Nagowski Family Tales

Forever by Michael Wilkinson

2012-01-23T12:03:00.002-05:00

Over ten years ago, on our first trip to Maui, Mike and I fell in love with the beautiful acrylic sculptures. We have admired them for years...Each time we visit an art gallery saying someday maybe we will get one. Well, this was the year. On our trip to Hawaii this year, we purchased this beautiful acrylic sculpture by Michael Wilkinson. It's called "Forever".

2012 Year of the Dragon

2012-01-22T12:37:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow we begin to celebrate, Tet, Vietnamese New Year. I am spending the time in Tori's preschool classroom teaching the children about Tet. We are also going to make dragons to celebrate the Year of the Dragon.

Little Gym Show January 2012

2012-01-21T16:07:00.001-05:00

Tori had her first gymnastics show at Little Gym. The kids performed their tricks and received a ribbon at the end of the event. Tori did a great job!

Hawaii...Luau

2012-01-21T16:07:00.000-05:00

Hawaii...Snorkeling Molakini Crater

2012-01-21T14:25:00.000-05:00

Hawaii...Twin Falls

2012-01-21T14:00:00.001-05:00

Hawaii...Outrigger Adventure

2011-12-31T17:11:00.000-05:00

Mike and Nick went on an outrigger adventure. They saw lots of sea life to include sea turtles, an eagle ray, and a variety of fish.

Hawaii...Photography Tour

2011-12-31T17:04:00.002-05:00

Ashley and I took a photography tour with Photo Safari Maui. We went to an area that looks like Ferngully with lots of high trees, hanging vines, and lush greens. We also visited a blow hole and a a few other scenic sites. Here are a few pictures we took during our tour.

Hawaii...Whale Watching

2011-12-31T13:51:00.000-05:00

We went on the Hawaii Ocean Project Whale Watch out of the Lahaina Harbor. We saw many humpback whales spouting water, surfacing the water, and diving into the ocean. We wished they came closer to us to get a closer look, but we all enjoyed seeing the whales frolicking in the ocean waters here in Hawaii. These whales migrated from Alaska to Hawaii to give birth to their calves. Some of the whale pods included the new calves born at about 2.5 tons!

Hawaii...Around the Resort

2011-12-31T13:13:00.000-05:00

Today we spent the day planning our week, booking our tours and exploring the hotel grounds. We only spent a short time at the pool due to some rain and cool winds. At night, we went to dinner at Bubba Gumps. Then we spent some time wandering through the stores on Front Street in Lahaina. Tori found a wooden back scratcher that she would "love to have." Mike asked her if she had an money...Tori replied, "No, I don't even have any pockets!" Priceless. A $1.30 back scratcher made Tori so happy.

Christmas Morning

2011-12-28T11:00:00.000-05:00

Christmas morning began around 7:30 when the kids came down to see what surprises Santa brought. Tori was in awe at all the presents Santa brought our family. She held out her hands in awe and her expression was simply priceless.

Celebrating Christmas Eve

2011-12-28T10:13:00.000-05:00

We spent Christmas Eve day in Charlotte and then on our way home we tracked where Santa was using the Ipad. It was fun following the different countries around the world that Santa was visiting on his way to our house. Once we got back home we started our celebration of Christmas Eve. We open our gifts to eachother, leave out cookies and milk for Santa, and read Twas the Night Before Christmas just before bedtime. Tori also said goodbye to Razzle Dazzle, our elf on the shelf. She was so sad that Razzle Dazzle was leaving us and would not be back until next year. Her goodbye even made Ashley and I a bit teary.

Gingerbread House

2011-12-18T21:17:00.001-05:00

Tori Starts to Spell Words On Her Own

2011-12-17T09:25:00.001-05:00

Tori knows all her letters and sounds. She is also beginning to words with short vowels. We have been practicing writing her letters and drawing pictures of things that begin with the letter. When we did "B" she drew a picture of her brother. She also does a great job using her invented spelling to spell the words using the sounds she hears.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

2011-12-17T08:46:00.000-05:00

Elf on the Shelf

2011-12-17T08:33:00.002-05:00

The Elf on the Shelf

We got a special gift this year...It's called Elf on the Shelf. We read the story and named our family elf "Razzle Dazzle". She has a very special job. Each night Razzle Dazzle flies back to the North Pole and tells Santa how good our family has been to make sure we are on the "nice" list. When Razzle Dazzle comes back each night, she lands in a different place and is often found doing fun things. Here are some of the place Tori found Razzle Dazzle.

