Lizzie Lou Who

Just a little bit of comic relief from the cutest 8 year old I know....Lizzie Lou Who

That hair....

Just say YES!

I often sit and think that I wish time would slow down.  It's so hard for me to believe Ben is entering high school and my baby will soon be going into third grade.  I don't even know how this happened.  I can't help but think in just four short years, from now, we will be finalizing our plans to send Ben to college...and Daniel and I will be 40!!!

I know Daniel and I have tried our hardest to be good parents and to provide our kids with everything they want and need as well providing them with opportunities and experiences.  They don't hear the word "no" often and while I know some people may not agree with that,  I honestly don't care.  I say all the time, they are only kids once.  We'll never get these days back and it makes me happy to know that they'll look back and think "I had a really awesome childhood!" 

So, I guess my advice for today and everyday is...say "yes" more than "no" and take time each day to reflect on what a blessing children are...even when they are driving you nuts!

Lizzie driving me nuts...making goo and a huge mess. 
She's so happy! Glad I said "yes!"

So many memories in this house...

When we first moved to Ohio, we lived in an apartment.  I hated every second living there so you can imagine how happy I was when we were able to purchase this house several months after we moved to Ohio.  Aside from getting a job at Port Clinton Middle School and meeting many friends there, this house saved me.  I was an awful depressed mess after moving from Virginia and this house made me feel excited about living in Ohio.  I was excited to fill it up with memories and put our personal touch on it.  Leaving this house was difficult. I can't even describe how many wonderful memories we have in this house. 

I got to have my girl friends over for craft day in this house.

Lizzie got to break rules in this house. 

Some of our best friends got to spend Thanksgiving with us in this house.

We got to adopt and love the most loving, wonderful dog in the world in this house. 
She also was killed by a coyote at this house.  We will never forget her.

We got to celebrate an undefeated football season  and the first TAAC championship since 1978 in this house.

We got to hang with our BFF in this house. 

We got to hang out with our goofy friends in this house. 

 

We got to have first days of school in this house.

We got to look at this view in this house. 

We got to hate snow in this house.

We got to make history again while living in this house.  Undefeated baseball team
and a trip to the Little League World Series Qualifier Tournament

We got to eat delicious crabs with our friends and family in this house.

We got to grow up in this house.

We got to experience unconditional love in this house. 

We got to spend time with our family in this house. 

We got to experience how bad goodbyes suck in this house. 

We got to experience awesome support from our small community in this house. 

We got to experience season ending breaks in this house.
BUT not before we tied the Ottawa County record in 200M Hurdles. 
 

We got to watch Auburn win many games and championships in this house. 

We got to eat our favorite foods in this house. 

We got to have our sissy visit us from Virginia in this house. 











This was an amazing house and I while I hate that we had to leave it, I am so thankful for the time we were able to spend there. 



Goodbyes

Some people say its not "goodbye," but it's "see ya later."  I don't care what it is, it sucks! Goodbyes suck! When I moved to Ohio from Virginia it was hard.  Understandably so....I'd lived in Virginia my entire life.  I was leaving everything I knew.  Never in a million years did I realize leaving Ohio would be so hard on me.  We definitely made lifelong friends there and leaving them sucked just as bad as leaving our friends in Virginia five years ago. 

If you don't like pictures, you may want to stop reading....lots of pics coming up. 

 

 

We are so blessed to be able to call these people our friends.  We are very lucky, indeed.