immediately (which is very normal for her). Bryson, on the other hand, had the hardest time figuring out how to pedal. He is even in physical therapy right now working on balance issues and motor planning with his body (getting his brain and body to work together). So, the other day when Zane had removed one of Bryson's training wheels to fix it, and then Bryson said he wanted to try his bike without training wheels, Zane thought he'd go ahead and let him try even though we knew it was basically impossible for Bryson to do. Boy were we wrong! Bryson picked it up sooo quick! I honestly think it took about 3 attempts for Bryson to catch on. He does a great job now and we have since had to get him and Ashlyn new helmets since we know we'll be riding near a bigger street soon! Bryson's therapists were all completely shocked at his success and we are all so proud of him and the progress he's making in all areas!!!

Summer Fun...Movies, Baseball, Gardening, and Building

2011-07-30T17:34:00.000-07:00

After returning from Tennessee, we have been staying busy and having so much fun! We've been trying to take the kids to as many free movies as we can:

We've been to some more Mudcats baseball games:

Which can really exhaust a 3 year old:

We've been watching our flowers and vegetables grow...until I saw that the deer had eaten all my tomatoes:

Zane built us an awesome bed with this wood:

I think he really enjoyed using his air compressor/nail gun he got for a Father's day gift:

The kids definitely enjoyed helping:

He had to make sure it all fit together:

Then he finished staining it and screwed it all together. We love it!!

To Be Continued....

Opryland Hotel

2011-07-26T19:02:00.000-07:00

Our final stop in Nashville before heading home to North Carolina was at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. It was really, really pretty and so neat inside!

The inside of the hotel makes you feel like you're back outside. It is filled with trees, plants, waterfalls, ponds, etc.

I thought these little pepper plants that were scattered around were so cute!

The kids saw this stage and immediately started dancing and singing:

This cute fountain area had a water show that was coordinated with music. Pretty neat!

We had soooo much fun in Tennessee with my family and we really hope these summer vacations become some type of tradition! We enjoyed all the swimming, walking, eating, playing, talking, and late night games while the kids slept!! Thanks Mimi and Papi for inviting us all and giving us a great vacation!!!

The Nashville Zoo!

2011-07-23T18:59:00.000-07:00

Alright...I'm sooooo behind on blogging and still have more to share of our trip to Tennessee. I promise, I'm almost done! :)

When our last day at our timeshare came to an end, we packed up and drove to Nashville for a night. We made a lunch stop at White Castle. It was sooo good!

Then, we spend a lot of time in the heat walking around the zoo! As you can see below, we took A LOT of pictures!

Ashlyn was a little afraid to sit on one of the toilet holes, but the boys didn't mind:

The zoo had an old house that was built in 1810...we toured it and found out that it was still there because the family agreed to let a children's museum use their land for educational purposes as long as they could continue living in the house and as long as the house would never be demolished (I totally just copied this info from my sister's facebook info for reasons you'll learn in a minute):

Bryson got a little tired of being quiet and touring the house so we went outside and waited while everyone else finished the tour. You'll see in this video why I just copied my sister's info on the house...apparently I didn't listen very well on the tour:

After touring the house/farm area it was time to ride the carousel and then continue looking at the animals:

Ashlyn wasn't very fond of the birds landing on her hands so Aunt Nichole helped:

Snack time! Nice face, mimi!:

Nice face for you too, Papi!:

I would definitely say the petting zoo area was the kids favorite! I mentioned to Zane that we shouldn't be looking at buying houses...we should just buy a farm!:

Even Mimi found a friend! Can you believe this camel was only a couple months old?

I'm not sure if he's begging me to get my kids away from him or if he was just sad we were leaving: :)

And the best exhibit ever was this mommy and daddy holding their babies:

After leaving the zoo, cooling off, and eating dinner at Cracker Barrel, we got ready for bed so we would be rested for our last morning in Tennessee and our big drive home!!

The "Un-Birthday" Party, Mini Golf, and Horseback Riding

2011-07-16T19:05:00.000-07:00

Gigi and Grandpa (my grandparents) weren't able to come to Tennessee to be with all of us, but they still tried to send some fun goodies for our kids to enjoy. They sent my mom with some fun games, crayons, paper, etc. One other thing they provided for the kids was an "Un-Birthday" party. The cousins never get to be together for their birthdays and us Aunts, Uncles, and Mimi and Papi never get to see all the kids on their birthdays. So, we did one big party for all of them. One afternoon while the kids were having rest time, we decorated the room with balloons, pulled out the party hats and blowers, set out the cake and goody bags, and surprised the kids. They loved it!!

After everyone finished their "Un-birthday" cake and the chocolate covered pretzel "candles", we went to play some mini golf...another exciting surprise for the kids!:

We even got to spend some time on the playground next to the golf course:

While dinner was grilling, the kids got to play with their goody bag toys outside:

I think the party was a big hit with the kids (and the adults too)!

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The next day we had another extremely fun day planned! We started the morning by walking to a playground near our rooms. The kids got to play and also see some huge turtles and fish in the pond nearby. Zane practiced hitting some golf balls and some of the kids took turns riding on Ellie's scooter.

