Pope family

Hunting with Dad

2011-09-25T13:52:00.002-04:00

Randy decided one chilly morning that he and the boys were going to head out and do some hunting. Randi and I decided to stay home and stay warm!! The boys were super excited and they headed off to hunt on Mama's land (Randy's grandma). It was really cold and early and although they both had fun Callan spent a lot more time with Mama than with Dad (can't say that I blame him)!!! In the end they were successful and we were happy to be able to add some meat to our freezer!!

My little hunters- they are pretty cute!!

The boys successful kill. Randy even managed to hang it up and clean it off before bringing it home- thank goodness!!

Fall Soccer 2010

2011-09-25T13:37:00.003-04:00

This was Randi's first time playing soccer and she and Callan were both on the same team this year. Unfortunately their team did not have a coach so I ended up being the coach of the Hornets. We had a good season and did really well. Soccer season is funny because it starts out pretty hot but quickly turns chilly. Randi was trying to stay warm before the start of the game!

Callan has become a great soccer player and next year will move up to play with bigger kids.

Chase was fortunate to be put on a great team this year. Coach Will was his coach and he enjoyed being an Eagle. They did really well and by the end of the year Randy was helping to coach and will be helping out again next year.

Good job Eagles- we know you will have another great season next year!

4th Grade Field trip to Raleigh, NC

2011-09-22T10:11:00.010-04:00

Okay so this should have been posted a year ago, but...... Chases' 4th grade class was able to go on a field trip to Raleigh and I was able to go as a chaperone. This is Chase and his 2 best friends, Reginald and Cervontez on the bus.

Our first stop was the Capital building. These boys never get tired of posing for pictures!!

Our next stop was the Governor's Mansion. It looks nice outside but wait until you see inside!!

Notice the rope- we were not allowed up there. That is where the Governor actually lives.

When I saw their sun room I had to take a picture. So beautiful!!

A picture of the first "ladies"!

We then headed over to see where the state Senators and Congressmen work.

Our last stops were to the History and Natural Science Museum. The History Museum happened to have a special exhibit on George Washington so the kids liked that.

Of course we had to get a picture of the best basketball team!!

There they go again!!

We had a great trip and the kids had fun and learned a lot. I was glad I was able to go and spend time with Chase and his friends.

Growing up

2010-12-26T13:55:00.003-05:00

Callan has been wanting to loose a tooth after watching his big brother loose them. We kept telling them it would happen and should happen before he turned 7. Thankfully with just about a month away- it finally happened!!

It needed a little help from dad but thankfully it was pretty painless and Callan was definitely excited to put it under his pillow.
Such a cute smile- with or without a tooth!!

Working at the house

2010-12-22T15:29:00.006-05:00

One thing I never have to worry about is my husband being bored. Of course sometimes it would be nice if he would take a break and sit down but judging by my dad- I don't think that is happening anytime soon!!! These are some of the projects we have undertaken this year in our new home.

Randy installing the shoe molding in my kitchen- he is much happier now that this is done.
Putting up the skateboard decals I ordered for the boys room..

looks like these cool dudes like them!!
Of course Randi needed something too- pink curtains!!We finally got the garage finished and now on to finish Randy's tool shed. We decided to go ahead and sheet rock that room and then try to get the garage done.Our new back entrance- hopefully we will have the doorbell working soon!

The kids love when Randy takes on new projects because that means they can practice using the tools.

Putting up his cabinets and counter- tops in his new "man cave".

Looking pretty good- it won't take long for Randy to fill it with all of his tools.

Chase was happy for this project. He is getting old enough to help cut the grass and is always eager to do it.

Grandma & Grandpa Bradley

2010-12-22T14:31:00.006-05:00

At the end of July my parents came out for a visit. My dad had a conference in D.C. so they were able to come down and spend some time with us and we were very glad to see them. We decided to go to the Marbles Kids Museum in Raleigh and my kids really enjoyed it. We were all really impressed with this museum.

Callan loves climbing- even indoors!!
Randi decided to try it too and a little surfing.

Nothing like a "pinewood" derby track and cars to get the kids and Grandpa excited!

