All is Well

I am sitting here suffering from a cold. This is the third one in the past 2 months. I do not like feeling icky and surrounded by used tissues. Enough about me.

The Dears had a great Christmas. Mom and my brother are here. It is nice to have family during the holidays. The girls loved all their gifts. Hannah got the Smart Globe and is on her way to learning all her countries. One question, when did Oceania become a continent? I thought is was Australia. Emily got her first American Girl - Emily. She was so excited. The girl's girls are now good friends. Noel got me new camera which I absolutely love!! I will not tell you how many pictures I have taken. Noel got a saxophone. For those of you wondering he can play but will not play in public. We got several other things, but I not bore you with that. I can say thought I have the greatest husband. In my stocking this year, Noel got me several little treats I will get to get to enjoy in the coming year. It did not cost him much, but he gets the award for being the most creative this year. I have been trying every year to outdo him, but he is the master gifter, although he would agree when I got him the golf clubs for his bday was pretty exciting.

The girls are enjoying a break from school as am I, but I am trying to get psyched up for the new year.

Our family would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year!

FELIZ NAVIDAD

Here are a few pictures from our trip to Disney. I am being nice and not putting all the pictures. I took over 300 and I was able to reduce them down to 180 to scrapbook. For my birthday this year I receive stuff to do our Disney pictures - thanks girls, Noel, Rita, and Sherry. I am looking forward to doing the album.

FELIZ NAVIDAD from Mexico

MGM Studios

The girls meeting Cinderella at the Cinderella Breakfast.

Sleeping Beauty or Princess Aurora (Noel overheard 2 dad arguing which one she is) with the girls at the Princess Storybook Lunch at Norway.

Our family would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We are looking forward to hopefully a white Christmas (not a blizzard) and Mom and Joey being here.

Hannah's Birthday Present

How do you like Hannah's new car? She loves it and can't wait till she can drive. - NOT!! Just thought you would enjoy another picture from Disney. (Sam I am 2 up on you)

"The Happiest Place on Earth"

I am sitting here thinking about all that happened on our vacation. I am so thankful we were able to take the girls to the "Happiest Place on Earth" - Disneyworld! We had a great time in sunny, warm Florida. We were keeping up with the weather here in Ohio, and just thankful where we were. For those of you wondering, Noel's ears did not bother him thanks to ear tubes he had put in before we left. We chose this time of year because the crowds are suppose to be lighter. If this is the low time I would hate to see peak visiting time. I was also thankful my children are no longer in need of strollers! They were everywhere!!! As well as the scooters for adults. If you ask the girls, it was the greatest vacation of their lives. We could not of asked for better weather, good flights, hotels, and food. Yes, Disney food is good.

We arrived in Disney last Friday and set off to the parks as soon as we checked in. MGM Studios was the first park we went to. I was saving Magic Kingdom for Hannah's Bday. Hannah was willing to ride anything, but Emily decided not to ride the Tower of Terror while in line and we had to do a parent switch. Emily had a chance to be one of the ride bellhop greeters but did not want to put the costume on because she thought it looked like a boy. Oh well. Hannah got to ride the Tower 2 times in a row, once with Noel and then once with me. I put Noel on it first just to find out how it was. This is a ride that drops you in an elevator multiple times, and you never know how many because it is different every time. It was fun. Our first day was fun, but it was a long day because we had been up since 4:30 that morning, and Emily fell asleep at dinner that night.



The next day we spent at Animal Kingdom and Epcot. At Animal Kingdom they have the coolest ride - Everest. We all rode it (although Emily did it with her eyes closed) and loved it! There is a show at AK that is called "It's Tough to be a Bug", that we went to. Emily who is terrified of bugs even wanted to go. It is one the new 3D movies with air blowing and smells. The creepiest part was at the end. I will not give it away, but it even freaked me out. That night we went to Epcot and got to ride Mission Space and Test Track. Both were very fun. I told Noel Test Track was like riding with him. Also, while at Epcot we went to Turtle Talk with Crush and he told Hannah Happy Birthday which was pretty cool.


