Counting our blessings in 2008

2008 went by so quickly.... Blessing #1 Living in the lowcountry


















#2 Going to the fair as a family and having a dad who loves to ride the scary rides

#3 Citadel Football

4-a beautiful teenaged daughter

5 % #6 Two fine sons....

7- A handsome husband is fabulous...

#8 & 9 A trip to St. Augustine

and Kentucky Lake

#10 Trip to Boca Raton, Fla. to see Jerry, Jeannie and kids

#11 Coming back home to a renovated house after the "flood"

12- Michael's first communion

13-Staying at wonderful Folly Beach while the house was being renovated




14-Morgan's 8th grade year at Nativity School including this trip

15Morgan's 8th grade graduation

16-Staying in this beachfront condo while the house was renovated

17-Matthew winning the Science fair

18-Michael playing basketball

19-Allyssa Root was born (our new niece)

20-Michael turned 8

21-Morgan played basketball

22-Matthew found a new hobby-skateboarding

#23 Family trip to

Beaufort to climb the lighthouse

#24-Family, friends, health and good times.....

Christmas Break

Josie hangin out

Mom doing "nothing"

"Kids relaxing..."

this is what our break should be- relaxing, doing nothing.... After going & going, studying, practicing sports & music, etc. now here we are at home and we are NOT busy!! We are relaxing, reading, fishing, talking on the phone. Morgan & her friends have been sitting on her "balcony" outside of her room ( okay it is the roof of the porch, but they love star gazing up there), Michael spent the day outside fishing in the pond with cousin Maggie and Matthew went to Aunt Cathy's for a few days, all because WE HAVE FREE TIME!!! This is when I just love parenting. So it's a good way to wrap up 2008 and get ready for '09. Happy New Year's.

Hollister, Victoria's Secret, More Hollister....

DAD AND MATT PLAYING THE Wii

MICHAEL'S FIRST CAR

OPENING THE FIRST CLUE FOR THE SCAVENGER HUNT!!

COMING DOWNSTAIRS CHRISTMAS MORNING AT 5:30am

WE WENT TO BED SOOO LATE!!! I was hoping everyone would sleep in, but no way. 0530 they were up and ready for Christmans morning. The BIG gift was the Wii. We have all been playing it nonstop!!! SURE we got it for the kids(Ha!) Oh course day 2 the you know what happened...it was dropped and broke. Thank goodness mom bought the warranty (well, with 2 boys, 7 first cousins that are boys, and friends I KNEW I needed a warranty). So, the culprit will remain nameless, and the NEW Wii is coming.....

Warren and Lindsey came to visit, Aunt Cathy and kids came back to Charleston and it was a full house, as it should be!

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2008

A big THANK YOU to all of our cherished family & friends who have remembered us this holiday season with cards, letters, pictures and time spent together ! Such a blessing to have family and friends to share our lives with.

2008 was filled with healthy children playing sports and persuing their interests. I remind myself as I am driving from lesson to lesson, practice to practice, how lucky we are that the kids are able to stay active and try out many different activities. We do alot of "bonding" in my minivan!! Along with the "great house flood of 2008" came the opportunity to live at Folly Beach for several months. Our prayer changed from "fix our house" to "take your time"- relaxing on Folly Beach was incredible. We fell in love with the town and made lasting memories there.

Morgan received the sacrament of Confirmation & Michael received First Communion last year. Two out of 3 children left the cocoon of Catholic School and entered public school this year. Michael will stay in Catholic school until middle school, then he will spread his wings a little too.

All 3 are growing, learning and time is moving way too fast!!! Bruce and I are enjoying health, family, friends and looking forward to another year filled with new opportunities and experiences. We look forward to sharing more time with the special people in our lives who took the time to visit our blog! Merry Christmas,

Joanne, Bruce, Morgan, Matthew, Michael

CHRISTMAS EVE

CHRISTMAS EVE, MY favorite part of Christmas. The anticipation and.... a night off from cooking. You see, for the past 4 years, we have decided to take this night off and go out to eat.First, church at 5pm. It is children's mass with all of the kids friends & ours, then our family, Nana and Chris and Adele's family meet at T Bones and feast on delicious food. T Bones stays open because they feed the Jenkins Orphanage at Christmas every year. So, besides eating a wonderful meal, we are supporting a great cause. This year our friends Karen, Eddie and Amanda joined us. We all had sooo much fun & as usual, stayed and closed the place down.

