RIVER day!

 Granddad with Tristan in his Mokai. Tristan loved motoring down the river with my Dad!

 Elise, my cousin's daughter, on Randy's boat.

 Katie and Rebel :)

Elise put on a show for us... she is one in a million!!!

Back in August, we went to my Aunt Dawn and Uncle Randy's house on the Mattappont River. We played hard all day. We had a blast swimming, boating and kayaking! Tristan is quite the fish, so he had a BLAST.

We look forward to this family day each year!

Chili's Peach Orchard

I LOVE this picture :)

Back at the end of August (I think) we went with our young adult's class from church to the peach orchard. Chili's Orchard is affiliated with Carter's Mountain Orchard in Charlottesville. The day was literally a disaster. I have tried to erase it from my memory! Ha! It was one of those days, that based on the behavior of your child, you kick you self for leaving the house. Other than THAT issue, the peaches were delicious, the fresh peach ice cream was yummy, and Tristan slept the whole ride home ;)



Catching up....again :)

I just had to post this because it shows how my baby is not a baby anymore. Tristan has been sleeping in his "toddler bed" for several months now. He does REALLY well staying in it and going to bed. I have no complaints. Sometimes I peek in when he is napping or down for the night and I have to just stare. God has been SOOO good to us! WE love this little guy more than life.

new adventures

My mom has a new adventure into the business world with Private Quarters. I am happy for her to have found something that makes her happy! The products are so incredibly soft. You can not believe how soft they are unless you actually touch them. I was amazed! I am a sucker for soft blankets!

I have started working on a part time basis for my dad's company, Paytime. It is a payroll business. I am basically working on sending them referrals. I have enjoyed it so far! The hard part is finding the time to do it because I am home, and loving being at home. But it is nice to have something outside of the home that I need to do. It kinda gives me some motivation! I am excited about it for several reasons, but one of them being that I believe in the business and I can see where it is really beneficial for companies.

apologizing again

Once again I find myself apologizing for not posting enough! Sorry!!!

Lately Tristan and I have been super busy. Imagine that. I really do not know of anyone who never claims to be busy! Hopefully one day, things will settle down a bit. Then again, I am sure we will find something else to do, then!

Tristan and I have been going through one letter a week. With this we have completed simple crafts and lessons to help him learn his letters and sounds. It has been nothing strenuous, just fun! He has really enjoyed it and has retained most of it! You can check out what we are doing at Doodles and Glue!

Fall is starting to set in. It is cooler outside and we have found ourselves out at the park and other places a whole lot more. It is a wonderful time of year! The only problem is I am NOT  a fan of winter... Fall is that reminder of the bitter part that has yet to get here.

Crazy Irene

So today is the day that Irene is visiting Rice, VA. This crazy storm has already taken the power out once today and I am prayer desperately that it doesnt go out again. It wouldnt be so bad if we still had water! The tub has been filled up and the shelves are stocked. Praying for this storm to pass with mininal damage.

Oh, yes...did I mention that we had an earthquake Tuesday? What a crazy week.....

Fun with Grammee

 Tristan shooting people with water!

 The water park area

Grammee and Tristan dumping water on the people below.... haha

Two weeks ago, Tristan and I went to spend the day with my mom, Grammee. We went to the Pocohontas State Park pool so we could play in the water park area. What a blast! I had NO idea that was there! We have lived SO close to it for so long but I am glad we finally were able to go check it out. I am glad my mom and I were together because this was a two man job for sure, trying to keep check on Tristan. The place was nuts. You can never been too careful around water!

DOODLES AND GLLUE

Now that I am an official stay at home mom, I wanted to be productive with my time home with Tristan. So I  am going to do what I know best... lesson plan :) Join us on our new blog, Doodles and Glue, to see our educational adventures! I can't wait!

www.doodlesandglue.blogspot.com
Doodles and Glue

Fun News!!

Some fun news to share...I got asked to write an article on our adoption journey! I am so honored and excited about this! The article will be printed in the Oct/Nov issue of Southern Child Magazine. Stop by and suscribe to the magazine for FREE online at Souther Child Magazine. I will be sure to pass on the link when it gets published!

busy busy week!

Our computer issues are still here...longest feeling ever!  Hopefully we will have the issue resolved soon so we can get some pics uploaded.

This week, Tristan and I have been super busy! We painted, glued, spent one day at the lake with friends, spent another day at a water park with Grammee and finally Tristan now sleeps in a big boy bed! What a big week! There is so much to share but I hope to do a lot of it with pictures...soon :)

Book Signing Opportunity

I will be in Fredericksburg on September 10th at the Hartwood Days Festival signing books. I am really looking forward to this event! There will be so  many things there for children, so I hope to see an awesome turn out! There will be firemen, police men, building workshops, cub scout activities, craft tables and many other things geared for children. This event is designed for kids and should be an awesome time! I am honored that I get to participate in such a great day!

