Sick,Sick, SICK!!!

Okay. We have been hit with the worst week EVER. It started out with Gabriel having a croup cough all night and running a fever of 103.9. Then Isaac started throwing up and running a fever. THEN Liah started coughing,complaining of her ears hurting, and running a fever. UGH!! So this is the results...Gabriel-FLU and ear infection, Isaac-FLU and strep, Liah-Walking pneumonia and ear infection. When it rains...it pours!!

Our New Family Pets

So on a whim and because the kids have been asking for a puppy...I bought a fish tank and some fish. The hope is that the kids will all learn to take good care of the fish and the tank and show me for the next year or more that they can handle the responsibility of a pet. This is a test run of sorts...so we will see how it goes...

One of the fish is pregnant so we may have babies soon...stay tuned :)

Tae Kwon Do Testing

Gabriel and Isaac are both in Tae Kwon Do and it has been great for them in so many ways. They both recently tested for higher rankings. Gabriel was testing to be a 4th degree yellow belt and Isaac was testing to be a 2nd degree yellow belt. They both passed with flying colors and did very well.

We are so glad they are enjoying the  exercise!!

Awards Day!!

Gabriel and Isaac both had an awards day for academic excellence on December 15th. 

Gabriel received awards for making A Honor Roll one nine-week period and A/B Honor Roll for two nine-week periods. 

Isaac received awards for making A Honor Roll for the entire semester...all 3 nine-week periods.

They worked very hard this semester!!

Merry Christmas!!

This is a FIRST for our family!! I have included on our blog the first EVER family letter we are getting ready to send out.

We hope you enjoy your Christmas and we also hope you have a Happy New Year!

Here is a family update:

Liah turned 4 just a few weeks ago. She is all about princesses and baby dolls. She is NOT her mother’s child *wink* She does love to play with legos with her brothers and she loves to make them laugh. She is in preschool this year and loves her teacher and classmates. Her teacher says she is a little bottle of energy and kind to everyone she sees.

Isaac, who is 7, has recently started taking lessons in Tae Kwon Do and LOVES it!! He is a yellow belt and is trying so hard to catch up with his older brother. He loves school and his teacher. He is in the 2nd grade. He is quite the jokester and loves to make people laugh. He is also very tender hearted.

Gabriel, who is 9, is taking Tae Kwon Do lessons as well. He is a 4th degree yellow belt and has learned many things about himself in the process. He is in 3rd grade and loves his teacher as well. He is very creative and can build just about anything out of legos, paper, or anything he can get his hands on.

Adam is busy teaching science to high schoolers as well as teaching teachers about technology and ways to better integrate it into their classrooms. He won an award for all the things he is accomplishing with technology in the classroom. He also received the teacher of the year award for his high school. We are so glad he loves what he does and continues to make a difference in the lives of so many.

Jenn is busy in school working on her master’s degree as a nurse practitioner. She is full-time which almost makes it feel like she is never at home as a mom. Things are finally starting to slow down only to pick up again next semester as she begins her clinical hours working in a family practice clinic.

Overall, we have each been very blessed to have a healthy and happy year. We are incredibly grateful for each of you who we continue to count on for love and support. We hope you all had a Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year.

Love,
The Taylor’s

Adam was ON THE NEWS!! Check out the video link in blue below and see for yourself!!

Metro Teacher Uses Technology To Reach Students - NewsChannel5.com | Nashville News, Weather & Sports

Metro Teacher Uses Technology To Reach Students - NewsChannel5.com | Nashville News, Weather & Sports

Adam has been working really hard to find ways to help his students learn. In the last 6 months alone, he has learned how to use technology to help facilitate this learning. He uses twitter and other programs to reach out to the students and help them better understand the topics in science. He is also able to reach out to other science teachers. In communicating with them, he learns ways to get his students further interested in the science topics. He converses with other teachers and students about topics such as meiosis and mitosis etc. He has learned so much and is now holding meetings online with other teachers and teaching them what he has learned about using this technology in the classroom. He was also recently voted teacher of the year at his school! We are so proud of him!!

Liah Turns 3!!

