The Dog Ate My.......

TOOTH! We wish it had been something as simple as Becky's homework!

So Becky pulled one of her teeth at school on Friday, and got a small plastic box from the school nurse to hold her tooth. She was playing the Wii with Rachel, with her tooth box sitting on the floor beside her. When Becky got up, Angie went straight for the box, thinking she had found a snack. She ate the plastic box with the tooth inside, triggering a flood of emotion from Becky.

The Tooth Fairy gave Becky $4 for her troubles. Angie will be waiting a couple more days for her troubles to pass.

First snow!

We got a light snow accumulation on Saturday night. Becky and Rachel made the most of it on Sunday morning before church. (Note the feet in the crocs with no socks). We even made it to Sunday School on time!

Merry Elf Christmas

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Jazzy Rachel

Rachel played in the Jazz Festival today, playing the "Nothin to do Blues". She did a great job with her piece, and 2 people that we passed on the way in and out said, "She's so Cute!" She was definitely the smallest one in the room!

Great job Rachel! We're proud of you!

Update for Sunday: We just found out that Rachel got a Superior Rating for her performance in the Jazz Festival! Way to Go Rachel!

Catching up with some pictures!

Wow how time flies! It's been a while since we posted pictures. We went to Mississippi to Lake Lowndes State Park and enjoyed a super fun weekend with the entire Stephens clan, plus Poppy!

"Cousinly Order": Lauren, Becky, Cammie, Rachel, Brooke, Paige, Lilli

More softball!

Becky and her teammates experiment with eye black for that aggressive softball player look! GGRRRRR!!!!

Softball player Rachel!

Wouldn't you be VERY AFRAID if you had to face this fierce batter???

Fancy Girl

Rachel went to a birthday party at Club Libby Lu yesterday, and this is the very sparkly result of her "makeover". Looking Good Rachel!

2008 School Year!

Hooray school! Becky and Rachel are back at school with their buddies! My, how they've grown! Have a great year girls!

Swim Finals

Here are some pictures from our final swim functions of the year. At finals, they break the swimmers into three swimming groups based on their times (A - C, with A being the fastest). Here's how Becky and Rachel finished at finals.

Becky
25 yd 9-10 Butterfly - 7th in A group
25 yd 9-10 Backstroke - 1st in B group (heat winner and gold medal)
25 yd 9-10 Breaststroke - 7th in B group

Rachel
25 yd 8 & under Butterfly - 4th in A group (yellow ribbon)
25 yd 8 & under Backstroke - 5th in B group (green ribbon)
25 yd 8 & under Breaststroke - 2nd in C group (silver medal)

Becky improved her best times of the season in all three strokes, while Rachel improved her best times in two of the three strokes! They had a great day!

Here's a picture of them wearing their medals!




We also had a thunder and lightning delay during the meet. During the delay, Becky got bored and decided to pull a tooth. Check out her tooth.

Father-Daughter Camping Trip

The girls and I went on an overnight camping trip to the local KOA campground this weekend. Enjoy some of the trip highlights!








Becky and Rachel having fun in the paddle boats!













The girls ride the pedal-powered go carts!














Becky relaxing in the hammock!












Rachel playing cards in the tent!

Mississippi Fun!

We went to Grand Paradise Water Park with the cousins! Except for a couple of sunburns, we had a great time!

Ear Piercing!

Becky has been anxiously awaiting the end of softball season so she could get her ears pierced! After her championship game last night (that got rained out in the 5th inning with our team up 10-0.....and we have to go back now tomorrow morning to finish it), we promised to take her to Club Libby Lu for this event!

....................drum roll......................





She didn't even flinch! She has October birthstone earrings! Congratulations Becky!

Rachel had been debating about getting her ears pierced, and on the way into the store decided she didn't want to. She watched Becky and decided to go ahead. Stephanie and Danielle pierced them simultaneously, and after 2 tears, here's Rachel:

Both girls got a certificate and posed together in the mall for this awesome picture! Way to go girls!

Musical girls

Both Becky and Rachel were awarded music awards for their respective grades at their end-of-year award ceremonies.



Below is a song from the last performance of Becky's school chorus. Enjoy!

What do you get...

When you mix 2 sunbeams and a sprinkler???

Click comments to leave your answer to the riddle!

Rachel's First Piano Recital

Rachel is finally getting her wish to take piano lessons, something I'm sure we'll be reminding her about when practice time stops being fun! Her teacher is Amy Shirk, our church organist, and she has had 5 lessons. Click here to listen to Rachel's duet with Amy last Friday night. The song is "Merrily We Roll Along." Enjoy!