Aunt Nichole was probably texting Uncle Warren since we missed him...he wasn't able to get off work to come to Tennessee:

After playing at the playground, we walked home to eat some lunch before our next appointments. The guys had a tee time and left to go golfing:

The girls and kids (minus Aunt Kirsten who had to stay back to let Violet take her nap) left for our appointment. Mimi made arrangements for the grandkids to go horseback riding! I'm pretty sure the kids all LOVED it! I know we kept having to remind Bryson to hold on with both hands because he kept letting go to pet his horse:

And the best way we could think to end this fun filled day was to give the kids one big bath together!

More Tennessee Fun!

2011-07-11T18:33:00.000-07:00

We started our second day in Tennessee visiting a HUGE treehouse near our timeshare.

It was really neat to walk around and visit the different rooms inside.

But I think the kids really enjoyed the swing (lawn chair duct taped to rope) that was attached to the VERY TOP of the treehouse:

After rest time we spent the afternoon swimming and feeding squirrels with Mimi.

Here are some more videos that Zane took to document our time in TN. Just another quick reminder...these are probably not very interesting for everyone (although Zane's treehouse tour is pretty cool), but just a fun way to share videos with everyone who was there and whoever else wants to see them. :)

Tennessee - Day 1

2011-07-05T19:15:00.000-07:00

The morning finally arrived when we pulled the last link off of our countdown chain. It was finally Sunday morning and we were ready to hit the road to Tennessee!

Aunt Nichole flew in the day before so she could drive to Tennessee with us so we decided to take her to one of our new favorite restaurants...Girasole!

So, Sunday morning we hopped in the car and took off! My mom and stepdad rented two timeshare suites for them, us and our kids, and my sisters and their families. The kids were sooo good in the car and spent their time playing, watching movies, and sleeping:

Many of you know my love for Jack in the Box and that is always a highlight when traveling. We were so excited to stop and eat lunch there and it seemed like we ordered one of everything on the menu! :)

While on our vacation, Zane took a TON of videos. So, don't be disappointed if much of our vacation is displayed in video form! Here are some video clips of our first day arriving in Tennessee (Warning...the end of the video is just a lot of playground time and doesn't get any more exciting...but it was worth sharing with the families):

Starting our Summer with Painting and Movies!

2011-06-21T19:21:00.000-07:00

Zane has been enjoying his summer break but is very happy that we're moving soon because he's already getting bored so he's been able to keep busy preparing for the move. After spending hours decorating my kids' rooms, it took Zane a day to "erase" all my work and get our house back to the wall colors we had when we moved in.

So our "After" pictures became the "Before" pictures...

Those pretty rooms became simple and white again:

We've also been enjoying spending time together. Today we took the kids to a Free movie (to see Marmaduke). Ashlyn had never been to a movie theater before and Bryson had been a few times but was never able to make it very far into the movie without us having to leave. It always seemed like the games in the lobby, the loud sounds in the theater, and all the activity was too much stimulation for Bryson's SPD. So, we figured this was the best time to attempt a movie with both kids since it was free and we wouldn't be wasting any money if we walked out after 20 minutes. Zane and I were shocked that the kids made it through the whole movie!

**Funny story...this morning we just kept telling the kids we were going to a "surprise place" and when they wouldn't quit asking where we were going I jokingly told them we were going to the broccoli store to eat broccoli. Obviously this was a joke and Ashlyn didn't find it funny but I wasn't thinking about how much Bryson LOVES all vegetables. (In fact, tonight he wanted more squash and spinach before he even touched any of his other food.) But I laughed so hard when we had watched about 40 minutes of the movie and Bryson leaned over and said, "Mommy, I'm really hungry. Can you go buy me my broccoli now?"**

And Zane took this simple video tonight before the kids went to bed just so the grandparents can see their grandkids in action a little!

A Memorable 8th Anniversary!!

2011-06-14T19:00:00.000-07:00

Today marks 8 years since I married my High School Sweetheart and hopefully we have many more years together ahead of us!!

We didn't have big plans for today since Zane is still finishing up his teacher work days and Bryson still has therapy, but our afternoon/evening ended up becoming very busy because.....

We signed the final contract on a new house!!!

So, if all goes according to plan and the inspections go well, we should be closing around July 15th. This idea that started as just an option we were going to look into ended up getting us approved for a loan, finding a house, and making an offer within 3 days time! It all happened so fast and we have so many examples of how the Lord orchestrated it all together that I will share soon, but for now, just trust us that so far the Lord has opened every single door to lead us to this decision! And we are so excited!!

So, after staying at the office until it was almost the kids' bedtime, we finally left and fed ourselves and our kids some yummy dinner at Chili's!

It ended up being a pretty good anniversary if you ask me!! :) I enjoy this gift a whole lot more than the traditional "bronze" gift!

It's Finally Summer Break!!!

2011-06-11T06:27:00.000-07:00

After 33,300 miles of driving, Bryson's 2 1/2 years of preschool are finally over!! Bryson's t-ball games also ended Monday night. He loved playing and I know he'll be asking us for a while when his next game is. I was pleasantly surprised with how it all went and I really think Bryson enjoyed it. If these photos we got aren't proof enough, then I don't know what is!:

And everything is better when a trophy is involved at the end!

