Since I have this site to remember things I'll most likely forget, I have to remind myself to add stories about the boys as well as the girls. Even though the boys are older, they still manage to do some silly things I'll want to remind them of when they are raising their own one day!
So Robby has his learner permit, and Raleigh decided to let him drive the entire family into Orange Park today in our very expensive Dodge truck that is like a small Army tank! Anyway, he does a fantastic job eyeing all of the speed limit signs and has a very steady foot.
However, he is such a literal person that we have to chose our words carefully when directing him. We needed to stop at Walmart to buy a gift for the birthday party we were going to and Raleigh told him to turn at the next red light to pull in to Walmart. You could CLEARLY see the HUGE blue Walmart sign, but he continued right on past it while Raleigh and I both were yelling, "Turn here, turn here!" He drove down calmly to the next light and turned in a neighborhood to turn around. We were asking him if he heard us say to turn at the red light and he says, "yes, but that light wasn't red, it was green...the next light ahead was red." Okay, so note to self, use the term, "traffic light."
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
2008 in a Nutshell...well, a COCOnut shell!!!
Rang in the 2008 New Year in Washington D.C.
Came home from vacation to find out our cat, Bella had her 5 kittens...IN OUR BED!!!
Raleigh traded his Jeep on Craig's List for a Harley Davidson Motorcycle.
Emma, Mallory, Brandon and I start Gymnastic lessons!!
Emma Louise (Gambill) Smith passes away at the age of 97. The kids' Great, Great Aunt...Emma was named after her.
Raleigh and I take a summer trip to Vegas to be in an Elvis Wedding!!
Annual camping trip to Yogi Bear park in Cherokee, North Carolina...the kids' favorite.
Emma starts 2nd grade...my favorite grade EVER! That's when I made the decision to be a teacher.
Mallory wore the cutest, handmade dress, by me and my mom, to Pre-K (her last year before Kindergarten!)
Brandon begins 6th grade...his last year of Elementary school!!
Robby is officially a highschool student, a FRESHMAN in the 9th grade!!
Brandon scores 7 touchdowns during his 3rd football season...3 of them were HUGE...an 80 yd, 65 yd, and 40 yd touchdown (all in 1 game!).
Attended Friday night Varsity Football games to watch Robby play the snare drum in the Highschool drum line!!!
Emma, Mallory, and I take horse riding lessons together.
I competed in my first triathlon at the tender age of 37!
Robby goes to the Homecoming dance with a SENIOR!!
Ran a 6k on Thanksgiving morning with Raleigh, The Outback Distance Classic.
Emma got her EARS PIERCED!!!
Ran a 5k with Raleigh and the boys, Festival of Lights.
(picture coming soon...need to download it from camera)
Robby turns 15!!! Driver's Permit!!!! WOW!!
Our 2008 Christmas Card Photo.
We were truly blessed in 2008. Thank you dear Heavenly Father.
Came home from vacation to find out our cat, Bella had her 5 kittens...IN OUR BED!!!
Raleigh traded his Jeep on Craig's List for a Harley Davidson Motorcycle.
Emma, Mallory, Brandon and I start Gymnastic lessons!!
Emma Louise (Gambill) Smith passes away at the age of 97. The kids' Great, Great Aunt...Emma was named after her.
Raleigh and I take a summer trip to Vegas to be in an Elvis Wedding!!
Annual camping trip to Yogi Bear park in Cherokee, North Carolina...the kids' favorite.
Emma starts 2nd grade...my favorite grade EVER! That's when I made the decision to be a teacher.
Mallory wore the cutest, handmade dress, by me and my mom, to Pre-K (her last year before Kindergarten!)
Brandon begins 6th grade...his last year of Elementary school!!
Robby is officially a highschool student, a FRESHMAN in the 9th grade!!
Brandon scores 7 touchdowns during his 3rd football season...3 of them were HUGE...an 80 yd, 65 yd, and 40 yd touchdown (all in 1 game!).
Attended Friday night Varsity Football games to watch Robby play the snare drum in the Highschool drum line!!!
Emma, Mallory, and I take horse riding lessons together.
I competed in my first triathlon at the tender age of 37!
Robby goes to the Homecoming dance with a SENIOR!!