Thanksgiving

2011-11-26T21:50:00.000-05:00

So nice to have everyone home for Thanksgiving...We are use to the kids being away at college, but they surely are missed. It's nice to have everyone home together, even if only for a day or two.

Hopscotch Anyone

2011-11-26T21:32:00.000-05:00

Nick came home from Wilmington for the day. Tori had him playing a mean game of hopscotch. She did a great job teaching him the rules of the game.

Just Playing Around

2011-11-26T21:20:00.001-05:00

Trick or Treating in Buffalo

2011-11-26T20:13:00.000-05:00

We flew to Buffalo to visit Aunt Flossie and stayed through Halloween, so Tori went trick or treating with Franklin, Aunt Lori's nephew.

When we came home, I wanted to take a picture of Tori in her costume...She agreed as long as I took pictures of her posing and making faces...so here are the many different faces of Tori!

Carving Our Pumpkin

2011-11-26T19:48:00.001-05:00

O-You...Oprah University, Atlanta, GA October 15, 2011

2011-10-21T21:49:00.002-04:00

Debbie and I flew to Atlanta, GA to attend the O-You...Oprah University at the Georgia Dome Conference Center. We were among 5000 people to participate in a wonderful day that focused on Being the Best You and Finding Your Passion. We were very surprised to see so many of the wonderful folks that are regulars contributors to the O Magazine and appeared on the Oprah show.

The Event was opened by Gail King, Oprah's Best Friend. She introduced us to the first of many speakers to include: Lisa Ling (news reporter), Dr. Mehmet Oz (medical coach), Suze Orman (money coach) and Martha Beck (life coach).

In our first session, Finding your passion, we listened to Martha Beck, Suze Orman, Sarah Blakely (invented Spanx), and Donna Brazile (a political strategist).

In our second session, Feeling Good, Looking Better, we listed to: Dr. Oz, Adam Glassman (style coach), Val Monroe (Editor of O Magazine) and Bob Green (nutritionist/exercise).

The closing session speaker was Oprah Winfrey! It was a great inspirational conference!

Tori Learned to Swim This Summer

2011-10-21T20:46:00.001-04:00

Tori took swimming lessons from June until August. She was a bit timid when she began the lessons. It took many lessons to put her face in the water and then blow bubbles. Ms. Ruth the swim teacher taught with such patients and by the end of the summer...Tori was swimming underwater, jumping in by herself and going under, and even jumping off the diving board into the deep end of the club pool. It was amazing how well she was swimming after just a few months. Ms. Ruth gave her the confidence that she could swim in the water and Tori blossomed under her instruction.

Christopher & Ellen's Wedding...Tori was the Flower Girl!

2011-10-21T20:04:00.003-04:00

Tori was the flower girl for Chris & Ellen's wedding. Ellen gave Tori a beautiful pearl bracelet as a special gift. Tori did a great job walking down the aisle.

Tori's 4th Birthday Parties!

2011-10-21T19:27:00.000-04:00

Tori had a birthday week with four celebrations...one at school, one at home on her birthday, one of the weekend of her birthday and one at Little Gym.

Mom Does A Photoshoot at Myrtle Beach

2011-10-21T17:51:00.001-04:00

I love to keep practicing my new hobby. Ashley asked me to take some pictures of her and Byran at the beach. Here are a few of the shot from the evening.

Off to London

2011-09-09T21:20:00.001-04:00

We were fortunate to travel to London for a week in August this year. Mike needed to go to London for work and we were able to add on a pleasure trip too. During our visit I spent a day on a photography tour where we visited many of London's sites and I learned to shoot with my camera in different ways and fine tune my current skills. We also went to see the sequel to Phantom of the Opera...When Love Never Dies. On our free time we went on a few walking tours, visited the outdoor market in Notting Hill and took a day trip to Stone Hedge and Bath.