NO TURNING BACK NOW...

There is no turning back now! All of my fellow co-workers are heading back to work in 2 weeks. I can not begin to tell you how elated I am that I will not be going back with them! I will certainly miss them all dearly, more than I can express, but I am so glad to be able to stay home with my little man.

Having been on a pretty set schedule for the past 8 years of my working life, I am finding it difficult to get motivated and productive. I have decided that for my benefit as well as Tristan's, we are going to have to set some sort of routine and schedule. I am not really sure when this will start, I am debating on that part :) but very soon I am going to try to implement some things with him. I want to carve out some time each day for either some sort of field trip or a mini lesson. There are lots of things that I want to do with him!!! I am exxcited to sit down and put my teacher self to work on this. It should be fun!!! I think the first thing we are going to do is creepy crawlies.....ewwwww........ Stay Tuned for more on the Frey School of Learning!!! HAHA

Animal Time!!

 I have been wanting to go to the Washington Zoo for a LONG time. I love zoos and Tristan and Ryan do too! Our good friends, the Maddox Family, live in Northern Virginia. We made a quick trip up to see them and we all ventured to the Zoo! We had a blast! I am so glad we got to hang out with Jimmy, Margaret and Lexi as well as spend an awesome day at the zoo. We had to laugh because the one animal Tristan wanted to see was the panda, and he was sleeping on his back. It was too cute! Legs were everywhere! Again, I can't wait to get  pics uploaded! I hope Ryan's computer is fixed quickly!!

The Washington D.C. Zoo entrance. I love my family :)

Ryan and me being silly.

Tristan enjoying "a BIG popsicle" as he would say. They were watching the tigers play with the huge ball!

This guy is NO joke!

These animals are absolutely incredible. I can't imagine being on a safari and seeing them in the wild!

BEACH

 My sweet, precious boy, LOVES the water just like his Mommy and Daddy do!

 Granddad (my dad) swimming with our little fish.

 Daddy and Tristan building a castle....kind of...

 Cheesin...

My boys :)

We left for the beach Sunday after church. Because of several things going on, we were not able to stay the whole week with my family this year. We did get to stay a few days, though. We will take a few days over none at all!!!

(I am now realizing that these posts are out of order... what I get for waiting so long!!!)

Tristan loved the beach in small doses. It is hard having a two year old at the ocean for several reasons. The days of reading and sleeping on the beach are long over :) We did have a great time with my Mom and Dad, Katie and Tim, and of course the 3 dogs!! We took many nice long walks and had quality family time. I can't wait to get some pictures uploaded! 

BIRTHDAYS

Ryan and I both have June birthdays. We had several chances to celebrate each other this year. We went out to a nice restaurant with Ryan's parents, which was awesome. Ryan also threw me a surprise birthday party! He is so thoughtful... The best part about having birthdays so close is we get to really honor eachother. I have the best husband. He is so loving, kind, devoted and respectful. I truly could not ask for more. It is so much fun to celebrate with him!

Finally :)

 I have wanted to go to the beach for the past few months. Every year when the weather gets nice, I get the "itch" to lay in the sand. We finally got the chance to get a little beach time in June. My birthday was June 16th and we invited some friends and headed down to Buggs Island Lake to camp for the night. We had four familes total and we had a BLAST. We got to lay and play on the beach two days straight and enjoy the compay of great friends. What could be better! Tristan had a BLAST in the water. He would not come out! Ryan and I are so thankful he loves the water as much as we do!

The interesting part was that we camped, which is something we have never done with Tristan. He was excited to sleep in the tent. I was a bit nervous about this part for several reasons, but everything went great! The best part was in the morning, Ryan rolled over  and Tristan was sitting up on his "bed" and said, "Good Morning,,, Daddy! I am reading books!" Sure enough, Tristan was sitting quietly readings, waiting for us to wake up. He is so considerate! I will be posting pictures soon. Ryan's computer crashed and all of the pictures are on there.

This and That

Tristan and I love to hang out on the deck. We like to eat lunch out there and play in the pool etc. Enjoy the pics of him being silly!

Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day Weekend we had a small cookout. We just had a few of our favorite couples over for a cookout. Good food but even better company :) Enjoy the pictures!

 Tristan, watermelon stained, running down the slide in the bouncy house.

 Tristan and his buddy Malachi, trecking through the grass. Tristan said they were muddin. Hahaha

 Tristan, Malachi and Jael... enough said :)

 Someone I know LOVES watermelon! True signs of summer!!