Liah turned 3 on December 12th. She is such a hoot!! She loves to make up her own songs and loves to play with the boys. She is often found in her room or the boy's room playing with toys and talking to herself and pretending. I love that she has an imagination!! We love to read books at night before bed and sometimes...we even make up our own stories to the pictures *wink*.



For her birthday she got her own dollhouse. When I am finished with school, I hope to hand make her one. I made one for a friend's daughter a while back and Liah loves it. It reminds me of time spent doing carpentry with my dad and those are good memories.



We love our beautiful Liah!

Isaac LOVES to play soccer...or baseball...or football! Although he doesn't take it too serious...a good thing...he loves to have fun and get exercise!! This past season we were lucky enough to have a family friend, Emily, on the team as well. They had a blast...even though their coach...was a little TOO serious. Their team name was called Green Money...everyone on the team hustled hard all season...and they ended up having a great season!!

Liah...LOVES to read!!

Liah LOVES to be read too! Since I am at school during the day, my best friend and partner in crime Hannah does an AMAZING job being the 2nd mom to my Liah. Liah loves to read and Hannah is so kind to read to her just about any book she picks out. Liah reads books to herself as well-she makes up the stories-and it is SO cute! We read LOTS of books before we go to bed at night...because we don't want to go to sleep so mommy can study*wink* I read to Liah first and then Liah reads the story to me :) I love my Liah!

Gabriel...my 8 year-old SCOUT!!

Ok...for every one who never thought I'd say this...take note...I can't believe my LITTLE BABY is growing up!! Gabriel is NOW a CUB SCOUT!! Gabriel turned 8 over the summer...and yes...I am way behind with blogs since I'm now a full-time graduate student (which will be another blog post) but I wanted to share some great milestones my kids have accomplished. Gabriel has really grown a lot over the last year. He will always be stubborn and assertive...he is a natural leader. He is very sweet at times...and it's hard to see my little boy growing into a bright young man. At first, he hated scouts because, I think, he just wanted to argue and fuss about something...because it's not "cool" to reform. But now...he loves EVERY MINUTE!! I'm so proud to call Gabriel my oldest son. He is amazing!

Gabriel leading the flag ceremony

From Left to Right: Isaac, Adam, Gabriel, and Aunt Jill (his dutiful*wink*cub scout leader)

Gabriel's Baptism

Gabriel turned 8...and we had already began the conversation about being baptized. Well, many of you know Gabriel is very smart and puts much thought into everything. He had kindly informed us that he was not ready to be baptized...because he wasn't "ready to be good"...lol. THAT'S RIGHT!! He actually said that! Adam and I decided to wait it out and keep talking to him about it...but let him decide when he was ready. His 8th birthday was quickly getting closer and he was still thinking about it. On the morning of his birthday, we got up and went down to the local donut shop to get doughnuts to celebrate. As he BURST through the door, he proclaimed to the workers "Hey, it's my birthday today!...and I'm gonna get baptized!" And after that...well...he pretty much kept the same excitement :) We are very proud of his choice to be baptized and we are very proud to call him our son.

Gabriel and his cousin Jordan

Gabriel and Bishop Steanson

The AWESOME Rope Swing!!

Ok...many of you already know...but for those who don't...Adam's been in the scouting program for several years. Over the years, he's learned lots of cool things and the most recent has been KNOTS :) He loves putting his knowledge to good use and has recently added a GREAT additional to our back yard!...a ROPE SWING!! He worked on it one night...and kept it a secret. The next day when our friends the Van Orden's came over...it was discovered! And well...THE REST... IS HISTORY!

Did someone say "School's Back in Session"?

So...I am going to make-most likely-a lame attempt at filling those few of you who still read our blog in on what's been going on in our lives the last 6 months. HOLD ON...this could prove dangerous...lol

We'll start from the present and work our way backwards...

Gabriel and Isaac have OFFICIALLY started school...that's right...I said SCHOOL!! It's hard to believe the summer is already over and another school year begins. This year they both seem to have amazing teachers that are perfect for each of their personalities.

Isaac's teacher is sweet and soft-spoken.