Gone Fishing

2011-09-09T18:04:00.004-04:00

This summer we spent a weekend with Breeden and Cathie Blackwell at their lake house on Lake Tillery. Tori went fishing for the first time with a Disney Princess Fishing Pole from Mr. Blackwell. She had a blast and caught 20 fish in two days. She even became comfortable with picking up the worms to put on her pole.

A Trip to the Beach with Cathy and Lily

2011-09-09T11:18:00.002-04:00

Cathy and Lily came to visit us at the Myrtle Beach. We spent almost a week doing lots of fun things together. The visit started off with Lily and Tori running to hug each other when Lily and Cathy came off the plane. It was priceless!

We spent the week swimming in the pool, playing in the ocean waves, visiting the Ripley Aquarium and the Alligator Adventure and finishing the week with a boat ride to see wild dolphins frolicking in the ocean. The girls also celebrated their birthdays together!

Moving Nick to Wilmington

2011-07-14T14:48:00.000-04:00

This past weekend we moved Nick into his apartment in Wilmington. He was suppose to dorm but with such high demand for dorms, he would have had three students in one room. He was fortunate to find two friends from high school who renewing their apartment lease who welcomed a third roommate in a three bedroom apartment. Nick was very excited to move in and spend the weekend with the guys. Mike and I were a bit sad to know that our second child will live away from home now. Good thing we have Miss Tori to keep our nest from being empty.

Exploring the Beach

2011-07-14T14:38:00.001-04:00

Tori has developed a love for the ocean, the sand, the shells, and the waves. On one of our weekends at the beach, we went for a walk after dinner. Watching her explore the beach was so entertaining.

Nick Graduates High School...Where Has The Time Gone

2011-06-16T08:37:00.001-04:00

The Beginning of Summer Fun

2011-06-08T15:05:00.000-04:00

Visits From Family

2011-06-08T08:12:00.001-04:00

Tori's Dance Recital

2011-06-08T08:04:00.000-04:00

Tori had her first dance recital at the Crown Theater where she performed a ballet and tap routine. She did a great job.

Baseball Senior Night at Jack Britt

2011-05-23T10:49:00.000-04:00

Senior night was celebrated before the last Terry Sanford game. The Bucks didn't win the game but we were all very proud of our boys for working hard this season. For Nick the season highlights include to high strike out games against Cape Fear with 14 and 12 strikeouts per game. He also managed to pitch this season even with one injury after another to include: cyst on his pitching wrist, rotater cuff sprain, concussion and finally a broken foot!

New York City May 2011

2011-05-21T23:45:00.000-04:00

Tori's first ride in a limo..."What kind of ride is this?" She acted like it was a ride at an amusement park. We ordered a sedan to pick us up from the airport, however, they sent a stretch limo.

A room with a view...Time Square

A playdate with the Costa family. First we had brunch at Fred's Restaurant and then we went to the Manhattan Children's Museum.

Jack Britt Prom May 2011

2011-05-21T23:18:00.001-04:00

Nick took Andrea, a good friend, to the Jack Britt Prom

Nick's good friend Josh

Nick and his girlfriend Rachel

Tori and Bailey

Our Bird Hotel

2011-05-21T22:37:00.000-04:00

A mother bird built a nest inside my wreath, in the flowers. She had three babies who hatched from the eggs. They stayed until one day they "flew the coop." I miss their little chirps!

Spinning on the Swing...One of Tori's Favorite Things To Do

2011-05-21T22:31:00.000-04:00

Cayman Islands

2011-05-21T22:22:00.000-04:00

We went to the Cayman Islands for Mike's job. We flew in a few days early to enjoy the island and some nice couple time. We even rented a sailboat and took the other couples out on a sunset cruise. We even came home with two signed Guy Harvey prints.

Tori: Preparing for Her Dance Recital

2011-05-21T22:10:00.000-04:00

Tori has been taking dance since August and her class is getting ready for their recital the first week of June. Tori enjoys going to dance and seems to be learning the routine pretty well.

