School's Out for Summer

Cue Alice Cooper and School's Out!!! School is finally out for summer here in NC! I was so happy to turn my weekday alarm off this morning! I'm looking forward to having my big girl home for the summer and getting to spend quality time with her!

We switched schools about a month into school and have been very happy with the change. We started in the public school we were zoned for and were not very happy with the school but the teacher was very sweet and we wanted to give her a chance. We found out she was living on a Thursday and Emory started at Wayne Prep the following Monday. We couldn't be happier! She has learned so much and made several new friends. Hopefully we will be able to keep up with them throughout the summer!

Can someone please tell me how she grew up this much in just 9 months?!?!

Seriously?!?! We have a second grader? How/when did that happen?! I was just telling a friend the other day I didn't feel like I was old enough to have a second grader! We are so proud of this sweet girl! I was lucky enough to be able to attend both Field Day (yesterday) and her class party (today). Field day was hot but windy so it could have been a lot worse. Plus, they had it at 9:30 in the morning so the sun was just getting "warmed up."

"playing" volleyball. Her Aunt Katie is going to need to practice with her a bit if this is a sport she wants to play! To the defense of the kids...it was super windy (welcome to Eastern NC) and they were trying to play with beach balls! 

Getting ready for a little tug-o-war!

PULL!!

Ms. Hobbs coaching!

This was a water relay. Emory was suppose to fill up the sponge, run to the bucket at the other end, squeeze out all the water, and run back. She was so focused on not losing any water out of the sponge, she forgot to run! :)

Softball throw!

Water break with Payton.

Her class party was today and after running to grab flowers for Ms. Hobbs, I was only 5 minutes late! Not bad for me!

Eating their snacks.

Giving Ms. Hobbs her flowers and card.

Penelope, Emory, and Allie.

Emory and Allie (yes, she is tall but she had wedges on today too!)

Penelope, Payton, and Emory being silly!

The first week of school, Emory comes home and says "mom, me and Payton, we are BFFs!" They have been inseparable ever since!

Penelope, Allie, Emory, and Payton. Penelope and Payton couldn't seem to take "normal" picture. Goofy girls! too much sugar at snack time + last day of school= crazy kids!

What a great school year but I am SOOO ready for summer! Bring on mini family vacations to the Carolina coast and nights at the pool!

MS Walk 2015

For the last 2 years we have participated in the MS walk in Birmingham, AL. My mother was diagnosed with MS in 2009. Her symptoms are very well managed and we would like it stay that way. She does, of course, have good days and bad, but for the most part she is doing very well!

If you didn't know it already, my family is a little nerdy. It doesn't take long for our family text thread to turn into a nerdy stream of Marvel movies, Star wars, or something of the like. So naturally, the shirt that my sister helped my mother design was "nerdy" in a sense.

"A body in Motion will Stay in motion...Don't let MS be the force that stops you!" With the bright orange color, one would think it would help us locate each other...WRONG! Orange is the color for MS and most people there had on orange shirts!

The Walk was at Regions Park/Railroad Park this year because it has grown so much in size, it needed a larger venue! Awesome! I had been to railroad park once before (it was built after we left) but  had never made it to Regions Park ( now the home of the Birmingham Barons). It is a really cool part of town and we were looking forward to seeing the area. Now to go to a game...oh wait, we live 10 hours away. Oh well, maybe one day!

It was a little early for Gavin. He was not a happy camper. Plus, it was too bright and we had left his sunglasses at home...parent fail!

 

The Rigney Woman!

Nita and Papa with the girls...this was a difficult picture to get!

A view of the back of the shirt...Katie did a great job!

My mom, grandmother, and me realized we all had on the same shoes, just in different colors. We thought it deserved a picture.

We broke out the hiking backpack. Gavin was so excited because he thought we were going on a hike. He was slightly disappointed to realize that we were just walking around in circles at the park. 

Our first lap was around the stadium, then we went out to railroad park and completed the walk out there.

Gran and Mom

Katie, Emory, and Me

Mom and Dad. We all wore stickers that said "I walk for..." we then, of course, added a #FREEUAB to ours! Go Blazers!

My babies!

