A weekend with preteen girls

This weekend Scott and I were parents....to two preteen girls. These aren't your typical preteens. Yes, they like the Jonas Brothers and cell phones, but they are super sweet, super cool and super mature. I have known Brynn and Gracyn since they were toddlers (yes, I changed Gracyn's diapers!) and I kept in close touch with their family throughout all of my moves. Now that we're home in Oxford we get to see them a good bit--at church, around town, and especially while their dad, Darren, and Scott brew beer together. This weekend Darren and Allyson went out of town for a meeting with an extended stay for an anniversary celebration, and we got to have Brynn and Gracyn stay with us! And we loved it! We rearranged our furniture to accommodate Wii, cooked fun dinners (which we shared with our good friend and neighbor Linda--who also enjoys these young ladies very much!), loved on puppies (Mo, of course, and my sister's dog, Sipsey, who also stayed with us), watched silly movies and tv shows (including Miss America)...although we didn't leave the house but once, we were very busy! Thank you Allyson and Darren for our special weekend (and happy anniversary!) and thank you Brynn and Gracyn for playing with us.

Mo did not have any patience for the Wii. He wanted to play ball! So, Scott allowed Mo to play. Here he is bowling--and he is an expert bowler. The one and only time he bowled, he got a strike!

Brynn, Linda, and Gracyn watching Scott and Mo play.

This was me attempting to balance. I had lots of distractions (as you can see) and apparently it does not help your score if you are laughing. I was informed that my Wii Fit age is 64. Nice.

Gracyn and Sipsey

Brynn, me and Gracyn watching The Click--a movie about 7th grade girls...but nothing like my favorite 7th grader, Brynn!

PIZZZZZZZA Party! Gracyn and I attempting to throw the dough! Scott took over and was much more successful. Don't be too impressed with our baking--see the box in the background? This was a Chef Boyardee kit, and it was pretty good if I may say so myself...



The finished and yummy product: Half cheese, half sausage.

We had a great time this weekend and hope that now that Allyson and Darren see what we really did with their kids, they will let us keep them again sometime soon!

The Baptism of Hayes Edward Hollis

Yesterday was a very special day for the Hollis family, and one that was meaningful for most of our church congregation. Hayes was baptised at First Presbyterian Church by Rev. John Semmes (who married me and Scott). Sarah and Jeffrey's extended family and friends joined them and we enjoyed a special service and a wonderful luncheon afterwards. Most of our friends and many of our church members have travelled along with Sarah and Jeffrey as they journeyed towards parenthood. Baptism is a sacred tradition in which the parents and church commits to nurture the child in faith. Our preacher also includes the young children in the service, encouraging them to also commit to help raise the new baby in the church. I have always thought this was meaningful-to include all. Hayes has a host of special people in his life who are ready and willing to care for him, and this day simply gave opportunity for us to commit before God to raise him as He intends.

* I don't know why these pictures are so small (and fuzzy)--I guess it's not best to copy and paste from Facebook!

December, Part 5: Christmas at Watercolor

The Thompson family has it figured out--rather than exchange gifts at Christmas, we go on a family trip! Each year we enjoy time together, which is the greatest gift we have to give. This year we headed South for the beach, to Watercolor, for relaxation, good food, shopping, and warmer weather. Our trip was relaxing at times, but for the most part it was eventful. Scott's father, Gerald, was admitted into the hospital for serious complications from diabetes. He spent the entire vacation in the hospital--under the watchful eyes of very caring doctors and nurses, who made our entire family feel welcome. They understood we were on vacation and even catered to him on his birthday (yes, he was very sick on his birthday!). Without elaborating, Gerald had fluid on his heart and lungs, therefore was experiencing complications with his kidneys. At the end of the week, he was stable and discharged and was sent home with a change in medication and strict instructions on his diet. He was in much better spirits, although I think he's most upset that he cannot eat potato chips anymore!! Many people contacted me and Scott and our family members throughout the week, offering comforting words and prayers. Most thought it was sad that we were experiencing such an event while on vacation, but I honestly believe it was a blessing--we were together, with no distractions, and were able to spend time together throughout the entire week. Although this is not how we would like to spend a holiday, we still feel that we were able to be together when it mattered most. Hopefully, Gerald will continue to grow stronger and that we'll be able to return to the beach soon so he can join us on our bikerides!

Me and Scott at the Seaside Pavilions

Mo's first trip to the beach

He LOVED it!

Eli and Ford ready for a bike ride

Uncle Scott, Eli and Ford (while Aunt Mary plays with the camera while riding her bike!)

Eli and Ford heading in to the hospital to visit Papa on his birthday

Scott and myself at ACME for dinner

MeMaw and Eli

Ford and MeMaw

December, Post 4: Christmas at Camp Sloan

This was the year that all of the Sloan kids were at my parents for Christmas. It was very special to have everyone at home again--especially since we had 2 new babies to celebrate with as well as a 3-year-old, who is just now understanding the excitement of Christmas. As you can imagine, having this crowd together was indeed a circus--a fun one at that!