Gabriel's teacher this year is laid back and seems perfect for him.

I'm excited to see what a new year brings for our family. And most of all for the boys to learn and have another great year :)

Snow days...AND LOTS OF THEM!!

Ok...so here's the deal...I think that snow if FABulous!...but when kids don't go to school for a week and a half...things get interesting...VERY interesting! We have had loads of fun with the kids in the snow, watched endless amounts of movies on the wall with Adam's projector, and drank enough hot chocolate to melt all the snow in TN...hey maybe that's what needs to happen! ANYWAYS, after a week of endless fun...things start to become the norm and no longer special stuff that we can do if we've been good*wink*. We have been sledding at the church, sledding down our street, and sledding down our yard. We've had snowball fight after snowball fight and even that is no longer as fun as it was in the beginning. Here are a few pictures of the fun!

To parents everywhere who have kids out of school because of snow...let's just pray REALLY hard that tomorrow is the first day of getting back to normal...homework, tests, and report cards! Bring 'em on!!

Gabriel and Isaac with Their Rockets

The boys wanted to participate in a scout rocket race at a local church. After their dad bought their kits, they went to work! They each won ribbons and had a LOAD of FUN!!

Isaac's First Day of Kindergarten and Gabriel is off to 1st Grade

OK. So it's almost Christmas and I'm just now writing about school starting in August. I know...I know...I'm a little late...please forgive me. At least I'm trying to catch up.



Gabriel was the experienced one and had no problem going to his first day of 1st grade. He was also excited about a new tooth growing in as he was asking me to take a picture of it...thus the picture. LOL! He was talking to Isaac all the way there telling him he'd like kindergarten that it was fun you get to play with toys and "Work a little. Play a little." He was too cute. He got this saying from HIS kindergarten teacher. She would constantly tell him "...we work a little and we play a little." Once we got to the school Liah was a little curious about something in the grass and I had to take a picture she is TOO cute!!

Isaac was a little nervous though he tried not to show it at first. He was trying to fight back the nerves and the tears. He kept saying things like he was trying to reassure himself, "Mom, I'm gonna have lots of fun...Mom, it's gonna be SO fun." It didn't take long for the tears to flow when we got to the school and I starting walking him to his classroom door. He was in tears and didn't want to go in...AT ALL. He finally relented and walked in. Liah and I stayed for a little while to let him get use to the new place. The other kids were coloring a picture of a school bus and he wouldn't let me leave his sight. He kept asking, "Mom, are you gonna leave me?" Most of the other parents had been slipping out the door so his or her child didn't see when they left. I told him I wouldn't leave until he felt comfortable staying. He would have to tell me to leave.





Soon his teacher asked them all to sit on the rug and she taught them a song. Liah and I were still sitting around waiting. You see, I promised him I wouldn't leave until he told me too and I KEEP my promises. When the teacher had worked with them on the song a few times, Isaac finally came over to me and whispered, "Mom, I'll be ok. You can go." I almost want to get emotional now writing about it. He sounded so sweet. He was growing up on me. I left but called the teacher after a while and checked in on him. She was quick to inform me that he was fine. I believe her exact words were "He is the life of the party!" Isaac is our little funny man and I was sure the other kids were finding this out as well.

More fun with Grandma...at the Creative Discovery Museum

As I mentioned before, we went to lots of cool places with grandma in Chattanooga. Another place we visited was called the Creative Discovery Museum. It was a museum but completely hands on in every way. The kids had a blast being able to interact with almost every display. Here are some pictures which pretty much show the amount of fun they had...thanks grandma!

Rainy Day...

So for WHATEVER reason...one day it started to rain and Adam yells to the kids "Hey guys, let's go play in the rain!!" First they looked at him and wondered if he was joking...then when he started for the front door they jumped up and headed out with him...to dance in the rain. They had a blast and even little Liah joined in. Due to the fact that I have been having ankle problems, I didn't think it was a good idea for me to take my chances and slip on the water...I know...this is where I would say "Party Pooper". And yes...I was! So here are some pictures from dancing in the rain and a video. BOY did these kids have a fun time!!

My Babies are Growing Up...