Summer FUN....July

We went over to Katie's for a movie on the lawn. It was actually rather chilly for a normal summer evening.

All the kids watching the movie.

Dinner before the movie. They were too funny with their faces

The puppet show has begun

Bryson is giving us a presentation of the story...he did such a good job.

The Last days of June

Another BLESSED month is behind us and as you can see each of the children are growing up so fast. Molly Anna loves it outside. She is so sweet natured and so much loved by the Padilla children.

Bryson has grownup so much this past year. One of these days I will get him to smile a natural smile that shows his beautiful front teeth coming in. I think it's tomorrow he "might" get his retainer out. They put that in because he has inherited the "big" teeth and a small mouth. He will be having some teeth pulled soon just like his mama did to make room.

Molly Anna taking a break for a juice box....such a big girl with her own one too.

The children introduced Molly Anna to the red Jeep and she loved it. Bryson has too much legs to drive it anymore and we would only let Jessalyn drive her around. She thought she was something else sitting in the drivers seat with Dawson.

It is scary to think it will be a "real" car in 10 years!!! These two are so closely bonded....we see a true friendship in the future.

June has arrived, FUN FUN FUN

We introduced Molly Anna to our favorite summer spot downtown yesterday. After Molly Anna's nap, Nana and Molly headed over to Aunt Katie's and we loaded the van up with the Nana Wagon and headed to downtown Greenville. The first stop was to meet Skip at Greenville News so he could show her off at the office while we parked and loaded up the wagon and headed to our water spot. I later heard from Skip, "we are ready". So Nana went back upon Main Street and picked her up from her daddy. She came prepared, a pink bucket! Skip said, "they were having a promotion and she got the prize". As it is shown here, she is Sissy's shadow!

This was so funny....she hates for you to pour water in her face so the spray is hitting her smack in the face and she's "yelling". I am standing in front of her telling her, "Molly look you have your face in the water". She looks at me and sees that no one is torturing her and LOVED IT. We had a good laugh over that.

Molly Anna! She is who she is....full of LIFE and LAUGHTER!!

Isn't this a cutie!! Batman saves the day!

Someday she won't appreciate her "protectors" but Mommy and Daddy will...beware now little men!

Wrapping up another month.....

Well nearly another month, May is soon to be over. I can't hardly believe we have finished out half of the year. Here are some highlights....
Hannah Gray graduated from Bob Jones University and we had a few days with our wonderful and sweet friends, Sandra and Pastor Gray. We won't be seeing much of them from now on as Hannah is done with school(grad school in the future). We are planning a trip to D.C. in August.
Mother's Day was very nice for us moms. The guys and the kids took us to our favorite chinese Lieu's for lunch. I got lots of sweet cards, gift card, earrings and a lovely picture of Molly.
Skip and Jess's big 5 year anniversary. They went out for a nice dinner and Papa babysit Molly Anna as Nana had to work.
Memorial Weekend....lazy! Katie's family are at the beach and a little rained out but I am sure it didn't damper the kids fun! And then as you'll see below Freedom Weekend....speaking of FREEDOM...we are so THANKFUL for ALL of our military and two young men come to mind that we pray for, J.T. Elliot is in Afganistan and Martin is in Iraq...we pray for their saftely and protection....I am thankful for my retired men who have served in years past and now our active men including James in Nat'l Guard....we LOVE YOU ALL.

MAY

FREEDOM LOFT WEEKEND! We had Molly Anna and decided to go to Target and were on our way to Brewster's for ice cream when we saw the hot air Balloons lift off. When we got to ice cream we told Molly Anna to "look up" but she wasn't quite sure what we meant so we tipped her back (nearly upside down) and then she was the balloons and she was A W E!!!

Brewster's is across the street from our church and right before our eyes one was landing on the lawn.

I told Audy, "now how was that for a FREE view and no crowds".... LANDED!

Bryson and is active imagination!!!

He's COOL.....

