Summer 2012

 Chase and AJ first day of 7th and 9th grade

 Jianna first day of 5th grade

Jianna and friend Ashton walking up our street to bus stop

Hello everyone! Wow time flies by! Wish I was better at this, but thanks for your patience. So, I left off in the spring and now here we are and school has already started as of August 3rd. A huge adjustment for my kids. They still want to be on vacation. Can't say I blame them. It's feeling like summer too much to think about homework! I took a few pictures of the first day of school. I have an elementary, middle school and yes,,,one high schooler!
But, I should head back to where I left off..in the spring. Baseball was in full swing and we had our first homerun for Chase. A very exciting day and overall his team did well, placing 4th in the season.
Jianna was selected for 10u all stars and participated with her team in several tournaments. Some of the girls were also from her travel team so she had a great time and we were very proud of her.
In May, AJ had his 8th grade dance and end of year activities. After the dance the kids all hung out at Fro Yo...for those that need translation,, thats frozen yogurt. He had a great time.

 AJ,looking handsome!

the gang at Lovin'Spoons

AJ and good friend Chesney and the nice corrsaige..

So, on to June...School was out may 18th and we  left for our vegas vacation may 30th. It went by really fast but we managed to visit a little with almost everyone we could get in, in 2 weeks. We went to California for a long weekend and saw our family there. So hard to say goodbye to cousins,aunties and especially Nana.

Chase(11),AJ(13),Ryan(12),Luke(3)Abby(5),Jianna(9),and Makayla(8)

Me and Nana Shirley

Once we were home we were busy with AJ and his Summer Baseball program preparing him for high school baseball. It was really fun to see him on the big field and he did well with the transition. He mostly was back at 2nd base and he did great. We just didn't get too many games in due to the daily thunderstorms we have here. It was crazy that from end of May to end of June it, almost rained everyday! Except for cancelling baseball, the storms are cool!
The first week of July Rob finally had vacation so we loaded up the kids, the dog and we headed to Florida. We hung out as a family at the beach everyday. It was in a town called Ponte Vedra Beach, FL and they allow dogs on the beach after 5pm. Jessie slowly got over her phobia of water and even swam a little in the ocean.

A fort in St. Augustine, Fl

The rest of the summer was a lot of play and squeaking out as much fun as possible. Our good friends the Collins from Las Vegas were heading to Florida for a vacation the first week of school, so I did what I hope my kids know is a cool mom thing. I let them skip school on Friday the 10th and we left at 4am and drove down to Clearwater, Fl and had more fun in the sun. Aj and Nik were inseperable and I thought to myself,,that's a life long friendship I'm proud to be a part of.Barb, Nik's mom, and I had many laughs watching them all interact. Nik is one more big bro to Chase and Jianna.

 Still not sure if Chase read that shirt prior to the picture,,,but the irony of it is priceless..

What goofy kids.....

Well, that's about all. Hope you enjoyed the pictures and the update. Miss you all.. Sandie

Our Family Happenings so far in 2012

Hey Ya'll!! I know I'm slow to update this blog but really have no excuses. So, I won't offer any but just start in with what's new in Georgia.

AJ got his braces off on January 16,2012. He was very excited and also worried about whether any of the skittles, coke, starbursts and other not so braces friendly foods were finally going to reveal themselves.But, other than needing a good cleaning and getting fitted for a retainer,,,,all is well.

Funny sign at AJ's tournament....

He also started up at the end of January with a new baseball team and has traveled to Brunswick GA for his first tournament March 10th. They placed second and he came home with his first Georgia hardware(trophy).He is enjoying pitching and has been moved from second base to shortstop and likes the challenge of learning that position. My favorite is still watching him snag amazing fly balls in centerfield and a new mitt is in the mail now. Think it's time for a new chair for me, maybe a super deluxe padded one cause I'll be watching lots of games!!

Chase has been counting down the days to little league opening day. His new team is the Sand Gnats. Go figure since they are the state insect.....just kidding.. but they are THE most annoying little bugs on the planet. They bit like a mosquito and leave red bites EVERYWHERE. I've tried every bug spray, lotion, one called No Gnats, and the ever popular Skin so Softly by Avon. They laugh at me and bite me anyways!!The Skin So Softly Oil which I got at the Ace Hardware store(hahahaha,,,,funny all by itself) actually keeps them at bay for a minute or two but I feel like a greased up target....Yuck!!
So, anyways, Chase hates them just as much so we get a chuckle at the team name. The coach has Chase pitching and catching and occasionally 3rd base. Time for a new chest protector for him...more baseball equipment....
Chase has also started as a member of the Chess club. Don't tell anyone at Neal, but our undefeated Chess champ 3 years running actually lost a few the first club meeting. He has revenge in mind for next meeting! I think he is ready for the challenge.
Jianna had also started with a travel team for a 10u fastpitch softball team. They are the Southern Explosions. She has been to 2 tournaments, one in February with a 2nd place trophy, and one in March, also 2nd place. Pretty cool that she got to go to the championship game 2 out of 2 times. This was a first for the team and they have nicknamed Jianna their good luck charm. Especially funny moment at the last tournament was when Jianna got up to bat playing a pretty serious rival the USSSA Georgia Pride team. With bases loaded and 2 outs lil G was up to bat. The count got to full at 3/2 and the opposing coach told the girls from the outfield to come in closer since they didn't expect anything but a strikeout and judging by her size he brought them in to a very shallow outfield position. BIG mistake. Jianna hit the plate, gave a lil butt wiggle and hit that ball so hard to left field the girl had to run after it. She had 2 RBI's and eventually came around on the next hit to score. The next time she was up to bat,,, they gave her respect!She was so proud of herself and mama bear was too!!Next tournament this weekend in Summerville SC.

So, other than baseball and softball the kids are really enjoying themselves and have been outside almost everyday after school going fishing, bikes, scooters, roller skates, you name it. the boys have learned to kayake and that is AJ's new favorite. He just has to remember the sunscreen. A true life jacket sun tan/burn looks worse than a farmer tan. He had stripes!
So looking forward this week, AJ has to go to High School orientation on Thursday,,,did I just put that in writing? YIKES!!! Today, I am sooooo not ready for that idea. Guess I'll see how I feel about it Thursday. Boy does time fly.