Reindeer Run

Mari Cagle and Nate participate in their first race! It was a race just for kids...the Reindeer Run. They got numbers, tshirts, medals and ribbons just like when Mom and Dad run their races so they were very excited! Mari Cagle ran a 1 mile race for Kindergarten through 8th grade. And Nate ran a 100 yard Toddler Dash. They both had a great time. Mari Cagle's favorite part was getting the medal and passing other people on the race course. She has quite the competitive drive. I can't imagine where she got it! :) We hope you enjoy the pictures from the morning as much as we enjoyed the morning itself. I wish I could share the pancake breakfast we had afterwards, but they haven't quite come that far with computer technology. :)



At the start/finish line before the race very anxious to get things underway.



Pretty good form huh? He was very determined running hard the whole way.




Being such a natural princess, I was very proud of Mari Cagle. She ran for most of the entire mile with just a few short walking breaks. And I didn't have to coax her along like I thought I would. She did mention the sweatiness at one point, but quickly moved past it. :)

The Start of Our Christmas Season....

It's officially Christmas here at our house. We got the Christmas tree, our first since moving to Florida (and yes, I purchased it wearing shorts!). I'm almost done with my shopping. Mari Cagle and Nate are counting down to the big day with the help of Nana's embroidered advent calendar filled with Smarties candies. They are learning lots of carols in preparation for their Christmas programs. Nate's favorite to hear on the radio is 'Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.' Mari Cagle is still partial to 'Rudolph' which she has learned to play on her violin! If she's not playing shy, she should be able to play an entire concert for everyone as her violin teacher has given her 'music' for several additional carols. It has been real motivation for her to practice; she absolutely loves playing Christmas songs.

St. Nicholas payed Mari Cagle's classroom a visit last night and stuffed their homemade stockings with treats in honor of his feast day, today, December 6. Mari Cagle's teacher is from Wisconsin and it is common tradition to celebrate St. Nicholas' feast day in this way. She said growing up it was always the way they officially began their Christmas season culminating, of course, in the birth of Christ, our Savior on our beloved Christmas Day. I have been intrigued by the custom (maybe because I have roots in Wisconsin too) and have been inspired to learn a little more of St. Nicholas and how his legend evolved into our American Santa Claus. If you too are inspired, below is a link to the website I found most helpful and interesting.

http://www.stnicholascenter.org

And another interesting link many of you have probably seen. But the kids convinced Brandon to 'Elf' our family. It's pretty funny.

we've been elfed!

I hope you all are having a blessed Christmas season filled with lots of the joyful Christmas spirit!

Thanksgiving Fun!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had a lot to be thankful for this year. We are so very blessed! Over the holiday we enjoyed lots of family fun and just as much eating. MariCagle and Nate love seeing all the family. I only have a few snapshots...I was having too much fun to remember the camera. (So Kim and Kristen, that's a hint that I need you to share some of your pictures from the week.) :)



One of the highlights was time spent with Hudson and Quinn. Here are three of the munchkins enjoying what MariCagle has proclaimed 'Grammy's Art Table.' Whether that was Grammy's intention or not, it is most frequently used for drawing and such.



I'm not sure what the name of this game was, but you can tell they enjoyed it immensely. Who knew that throwing a pillow shaped like a ball would be that much more fun when standing on the couch?

Now this next video clip is one of those that Nate will one day forever wish I had never taken. Pa was so kind as to let Nate and MC watch and borrow his 'Power Ranger' movie. Nate has really taken to the especially cheesy superheroes as you can tell by his demonstration below.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are very much looking forward to Thanksgiving this year! It's amazing how the kids remember and learn and understand so much more about the holidays each year. And I just love Thanksgiving because it's like a sneak peak of Christmas. I post this video and picture to wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving from myself, Brandon, Mari Cagle and Nate. If we will see you for the holiday, we can't wait!! And if we won't, please know we will miss you lots.

This video is of one of the songs Nate has learned at school. It is a favorite of his even though you can tell he doesn't quite remember all of the words. But he doesn't let that stop him. (You can check out his new 'do' as well.)

If you're looking for some good recipes for the holidays, check out Mari Cagle's Pumpkin Pie Recipe.

Translation:
First, sugar.
Then you add pumpkin.
Then cherries.
Then stir.
Then cook.
Finished.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

Trick or Treat!

Nate and Mari Cagle had a great Halloween. They both had classroom parties and costume parades. We went trick-or-treating at the zoo and then to Pizza Hut for dinner. (MC got to use her first free pizza ticket that she earned for reading 4 books in October.) Nate was especially into the whole Halloween scene - playing ghost, talking of a 'creepy, creepy house' and hearing 'strange noises.' And he's already got his next three Halloween costumes picked out - a ghost, Superman and Batman. I don't think that's carved in stone though. For this year, they were both adorable in their costumes. Hope you all had a great Halloween and we can not wait for the holidays this year. We're so excited to see everyone!!

Brandon carved a ghost pumpkin for them this year. I've provided a picture of the pumpkin I carved back in 2005 for comparison. Needless to say, we can see who gets pumpkin carving duties for all future Halloweens.

End of Soccer and a Violin Concert

Halloween's not even here yet and its already an exciting week. Nate had his last soccer game this past Saturday. After the game, he got his trophy, or as he lovingly refers to it...'his Piston Cup.' (For those who have not seen "Cars" one million times as we have, that's the award given to the winning race car - the equivalent of the Nascar Nextel Cup.) You can tell that he's very proud as are we.