The pirate ship was a big hit and we managed to get several pictures there.

My parents and my little monkeys- having a good time.
Randi didn't know Grandpa knew magic- writing with water how does that work?!?

This little girl loves to hula hoop- she's not too bad at it either.
The life size games were a big hit too- Connect 4 and Chess are great games even when they are big.
Dad kept trying to explain the rules but I think he finally gave up and just let them move the pieces around.

Starting School

2010-11-14T11:01:00.003-05:00

With our buying our new home it meant the kids would switch schools to Baldwin Elementary which is a year round school which means the kids had a short summer and started back to school on July 15th. They were pretty excited and one of the great advantages we have is being about 1/4 mile from the school so most days we can walk to and from the school.

These kids look pretty happy especially since they are starting so early- 7:45 a.m. which means leaving about 7:15 a.m. Chase is now in 4th grade, Callan is now in 1st grade and Randi is starting Kindergarten- what am I going to do with a quiet house all day long?!?!?

Off we go on our walk to school. We managed to convince daddy to go with us for the first day.
The only bad thing about our walk is we don't have sidewalks. I quickly introduced them to the white line and where to walk- good job guys!
She always knows when I am taking pictures!
Off they go- have a great day guys and I will see you at 2:15 p.m.!!
Randi was very happy to model her next day's outfit. She is loving school and all her new clothes she gets to wear- definitely makes it easier to wake her up!

Randi's 5th Birthday

2010-11-14T10:40:00.005-05:00

Hard to believe but my little girl is now 5. Which also means she is going to Kindergarten and she is very excited. She makes sure to tell everyone that now she is old enough to go to school like her brothers- hopefully she will love it. Randi is still the unofficial boss of our home and most of the time can still convince her brothers she is in charge- I do think they are finally starting to catch on that they don't always have to listen to her! She never ceases to amaze us with the ideas she has and her most recent discovery was that her brain talks to her. We aren't sure this is a good thing but as long as it tells her good things to do we are okay with it. Happy Birthday baby girl!!

Whenever we go to the mall Randi always wants to go into the Build-a-Bear shop. I always tell her, maybe for your birthday. So, when it was her birthday she reminded me of that and- we decided it would be a great daddy-daughter date so here is the completed project.
Randi loved her trip with her daddy to build her bear. She named her Nicole- she is not always good about coming up with names- and made sure she had a place in her bed.
Very excited to open some of her presents.

Having birthday's for Randi is much different than the boys- she actually really likes getting clothes for presents!
The beginning stage of the Barbie cake.

This was my first attempt at a "real" cake and I was pretty happy with the outcome. I am not a really creative person so I was glad Randi was easy to please.
The cake is finished and it looks like I have a happy customer!

What a cute outfit- she will look so cute for school- thanks Aunt Jen, Uncle Kevin, Bryan and Jacob!!

4th of July

2010-11-14T09:53:00.008-05:00

I am soooo far behind it was hard to even find where to start- so here is the first really old update!!!
For the 4th of July we decided to go to Georgia and spend time with Grandpa Hayes and Judy. The kids loved coming to visit and so did we. We were able to go to the fireworks with them, work on a horse shoe pit, eat yummy food, pick cucumbers from their garden and go to church with them. It was a very nice weekend and one we hope to repeat soon!!

Waiting for the show to begin.
Randy remembers growing up and having Grandpa Hayes coming to work on projects so he decided to repay the favor. Grandpa loves to play horse shoes and was working on some pits but decided they needed a little help. Anyone that knows my husband knows that sitting around (even on vacation) is not his style- so off to work we go!
Of course you don't want limbs in the way when you are throwing horse shoes so...
timber!

The dirt needs to be pretty smooth to prevent the horse shoes from bouncing so we got to work on that too.
And of course building pits from wood is always fun.
No matter how hard we tried we couldn't get Grandpa to stop working- I hope we can still move this good at his age!!

Always a perfectionist!!
A few limbs had to be cut down as they were interfering with the throwing of the horse shoes- so Grandpa, Chase, and Callan decided to tie them up and drag them to the front yard.

