Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Well it's that time of year again! The Marine Corps Ball! This year we are celebrating the Marine Corps 234th birthday! Our ball was in Greenville NC...about an hour from our house. For the record, this is too far away to go back to get something you may have forgotten...

This is a picture of the cake cutting ceremony. A cake cutting ceremony that Ski and I almost did not get to see. Why you may ask???


By looking at this picture, we both look so put together don't we? Nothing looks out of place!


Turns out, when you get a new Blues blouse you need to take your collar emblems off the old one and put them on your new one. That way when you get to the hotel in Greenville and you realize that you brought THREE plastic tubs full of extra uniform stuff EXCEPT collar emblems, you won't have to go around asking an entire MALS if anyone has any extra!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen...My husband!!!


But it all turned out okay and we found an extra pair! We didn't sit in the hotel all dressed up for nothing!

Sunday, November 08, 2009

Guess who mastered the Art of riding their bike???

As soon as Cadence turned 4 we decided that it was time to take off the training wheels and teach her how to ride her bike like a big girl! Oh she thought this was the best idea in the world!!! She had to sit right next to Ski and help him take them off! 4 year olds are always so helpful and you get the job done much quicker!


She started out on the grass at first to get the hang of it.


Of course there were a few falls along the way - and the occasional crash into the neighbors mailbox...I'm sure those flip flops she had on made her riding experience that much easier!


Pretty soon she had mastered it and Ski couldn't keep up with her! If you look closely here - they are both sticking their tongues out concentrating really hard. That is a Ski trait!!!

Oh yes she is proud of herself!!!

That's a Ski trait too...



Saturday, October 31, 2009

Halloween 2009

Our Halloween was great! We started the season off at Briley's Farm in Greenville a few days before Halloween!



The kids got to feed the animals - and blatantly disregard the PVC pipes that they have for you to use when feeding them.



Cadence loves pony rides!!!!


There was also a free little hay maze for the kids to run through - which Jacqui and Matt were clearly bored with since they could look across and see exactly where they needed to go so it wasn't much of a challenge!!!

"No Animals were harmed in the making of these photo's..."


Look how excited Jacqui is to be there. Cadence is just as thrilled.


It was cold that day so I was cuddling with my little guy!!!


Then we went on a Hay Ride. We were the only ones on said Hay ride which is probably a good thing because Cadence couldn't decide who exactly she wanted to sit with and kept moving around.



Once the Hayride got to it's destination, Cadence was able to run wild and pick her own pumpkin!!


And here is the winner...

The Pine Knolls Shores Aquarium had a Halloween day for the kids. They got to dress up and go around trick or treating for candy while looking at all the fish.


We went with our friends Amy, Sophia and Jamysson.




Poor Chase, his costume didn't fit him and we had to stuff him in there.







Then there was the pumpkin carving. As usual Jacqui and Matt are an essential part of making it happen each year because they are such a big help.



Also, as usual, Cadence can't stand to get her hands messy...


and leaves the pumpkin in the middle of gutting it to go wash her hands...

so Jacqui is left to do it...


and Matt is left to carve it! What a cutie this one is!!!


Here are my little trick or treaters...Jacqui is Daphne from Scooby Doo, Matt is a nerd, Cadence is a fairy, and Chase is a monkey.


Here is a classic family picture for you all to see...


All the kids trick or treating. We had about 20 people walking with us and it is very hard to keep everyone together! Everyone is usually spread out by like 20 houses.



Jacqui and her best friend Lakyn.


All in all it was a great Halloween and everyone had a good time!

Monday, October 19, 2009

Happy 4th Birthday Cadence

For Cadence's 4th birthday we had a little birthday party for her at the house. One of our very close friends drove up from South Carolina to celebrate with us as a surprise!!!!

Always great to hang out with Darlene!!!! This was her first time seeing Chase.


As always Darlene went wild spoiling us!!! We went to the party supply store and Cadence had all the princess party decorations one girl could ask for!!!


We have great friends to come and celebrate with!!!







Here is the birthday girl and her ribbon letting everyone know it was her special day. You can't tell she loves all the attention can you????


Her favorite part of the whole day - Presents!!!!


She's serious about this gift opening - and she has no time for Jacqui's nonsense!!!



All four year old girls need a big huge princess hat that won't stay on their head for longer then 13 seconds!!!


Little Miss "I love attention" had to cover her eyes while everyone sang to her because she was "embarrassed"...


Chase was even ready to party!!!


One of Darlene's surprises was a new Wii for the family. We were all so surprised and appreciative of her thoughtfulness so much! Friends like her are very few and far in between! We are very lucky to have her!!!



Cadence's goal is to beat her dad...

And just because...

Um yeah, this is what we are working with here at the Ski residence...