Go Seminoles!:

School is finally over. Zane and Bryson both finished on Friday (minus a few work days for Zane next week). We were so excited that Zane got to come with us to Bryson's preschool graduation this year. The previous 2 years I've always recorded parts of it for Zane to see because he's always had to work so it was nice that he got the morning off to come watch. I wasn't so happy that this happened to Bryson's face just a few days before:

See these little red dots down the side of his face (you might have to click the picture to see it bigger)? Any guesses what it's from?

Bryson and Ashlyn teamed up and we heard the same story from both. Basically Bryson wanted to walk on the treadmill and Ashlyn watches me do it everyday so she showed Bryson where the key was. Since it was up high, Bryson stood on his drum stool to reach the key. Ashlyn used her fine motor skills to put the key in the treadmill and then turned it on the slow setting for Bryson. Then Ashlyn told us "I turned it on, but Bryson is the one who turned it up fast!" Apparently Bryson turned it up as fast as it went and when he fell, Ashlyn turned it off for him. Those little red dots are the burns from the treadmill belt. Anyway, it's healing quickly but is still not fun to see on his chin! Luckily it happened before his graduation and not right before class pictures. :) And I'm also glad that it was after his graduation that he decided to fall down the slide at church and scratch up the other side of his face:

Back to graduation...Ashlyn was very excited that we had an hour and a half to waste before we had to be back to Bryson's school so she got to go to Waffle House with Mommy and Daddy!:

And Bryson was so excited when it was finally time to sing for all the mommies and daddies!

(Sorry for the finger covering the microphone on the first two performance songs and the blurriness from converting the videos)

And who can resist cake, cookies, chips, and punch?:

And they even awarded him his own little diploma that he is so proud of (as you can see by his little fingerprints all over it already)!:

Bryson has grown so much in preschool and his teachers have been amazing! We are excited (although a little nervous) to see how Kindergarten goes! He will for sure miss his teachers who he was been with for 2 1/2 years! Ms. Sharon has really expressed how much she'll miss Bryson. Bryson and Ashlyn both have loved her!:

It's been a great school year, but we are very excited for our summer!!!

Teeth, Ink, and Sleep Habits

2011-06-02T19:19:00.000-07:00

The next hurdle into becoming a "big boy" has been accomplished! Bryson lost his first tooth last night! It was really funny because I had just told Zane that evening that he needed to start feeling Bryson's tooth every day because it was getting so loose that it was really making me sick seeing it move so much. Just about an hour after I told this to Zane, he bent Bryson's tooth forward and it snapped off. Bryson was sooo excited and has been anticipating the day that he will "lose his baby teeth and get big boy teeth" ever since he had seen a show about it. Let me preface this by saying that Zane and I are NOT fans of Yo Gabba Gabba. We basically think it's one of the craziest shows ever. For example, if you have 3 spare minutes, watch this clip about the tooth fairy that Bryson saw:

Tooth Fairy Clip

Zane and I immediately reassured Bryson that this crazy lady would not be sneaking into his bedroom when he went to sleep and Zane explained that we would give him a dollar, but that the tooth fairy was just a game people played.

He was pretty proud to spend his money today on some Reese's Peanut Butter cups and still have .50 cents left over (I guess he's in a hurry to rot his other teeth out). :) He has actually become quite fond of spending money the past week with his tooth fairy and also with some preschool graduation money his Mimi and Papi sent him. He gets very proud to put his own money up on the counter and get his change back!

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Speaking of this sweet little boy, he inspired something that Zane and I have done recently...

Got Ink? We do!!

Over a year ago, I was really in awe of some of the tattoos that I was seeing on Facebook where parents were getting the Apraxia logo to honor their children who have apraxia. I had mentioned to Zane that I wanted to get some type of tattoo and he encouraged me to get a tattoo inspired by Bryson's disabilities but also something that inspires our whole family. So, Zane chose a great verse and translated it into Hebrew and this tattoo was created. Zane got his done back in March and we were finally able to find a time for me to go get mine done...today. So, we have Exodus 4:12 in Hebrew on our bodies. Long story short, this is where God is asking Moses to be His messenger to Pharaoh and Moses basically gives excuses of reasons why he is not adequate enough to do this...one of his excuses in verse 11 being that he is slow in speech and not the best speaker. Verse 12 is then God saying:

"Now then go, and I, even I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say."

What a good verse for Bryson, but also for our family as a whole and how God equips us all to be His messengers!

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And now onto my sweet girl.

She keeps me laughing all the time...especially during naptime. She will find the funniest places to fall asleep. Like right in front of her door (and many times she changes her clothes during naptime and puts on pajamas):

Or on the floor after she's made sure her babies are all comfortable:

Or my favorite "Where's Ashlyn?"

Do you see her in her messy, messy room. Here she is:

She was completely passed out under this basket. Silly girl!

And don't even bother to tell her to go grab a clip or hair tie to keep her hair out of her face so we can go play outside or she'll come up with her own solution:

Apparently underwear has become the new headband!

