Bird Strike!!!

So back in April, when the kids were still in school, I was driving home from picking them up. I kept glancing from the road to my rearview mirror, so I could see Caiden as we were talking about his day. I looked from Caiden to the road and saw something fly at me, I heard a big crash, I screamed, and I said, "What the heck was that?!?!" I happened to look out my driver's side window and noticed that my side view mirror was pushed up against my window, and the mirror was dangling from it... the next second it was GONE!!! Still totally confused about what has happening, I quickly glanced in my rear view mirror again, just to make sure that there weren't any cars passing in the opposite direction that I could've possibly collided with as I was talking to Caiden.. who knows, maybe I drifted?!?! Nope, no cars... GOOD!!! So I pull over to the side of the road so I can turn around and go find my mirror, and as I do this, I notice something fluttering in my window... it's a FEATHER!!! I hit a bird, or maybe the bird hit me! Who knows.. it all happened so fast! It was quite possibly the weirdest driving experience I've ever had. So I retrieved my mirror and also searched a little for this poor (but STUPID) bird, but I never found it. This bird did quite some damage, too... but thankfully, my side view mirror has now been replaced!

My poor mirror!!!!



The feather....


Bird blood on the back of my mirror?


Possible bird beak that caused the deep chip in this paint?

Easter 2009

See, I told you I was behind....

For the most part, Easter was very quiet and uneventful here at our house.. which isn't always a bad thing, especially where kids are concerned! :-)

We kicked off our Easter festivities with the annual egg hunt for Kamrynn at A-Day-Away (my work). Since Kamrynn will start school in the fall, this was her last Easter Egg hunt at ADA.




Kami and Kylie.... BFF's


Saturday night we colored our eggs. We had a lot of fun dye-ing eggs this year, and it was extremely evident how "grown" my kids are becoming. I think this was the first time that all I had to do was prepare the dye. Very bittersweet to see them becoming so independent.








I know Tyler will LOVE that I put this picture on here! ;-)


The finished products....








And in the morning the kids awoke to Easter Baskets that the Easter Bunny had left for them!!


Our biggest Easter week event was our new family addition. We decided to add (again) to our family zoo... but since our 2 dog combo didn't work out last year, we decided to give a 2 cat combo a try. We love our first cat Belle, but she is NOTHING like Zoe, the cat we had in England. Zoe was the friendliest, most tolerant, and most loving cat EVER!! She was like a dog in so many ways... whenever we'd take walks around the base in England she would follow us to a certain spot and wait for us until we returned, and would follow us home! Belle, on the other hand, hides out all day, and VERY rarely lets the kids hold her, and will only occasionally let them pet her. I was really hoping we could luck out and get a friendly kitten reminiscent of Zoe. So we surprised the kids one evening and went to go pick up our new kitten which the kids named "Tiger".




Tiger has been such a fun addition to our house, and so far seems to be MUCH more personable than Belle. Even Tyler likes having "little buddy" around. And Pepper now has her own personal chew toy. Actually, Pepper and Tiger get along REALLY well, and it's so much fun to watch them play together.


Belle, on the other hand, is tolerant of Tiger... but only to a certain extent. She would still rather not be bothered... but she's adjusting!

Tyler's New Toy

Okay Mom... this one's for YOU!!!!!

So way back when we first moved to NC (five years ago) and I was pregnant with Kami, we knew there were two things we had to buy. Number one being a house, and number two being a new car that would accomodate our growing family. So Tyler, being the good husband and father that he is, let me get the new van. And he would once again drive the '93 Accord- which was now 11 years old, and after spending three years in dreary, wet England, was slowly starting to fall apart. We knew that once the van was paid off, it would be Tyler's turn to get a car upgrade.

When Mom came out, Tyler and I decided to go on a "date" and take advantage of a free baby-sitter. We decided that instead of dinner and a movie, we'd get a head start on the car-shopping. We had just sent off our final van payment, and with Mom at home with the kids, we could "shop" and test-drive without three extra voices all giving their opinions!!! We went out with full intentions of "just looking", and surprised not only Mom, but even ourselves when we came home with THIS.....