Sunday was the most anticipated day - Hannah's Bday and Magic Kingdom. They were so excited to see the Castle and to see Cinderella. Six months ago I scheduled breakfast with the Princess' in the Castle. These are very sought after reservation. I probably could have sold them on ebay. The girls got to have their picture taken with Cinderella and during the meal Belle, Fairy Godmother, Jasmine, and Snow White came around for autographs and pictures. All VERY exciting. We got to ride all the rides, see shows, parades, and fireworks. We told Hannah we had it all arranged for her. (Don't tell her otherwise ;) ) Emily was excited during the fireworks because Tinkerbell flew overhead. We can say we shut down MK that night. We were there till 11 p.m.


I could go on about all we did, but I will not bore you. We rode just about every ride at every park. We ate around the world at Epcot World Showcase, saw Mario Lopez, had breakfast with Mickey Mouse, dinner with Goofy (no I do not mean Noel), rode in the tea cups with Alice in Wonderland, walked for it seemed like miles, and just had a great time. So many things happened, so it is hard to put them all down. I only took about 300 pictures so I will be working on the scrapbook album soon. If you get to go in the future I have one word for you FASTPASS. To sum it all up - memories to last a lifetime!

Will we ever get to sleep?

5 days and counting. Do you remember the commercial of the kids (and parents) who couldn't get to sleep because they were leaving for Disneyworld? I thought that was just a joke and you could possibly be that excited. I was wrong. I am not sure who is more excited in our family us or the girls. It is hard to believe that it is almost time to go. We thought this week would never get here. Several years ago we got one of those big water bottles, and we told the girls when they filled it up with change he would take them to DisneyWorld. Well we didn't get it exactly all filled up, but last year Noel and I decided that we would go. So this trip has been in planning and saving stages for about a year, and it is now here. YEA!!!

I am especially excited, since Christmas is my favorite time of the year, to get to see Disneyworld decorated for Christmas. We are currently watching on TV a special about all the decorations there. Giant gingerbread and houses and carousels made of chocolate. You just cannot get any better than that. Plus getting to see all the lights that are put up there. During Christmas I always say more lights the better.

OK EVERYONE - THUMBS UP FOR THE TIGERS!!

Fear the thumb no longer - it is here !! Hats off to the Auburn Tigers for winning the Iron Bowl for the last five years. WAR EAGLE!! All's well in the Dear House. I know my team lost, but they did have a good showing. We have our rivalry game - can you say EGG BOWL - next week to the other team in MS. Oh and congrats to my Ohio friends - way to go Bucks. Sorry Sean ;(

Thankful for Our Freedom

We have been studying Thomas Jefferson and decided to read the Declaration of Independence. I found this part of the Declaration to be very interesting. I think many people who are against this war and why we are fighting need to read this great document in from history. When there are governments out their trying to destroy ours it is our duty to abolish them. It says so in the Declaration! I know it is terrible when soldiers die, but those soldiers volunteered to uphold the freedoms we have here and that we should be thankful for. If you think back in the many wars we have been a part of we lost more in those than we have in this current one. We should be proud to be an American and not be afraid to do what it right and to help secure rights of others God has given them. Some may say this Declaration may be outdated, but it is what gave you your freedom to what you want and say what you want. Many people in other countries don't have this, and that is what our soldiers are out their doing. Helping them get their freedom. If was not for brave soldiers from our history, we would still be part of England.

excerpt from the "Declaration of Independence" by Thomas Jefferson

"When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world"

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Sad day for Republicans. Hannah ask me this morning who won, and I had to tell her the other team did. And I quote from her, "Oh, no we are going to have to pay more taxes!"

Yesterday Emily said almost crying, "I'm a Republican, I don't want to be a democrat."

I believe we are raising our children correctly - godly young ladies wanting to change the world.


