New posts coming....I promise

Looks like I have been neglecting the blog lately. I will try to put some time aside this week for a long update!

Madison Turns 4!

Wow, time has really flown by! Madison celebrated her 4th birthday on August 15th. We had a little party for her on that saturday the 14th. We had planned to let the kids run around outside and play with water toys, but the weather had other plans for us, so we ended up doing crafty things inside. Yet again, Madison did not nap that day so she was a bit of a pill to be around once the party kicked off. All she wanted to do was open her presents. We had both sets of parents come up for her birthday minus pops. She had a blast with everyone while they were here. For her actually birthday we went up to IKEA and then over to Pappasitos for lunch. She got a special brownie sundae and they sang to her. So in the end birthday number 4 was a bit hectic of a day for her!

August seems to be flying by and school will be starting here soon on the 1st! She is very excited to go to school this year. She has been asking about it for a month now! She will be starting pre-k and going 5 days a week! Luke will be staying home with me and getting some good mommy and luke time during the mornings! We have signed Madison up for soccer this fall. I can't wait for her to play and also know that it is going to be one of the most frustrating things I watch. She is excited to play and has been wearing her cleats around the front yard kicking her pink soccer ball around. I do say she is actually pretty good!! I had no expectations going into this so I figured my danty little girl wouldn't catch on to soccer. I feared she would be the kid picking flowers on the field instead of playing soccer, but I could be wrong she really can dribble and kick the ball as good as a 4 year old can. After the birthday party and company left, we all came down sick. Madison started it off then I got it and then Luke got it and now Alan seems to be getting it. Luke got it the worst because now he has an after effect of spots!! We took a break from the pool since we have been back from Fl, until today! The kids are getting so much better with the water. Madison actully will go under and no freak out about it. Luke has always been my water baby so no new tricks from him.

We have a busy rest of the month ahead with Preschool starting on the 1st. Lots of fun things to get in before the new school year. Labor day will hopefully be a restful time for us after a very busy August! Enjoy the pictures below.

Yes I had to wear the hat, it wouldn't fit on her head!

Cake Time!


The only thing she wanted to do, open presents!

Craft time!

posing infront of her gifts!

Slip N Slide and Splash Park Fun!

Wow, we had a busy weekend with the kids. We decided to break out the slip n slide on saturday and teach Madison before her birthday party next weekend. She was a little iffy at first, but within 10 minutes she had it down pat. She spent the next 2 hours playing on it. I had to teach her how to do it and I am now paying for it today! My abs are killing me! We got some good video of her going down it and some pictures.


Sunday we all slept in past church time, so we decided to take the kids to the spray park/park down in Newnan for some fun and then back to the house for some more slip n slide fun! After a busy mid morning we all took nice long naps this afternoon!


Enjoy the video and pictures!

His way of going down the slip n slide!

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Trip to NC!

We decided to take a short trip up to North Carolina to visit with Alan's best friend and family. The trip up was great and we had thought Luke had finally outgrown his intolerance for his carseat on long trips, oh boy were we wrong. He had a horrible trip back down. 6 hours of the almost 7 hour trip was spent fussing or screaming! But dispite his horrible trip back we all had a fun time. Once we got up there we decided to split our time into girl time and guy time amongst the adults and oh my gosh that was the best thing ever! The guys decided to be more productive with thier time and cut down a tree, hit golf balls at the driving range and play tennis. Yes, they did all that in one day! Lets just say Alan was a bit sore the next day! Adam decided that he didn't want the 4 pine trees in his back yard and they were going to atleast cut down one of them. With neither one having any kind of tree cutting experience they did it redneck style. Did I mention that the tree was 70 feet plus tall! So, in the end the tree came down with no injuries mid afternoon after a short break for lunch, hitting golf balls and a trip to Lowe's for a new blade for the chainsaw. While the boys were doing their thing us girls decided to take the kids blueberry picking. They have blueberry trees near their house and the kids loved it! They each probably ate more blueberries than what ended up in the baskets. I know Luke and Andrew just picked and ate!! In the evenings after the kids were in bed, us adults got plenty of time to play wii and catch up. Something we have all missed since their station is Alaska the past 4 years. For girls day, Jenn and I decided to go up to Raleigh and have lunch at the cheesecake factory and do some shopping at the mall! We both loved the time away from the kids and got alot of catching up and shopping done, mostly for the kids in the end! Even though we said we were going to shop for ourselves we ended up getting some end of season deals for the kids. The boys managed the kids all day and got alot accomplished like a bike/run with the kids and a trip to the store. No trip to the chessecake factory would be complete without dessert brought back for the the adults to enjoy while catching up that evening! The end of our trip came too soon and we are definitly looking at our calendars to be able to do this again sometime soon! Both sets of kids got along great! Sarah is three now and Andrew is 19 months so the age gap is not that much between our kids. Now that the King's are much closer we can't wait to get the kids together again and do another girls/guys day again! I didn't get that many pictures while we were their, 4 kids running around was a bit chaotic at times to stop and think about taking pictures.

The boys Andrew and Luke! When the boys were babies we did a photo like this with them so now we can see how much they have aged (if I can find the picture!)