T-Ball 2011

2011-05-27T18:38:00.000-07:00

So, these videos have been quite a process and I'm sorry they're so blurry. Basically our new camera takes videos in a different program than I'm used to so Zane had to convert them all so I could use my movie maker program. Then after spending over an hour last night putting it together, it refused to save to my computer. Luckily, Zane came to the rescue and created a video that works so that you all can see Bryson playing t-ball (because if I kept working on it you might not see this until he's in college).

Bryson is really enjoying his t-ball team and only has 2 games left. He has improved soooo much in the couple months he's been playing. Well, go ahead and see for yourself:

Now one quick story before I show you the last clip of Bryson hitting another pitch...

A few weeks ago the kids were praying before bed and Bryson thanked God for one thing...Sports Center by Burger King. Zane and I gave each other confused looks and tried so hard to figure out which sport store was in the Burger King parking lot. After a few minutes of thinking, we realized it wasn't a store he was talking about.

Every morning when Bryson wakes up, he comes into our room and I turn on his favorite thing..."ports" (sports). At 6:30 each morning, we know that channel 50 is the only sports channel he wants to watch and if you turn it to the wrong sports show, he'll let you know! How does he know? The sports show on Channel 50 plays highlights from the week but also has the Burger King logo in the bottom corner and runs Burger King commercials. It's sponsored by Burger King, hence the reason Bryson calls it "SportsCenter...by Burger King". Silly kid! He learns a lot from this show about how to play sports and use different sports terms, but he will also be the first to tell you when Burger King has a new jalapeno burger on their menu or that right now you can get frozen drinks at Burger King for only $1.

Kindergarten and an IEP Meeting

2011-05-18T18:46:00.000-07:00

Kindergarten! Yesterday, we went to Bryson’s transitional IEP meeting to go from Pre-K at one school to Kindergarten at the other. Bryson was excited and nervous, but the meeting went well. Here is the wrap-up: Bryson will enter the year-round school in July and be paced in a regular education class. He will do most of his activities and learning in that class, but will be pulled out for about an hour each day for resource and therapy.

We are excited for Bryson to be in a regular education class (we know he does fine at church) but it is nerve wracking. Sheltering a child to the world is not healthy, but nothing can stop the anxiety that we have for him with the other kids. Bryson is such a sweet boy and he is still fairly naïve to his differences. It is going to be an emotional battle when he sees the differences in him, but I pray that God will protect his heart from unneeded despair and loneliness.

God-

Help us to see Bryson’s need, and to give him

YOUR love and support. We pray that his heart

will stay tender and that he will continue to

see the world and people as you do.

-Amen

While we were in the meeting, we discussed giving Bryson more time and help on tests. WHAT? TESTS IN KINDERGARTEN? That has to be educational malpractice. Why do they start them so early? It is not for the student’s good….that’s for sure. On that note, here is a good article about the stupidity and lack of research for staring kids on the fast track to kindergarten http://goo.gl/nhqnX.

Help us pray for our boy as he goes to kindergarten and our little girl as she learns from mommy every day at home.

Easter, School, and Muffin Men

2011-05-13T18:14:00.000-07:00

It's catch up time! I've found some photos on our camera cards that I forgot about.

Obviously many of you know we don't have much to blog about Mother's Day since Bryson was so sick with a stomach virus and strep throat, but my family still made it extra special for me! Zane let me sleep in and then I woke up to eggs, bacon, and toast which I loved! They gave me some cards and some new shirts and we just had as much fun as we could given the circumstances. Zane even picked us up some Sonic for dinner since we couldn't make it out to eat like we had planned. Yummy!! Bryson even brought me these fun surprises home from school:

I also found these pictures from Easter. Much like Mother's Day, we missed out on the Easter egg hunts we had planned on going to because I had to take Ashlyn to the doctor and then we were sent to the ER to get some x-rays for some issues with her leg. Then when we finally got home, my allergies were so HORRIBLE and I ended up in bed with a migraine (which never happens). Luckily Zane is an amazing daddy and he made dinner and even colored eggs with the kids because he knew the kids had been excited for that:

And Easter morning he made his famous waffles that the kids and I really enjoy:

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We are nearing the end of our school year and it's crazy to think Bryson has been at Louisburg Elementary with the same teachers since he was 3:

And in just a few weeks, he'll be graduating from his preschool class:

He really enjoys his teachers (all 5 of them) and was so excited to give them their gifts for Teacher Appreciation Day. I know he's going to really miss them all:

I don't think Bryson completely understands that when Summer Break comes he won't be in their class anymore, but he's excited to go to his new school by our house (and we're excited for the gas money we'll be saving). He's been practicing his letters/numbers/shapes on this dry erase placemat that he got at Kindergarten registration:

Even Ashlyn loves it:

Bryson brings home so many paintings, drawings, collages, colorings, etc. that they do in class to help them learn their letters, rhymes, etc. But some of my favorite things he's been bringing home are some pictures he draws with the help of his therapists when he's working on making straight lines, circles, and other shapes. Those of you on Facebook might remember that a few days ago he told me he was moving out. When I asked him where he was moving to he said to Drury Lane to live with the Muffin Man. These pictures were sent home by his therapists and I thought they were hilarious:

The Muffin Man:

Bryson and the Muffin Man:

And the best one of all - our family portrait...with 2 muffin men:

For some odd reason, our kid is obsessed with the Muffin Man!!

