Eno

For all of you that don't already know, Shane has been working in Lexington, NC for the last two months. It has been a very busy time and it has taken some getting used to. The long term goal would be to move, if the job goes well, so that we could save money on school and daycare and be closer to family.

While some aspects of single parenthood are easier, we all miss Daddy very much and we try to take time to enjoy him while he is here on the weekends. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't hear, "When is Daddy coming home?" and "I want my Daddy." The hardest part is balancing work at home (which is always backlogged, even in good times) with the absolutely beautiful weather we have been having. I just thought I would share some of our pics from the Eno River, one of our favorite places.

GO WOLFPACK!!!!!!!

HOOOOOOWL for Wolfpack football!

Today, NCSU plays Maryland for a chance at a bowl game. Regardless of whether or not they win today, we can at least say we can at least say we saw them win something...even if it was against Central Michigan. We celebrated employee appreciation with all the boys before the game and enjoyed free food, games and other goodies. Then we dropped the big guys off and went back to the game with Henry. I don't think he cared for football very much, but he was a good boy and was happy as always with his bottle of milk.

Dad and Henry with the wolf.

Duncan getting his cornhole on.

Roland dressed for football action.

Dad and Henry with the band. Check out those seats! I haven't had seats that good since I was in band.

A great big Price family shoutout to Dr. Hyman for passing on the free football tix!

Good luck Pack!

Death of Mini Me

Question: How do you know when you should remove your dog's tumor?
Answer: When you name it and it weighs as much as your newborn.

After three years (2 softball sized years and one increasing from softball to Pomeranian), we finally bit the bullet and had Oscar's tumor removed. He is doing great and I am really pleased with the results. He looks especially good since the hair is coming back. We are grateful that he made it through okay, considering his age and the extent of the tumor, but also a lot less embarrassed to take him out in public.

Please be warned that at least one of these shots is gross.

If you look closely at this shot, you can see that the tumor was starting grow it's own tumor. It's that little thing that looks like an outtie belly button.

Brand new dog. I guess it is safe to assume that the tumor was not responsible for his laziness.

First day of school

Again, even though some of these events are long past, I have to blog just to have a record of them before they are sucked away in the vortex of life and just become a distant memory. I am finally in a place that I can catch up to the current events-I think. Every time I say that, things seem to have a way of proving me wrong.
We begrudgingly began a new school year. I won't say the boys were thrilled about it, but they were okay with it. I personally thought it sucked. This is the first summer in years that I have been able to keep the boys at home and it was super cool. Even working at night couldn't dampen my spirits. I really like not having any where to be in the mornings. It just makes things so much easier. It also prolongs me getting anything done on a daily basis. Outside of a small incident where Duncan escaped the house and ended up at the stop sign looking for his dad and was subsequently brought home by some random woman, we all had a fabulous summer and it gave all of us some time to bond. Here's to K3 and 1st grade!

Graduation

Congratulations to our big man on graduation from kindergarten. Even though graduation and kindergarten are long gone, I wanted to recognize Roland's achievements and milestones.
Kindergarten finished better than it started. Roland received an award for having a 180 degree change in attitude about journal writing, and a couple of other more general awards. They had a musical presentation on the last day and they could all dress if they wanted. Roland had to wear his suit from Aunt Trish's wedding. He was pretty swass up there singing in his suit. For me kindergarten was great. Roland had an awesome teacher named Mrs. Berrios who actually seemed to like children and teaching, and it was consequently the first year since Roland started daycare that he actually liked going and did not cry or beg me to take him with me. There have been some traumatic years for both of us. I credit part of this change in attitude to the teacher, but I also have to give props to Roland's little friend Dallas (DJ)-his first bro-mance. They are borderline partners-in-crime, but they like each other very much. DJ is about 1/3 of Roland's size and it is so cute to watch Roland pick him up and hug him every day.

I had blogged that Roland had tons of loose teeth, and well, they all fell out. We almost have all of them back now. I was a little surprised that I had forgotten so much about losing my own front teeth (even considering I have lost mine three times), but it made eating that corn on the cob and apples and nail biting a little tricky. We have rectified the situation with new and improved adult front teeth. If anything, he slightly resembles a beaver with the full size front teeth and the bordering baby teeth.

One down...

two down...

Four down? Talk about breaking the bank-the tooth fairy is paying a lot more than she did in my day.

Some days it seems as though the boys are grown ups all ready, and it makes me sad that it is all going by so fast. I have enjoyed most every minute of it and wouldn't trade these times for the world.

6 or 16?

Good luck in first grade Roland!

The blogger

I don't normally post pictures of myself, but I thought these were so cool. Roland took these with Duncan's Fisher Price camera, and although he took them of the other boys, mine turned out the best. It could have something to do with the fact that the subject matter actually stood still for the pics.

I like to call this one, "Shane wishes." Unfortunately, it will take a lot more than a picture pacifier to shut this mouth up.

Happy is the bride that the sun shines on-NOT!

Once again, I have a "better late than never" blog, but I couldn't go without mentioning this great event. Uncle Jeff made an honest woman out of Aunt Trish! This was our last family trip before Henry was born, so I am obviously behind, but I had a little difficulty getting some pics to post. I had the best seat I have ever had at a wedding (other than my own), and my batteries died 3 pictures into the ceremony. Nevertheless, I finally have some to share. It must have rained a foot while we there with constant tornado warnings and thunderstorms, but somehow Aunt Trish managed to dodge all the storms and look beautiful.

Papaw Doug, Aunt Trish, and Daddy. I jokingly said that this hold on her arms looks a little like "dead man walking." I'm pretty sure she was willing, but in Kentucky, I don't think it matters either way.

Duncan and the flower girl (Jeff's granddaughter) aka the most thorough flower girl ever. As you can see, Duncan insisted on walking the down the aisle with his hand in his pocket-not exactly sure why. We had to race to the wedding because as we were getting the boys dressed, Duncan's tie went MIA. He says he put it in the trash, and it is yet to be found. When we did arrive he said he didn't want to be the ring bearer, but someone convinced him otherwise. He did a great job. The rings on his pillow were props, but during the ceremony when the preacher called for the rings, it was all I could do to contain Duncan. He was trying to walk up front to give them the rings.

Slightly awkward moment of hand in pocket and rampant flower throwing. The director never really told them what to do when they got to the alter, so they stood. And stood.

Roland was supposed to be the ring bearer, but he had a case of "I'm too shy." He was handsome just the same. All that shyness disappeared for the chicken dance.

The wedding party.

Dances with the bride...
The boys had a blast at the reception. I think they danced until I thought they would pass out. Roland came home with the knees of his new suit worn thin. The guys in the band just happen to have small children and were kind enough to let ours come up and play on the bongos and wear the rasta wigs. They were in hog heaven.

Thanks to Mammaw and Pappaw for having us...

Congratulations Aunt Trish and Uncle Jeff!

Henry Mack

Maybe he came a little earlier than expected, but we couldn't be happier to announce the arrival of Henry Mack Price born 5-14-11 at 6:28 AM. He weighed 7lbs 15 oz and was 20in long. He is our biggest baby yet, but he looks like a little squirt to me. Maybe I just forget how small they are.

While things have been very busy, we have been having a great time with the baby and all the visiting family.

Waiting for their first view of Henry. We had to leave the boys with the neighbor in the middle of the night, so I am sure they were surprised to wake up with the news of baby brother's arrival. The big guys have been a big help with the baby and are very excited. They continue to tell me how small and soft he is, and that he is crying. Older sibling make great pacifier and bottle holders.

Some handsome guys.

Resting at home.