2Ch 7:14 and My people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.

Mississippi State vs. Alabama

Miss. State 24 - Alabama 16

(click on logo)








GOOOOOO DAWWWWGGGGSSSSS!! (insert cow bell ringing!)

My Dawgs won!!!! For my Ohio friends Alabama is NOT Noel's team. He is celebrating with me on our victory over Auburn's top rival!!!

I'm so thankful for this opportunity. It's such a blessing for a person to grow up in this town, to go to school across the (railroad) tracks (at Central High), to get an education here at the University, and, now, to coach at Mississippi State. If you're looking for miracles, you're looking at one.''-- Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom.

``This is the best (win) we've had since I've been here, no question,'' Croom admitted after State's 24-16 victory.

Beggar's Night

Here are the girls at our church's Trunk-a-Treat in front of our princess table. We were hoping to have it outside, but just as crazy as Ohio weather is, it was raining. Thankfully we could have it in our church's FLC. The girls had fun yesterday painting their pumpkins as princess' of course and getting to decorate their buckets. But I think best of all was getting to be princesses. 29 days till Disneyworld. Sorry there is no picture of me. I was the queen mother, but due to the rain I chose to wear my casual crown, but I did wear my jewels.

Apple Pickin'

This past Saturday we have a fun family outing. The girls and I were able to talk Noel into going apple picking with us. There were no good football games on tv that morning and Auburn was not playing till the afternoon. The weather was perfect as Ohio weather goes. The sun had decided to come out and we were able to be outside without too many layers. This is always fun for the girls especially for Hannah who eats the apples will picking them. This is the 2nd year for us to do this. Last year we picked a bunch of apples and were able to make ALOT of apple butter. Anybody need any? We are trying to decide what we are going to do with them this year - pie, cake, applesauce? We did decide which type of apple was our favorite this year - golden delicious. It is a nice sweet, juicy apple. There is nothing like getting apples fresh from the tree. I will put this Ohio experience as a must do if you get a chance, and one we hope to do every fall.

In Case you are Wondering

1. Name three people you would pick (and why) if you could choose who to be stranded on a deserted island with. - (1)My wonderful husband - obvious reason (2)Jack Bauer - in case we need protection or there is any sort of terorist activity (3) MacGyver

2. What is your favorite genre of film and what is your favorite movie from that genre? Comedy - 50 First Dates

3. Which country would you like to visit and why? Switzerland - Chocolate

4. What are you driving these days? What's it's (their) good and bad points? Would you buy another one, and why or why not? Honda Accord - safety and good on gas mileage/ would like just a little more leg room/ i would buy anything made by Honda

5. "Lost," "24," or both? 24

6. You've been very good this year. What should Santa bring you for Christmas? (the sky is the limit) a new home or a trip to Europe

7. How do you eat an oreo cookie? you take 2 cookies separate them, eat the 2 without the cream and then put the 2 with cream together and then eat those

8. How long does it take you to eat lunch?lunch? do I eat lunch?

9. Caffeine or decaf?caffeine - especially in the morning

10. Chicken or beef?both

11. Pen or pencil?pen

12. Autumn or spring?autumn

13. Baseball or basketball? neither - football is best

14. 'Survivor' or 'The Amazing Race?' - both

She Finally Lost It!!!

Friday morning was an exciting day at the Dear home. After weeks of wiggling, praying, and letting no one touch it Emily's tooth finally fell out. I am just thankful she did not swallow it. We have had several people offer to pull it, but she said she just wanted it to fall out. The tooth immediately went into the bag of the tooth fairy doll and she was awarded with the giant payout of $1 this morning. She was ready to spend it, but Hannah, the saver in the family, convinced her to wait. I guess this is one of many steps to her growing up into a lovely young lady.
If you cannot figure out which one fell out, it is the one on the bottom. She has the gap like her mom and sister. Sorry girls.