Bathtime!!

Family Pictures @ Line Creek

So, it is that time of year again! Family picture day was a hot, hot, hot, hot day!! Did I mention that it was HOT! We usually do family pictures in january/february, but this year we decided to mix it up a bit and go out to Line Creek and take some pictures on the beautiful creek. We happened to pick one of the hottest days of the summer to go do this and dispite the shade from the trees it was still HOT. Again, Kara, Neil, Ava and Owen joined us in the sweat box and took our pictures. Both kids managed to stay out of the water and somewhat lucid while pictures were going on. We got a good mix and some great expressions out of the kids. Enjoy!

Checking out the fishies!

Father/Son Time

7 years and 2 kids later!

my babies

18months

his mini me!

They really do love each other!

4 years have flown by!

Family picture July 2010!

Pictures

Some pictures from the past couple of months:

ready to go to the pool!

watching cartoons

driving the fire truck

she loves to swing

having fun at the water fountain outside of rita's!

Long Over Due Update!

So, I have been slacking in the blogging department! My only excuse is the kids keep me way to busy and exhausted to keep up with it. So since I am not going to give you a run down of the past 6 months we will just do a quick update by person and our summer activities.

Madison update: Well since the last post Madison has been fully potty trained since april. Once she started pooping in the potty she also started staying dry at naptime and night. She finished up her 2nd year at preschool and loved going. She would always ask to go on her off days, so next year she is going 5 days a week!! She can now spell her name out loud and is getting better at tracing her name. She is still growing like a weed, but doesn't seem to be packing on the pounds. She loves all things girly!! We are getting ready to celebrate her 4th birthday in august and it looks like she is wanting a toy story party! At the end of the school year her class did a program and this year she actually performed!

Luke update: He is definitely all boy!! We have entered a hitting, throwing, and destructive stage! He loves balls, cars and anything that he can beat on. He is offically out of his high chair and in a booster seat at the table. This has reduced the amount of food he throws on the floor. He still has a very healthy appetite. He loves all fruits and still isn't into eating much meat. He has discovered climbing and loves getting on top of anything he can. The only thing he hasn't done yet is climb out of his crib. He is talking more and more each day. Some words he can say now are: ball, pool, momma, dada, sissy, banana, cookie, done, and he attempts to sing jesus loves me! He is very much an on the go kid that doesn't require much sleep. We are down to 1 nap a day for only 2 hours. He still hates his carseat but is getting a little bit better. We seem to be able to go about 4.5 hours out before I am highly allergic to the carseat fits kick in! He does not take well to being confined to anything!

Alan update: He keeps plugging away at work. He has been getting more responsibilities, which has ment more hours. Alot of the spring he spent working long hours and for about a 2 month stretch he was working most weekends after the kids were in bed. He has been getting in to fishing again and tries to get out every couple of weeks.

Melissa update: I have been pretty busy with the kids most days. I have also started to watch a friends baby on an as needed basis. That has worked out real well because when he is a little bit older Luke will have a great playmate. I have started to take up running again, when I can get a chance to go.

So far this summer we have been staying busy. After school got out for Madison we didn't have much of a break before VBS started up. We tried to get Madison to go but she wasn't going to have anything to do with it. So I just volunteered and Alan came and got the kids after work. Both kids have been going through seperatation anxiety issues so we haven't been able to make it through church and sunday school much the past 2 months. June was very low key after VBS I was worn out so we spent most of our days playing at the pool, going to the free movies, and story time at the bookstore. The weather has been so hot that we haven't been able to go to the parks that much days. For Father's day we went up to Bass Pro Shops and Alan had a blast showing Luke and Madison all the cool fishing stuff there. During June I also took a 3 week bible study at a friends church on Titus. July has been spent so far in Florida at MiMi and Pops's house. The kids are having a blast in the pool! We have spent most days in the pool several times a day!! Madison has come along with her swimming. We have upgraded from the float to a noodle which is a big accomplishment for her. She still doesn't like to go under! Luke is jumping off the edge to someone and is now floating around in the float. He loves to get in the water and kick around. He will definitely be a better swimmer than Madison. We enjoyed an awesome fireworks show from Alan this year. He really enjoys shopping for the fireworks and putting on a show for us! Madison stayed up but still doesn't like the fireworks. She sat on the porch with her blanket over her head with her ear plugs in. Eventually she moved inside to the couch. My aunt and uncle came down after the 4th and the kids are having a blast with all the attention from everyone. Madison has gotten alot of shopping in and even got to go get a mani/pedi with MiMi and Aunt Valerie!!

Our travelling is not done for the summer just yet. We have a trip to North Carolina planned at the end of the month to visit with some friends that are finally back in the lower 48! We can't wait to get up there and visit with them! Plus the kids are finally at an age where everyone can interact and play together. August seems to be fast approaching, which means another busy month for us. Between our anniversary and Madison's birthday we are burnt out by the end of the month and ready for a break!! This year we are planning on doing something at the house a little low key, since we are taking the kids to Disney World at the end of September. Below are a few pictures from a photo shoot we did while my aunt was in town. Will post more pictures when I get back to GA and get the rest of the pictures off my computer to upload!