Gangs all here!



The ending...

Another season of our lives has come to an end. I officially resigned from my teaching career this year and I am now a full time mom! Yippee! Boy have I been blessed with the desires of my heart!

It is a strange feeling. I am used to getting summers off and down time to chill and to spend with Tristan and Ryan. It is a strange feeling knowing that I will not be going back to work in the fall. Whatever I am going to be called to do, I do not feel that it is teaching as I was. Only time will tell!

So, for now, I will enjoy just being a wife and mother. Life could not be much better. :)

adoption

On facebook, I have become a fan of many adoption pages. Sometimes this gets pretty interesting beacuse there are some really insensitive people out there! However, today I stumbled upon this. I really liked it :)


~Legacy of an Adopted Child~




Once there were two women who never knew each other.

One you do not remember, the other you call Mother.

...Two different lives shaped to make you one.

One became your guiding star, the other became your sun.



The first one gave you life, and the second taught you to live it.

The first gave you a need for love. The second was there to give it.

One gave you a nationality. The other gave you a name.

One gave you a talent. The other gave you aim.



One gave you emotions. The other calmed your fears.

One saw your first sweet smile. The other dried your tears.

One sought for you a home that she could not provide.

The other prayed for a child and her hope was not denied.



And now you ask me, through your tears,

the age-old question unanswered through the years.

Heredity or environment, which are you a product of?

Neither, my darling. Neither. Just two different kinds of Love.



Author Unknown

Just a funny story

Tonight we took a family trip to Kroger to get the things we needed to make breakfast for dinner. We made some absolutely delicious french toast on Italian bread and some other things. Tristan wanted to make muffins so we did that as well. We all LOVE muffins here :) So after dinner we got the muffin stuff out and he helped me as usual. He was spooning the batter into the muffin pan holes and a few drips got on the table and the chair. Not too bad for a two year old. Beamer always rushes over to eat the dropping but he was napping. I took the muffin pan over to put it in the oven and when I looked up, Tristan was on the floor, spread out on his tummy. He said, "I lick up my mess like Beamer does." Sure enough, he was licking the floor to get the tiny drop of batter up. There is not much you can say about that!!!

The floor was just cleaned, thankfully, but it was really funny. Hopefully he wont do it again!!!

Mother's Day!

Mother's Day is so bittersweet for me. I have the BEST mom I could ever ask for and I love her so dearly. I have also been blessed with an amazing son, who I am too, thankful for. I prayed to be a Mommy for so many long years, and I would not trade any of those painful days and nights because they lead Ryan and me to Tristan. God heard all my cries and he blessed us with a beautiful son and has allowed me to be his mother. I am indeed, blessed.

Every year I am so excited about Mother's Day, but every year I am left with this little heartache. I carried it all day today and it was not until tonight that I was able to face what it really was. I was rocking with Tristan and we were reading Pat the Bunny before bed. I asked Tristan who he wanted to pray for tonight and he told me "Pray for doctors. They make everything better." (cute) Then I asked him if he wanted to pray for his birth-mommy and he said yes. While I mention them, I am sure that he does not know what that means, but more on that in a totally different blog....

It broke my heart... I get the fun job.... sitting in Tristan's comfy chair snuggled up with him in his Thomas the train "jams" reading Pat the Bunny. I get to smell his sweet "baby smell" after he has taken that nice long bath and his hair is still damp. I get to sing him songs out of tune and have him giggle and ask me to sing them again. I get the fun job. But somewhere out there is a lonely girl who misses out on all that. My heart breaks for her. I will forever be grateful to her and her selfless sacrifice. I pray for both of them often that God will overwhelm them with peace and comfort and that they will know deep within that Tristan is so dearly loved and cared for. I pray that one day they too will know God's power and love. Oh, I can't begin to imagine how she must feel like on a day like today. I just trust that God has a bigger plan in all of this. While I know why we have Tristan, and I rejoice that I was chosen to be his super blessed Mommy, I pray for a young woman who chose life for her son. She is a mother and she, too, should be honored on this special day.

family times

 UP to NO GOOD ;)

Tristan loves LOVES to read. This makes me VERY happy! I hope he continues to love reading! 

