Wordless Wednesday

My 15 year old. She is such an intelligent and compassionate girl. She is far from the typical teen.

I love these amazing girls

It is really refreshing when you have teenage daughters that don't act like average teenagers. Both of our girls are such good students, athletes and all-around wonderful young people. There is never a day that we have to get on them about completing homework or studying. They take responsibility for themselves at all times. They know when it's time to do laundry, clean their rooms and bathroom and also help around the house without being told.

I wouldn't trade my sweet daughters for anything! We are proud of them and know that little brother has some really awesome big sisters. They are so good to him and I know when he is older he will appreciate them greatly.

We love you Chardonnay and Briahnna!

Family Photo

It is amazing that you can take over 2 dozen photos and ending up going with the first shot! It is very tough working with a toddler. Here is what we ended up with.

Flashback Friday

Aww just look at my girls when they were little! They were 4 and 6 when these shots were taken. They were doing a coloring activity together. Everything was always so organized and clean. Of course Hurricane Willie has changed that now!

Look at those cute faces. They are now 13 and 15 and even though they are best friends still, you won't ever see them hug like that anymore~!

First day of high school!

Chardonnay started her first day of high school today and we are so thrilled for her. Dwayne and I attended a parent breakfast and got to meet some of the teachers, staff and the her Principal. We feel so confident that she will have an amazing high school career. I am glad that I am not sad at all. I am so overjoyed to watch all my kids grow up and will be excited to see what they become in their adult lives. After all, the goal is to watch them grow up and guide them in a positive direction to become productive citizens. I can barely wait to see her when she gets home today to tell me all the details of her day.

The girl was giddy with excitement! We had to make her calm down and take deep cleansing breaths on the way to school so she would not pass out over being so hyped up!

Here are a few photos of Chardie and Brie at their best friend Haley's house. They have thoroughly enjoyed their Summer and are trying to get prepared for back-to-school. Lucky for me they LOVE school so this it's really easy!

They both went through a growth spurt this Summer.

William and I are officially the shortest people in our house!

I will surely miss these girls when they go back to school. Chardie is starting high school...YES high school! She's even talking about getting her driver's permit *gulp*

Growing up...

How does this happen so fast??

How can the once little girl in pigtails end up looking like this???

*faints*

Chardie was all glammed up for her 8th grade semi-formal dance.

Dwayne + daughter that looks like this = SHOTGUN.

South Carolina Junior Scholar- Chardonnay Ismail

Yesterday evening was an exceptional one. Our family went to see our daughter accept an award for being a South Carolina Junior Scholar. She scored very high on the PSAT and is in the top 2% of our state for academics. Is was just awesome seeing all of those intelligent young people there being honored for their achievement. They are our future physicians, scientists, engineers, chefs, and the sky's the limit! Each student received an official award along with a pin.

Look at my grown up looking girl!

I actually got in a photo this time! I am always the one taking them.

This is Chardie with one of our local news anchors Stewart Moore of WIS news. He was the keynote speaker at the ceremony. Chardie threatened to take his job! Her dream is to be a news anchor locally and then for CNN. The photo came out bad because someone I know had the camera. I guess you can't take extra time to adjust the camera settings while you have a local celeb waiting so I will give him a break this time.

We are so proud of Chardonnay and we know she will go far in life :)

Saturday's v-ball tourney

We spent Saturday in North Augusta for Chardie's volleyball tournament. It was a long but really good day. Chardie's team won first place in the Bronze division, not exactly Gold status but it is always great to place first in any division! The team was so excited and here are some photos of the day.

William was SO well behaved and all the parents were bragging about the fact that he was so quiet. Yeah, that was just because he was surrounded by women and girls all day!

Here is Willie with Brie before the first match.

Papo, Chardie and William getting some floor time before the next game started.

William and Chardie

This is what it looks like when we have to pack up to go to an out-of-town event. ALL of that stuff belongs to our family. It was like home away from home! Beverage anyone??
Chardie and a few teammates just goofing around.

The victory "T"!!

The team with their winner's t-shirts.

Vent Day Wednesday

Welcome to this week's edition of Vent Day Wednesday. Enjoy the foolishness and remember to hit us up in the comments with your vents.

Flashback Friday and 300 posts!

Today marks our 300th post anniversary! Who knew we had that much to say?! Well I leave you with my all time favorite photo of the girls when they were 1 and 3. I used to dress them up like doll babies about 5 times per day! They were the cutest little things. I miss them so much at that age. We wish everyone a great weekend!!