Ran a 6k on Thanksgiving morning with Raleigh, The Outback Distance Classic.
Emma got her EARS PIERCED!!!
Ran a 5k with Raleigh and the boys, Festival of Lights.
(picture coming soon...need to download it from camera)
Robby turns 15!!! Driver's Permit!!!! WOW!!
Our 2008 Christmas Card Photo.
We were truly blessed in 2008. Thank you dear Heavenly Father.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
HAPPY THANKSGIVING Family and Friends!!!
I hope you all had a wonderful day with your loved ones, both family and friends. We had a busy day. Raleigh, the boys, and I all went running in the Outback Distance Classic. Raleigh and I ran the 6k and both had our Personal Record run...course it was our first running race....haha.
RESULTS are IN!!
My 3.6 mile pace was 9:58!!! Single digits WHEW!!!
Raleigh's 3.6 mile pace 7:44!!! 7th out of 74 in his age group!
Brandon and Robby ran the Joey Mile fun run...they both did fantastic! Brandon ran the mile in 6:55 and Robby finished at 7:23...faster than I can run a mile that's for sure!!!
Then we came home and began cooking and entertaining.
I'd love to blog more, but I am exhausted and can't put good sentences together. :)
Here's one quick photo of our little pilgrim doing her famous "pretty pose."
May we all continue to see God's abundant blessings not only at Thanksgiving, but throughout the year.
RESULTS are IN!!
My 3.6 mile pace was 9:58!!! Single digits WHEW!!!
Raleigh's 3.6 mile pace 7:44!!! 7th out of 74 in his age group!
Brandon and Robby ran the Joey Mile fun run...they both did fantastic! Brandon ran the mile in 6:55 and Robby finished at 7:23...faster than I can run a mile that's for sure!!!
Then we came home and began cooking and entertaining.
I'd love to blog more, but I am exhausted and can't put good sentences together. :)
Here's one quick photo of our little pilgrim doing her famous "pretty pose."
May we all continue to see God's abundant blessings not only at Thanksgiving, but throughout the year.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
It WASN'T about Winning, It was about TRI-ing!!
I guess the idea of doing a triathlon crept into my head after being advised not to do long runs from my foot surgeon. Instead, I was told I should swim and ride a bike for exercise. When I first looked into TRIs, I DID NOT like the idea of swimming in the ocean. Not just because of sharks, but for the many other creepy things that lurk around in there, and not to mention taking in a big mouthful of salt water would be disgusting. However, one day I was looking at races in the area on active.com, and I found an all women's SPRINT triathlon. I knew little about TRIs, and didn't know anything about what a Sprint tri was. I was glad to see the length of the race significantly shorter than what I knew about the "real" triathlon called the Ironman. Though it was shorter, it was still "meaty" enough to feel like I would have accomplished something once I finished it. The swim was .75 km (about 1/2 a mile), the bike route was 12 miles, and the run was 2.75 miles. I signed up and payed $50.00 to torture myself..haha...then I started training. Raleigh was such a supportive husband. We were already running together, but then he started riding bikes with me and swimming. We swam in the lake and then in a pool IN OCTOBER and I found out I was HORRIBLE at the freestyle stroke. Raleigh would say, "how do you live in Florida and not know how to swim?" And I would reply, "there is a big difference between swimming and freestyling!!!" We went swimming at our Pastor's house, and his wife has been an avid swimmer for many years, and she would say, "watch Raleigh do this, watch how he does that,...blah blah blah, Raleigh, Raleigh, Raleigh." He made me ill with how well he could do the freestyle stroke. Funny thing is, I didn't care about how I would swim half a mile. As long as I was moving forward, I would be okay. The difference between Raleigh and I is I just wanted to finish (not particularly last, but I knew I wouldn't be first). Raleigh on the other hand would like to finish in the top 10, so he won't enter one until he's trained longer. He even asked me once when we first started training if I was prepared for the fact that I might not win. hahahahahahahahahaha this still cracks me up. Of course I knew I wouldn't win, and I really didn't care who I lost to. I was only out there for myself and the feeling of accomplishing a goal.