Nick Selects UNCW (University of North Carolina Wilmington

2011-04-14T14:52:00.000-04:00

Last night, Nick made the big decision...which college shall he attend this fall...He chose University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW). He's heading to the beach...I'm sure he will be studying hard though! Congrats Nick!

My Heart is Filled with Love

2011-04-13T23:11:00.000-04:00

Tori: "I love you this much...My heart is filled with love mama...My heart gets filled with food that's how its filled with love." Then we went on to discuss her stomach and then she asked where her lungs where that helped her breathe. In school, she is learning about the different parts of her body and what they do...I think she's getting a little confused. They learned that the heart pumped blood a few weeks ago.

I just love how little ones see the world and how they try to figure out things.

Nick Had Another Stellar Pitching for Jack Britt High School: 12K's!

2011-04-07T10:33:00.002-04:00

Britt Bucks Colts

from http://jackbrittbaseball.com/

The Jack Britt Buccaneers improved their record to 5-2 in the Mid-South Conference last evening as they beat the Colts of Cape Fear 9-1, sweeping the season series. Last night proved to be the Buccaneers' best performance at the plate, pounding out 14 hits. Last night's top performances came from senior catcher Matt McKnight [2-3, 2B, 3B, BB, 3 RBI] and freshman infielder John Ortiz [2-3, 1B, 2B, BB, 2 RBI] For Ortiz, last night's game marked an impressive start to his varsity career since his call-up from JV last week. In his first two Varsity games, Ortiz has gone 4-for-6 with a double and 4 RBIs. Multi-hit performances were also turned in last night by sophomore Dustin Adams and seniors Benny Torres and Nick Nagowski.

In a last-minute change to the line-up Nagowski made the start on the mound last evening. He threw seven innings allowing only one run on five hits and striking out twelve Colts. With last night's win, Nagowski completed an impressive individual "sweep" of Cape Fear by improving his record against the Colts this year to 2-0, allowing only seven hits in fourteen innings of work. Moreover, in his two appearances against the Colts, Nagowski struck out 26 batters. The win last night raised Nagowski's record to 4-1 and lowered his ERA to 3.08 for the season.

Terry Sanford Prom April 2011

2011-04-02T22:52:00.001-04:00

Nick was invited to the Terry Sanford Prom by Victoria Baskett. Victoria is a junior at Terry Sanford and a very sweet girl. She also recently won the Young Miss North Carolina Pageant. The pre-prom pictures were taken on the 18th hole of Highland Country Club.

Costa Rica...Amazing Trip Part III

2011-03-24T17:42:00.000-04:00

Thursday:

Dad went for an hour walk in the morning. After breakfast, we were picked up in the same Prada and drove the two hours (only one potty break) to the Palo Verde National Forest for a one and half hour boat ride down the river. We spotted lots of wildlife with the help of our guide Pablo and the boat driver. We saw crocodiles, iguanas and lots of different birds. After the boat ride, we ate lunch at the home of the tour boat ride owner's home. The tour was run by a local Eco-tourism company.

We then went to the best site of the trip. A 30 meter waterfalls with a pool basin at the bottom. The freshwater was clear and warm. Ashley and Dad swam to the waterfalls and actually went behind it from both sides (the left entry was much easier). Tori liked playing in the warm water where there a huge number of little minnows. There was fool's gold (little specks of gold colored dust) all around the tidal basin.

Friday:

Woke up to news of the 8.9 earthquake in Japan with Tsunami warnings for Hawaii. We spent our final day around the pool enjoying the warm toasty sun and talking about how we would love to come back to explore more of Costa Rica.

Costa Rica...Amazing Trip Part II

2011-03-24T15:44:00.002-04:00

Tuesday:

Mike and I did the mega zip tour with Geovaney as aur private guide. We drove 1 1/2 hours to the Rincon Park at the base of the Rincon volcano. We saw king vulture, howler monkeys, toucans, a mother sloth with her baby and tropical birds. We climbed a really high hill and zip lined down. Then we walked back up and came down the 1000 ft concrete narrow waterside which was very fast and rough and cold. Next we had lunch, an authentic Costa Rican lunch of meat, rice, beans, and veggies. Then we went horseback riding to the spa where we went into the sauna, the rubbed volcanic mud all over us and soaked in three natural hot spring bathes (pools). Ashley and Tori spent the day at the pool...Tori continued to get her swimming fix!