My mom, Lynn, and her sister, Tricia; my brother, Brad; Scott and myself; my brother-in-law, Jeremy and my nephew, Joseph; my cousin Waybe (Tricia's son); my Godmother, Victoria; my dad, Bill; my brother's wife, Bentley; my sister, Catherine, and nephew, Luke; my Godsister, Adrienne; my sister, Sarah, and her husband, Jeffrey, and my nephew, Hayes.

In years past, my mom got the gang matching pajamas. This year, since we all had plenty of pjs and because there were so many of us, she got us matching t-shirts that say "Christmas at Camp Sloan. The babies even had little onesies! Too cute :)

It was very fun and special to have our two new babies together for Christmas this year. What a blessed year the Sloan's have had--it's really exciting to see our family grow...and grow...and grow!

Joseph (5 weeks) and Hayes (5 months)

A Sloan tradition is to open poppers after our big Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve. We all wear our crowns and play with our cheaper than cracker-jack toys and tell the cheesy jokes that come in the poppers.

On Christmas Eve we attempted to get some sweet photographs of the grandchildren. It seems that Mo thought he should be included in the photo op--and Luke felt it was important to introduce Joseph to his buddy Mo. So, for a few minutes, we paused to let the 3 have their special moment.

Apparently this break kept Luke happy, so we actually got one pretty cute picture (out of the 30 shots taken from 2 cameras!). We finally stopped snapping when Luke started covering his face and fussing that his eyes were hurting from all the lights (flashes). I guess he is not going to take well to the paparazzi!

Christmas morning was really fun--we had TONS of presents, so it took all morning to open our loot. The highlight was watching Luke open his gifts, and seeing that he really could care less about everything other than his new Superman pajamas (which he wore for 2 days!) and his new Superman and Batman figures. He played with them for days!

Mo got more toys this year--imagine that! I thought it was funny that one of his favorite toys was a pink ball (which I think was really meant for Sipsey!).

Christmas at Camp Sloan was very special for me this year--my family is so important to me, and it's really a blessing to have everyone together to celebrate big occasions like Christmas as well as random weekends. Watching my sisters as mothers is also very meaningful to me, and it was great fun to see them together with their babies. Our family was truly blessed this year, and it seemed a perfect way to end the year...together.

December, Post 3

Scott's Promotion


Yea!!! Scott got a promotion at the Alumni Office!!! Once the paperwork clears HR he will move up from Club Coordinator to Assistant Director. He will work specifically with the Schools of Pharmacy and Law--which will be a big change from working with every individual alumni club. He is very excited and I know he will enjoy the challenge and change of pace (as in travel). For the past 5 years, Scott has worked at the Ole Miss Alumni Office overseeing club meetings, activities, events, etc. which has been very rewarding for him. This change, though, comes at a great time as he has grown weary (and I have grown lonely!) of travelling 3-4 nights a week for close to 6 months of the year. Moving up is not only a nice change, but it is also a blessing as Scott indeed loves working with his colleagues who have become more like family. He has said since the day that I met him that he would love to retire from the Alumni Office! Where else can you get paid to share your passion for Ole Miss!!

Good job, baby--and when the ink dries, we'll celebrate at a restaurant of your choice!

December, Post 2

Christmas Tree
For the past 9 years, Sarah and Jeffrey have sold Christmas trees here in Oxford. This year, with the addition of Hayes, they felt that their time would be limited and they would not be able to spend cold nights at the tree lot. I am so proud of them, as they decided to hand over their tree business to our church for the youth to run. With that said, Sarah, Jeffrey and I were busy for a few weeks working with the kids on selling trees, setting up and taking down the trees, making wreaths and such. Although it was a hectic (and cold) time, it was so much fun working with the kids and their parents--especially my favorite family, the Ashmores! At the end of the long week, the youth raised enough money to send them on their planned summer mission trip to Mexico to install a water purification system. How cool is that!

Here are a few pictures of our little tree, which was 5' tall. I loved it and so did Mo! He also loved one particular ornament--a snowman that lit up. I finally had to hide it (just like the McCarty bunny!)

December, Post 1

Because we are so behind on our posts, and quite a bit has happened in the past month, I'm going to post short little notes from the month of December.

We started the month celebrating Scott's 35th birthday!! As in years past, Scott ran the St. Jude half-marathon in Memphis, TN. Scott really enjoys this run, and although his running is sporadic throughout the year, he seriously trains for the St. Jude run. I've gone to cheer him on in the past, and can honestly say that this is an event that motivates!! I just haven't quite gotten enough motivation to actually run!! This year Scott's sister, Cindi, ran in the race, as well as friends Wendy and Jay. I was also very proud of our friend Glenn who ran the entire marathon! Our good friend, Ian and his girlfriend, Angela, always host our running gang for the race. According to Scott, Ian cooked a fantastic pre-race meal for them!

To officially celebrate Scott's birthday, I surprised him with a delicious dinner at a fancy restaurant in town and then our friends surprised him at home with a dessert party! Scott was totally surprised--he had no clue, which made it great fun for everyone!! Thanks to all that came to the party--it really made Scott feel special to have his friends and their precious children together in his honor! I'll add pictures from that evening to this post soon!