Cyril is 7!!!

Today my Little Cyril turns SEVEN! Can you believe it??? I sure can't! Six was one thing, but something about seven makes it feel like he is really getting older! Yesterday we had a great party with his friends. He requested seven piñatas for turning seven, so that is what we did! We also made a volcano out of mentos and diet coke! It was a blast (pun intended)! This morning has started out with presents from us (note his new high tops in the picture below), biscuits for breakfast, and we will be going to church shortly. Then for lunch we will have my parents and Cyril's parents over for hamburgers and cake! Then he has requested homemade pizza tonight! A day full of yummy eating! Elfy even dressed up for the occasion and wrote Cyril a note on his mirror! Happy 7th birthday Cyril! Time sure flies!

Half Marathon!

Today marks the one year anniversary of my weight loss journey so far. And there just happened to be a half marathon in Oak Ridge this morning...so what better way to celebrate being in shape than run 13.1 miles ?!?! Over the past year I have run a little of and on, my longest run being 6 miles on a treadmill. But I thought what the heck, let's do this! So one of the gals from my p90x class encouraged me to sign up, and I did! It was a beautiful morning. We were blessed with incredible running weather! It was in the mid thirties to start, but once the sun peaked over the horizon we were warm. At mile four I wondered what the heck I was thinking, but that feeling soon passed when we finished the first of two laps. We were cheered on by a lot of people and we finished in two hours and twenty three minutes! Not bad at all for not really training! It feels incredible to have completed the race! Thanks Melissa for all your encouragement, couldn't have done it without you!!!!!! Here are a couple pictures: before, after, and our finishers medal!!

Love our matching outfits?!?!?!

Great news!

Cyril got a new job in the Oak Ridge/Knoxville area!!! We are ecstatic to have him back home with us in the evenings. I am sure he is equally as thrilled to not have to drive fifty miles each way to work each day. We are very thankful for the job he is leaving, but are so thrilled to have him home every evening!! Thank you all for your love and support this year, it really means a lot to us all!

Happy Halloween!!

First Day of First Grade

Today was Cyril's first day of first grade! 

Favorite part: When Ms. Boruff read us books

Least Favorite part: we didn't get to have recess.

What I am looking forward to most: math and reading

What I am not looking forward to: that is hard, I am basically looking forward to everything :)

Summer

So I am apparently not doing the best job at keeping the blog up to date anymore. When the school year starts (which is Monday) I will try to blog at least once a week.

 So summer has flown by and little Cyril is anxious yet sad that summer is over and the school year is here. On Friday he met his teacher, Ms. Boruff, and he really likes her. He has already decided he doesn't want us taking or picking him up from school...not even on the first day...he will be riding the bus. That is kind of hard for me, but now that I work on Mondays I wouldn't have been able to take him anyway. It is so hard to believe he is in the first grade! 

I guess we need to go back in time a bit and catch you up on our summer! In June we came across a lot for sale in a highly desirable neighborhood about a mile and a half from my parents house. A couple had bought it in 1992 because it backed up to their lot and they didn't want anyone to build behind them. They have since passed away so the house and lot were for sale. We jumped on the opportunity and decided to purchase the lot! So on July 10th it was official! We are now property owners in Briarcliff. The lot sits nestled in the neighborhood at the very end of a cul-de-sac. We are very excited and hope to start building in a couple of years! This is the lot, it sits on 0.38 acres :)

(Believe it or not only Tommy and Cyril were in this picture at the same time! My amazingly talented lifelong friend Jen photoshopped us all in together! Thanks again Jen!!)

Our next adventure was an extremely fast weekend trip to St. Louis for a bridal shower. Cyril's cousin is getting married in September. So we took the opportunity to see my grandparents and catch a Cardinals game (Tommy's first one)! Unfortunately Tommy didn't get to enjoy the game because he wasn't feeling well, he spent the game walking around the concessions area instead o watching the action. Cyril's parents and Evan were able to join us, so that was nice. 

