Zoo

Sierra's first trip to the zoo. She had a grand time, but I think she was more excited about having a new place to run than actually seeing animals.

Hurricane Irene

Sierra's first hurricane... mainly all we have seen is rain. While we were at mass at 5, a big band of rain and wind came thru and knocked down some trees. But since then it has just rained

round luch

First win

The volleyball team played their first district game and won 3-1.  Colleen did a great job and her buddy Rachel was a serving queen.
The Beaver family is also very proud of Brooke who made her freshman volleyball team.  Maybe Brooke and Colleen can be the next sand volleyball duo.

Jumping Rope

Conlan's basketball coach has instructed Conlan he has to jump rope. Conlan put up a fight for a month and had no desire to learn this skill. He finally decided to give it a try and has been working hard on trying to get the rope under his feet while he is jumping. Miss Competition has to make sure she is always the best so the last few days they go outside and see who can jump the longest. This video is of Colleen being a little too cocky.

First day of school

Where does time go? I added a couple of pics from two years ago. When Sierra was a newborn, Colleen was taller than Conlan and Donavan still looked like a little boy. I would like to have the next two years to go a bit slower so I can enjoy all the changes.

New and Upcoming

http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2011/082011/08242011/647232

Colleen made the paper this morning for the overview of area high school volleyball.

Earthquake

WOW! a 5.8 earthquake hit today. The epicenter was in Mineral, which is less than 20 miles from our house. When it first struck I thought Sierra fell out of her bed, and then I thought the washing machine was off balance but the house kept shaking even harder. Colleen and Donavan thought it would be a good idea to go outside. Sierra was taking a nap so I went to retrieve her, by then the ground was still so I left her in her crib. Conlan was outside jumping rope and never knew anything happened. The first day of school has been delayed until Thursday. Apparently there is some damage to some of the schools. Makes you remember God is in CONTROL!

Sunday nights at Nicodemus

The Baptist church I attend is very contemporary, so there is lots of new upbeat songs. Two weeks ago they played Blessed Assurance and I started crying. Colleen ask why and I said it reminded me of my grandmother and the church I grew up in. This week was "Are you washed in the blood of Jesus?" The tears started flowing again. Funny how a certain song can bring back so many memories. I remember the best thing about Sunday nights at Nicodemus was getting to pick out the "fun" songs, and how everyone sang loud.

Fishing on the Bay

Vic took Ray and the boys out for a day of fishing on the Chesapeake Bay.

Volleyball is Back

Starting the day at 7 and still being in the gym at 2 makes for a tired little girl.



I love this sport! It is like basketball, lots of action and in a climate controlled environment. Colleen had her first scrimmage today. She did well. The first game was a bit rough, but then as the day progressed you could see them working together and getting into the groove.

Hiking

Ray took the kids hiking on Saturday.

Volleyball to Fashion

Later that day, shopping for shoes and school clothes.


Walking out of the gym...they don't look so tall when they are all together!

My sleeping babies

Sierra in her natural state.


Colleen took a three hour nap today. 5 hours of volleyball a day is kicking her butt.

Flowers of love

My friend Jennie gave a kidney to her husband Kevin this week. He gave her these beautiful flowers and a note expressing how she saved his life and how much he loved her. Unfortunately, transplant patients can't have real flowers around them so Jennie had to farm out all her flowers. I was the lucky recipient of these.

"That would suck!"

One of Conlan's friends from the swim team came home from a two week summer camp to be told his mom had moved out. This is Conlan's first experience with a friend confiding in him with such personal information. Today we were talking about it and Conlan said "That would suck if you just left." I laughed and hugged him and said I was glad he would be upset and not doing the happy dance.

The last couple of days of hearing this news and listening to divorced moms talk about custody issues makes me realize how bless I am to have a wonderful husband and great kids. I told Ray I greatly appreciate all that he does for our family. I am also thankful my kids know it would SUCK if our family fell apart. I pray we will always be grateful for each other.

Summer swim season is over

The kids finished summer swimming in style. All did a great job! Conlan got the MVP for his age group. I am now the president of the summer swim team, so I might not be looking forward to next summer:).

Sierra's presents

I love the Thing 4 shirt. Colleen's friend found that at Disney world. Sierra is loving the dress up clothes and her bike. She is a styling 2 year old!