My New Glasses By Becky

Before

On Friday May 9, (last Friday) I went to see the optometrist. I had never been to see Dr. Hayes before, so I made Daddy go first. I saw the tests that I'd get. I found out I was slightly far-sighted. That means that Dr. Hayes wanted me to get glasses. So, I got some. They aren't very strong, but they help me. Most people at school and church liked them. The frames are copper in color. They are very comfy. I like them, and hope you do to!
After

Our 3 girls in the newspaper

Amy, Becky and Rachel were featured in today's local newspaper. They attended a school event designed to prepare the students for the Virginia Standards of Learning exams. They were joined during the event by a reporter from the paper who wrote a nice story. The article includes pictures of both girls. Check it out here:

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2008/042008/04292008/375123

How Much Is That Doggie In The Window?

Rachel participated in her school talent show last week and performed "How Much Is That Doggie In The Window?". Her teacher from last year, Mr. Edwards (passing across the stage with the visor), said that Rachel's act was his favorite "because she brought her own decorations." Check out her performance!!!

Laundry Woes

Over the past 16 years, I've had several interesting experiences with our laundry. I've washed crayons, ink pens, chewing gum, chapstick, money, receipts, and probably other unknown items, but yesterday, the most challenging laundry episode to date occurred.

Let me back up to last week, when all four of us got sick, starting with Trey, then Rachel, Becky, and finally me. We're all on the mend, and I decided it was time to try the "sanitize" cycle on my washing machine. So yesterday I loaded up all our sheets and 3 of our "Moshee" pillows into the washer and came downstairs for the 1 hour, 50 minute cycle. This pillow and one other pillow did not fare well in the process.

So what exactly does the stuffing from 2 microfiber pillows look like? Try this:

Here are some things I've learned about microfiber beads:

1) They're smaller than beanbag beans, but otherwise very similar

2) They float

3) They don't stick to anything that's dry

4) They vaccuum up quite nicely

5) They almost look like sand when shaken out of laundry onto the carpet

6) Lots and lots of beads can come out of tears in the fabric of 2 pillows

7) I may never get all of them out of my washer.

Dad retires!!!!

Congratulations to my dad on his retirement, after 40+ years of service!! He certainly deserves to retire in style. I'm so proud of all that he accomplished and was excited to be able to be there for his office party. Below are a few of the sights and sounds from the event!

Congratulations, Dad! We love you!

(Sorry this looks like a Blair Witch video!)

I'm the man!

Let the record show that I have, for the 3rd year in a row, picked the winner of the Miss America pageant out of the initial walk-by of the contestants. Here were my picks, in order of likelihood to win, from simply seeing them pass by the screen and introduce themselves.

1. Miss Michigan - winner

2. Miss Texas - Final 8

3. Miss Nebraska - DNP (Did not place)

4. Miss Rhode Island - DNP (but, she won a prelim)

5. Miss South Carolina - Final 16

6. Miss DC - DNP

7. Miss Florida - Final 16

8. Miss Oklahoma - DNP

So, from simply seeing the candidates parade by, I picked 25% of the top 16, 25% of the top 8 and the winner!

Flossie the Tooth Fairy Comes to Visit

After 30-45 minutes of crying, pleading, cajoling, and finally threats to call the dentist this morning, Rachel finally opened her mouth enough for Trey to pop out baby tooth #3, on the top right. Here are 2 pictures of the tooth and the toothless smile.

Stock update...

The bad news doesn't stop with Talbot's. Mom bought stuff from Land's End, especially shoes. Land's End is now owned by Sears. Check out the Sears stock trend for the last 12 months:




Watch out for Belk too! Belk was at its 12 month high the week before Mom passed away. Since then, they have dropped 20%. Check it out: http://quotes.nasdaq.com/quote.dll?page=charting&mode=basics&symbol=BLKIB&selected=BLKIB



Mom is truly missed by all!

I told you so!

At Mom's memorial service, I stated (tongue-in-cheek) that Talbot's stock would drop after Mom passed away because she bought so much stuff for herself as well as Becky and Rachel. Check this out! This is their 12 month stock price graph. Note the sharp decline beginning in mid-July (mom died July 11).



BTW, they announced on Friday that they are closing their men's and children's clothing. I guess when Mom stopped buying stuff for us and the kids, those business tanked. JUST AS I PREDICTED!!!! Here's the article: http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/04/news/companies/bc.apfn.talbots.closings.ap/index.htm


Watch out Wall Street, here I come!

Old School (REALLY Old School!!!) Pictures

I posted a bunch of old pictures of us and our friends on Facebook today. Amy found them at Dad's house. Here's a taste...



Who are those people in the background of MY tailgate party?

You can see the rest at http://msstate.facebook.com/album.php?aid=11841&l=6fde6&id=780142821.