molly's first field trip!

so obviously, as bad as i hate it, molly is getting older. this year in her 4 yr old pre k class they took a field trip to Camp Lee's pumpkin patch. i couldn't go with her so her daddy went. of course i sent the camera and told him to take lots of pics and he did! daddy says that molly had an excellent time and was very well-behaved. she is so precious! hopefully this will be the beginning of molly becoming a daddy's girl. i really want her to be extra close to him. he is such a good daddy. molly did a hayride, got a snack, a story and a pumpkin. she had a great time!

michael jackson, a cowboy, a wolf ninja, and wonderwoman.....

with halloween fast approaching, i took the kids to pick out costumes. duke picked out some sort of wolf ninja (never heard of it) and molly picked out wonderwoman (super cute). they were sooooo excited about getting to dress up and trick or treat. the thing is, the morning of halloween, duke decided that everyone should dress up for trick or treating. imagine trying to find a costume on the morning of halloween. yeah, slim pickings. mother and i drove all over town trying to find us something without much luck, while papa, duke and molly searched for papa and chad's costume. after several hours of shopping, papa, duke, and molly turned up with a michael jackson costume for daddy and a disco style suit for papa. in the meantime, mother and i are searching frantically since we encouraged the men to dress up, we figured we would definately have to dress up. we didn't have much luck. mother ended up with some sort of scary mask and i borrowed a cowboy hat and a gun from duke and dressed as a cowboy. look as this mess! duke and molly loved it though and as always, that's all that mattered.

happy birthday molly!

4 years ago molly was born on her daddy's birthday.

molly at 7 months

1 year old

2 years

3 years

And 4!

she has always been such a special little girl!

for her 4th birthday, her nina and i had already started a tradition of going to cabbage patch land, so we made another weekend of it. on our way to the cabbage patch land, we stopped to get some boiled peanuts and saw a horseback riding farm. we stopped in and were able to take a 1 hour ride. we had a great time with the horses.


once we were done with our horseback ride, we continued our drive to cabbage patch land. as usual, molly enjoyed herself there and got a new baby.

for her party, we did an ice cream theme complete with the ice cream man!


we had an inflateable water slide and a moon bounce in the yard and all of her bestest friends came!


her cake and ice cream cones turned out just perfect! the cones were actually cake and icing as well. everyone seemed to enjoy them.


what a great time! happy birthday sweet girl..... we love you very much!

bitter sweet....

the day finally came that duke had to start kindergarten. i can't believe that he is already 5 and ready for school. he has been in preschool, but for some reason, it just isn't the same. he actually started big school, where he has to be there. there's no keeping him home just because. the good part is that i teach and so he would now be going with me. the thing is, we don't live in the area that i teach in so eventually i will move him, but for now, he will be going with me. he is very excited, mostly because he will be going with me.
and the fact that i also teach k makes it even easier for me to send him. my room is right around the corner from his teacher, Mrs. Shomber. molly however, will stay at word alive (where she loves it). duke got up the first day really excited and ready to go. he felt like such a big boy now that he was going to big school. chad was home that morning to help me get him ready and to walk him to the car. he put on his backpack and headed out the door. i walked him to his room and told him that i loved and to have a great day. he walked right in like he had done it before. didn't seem scared or nervous at all. i love that he has that kind of confidence and independence. now, in public school, knowing that everyone doesn't parent the way we do and vice versa, i have to just hope that to this point, we have taught duke to be grounded and to use good judgement, and to have good morals as he moves throughout the day w/o us right there with him to teach him to make good decisions. i am excited for this part of his growing up, but it is also very scary. my little boy will be a little man before i know it! duke..... i love you to the moon and back as much as there is grass! do well and always be kind to others.

catching up....