My New Indulgence

My new favorite thing - Mani/Pedi. Some WONDERFUL people gave me a gift certificate for one and I LOVED IT!! Sitting there for an hour without anyone bothering you. Who could complain? I have had many manicures in the past before, which I always enjoy, but never a pedicure. Only complaint, OSU playing on the TV. I could get use to getting one of these everyweek. Maybe my wonderful husband would let me get one maybe once a month. I definitely beats doing your own french manicure at home. By the way Sally Hansen French Manicure pen is #1. For all you moms out there treat yourself with this at least once in your life.

Day at the Zoo with Jenny and Ashley

We were so excited to get to see Jenny and Ashley a couple of weeks ago. For those who do not know them Ashley is our former children's minister from AL and Jenny is her sister. The girls love them and we do to. Ashley is now working in Louisville, KY so it is easier for us to get to see her. Jenny came to visit her and they drove up and met us. We took them to the Columbus Zoo. It was a nice day for the zoo. They were amazed how nice the zoo is. We are very fortunate to have great zoo in Columbus. Ashley and Jenny had been to the zoos in Atlanta and Birmingham and commented how much better the Columbus one is. In Bham half the animals are laying on concrete slabs, and in Atl the animals are in their "natural" habitat, but you really do not get to see them up close like you do here. Emily had fun, because she had to have her picture taken with all the sculpture. Most of the animals were active the day we were there. The lion roared, the grizzly was playing in the water, a kangaroo jumped by us, and a cute little gorilla was playing next to the window and reacting to us standing there. It was just a great day with our friends and was capped off with dinner at Cheesecake Factory and ice cream at Graeters. We hope Ashley and family will get to see us again soon.

Lemonade for Missions

I know Noel has already talked about the lemonade stand, but here is the picture of the girls waiting for their first customer. They had a great time serving lemonade. Hannah was in charge of the money and Emily the ice. We had many people stop buy. Thank you to all the church members who came by. The money the girls earned went to Michael and Jonathan George's mission trip to Kenya. We were out there for about 2 1/2 hours. Hannah did not want to come in because she want to get more money for the mission trip. They were very excited about having the stand. They raised $65 for their hard work and are asking when they can do another one. We ask everyone to pray for Michael and Jonathan. They leave on Sept 20th and return on Oct 3rd. Also pray for our team goingto the Ukraine as well during this time. It is exciting to see people in our church to get out of their comfort zone to go and witness to people around the world. Our pray is to become an Acts 1:8 church.

GO DAWGS!!!!

I am so excited about the MSU Bulld0gs playing tonight! I was just looking at the stadium webcam and got a little misty thinking about all the games I attended during college. You know cramming those 4 yrs into 6. I know every year I have do endure the endless abuse of my husband about how bad we are, and making fun of our coach. I don't care. I love the DAWGS and I will never stop pulling for them. I wish the DAWGS all the luck this season. I will be watching for my brother, who will be at the game. Mom got him season tickets for his bday. By the way - HAPPY 22nd JOEY! Present will be in the mail soon. I am including a clip of our fight song so click on the logo and maybe it will work. If not click here. Please yankeeville carry SEC sports, because they are the best. Here is to a great football year, and maybe we can wrap it up in Maroon and White. (I put that in just for you Noel)

Coming Soon to a theatre near you!!!

Everyone should see this movie!! Rarely do you have a movie you can carry the entire family to the movie and not be embarrassed. Thankfully it is coming to Columbus. Noel and I were able to see it at the SBC Convention this summer. This movie is brought to by the same church who did "Flywheel", which is also an awesome movie. Noel said he liked it better than the Passion movie. There is no bad language in it either movie. You will laugh. You will cry. I can not stress how important it is to see this movie on opening weekend. If you like Georgia football Mark Richt makes a cameo apperance as himself. You can find out more info about this movie at www.facingthegiants.com. I cannot say it enough - GO SEE THIS MOVIE!!!

