My first field trip

Gracie announced in the van one afternoon after picking her up from school, "I have great news. We are going to see Elmo!" I wasn't sure what she was talking about but when I got home I found the permission slip for the field trip. I was surprised they were going on a field trip so soon but she was so excited. It happened to be on a Friday so I was thrilled I wasn't working and could sign up to be a chaperone. About a week before the show the teacher called saying the field trip was canceled due to the county not allowing any buses for any special activities. The kids were so sad. Well the teachers worked some more on the issue and they were able to hire private buses to take us to the UCF arena. It really wasn't the same as going on the Big Yellow school buses but it was still fun. Our class had so many chaperones we only had 2 kids each. We will see if that is the same at the end of the year when we are going somewhere outdoors in the lovely Florida heat :)
Here is Gracie and Emely...my 2 kids for the day....


Gracie and her friend Hannah who lives in our neighborhood...

Gracie and Alexa....

The kids had so much fun and they were all so cute. I am so thankful my wonderful husband works super hard and this gives me the opportunity to do these things with my children.
Gracie also bought her first meal this week at school...good old school pizza. She said it was delicious. Hope everyone is doing good out there.

Cruise time

So here is a few highlights from our weekend escape. We had a lot of fun and I am so thankful for my Mom who came to watch the kids for me.

We went out right in the middle of Hurricane Hanna so the first night was SO rocky! It really was awful. Many people did not make it through dinner. The Abbuhl's were fine and definitely weren't giving up dinner. After we woke up on Friday morning the seas were much smoother and the rest of the trip was perfect.


Of course there was eating.....I am so glad Chris stopped the diet for the weekend....

Ashley is so crazy I love her.................

When we got on the ship we were told we wouldn't be going to Nassau Bahamas the next day as planned but instead would be going to Freeport on Saturday. We tried to make the best of it there....

Pamela making my girls their personalized souvenir purses....

We saw a ton of these huge crooked tail lizards.....

The boys were dying to find some conch to eat. We came upon this stand thinking we hit the jackpot...until we found out the conch were right there live and they were serving them raw with some onions and other veggies.......

So instead we ate here..............gotta love the Hole in the Wall restaurants.

Chris and I in our fancy suite......

The girls..............

The guys.......

God's beautiful world from our balcony................

I can't thank everyone enough who helped make this happen for Chris 40th. I know he will remember it for a long time!

A visit with Angel and a birthday party

I have been procrastinating on doing this blog because I feel so far behind.....so here goes some of what I have been holding out on.

Rylie's class "The Angels" has a mascot and one of the kids get to take it home and take care of it over the weekend and then you write in the journal to share with the class. Rylie got to go first and she had "Angel" over labor day weekend. They have a boy and a girl and of course she chose the boy. That's Rylie...didn't surprise me one bit. She was so excited.

Angel went to dance class....

Angel visited with cousin Katelyn.....

During this weekend we had a small party for Gracie's and Chris' birthday with Chris' family. It was lots of fun. Angel came to the party too.

Gracie got the new Hannah Montana movie and started watching it but I guess she was too tired from the big day....

I wanted to do something special for her at school on her actual birthday and she requested Star Hannah Montana brownies. I am not sure where my kids come up with these wild ideas but I put in my best effort.

I wasn't able to go to school because I was working but the container came home empty so I guess they were a hit.

Happy 6th Birthday Gracie!

I had no idea how much my life would change on September 3rd, 2002. I am so happy to be a Mommy and am so excited to continue growing our love and have fun together. Gracie is so smart, independent and beautiful. We love you big girl!

Happy Birthday Chris

My wonderful husband turned 40 today! I have been planning a very special surprise since February for him. I got a bunch of our friends together and we booked a cruise this weekend. This has been a VERY hard secret for me to keep for almost 7 months. Of course now Hurricane Hanna is out there in our way so we aren't sure what will happen yet. Chris was shocked and so excited to open his present.


I hope you had a great day....We love you!