We Skyped Nick to hear about his game and we heard the great news that he pitched a complete game (7 innings) shutout with 14 strikeouts, 1 walk and 2 hits!!! A great game and win 2-0!!!

Wednesday:

We started the morning on the beach, Tori and Ashley played in the water where the fish swarmed them. Mom and Dad hung out on the shore watching. Mom and Ashley went to Cocoa Beach for shopping while Dad and Tori hung out at the beach for a while longer.

Costa Rica...Amazing Trip Part I

2011-03-23T21:55:00.002-04:00

We spent a week in Costa Rica at the Riu Guanacaste...Nick stayed home to play baseball, so Mike, Ashley, Tori and I made the journey. The weather was absolutely perfect everyday and we split our time poolside and exploring Costa Rica.

We arrived on Saturday:
Drove to the RIU resort from the Liberia airport. The airport is very old and had no air conditioining. After checking in we walked around hotel and on the beach, Tori went in the ocean with her clothes on. We saw that they had about 15 fenced-in turtle egg sites on the beach.

Sunday:
Mostly a pool day and we checked out the tour options.

Monday:

Dad and Ashley went ATVing. They rode for about two hours through the hills, off road and through streams. They rode the ATVs right up to the Paragon Adventures for our Zip Lining where they went on 11 zip lines high above the ground in the canapy of the trees. Some zip lines were really long and some were fairly short. Ashley and I actually did one zip line upside down. Mom and Tori hung out at the pool. Tori just loves swimming everyday! That is all she wants to do.

Nick Nagowski: Athlete of the Week for March 16 Fayetteville Observer

2011-03-16T19:55:00.001-04:00

Posted in the Fayetteville Observer:

Nick Nagowski: Athlete of the Week for March 16

School: Jack Britt

Class: Senior

Sport: Baseball

Accomplishment: Nagowski pitched a two-hit shutout and struck out 14 batters in the Buccaneers' 2-0 win against Cape Fear. Later in the week, he had three hits as Jack Britt defeated Hoke County, 6-1.

Nick Pitched His Best Game....So far! 14 Strike Outs in 7 Innings!

2011-03-14T13:48:00.002-04:00

Last Tuesday, Nick pitched for his high school game during their first conference game. Nick beat his personal best record with 14 Strike Outs in 7 innings! His team won the game 2-0. We are so proud of him, yet sad that we missed seeing him pitch so well since we were in Costa Rica and he stayed back home to play baseball. His commitment to his team payed off and he pitched the game of his life. Good thing we had all the parents cheering for him in our absence. Congrats Nick!

The Jack Britt Baseball Mascot/Cheerleader

2011-02-26T20:29:00.002-05:00

Mr. Jack Britt Contest

2011-02-19T21:36:00.003-05:00

Nick was in the Mr. Jack Britt contest at his high school. In the contest or pageant, Nick had to dance to "It's Raining Men", compete in both casual and formal wear and answer a question about What his biggest fear is? Nick made the top ten (out of 19) and although he did not win Mr. Jack Britt, he did win the contest for the "Best Legs". His prize was a plaque, an ice cream cake, and movie tickets.

White Water Rafting in Charlotte (Late Post)

2011-02-19T21:08:00.001-05:00

Last summer, we went white water rafting at the US National White Water Center in Charlotte, NC. We spent the wild and crazy day with the Burgio's. We had so much fun water water rafting. None of us knew what to expect...the girls laughed the entire ride, so much our faces hurt by the end of the day. The guys were stoic and braved the higher level rafting ride...only to lose Bryan to the powerful water gods. A good time was had by all. Here are a few pictures of our white water journey:

First Photo Shoot of Nature at Mazarick Park

2011-02-11T08:48:00.005-05:00

Here are some photos from my first photo shoot since taking my photography class. They were taken at a local park. We learned to play with the aperature or depth of field. The areas you see that are blurred are intentional to draw your attention to the subject of the photo.