Well, we really didn't come home with the car that night... that's a whole OTHER story. Short version... it had to be delivered from SC since they couldn't find a local car with the color/options that Tyler wanted. Unfortunately Mom never got a chance to see the car and has been biting at the bit to see pictures... so here ya go!!!





Tyler not only LOVES his new car, but TOTALLY deserves it!! He has worked so hard the past 10 years to provide for us, and has sacrificed a LOT so that the kids and I could have what we wanted.

So I couldn't be happier for him that he now has a car he absolutely LOVES to drive!!! In the meantime, I'm already dreaming about what I'll upgrade to when this is paid off!!!! ;-)

Fun with Grandma

It was such a treat to have Mom come and visit us earlier this year. We timed her visit perfectly (on purpose) so that she would be able to be with us for Caiden's 8th birthday, Madi's "Beauty and the Beast" play, and Kami's "Parent Watch Week" at dance! Her three week visit was jam-packed, and unfortunately flew by WAY too fast!!! The kids had so much "Fun with Grandma" while she was here, as they always do, and we cannot WAIT until Grandma (and Grandpa) can come visit again!!!

Madi and Grandma after a "Beauty" performance... LOVE this picture!!!

We had some more "Fun with Grandma" the night before she left, and took all kinds of fun and silly pictures...






Love you, Mom!!!!! Thanks again for a GREAT visit and for ALL of your help!!! Not sure if Tyler and I could've survived the "Beauty" weeks without you!!! And thanks for holding down the fort at home, Dad- love you, too!! :-)

Catch-Up.... Again!!!

I don't know why I do this to myself... once again, I have fallen embarrassingly behind on my blog. How far behind you ask???? Well, let's just say that I still have pictures to post from when my Mom came to visit... in March!!!!!! My short-term goal is to get slowly caught up over the next couple of weeks. Luckily the kids summer camps and activities have slowed down, and I am nearing my week off from work, so I am hopeful that I'll be able to accomplish my goal. Long term goal?!? To stay caught up, and with all three kids being in school this year (sniff, sniff), I am confident I can make that happen! But in the meantime, make sure to visit frequently over the next couple of weeks, to "ketchup" with the Eddy's! :-)

Who IS this kid?!?!?

Okay, so ya'll have seen me admit before my "perfectionist" tendencies... one of which has to do with my blog-posts. I like to post everything in chronological order, although even when my posts "post" and you view the blog, the order is a little backwards. So I am totally going against my "tendencies" for this post... but once again I am sooooooo far behind, and I just HAVE to get this post and these pictures up!!!

For the last year and a half, Caiden has been growing out his hair and sporting the "shaggy" look. We've had occasional trims when it's gotten too long and I couldn't see his eyes, but for the most part, we've let it grow! Tyler and I would've bet money that he was going to cut it last year during the summer, but NOPE he survived. I think it was mostly because he spent most of the summer in the DRY California heat and had constant access to my parent's pool. But regardless, he survived the summer and hot NC fall with his long hair. About a week ago, we experienced a heat wave here in NC. Caiden came in from playing outside dripping with sweat, and announced, "I think I'm ready to cut my hair. It is TOO HOT!!!" So I quickly called up our hair-dresser and made the appointment. Yesterday was the BIG day, and I made sure to take these BEFORE pictures....



Due to an extremely busy evening, I wasn't able to get AFTER pictures yesterday. However I took some first thing this morning after we styled his new 'do.







Caiden LOVES his new hair-cut and so do we!!!!!! I haven't seen his eyes and ears in sooooo long. My handsome boy is BACK!!!!!!

Tale as old as time.....