So, the day of my birthday, October 24th, Raleigh, Brandon and I headed down to Orlando. We arrived at the park for a meeting with the man who organizes the events, and he took us on a tour of the track we would be taking. Brandon kept asking me if I was nervous, and I honestly was not. I just wanted to get out there and get it OVER with!
The next morning, October 25th, we woke up at 5:15 AM!! Over 300 women entered the race. It was such a cool feeling walking around and setting up and seeing all of the women out there of every age and stature. The swim started at just after 7:00. It was cold, dark, murky water.
I knew this would be my weakest event, and it was. I was one of the LAST 6 people to get out of the water.
I probably invented a few new strokes while I was out there. I did the side stroke, back stroke, breast-stroke, freestyle (my version), a little regular swimming, and a few others that have not been named. The heat I was in was the last to enter the swim, so I really felt WAY behind when I finally made it out of the water.
But Raleigh and Brandon were there on the shore cheering me on and running with me to the 1st transitional area where I would get ready to ride my bike.
I am very confident on the bike. I had borrowed a friend's road bike and it was FAST! I loved it!
I immediately caught up and passed several women. Our ages were written on the back of our right calf, so as I passed each woman I would look at their age and think to myself, "HA! I'm 10 years older than her!!" Okay, I know, it's not about winning...haha. The bike route was beautiful. It weaved in and out of some really nice neighborhoods and was visually appealing the whole way. It made the time go by quickly...plus I was riding so fast..remember??!!! As I finished up the ride, Brandon was waiting down the road for me to take pictures and yell, "GO MOM!!" So sweet.
I dismounted the bike, carefully as to NOT fall over in front of the crowd, and ran to put my bike back in the transitional area. I changed into my running shoes and took off on the last leg of the race!
I felt good as I started to run and knew I could run 2.75 miles. I had probably trained in this area the most. The run took us back in a campground area and we ran on limerock. Only thing is, it started to DOWNPOUR! It felt good to run in the rain, and thank goodness I wore a visor, but the road was covered in puddles. I had to practically zig-zag the whole way. But I continued on and tried not to let Raleigh down. He begged me to run the whole way and ONLY walk about 20 yards if I had to in order to catch my breath. I ran the 1st two miles without stopping and walked for a very short distance then ran the rest of the way. I was greeted once again by Brandon as I ran out of the woods towards the finish line and he jogged with me for the remaining 25 yards or so. I finished the race with a smile and felt great.
Raleigh asked me how I felt, and I was like, "I'm fine" and I think he knew then that I didn't PUSH myself to finish faster. He was proud of me, but I knew that if it was him finishing, he would be near death to be closer to the top...haha.
The important thing is I ENJOYED the triathlon. I did not want to finish the race and then never want to do one again. I pushed myself, but not to complete exhaustion. I finished in an hour and 47 minutes, 13 minutes under my goal of less than 2 hours!
Swim 1/2 mile: 22 minutes
Bike 12 miles: 46 minutes
Run 2.75 miles: 31 minutes
I'm happy with that...we'll see how I do next time!!!
So, the day of my birthday, October 24th, Raleigh, Brandon and I headed down to Orlando. We arrived at the park for a meeting with the man who organizes the events, and he took us on a tour of the track we would be taking. Brandon kept asking me if I was nervous, and I honestly was not. I just wanted to get out there and get it OVER with!
The next morning, October 25th, we woke up at 5:15 AM!! Over 300 women entered the race. It was such a cool feeling walking around and setting up and seeing all of the women out there of every age and stature. The swim started at just after 7:00. It was cold, dark, murky water.
I knew this would be my weakest event, and it was. I was one of the LAST 6 people to get out of the water.
I probably invented a few new strokes while I was out there. I did the side stroke, back stroke, breast-stroke, freestyle (my version), a little regular swimming, and a few others that have not been named. The heat I was in was the last to enter the swim, so I really felt WAY behind when I finally made it out of the water.
But Raleigh and Brandon were there on the shore cheering me on and running with me to the 1st transitional area where I would get ready to ride my bike.
I am very confident on the bike. I had borrowed a friend's road bike and it was FAST! I loved it!