Fiesta 2006

I know I am slow at posting pics from VBS. We had a great turn out with our highest day of 149 kids. Everyone had a great time, and a big thanks to all who volunteered and worked hard getting everything together. The kids favorite things were shouting "VIVA!" and seeing Noel and Pastor Wally receiving a pie in the face. Sam you did a great job. I am thankful VBS is only nce a year. Here are some pics from the week.

What's in a Name?

I was checking out a friends blog, and she had posted why she chose the name of her blog. There are some straight to the point and other you wonder where they got that. Mine, endearing as it seems, is oddly enough our last name. Yes, I do get the comments on how sweet it must be to have this last name. Our former pediatrician loved it. You can join the others by adding your reason behind your blogging names at Chelsea Morning blog.

P.S. Here's a shout out to the the Dawg Fans out there. Beat the Gamecocks.

What is this?

Here is a picture I took on vacation. Can you guess what it is?

For the Beggars and Complainers.

It has been busy around the Dear house lately. Here is a quick synopsis of vacation.

• Greenbrier - Wonderful time. I got to wear my new dress and shoes. The resort was beautiful. In the short time we were there I tried to absorb the history and think of all the people that had been there in the past 200 some odd years. All the presidents, dignitaries and movie stars that have vacationed there. We were sad that we did not get to see the underground bunker. They were getting it ready to reopen after we were there. It is neat being somewhere that requires a dress code. We got to eat dinner in the main dining room, which was fabulous. Maybe a dance or two was had, but being Baptist I will plead the fifth. I would recommend going once in someone's lifetime. We can now saw we are part of the history at The Greenbrier. If you do get to go, try the chocolates.

• Myrtle Beach - Getting to the beach we had to take the scenic trip thru Alabama. We received the news will at the resort the Papa Jim's mom had died. We were to pick the girls up in Greenville, SC, but due to the death we had to drive to AL to get the girls. We had put 2000 miles on our car before getting to the beach. Noel and I were tired of driving. We were happy to get our girls back. They had a great time getting to see Nana, Papa Jim, Aunt Stacy, Uncle Todd, Taylor, Noah, Olivia, Zoe, Grandnana, and who knows else. We were all ready to see the beach, since we had not gone in 2 years. We finally arrive there on Saturday night. Our days were spent either at the beach or pool. We played Monopoly Jr. and Uno. Noel and I decided upon recommendation by Jeff to watch 24. So we started with season 4. I think we finished the entire season in about 2 1/2 days. We are definitely fans now. We were excited to be back in the land of she crab soup, Chick-fi-la, Krispy Kreme, crab claws, and Little River Deli. All I can say about Krispy Kreme is 3 words HOT DOUGHNUTS NOW!!! Noel did get to play golf, and I shopped. We just had a great time doing nothing. As I mentioned in the earlier blog, Hannah was an adventurous eater on this trip. She tried fried alligator (I did as well), raw oysters eaten on a cracker with cocktail sauce, wings, and ribs. Emily was not so adventurous except in enjoying ice cream and doughnuts. Emily did become a better swimmer and learned to boogie board. So all in all we did have a great vacation and we are thankful for our church for letting us be gone for 2 weeks. Miles on the car 3200. So here is our picture of "we got to go to the beach and you didn't".

So I hope my blogging fans are happy with an update. I will try to update more often. If you start complaining again I may be forced to put up the above picture again.

Quick update

Sorry for the delay of updates. After vacation we hit the ground running of getting ready for vacation bible school. I hope to give you more detail and pics of vacation soon.

So here is a brief synopsis of vacation -

• week with no children - quiet
• Greenbrier Resort - wonderful, #1
• 2000 miles on the car before we get to the beach - LONG car ride
• Myrtle Beach - fun, fun, fun
• our new favorite TV show - 24

Once VBS is over I will have a little more time.

If you need me...