Also, Cathy, Tim, Zac, Daniel and Maggie came earlier in the day and we exchanged gifts with them.

After dinner, it took a LONG time to get all the kids to sleep so SANTA could come. Only 4 hours of sleep later, Christmas morning came....

WHAT ARE YOU DOING A FEW DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS???

I, like most moms out there, am tying up loose ends before the man with the red suit and long white beards comes.... Thanks to my friend, Gigi, I got motivated to finish all shopping including groceries last night. We both agreed we'd be staying up and wrapping gifts into the wee hours of the morning...and I was. Went to bed at 3am, but all gifts are wrapped, lots of good food to share is in the pantry/frig, supplies for baking and sharing with neighbors, and the BEST part- I got to sleep in today!!!! So... after two cups of Godiva Chocolate coffee ( a gift from a parent at my school), breakfast with the kids & reading the paper (PURE LUXURY), I did what most of us do, LAUNDRY & CLEANING. Then a break to play HORSE and 21 with the boys outside, baking sugar cookies for the kids to decorate tonight and have with hot cocoa, call my sisters and brother and plan for Christmas Eve and Day, call my mom, of course and come to the realization that NO cards will go out this year. Oh well, some things just didn't get done. We have spent time together laughing, eating, playing, shopping, etc. Tonight we will go as a family for the children to pick out gifts for each other, a fun tradition. Then we will head to Starbucks downtown and take hot chocolate with us to Marion Square where the beautiful tree and decorations are.

Tomorrow night, we will go with Nana to children's mass, surrounded by many friends and focus on the true meaning of Christmas. Then anything left undone, will pale in comparison to the true meaning of this season & all we will remember will be the love and laughter we've shared.

Where are the pictures????

YES we are celebrating the holiday season!!!!No, I don't have any pictures downloaded yet.... Oh how working full time has rocked my world. Michael told me " you're not cool anymore. You used to be more fun" I need to work on the fun factor. We started our season in Root Tradition, by going to the James Island Holiday Festival of Lights on Thankgiving weekend. The climbing wall ( which niece Maggie insisted she would only try if I did it too!) , the marshmellows and hot cocoa. Yes, it was fun & embarassing strapping on the belt and gear and THE ONLY ADULT CLIMBING with the children. And Michael thinks I'm not fun...

Marion Square is another favorite, so we checked that out. Putting the tree up, putting up the lights outside, the Christmas calendar count down, and did I mention that SCHOOL IS OUT!!!Yes, we can sleep in. Lighting Christmas candles and the tree every night. OK I am going to sleep now. Hopefully I will update pictures soon...

Thanksgiving

Well, no good pictures of the kids because when the cousins get together they stay outside playing all day. Suffice it to say that we all had a wonderful day together. Family, food and lots of laughter. We drove to Cathy and Tim's for the day and got home late. Everyone made their favorite dish and Tim grilled the turkey this year. Well, this is not a very good post and it doesn't at all represent what a fabulous day it was, but I am not feeling very creative today, so it's the best I can do...

They're here.....

Tuesday night, at 10pm Aunt Jeannie, Uncle Jerry and cherubs Kevin & Li arrived!!! Li was wide open after a long day in the car, Kevin was fast asleep.

Random thoughts.....

I haven't taken any pictures lately, but I have been very, very grateful for many things. Lets start with this weekend. Although I felt horrible ( that is unusual these days- I feel fabulous most days), Morgan had 4 friends sleep over. Easy- snacks, movies, dinner, pillows, blankets and they are set. The best part is that these are good, christian girls. They all went to Nativity School last year, and are in high school together. After the sleep over, we all went to church where the girls and all of us parents sit together. All four families are friends. What a blessing!!! Just looking at all of us sitting together gave me chill bumps. God gives me days like this to help me through some of the tougher ones. Then I read my book for hours today. What a luxury. This week is Thanksgiving. Jeannie, Jerry, Kevin and Li are coming. We can't wait. I love the cousin thing, and the sister thing, and of course the Thanksgiving thing.

Last home game

Another Citadel Football Season is over. This was the last home game and Bruce and Brad did a BIG tailgate party. We had sooo much fun. You moms know how we love to see our cherubs having fun, eating, running around outside, etc... Well it was just a fun day, until the rain came...

So now that football season is over, it's on to the holidays. The kids are making their wish lists and of course I am making mine. I think it is time for an updated TV in the den. The dinosaur we have in there is just not cutting it anymore. I don't think it will be too hard to persuade Bruce to go shopping for a TV.