While the rest of us were busy working on the horse shoe pits- Randi managed to convince Grandpa and Judy to try and find some cucumbers in their garden- yum, yum!!

The kids were having so much fun playing with Judy and running around their great yard.

Learning how to play horse shoes from the pro.
Callan was making sure the pit was up to his standards.

After all the hard work they decided to try out the new "professional" horse shoe pits- not bad guys!

These four look like they are up to no good!

No one can ever resist a hug from this little one!
Callan always get some good advice from his namesake- those are big shoes for our little guy to grow into.
Getting in a last hug. My kids had so much fun this weekend.
These are two of the great men that I am blessed to have in my life. We love visiting with Grandpa Hayes and always come away feeling the spirit and his love.

Cub Scout Camp

2010-09-26T08:58:00.006-04:00

During the summer the cub scouts have a summer camp and this year I was asked to go as one of the leaders so for a week Chase and I went to summer camp and Callan and Randi went to camp and were able to play with other kids their ages. It was a very hot week but the kids all had lots of fun and were able to earn various awards.

This was definitely one of their favorite activities. BB shooting was a very popular spot and the boys really enjoyed it.

The theme this year was pirates so the boys had to learn a pirate song. They are trying to practice but....
their enthusiasm needs a little work..
Off to archery- probably the second favorite station.

This was a favorite for the leaders- arts and crafts- it was a little bit cooler under here and we were able to sit down and relax and make cool pirate crafts.
They made the tie-dyed bandannas Chase is wearing and now they are working on their pirate swords.

Another favorite station was cooking. It was definitely the hottest station but the rewards were definitely worth the heat!
Making pancakes- yummy!

In the Mountains for Memorial Day!!

2010-08-25T16:21:00.006-04:00

For Memorial Day we decided to head to the mountains and have a "camping" trip. We didn't actually stay in a tent but found a place that had a cabin with bunkbeds. We did have to go to a bath house for showering so it could be considered camping!! Tim and Alicia and their family also went and so did Tim's sister and her family and his parents and we had a great time.

I meant to take more pictures of our cabin but I was always doing something else.
Callan found a butterfly and was very happy it stayed still for him.

This was what we looked at outside of our cabin- so beautiful!!
After cooking our breakfast- pancakes- we had the boys wash the dishes.
Randy loved being able to go out and fish and actually catch something! Later on we decided to brave the water and do some tubing. It was quite the adventure!! I was the only one that had been tubing before and it was a long time ago. Needless to say if you ask my kids about tubing they will tell you no thank you. Callan fell in several times, a fish almost jumped in his tube, and Chase and I had a water moccasin swim between his with his mouth open- such memories!!

Randi found a snail and wanted to keep it as a pet- my kids love being in nature!

What a wild bunch- Alicia has her three (Trent, Brock, and Brandt), Tim's sister has two (Lily and Savannah) and of course our three (Chase, Callan, and Randi). They were troopers and had fun hiking at Chimney Rock.
We made it to the top!! Of course you can see from Randi's leg we had to have at least one accident!
This is a neat cave the kids like going in- it is very narrow but is cool which feels great when it is hot outside.

At the falls- the kids always want to jump in but it is very slippery with all the wet rocks.

This is why everyone comes here to hike. The falls at Chimney Rock are very beautiful.

Great Woodland Adventure

2010-08-24T18:02:00.008-04:00

After we finished hiking at Chimney Rock we had a picnic lunch and then decided to take an easy and kid friendly hike through the Great Woodland Adventure. This trail was an easy one and had lots of things for the kids to see and touch and it was a great way to end our day.

Each area had something else for the kids to try out and explore- they love that!

I know this spider is fake but I'm still not getting too close.

Chase was enjoying being a turtle and of course Randi wanted a ride.
That is one scary frog!!

Chase always like to stop and read what the different things say- he is a good tour guide.

The kids liked this stop because the faster they ran the faster the birds flew.

Watch out for the bears!!

Callan loves to draw and was amazed to see drawings on the rocks.

They sure are fun and cute!!