Flashback Friday

This is a photo of my girls 9 years ago when they were 3 and 5. It was Chardie's first day of kindergarten. They were eating grits with cheese but when they were little they called it gritcheese. I was the nice mommy back in those days that cooked a hot breakfast lunch and dinner EVERY day. I used to put a towel over their clothes so if they accidentally spilled there would be no need to change. Now they make their own breakfast, lunch and help cook dinner. They wash and iron their own clothes, they rarely spill or make a mess, they don't need me as much. Okay, now I'm getting teary eyed! I guess they can't stay babies forever but they will forever be my babies :)

OMG...LOL!!!

Last night my hubby updated his Facebook account and was typing a comment in response to and old high school ID card photo. Our oldest daughter Chardonnay was with us and watched her dad as he typed away.

My comment to his photo was "Oh lawd, and I married you anyway! LOL!"

He then responds to say something dumb along the lines of "and yes, you continue to praise the heavens above everyday. lol!" *coughs...whatever!*

Chardie then says Uh Bawbie and Papo...LOL??? You are not cool! Please don't think you are just because you say lol!! We laughed so hard and explained that lol has been around a while now, even before she knew it existed.

We then go into the conversation about how kids these days think they came up with everything. For instance the word swagger. Youngsters think this is a word of their time since some rapper put it in a song and made a big hit out of it. Sorry kids, swagger is an old timey word :P I just love listening to my kids points of view on things. They are hysterical!

At the end of the conversation Dwayne and I both claim that we are indeed cool. Chardie agreed that I was cool but that Papo was a straight up fool! Now that one deserves a big LOL!!!

It's Tacky Day!

It is spirit week at the girls' school and yesterday's theme was "Tacky Day". My girls LOVE that day! Briahnna loves it mostly because she says "YES! I can finally wear what I want!" Yep, my baby has a little natural tackiness in her and we love her for that. She does not understand why you have to match. I let her wear whatever she wants as long as she is covered, appropriate for the weather, and is comfy. Can adults have tacky day too? lol!

Life's tough lessons (sorry, long post)

Yesterday afternoon was a really big day for my daughters. I have mentioned in previous posts that both of the girls are a part of the EL Wright Middle School volleyball team (Briahnna is a team manager and Chardonnay is a team player). They had their final game of the season against another team (Blythewood Middle) that was 7-0 just like their school. This was that biggest game of the season. The game that would give title to one school that would be the #1 in the district for middle school volleyball. Unfortunately our team did not win the final game. The other team had stronger serves and had a little better strategy that gave them the title. Chardonnay and her teammates were crushed and disappointed. They had to brave through doing the final handshake with their opponents. They held their tears back like champs. Once the final handshake was over they ran over to the side and sobbed uncontrollably. The reason for this is because in the last 2 years of playing, the veteran players had never lost a game. They were the reigning champions of the district for 3 years. This hit them so hard since they had never experienced loss in the sport they trained so hard for (18 hours per week not including regular school and other activities). Their coach had to tell them to hold their heads high and know that they played their hearts out and rank #2 in the district which is still very good. When I looked over at the girls' tears and pain I knew I had to hold it together.

Someone had to win and someone had to lose. It's life.

Chardie did something out there on the floor that most girls don't master until high school or are not skilled enough to attempt. She was jump serving her butt off! You should have seen the little powerhouse! She is one of the tiniest girls on the team but can play like a true champ. She received so much praise from other players, parents, and even folks from the other school! We all encouraged her and let her know that she did the best she could. This did not make her feel any better, tears were still falling. I had a small victory gift at the house for both girls for whether they won or lost. It brought a little smile to her face. We then went out to dinner and she had a double serving of dessert. Ah, ice cream covered in hot fudge sauce and M&M's the way to a girl's heart! Still, she was a little sluggish. Papo brought home a gift which was a funny card and what else but a brand new volleyball! Now the girl was looking like the child we know! She came up to our room and chatted with us about the game. Even though she was not happy with the end result she accepted things for what they were. She now knows what it is like to lose. She knows that you have to lose some time. She still wants to get out there and work hard. She is a winner.