The day has arrived. VACATION. We have not gone to the beach in 2 yrs. I think this is the lightest I have packed for the beach. We are looking forward to getting the girls back. They have had a great time at Nana's house. Noel and I have enjoyed our week alone, but it has been busy getting ready to leave. As I write Noel is getting the car gassed up, and almost everything is in the car for our departure tomorrow. Please pray for a safe trip for us (no hurricanes, please), and that everything stays calm in Ohio.

I'm out of here. If you need us we are at the beach. See you in two weeks. Watch Noel's blog we might update from the beach if he finds something he would like to make fun of me with.

What ever am I going to do?

Yesterday, we took the girls to Louisville, KY, meet with Nana and Papa Jim. All the way the girls kept asking, "Are we there yet?" and "How much longer?". Usually one or the other will sleep on the trip, but today NO. I think they were too excited to see Nana. So with the kids gone I can do whatever and go where ever I want, within reason. I did tell Noel last night that I do already miss the girls. I know the girls had fun last night. They were getting to stay in a hotel, and do you know what that means. You get to jump on the bed! This morning they were going to a "junk sale" as Noel calls it or a flea market to most. Nana and Papa Jim are excited about that, and I know the girls will have fun and find something they want.

But Noel and I do have a busy week. Noel wil be busy with his root canal and church, I am busy working on VBS decorations, cleaning out the playroom with girls gone, and packing for the BEACH! As far as VBS decorations go, anyone who is reading this and has nothing to do on Monday join us at the church, we are "blowing up " buildings.

Vacation is Near!!

Our family is anxiously awaiting for when we leave for the beach. We leave 2 weeks from today. We counted up the days we will be there 13 DAYS!!! YIPPEEE!! This girls will get to start a week early. Nana and Papa Jim will be coming next week for the girls and they will go home with them in Alabama before joining us in South Carolina. What will I ever do with no kids for a few days. Clean house - maybe / maybe not. Tanning bed and gym here I come.

My dear husband is surprising me with an early anniversary present. Since we will be traveling on our actually anniversary date we are celebrating while the kids are gone. We were trying to decide what to do, and he asked if he could pick it and surprise me. I said yes since this is the man who surprised me with New Orleans (preKatrina) and Cancun. He is taking me the fabulous Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia. WOW!! I can't believe. I thought maybe one day get to visit (especially the bunker), but never get to stay. Did you know there was a dress code to be on property? Well, there is. I have been given the go ahead to buy a dress for dinner. I have such a wonderful husband. This is second gift he has given me this year that has made me cry. It makes it really hard to be mad at him. I LOVE NOEL DEAR!!!

The Baptism and the bump

Sunday the 11th was Hannah's baptism. She was so excited about finally getting to have her baptism. Grammy was here to get to see it. Noel and I gave her a card and flowers telling how proud we were of her. I don't know who was more excited Hannah or Noel getting to baptize her. I also thought it was appropiate for her to wear last years camp t-shirt - "God's Word - Soak it up".

After Hannah's baptism I was trying to go back down the steps and lost my footing on the wet steps and fell backwards sliding down the stairs. The entire congregation hears Noel saying "Oh, no!", and they think Noel had fallen. Nope, it was me. I fell and sprained my wrist. So we will all have something to remember her baptismal day. You can read more of Noel thoughts on my fall at pastordear.blogspot.com.

I am trying to get better about updating. We are all just ready for the beach.

Emily's Birthday Party

Saturday June 10th was Emily's birthday party. We had ten kids at the party - Abby, Julia, Hannah K., Hailea, Matthew, Rachel, Jenae, Hailey, Hannah, and Emily. This was a tropical birthday party, and we had hoped to play in the sprinkler. True to Ohio weather cloudy with a slight breeze and 70. We thought it was going to rain so we waited to the last possible moment to decorate, and in case of rain I was to try to figure out how to put 10 kids and parents in our small house. Thankfully no rain. All the kids had a great time. Hailey Smith especially enjoyed the sidewalk paint, but didn't like getting cleaned up.
Here is Emily's cake. She saw it on Martha Stewart and decided that is what she wanted. I know it is not exactly like hers on TV, but I think I came close. What do you think? So we can say we ate monkey for her birthday. Several of the kids wanted the ears, and one said no to the ears because of ear wax.