The kids love playing with Molly Anna on the trampoline!! She's even figured out that she has to "jump".

LOVE YOU NANA!

Bryson's first piano recital....him and his serious smiles!!!

SPRING

We are hoping to purchasea new notebook computer in a few weeks and it sure will help with the uploading and blogging. The keys stick and it takes forever for anything to download. I have a few more pictures but it's taken me half an hour just to try and upload them and no sucess......
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Whatcha doing Molly Anna?

"Looking for treasure's"

Well it's actually Papa's pepper plant pot!

Molly Anna's first trip to Bruster's for a free ice cream cone. She has no clue what she's waiting for either.....

Isn't she a pro or what!? Our little cutie bug!

HAPPY MAY!

Well Spring has arrived in South Carolina. We have had some warm days but I would say and even amount of warm and cool ones. Everything is in bloom and so pretty and green. Now if we could just get over all the sickness! Audy and I have done pretty good this winter but we both have been fighting off a cold. For those of you who know me I am a ZICAM believer!! As soon as I feel a sniff off I go and hey it works!
Katie's kids have done really good with allergies. Dawson still battle's with asthma but not like he has done in the past. Katie gives him a breathing treatment just about every night. Now Molly Anna is the one who has been sick this past week. She went up North to her cousins birthday party and came home a sick little girl. She ran a fever all week and then on Friday Mommy found a red rash and it was Roseola. The doctor said, "expect a cold or virus after that" and sure enough she had a snotty nose. Papa and Nana kept her yesterday so Mommy and Daddy could at least go to church and get a nap in as they were exhausted!
Then on Saturday I was getting ready for work when I got a call from our dearest friend's daughter, Hannah Gray from Barge (Bob Jones Hospital) asking us if we could take her to the local hospital. She was crossing the street on campus when a car hit her. It's only the Grace of God she is able to tell the story and from what witness's say as well! She came away with some bruises and scrapes and totally embarrassed!!! She graduates on Saturday and after 4 years she'd be the one to not only go to Barge but get hit by a car too!!! Only Hannah!!!!
My job is coming along really good. I am hoping they will trim back a few more hours so I can manage my home and grand children and still have the energy to do the things I need to do. Audy begins his 2PM to 10PM shift June 1 and we will have more time together during that time.
I do have some pic's on my camera and hopefully this week I can post them.

EASTER SUNDAY

Well even the big kids gotta have too!

Molly Anna....don't you just love them curls! So cute!

Such handsome three they are!!!

End of Week 2

Well it's the end of my second week of training and I am so thankful to have the weekend here! I am so grateful for Audy's encouragement and so much help around the house as I struggle each day to do what I can. Oh I miss my grandchildren so much. I have managed to make it by and see the Padilla children and stock up on some hugs and kisses. I have not seen my Molly Anna since Sunday and miss her so much. I was going to go by one day this past week but she was so sick and I really couldn't afford to get sick. Katie and Jessalyn are going to Atlanta tomorrow with Jessalyn's best friend, Kate. They are going to the American Girl for Kate's birthday. James has his weekend drill so the boys are camping out at Nana's for the day and I am looking forward to that.
I have learned a lot this week with the emails. It was quite rewarding to me when I stopped by on Wednesday and picked up a check for the few days of the last pay period. I am Praising the Lord for this job and the good wages because it is so much easier on me with my knee problems. Right now I am battling with eye strain as I am not use to being on the computer for hours at a time. That will soon pass. Right now I am trying to get my schedule worked out as they have me set for 30 hours a week when I am suppose to work 20 hours a week. It looks like I will mainly work in the evenings and I am really okay with that. Audy and I are use to spending quality time together and the rest of the time I can help out my girls with the children.
We are also rejoicing with Jessica getting a part time job as well. She is only away from home 2 days a week for a few hours. Her parents watch Molly Anna one day and the other day I watch her. She is very firm about being a stay at home mom and not continuing a career. Skip is working very hard to make this possible for her. They have been through some deep waters this last year but God has seen them through each wave and they grow stronger and stronger with each other as well as the Lord.

