A "Pause" Button

Life should come with one. I can totally deal without any other button. The boys are growing up so quickly, a pause button would truly come in handy. Preston will be playing blastball this Spring, which is basically the precursor to Tee Ball. He enjoys being outside and has amazed us with how much he's learned in the past year. Preston's tow head appears to be getting darker, we'll see what the summer has in store, but I think he's going to have Danny's dark hair. Pierson absolutely adores Preston and copies everything he does. Most of the time, he thinks he's bigger than Preston, and has actually bullied him a little. His rough and tumble lifestyle is completely softened when he sucks that thumb of his. It's time for me to start breaking him of the habit, but I'm enjoying that last little bit of "baby" in him. Lately, it seems the only time I can snuggle him is just before bed, so I'll rock and sing to him for as long as he'll let me.

We took the boys to Wintergreen this winter and Preston tried skiing for the first time. He did great and was mostly fearless. Teaching him with a harness wasn't too difficult, we used the leashes some, but I felt most comfortable with him between my skies. We could actually pick some speed up and tackled a few intermediate slopes. He's already noticed that Danny snowboards, so naturally, he wants to do what daddy does. Pierson was a bit too small to put on sticks this year, so we'll try again next season.

Danny and I are sneaking up on our 10 year wedding anniversary this May. The time slipped by so quickly. We're taking a week long couples trip to Mexico, it will be our first time away from the boys for more than a night. We're looking forward to it, but also looking forward to taking them on some amazing trips too. Everyone has gotten passports, so Pierson just needs to be potty trained before we venture out that far...for now, I'm not complaining about diapers....it means he's still my baby.

Dang! Another Year Slips By!

My parents told me time would fly by...boy, were they right! We're preparing for the holiday season. We've introduced an honorary member to the Poythress Pod. Peter, the elf on the shelf, has brought a new outlook on good behavior - because he's the eyes and ears for Santa! Preston and Pierson pop out of bed every morning and search for Peter's new spot! Each one is so delighted when they find him first!

Speaking of Pierson and Preston...I would love to freeze them just the way they are! At least for a few years. Everyday brings something new, and Preston can carry on a conversation like yours truly. Pierson's belly and cheeks are so full and chunky, I just want to squeeze, hug and kiss him all the time - and he can't stand it! It's killing me! He looks like a little cherub.

As for the whole Pod, the pool house is about finished, we enjoyed lots of poolside fun this summer. The family ventured to Emerald Isle for a week during July, which was blissful...it will be difficult to go back to the Outer Banks, I think. We're hoping to hit the slopes this winter and teach Preston how to ski. I'm sure as soon as he realizes that Danny snowboards, he'll want to do that instead. Brittany's employed full time, but is quickly realizing that "the world of work" isn't all it's cracked up to be. She's enrolled at J Sargeant Reynolds again this Spring to take some classes while she works. Maybe mom and dad were right? I think so. It's been tough to step back, but we find assurance in the fact that we gave her a "good and proper upbringing". Danny's been hitting up the golf course quite a bit, and I've been running, running and running. Finished my first 1/2 marathon this Fall, looking forward to doing another. Perhaps I'll include more frequent blog updates to my resolutions for 2010...

Wow...it's been 8 months since I last blogged. That's poor. I'll have to blame it on Facebook, I suppose. Much has changed since I last posted, and that's an extreme understatement! The Fall was enjoyable. Brittany headed off to Longwood, it's tough letting go. Unfortunately, college life away from home did not suit her well, and she returned home after the first semester to start at J. Sargeant Reynold's CC for Spring. Now that the Spring semester is over, she has decided to take a break from college, I hope this isn't a permanent detour from higher education for her, however, "college is not for everyone", and I do believe that. Inevitably, hindsight is always 20/20, and I hope that Brittany will not make decisions hastily that she will regret later.