Dance Recitals and Grammy's Here!!

I know I am behind on updates so here is the first one. Mom finally arrived!! She loved flying and is looking forward to getting to fly again. The girls were so excited for her arrival.

We survived 2 dance recitals. Hannah's only lasted for 3 hours and thankfully for Emily's we got to leave at intermission. Hannah and Emily both did a beautiful job on their dances. I was impressed with all the dancers in the entire production. Definitely a higher level of compentency and difficulties than our former recitals. We are also happy for reserved seating.

Now that dance is over we now focus on birthday party.

School's Out & Happy Birthday Emily!!

The day has arrived that Hannah has been looking forward to, the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!! It is a busy week around the Dear house - school, dance practice and recital, birthday party, and many other miscellaneous things in preparation of mom's arrival (3 days!!).

This past weekend it is hard to believe that Emily is now 5 years old. She is no longer a preschooler. :( It just seems like yesterday she was a baby. For her birthday we got her a My Little Pony Celebration Castle and you can see in the picture how excited she was to receive it. WOW the number of little ponies at our house!

Noel and I are looking forward to next week, spending some time together at the Southern Baptist Convention. We hope we will get to see some of our friends from down south. Who thought I would ever say that? Mom is very excited about getting to stay with the girls and see some of the sights of Ohio.

For all of our friends from the deep south - COME VISIT!! Ohio, so far, is beautiful this summer, the grass is green and the flowers are blooming, and Noel is learning which golf courses are the nicest.

Gym Show

Last night was the girls gymnastics show. Picture 6 different classes doing their skills on different apparatuses at the same time on the hottest day in Ohio this year. We were glad the girls were at the same time on the same day but trying to watch them both was a little difficult. But all in all Hannah and Emily did a great job. They have improved from last year. Hannah can do a pull over, cartwheel, and many other things. Emily can do a front flip and back flip, while having fun, as well as other things. We are very proud of our girls.

Now we can look forward to the marathon dance recital practices. :\

Here's Hannah's Dance Picture

Sunday Hannah's Dance pictures were taken. Since Emily's turned out so cute, I took Hannah's picture the same way. Oh, and by the way, Hannah's recital has been moved again back to Wedesday. So, 2 glorious nights of dance recital. :
17 days till Grammy arives!! :)

Happy Mother's Day!

This is one phrase is have been enjoying to here for the past 7 years. The girls were so excited about Mother's Day. Noel had carried them earlier in the week to work on my present. They were so funny when they came home. I tried to get some info out of them, but all they would say is you have to wait. They wouldn't even tell me where they ate lunch. I thought I could get some information out of Emily, but she would budge.

Due to the business of Noel on Sundays, we celebrated on Saturday. The girls made breakfast in bed for me as well as giving me their presents. They had made a beautiful necklace and watch with the help of Jackie Chico for me. I couldn't wait to wear them on Sunday, of which I did. It was just a nice day of doing what I wanted to do. Noel and the girls cooked all the meals, and even cleaned the kitchen. It is such a blessing to have a wonderful husband and 2 beautiful girls who love their mom. Noel also gave me a great present as well, an itunes gift card. To some that may not seem exciting, but I wanted some new tunes for my ipod. I don't workout without it.

This weekend all in all was a nice relaxing weekend of just hanging around the house, and not having to be anywhere except to go to church.

Update on dance recital info - Finally received the schedule of recital performances - they are both on the same night! :) !!!!!! And to boot mom will be here to see both of the girls dance. Counting down the days till moms arrival - 23 and counting!!

Hannah has requested these pictures of her golfing to be put on the blog. Noel is enjoying to get to play golf almost once a week. What do you think Hannah the next female Tiger Woods?