Newman Update

Well as you can see there are NO pictures to update and probably won't be for another week or so. I started classroom training on Monday at Level One. For those of you who aren't familar with Level One. It's a Centralize Leasing Company. Their operators are the people you speak with when you call to get information on most Apartment Communities U.S. wide. Well I will be working with the emails that come in and replying to their questions and sending their request to the communites they are enquiring about. During the two weeks of training I will be pulling a full week but once my training is over I am going to do 20 hours a week. I am rather excited to have a good paying job and not having to be in so much pain with my knees.
Skip's family has battled with the colds and yucky stuff. I haven't been able to see Molly Anna all week and looking forward to her spending the day with us tomorrow. Jessica got a part time job at the mortage company she use to work with. She's only doing 1 or 2 days a week for a few hours. Her mom and dad live close by so it's been so nice for her to make some extra money. Like she says, she is not looking for a career but it's sure nice to get out of the house once in awhile.
Katie's family is healthy! She stays busy with homeschooling and all the extra activities they are involved with. We stopped by and saw them this morning and daddy had them organizing the video/dvd cabient. What was so funny was Papa would say, "that movie is MINE" and so on. Well Dawson wasn't about to hand over his favorite movie like Toy Story and etc....So it's Mine no it's MINE was ongoing! And guess what? Papa came home with an arm load ove MINE movies;)

CHANGES!

I know that I am not the only one that hates changes! Changes can cause much stress for the "unknown" or they can be turned around to help us grow and broader our horizon. I have been working for Books Are Fun almost 3 years and have enjoyed it so much. I have met a lot of people and been to some neat places. It is time for me to close that door and a new door at Level One has been opened up to me. Level One is a type of call center that takes the calls for the 800 number for apartments all over the USA. I know some of you are wondering how in the world can I work with telephones. Well I will be working with the email department. They have requested that I work 20 hours a week and it can be anytime Monday through Saturday during 7am until 9pm. I have two weeks of training beginning on Monday.
Yes it's going to be stressful because my schedule will at one point in time conflict with "family outings" and holidays. I am learning a whole new system and working on huge double screened computers (no need for new glasses!) On the positive side, I just might have the opportunity to open a door in the future for others....God knows ALL and I am trusting him with this.
I would appreciate your prayers as I do broaden my horizon for the Lord.

THANKS JENNY!

Isn't the blog setup adorable! I take no credit for the cute graphics! Once again a dear friend, Jenny has taken care of me again........thanks dear, just love it!

Dawson learns to drive!

This is Dawson's first year to get to drive the jeep. Of all the people to teach him, Jessalyn! We still have to warn her to pay attention to where she is driving!

Off they go! I think he did a pretty good job!

A week after the 5-1/2" of snow!

Yep! Just a week after our near blizzard snow storm we are outside enjoying 70's weather! Notice Bryson has his "new front teeth"!

You can always count on Jessalyn to be up in her favorite tree! She was so happy it survived the snow storm! Papa showed her which branches he was cutting next week and thankfully it met her approval! She's growing her hair out long like her American Girl doll, Samantha. Samantha's era is 1900's.

Dawson! That boy is changing everyday! I told him I liked his new haircut and he says, "I have hair like Nana"! And actually we do have the same hairstyle too!

You can always count on these two to help you when you need it! We cleaned the deck off and they were helping their Papa.

I am ready to GO to Nana's

Well Molly Anna has her hat on (and such a serious face!)

AND her shoes! Aren't these the cutest things. She hasn't mastered walking in them yet!

SWEET MOLLY ANNA

I just couldn't pass up sharing these pictures of Molly Anna. She is such a sweet little girl and we think she is just adorable with them big eyes and head of curly hair. She is so tiny like Jessalyn was and at her yearly checkup she weighed 18.5lbs and cannot be promoted to the front facing carseat! She is quite tired of looking at the back seat!!