This was just a typical night at our house. These are the times I cherish the most. Nights with the boys when we are just being silly, laying around, playing, reading, cooking, or whatever comes up! I love my family so much and I am so thankful for them, and yes, even Beamer :)

pictures

I know I really need to get some pictures on here. I will try to make that a priority this week while I am off from work for spring break. There has been so much going on it has been hard! We have a fun filled week ahead so I will hopefully get some pics this week, too. I'll try to be better!!!

off my chest

Just a little venting session....
So why is it that when people are going through hard times, whatever they may be, that people tell them, "Sending good vibes your way???" I know they mean well, and I am not trying to take away from them the fact that they are trying to say something positive, but what in the world are "good vibes" and how on earth are they going to better a situation? Isn't God the only one who is truly in control of a situation and can truly help to calm our nerves? I would much rather have God's favor and blessing on me and my family any day than vibes. I don't know about you, but if we do not pray for one another, then what are we doing....nothing???


Sorry for the venting, it just irks me, as I am sure you can tell!

With that being said, I pray that GOD blesses you all today with health, prosperity, and a peace that passes all understanding! 

Have a GREAT day!
Ashley

life in general

I am home kinda sick today but I am mostly home because Tristan is under the weather. He has been running a fever the past 3 days so I figured it was time to make a visit to the ole doctor. Last night he was absolutely pathetic and was digging in his ears. Sure enough, he has an ear infection in his left ear with one forming in the right ear as well. At least it is caught early so hopefully he will bounce back quickly. Other than that, we have remained pretty healthy! If only my cold/cough would go away!!!

Our house is still sitting on the market. It hasn't really been that long since it has gone on the market, just odd seeing the sign and no one really looking at it. Some people have come by, but no real interest. As excited as I am about a new adventure, I am just as hesitant. We are in a new church that we just absolutely LOVE and I do not want to leave it. We love absolutely everything about it!!! The other thing is the house we fell in love with now has a contract on it. It is ok, we know God will have the perfect house for us when it is time, but I sure do love it. Time will tell!!!!

couponing craze

I used to think that it would not be worth my time to ever take the time to coupon.... Today I proved to myself why it is worth the time and effort. I have been wanting to get my Kroger and CVS runs in for several days now but life happened and so I never made it to either of them until today. Some of the sale items that I was hoping for we sold out, go figure, but I still did really well :)

So here goes nothing....
Kroger was a hit, I saved $16 by using my Kroger card, uploaded e-coupons to my Kroger card and regualr paper coupons. I was happy with that.

CVS was the better hit though. I followed the ads and had my items picked out before I went. I had coupons to use as well. I will try to lay this out the best I know how...
I spent $17.81 but I saved $9.65 by shopping the sales then I had additional coupons to use saving an additional 3.50 with a total savings of $13.15.
So for only $17.81 I got....
TWO packages of BIC disposable razors (the fancy ones) one 4 ct and one 6 ct. (Regularly priced at 6.99 each)

2 cups of easy mac
3 packages of DOLE 4 pack fruit cups
2 packages of HALLs Defense cough drops
1 packages of Gummy Peaches :)

THE BEST PART???? I ALSO GOT BACK $2.00 Extra Care bucks for my next trip :)

I just may be addicted afterall....
Blessings!
Ashley

couponing queen

So I am definitely not the couponing queen, yet.... but one day I hope to be! I am trying to be more money conscience as we get ready to go from one income to two, but I have quite a few kinks to work out! On Saturday I went to Kroger and CVS loaded with my coupons that I got online and from the paper (thanks mom!!) I had preloaded my Kroger card with the ecoupons I wanted so I was ready to go. I think I did alright!

At CVS I only spent $20 and I got:
Dawn dish soap $0.25!!
shampoo
conditioner
2 deodorants
2 body washes
jelly beans :)

A HUGE bottle of Johnsons baby shampoo with the pump
The mega size of Huggies baby wipes refill (usually costs 6.99 each)
and I think there was more!!! (I cant remember)
I was happy :)

One of my new favorite sites that I am using to help me is www.thekrazycouponlady.com
AWESOME site :) They post coupons and how to get the cheapest deals out there. Check it out!

Now I just need another payday so I can do some more damage!!! LOL!!!

I have had a few people ask me to blog this so here we go! On to the coupon rampage :)

Night Night
Ashley

My First Children's Book!!: Thank you, Brandermill Church!

My First Children's Book!!: Thank you, Brandermill Church!: "Thank you, Brandermill Church for hosting such an amazing 'Dare to Dream' event! The event was centered around local Christian authors of al..."

Tumble Time!

I really wanted to sign Tristan up for tumbling. The YMCA offers this little class for 2-3 year olds. We decided that he would probably like it so we gave it a shot. His first class was this past Thursday night for 30 minutes. We were right... he LOVED it! I mean, really, it was just a few kids running around like maniacs, but I think that kids need that! It was so fun to watch, minus the bullies..... But that is a totally different story!

 BUMMER- I can't get it to let me rotate..... sorry!

