Merry Xmas

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!!

Atlanta Symphony Surprise

The kids got a bit of Culture last week. On Friday, Jordan and Noah went to the Fox Theater and saw "The Nutcracker." Both loved it.
On Sunday, We went to the Atlanta Symphony last weekend. The Program was " A Kids Christmas" which was performed by the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra. In addition to the music, there were songs sung by the Atlanta Boys Choir and dancers performing "The Snowman". Jordan really liked the dancers although made it clear that she liked "The Nutcracker" better. We got a HUGE surprise as we were leaving. SANTA! We had not done any pictures with Santa in a few years so it was a real treat.
Cole was actually a little shy. I think it was more likely due to him not exactly being a good boy all year. Jordan was super excited and Noah reacted exactly as he did when he first met Santa 4 years ago. Complete Fear.

In the first picture, I think Santa goosed Laura but if you look at the 2nd, I think she got him back. Enjoy

School Pictures

The school year is flying by. Here are recent class pictures for Jordan (5) and Noah (4)

Halloween 2007

Halloween 2007. Cole is still infatuated with StarWars. This year he was Obi Wan Kenobi.

Noah was Pirate Jack Sparrow and Jordan a Georgia Cheerleader

Pumpkins!!!!

Camping

Cole got to experience camping for the first time this past weekend. It was his first camp out with his Cub Scout Pack. The day was spent hiking around the site and playing some football.

Cole's favorite activity was making S'mores and roasting marshmallows

September Activities Continued

This month has been flying by, The weeks are filled with School activities and the weekends have been action packed. In between sports activities this past weekend, we managed to squeeze in time for Noah and Jordan's Birthday party. They wanted to combine their party this year and Noah wanted a "knight" theme while Jordan wanted "Princesses"

We found the perfect comprimise at a place called "The Purple Hippo" It's a children's arts studio that caters to the event. They came up with great ideas. For the Boys - Knights Sheilds and for the Girls, Princess Wands. All the kids also painted a special Castle.

In addition to our 2 September Babies, Cole and Dad got to do something really cool with Cub Scouts. Last week was Rocket Day and the whole pack got to Blast Rockets towards the heavens. It was awesome!

Sports Season - Fall 2007

The official sports season kicked off this past weekend. Cole and Jordan are both playing soccer while Noah finally gets to play on an organized team. Jordan's confidence level and skill has increased in the past year. She played awesome in her first game for the "Lime Green" team.

We decided to take a season off from Baseball with Cole and he was unbelievable in his first game. We knew he had skills and had asked that he be on a team with a coach who can really teach him the game. He was phenomenal. The "Lightning" won their opener 4-1 and Cole scored 3 goals.

Speaking of skills. Noah finally got to show off the skills we knew he had. Here is a picture of his tryout. Check out the determination on his face. (he's 3)

Here he is as the Star of the Charleston Riverdogs!

Our little Girl turns 5

Can you believe it has already been 5 years.... Time does fly. Jordan, like her big brother decided to celebrate at a Japanese resteraunt. It was a fun time and she finally got her very own pair of chopsticks. The big birthday party is still a few weeks away but wanted to share this picture.

All he wants for Xmas....

Cole lost both his front teeth within a few weeks.

First Day of School

Here's a picture of the kids on their first day of school. Cole begins 2nd grade while Jordan moves into a 4 day a week class. Noah is finally on his own with a 3 day class and so far he is having a great time.

Photo Shoot

Every other year or so we like to have a professional take some pictures of the kids. The hope is that by taking a few hundred shots, 1 or 2 will actually give us a portrait worthy of keeping. Tricia Lee is an artist with the camera. I don't know how she does it but somehow she can capture each child's personality in a very special way.

She keeps a blog and here is a sample of some of the pictures we will be "forced" into purchasing. http://blog.tricialeephotography.com/2007/07/monkey-see-monkey-do.html

She really did an awesome job.

Summer Vacation 2007 Part II

As if Disney, Seaworld and Hilton Head were not enough, we were on the road again. This time to Stafford, VA for a wedding. We decided to head up a day early so we can spend the days in Washington D.C. We decided to do things a little differently this time around. In the am, we visited Arlington and got to see a very moving wreath laying and Changing of the Guard. Afterwards, we headed down to Union Station where we hopped on a DUCK. The Duck Tour, http://www.dcducks.com/, was a blast. We got to experience DC from a much different perspective. It was a blast and the kids loved getting the quackers and hitting the Potomac.

We finished Day 1 by heading over to the Jefferson Memorial before heading back for the rehearsal dinner.

On our second day, we hit the Smithsonian Air and Space Musuem. This place is awesome and all 3 kids had fun seeing the Rockets, Spaceships and planes.

Below is a picture of our Southern Belle at her first Wedding.

Summer Vacation 2007

We had no real plans for Summer Vacation 2007. We thought we'd relax, possibly go to the beach for a weekend or just lounge by the pool. The summer has been fun but it has been anything but relaxing. Since school ended the kids have been extremely busy.

First there was VBS where the kids spent a week becoming secret agents. They had a blast!
Next, Cole overcame his fear of the deep end (9ft) by successfully completing 2 weeks of swimming lessons. During the same time, Jordan figured out how to hold her breath and she transformed into a little mermaid. We can not get her out of the pool. Noah likes to hang out by the steps and play and is slowly gaining confidence. I'm sure he will be swimming by summer's end.