3rd Grade Field Day

2010-08-08T10:34:00.005-04:00

Chase was excited to have his field day activity this year. Callan had already had his so Chase was glad it was his turn.

Working on hula hooping- much harder than it looks!

Playing tug of war. At the end the class did boys versus girls and with some help the girls won- the boys were not too happy about it.

This station they had to roll the hula hoop down and around a cone and back.
This one was pretty easy for Chase since he is somewhat of a soccer star!!

Playing field hockey- not usually a sport played in the dirt but sometimes you have to work with what you have.

This game involved using your classmates. The kids had a lot of fun and even though it was hot they enjoyed being outside and playing. 4th grade here we come!!

Work in Progress

2010-08-08T09:55:00.005-04:00

The only thing missing from our home when we moved in was a garage. Randy has never had one in all of the different places we lived and he was definitely wanting to add one here. After consulting a few people we decided we would go ahead with the project of adding the garage to our existing home. Thankfully a concrete pad was previously poured and was deep enough to use which helped save a lot of money. Of course Randy decided not only would a garage be nice but to have a shed attached where he could keep his tools and keep the garage clutter free would be even better- here's to more construction!!!

This is the area they had to dig to add Randy's shed off of the garage.
My car is parked on the pad we will be using for the garage.
Placing the block around the exsiting pad and around the shed was the first step.

We also had to add some brick in order to make a doorway from the outside of the garage into our house.
The framing has begun. This is a view into Randy's shed.
The back view looking into the backyard.

The roof is on. The shingles haven't been added which is why you can see light but they will be done soon.
It is really starting to look like a garage now. Just shingles and siding and it would look completely different.

Chase is 9- off to the zoo!!

2010-07-18T09:54:00.007-04:00

For Chases' birthday we decided to do something a little different. Instead of having a party we had two of his friends- Ethan and Luke- come over and spend the night and then we went to the zoo and met some of the Pope family up there. Of course no matter what you always have to have cake and ice cream!!

I think the girls are ready... now where are the boys??

There's the birthday boy and his friend Luke- they were already upstairs playing.
I guess we are all singing to Chase- not sure but obviously some of our friends are too tall which is why their heads have been cut off in this picture- sorry guys!! Now off to the zoo!!

It turned out to be a pretty warm day so we were excited to see the giraffes as soon as we got there- hopefully there will be other animals out too.

That is a boy on a mission- now we just have to figure out what his mission is!
Looks like the boys are all deciding on where to go next.
Brock, Callan, Gunner, and Randi all decided to get a ride from this baby elephant.
We managed to get Trent and Gavin in the picture too.

These guys would climb around like this all day.

The elephant area was recently renovated so this was the first time we really were able to see them up close.

Of course when going to the zoo we always have to find the rhinos- that is Callan's favorite and he doesn't like to leave without seeing them.

This guy was so much fun to watch- he came out of the water and stopped to scratch an itch- it was so neat to see him so close to us.

The crew- Gunner, Calln, Trent, Brock, Chase, Randi, Brandt, Ethan, Gavin, and big Randy all stopped by this rhino- what a group!!

Two buddies in an egg.

She is such a cute little hatchling!!

This area is always a favorite with our kids. It is a hands on area where they can build different things and they always want to spend lots of time here.

I think some of the workers are on a play break!!

We had another wonderful trip to the zoo and were so glad to have Chases' friends with us and his aunt Monica and aunt Alicia and Uncle Tim and their families. Happy 9th birthday little man!!

Kindergarten Field Day

2010-07-18T09:36:00.005-04:00

At the end of the school year each grade has a field day. On this day the preschool classes through 2nd grade had their field day so Randi and I went to watch and cheer Callan on. They ended up getting me to help run one of the stations while Randi ran around entertaining herself by playing with the equipment and using my camera to take pictures. It was a very hot day but we had fun watching all of the little ones and of course watching Callan!

His class finally made it to the station we were at and he was excited to see us.

This station required them to work together to make the boards move.

Randi decided she would try out the station I was helping at. She did a pretty good job.