To end this sad story here is the best part. Briahnna is trying out for the team next year because she says "I want a shot to BEAT Blythewood!!!!" That's my competitive baby! She's got as much heart as her big sister. I love those girls!! I am proud of them always.

whining and see ya laters

I had to drop Briahnna off this morning for her to go on her very first out-of-town overnight field study for school. She is going to Camp Greenville and will return tomorrow afternoon. I miss her already. She has been sneaking text messages to let me know what all is going on. They are not allowed any electronic devices since the purpose of this trip is for team building and getting to know your classmates. I gave her permission to sneak me, Papo or big sis a text when she could. (I know bad, rule breaking mommy) When I was seeing her off I gave her a big kiss and hug and told her to remember my 150 rules and be respectful and before I could finish saying all I needed she was on the bus. What a brat! Chardie went on this same trip when she was in the 6th grade and her life changed forever because of it. I hope Briahnna feels that way.

Now as for the littlest member of the family, he has learned how to whine. I don't like it one bit. I get enough of that from the hubby and now I get a double dose. What did I do to deserve this?!!

I hope everyone has an awesome day!

Someone is 14 now

Here's my big girl, Chardonnay. She is officially 14 now. Look at her all grown-up looking. She wears make-up now, not a lot just enough to enhance her natural beauty. *sigh* Before you know it she will be driving. Yikes! I can't believe I have a kid that old! Nobody better be calling me old right now.

Happy Birthday Chardie!!

family updates

Oh boy it has been busy, busy, busy for this family. Let's see, where do I start...
Well, Sunday was Briahnna's 12th birthday. Since it is volleyball season we decided to not have a a party because of how busy the family's schedule is. I let the kid decide what she wanted as her special birthday dinner. This is what she decided on...

Jumbo shrimp cocktail (that's my kid!)

Fried chicken tenders, steamed broccoli, homemade mac'n'cheese, and corn on the cob.

She was happy with her choices.

Poor little Milo just won't give this toy up. The more beat up the toy the better it is to him. Milo, it's time to let it go.

Here is Will sleeping on his daddy. Yes, he is drooling!

The girls are both a part of their school's volleyball team. Briahnna is a team manager and Chardonnay is one of the talented athletes. They played their first game yesterday and won! I would have taken photos but the hubby had the camera last and did not recharge the battery. This was all I got...

Briahnna had to steal a quick kiss from little brother before I yelled at her to get back to her manager's post. Can you tell that William does not get enough attention?

We have games every Wednesday until October 22. I try to do as much as I can always to support the kids. I baked about 2 dozen giant chocolate chip cookies for a bake sale at school and Chardonnay sent me a text to tell me they sold out in a minute! Some of them were already purchased by my family before they even made it out the door. That was worth my 3 hours in the kitchen! I know I spent more than they probably made but the kids are more than worth it. Okay that's enough for now. I hope everyone has a great day!!

Back to school today

Well today is the day. The girls are all packed up and shipped off, I mean sent back to school. No matter how old they get I can't resist taking that first day of school photo. They are both especially excited because they are at the same school again. Unfortunately it is just for one year and then I will be split between middle & high school. Here are a couple shots of them all ready for their first day.

Of course Briahnna has to have her signature silly shot.

Getting ready for school

The girls head back to school on Thursday so I have been busy busy busy getting school stuff taken care of. We were smart by shopping early to not have to make the last minute dash but there was still registration day, volleyball tryouts, shopping for lunchbox stuff and practicing getting to bed early. As far as the getting to bed early, let's just say mommy and daddy don't have a problem with that. The girls... you should hear all the chatter and laughter going on for 2 hours after they supposedly go down for the night. Makes me remember when my sister and I were that age, we did the same thing. Yeah, my mother always said I would get my share of all what I have done. I get my little doses here and there.

We had to pay fees for the girls at registration. I thought I was stroking a check to pay for tuition to a private school! Can you believe that if your kid takes an honors class that gives you high school credit (if you pass with at least a B average) you have to pay for it? I thought they actually have to earn the credit! I better stop complaining and know that it all goes to a good cause, my kids' education.

I am going to miss those knuckle heads while they are at school. I was so lucky to have 2 extra sets of hands with the baby. Speaking of baby, he weighs almost 20 pounds now! He's in size 4 diapers. The bigger the size, the fewer in the package. Not fun. I know the girls will miss their little brother and he will miss them too.

The hubby has to finish getting my car prepared for my school year job as a chauffeur. You know what, I would not not have it any other way. I love taking the girls to school and picking them up. I love to listen to them telling me all about what happened in school all day. The sweetest thing is they always ask me first how my day was. Okay, now I don't want them to go back~!