A Friendship Divided

Have you ever seen those little garden flags that are half Carolina and half Clemson, and they say something to the effect of "this is a house divided"...well that's all I could think of when I took this picture...

A FRIENDSHIP DIVIDED

31 Memories for 31 Years

Today, in honor of Will's 31st birthday, I wanted to do something special. So here are 31 of my favorite memories together...

1. Captain's Dinner on our senior cruise
2. 4th Quarter, suck it up!
3. Playing poker upstairs
4. Walking on the Battery in Charleston
5. My bid day
6. The day we got Cooper
7. Parties at the KA house
8. Trips to the Bahamas
9. That one year at the Cup
10. Trips to Vegas
11. The night we got engaged
12. Snowmobiling in Tahoe (OK, not one of my favorites, but definitely memorable)
13. The day we bought our first house
14. The day we said "I do"
15. Our honeymoon
16. St Marteen (started out as a disaster, but ended up great)
17. First Week "04 (I think it was "04...when we rented the house in Garden City)
18. Trip to New Orleans
19. The day Annah was born
20. Annah as The Bean
21. Annah's first steps, first words, first everything
22. Our first family trip to the beach
23. Speed zoo
24. The day we bought our second house
25. Your 29th birthday
26. The day Liam was born
27. Shuping Family Fun Days
28. The cruise (kind of chaotic, but a lot of fun too)
29. Every minute of...
30. Every day for...
31. The last 12 years! I love you!

A Week of Firsts

This has been an exciting week in the Shuping household. Monday kicked off the beginning of the school year for Annah. I must say, I am really proud of her. For the fist 5 months of school last year, I left her in tears everyday. This year, there has not been a single tear when I leave her. I know she has wonderful teachers and good friends in her class and that helps, but I have to give Annah a lot of the credit. She is really coming out of her shell and getting more comfortable around people she doesn't know so well. I am excited for her, but I am also excited that she is letting others get to know her, so they can see the funny, bright, happy little girl I know!

First Day of School

Tuesday, Annah had her first riding lesson (that was not taught by mommy). She did a fantastic job...talked the whole time and did everything she was asked. She rode "Bud," who is not a large horse, but Annah looked so tiny on him. I guess I am used to seeing her on Rainy.

First Riding Lesson

Today was the beginning of one of the most seasons in any southern household...football season!USC kicked off the college football season today and my little Gamecocks were ready for game day!

GAME!!!...

COCKS!!!...

My QB got tackled by my cheerleader!

With this kind of support, how could we not win?!

My Sweet Babies

I am being totally lazy today...we went to the beach this past week with Alle (The Boys and Me), Micah (Stand By Me), and Mandy (The Harper's Haven) plus all of our kids...that's 4 adults and 7 kids, if you're keeping count. It was actually pretty uneventful, which is impressive considering the sheer volume of kids all under age 4! I took a ton of pictures, but out of laziness, I am only posting my 2 faves. We took all the kids down to the beach one day late afternoon to take pictures. All 4 of the mom's had out our big cameras with bigger lenses. We looked like the paparazzi (mom-arazzi)! Anyway, these were too darn cute not to share!

My Best Friend

I never, in a million years, would have thought that over 12 years ago on a drunken senior cruise would be the beginning of the rest of my life. I could not have imagined that this guy sitting next to me at the "Captain's Dinner" would turn out to be the love of my life, father of my children, and my best friend. Now, I could not imagine my life any other way.

This is, hands down, my most favorite picture from the whole wedding

The boys!

The whole fam-damily

It makes me so sad that two of the people in this picture are no longer with us. I know they are watching over us. We love you and miss you!

The girls! Love you all!

"Wonderful Tonight"

I think this picture says it all. Will, I cannot even begin to tell you how much I love you. Annah and Liam think you are the greatest Daddy in the whole world. You love me unconditionally (even when I don't always deserve it). You complete me :)

August 23, 2003

A Little Comparison

So, I know everyone says you shouldn't compare your kids, but sometimes I just can't help it. Here is a picture of Annah and Liam both at 15 months. Holy cow, they have the same smile (all Will), but I'm not sure about the rest...what do you think?

Either way, (and I know I might be just a bit biased) I think they are the two cutest kids in the whole wide world!

Liam's 15 Month Stats

Good grief! Where does the time go?! I cannot believe my baby is 15 months already!

Liam is walking and seems to learn new words every day. His favorite things right now are flipping the light switches (every time we pass one--which is quite often, as you can imagine--he squeals "lights! lights!), buttons (any and all buttons--unfortunately this includes turning the stove off while I'm cooking), and anything with a steering wheel! All boy!

We had his 15 month check up yesterday and my boy is growing like a weed! He is 33" tall (Annah was 33" at 3 years, just for some perspective), putting him in the 95%ile. He is 26.1 lbs (for the record, Annah is 27 lbs at 4 years!), putting him in the 50th%ile. I can't remember the head circumference, but whatever it was, he is in the 60th%ile. Bottom line, he is healthy as a horse! Can't ask for much more than that!