MariCagle has been busy too. She performed in a recital for students with less than two years of lessons. She was fantastic!! Don't just take my word for it. Check out the stellar performance for yourself.

Nate is potty trained!!!

Knock on wood as you read that headline, but we think he's done it. We actually think he's fully grasped the concept and mastered all required techniques. No pictures to go along with this update for obvious reasons, but we are VERY excited. Though I haven't yet experienced the high school or college graduation of one of my children, I feel certain that those milestones will pale in comparison to this accomplishment. Yeah Nate! Wish you all as good a week as we're having here!

Mari Cagle and Her Violin

Hi all! Things have been pretty much as usual around here. Nate and Mari Cagle continue to enjoy school and are keeping us plenty busy. Violin lessons have been going well for Mari Cagle. She's learning more and more songs now. I've attached a couple videos from one of her practices last week. Hope you enjoy!

"Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" is one of the songs she learned before summer break. So she's had a good bit of time to perfect it. This is her 'butterfly, butterfly' version.

This one should get you into the Christmas spirit a little early.

We've also been getting ready for Halloween. The kids have both chosen their costumes...Nate will be a 'Go Jackets' aka Georgia Tech football player and Mari Cagle will be Dorothy from Wizard of Oz. Nate absolutely loves his costume...so much he snuck it into bed with him.

Nate's First Soccer Game

Nate had his first soccer game. I haven't seen a lot of soccer games in my lifetime, but 3 year olds playing soccer makes for a game like none other. Here are some video clips and pictures. Like in all movies, there is a warning...camera woman has a big mouth so please adjust your volume accordingly. Enjoy the show!

On this first sequence of play, Nate needed to sit back and watch a little. Notice he plants his feet very well.

At least now he's trying to get in the game.

Now Nate has the hang of it. Dad had him convinced that falling down was fun, but after the second tumble a little later, Nate made it clear that 'falling down is NOT fun.'

Check out that form! He gets the tongue hanging out from his mom.

Nate's cutest fan.

Summer Fun!

I'm going to go back in time to the summer. I haven't shared many, if any, of these pictures and it will be a kind of picture diary of how we spent our summer. We did lots of traveling. Our most frequent trips were to the grandparents' houses and our longest trip was a venture up north for a family reunion. All in all it was a great summer, and now that we're back in the swing of hectic school days, we miss it a little. Hope you enjoy!

The kids enjoyed swimming lessons. They both started out pretty much deathly afraid of the water. MariCagle made the most progress turning into a real fish. Nate is doing much better though still a little wary. They both love doing cannon balls - one of many great tricks dad taught them.

On our visits to the grandparents we had loads of fun as always! At Nana and Pa's we got to visit the butterfly and horticultural centers with Nana and Jodie. As MariCagle describes it..."The butterflies were flying all around us. They weren't even in cages at all." And Grammy and PopPop took us to the Sunflower festival to enjoy the sunflowers, ofcourse, as well as pony rides and face painting.

MariCagle and Nate also had the honor of serving as flower girl and ring bearer in Cindy and Newman's wedding. It being the third wedding they were in together, they were old pros. It was a beautiful wedding and they had lots of fun at the reception, especially once their dad showed them how to break dance. Cake was the only thing that could take them away from the dance floor.

MariCagle and Nate got to spend a lot of time with Cindy and Newman while they were home for the summer. Cindy and Newman took them to a Braves game and fishing on several occasions. No flower girl or ring bearer has ever been treated so nicely! (Cindy's the one behind the camera.)

MariCagle was convinced she wanted to play softball this summer. We were a little skeptical since she doesn't particularly like to "get sweaty." But we let her and she enjoyed it...in the beginning. I think Nate would have gladly taken her place on the team and she would have let him by the time the end of the season rolled around.



Our last hoorah for the summer was a trip north with Nana and Pa to a family reunion. Yes, we drove all the way up north, making a pit stop along the way to visit Stacy and Jim. Though it was a long car ride, it was well worth it. MariCagle and Nate loved the underground room (or as others may know it, the basement) in Stacy and Jim's new house. And they had a blast at the family reunion as there were lots of other kids to play with. They especially loved Gerald's farm where they got to play on tractors and bulldozers, check out a real barn, pick apples and wander around in a corn field. We are so thankful we got to make the trip and spend that time with Grandma and all of her family!

So that about sums up our summer....lots of family fun! So much that these are just a few highlights. As I think back on it, I am so thankful! We are so blessed with such wonderful family and friends. It is amazing! I love you all!

Here We Are...

I've been putting this blogging stuff on hold, but now that Brandon has set this up, I guess I'll run with it. So here we are...
MC has started kindergarten and after her first three weeks is loving it. She has gotten accustomed to the routine and has made lots of new friends. She's also back to her violin and ballet lessons and has added the school chess club and an art class to her list of activities. It sounds like a lot but she's having a blast.


Nate has started school too and only wishes he was there everyday! He's also playing soccer this season. Finally, an outlet for all that energy with which only little boys are blessed. So needless to say we're staying busy, but having lots of fun doing it all.


As for Brandon and I, I need only say it's college football season. We are especially loving it as Tech and UF are undefeated as of yet! Go Jackets! Go Gators! Stay tuned for more of our family happenings.

First post!

Just a test...I'm setting this up to bring you the best of MC and Nate! Stay tuned!