New News on the family front!

So I started this blog back in March so that all my friends and family could keep up with everything that is going on in our lives. Well, here is one more. We are moving, again.
We are beng transfered back to Charlotte, NC. Very bitter sweet for us. We love it here in TN. Did I say love it, I ment LOVE IT!!!
Walter and I have been very conflicted about this, but we really feel like it is the Lord's will for us and our family. We are really trying to be obedient to Christ and follow what is best for our family while being realistic also. Walter has accepted a position with the same company, just back in Charlotte. Like everyone knows, the homebuilding business isn't doing well and so we are very greatful and blessed to have a jopb!
Tonight has been very say for me. It has suddenly become very final. A friend fom our LIfe Group broght over a generous amount of boxes and we had dinner with a few "Charleston" boys that moved here with us. It was super sad for me to say goodbye and close the door behind them. Our house here has always been very open and you never knew which builder from the neighborhood would stop by to play with the kids or to just say HI! The people here are super nice and very friendly! Who would have known......TN has a way of sucking you in!

Please pray for our family as we make this transtion once again. Pray for the children and for us. Ann Elizabeth is a lot more aware this time of what is going on! We will move after Christmas, so please pray for a Christmas full of memories with our life-long friends that we have made here.
Pray that we settle quickly into NC and that we will be able to quickly make it home!

WE LOVE YOU TN!! Here we come NC!!!!!

No, it is not chocolate!

No, it is not chocolate. Walter decided to eat a brown marker. Yes, eat it!! Great huh?? Boys!!!

Wee Ones Minature Donkey Farm

Walter trying to get in with the donkey!

All the kids on the cart!

Ann Elizabeth loving on the donkey!

Walter and his Love...McHaney! She is so over him...can't you tell by her look! Precious!!!




A few weeks ago, our Life Group from church, and our families went out to a donkey farm. It was so much fun and the children loved it. They were able to cook their won hotdogs over the fire, have a hay ride, and make smores. Darren's Mom even brought out a donkey for the kids to pet. Our little cowboy & cowgirl were right at home!

Fall Parties & Halloween!

The kids and my humorous husband!

The "Chip Monk", the Pink Pirate and Superman!

Halloween was a great time. The week was packed with parties at both of the kids schools, a party at our house and then of course trick-or-treat! Walter's school had a trunk or treat along with a parade. Super cute....especially with the little ones.

Ann Elizabeth had a fall party at her school too. They decorated cookies and played musical chairs, a great game for 4 & 5 yr olds.

Then, on to our house for a party and then trick-or-treating. We really love all of our new friends here and the fun times we have!

The kids painting pumpkins.

Ann Elizabeth and The Gurrero girls.

The whole gang trick-or-treating!

Georgia Aquarium!

A few weeks ago we tagged along with Walter and went to the aquarium. The kids had a blast and WOW was it a great aquarium! Here are a few pics of our good time!

Fun Fall Weekend!

This weekend we have had so much fun as a fanily. We started our Sat. with Ann Elizabeth's soccer, which she scored 3 goals in....YEA!!!

Here she is leaving the others in the dust heading to the goal!

Next we headed to downtown Franklin to the Farmer's Market. The kids were able to enjoy a garden just for them, and we purchased some nice green tomatoes for a little fried green tomato compliment to dinner. Yummy!!!

Then, we headed to Gentry's Farm for a little pumpkin searching. WOW! I thought that Boone Hall in Charleston had a great set up. This was the real deal. Gentry's Farm growes their own pumpkins and lets you pick them. The farm pre-picks the larger ones and then you can go into the fields and pick your own "smaller" pumpkin, along with sunflowers. The kids thought this was great. They also have hayrides, petting zoo area and a corn maze (that was all saved for another day). The pictures are so good that I had to post a lot. I just couldn't choose!

The patch itself....trying to find the perfect pumpkin!

Walter thinks that he can ride this pumpkin!

And here are the gigantic sunflowers that they picked.

I hope that you all are experiencing some great fall weather and enjoying the season as much as we are! Much love from Tennessee!

Just a little prayer request!

Not really a big deal, but for those that read my blog, send a prayer to the big man upstairs for me. As some of you know I interviewed last week for a job that would be PERFECT for me and me for it. I have left a message and an email for the manager letting her know how interested I am. I just haven't heard back. I know that I am being impatient, but I am EXCITED. Pray that if it is meant to be it will be and if not, the door will be closed-completely!

