Monday, November 26, 2007

Fall Happenings...

It's been a busy autumn to say the least! We are expecting our third child and are pleased to announce that it is another "golden" boy! He is due in April, and we are hoping he sticks to the schedule unlike the other two! :)

In October, the boys and I (minus Shane due to coaching responsibilities) took a trip down to Greenville, SC for a weekend to attend the wedding of a family friend and to spend some time with Grandma and Papa Loudenslager, and Uncle Stevie. It was a beautiful weekend, and we thoroughly enjoyed the changing leaves and cooling temperatures.




For Thanksgiving, we had the Golden family join us at our home for the day and were thrilled that several of Shane's relatives from Florida were able to come! His brother IV was able to come meet his new nephew, Gage, and he brought his two children, Bailey and Lyric.


We were also excited that his Aunt Michel and cousin Caitlin could come up from Florida as well. Here we have Aunt Michel and Aunt Char caught in a moment when they aren't laughing and talking up a storm!


Lastly, we had Shane's cousin Amanda and her boyfriend Jeff in from the Burlington area here in NC.
Of course, we had the rest of the usual crew as well! :)
The day was absolutely beautiful,
so the kids were able to spend a majority of the time outdoors!











Later that evening, we took the kids to Mike's Farm for opening night of their Christmas Lights Hayride. It was a perfect night for the activity!




We hope you and your families had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We look forward to hearing from you as the Christmas season approaches!

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Not really with it...


Okay, so I'm not really with it, like I previously thought. I guess life in general has just kept me from being in the "loop." The past several months have been a complete blur...for example, I've been gone 4 out of the past 6-7 weeks. First, Shane and I accompanied the seniors at our school on their senior trip to New York City, Philly, Baltimore, and Washington D.C. It was a whirlwind trip involving 47 miles of walking, an average of 4-5 hours of sleep each night, run-ins with homeless people, and missing my kids. All in all, it was a great trip with lots of memories! We came home just in time for Xander's Kindergarten Graduation and spent the next two weeks finishing up school. (I can't believe my Xander is going to be a first-grader next year!!! Where does the time go?) After we completed the school-year, we headed to the Outer Banks for the Golden family vacation at a beach house up in Corrolla. The week was a blast, and the kids enjoyed getting to know their cousins a little better. We were only home for 5 days after our OBX vacation before Xander, Cade, and I flew up to Ohio for a couple of weeks with the Loudenslager family. Shane had several sports camps to take care, so he stayed behind for a week. He then joined us in Ohio for the second week. During this time, Sara went into the hospital with complications with the pregnancy, and I was stuck in Ohio praying that the baby would wait for his Aunt Theresa to come home before making his grand entrance. However, I guess the Lord had other plans. Gage Bryant made his appearance on July 2nd VERY early in the morning! Josh called to say that they were going to have to take the baby early because Sara had developed an infection, so I was up all night waiting for him to call back with the news about the delivery. I was greatly relieved that everything went well and was very excited to get back and see the little guy! We enjoyed the rest of our visit with my family and returned home Friday, July 6th. First thing Saturday morning, we went up to the hospital to see Gage and were thrilled to see how well he was doing! Monday night, we celebrated Cade's 3rd birthday by having the family over for dinner. I just can't get over that my baby is 3 years old!!! Another year, and he'll be off to school! The poor guy basically has the last birthday and had to suffer through mine, Xander's, Shane's, and then Xander's graduation! He kept asking when it was HIS turn! So you can imagine how excited he was to finally get a turn at opening presents and blowing out candles! He walked around the house all day singing at the TOP of his lungs "Happy Bir-day to CADE!!" With all of the fun gifts he got, I think it turned out to be everything he imagined and more! With all of the vacationing out of the way, I will spend the rest of the summer trying to find activities to keep the boys busy until school starts in August. I think they have spent a little TOO much time together this summer and are starting to not like each other as much as they used to! Little things turn into BIG issues very quickly, and I feel like I'm playing referee half the time. Well, I guess that about covers it...the general version, at least. Hopefully, I can find time to update this more regularly so that it doesn't take so much time and so that I don't miss so many details! (no, I'm not miraculously being given extra hours in my day!)

Friday, March 2, 2007


Well, I guess I decided it was time to get with the program and create my own blog. I'm not even actually sure of what I will find to write on here; therefore, it will probably end up being all about the many mischievous acts performed by my "precious" yet "active" children. Anyone who has boys will be able to relate to the sordid tales, and those who don't will probably outwardly pity me while secretly rejoicing that they have been blessed with the opposite gender! Now please don't misunderstand- I adore my children! And MOST of the stories will be followed by my soft chuckle at the memory...but I must say in all sincerity that they truly wear a body out! So, while I may post an occasional "ditty" about me or Shane...Xander and Cade will most likely paint these walls!

Keeping Up With Xander

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Cade's Chronicles

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The Days of Hayes

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