All though we all get fusterated with Lucy she is such a good dog and Molly Anna loves her so much that the dog gets lots of kisses before we do!!

Sweetie!

***LOOK***What Molly Anna is up to!

Molly Anna found out recently she a had a cool rocking chair (Aunt Allie's gift).

She quickly notices mom and dad are "watching" so she's being "innocent" when she is gearing up to do what is next!!!

CAUGHT YA!!! She's peeking out the window! Needless to say the chair has since then been REMOVED!

MARCH!

This is what took place last night! We end up having 5-1/2"of beautiful snow. I was on Facebook (where else:-) when we heard this crashing sound. Audy and I both said, "what was that?". He says, "I hope it was just snow falling off the house"....we found the tree with the first branch near the porch and then about half hour later the branch went the other direction! While he was out there letting Maggie potty he heard more trees in the neighborhood breaking!
He left for work (yeepee for days)about 10a.m. even though he was scheduled for 6a.m. boss said, take your time. We live sort of out in the country so he had to take the long way around on the interstate and with accidents along the way what usually takes 20min. took 1-1/2hours!
When we left for church in the morning it was just raining. Them weather people have said SNOW before and it never happened! By the time we picked up Molly Anna at noon it was beginning to sleet. Jessica had coffee shop duty at her church and Katie and I were sharing Molly Anna time. They left church early because the snow was coming down thicker. She said, "that was one scary ride home". I can't say NEVER about too many things but I am 99.9 positive I could "never" live in snow! It's surpose to be reaching 60's this week and just the thought of slushy mess is depressing!

A new week.....

According to the calender we are approaching the end of February! I say "according" because I can't believe it! I have some more pictures to download but my computer is being very slow (I need a new one!). In the posts below are some more pictures from Molly Anna's birthday and some random shots.
Audy is in his LAST week of nights and boy are we excited! He was off Friday and Saturday night and it felt so werid having this "man" in my bed! The extra body heat means I don't have to turn my electric pad up 3 notches and I found that out on the first night;).
Family news: Skip and Jessica are doing good. We kept Molly Anna on Saturday so they could get some things down around the house. They have let her have run of part of the house and she is so much happier. Skip said, "mom go and look at her bedroom"....looked like a tornado struck! He's going to bolt the dresser to the wall for safety reasons. They stay busy these days especially as they become more active in their church.
Katie and James are doing well too. James still struggles with pain in his foot. He is now able to wear shoes and walk "normal". Now he's itching to get outside and get caught upon things around the house. Him and Bryson made a science project this weekend, a volcano. Bryson and Jessalyn painted it yesterday after church and we got to watch it "overflow"...so fun! I told him about the active volcano near Aunt Debby's house in Alaska and he was like, "wow". I also noticed yesterday he's a tad taller these days. He's built like his daddy....long long legs!! Also his two "big" front teeth are coming in real nice too....Jessalyn is still our flutter bug. What I mean by that is she just flows in the breeze! She met a new friend at church yesterday and was full of news about her. She misses her bestfriend Kate so much.
Dawson is the one who really met a new friend....he's a hoot! He always seems to attract the little girls that just love to fuss over him. At our church it's Haley who is so adorable and now he won't be seeing her much as he is going to church somewhere else. Well this new little girl is "Meggie". His statemant for that was, "mommy is Meggie's name a human name or a dog's name"?Heehee...explaining to the parents of this little girl, "his Papa and Nana's dog's name is "maggie".....leave it to Dawson!
NEVER A DULL MOMENT!

Continuing.........

Molly's favorite thing to do is crush the tissue paper!

In the background is Amanda, Brianne and Ryzek

Molly's other grandparents, Mimi and Tom Tom. Behind them is Papa and Aunt Christy and Uncle Andy (Skip and Jess's bestfriends)

Nana's little love bug was totally exhausted and as you can see she is "resting her eyes"!

Even the adults had a blast, Mathew Sims including