What Happens when Ashlyn and Mommy Mow the Lawn?

2011-05-06T18:32:00.000-07:00

Zane got our lawn mower out and got ready to mow when Ashlyn and I decided we wanted to do a few strips of grass before he started. We really enjoyed it and ended up doing the whole lawn while Zane used the weed eater, but we had one little casualty:

Before you get all worked up, let me tell you that the mower didn't get anywhere near her toes. Her shoe just slipped off as we were backing up with the mower and she didn't say anything until we ran it over. When she saw her shoe fly out she immediately began sobbing, "My croc!!!!" These are her absolute favorite shoes, we've had them for over a year, and she wears them EVERY DAY! Zane consoled her and told her we'd leave tonight to go get her some new pink crocs and when Zane told her to just throw away her ruined ones, she insisted on saving the one good one because it wasn't broken.

Her eyes lit up when we replaced them tonight:

Well, at least our lawn looks great now, Ashlyn has some new shoes, and luckily it wasn't my flip flops I was wearing that got ruined. I just might have cried worse than Ashlyn did...it's hard for a girl to have to say goodbye to her favorite shoes!!

Our time at the ocean!!

2011-04-29T20:02:00.000-07:00

(There's just so much symbolism in how Bryson's foot turned out compared to the rest. I love it!) :)

Ocean time was probably the favorite for everyone! As much as I hate getting IN the ocean, I love watching it. In fact, this chair below was where you could always find me sitting because I had a great view of the ocean waves out the window. Zane and Bryson looked forward to playing in the water and Ashlyn enjoyed sitting on the sand with me building sandcastles.

Zane and Bryson LOVE the ocean!!

Every morning we would wake up, eat breakfast, and immediately get our swimsuits on. Our hotel had a private boardwalk that went right to the ocean which made it so easy to get to:

Nothing could keep this boy out of the water. The weather was amazing for playing outside, but the water was very cold!! Bryson didn't care one bit!:

The beach was really quiet and we loved that. We would get out there some mornings and no one would be around except the occasional jogger. So peaceful!!

Ashlyn and I spent all of our time digging in the sand and never went into the water. That was perfect for us!

In our very first 5 minutes on our first day at the ocean, I was putting a shovelful of sand into the bucket and immediately screamed. A huge clump of my sand was moving! Zane thought it was hysterical that this disgusting LIVE crab was in my bucket:

If only I could have found a pretty creature like the starfish that Bryson and Zane found in the ocean:

I lied...Ashlyn did get in the water once. But not on purpose. She ran up to the edge of the water to ask Bryson to fill her bucket with water. Right after she got up there, a huge wave hit the shore and knocked her down. She face planted into the water. She was freezing for a little while after that:

Zane and Bryson took some time to find us some really neat shells!

And notice the "Smore's" face looking at some of our shells:

Every once in a while Bryson would either come help us build or he'd sit on a towel and tell us that he needs to just rest for a minute:

Do you like what Ashlyn insisted on wearing? She wouldn't take off her new Atlantic Beach t-shirt we had bought her the night before. Silly girl!

Now this is one of my favorite parts of our time on the ocean. Do you see what's out in the water and so close to the shore?:

If not, I'll zoom in for you:

How cool is that??? We saw so many dolphins and they were so close to us (you might have to click on some of the pictures to make them bigger)!:

On our last morning before heading home, we fed our leftover hamburger buns to the birds. It started with 2-3 birds coming to eat:

And it quickly became a ton of birds:

And then the sad time came when we had to change our clothes and leave for home. But before our ride home we stopped at one more restaurant on the water. We just had to try the food at Ruddy Duck Tavern. We could smell their food a couple nights before when we were at another restaurant and we knew we'd love it. It was really good!

This trip was definitely one of my all time favorites! We had so much fun and the kids were so good! I really hope we can have another vacation like this one again soon!!!

Spring Break Part 2!!

2011-04-28T19:04:00.000-07:00

Zane did AMAZING on the deal he got us for the timeshare we stayed in on our vacation! I wanted so badly to just stay and live there the rest of our lives! The living room was a good size and the fully furnished kitchen made it convenient (and saved money) to bring some of our own groceries to make breakfast and lunch and not have to drive into town until dinner time:

I was so worried about the kids sharing a room but they did great. I had no clue that Ashlyn would sleep through Bryson waking in the night. Even when he would turn on the light and come to our room, she stayed asleep. And one night I was taking Bryson back to bed and Ashlyn stretched a little too much and she literally did a somersault off the side of the bed. It didn't wake her at all (or maybe she was knocked unconscious...but either way she didn't get up). Totally joking about the unconscious part grandparents!! :)

Ashlyn tried to take over our bedroom:

One of my favorite parts of our place...the tub!! The kids loved it too!!