This station was definitely not the easiest as you had to walk while holding on to the ropes and not letting your foot come off the blocks. Callan had fun working on it and had a great time at field day- here comes first grade!!!

Brock's Birthday Party

2010-07-12T09:12:00.004-04:00

Brock and Chase have their birthdays on the same day so after Chase tried out his new bike from us we headed to Clinton for Brock's party. He was having a water party which of course my kids were very excited about. Happy 4th birthday Brockie!!!!

Randi wasn't quite sure the best way to go down the slip-n-slide.
Callan had it down like a pro.
Of course Randi has to always make sure the boys know who is really in charge!!

Of course Chase is also a professional slip-n-slide master.
Alicia had also picked up some squirt guns that the kids loved playing with and squirting each other.
She is still trying to get this down.

After the party Tim, Alicia, Trent, Brock, and Brandt gave Chase his birthday present. He was very excited about his new skateboard. He is definitely an outdoor kid and was excited with his new extreme sport gift!!

I love my garden!!

2010-07-12T08:45:00.007-04:00

One thing I missed last year was our garden. Every year in Clinton we had a nice garden behind Randys' parents house and even though I usually had a baby or small child following me around crying we loved all of the delicious things we got from our garden. Last year since we were living in an apartment we weren't able to do one so when we bought our house I told Randy I definitely wanted one this year even if it wasn't very big. We decided to make a raised bed garden off the backside of our deck and I was very excited with how well it worked. We can't wait for all those yummy vegetables- especially my tomatoes!!!

Everything is really starting to come in good!!

This was our lettuce- we had soooo much I was constently giving it away- it was great to be able to cut it and make a salad.
Squash and zuchinni plants- won't be long until we enjoy these. We also have cucumber plants in there.
This was the first year we planted strawberries- we'll see how that goes.
Our many tomato plants- definitely my favorite part of the garden! I have a hard time buying tomatoes in the store after eating the ones from my garden.
Randy always loves his jalapeno peppers. It is great to have almost everything we need to make salsa right in our backyard!!

This is what the kids do while I work in the garden. They are good about picking the vegetables but the weeding and other things isn't quite as much fun. I'm just glad I have happy kids in my garden this year. It also gave Randi a chance to learn how to swing all by herself. She was pretty proud of herself.

Callan usually rides his bike to the swing, jumps off and starts swinging. Hopefully someday I will actually teach him to move his bike first- I still can't believe we haven't seen the ER with him!!

Chase turns 9!!

2010-07-07T14:51:00.006-04:00

Somehow another year has gone by and my oldest is now a 9 year old. It seems like we just had his baptism and time is definitely starting to fly by. He had a program at school this year and while they were singing this cute song about how they are the class of 2019 it suddenly dawned on me that in 9 more years my baby will be graduating. With tears in my eyes I watched my little man and hoped that in 9 years he would be ready to leave my home and enter this sometimes scary world and that I would also be ready to let him go. Thank goodness I still have at least 9 more years!!

Chase shares his birthday with his cousin Brock so this year Brock had his birthday party on the 1st and we decided to celebrate Chases' the next weekend. We did however let him open some presents on his big day!!

A gift card to Target from Uncle Kenny, Aunt Karen, Dylan and Jordan made for a happy boy- I'm sure he is already thinking about how he will spend it!
Money from Papa is always a hit- for kids and adults too!!
Grandma and Grandpa Bradley sent him his new Bear book and neckerchief for Cub Scouts- Chase earned his Wolf and is ready to start his way towards earning his Bear.
Of course we always love it when they send him clothes!!
Chase really wanted a new bike this year so we went and helped him pick one out. Of course daddy likes it because it means he gets to work on one!
And of course check to make sure it works- and try out the new ramp he built for them.
One proud boy!!
I have loved for the past 9 years watching these two work together. Nothing makes Chase happier than working with his dad.

Off he goes. This is his first time with gears so it was somewhat of a learning process.
Callan was excited for Chase to get a new bike since that meant he could ride Chases' old bike. He looks so little but is actually really good at riding it.

One more trip- he had to make sure everything was "just right"!!