since i am just now starting to blog, i wanted to back up a little and bring you up to date. chad and i met in 2000 and were married in July of 2002. On December 31st 2003, we had our first child, Brian Duke. We always knew he would go by the name Duke. many of our family and friends told us from the beginning that they did not like the name. he would be made fun of. he would have to be a strong personality to carry that name. chad and i always just knew that Duke would be just fine wearing this name. we knew that if he was made fun of for having the name Duke, it would make him a stronger person and he would be able to wear it. boy, were we ever right! duke wears the name just as we thought he would. he has made me sweat from day one! i remember the first night in the hospital after delivery, duke just cried and cried. we thought we would never quiet him. i was about in tears, as a new mom, i wasn't sure what to do for him. chad looked at me and said, "what have we done?" we knew that night that duke was not going to be a quiet, nonchalant, go with the flow type personality. in fact, he was right the opposite. he wanted what he wanted when he wanted it! to this day, he's about to turn 6, he is still a very hard child. nothing has ever been easy with him. what is so wild about his personality though is as demanding as he is, he is the sweetest, most compassionate, loving, people pleasing little person. he loves attention and he loves to be told by us how proud we are of him. he has always done well in school and has never been one to get into trouble, outside of our house! although he has been our handful, duke is our little man. now he is 5, almost 6 and we are so proud of him and what we know he will accomplish one day! i am excited about what the future has in store for him! duke..... i love you to the moon and back as much as there is grass!

and then there's molly b. we found out we were pregnant with molly right after duke's first birthday. at first we were pretty nervous, but that didn't last long. molly was born on sept. 14 (her daddy's birthday) 2005. molly has been the milder tempered child from the beginning. in the hospital, she never cried, she was easy to passify, she loved to be held, and she does something to all who come across her, people just love her. molly is fun loving, laid back, she has always been a girly girl, she loves baby dolls, high heel shoes, dress up, and most of all LIPSTICK! molly is also very loving, compassionate, curious, and never meets a stranger. because of her big personality, people have always been drawn to her. she has the most beautiful smile i have ever seen on a little girl. she loves to dance and sing. i have always said that i need to find her an audition somewhere b/c she is something else. she is very inquisitive and has talked since we can remember. she didn't start with one word, she started with two-word sentences. i am so proud to be her mother. i can't imagine what her future holds for her. whatever it is, i know it will be fabulous, just as she is! molly.... i love you to the moon and back as much as there are leaves!

ain't life grand.....

i am not a very spritual person, i don't go to church as i should, i don't even pray very often (terrible, i know). these are all things that i don't like about myself and want to change...... so why not. well..... i don't know, pure laziness i guess. things that i am working on though. however, i do have faith and beleive in a mighty god and talk to my children about jesus and his father, i do try to remind them to say their prayers and to be thankful for the many blessings they have in their lives. i guess all of the above are reasons why god sends me reminders all the time of how wonderfully blessed i am. just when i am thinking that my life my not be just perfect, i get a small reminder from above to be thankful for how wonderful it is. someone always has a much worse situation and most times, i realize that the trials and tribulations in my life are minute when compared to those in the lives of others. having faith is something i do, practicing my faith and religion and setting examples for my children is something i am working on. i love my life!

i've been inspired

......so, my babies are now 4 and almost 6 and as i think about the last 6 years, as i have a lot lately, i am regreting a lot. i have done lots of things with them that i am proud of and i have done lots of things that i am not so proud of. i loose my temper with them easily, i don't always MAKE time as i should, i sometimes forget to sit back and just enjoy the moment rather than being so into the chaos...... usually i'm the chaotic one, i yell more than i'd like (something i'm working on right now) i am not consistent with anything (daily schedules drive me crazy, but i know they need consistency and schedules), i sometimes can't see the bright side of situations for focusing on the black clouds (chad helps me out there), and i'm just now realizing how much you miss if you don't sit back and ENJOY the moments that life brings you as a mother. don't get me wrong, i also think i'm a pretty good mother, but i have just recently realized that i could be a much better mother. i don't always realize those "little moments" with my babies as i should. i have started working on taking time to do things without getting upset b/c they aren't doing them the way i want them done, or just allowing them to do things for themselves (the hard way) without getting all worked up. i just don't want their childhood to pass me by without being able to say that i enjoyed every minute of it. so...... i've been inspired by other mothers (who don't even know they've inspired me) to sit back, relax, make time, enjoy the messes they make while having fun, involve them in things i am interested in, and to preserve it all for them once they are grown. i wish i had that! part of that preservation process is this blog...... which i fully intend on being dedicated to......... for them! motherhood is an awesome job and i want my children to know how much i love them. challenge yourself to be inspired by something every now and then. i love being excited about something so simple.