Finally Taking A Photography Class

2011-01-23T21:58:00.002-05:00

For years I have been wanting to take a photography class and finally found a way to fit it in my schedule. My first assignment was to take pictures of the full moon this week. Here is what I shot:

Cape Fear Valley Hospital Gala

2011-01-23T21:57:00.001-05:00

Mike and I were all dressed up for the hospital Gala this year and ironically, Tori was in her princess ball gown. In fact, she spent the entire day in her princess gown practicing dancing and twirling.

Tori's Loves the Wii

2011-01-23T16:07:00.002-05:00

We decided to introduce Tori to video games via the Wii. For Christmas she got the Kids Fit game, so we started there. She quickly picked up on the game which involved lots of physical activity like running, rowing, and using her arms. She would play for about a half hour and then say she was tired. Next, we got her Just Dance for kids. She LOVES it! She likes to sing and dance to the different songs and is getting a good workout at the same time. It's amazing the technology that three year olds can handle. Tori can totally operate the game and change the games with out help and she took very little teaching to do it.

Washington DC...Mom Gets To Tour the White House

2011-01-09T14:05:00.001-05:00

I am a co-chair of the Women's Giving Circle of Fayetteville and we were invited to tour the White House all decorated for Christmas!

So, we drove to DC and spent the weekend tooling around DC. We toured the Capitol and visited the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. I toured the White House with nine other member of our group. We enjoyed playing in DC with the Bellian family.

On our way home from Washington we stopped to visit the new Marine Corps Museum near Quantico, where Mike was once stationed while he was on active duty.

Week After Christmas in Buffalo

2011-01-08T09:53:00.001-05:00

Highlight pictures from our visit to Buffalo

We woke up the day after Christmas to 5 inches of snow in Fayetteville. This meant we were in a state of emergency and our flight to Charlotte was cancelled. We decided to drive to Charlotte since their airport was still open and we managed to make our flight to Buffalo. We spend 6 days visiting family and friends. Tori also played in the snow with Chickie and Mike. She made snow angels, sledding and built a "princess" snowman (notice the tiera.)

Christmas Day

2011-01-08T08:54:00.002-05:00

The kids woke up around seven to see if Santa came. Santa brought Tori a Barbie Bike and Barbie guitar, the two big items she was hoping for. Both were a big hit. Nick got a video camera and Xbox gear and Ashley got a few Disney Jim Shore pieces for her collection. I got an Ipad! I was hoping for one...Mike has one and Tori loves to play on "her pad" as she calls his. So now, I will share my pad with her as well. Mike got some books and cookies gadgets. He has become a wonderful breakfast chef and he always talks about having the right tools. Now, he does.

Later in the day, our family came over and we exchanged gifts differently this year. We did a dirty Santa exchange. It was a lot of fun and surprised you on what some people decided to take. Micah and Tori gave us a jam concert with their new guitars. That was very cool! Max's is getting bigger and enjoyed his first Christmas with the family.

Christmas Eve

2011-01-08T08:25:00.000-05:00

What a wonderful Christmas Eve. Every one was home again to keep the traditions going.

On Christmas Eve the kids open their gifts from Mike and I and each other. Tori was so funny...she insisted on opening every gift...not just hers, but everyones. She would give the presents to the person one she unwrapped the gift. It was a hoot. She also made sure every single piece of wrapping paper and tape was removed from the gift before she would look at it to see what it was. Unwrapping therefore lasted a long time this year. The big surprise this year was a two man 13 foot two man Kayak for Mike. Trying to sneak it in the house was funny as we distracted him with a task upstairs. He definitely was surprised when he came downstairs!

Ready for Christmas...

Piece by piece she unwrapped Christmas and all it had to offer.

This was Mike's surprise.

Mike seeing his Kayak...what a surprise!

Looking for Santa and his reindeer

Reading Twas the Night Before Christmas

A Christmas Eve Sleep Over

Getting Ready for Christmas

2010-12-25T08:25:00.000-05:00

To help Tori count down the days until Christmas, we got her an advent Gingerbread House which she loved opening the doors and getting her little treats. When it came time to decorate the tree, she put the tree topper on. Then when Ashley came, they made a Gingerbread house together and baked cookies together too. Tori sure loves when Ashley comes home to visit and so do we!