This is our brick outside the stadium right behind home plate that we bought the year we got married (which also happened to be when they were building the new stadium. The last picture we took here only had three pairs of feet ;)

The first thing Cyril wanted to do was get a jersey. And we went to build a bear for Tommy and he picked out a Clydesdale and named him "Neigh." 

And by the end of the seventh inning he was out!

Then on Sunday before we headed home we went to the St. Louis zoo. It was overcast and drizzled a little but that made for almost perfect weather. We saw all of the animals and had a great time. The boys even rode the train.

And this week as we have been preparing for school to start up the boys got haircuts. This was Tommy's first trip to the barber shop (my mother in law is usually the brave soul that cuts his hair). He did great and has a cute little man haircut! 

He even got a Tootsie Roll...which of course he loved!

That is pretty much all for now. Cyril is still looking for a job closer to home with better hours. I have ha a little break from work this summer as the Doctors take their trips so that is always nice. We are planning another trip to Disney in the fall and we are all looking forward to that. Check back soon, hope to do a better job updating!

I am WAY behind ;)

School is out for the summer and we have been going at top speed ever since! We went to Hilton Head for vacation with my Mom's entire side of the family (there are twenty five of us). We had a great time hanging out with everyone. The boys loved riding bikes, the sand, an the pool. On Monday the pool was off limits as we had a copperhead visiting :) other than that we enjoyed the pool everyday! We also went crabbing, it was awesome!

One week later we celebrate Tommy's second birthday! Hard to believe he is two! We had a Mickey party and all of Cyril's siblings were in for the weekend so that was nice. We got him a large blow up pool with a slide, but he was more interested in putting water in a bucket and giving it to the dog than playing in it himself. He had a fun filled day! 

Here are several pictures from summer so far!

At The Park

We decided to take a trip to the park this evening. Here are some pictures of the boys! They are as adventurous as ever!!

First Karate Tournament

A couple of weeks ago Little Cyril entered his first karate tournament. His instructor (Sensei) Scott, encouraged him to enter all categories because you never know how you will do until you try. So he did! He entered in sparing, Kata, weapons Kata, board breaking, sword sparing. He did amazing! He got second place for his Kata, and first place in all four of the other categories! He was on cloud nine, and we were pretty proud ourselves :)

Kindergarten Math???

Cyril: "Mommy, since I couldn't find a period and do 19 divided by seven equals 2.7 I did 19 plus 7 equals 26!"

Really...only in kindergarten???

Brotherly Love

Tommy's personality is really starting to show. He sure loves his brother, and Cyril loves him! Here are some recent pictures of them together.

Happy Easter!

Spring Break

So today was the first day of little Cyril's spring break. We started off with Chick-fil-a for breakfast then we were off to Knoxville to run some errands. Our first stop was Joann's fabric store. Tommy started sleeping with little Cyril's old travel pillow this weekend so I wanted to make a couple pillow cases for it. By the time we left Joann's we not only had the fabric for the pillow cases but had enough fleece to make two blankets (one for each boy of course). So we got home and made the pillow cases first then made the blankets. Both of the boys love them! Now we each have our own blanket to use on the couch and don't have to try to squeeze under the same one.

Tonight little Cyril is spending the night with Uncle Evan at Grammys. Wednesday we hope to go to the zoo. And Friday he is spending the night at his buddy, Joe's house. Sounds like a good spring break to me!

On another note this was a beautiful weekend. Yesterday Cyril was able to brew some beer which he hasn't done since shortly after Cyril was born! And I got the trampoline up an running with new safety netting and padding. So it was pretty productive.

Cyril Minus Two Teeth!

Today was the day! My baby has now "lost" his first two teeth! This morning Cyril went to the dentist and had his two bottom teeth removed because the adult teeth were coming in behind them. After seeing the roots fully intact I totally understand why they needed to come out now versus letting them come out on their own. They wouldn't have wiggled out any time soon! He did amazing! Afterwards we headed to Baskin Robbins for some orange sherbet then went to Sonic for some slushies to take home! Now we are resting and watching Harry Potter!