The holidays flew by with a blur, the house is bursting at the seams with toys. I look forward to having a yard sale in the near future to reduce the clutter. I'm always looking to reduce clutter. Pierson turned one in January, I could barely believe the first 12 months were gone. My baby is growing up too fast for my liking. He started walking at 14 months and is now traveling all over the place (and getting into EVERYTHING - literally).

Winter almost escaped entirely without wintry precipitation....fortunately we had a monster of a snowstorm in March that dumped nearly 8 inches. That was AWESOME!! Pierson was a little short to enjoy the snowfall, but Preston was my little snowman. Preston enjoyed a "jump-n-play" birthday at Pump-It-Up in Ashland. His pal, Carrie-Lynn, shares a birthday nearby so they had a party together. That was fun, the two are inseparable.

So, it's practically summer now...the pool is open (thanks to Danny aka "pool boy"), the landscaping and mulching has come together, the pool house is almost complete...even though almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades....we'll be glad to have that project behind us and have the ability to just RELAX for a while.

Enjoy the updated pictures!

Poythress Pod and The Evans Entourage

Geez...seems like every weekend this summer was packed with activities. We finally made it down to Greensboro this past weekend to visit with the Evans Entourage. We had fun just hanging with the crew, we're easy to please. We chatted, played with the kids, chatted some more, fed the kids, more chatting, napped the kids, snuck out for some shopping (just the girls--don't worry, Luke and Danny had their own male bonding time over wings and beer), put the kids to bed, returned to chatting and started all over again! Mara amazed us with her vocabulary and story telling skills. Campbell played trucks with the boys and amazed us with his vocabulary (the special kind that he has when mommy gets more than a few feet away). Wish the Evans' would relocate to Richmond and make everyone's life easier!

Vacation's Over...

We visited North Carolina's Outer Banks twice this summer, once in June and then again in July. Preston thoroughly enjoyed the sand and surf this year, Pierson was less impressed. During our most recent stay in Corolla, we were amazed how overly crowded the beaches were. We've never experienced this problem in the Outer Banks before. Not sure weather is was our location (large subdivisions) or the super peak week or perhaps a combination of the two, either way, it made staying at the pool more desirable at times. This was our 5th year traveling as a group with 3 other families, all together there were 19 of us and only 8 adults. That may sound gut-wrenching, but it really wasn't that bad...only 8 of the youngsters were under the age of 7 :) This is actually a trip we look forward to each year, everyone has a blast. We had a professional photographer (amydixonphotography.com) come out and do family photos on the beach one evening. This was great, can't wait to see the moments she captured. Stay tuned for links to the pictures.

The summer is slipping away like sand through my fingers. Sometimes I find myself complaining about the heat and humidity only to realize soon it's going to be freezing and I'll wish I had these warm days to play outside with the kids.

So, the vacations are over, it's back to reality and the countdown for college. Brittany leaves for Longwood in less than 4 weeks, we're way behind on preparation. I think this is largely due to the fact that I don't want to address the issue that she's really leaving. Can anyone blame me?

First Post

...This will be a work in progress...I cannot believe I actually found time to start a blog. Remarkable. I'm certain there are 1,001 other things I "should" be doing. Anyhow, the summer started off with a bang, Brittany passed through the doors of King William High School for the final time on June 13th. I have to admit, Danny and I kept thinking that day was sooo far off, it totally snuck up on us. She's looking forward to attending Longwood University in the Fall, we're not looking forward to the bills. Pierson is now 5 months old, I think time gets quicker on a daily basis, it seems like only yesterday I was carrying him in my "pouch" and somewhat resembled a water buffalo...without the water. Preston loves to help out around the house and boasts "me help mommy" and "me help daddy" when he's doing so. Hope the love of helping continues for the next 20 or so years! We'll see, right?

The "backyard project" is coming to an end. For those that drove past the house for several weeks and saw a couple of PODS sitting in front of the garage, no, we weren't relocating our residence. The flux of contstruction vehicles up and down our driveway is finally slowing down. Hopefully when this job is done, we won't be thinking of any other "projects" for a LONG time. Drop by to see us and take a dip!