I immediately caught up and passed several women. Our ages were written on the back of our right calf, so as I passed each woman I would look at their age and think to myself, "HA! I'm 10 years older than her!!" Okay, I know, it's not about winning...haha. The bike route was beautiful. It weaved in and out of some really nice neighborhoods and was visually appealing the whole way. It made the time go by quickly...plus I was riding so fast..remember??!!! As I finished up the ride, Brandon was waiting down the road for me to take pictures and yell, "GO MOM!!" So sweet.
I dismounted the bike, carefully as to NOT fall over in front of the crowd, and ran to put my bike back in the transitional area. I changed into my running shoes and took off on the last leg of the race!
I felt good as I started to run and knew I could run 2.75 miles. I had probably trained in this area the most. The run took us back in a campground area and we ran on limerock. Only thing is, it started to DOWNPOUR! It felt good to run in the rain, and thank goodness I wore a visor, but the road was covered in puddles. I had to practically zig-zag the whole way. But I continued on and tried not to let Raleigh down. He begged me to run the whole way and ONLY walk about 20 yards if I had to in order to catch my breath. I ran the 1st two miles without stopping and walked for a very short distance then ran the rest of the way. I was greeted once again by Brandon as I ran out of the woods towards the finish line and he jogged with me for the remaining 25 yards or so. I finished the race with a smile and felt great.
Raleigh asked me how I felt, and I was like, "I'm fine" and I think he knew then that I didn't PUSH myself to finish faster. He was proud of me, but I knew that if it was him finishing, he would be near death to be closer to the top...haha.
The important thing is I ENJOYED the triathlon. I did not want to finish the race and then never want to do one again. I pushed myself, but not to complete exhaustion. I finished in an hour and 47 minutes, 13 minutes under my goal of less than 2 hours!
Swim 1/2 mile: 22 minutes
Bike 12 miles: 46 minutes
Run 2.75 miles: 31 minutes
I'm happy with that...we'll see how I do next time!!!
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Emma KATE is 8 !!!
I really did want a girl. I loved having 2 boys because I loved watching brothers be brothers, and then I got selfish and wanted a baby girl as well! I thought I could control my own destiny, read a bunch of books, and tried to calculate the right "time" to conceive a girl. Needless to say, I miscarried a baby in the early weeks of pregnancy during the month of December 1999. I truly feel it was because I was trying to control my own fate instead of letting God determine what I needed. So, I tried again, this time leaving it in God's hands, and in February of 2000 I found out I was pregnant again.
I still remember the day I found out I was indeed having a little girl. The nurse said to me, "Well, you will be having ANOTHER GIRL in the house" (meaning in addition to the ONE other girl which was ME!) I tell you, the word ANOTHER sounded so long, and drawn out that I just knew she was going to say BOY...which I was prepared for the slogan, "My Three Sons"...and there was something cute about that too! But, I was having a girl and could not wait to begin buying hair accessories and PINK stuff!!!
Emma was born late in the afternoon on October 23rd, 2000. She weighed 7lbs 8oz. Her first name was chosen from her Great-Great Aunt Emma Louise; her middle name was chosen from my first name, but spelled with a K because it looked "prettier", Katherine; and her second middle name, Faith, was chosen because I kept saying throughout my pregnancy, "I'm going to have FAITH that it is a girl!"
My mom saved the outfit I wore home from the hospital, back in 1971, and though it had a few "rough spots" on it, I could not have imagined her coming home in anything else. I now understood how it felt to love your children the "same but different." Something my mom always said to me, and I never believed her...I did now.
Emma proved to be my saving grace when I went through a divorce just 7 months after she was born. I took her to bed with me and just stared at her when I couldn't fall asleep. I held myself together and took care of her when I wanted to lay on the floor and not move. She made me smile, her and the boys...and today she is still that sweet little girl.
On a lighter note, I have learned a lot about Emma over the last 8 years. She was meant to be my MOTHER'S daughter!!! I tease my mom all the time that she must have whispered all of her crazy quirks and fears into Emma's ears when she was a baby because she is the mirror image of my mom. Lately my mom and I laugh and say that Emma was probably hiding, crouched down somewhere when God looked for her to send to her and found me instead. Then when it was time for me to have a daughter HE found the one my mom was supposed to get!!!!! She has the same squishy nose like my mom. They look a lot alike as children, and their mannerisms are remarkably similar. Emma is scared of loud toilets, she used to sing songs about anything she saw throughout the day, she wears her feelings on her shoulders and cries at the drop of a hat, she wants everyone to like her, and will go out of her way to apologize EVEN if it WASN'T her fault. She is frightened of airplanes, she won't get her ears pierced because she has NO pain tolerance...I could go on and on...Yet, I would not want her any other way. My mom is a remarkable lady and has a heart of gold. I love laughing about all of the traits they both share.