I think his favorite past was the bar :) Maybe one day he will be into gymnastics like I was! He has the right height!!

Birthday Post #3

 My attempt at making a Thomas the Train cake... Tristan said, "Mommy, Thomas out of tunnel!!" I was excited that he understood what was supposed to be happening on the cake! :)

 Rock Star in the making :)My

 You can never be too careful!

Tristan was excited that he got to eat some of the candy off of the cake. He liked the gumdrops!

For Tristan's birthday, we had his grandparents over for lunch and cake on Saturday. Ryan's dad and Pat were not able to make it because they were snowed -in in PA. We missed them!

Tristan had a great time. He did really well with all of the attention, too! We are so blessed to have family who loves us so much. We love them, too!!!

Birthday Post #2

January 28, 2011
The Day you were born!!!

Tristan, you are SUCH a blessing to our lives. We love you SO much!

Yesterday, on Tristan's real birthday, I got some good news! I had a 2 hour delay for school so I got to spend a few minutes with Tristan on his birthday before I went to work. He is usually not awake when I leave for work so this was a real treat for me. I went in to get him out of bed at.... my goodness... 8:25 am and he said, "Happy Birthday, Mommy!!! Eat pancakes!!!" Needless to say, even though I only had 15-20 minutes before I HAD to be in my car or I would be late, I HAD to make my son pancakes! So we worked in the kitchen together and whipped up some chocolate pancakes. YUMMMMY. The were SO good!

When I got home, the three of us enjoyed some good family time. When T woke up from his nap, he opened presents first because we wanted some day light hours outside with the big present. More on the later....

After Tristan opened his presents, we told him he had one more big present that was waiting outside for him. We got all dressed and out we went!!

Now you can imagine what we did the rest of the evening!!! Although he was a little uncertain, he did really well! We had so much fun watching him in his new Jeep :)

After the outside and present fun, we went in for dinner and cake. Tristan loves tortellini so we had that for his meal. He devoured it!!

Our precious boy getting ready to dig into his cupcake! I think he was even more excited that I let him eat the candy that was on top :)

Tristan, Mommy and Daddy love you SOOOO much. Happy 2nd Birthday, Buddy!!

Tristan is TWO!!! Post #1

I can't believe my tiny baby is growing up and is now a big TWO year old!!! Wow! It seems so cliche but boy does time fly!

I will start first with his doctors appointment last week for his two year check up. First I was nervous because Ryan was not going with us. No big deal but he had one more shot to get left (more on that later) and a full of life toddler can be a lot in the doctors office. I mean, who wants their doctor to think they are bad parents? So I always seem to be more particular about things there... anywho....

SO Tristan stood on the big person scale. No more tiny baby scale to sit on. He weighed in at 29 lbs but that was fully clothed and diapered. He is 33 1/2 inches tall. They measured his head too but I have no idea what that was! :) Percentage wise, I had to look it up when I got home. I am thinking if I read the scale thingie right, that weight is about 60% and height is about 20%

My boy is growing! I asked how he was doing developmentally and Tristan then preceded to tell the doctor that she needed a papertowel because she has washed her hands. She look at me and said that based on the fact that he says full 5 and 6 word sentences there is no need to worry about anything! Praise God.

Back to his last shot... I had told Tristan a head of time that he was going to be getting a shot in his leg. He has to get the last of his Hep-A shots. I tried to prep him for what would happen and how it would feel etc, but I was sure to tell him it will be all better very quickly. He just kinda said OK. So when the nurse walked in with all of the stuff, he literally layed down on the table, stuck out his leg, and then asked, "All done, now??" HAHA That's my boy!!!

Happy Birthday Tristan. You are the best answered prayer ever. Your daddy and I love you so much. You make us proud in new ways everyday!

Cookie Time!

 I LOVE this one! (above)

Tristan and I LOVE to make cookies. I mean, lets face, who doesn't like to? Well, maybe some people. I will confess that we do it the extra easy way. When we make them together, we usually make just the slice and bake or the ones you literally take from the package and put them on the pan. I like them because they have the seasonal shape in the middle and he likes that. So when I say that we make cookies, usually that means that Tristan put sprinkles all over them. This past time, I was home on a snow day and we got a package out to make some. It was so funny to me how precise Tristan was with how he was putting the sprinkles on. Usually he just shakes them EVERYWHERE and sprinkle balls roll across the kitchen floor. Not this time. This time he was so careful! He was also very particular as to which cookie got sprinkles and which didn't.

Tristan, you crack me up. There is never a dull moment. I love that you know exactly what you want. I hope that you always go after what you in life and never back down! I love you!