FINALLY!!!!! Here is the post I have been wanting to post for soooooooo long now!!! As ya'll know, Madi was in StageStruck's Premier performance of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast". We have never been a part of a production like this before, and I'm not sure if we ever will again. I can only describe the kids, crew, parents, and the entire experience itself as simply "MAGICAL"!!!!!!!! I've been looking forward to this show for over a year now, and even told Mom about it way back in March of 2008, so that she could plan a trip out for the event. And boy was I glad she was here!!! I don't think any of us would have survived the "craziness" if she hadn't been here to help!!! I was so happy and proud to have her here, and to be able to share not only a FANTASTIC show with her, but to share what's become such a HUGE part of mine and Madi's lives with her!!! She even got in on the action and played a HUGE part in the construction of the "Little Shakers" costumes that I ended up making. THANK YOU, MOM!!! I couldn't have done it without you!!!!!

Here is a little "montage" I put together this weekend. These are just a few of my favorite pictures that I took during the production. These pictures do not do the amazingly talented kids, or the parents who worked tirelessly to make ALL of the breathtaking costumes and sets justice, but I hope you enjoy!!


Madi, the "townsperson"


Madi, the "Fork"


Here is one of my favorite numbers in the entire show "Be Our Guest"... it was truly a sight to see on-stage... all of the dancing plates, napkins, and utensils!!! It's a little long, but SOOOOOOO worth view!! Madi is the "fork" that chases Lumiere off-stage!!!


Although at times it seemed like we were LIVING at StageStruck, the end result was soooo worth it, and it's an experience that Madi and I will never forget!!! BRAVO!!!!! to the cast and crew!!!!!

Caiden's 8!!!!

In the midst of BEAUTY and the BEAST, Grandma's visit, Soccer, and life in general, we somehow managed to find time to celebrate Caiden's 8th birthday!!!! Because we were soooooo busy (so busy that we ended up present shopping on his birthday while he was at soccer practice!!!), his celebration carried over into the next day. I always make cupcakes on the kids birthdays for them to take to school. However, this year Caiden had soccer practice on his birthday so I gave him the choice of cupcakes at school or after practice. He chose practice!!! And it was so cute because after practice I called the team over and told them I had cupcakes for Caiden's birthday, but they needed to sing to him first. I really wasn't expecting a bunch of 10 and 11 year old boys to agree to that, but to my surprise, on the count of 3 they all gave Caiden a very rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday"!!! After practice we headed home and had a wonderful Taco Bell birthday dinner, and opened presents. On Saturday we actually went out to eat at McCall's BBQ (Caiden's choice) and celebrated again with cake and Ice Cream! Even though it was kinda crazy/hectic, I think Caiden had a great 8th birthday!!!

The theme that seemed to surround his birthday this year, was Star Wars and Soccer!!




Yay!! Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie from Grandma and Grandpa!!!


Another action figure to add to the collection...


Caiden asked for a "Clone Trooper" cake this year. So this is my attempt....

I never could have done it without Tyler's help, though. I baked the cake, he cut and "molded" the Clone Trooper, and then I made and colored the frosting and decorated it!

Happy 8th Birthday, Caiden!!!!!

Jump Rope for Heart

This year's "Jump Rope for Heart" event took place on a Tuesday, which meant I could go!!! Yay!! It seems like the last few years it has been on a Mon., Wed., or Fri., so I was very happy that I could go this year. And at the kids' school, they only allow 2nd graders and up participate, so this was the first year that both Madi AND Caiden were able to jump! Kamrynn tagged along of course, and had fun "jumping", too!!

Fourth Grade was up first, and I barely made it. I had to take my Dad to the airport in Raleigh that morning and rushed home as quick as I could to see Madi jump!!!








After Madi was done jumping, Kami and I went home to eat some lunch and "freshen" up before we headed back for the 2nd Graders!!!




Kami LOVED the Hula-hoops!!!




A BIG "Thank You!!!" to everyone who helped Madi and Caiden out!! They were able to raise $100 together for the American Heart Association, and they couldn't have done it without you!! They received their "prizes" the other day and couldn't wait to show them off!!!



Crazy kids!!! :-)