Where Has the Time Gone?

It has been quite awhile since we have updated the blog. Of course, things have been busy in the past several months.  So, we will just give a re-cap of recent events.

Emily and Morgan auditioned for and made the "All County Symphonic Band".  They did wonderful!!!  It ended with a terrific concert.  They worked very hard and it paid off.  That was back in November.  Soon after, Thanksgiving arrived and my sister and her family from Florida came up, as well as my dad and step mom.  It was a wonderful time with lots of food and fun (and people).  Somewhere in between there Morgan ended their softball season with a great tournament that they won.  It was a freezing weekend and they even played in the snow. Almost forgot, Corrine got a job at the mall.  She works at a store called Maui Nix.  It is a surf shop that started in Daytona Beach.  She loves it!  Which leads me to.... she is now driving on her own and has a car.  So the job comes in handy for helping with car insurance and gas.  For those of you who have younger children now... one word.... SAVE!  Car insurance is crazy for a 16 yr old.  Seriously.  Christmas came and went.  We had a very nice, low key Christmas.  Very relaxing.  We celebrated Emily's 14th bday with a day of snow tubing up in the mountains.  She brought 2 friends with her and we had a blast.  It was our first time snow tubing.  It is great living only about an hour from the mountains.  Morgan made the basketball team at school and is doing great!  She is great at stealing the ball and taking it down!  Soon, softball tournaments will be starting again.  Emily made the All District Band. Actually, she made 2nd chair snare drum which is a pretty big deal.  That concert is this weekend and they will be performing at Wake Forest.  Because she made 2nd chair, she is eligible to audition for All State.  Exciting stuff.  Today we have another snow day.... lots of black ice on the road.  DJ is doing great!  I am doing great!  We all still love it up here!  I am sure I missed some things.  Before you know it, it will be summer.  I can't believe Corrine will be a junior next year.  Honestly, it just blows my mind. Emily will be in high school next year and Morgan will be in 8th grade.  We praise God for his goodness!  I thank God everyday for putting this family together.   

Sweet 16, Soccer and Softball

As I write this blog, my mind is in a fog as I come to the realization that our oldest daughter, Corrine, will be 16 years old tomorrow.  Where oh where has the time gone???  It seems like yesterday my little rugrats were crawling around, getting into everything and just so incredibly sweet.  (they still are so incredibly sweet)  Now, Corrine, will be sweet 16.  Just yesterday she was born, just yesterday she was crawling, then walking, just yesterday all she wanted was juice and "green pips" (code talk for juice and sour cream and onion chips), just yesterday she started Kindergarten, just yesterday she started to read, just yesterday she started wanting "girlie" clothes and jewelry, just yesterday she was a patrol and in the fifth grade, just yesterday she started middle school, just yesterday we moved to NC and she started eighth grade, just yesterday she started high school, just yesterday she was 15 years old.   Needless to say, the cliche is so true that so many wise people reminded us over the years: "Enjoy every moment with your children while you can because before you know it, they are all grown up".  Now, I know she isn't all grown up yet...... but this is a big one.  One that stops you in your tracks and makes you think, "where in the world has the time gone?"  And yes, we have enjoyed every single moment with all three of our beautiful daughters.  We have always said that Corrine is the "guinea pig" in the family since she is the oldest sibling and is paving the way for the others. And what a gracious guinea pig she is.  Perfect... no.  None of us are.  She learns from her mistakes and moves on.  She loves God!  She loves people!  What more could you ask in a daughter or son?  She is so giving, so beautiful, so talented in many ways and so INCREDIBLY funny!  We are so incredibly blessed with all three of the girls.  Tomorrow is an eventful day!  Corrine has declared that "Corrine-fest" has begun.  It starts tomorrow with her birthday and her favorite meal (cajun chicken).  Will continue through the week and Saturday night we are taking her and many friends to PF Changs (her favorite restaurant).  Nothing frilly.....just a great big celebration!  We will post next weekend's pictures after the big event!  

Emily has started the fall soccer season and is playing with the Optimist Club in Winston-Salem and is doing great!  Last week during the first game of the season, she scored the one and only goal for her team!  She, too, is growing up so fast!  And tall....... She is also in the jr. high choir at church and LOVES it!  She is now volunteering at church before service starts and will be doing various jobs like serving coffee, etc.  She has such a servant's heart!  Soon there will be tryouts for All County Band.  Much of her time is spent practicing for that.  

Morgan is still playing softball and had another tournament yesterday.  Her team placed 3rd.  Quite a standing for a team that has just formed.  Most of these travel teams have been together for a very long time.  They improve every week and usually play girls that are twice as big as they are.  She is still catching in every game.  She, too, is in the jr. high choir.  She just started.  She will also have All County Band tryouts for the trumpet soon.  

That is it in a nutshell.  Fall is upon us; the weather matches up with that.  We have had BEAUTIFUL weather.  Life is great!  God is good, all the time!  And we continue to be so incredibly blessed. (Disregard the dates on our photos; we need to fix that on our camera!)

and more photos.....

More Beach Photos

Finally....A Trip to the Beach!

We finally got away, just the five of us, to the east coast of NC.  We went to Carolina Beach over Labor Day Weekend and had a great time!  Very pretty beach and we picked a perfect weekend for surfing.  Awesome waves!!!  DJ was ready to surf and so were the girls. I even attempted surfing.  It has been several years.......  Emily is a very good body surfer.  The waves took her pretty much up to shore.  She was the one who challenged me to get in the ocean and have some fun.  We are all very sore, but it was well worth it.  We came home Sunday night so we could have Monday to recover, do laundry, grocery shop, etc.  Back to reality.  I think we might make it an annual tradition for us to head to the beach for Labor Day weekend.  We did a lot of laughing!!!!!!!  Enjoy the photos.

Photos

Okay..... here are the photos that go with the blog below.  Sorry about that.

Summer Camp and Volleyball

Sorry for the delay in blogging.  Things have been very busy.  Toward the end of summer, Corrine attended a volleyball camp at Catawba College in Salisbury, NC with other girls from the high school.  She had a blast; but it was very challenging.  She learned a lot and really improved her game.  The following week she had camp at the high school and then tryouts.  With a lot of upcoming freshmen trying out for JV, it was not a shoe-in.  But she did it and made the team!!!!  Volleyball season is now in full gear and games have begun.  Also at the end of summer, Emily and Morgan attended Jr. High church camp with Calvary and had a BLAST.  Upon returning home, I asked them if they ever got homesick while at camp.  They simply said, no, they were actually campsick.  Ouch............   They are growing up too fast!  The pictures from the top of a mountain are ones that Emily took while at camp.  School started a week ago and they all like their teachers, schedules, etc.  Morgan is playing tournament softball and Emily just started playing soccer for the Optimist Club.  She had her first practice last Friday night.  Hope to have some soccer pictures soon.  Enjoy the photos!