Of course, when we first arrived we put our things up and explored our room. Zane took this fun picture out on our balcony:

The kids became big fans of the indoor pool and we enjoyed going there each afternoon after naptime and sometimes after dinner. The inflatable toys were such a good idea because Ashlyn could swim alone and most of the pool was shallow enough for Bryson to jump in and walk by himself. It's so different for Zane and I to have our hands free and just get to play with the kids:

One of Bryson's daily requests since the day we told them about our Spring Break trip was to go play mini golf. One afternoon after naps we decided to take the kids out for some fun. First we went by the recreation room at the timeshare to do a craft. Bryson chose to paint wood letters that spell "BEACH" and Ashlyn chose to paint some stained glass window ornaments:

After finishing their crafts, we went to play mini golf! The kids had so much fun until the very end when the last hole keeps your ball after you hit it in. Ashlyn was in tears because it took away her ball.:

Look at this Mimi, Papi, and Papa Porter...Golfing on the ocean! :)

We enjoyed a yummy dinner on the water at Sanitary Restaraunt where Zane got to eat some "real" fried fish. It was fun (but also a little scary) to be staying on an island and have to drive over the bridge to get into town to eat dinner:

One morning I couldn't find Ashlyn in our room. I kept calling her name and she never came. I finally went into the kids' room and saw this:

That sneaky little girl had found the Easter candy I packed as a surprise for the kids and was hiding under the bed eating it. Crazy girl!

We spent the rest of our time eating at some more fun places, making smores in our hotel room, collecting seashells, swimming inside some more, cleaning up in the huge bathtub, playing in the arcade, and of course...playing in the ocean!!! I hate to end this post. I have TONS of pictures of the ocean and don't have time to sort them, but I promise I'll put them up tomorrow evening!!! :)

Have I Ever Said That I Hate SPD?

2011-04-24T18:25:00.000-07:00

To hold you over until the next spring break post, here is a glimpse into Bryson's SPD.

Have I ever said that I hate SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder)?

It breaks my heart to watch Bryson become overwhelmed with emotion for relatively trivial occurrences. Here are two examples of what I mean; they both happened in the last two days

While playing outside, I decided to put the basketball up that was in the street. Instead of picking up the ball though, I kicked it to the house. Before it landed in the desired spot, the ball knocked over my glass of tea. Upon seeing the ice and tea saturate the driveway, Bryson put his hands to his ears and began to cry hysterically. I asked him what was wrong and he explained that my tea was knocked over and now I would not have any tea to drink. Why did he get so emotional over my tea? I tried to explain to him that it didn't bother me, but that didn't relieve his emotional battle.

After building two churches with his blocks, Bryson called mommy and sister to come admire our creation. The girls stayed in the room for a little while and then the church was knocked over. Bryson's world fell apart. He didn't understand why the church was knocked over and why I was cleaning up the blocks before bedtime. His hands went to his ears and he continued to cry. He was deeply hurt that the building was knocked over and that I was putting the blocks away. We rarely play with the blocks, and he has never really cared about them this much. Why did he care so much this time?

I can tell when the emotional response is an SPD response because he puts his hands to his ears. I guess he is trying to crawl inside himself for protection like a turtle. I want to protect him...but I can't. I want to cry when I watch him hurting so badly.

I love my son so much, and I hate what SPD does to his responses and emotions.

God-

Use Bryson's SPD for your glory and keep him safe while you do please. Give me the wisdom to know how to comfort him in these emotional times...

-Zane

All About the Aquarium!!

2011-04-21T19:06:00.000-07:00

Zane has been on Spring Break this week and it was so fun to hear that he booked us a few nights at Atlantic Beach. The kids have been so excited and counting down the days until we got to leave. Friday afternoon, the kids spent the day helping me pack. They thought they were such big kids when I would send them to their rooms to pick out various items and articles of clothing on their own. Saturday, we started out the morning by letting the kids open their "Easter baskets". We've never really been big fans of an Easter basket filled with candy and random toys, so we've always done a basket with some new items that the kids can use with the warming weather. In the past we've filled baskets with chalk, bubbles, squirt guns, etc. This year we did beach themed baskets and supplied the kids with things they could use on our trip and of course threw in a few pieces of candy:

The kids were anxious to get our vacation started so we quickly loaded up the car and hit the road for Atlantic Beach! We had planned on arriving a few hours before our hotel check in time so that we could spend a couple hours at the NC Aquarium which was located about 5 miles from our hotel. We ate a quick lunch and spent the afternoon looking at all types of sea animals!

Bryson had spent days talking about the "wiver otters" he was going to get to see...unfortunately they were sleeping when we got there:

Luckily there was still plenty more to see:

Bryson loved petting the stingrays and it was hard keeping him from just climbing in there with them. Another favorite part of the aquarium was the shark tank. It was a huge tank filled with fish and sharks, but it was so hard to get good pictures there!

Ashlyn thought it was a pretty relaxing place to lay down and take a nap. :)

After looking around the whole aquarium, we went back to the shark tank again to see the divers who were scheduled to swim with the sharks. The kids enjoyed this and for the rest of our vacation, Bryson would announce in the swimming pools that he was deep sea diving just like these men!!:

The divers were in the tank answering questions that people had:

When they were done, they swam across the front window giving "high fives" to the kids and showing them any shark teeth they found on the tank floor:

I realize that the only ones who made it this far were some grandparents and maybe some aunts, but the aquarium was only the beginning of our fun weekend....!!!!

