Cherokee, NC

When Rhett and I went to Asheville for our 6 year wedding anniversary this summer, I picked up a bunch of brochures for activities around the area. I found a few things going on in Cherokee, NC that looked like it would be fun for the fam! Rhett's mom, Cindy enjoys Cherokee for the casino...with the casino comes comped rooms and meals. So, Cindy invited us to come up for a weekend with her and Ray.

We had a great time! Friday night was dinner and bed for the kids, but Rhett and I stayed up. By the light of the bathroom, with shared a bottle of wine and played 500 Rummy late into the night. We usually sit on the couch and watch TV together in the evenings, but this was actually fun!

Saturday, we ventured over to Santa's Land (http://www.santaslandnc.com/). There was a playground, small zoo, train, fair type rides (carousel, ferris wheel, roller coaster) and of course, Santa. It was the perfect amusement park for young children. Price was big enough to ride all of the rides. Santa emphasized how important it is to listen to mommy and daddy and to clean up after yourselves...he was awesome. And, Rhett's favorite part was that it only took less than 2 hours to get through it all! After rest time at the hotel, we went gem mining. Not at all what we had expected, but still fun for the kiddos. They found garnets, amethysts, and a few others that I can't remember. If anybody has any ideas of what to do with them now, please, let me know. After the kids went to bed, Rhett and I played cards again, and yes...we shared another bottle of wine.

Sunday, we went to the arcade, the indoor pool and took a tour of the Cherokee Indian Village. Thanks Cindy and Ray for a really fun weekend!

So, here we are, back to reality. Work and school again today. When I was tucking Jase in tonight, he wanted to know the events of each day from tomorrow through Friday. I think he's already looking forward to next weekend too!

Tiger and Dino-Fish

Jase and Price now have beta fish!! We found really cute fish bowls that mount to the walls and each boy picked the place in his room that he wanted his fish tank. Price wanted his close to his door at his eye level. His fish is named Dino-Fish (b/c he's really into dinosaurs right now). Jase picked a place closer to his window and wanted his a bit higher so that "Burkey Turkey can't reach it". This was not a selfish comment but an endearing comment. Jase wanted to make sure that his baby brother wouldn't get into trouble by reaching his little grubbers into the fish bowl. Jase's fish is named Tiger...he has a Clemson room. Price's fish is purple-blue and Jase's is blue. We went out of town for the weekend and Rhett's brother Chris stayed at the house to take care of the dogs. Well, these beta fish are only supposed to be fed every 2-3 days. When we brought them home on Thursday, we fed each of them after mounting and filling their tanks...then letting the water sit for at least an hour. Neither of the fish ate their 3 teeny-tiny pellets that they're allowed. We meant to ask Chris to feed the fish again on Saturday and we forgot! So when we came home from our weekend adventure, Rhett and I rushed upstairs, before the kids, to see if the fish made it through the weekend........................thankfully, they made it! I will post pics when I get my film developed. Yes, I still use a 35mm camera - don't laugh!

Labor Day Weekend

We had such a fun weekend! Friday night our friends Carrie Ann and Joel came over for dinner We finished off a couple of bottles of wine and attempted to play "Scene It 2" in between the kiddos running around in the house.

Saturday after a quick clean up, Rhett and I took Price and Burke to Kit and Jack's 3rd birthday party. Their mom, Anne, really knows how to throw a party. It was so perfect! Cinderella was there, activities on little people sized tables, stickers, pins, punch and 2 birthday cakes. The boys had a great time!

Saturday night we went over to Jeff's house (Julie and Sarah were out of town) for the best ribs in Greenville. We watched the Clemson - Alabama game...which was awful by the way. Good thing the food and friends were good.

Sunday, We all loaded up again and went "up the mountain" to Bill and JB's house for the bike race. We have really chosen good friends because Bill and JB really know how to throw a party as well!! In their front yard, they had plenty of lawn chairs, tents, food, beer, and of course juice boxes (or juice bock as Price likes to call them). Jase was spending the day with his Nanny and Papa, but Price and Burke had the best time. They both hung over the fence, ringing their cow bells as the bikers flew down the mountain. Price and Savannah played late into the evening and had a great time. Price came to us at one point in the evening and said, "Mommy, I told Savannah that I wuff her and she told me no!" Poor child's already experiencing heart break!

Today, Monday, all 5 of us were back together again. We went to the lake with the Johnson's, Robinson's and half of the Stephens'. The kids were all so exhausted today after such a long weekend of playing hard and staying up late. I went wake boarding today for the first time in over 10 years! I actually was able to get up, just had a difficult time staying behind the boat...I kept swinging out to the left of the wake and was never able to get back in! Jase really wanted to try wake boarding, but the boards that Bill and JB have are too big for him. We may actually look into a kiddo sized board for all of the kids to use next summer.

Now, Rhett and I are in the bed, both on our computers, trying to recover from our long, fun weekend. It will definitely be hard to get up and go to work tomorrow.

First Blog

So, this is my first blog ever. I read everyone else's blog and impatiently await new posts, but it's never crossed my mind to create one for my family. A friend, Ashley actually owns a company that turns your blogs into scrapbooks. I have passed this information along to friends, but never created my own. So...here we go.

Rhett and I have three awesome boys:

• Jase is 5 and just started K5 at Summit Drive Elementary last week. he really loves it. He comes into our room every morning dressed and ready to go. Jase is taking karate at Scota Karate Academy twice a week. He's now a yellow belt and is supposed to test for his orange belt tomorrow! He will start fall soccer next week at Eastside YMCA. Jase is a great big brother and an amazing kid.

• Price is 2 1/2. He's having a bit of trouble right now realizing that he's not in charge. Such an easy kid this one was until the last month or so. Everyone says he looks just like Rhett. He has my daddy's eyes though. His favorite thing to say these days is "I love you_____". Just fill in the blank with whomever he's trying to smoose up with!





• Burke, or Burkey Turkey as he's known around these parts, will be 10 months old on Thursday. So far, he has the most fire! This kiddo is already good at throwing fits when he doesn't get his way. This blond hair, blue eyed babe is a little piece of sweet trouble!

Rhett and I met at Clemson. We've been married for 6 years now. Besides our children, we have 2 boxers, Cobey (9) and Samson (4 1/2). We live in Greenville and love it here. I work at the Meyer Center for Special Children as a Physical Therapist. Rhett owns 2 companies, Wet to Dry Restoration and Mold Proof. Rhett's parents and 2 brothers also live in Greenville. Jeff (his brother) and Julie have a little girl Sarah...she's the only girl in my life...we love her dearly. My mom moved up here last October, just a week after Burke was born. We really enjoy having all of our family at arms reach.

So, here is it. I have no idea why some pictures are smaller than other or why the font has now changed. I'll spend more time on all of that later. Now onto trying to figure out how to let you all know that we have this out here now!!!