Cliffs of the Neuse State Park

2010-07-07T14:32:00.004-04:00

So obviously I have gotten behind again!! These last couple of months have been busy so I will do my best. Every year our church has a father and son campout in May and this year with Randy's new calling he was in charge. The most difficult part of his assignment was to find a place where 100 or more fathers and sons could go camping. We finally found a place and decided to check it out so he would be better prepared when the weekend came around.

We had been here before to do some hiking but had never camped here so we decided to check it out.

The kids were off and running as soon as we got to the trail.
Chase is always leading the way as the rest of us try to keep up!!
They are such good sports about hiking and looking for things in nature. I am so thankful to be able to do things like this with my family. They really are a good bunch of kids- especially when they can run around!!

The kids were sure they should just jump in- we let them get close but definitely were not planning on swimming on this trip!

Not a bad view!!
This is NOT what I want to see when hiking and picking out places to camp!! Callan saw it off the trail and was so excited- he is obviously not like his mom! Randy was excited to take a picture but I made sure to stay away.
They also have a little museum at the park and the kids liked going in and checking it out. We were the only ones in there so they could run around and check it out.

This was part of the exhibits but I think Randi was trying to talk to someone!

Botanical Gardens

2010-06-06T11:06:00.005-04:00

During the kids Spring Break we were lucky enough to be able to go to the Botanical Gardens here in Fayetteville for free. They do this every year during April so it was a perfect thing to do while the kids were home. We also had another motivation which was to try and get Meg to have her baby- she was a great sport to do all this walking and the kids had a lot of fun.

For some reason Callan kept holding up the brochure in all these pictures- guess he really wanted everyone to know where we went!

Hang in there Meg- it won't be too much longer!!

Obviously it was time to go home- who is that kid anyways?!!?!

Easter princess and princes!

2010-05-02T10:58:00.005-04:00

I always enjoy getting the kids outfits for Easter and Randi is old enough to get really excited about a new dress!

My boys really enjoyed getting new vests for Easter.

Apparently Randi decided this photo shoot was all about her- can you say diva!!
They are looking good for Easter!
Mommy and her angel.
I love these guys!
Daddy and his princess.
My future missionaries. They are so handsome (the guy in the middle isn't too bad either)!!
Randy and his silly little men! They were enjoying taking a goofy picture.

Easter goodies!

2010-05-02T10:48:00.002-04:00

The kids were very excited to see what the Easter bunny had left for them this year. The Easter bunny is of course not as big of a deal as Santa but is still lots of fun and lets face it- Easter candy is great!!!

Callan was very excited for his Ben 10 Alien Humungasor legos. They were quickly put together after this picture.
Chase was also excited for his Ben 10 Alien Swampfire legos- the Easter Bunny is so smart to get the boys similar things!!
Randi was so excited about her Strawberry Shortcake doll that she kept holding it right in front of her face.

My climbing monkeys

2010-04-25T09:07:00.004-04:00

We were lucky enough to get to go climbing one evening when our friend, Meg Roberts, told us about a free night at the gym she worked out. The kids were so excited and had so much fun climbing. We stayed for about 2 hours and the kids never wanted to stop. I guess we will be doing this more often. They were impressed when even mommy made it over the wall- sorry no pictures of that!!!!

We were not expecting Randi to just take off but she really enjoyed it.

Chase was having so much fun and went over the wall a ton of times.
Callan has always been part Spiderman so it was no surprise when he took right to climbing.

Cutting down trees

2010-04-25T08:58:00.003-04:00

When we moved into our house we knew a few of our trees were going to have to come down. There were 2 trees directly behind where we back up in the driveway and Randy and I both knew eventually someone would run into those trees (not saying who of course!) so we had them taken down. The kids enjoyed watching the work and even found a surprise- baby squirrels were living in one of the trees and when it came down we weren't sure if they would survive. The kids enjoyed seeing the little babies and thankfully we were able watch as the mom squirrel came back for her little ones.

Can't wait to see how much more room we have once we clean up all this mess!

Surprise visitors! These guys sure were cute. Randi was trying to convince us to let her keep one as a pet- sorry, too many fleas!

They sure are cute.