Flowers, T-Ball, and Mudcats!

2011-04-12T19:05:00.000-07:00

I'm really hoping my hay bale garden continues to grow but until then we let the kids plant some flowers in some extra ground space we have outside. My raised garden bed from last summer killed the grass underneath. Zane originally tried to tell me that this would be where he buried me if he needed a space, but we thought it'd be a little nicer to let the kids plant some flowers here:

After Zane dug some holes, the kids got to drop in some seeds:

This picture has nothing to do with the garden except for that this is how Ashlyn had her hair done when we were outside:

I had asked her to bring me some hairties. After I gave her pigtails I realized she had one hairtie left and she wanted me to use all 3 so I just "ponytailed" them together. I think this is my new favorite hairstyle for her and her hair length. :)

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Bryson has started his t-ball games for the season. He absolutely loves it!!! He also loves that whenever Zane is able to make the practice/game he is an assistant coach:

How fun that the field is right across the street from our house and we are able to walk there!

Bryson's first game was CRAZY!! He was running all over the field but having so much fun. He chased every ball, ran laps in the outfield, ran into the other teams' dugout to bat with them, etc. I think Zane got a ton of exercise that night! The next night, Zane tried to keep Bryson closer to him:

Bryson was better the second night (maybe from learning the first night that he can't run all over). Most of the kids don't stand out any further than the bases. Bryson, on the other hand, thought they might need his help out by the fence in case of a homerun:

These games have been hilarious to watch. I don't have a lot of pictures because I took mostly videos that I will upload soon!

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As you saw in a previous blog, we took the kids to an NC State baseball game last week. This past Sunday we took them to another baseball game. This time we watched the Carolina Mudcats play. This was a great time to show Bryson how the team stands still out on the field unless the ball comes to them. :)

We all really enjoyed this game (even though they lost...by a lot).

Bryson even got Muddy Mudcat's autograph which he was so excited about!:

And then we couldn't leave without Ashlyn getting a pink Mudcat's baseball bat and Bryson thought he needed a helmet:

Now we're looking forward to this weekend because it starts Zane's Spring Break and we'll be heading to the ocean!

An Afternoon of Wolfpack Baseball

2011-04-08T18:28:00.000-07:00

Zane, once again, found us a great deal on Groupon for some baseball tickets. So, a few days ago we loaded up, drove into Raleigh, headed to NC State, and watched the Wolfpack play baseball!

It was perfect weather for a day outside in the sun!

Can you tell the game was during the middle of naptime?

This game happened to be Military Appreciation Day which made for some fun events during the game.

They even gave out free shirts (but they only had larger sizes when we got there):

Do you see what's in the sky?:

They had one instructor and two active paratroopers land on the field:

The kids were really well behaved during the game.

It started to get a little warm out in the sun, so Ashlyn had the bright idea to sit in the shade and watch the game through a crack in the chair:

Drinks and peanuts always make our kids happy:

Everything about the game was worth this smile:

Now we're gearing up for the Mudcats game we'll be going to in a couple days!

Counting Down the Days!!

2011-04-02T19:11:00.000-07:00

I am so excited that Zane found us a fun little ocean vacation to take over Spring Break in 2 weeks! I've never enjoyed the kids knowing about fun events until at least the "day of" because they just don't understand how long they have to wait before the event occurs. Zane, on the other hand, likes to get them excited weeks beforehand. Don't get me wrong, I love hearing their excitement and letting them have something to talk about and look forward to, but this is just a 5 minute portion of a conversation that I hear MULTIPLE times a day (with my response in parentheses):

Mom, can we just leave for the 'hometel' after naptime? (No, we still have 2 weeks left before we can leave)

Can we please eat sandwiches on the beach like last time? (Yes, we will probably do that)

Will we get to go to a restaurant? (Yeah, I'm sure we'll go to some fun restaurants)

Like maybe the dinosaur restaurant? (No, Bryson. That restaurant was in Florida. We're not going to Florida)

How long do we have to drive? (Well, it's only 3 hours away from our house! That's a lot closer than Florida was!)

Mom, Ashy is saying it's 4 hours away!! (Well, don't listen to Ashlyn)

Tomorrow we can leave? (No, we don't leave for 2 more weeks)

Is there a swimming pool? (Yes, there are 2 outside and 1 inside)

Can we splash in the swimming pool? (Yes, as long as you don't splash people)

But we still can't splash in the bathtub, right mom? (Right! No splashing in the bathub)

But whales splash with their tails. (They sure do, Ashlyn)

Then why can't I splash like a whale in the bathtub? (Because a whale's mommy doesn't have to clean up their splashes but I have to clean up yours)

I can't go to t-ball tomorrow because we'll be at Spring Break. (No, you can still go to t-ball because Spring Break is still 2 weeks away)

Can we bring our own beds? (No. Remember, the hotel has beds for you)

But mommy, Ashy needs her bed. (No, her bed won't fit in our car. She'll like the hotel bed)

Can I take my own spiderman blanket? (Yes, you can take your blanket)

Well, then I need my Princess blanket! (Okay Ashlyn)

Mom, Ashlyn said I can't take my own pillow! (Yes you can, Bryson. You can each pack a pillow)

Can we watch tv until we fall asleep? (Um, probably not)

I need a shovel! (Okay, we have a shovel and maybe we'll buy another one before we leave. And maybe even some new buckets so we can build a sandcastle!)