The kids of course had to participate in some of the activities they had set up...which of course involved a bouncy house! great way to get out all that energy they seem to have!

Our Team...Bill Waud, Dad, Katie, Mom, Gran, Chase, Gavin, Me, Emory, and Riley

Looking forward to the walk again next year!

Spring Break 2015

We did it right for Spring Break this year! We tried to cram as much into our week as we possibly could and see as many people as possible! Emory's break started on Good Friday which gave us an extra day for travel. We started the first leg of the trip heading east on I-40 with Nashville on our mind! We were looking forward to seeing friends and being back in our church over the Easter weekend. We considered going to multiple services so we could fill our cup before going home, there were 7 to choose from!

We drove into Nashville during tornado warnings, nothing says welcome back like a good ol' tornado warning, though I prefer not to be in the car during one! No worries, clearly we arrived safely, and got to enjoy our first evening back with our first friends in Nashville...the Ledfords!

During our stay in Mt Juliet, we stayed with Wes and Jessica...that many people in one house meant we had to get out of the house on Saturday! We headed to one of the parks close to their house and let the kids run out some energy before naps and church later that evening.

Yes...I married a big kid! And I love him for it...most days! :)

The kids loved this jeep and Riley was perfectly content just hanging out in the back...as you can see, Gavin was constantly on the move!

Saturday Night we went to the 6pm service...while we didn't get to see everyone we wanted to see, it was nice to go and hear Phil preach again. Of course we drive 10 hours to see/listen to him preach and I get called out of the service because Riley was having a fit! :/

Sunday was Easter!! Egg hunts, Easter baskets, and brunch!

Watching the big kids hunt for eggs! And taking advantage of the big kids being away from their Easter basket loot! Don't let this one fool you! She sly!

He was so proud of his egg collection!

Look at those cuties!

Our big girl!!! I can't believe how much she has grown up!

Our girls! A rare and precious smile from Riley bug!

After our initial egg hunt indoors, we loaded up and headed to brunch. Later in the afternoon, we hunted for the eggs that had been hidden outside and took some family photos!

Twins!! Love these boys!

Daddy and his girls.

Not a great family picture but it was the best we were going to get...one day we will have nice family photos again, with children looking at the camera at the same time!

I took about 20 pictures of the 3 of them. While this was not exactly what I was going for, it turned out perfect!

Riley 2015

Emory 2009

Also Emory 2009 wearing the same outfit Riley wore this year. I am so happy that my girls have been able to wear some of the same clothes! 

Riley 2015

That evening we attempted to have some friends over to hang out and celebrate Emory's birthday but everyone was with family so we had a very small celebration! Emory loved it all the same!

Can not believe this sweet girl is 7!!

Our next stop on our Spring break trip was Jacksonville to visit Chase's family! The 4 hour drive from Nashville felt like nothing compared to what we drive to get home these days! And to think, we use to think 4 hours was a long drive! Ha!

All the crazy Martin kids attempting to eat dinner.

Handsome boy playing in the sand!

Gabriel and Bennett

Emory, Finley, and Blue

Gavin and Bennett...Bennett had the pleasure of driving the little boys around!

Sweet Emory!

Those eyes and those curls!

Emory's 2nd birthday celebration of the week!

Bennett and Riley hit it off. He was very good with her and she loved him!

This little boy LOVES helping his Dude!

The third and final stop on our Spring break trip was Birmingham. We had a busy schedule while we were there. Wedding planning for Katie, the MS walk, and a wedding for a family friend were all on the agenda while we were there! Busy, busy, busy!

The MS walk will be a post on it's own...too many pictures to put here!

But here's a little preview!

The end of our spring break was capped off with a wedding for a girl I have know her entire life...even "babysat" her a few times! Crazy...and it makes me feel old. The wedding was at the church we grew up in, Brookwood Baptist, and the reception was at The Club. It was a little preview of what Katie and Jody's day was going to be like in 6 weeks!!

Love this man!

Little Sis and me with the glorious city of Birmingham glowing behind us...that's actually UABs campus! Go Blazers!

Sunday we loaded up and made the LONG drive back to Goldsboro! Why is it the drive back always seems sooo much longer...oh wait we lose and hour, that's why?! Eastern time zone is for the birds! :)