Love you all prayer warriors!

Music City 1/2 Marathon

This weekend, I accomplished one of my goals. My girlfriends and a few guy friends of mine all ran a 1/2 marathon here in Nashville. We have been training since mid summer and it finally paid off this weekend. It was really a good time and may even have given me a little taste of what the "running life" is really like. Chris Davis and his wife Tiffany flew in from Charlotte for the race. Chris and I have encouraged each other along the way, and I am so thankful for him being here and sharing this experience with me!



Here are pics of some of the runners at the beginning:

Chad & Jennifer Wasserman, Me, Chris Davis & Heather Livingston-the trainer!





This is Chris and I at about 9 miles-still feeling good..but right before the pain set in!!






And here I am crossing the finish line. Very exciting & emotional time! Struggling, but I made it! My time wasn't exactly what I wanted, but it is a starting point! I did finish 13.1 miles in less than 2 1/2 hrs..but it will be better the next race!!

Here we are after we regrouped at the finish! You would never know that we just ran 13.1 miles in less than 2 1/2 hrs! (You should see us today, we are walking like an 80 yr old.)

I forgot to get pictures of the supporters: Walter, Tiffany Davis and Heather Livingston & Rachel Phillips. They were at the start, got in the car and raced to the 1/2 way point, and then raced back to the finish. There is really more involved with them and everything they did for us that day, and I can't thank them enough. It was great to be half way through and see my husband, the paparazzi with the zoom camera lens , running down the hill to take our picture and to cheer us on! He is awesome!!!



Chris and I have decided that we have the fever! We are going to run a 10K in Charlotte on Thanksgiving, and then continue to train for the Country Music 1/2 Marathon here in April. We are entertaining the idea of the Marathon, but we will see....no commitments for that until Jan. We still need time to recover from this weekend!

Trike-A-Thon

Little Walter had a Trike-A-Thon at his school last week to raise money for St. Jude. It was really sweet. All the kids at school brought there trikes or bikes and rode around the parking lot for about 30 min. They all had so much fun!

Life is back to being full of activites.

School has started and we love it. The kids both love going and feel so grown up. Walter is enjoying his teachers and Ann Elizabeth likes her new teacher, but runs to Ms. Tuttle (teacher last year) every time we go through the door.


She has started soccer and has really made much improvement since last year! Her last game she scored 2 goals and was super excited.





We have also started ballet and tap this year. We are taking from a different studio and Ann Elizabeth seems to really like it. The owner of the studio actually teaches the classes and is really involved with each child. One Mom described it as "taking dance with Barbie"! It is a little far from us, but we manage to get there..albeit a little late!


Walter is really a trooper. He just goes along with us and hangs out. He loves going to the soccer field, and usually sits in his little chair and cheers on his big sister!

Life is full of adventures in our house this fall! I will keep you posted on everything else that we have coming up!!

Any idea of what is trying to happen in our house???

The key word is trying!

And they are off..yes, both of them!

As of Monday, all the kidos are in school. Walter started Monday and couldn't wait to get to school. We had another "special" morning, eating on the "special" red plates and his favorite breakfast, which of course was an apple cinnamon waffle with peanut butter. It was a struggle to get him to eat he was so excited, but after a little bribing with some donuts he sat down and ate.

I was super sad on Monday morning though. As happy as I was for him to be starting school, I sort of liked having some special time with him the last week and a half while Ann Elizabeth was in school. We pulled up to school and he basically ran in the door. I had to chase after him to get a hug, hang his book bag up and tell him I loved him. He could have cared less about Mommy on Monday morning.

His teachers love him and say that he is so sweet in school. He follows directions and shares...are they sure they have the right child? That is the one I want to bring home! He is adjusting well. Not much napping at school b/c of some crazy schedule they have the kids on, but so far, he is doing great!

Thank you Lord for 2 sweet children that LOVE school!

1st Day of School....

Well, for Ann Elizabeth at least-more on that later. We still treated today like a special day for Walter too. At the request of the children, Mommy made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast since it was a special day! They each ate on their " You are special today" plates and acted super silly at breakfast. Ann Elizabeth was super excited to get back to school. She really missed all of her friends over the summer and her teacher last year, Ms. Tuttle (she was a little upset that Ms. Tuttle wasn't going to be her teacher this year.) So, after posing for pictures off we went- I even let her pick out her own clothes, aren't you impressed. She basically ran in the door to school with excitement, and had a minor melt down when I picked her up at the end of the day. Oh to be almost 5 again and LOVE school.