But I don't know how to build a sandcastle! (Well, I'll help you)

Okay, so can we leave when Daddy gets home from work today? (No, we still have 2 weeks left)
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Can you see what I've been dealing with for the past 3 days? So, we quickly realized they needed a paper chain countdown! Not only are we going to the beach in 2 weeks, but the kids also know about 2 baseball games (NC State and the Mudcats) that we're going to before Spring Break. This paper chain idea is amazing!! Now I know why my mom always made them with us when we were little to count down the days until Christmas! Anytime we hear about our trips, we send the kids to the chain to count how many days are left. I think it definitely helps them understand better:

Let the countdowns begin!!

Hers and His

2011-03-31T18:06:00.000-07:00

Her favorite indoor playtime activity:

His:

Her favorite outdoor activity:

His:

Her favorite uniform:

His:

Her desire to save the flowers:

His excitement to jump in and help mow them:

I love watching my kids play together, but I especially enjoy seeing how their different personalities are coming out!!

Gardening, Purses, and Birthday Pie!!

2011-03-25T18:11:00.000-07:00

Well, we've started preparing for our garden this year! We spent a nice Saturday morning planting seeds:

It's been two weeks and our plants are already getting big!:

I'm excited to try our new adventure this year of hay bale gardening! We bought our bales a couple nights ago and I've been prepping them for plants. I hope it gives us some great produce!

And now a quick recap of my birthday...

I was a little sad that Zane and Bryson both had to go to school, but I guess the rest of the world doesn't seem to think March 18th is a huge holiday like I do. Oh well, my family still spoiled me and I had a great day! Thank you to everyone for all the phone calls, emails, and cards! I couldn't help but laugh at this gift that my dad sent me. Most of you know that my two favorite places to eat in Havasu that I really miss are Jack in the Box and Ed's Deli. So, my dad thought it would be funny to send me this:

A box full of empty (used) Jack in the Box and Ed's Deli wrappers! It really made me laugh so hard. I guess I should admit that Zane and I used to do the same thing to my dad when we lived in Texas and sent him wrappers from some of his favorite restaurants that he didn't have near him.

Anyway, I enjoyed the afternoon/evening with my kids and husband. Bryson and Ashlyn were soooo excited that it was my birthday and they told me so and sang to me all day long! It really made me feel special. And my husband was amazing!! He surprised me with some new clothes and a new purse. I've carried the same purse for the past 4 years. My old "purse" was black, simple, matched all my outfits, and was a perfect size:

But, when you looked inside you could clearly tell that I needed a new purse (and not a diaper bag):

Obviously I don't carry around diapers or bottles anymore. :) So, Zane updated my look and got me this cute purse:

Then we all went to dinner at Girasole in Wake Forest.

Yum! I love their fresh, homemade food. The waitress was asking the kids how old they were and Bryson announced that it was my birthday and I had just turned 18. Ummm, not so much! I quickly corrected the age and was surprised when the waitress brought me the chocolate hazelnut mousse torta for a birthday dessert. Sorry I don't have a picture since it quickly disappeared!

And then once we got home we enjoyed the special pie Zane had baked for me (don't judge...on my birthday it's okay if we eat two desserts). I had requested a chocolate chip pie similar to Chili's Chocolate Paradise Pie and found a recipe for Zane to try. He did such a good job and it tasted AMAZING!!!!

My family is awesome and I love how they went out of their way to honor me on my birthday!

What's your missing item?

2011-03-17T18:15:00.000-07:00

Everyone has those items that always disappear and it seems like you're constantly buying them and the next minute they're gone again and you're buying more.

For some it may be batteries. You buy a value pack of batteries but as soon as your remote quits working you go to grab some batteries but can't find any.

For others it may be socks. How many of you feel like the washing machine is eating your socks because after folding you always have those few socks with no pair?

Some of you may constantly be searching for a pen. You get an important phone call and go to grab a pen to write down some information and you can't seem to find one even though you know you just found 5 buried in the couch the day before.

My "item" that I feel I'm always buying and they disappear are hair bows/clips. I have lots of bows that I've made for Ashlyn and lots of clips that we've bought for her but every time we need one we can never find one! Seriously, where do all these items disappear to?

Well, I can't really tell you where your socks go because 99% of the time our socks always have a match and our pen drawer is pretty well stocked. I did, however, find the answer to my own hairbow dilemma.

The other day Bryson was sitting on his drum stool in the living room. I saw a green bow under his stool and I asked him if he would please move his drum stool off of Ashlyn's bow. He replied with a sweet "Sure Mom", picked up his stool, and moved it over. The bow moved with the stool and it puzzled me. I asked him to please stand up so that I could move the bow. I picked the stool up and noticed that the bow had got stuck.

When I pulled it out, guess what came falling out after it?:

Bows and Clips...lots of bows and clips!!

Oh, the fun that kids bring to life!!