Charleston, SC

2010-12-24T20:34:00.000-05:00

We have been talking about visiting Charleston, SC for a while now and we finally did. We spent the weekend at our condo and did a day trip to Charleston. We had a great day. First we visited a outdoor weekend festival where Tori rode a horse, we had wonderful crepes for lunch and spent some time just browsing the different vendors. We also took a carriage ride tour of Charleston where we saw many historic houses. Then we visited the market square looking at the different vendor goods. There were wonderful sea grass baskets that I loved, but where like baskets of gold due to how expensive they were. Then we walked down to the waterfront area where the famous pineapple statue is housed and we could see Fort Sumter from a distance. Tori had fun playing around near the fountains in the plaza area.

Visit with Santa

2010-12-21T08:20:00.001-05:00

Tori visited Santa at Bass Pro at Concord Mills. She asked Santa for a Barbie Guitar.

Photos Shoot with Nick in downtown Fayetteville

2010-12-05T11:55:00.001-05:00

Nick and I had a fun time playing with my camera to take some pictures of him his senior year. We went to the train station in downtown Fayetteville and the park near the Main Library. We had a lot of fun and laughter. Here are the more serious photos we took. There were many funny ones too.

Today is Dance Day

2010-11-30T09:20:00.000-05:00

Tori is loving dance so far and she is more focused and trying to copy the dance moves from the teacher. They have starting to practice their recital routine to Mambo #5.

There's A New Baby in the Family

2010-11-24T08:58:00.000-05:00

My brother Mike and his wife Michelle just had a baby boy. Micah now has a little brother named Maximus aka Max. We are so excited to have a new baby in the family!

Disney...Magic Kingdom

2010-11-17T12:51:00.004-05:00

We met up with Ashley in the Charlotte Airport. She came prepared with all kinds of treats for her little sister. The first was a Mickey Chocolate sucker that Ashley made for Tori.

This is Tori's first visit to Disney World, so we took her to Magic Kingdom first. We were excited to see the Christmas decorations were up. We have always been to Disney over Easter break so this was a nice change and so were the short wait in the lines. First we headed to Mickey's Toon Time to meet the mouse.

We all can remember the first time we saw Cinderella's Castle.

Ashley was Tori's Disney's Ambassador the entire trip. She waited with her in all the lines to see the characters and she told her all kinds of interesting details about Disney too.

Tori thought the 3D glasses in the Mickey Philharmonic show were funny as they struggled to stay on her little nose.

Tori was very timid with Tigger at Pooh, but after signing her autograph book she became more a little more comfortable with them...she started giving character hugs.

One highlight of the day was having dinner with the princesses at Cinderella's Castle. This was a very nice dinner where the princesses each visited our table during the dinner.

Ariel is Tori's favorite princess. Tori blew her a kiss and Ariel caught it right in front of her. She talked about it for days.

Bell is Ashley's favorite princess.

Trick or Treat

2010-11-01T13:17:00.000-04:00

Tori really enjoyed Halloween this year. She was a bit nervous, but curious about the somewhat scary decorations on the neighborhood lawns. Mike bought a new skeleton in a black cloak decoration when Tori was with us and she said, "You're not putting that in our car!"

She trick or treated with her friend Sophia from down the street. They had a great time!

Pumpkin Carving

2010-10-31T22:18:00.000-04:00

Tori at the Fall Festival

2010-10-31T21:46:00.000-04:00

We attended the Gates Four Fall Festival. Tori had a good time riding the pony, playing the games, getting her face painted and of course eating a few treats.

Jack Britt High School Ping Pong Champion

2010-10-15T21:31:00.000-04:00

This week was spirit week at Nick's high school. One of the events for the week was a ping pong tournament. Nick faced a number of students and was challenged by teachers, but still remained undefeated. He played the championship today at the Spirit Pep assembly in front of the junior and senior class where he won and was awarded a glorious gold medal! That's our boy!

Three Years Old...Where Has the Time Gone

2010-10-15T10:20:00.000-04:00

Well, I know Miss Tori turned three in August and we are a little delayed in getting her three year old pictures done, but it was worth the wait. Tori just loved working with Liz, the photographer at JCPenney. She has been taking Tori's pictures for the past two years.