Walter wasn't able to start school because they had a water line break at his school last week. Soooo another 2-3 weeks home with Mommy-that should be fun! He wasn't as dissapointed that he didn't go today like I thought he would be. We went to the YMCA and then to the park so he could be occupied as much as possible. We sure will be glad when the 2-3 weeks are up!!!! But, here is a picture of him in front of his classroom when we went to meet his teacher.

Are you kidding me?

These are too funny not to share. We had dinner the other night with our friends Rachel and Darren. The girls, Mc & Ann Elizabeth, sat at the table "texting" each other with there Daddy's Blackberry. How funny is this? I agree with Rachel that we as parents are too into our electronics for our 2 & 4 yr old!

Only a week left of Summer!

So we only have one more week of summer left. We have had lots of fun over the summer. The children have been to camps, made new friends and played lots at the pool and outside, and of course at the lake.

I really love summer with the kids, but man, are we ALL ready for school to start. Little Walter is so excited to be starting "Big Boy School", that he has worn his book bag around the house for the last couple of weeks. Of course with the at and guns too!

We do have to keep reminding Ann Elizabeth that she has one more year before Kindergarten. She is very anxious too to go to "real school".

So, this week, we will be doing all the last minute things for school. New shoes, meeting teachers, buying school supplies, piecing together clothes, etc. We have a busy week, but we are having fun together and spending lots of time together before we get "back to the grind".

Fun with Family & Friends!

So August has been really busy so far. In the past 3 weeks, we have traveled home to see my parents and had our friends travel here from Charleston to see us. We have had so much fun.

While at home we celebrated my Mom's 60th birthday. We had a party for her, which she knew about. My children were able to see there cousins again and run around GiGi & Boppy's house like a herd of cattle. Mom really enjoyed seeing all of her friends and having us back home. She tried to act like the children were a little much for her, but we all know, that she would have it no other way than to have her 4 grandchildren and 1 nephew running around her house.

(1st pic-GiGi & the 4 grandchildren. 2nd pic- 2 grandboys and 1 great nephew)

Once we got back from Rock Hill, my dear girlfriend Melody and her family came up to visit us from Charleston. I will agree with her on her post when she says, "There are just so few people in your life where it so effortless to be their friend. No matter what happens you just pick right up where you left off. I am so thankful to have such a friend in Melody."

(Walker and Nichols kids roasting marshmellows.....and a true picture of how the house was)

We made smores Nashville style on the chimnea, went to the Zoo and to the Adventure Science Center. We mostly hung out at the house and let the kids play and just talked. Walter and I really value the Walker family. They have been there for us through more than they can ever imagine! Thank you Lord for bringing Melody into my life. I just wish that you all had a "Melody" in your life!

The Walkers left on Thursday and we left on Friday for the lake. What a weekend it was. We had a great time. The children just love the boat.

And yes Gram, this is a picture of Molly sleeping with the children. Everytime we pulled her down, she got right back up on the bed, so we just left her.

Big Walter bought a towable float for the children and after making a few adjustments to the boat, we were set. Jeff, Heather and Addy Grace met up with us on Sat & Sunday and we took the towable for a spin. Ann Elizabeth loved it. She is so fearless that it amazes me.

Everyone was having a great time until.......the rope got run over by the jet ski and the jet ski stopped working. Oh, but that is nothing. We towed Jeff and the jet ski back to their marina, where Walter ran in to the dock. He hit it so hard that a lady came running out of her house boat to see what had happened. But wait, it gets better. I decided that I wanted to learn to drive the boat. I did great until we reached out marina, where I proceeded to hit our dock (no damage was done on either inccident-Thank Goodness). So, you would think that that was enough excitement for our weeked, not The Nichols. While Ann Elizabeth and I were looking for a cart to take our stuff out to the car, Walter was "watching" little Walter. 20 minutes later Ann Elizabeth and I return back to the boat and I go start loading our stuff. Down in the cabin I go where I find little Walter painting himself, and the bench seat with black/blue fingernail polish. Could it get any better? Oh well, what do you do? 2 people new to boating and 2 children (1 that is a boy under 3), I am sure we will have more stories to tell before it is over!

Sorry it has been so long. I hope everyone is doing well. We would love to hear from you!

Until next time...........