Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for:

1. no hurricanes during our vacation
2. women's bible study
3. Elisabeth not being afraid of the characters on the Disney cruise
4. Elisabeth is almost potty trained!
5. A cool school project: "Flat Ansley". We mail flat Ansley to a relative to live for 2 weeks so the kids can learn about different parts of the US and other countries.
6. Crockpots
7. Ansley and watching her play the game Twister
8. Our parents
9. Ansley truly loves her little sister
10. Trick-or-treating is on Friday this year instead of a school night (I'm sure the teachers are thankful also!)

We're back from vacation

Headed to Key West - isn't the water pretty?

Docked in Key West (Disney boat in the background)

You never know who and what you might meet in Key West!

Eating breakfast on the top deck

Coming into Key West

Well, we finally took a whole week off last week and went on our first cruise. We had a wonderful time. The boat was great (Disney Magic), food was good, entertainment was good and we got to see places in the Caribbean that we had never been to before. And the best part was that it was cold here but we were warm on the beach with sand in our toes! But now we are back to reality (and freezing temperatures at night!). I highly recommend a Disney cruise. They treat you really really well. The girls had a blast and are ready to go again. As usual we took hundreds of pictures. I will post a few now and will post more later. I still haven't gone through all of them yet.

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for:

1. Elisabeth's belly laugh that makes me laugh so hard I could cry
2. Finding a formal dress for the cruise.....on sale!
3. A good parent/teacher conference with Ansley's teacher this week
4. Warm sunny days with low humidity
5. Advil Sinus medicine
6. John - a great father and husband
7. My van - so my kids don't ding doors in the parking lot when trying to get out of the car :-)
8. God always has a plan for us even though we don't always know and understand it.
9. Elisabeth's MMO teacher, Karen Adams. She's so loving and sweet and Elisabeth loves her.
10. VACATION STARTS TOMORROW!

Pumpkin Festival

The Roman Revenge pumpkin catapulting machine

Those 2 dots in the sky are pumpkins flying through the air. Unbelievable how far and high they could go!!

Ansley & Elisabeth on the wagon ride

Lost in the corn maze (the corn isn't that tall but believe me it's harder than it looks!)

Elisabeth loved the little hay bale maze

Ansley "driving" the tractor

Pumpkins everywhere

On Saturday we traveled to Lowry's, SC and went to a pumpkin festival at Cotton Hills Farm. They had wagon rides, a corn and hay bale maze, food, music, petting area and best of all.....the pumpkin catapult. It was so cool to watch. They had a contraption that would fling the pumpkins so high and far that it was unbelievable. Mike Redding from Carolina Traveler was there and we got his picture but I don't think we got in any of his shots so we missed our chance to be on TV. Maybe next time. We got 5 pumpkins (3 big and 2 small) and John spent most of his Sunday afternoon carving them. I'll have to post a picture of them later. They look really good.

Where did Elisabeth go?

Here I am!

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for:
1. My friend, Robin, who can babysit Elisabeth on short notice
2. 2 wonderful daughters.......true gifts
3. Only 1 WEEK UNTIL VACATION
4. Ron made it to Houston safely
5. Magic Erasers (makes cleaning tubs and showers so much easier)
6. Radio station New Life 91.9 (our local Christian radio station). It's awesome!
7. A great 2nd grade teacher for Ansley
8. Our great dog, Winston
9. Our families
10. Triple coupons at Lowes Food grocery store.

I hate spiders

For those of you who know me well know that I hate spiders. Big or small....it doesn't matter. Well, this is what I found when I went to the mailbox the other day. I almost had a heart attack. The picture doesn't do it justice. The spider was big! And bright yellow. It's not a spider I see around everyday. I sprayed it with hornet and wasp spray because this spider was definitely too big to kill with a shoe. It gives me goose bumps just looking at the picture. Yuck! But everyone can rest easy now......it's dead. :-)

Hamster Ball Derby

Get ready....Set.....Go! Emma's first time in a Hamster Ball Derby.

Ansley and Emma

All the participants in the Hamster Ball Derby

John had to work some this past Saturday and Sunday so while he was working I took Ansley to the local pet store, Petco, so our hamster could compete in the Hamster Ball Derby. What!? You've never heard of the Hamster Ball Derby!?? Neither had I until our neighbor told us about it. Ansley desperately wanted to take Emma (the hamster) there to compete. So we arrived early in order to participate in the practice rounds and Emma did fairly well. But when it was time to really race she got a slow start (she decided to groom herself instead of focusing on the race) and came in 2nd in the qualifying round. So, sad to say we didn't make it to the final competition and we didn't win a prize. But don't you worry. We're practicing for next year's competition!



We had to miss Cameron's wedding this weekend in Hilton Head, SC (Cameron is John's cousin) and we really hated that we missed it. The weather was beautiful and I'm sure the wedding was beautiful too. John's business is busy and the new condo is almost finished and we leave in 1 1/2 weeks for vacation so things are a little crazy (but good) right now. We send our Congrats to the newly married couple. We can't wait to see pictures!