My mom started a tradition a few years ago to send a tea cup and saucer she has picked out from an antique store to the Florist, and then the florist fills them with flowers and delivers them to either school or home. It is such a delicate, precious gift and I know Emma will enjoy having all of the various tea cups to collect....thanks mom!!
Emma,
I hope you had a wonderful day. I just want to make you smile in all the ways you have brought laughter and joy to my life. You continue to grow into such a sweet young lady. Your beauty comes from the inside out. I can't believe you are 8 already! Keep the love of Jesus in your heart and know that I am so proud to have been chosen by God to be your mother. I love seeing the world through your eyes and pray you always see the beauty and excitement of life as you do now.
Happy Birthday,
I love you!!!
MOM
I still remember the day I found out I was indeed having a little girl. The nurse said to me, "Well, you will be having ANOTHER GIRL in the house" (meaning in addition to the ONE other girl which was ME!) I tell you, the word ANOTHER sounded so long, and drawn out that I just knew she was going to say BOY...which I was prepared for the slogan, "My Three Sons"...and there was something cute about that too! But, I was having a girl and could not wait to begin buying hair accessories and PINK stuff!!!
Emma was born late in the afternoon on October 23rd, 2000. She weighed 7lbs 8oz. Her first name was chosen from her Great-Great Aunt Emma Louise; her middle name was chosen from my first name, but spelled with a K because it looked "prettier", Katherine; and her second middle name, Faith, was chosen because I kept saying throughout my pregnancy, "I'm going to have FAITH that it is a girl!"
My mom saved the outfit I wore home from the hospital, back in 1971, and though it had a few "rough spots" on it, I could not have imagined her coming home in anything else. I now understood how it felt to love your children the "same but different." Something my mom always said to me, and I never believed her...I did now.
Emma proved to be my saving grace when I went through a divorce just 7 months after she was born. I took her to bed with me and just stared at her when I couldn't fall asleep. I held myself together and took care of her when I wanted to lay on the floor and not move. She made me smile, her and the boys...and today she is still that sweet little girl.
On a lighter note, I have learned a lot about Emma over the last 8 years. She was meant to be my MOTHER'S daughter!!! I tease my mom all the time that she must have whispered all of her crazy quirks and fears into Emma's ears when she was a baby because she is the mirror image of my mom. Lately my mom and I laugh and say that Emma was probably hiding, crouched down somewhere when God looked for her to send to her and found me instead. Then when it was time for me to have a daughter HE found the one my mom was supposed to get!!!!! She has the same squishy nose like my mom. They look a lot alike as children, and their mannerisms are remarkably similar. Emma is scared of loud toilets, she used to sing songs about anything she saw throughout the day, she wears her feelings on her shoulders and cries at the drop of a hat, she wants everyone to like her, and will go out of her way to apologize EVEN if it WASN'T her fault. She is frightened of airplanes, she won't get her ears pierced because she has NO pain tolerance...I could go on and on...Yet, I would not want her any other way. My mom is a remarkable lady and has a heart of gold. I love laughing about all of the traits they both share.
My mom started a tradition a few years ago to send a tea cup and saucer she has picked out from an antique store to the Florist, and then the florist fills them with flowers and delivers them to either school or home. It is such a delicate, precious gift and I know Emma will enjoy having all of the various tea cups to collect....thanks mom!!
Emma,
I hope you had a wonderful day. I just want to make you smile in all the ways you have brought laughter and joy to my life. You continue to grow into such a sweet young lady. Your beauty comes from the inside out. I can't believe you are 8 already! Keep the love of Jesus in your heart and know that I am so proud to have been chosen by God to be your mother. I love seeing the world through your eyes and pray you always see the beauty and excitement of life as you do now.
Happy Birthday,
I love you!!!
MOM
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