Oh, by the way these pictures were taken by Noel's new toy - Treo phone with email, video, and picture capability. Now I can bug him all the time with my email. As a friend calls it the electronic leash.

Here is an additional post from Hannah:
Yesterday I played golf with daddy. I had fun. I did pretty good.

Dance Pictures

As I said yesterday, Emily had dance pictures. Hair did great, and who how excited was Emily to get to go get her "makeup" done. She did not want to wash it off. Here are some pictures from the day. Ashley I know you will like the costume. She was the cutest girl in the world(as is Hannah).

"you want how much more?"

• May is a busy time of year. School is coming to a close and end of year recitals are starting to happen. We have 2 recitals to attend this year. For the first time the girls will be in a gymnastics show as well as their ballet recital this spring. So do you know what that means? - 2 costumes per girl plus pictures. We were at Emily's ballet practice yesterday, and we received our costumes for the recital and oh by the way pictures are tomorrow. Where is Angela Furgerson when I need her? I feel sorry for the mom's that have to work and then be at dance pictures after work with their little girl with their hair and makeup done. So our morning started early with me rolling Emily's hair. I don't know what to expect when Hannah's costumes come in. I am just praying they both do not need their hair rolled for the recital. I would like to say thanks to Donna Marie for working at the Estee Lauder makeup counter so we can get Emily's makeup done due to the fact that the colors Ms. Joan wants I do not wear. So the next few week of our lives are being filled with dance and gym recitals, pictures, school, and swimming lessons. I am just hoping we will get to fit in some family time in there.
• Last Sunday the girls were in the children's choir performance of "Father Know's Best". All the kids did a great job. Ms Deb, Laura, and Donna Marie did a wonderful job putting it all together. You can see pictures of the performance on the church's website. This is the first one in a while I have not been a part of. It was a nice break.
• I don't know who is looking forward to summer more me or the girls. We are all ready to go to the beach!!! I am excited about Noel and I going to the SBC Convention in North Carolina this year. Especially just to have alone time, while my mom flies in to keep the girls. Yes, you heard is correctly - my mom is getting on an airplane!!!! I am excited to see my mom as well. We have not seen her since August and we are counting down the days. While she is hear we are hoping she will get to see the girls dance recital, and she will also get to be here for Hannah's baptism.

Pictures from AWANAs

Emily holding the American Flag

Hannah and Megan receiving their Sparky Awards

Pictures from their respective awards night. They are looking forward to Skate Night!

Exciting Day

Today is a big day. It is my AWANA awards night. I am very excited. I also have swimming lessons today.

Cubbie Night

Emily is growing up so fast. She is learning to read, and is looking forward to riding her bike without training wheels. Last night we celebrated her Cubbie Awards Night. She finished her Hopper Book and the Apple Tree. She got to receive her book 1 award and 2 special patches. We are so proud of her. Every week she looked forward to Cubbies every week and loved memorizing her verses, and learning more about God. She was very excited to get to hold the American Flag last night. During school we have to take turns holding the flag, So it is always exciting getting to hold our country's symbol of freedom. Afterwards she was saying that she had graduated from Cubbies and now will get to be a Sparky. Hannah is excited to get to have her sister with her next year.

This week Emily also started swimming lessons. She is an EEL. She and Hannah could not wait to go. Lessons at the YMCA here are different than the Y in AL. NO SWIM BELT! Emily did great and smiled the entire time.

Emily has such a zest for life. She loves having fun in what ever she does.

Hannah's Day

Yesterday we went bike riding. We rode 4 miles on the bike trail. It was a great family day. Today I'm going to swimming lessons at the YMCA. I'm in the minnows. Emily has gymnastics today. It's Secretaries Day.

Our First Posting

Welcome to the Dear Family Blog. We hope to keep you updated with what our family is doing up here in the great state of Ohio, and add pics when available.