Up in the Air

2010-10-13T12:51:00.000-04:00

One of Tori's favorite things for Tori and her daddy to do is: Fly...yes he throws her up, up, up in the air...and she LOVES it!

Marbles Children's Museum with the Costa Family

2010-10-10T21:22:00.000-04:00

Today we spent the day at the Marbles Children's Museum in Raleigh. Our extended family from Vietnam came to Virginia and made the day trip to meet us in Raleigh. Tori and Lily have been talking about each other since our New York City trip. They had a blast together. They kept calling each other cousin Lily and cousin Tori.

Homecoming for Nick...Senior Year at Jack Britt High School

2010-10-10T09:52:00.000-04:00

Nick and his girlfriend Ann Marie

I Just Love It When Ashley Comes Home to Visit

2010-10-09T10:30:00.000-04:00

Last week, Ashley came home from college for a visit. We did some shopping, some sewing, and ironically, we both got glasses. She got them for the first time and I progressed to multiple issues with my eyes...they are no longer cougar vision.

We also went to the Blue Jean Ball. Tori was dancing up a storm on the dance floor. They also had a photo both. This was very cool...we got to take four photos that come out on a card to keep. So, we did serious and some silly.

It was a fun night, I came home with two chairs from the auction. One adorable flip flop chair for Tori's room and the other a hallway accent.

Big Accomplishment: Tori Loves the Ocean Now

2010-09-26T13:28:00.000-04:00

This summer Tori had a big accomplishment, she became comfortable in the ocean. For the past two years, Tori has not liked the ocean...she was actually fearful of it and she didn't want to go in it or for us to go in it. This summer, I asked her to try to just tip her toe in the ocean. She did, then I asked her if she wanted to jump in the low water near the beach...just like jumping in a puddle and she did. She then jumped more and more and eventually was lying in the water. A small wave even crashed upon her and she didn't panic, she laughed. The rest of the day, she hardly wanted to leave the ocean, so we made sure to go back the next day for more ocean fun. Here are a few of the pictures of that weekend:

Just Playing In The Rain

2010-09-17T17:24:00.001-04:00

Tori had fun just playing in the rain...

New York City and a visit with the Costa's

2010-09-10T16:19:00.001-04:00

We spent Labor Day weekend in NYC. We flew in on Saturday morning and spent the afternoon shopping at Macy's. I sure wish we had a big Macy's in Fayetteville! We had a nice Italian dinner and walked around Time Square. Mike insisted we take another photo of Tori in Time Square with her I love NY t shirt on.

On Sunday, Mike took a lesson at the trapeze school where he did three trips and flips on the trapeze and decided it was a sport for the young body. The spinning did him in though. He can now check it off his bucket list though. We then trolled around the Brazil festival on the Avenues of the Americas. There were lots of booths with goods to buy and foods to taste.

For lunch, we met the Costa family, our extended family from Vietnam. Lily and Tori spent 10 months together in Thai Nguyen, Vietnam. We waited together to bring home our girls. We became a family together! We are now and extended family. We had lunch and then took the girls to the Central Park Zoo and petting zoo. Then we made the last ride of the night on the Central Park Carousel before we had dinner at a local pub. The girls really enjoyed being together. In fact, Lily was Tori's favorite part of our trip and she talked about her for days since came home.

On Monday, we took Tori to FAO Schwartz to make a Muppet Puppet. She picked out a princess dress for her, which was not a surprise since she has been in princess mode for a while now. She also loved the dress up area of the store and the floor piano used in the movie Big. We walked around the city until it was time to head back to the airport for our journey home. It was a whirlwind trip, but well worth the journey.

First Day of Dance

2010-08-24T20:15:00.003-04:00

Today was Tori's first day of dance class. She is taking a ballet and tap combination class for 3-4 year olds. It was a hoot to watch her. She has been talking about taking dance lessons for weeks and modeling her new dance shoes at home. In class today, she was very distracted and spent more time bouncing up and down and asking other little girls what there names were. I think she just wanted to socialize.