Our Summer was just getting under way. We started a whirlwind tour of the South!

In mid June, I had a conference in Orlando. It was a great opportunity for a short getaway. . We got to experience Seaworld, which was a lot of fun. The kids got to feed the Dolphins, watch penguins and ride the Shamu Express roller coaster. We saw a few of the shows, like Clyde and Seymour take Pirate Island and of course Shamu. The kids had a great time.

A trip to Orlando would not be complete without going to Disney World of course.
The night before, we had dinner at "The Contemporary" - To kill time, we rode the Monorail around a few times until our reservation was ready. Cole was in his glory because for some reason, he loves "The Contemporary" Dinner was fun, we saw Chef Mickey, Goofy and Donald Duck.

The next day, I spent the at the conference. Laura and the kids went to the Magic Kingdom. They hit all their favorite rides and I was able to meet them in the early afternoon for lunch at the Liberty Tree Tavern. We were still able to get in and see quite a few shows and rides which we missed the last 2 trips.






The very next weekend, we decided to hit the beach. We visited Aunt Pat on Hilton Head Island. The weather was absolutely great. Low 80's and low humidity. It was awesome! In the morning, we would hit the beach and in the afternoon I took the kids fishing. Then we'd hit the pool, have dinner, get some ice cream and do it all over again.
Of course, we saw Shannon Tanner and toured Harbor Town as well

Here is a picture of Noah catching his very first fish.














Jordan became "Queen FisherLady". Every time she had her Rod in the water, she'd yell "I got another one!" The last day, we caught over 20 fish! Jordan and Cole each caught 6. Noah and I reeled in the rest.

Here are a few shots our

After a week of home time, we'll be hitting the road and heading to Washington D.C.

Stay Tuned

May Update - Noah

Noah hasn't signed up for any of the sports activities yet but that does not mean he hasn't been busy.
He just finished his first year of pre-school and we are very very proud.

May Update - Cole

May has always been Cole's favorite. This year was special because he got to walk on Turner Field with his baseball team. Check him out below on Brave's Vision



Although the O's did not win a game all year, he had a good season and is looking forward to next year.

May is also his favorite because of his BIRTHDAY. We can't believe our little guy is already 7.

May Update - Jordan

May has been a Hectic Month. Jordan gets the 2 sport athlete award this year. She played Soccer every week as well as Danced. She had her 1st performance onstage at Georgia Tech. She looked great in her outfit and was fantastic in front of hundreds of people.

Norm

Norm passed away on St. Patrick's Day 2007. He battled cancer for 7 years after the Dr.'s gave him 7-9 months back in 2000. He was an empty-nester who enjoyed travel, Loved food, crossword puzzles and to laugh. To you he was a friend.

To me he was a Dad.
He was the man who taught me how to catch a ball. He was the man who taught me to fish,he was the man who taught me to stay in the batters-box and not to not be afraid of the ball. Even if it meant making me stand against a tree while he hurled baseballs at my head

He was the man who helped me with my homework. In some cases, doing my homework because he loved math so much. Deep down, he was a family man at heart. He did his best to provide and to be there for each child as best he knew how. Norm was a man who would literally take the shirt of his back to help others. I was in third grade and needed a smock for art class. I had completely forgot to ask for one and as he was getting dressed for work, I mentioned. "That looks like a smock" He took the shirt of his back, handed it to me and said "Get it Nice and Dirty"

Memories of Norm, varied greatly through the years and everyone has a special story to tell. He will be sorely missed.

My Girls!

Steve's 40th

March 15th 2007
Laura threw me an unbelievable surprise party. There was a blackjack dealer and a Texas Hold 'em table. We had a great turn-out and a lot of fun. The ultimate gift was a trip to Vegas for just Laura and I. It was the first time we had been away from the kids for an entire evening since Cole was born (~ 7yrs). We need to do that more often

Visit to NJ

Norm has not been feeling too well and I decided to visit while I had a break in my travel schedule. I took Jordan with me to add a little comic relief and it could not have worked out better. She was great! She did not remember her first plane ride a few years ago so this was a whole new experience again.


The plane ride was a lot of fun as we colored, played games and listened to music. When we arrived in NJ, she got to see snow for the first time (again).

When we stopped by my parents she could not wait to get out of the car and touch the snow. It was really more ice at this point but she didn't care.

Jordan made everyone in the house laugh and smile. She spent a lot of time playing with Mimi. They played games, told jokes, and did their nails.

With Papa Norm, she kept tickling his feet and yelling "Wake up Papa!!!" when he would dose off. Overall, he was in very good spirits but physically you can tell he was drained. He could not get over how beautiful Jordan is and can tell she's strong and independent. He told me this story about how strong the Samson women are and sees a lot of that in Jordan. He said, we're gonna have our hands full with her, but in a good way.

The coolest thing about the trip was that I got to share some of my favorite things with her.
I took her to her 1st diner and we shared a big plate of French Fries with cheese and gravy. She LOVED them.

Jordan also got to spend a lot of time with her cousins. She had fun with Joel and keeps saying how funny he was. She got to see Aunt Mindy, Aunt Debra and whole parade of people who visit my folks.

She was sad to leave because she really loved spending time there. We'll be back soon

Pinewood Derby

Cole's first Pinewood Derby Race was a success. He designed a cool looking car and was 1 of 4 Tiger Cub Scouts to make it to the finals. He finished 10th overall out of 36 cars. It was a fun experience and he is already making improvements for next year.