I'll write more soon -- Stephanie

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for:
1.Great neighbors
2. Our church family
3. Consignment Sales (I'm a consignment sale junkie)
4. Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
5. Ansley likes school and is having a great year so far
6. Elisabeth still takes a daily 2 hour nap :-)
7. Cooler weather
8. Our vacation is only 2 weeks away
9. Finding gas for the van before the red light came on to warn us we were running on fumes
10. A day of rain last week (so our new grass seed will grow)

Congratulations to John!

Last week John found out that his company has made the ranking for THE FIRST 10 Fastest-growing web design firms/agencies in this area by The Mecklenburg Times. The list will be published in their Friday, October 3rd edition. This is exciting.....we are very proud of him! God has blessed us alot in the last year!

There hasn't been too much else going on lately. Just all the normal daily stuff. Ansley is doing very well in school and likes it and Elisabeth is really liking Mother's Morning Out.

Oh, but I do have to tell you what Elisabeth said to me the other day. She has a magnet that she made at church that says "God made me special". So we were talking about that and I told her that God made her special. She said that yes he did but I wasn't there. I asked her what she meant and where was she. She said she was in China but that we weren't there. She was by herself waiting on us. Well that will bring you to tears! She's such a sweet girl.

Travel Group reunion

Our travel group (minus 1 couple in Illinois & 1 couple in Florida)

(l-r) Jenny, Elisabeth, Katherine, Olivia & Kimli

Elisabeth and Mommy

Elisabeth & Jenny

Kimli

On Saturday night we had a China travel group reunion/birthday party. One of the girls in our travel group was turning 4 so we used it as an excuse to all get together for a reunion! It was great to see everyone. We haven't all been together in over a year. The girls are getting so big. They love getting together and seeing each other. We decided that we need to get together twice a year when possible. Once in the Spring and once in the Fall. That way the girls can keep in touch and we can too. Kimli, Jenny and Elisabeth are all from the same orphanage.

Ansley loves horses

And a lil' fire cracker she is!

Ansley riding side saddle

Most of you know already know that Ansley takes horseback riding lessons at a stable down the road from our subdivision. She really enjoys it and seems to never want to leave the barn once she gets there. Elisabeth likes going to the barn too. She just plays in the dirt, hay and wood shavings. She definitely has to have a bath after we visit the barn! Here are some pictures of Ansley riding her favorite horse, Patty. Patty had an eye injury so she has to wear her horsie "sun glasses". I must say, I enjoy going to the barn too. I love the smell of horses (I'm weird I know). Ansley says when she grows up and gets married she's going to live in the country, have a barn and own horses........and I'm going to live next door and can come over to the barn anytime. :-)

Princess Night at Chick-Fil-A

Last night was Princess night at the local Chick-fil-A. Alot of princesses showed up to get a free meal, make a crown, have pictures taken on the royal throne and go for a free horse drawn carriage ride. Ansley dressed up as Mulan and Elisabeth dressed up as Cinderella. It was a fun time (Elisabeth really enjoyed it) but boy was it crowded!

Autumn Moon Celebration

Caroline Burns, Ansley, Elisabeth (Caroline is Elisabeth's best friend)

This past weekend we celebrated the Autumn Moon Festival with friends at Red Bowl restaurant. The owner and manager there close down the restaurant during the mid-afternoon and feed us. It's great! The kids love it because they can run around and be a little crazy without having to worry about disturbing other customers. This year we had a photographer come and take pictures. Hopefully they will turn out well. He will have them posted on his website soon so we can view them and see if we want to purchase any of them. Joseph, the manager at Red Bowl, had a group of young girls and boys come and play the violin for us. They played Chinese music and they were excellent! Listening to it made me want to go back to China and visit. I can't wait until we can go back for a cultural tour/vacation in 5 years or so. It's a fascinating place to visit.

FYI: The Autumn Moon Festival is one of the two most important holidays in the Chinese calendar. Traditionally, on this day, Chinese family members and friends will gather to admire the bright mid-autumn harvest moon and to celebrate the abundance of the summer's harvest. This holiday is similar to our Thanksgiving holiday in the USA.

We can't forget....

I must admit......I woke up this morning, got dressed, and was on my way to take Elisabeth to MMO and saw this flag in downtown Fort Mill and wondered why it was there. Then I realized that today is 9/11. How did I forget? The rush of life got to me and I didn't even realize that today was the day. Seeing the flag hanging over the street for all to see got me a little emotional.... and proud to be an American. I had to go back home and get the camera and take a picture of it. We really should never forget......for the sake of so many who lost their lives 7 years ago.

Stephanie

Happy Thursday!

It is an overcast and drizzly day here in Fort Mill. It feels very good outside though! But it won't last. It's supposed to be back in the 90's on the weekend.

I posted some pictures of the girls. Hope you enjoy them. We are leaving in a few minutes to head to Mother's Morning Out and then I have to run some errands while I have a few hours alone. I like the alone time but it's weird not having Elisabeth with me since she has been with me all day every day for a year now. What will I do when she goes to Kindergarten?! It'll be a sad sad day.

At Last.....I've created our own blog!

Well, I've been thinking about doing this for a while and now that I've been a stay-at-home mom for almost a year I've finally found time to figure out how all this works! I am going to do my best to update it with text and pictures regularly so you can keep up with us without me having to remember to email everyone. You can check in with us any time you want!



Stephanie