The Segraves Blog

One Last Post

2011-10-25T21:28:00.003-04:00

We are throwing in the towel on blogging. Thanks for checking in with us! Here is one last picture to share with you. We went to Disney at the beginning of October. Even with one entire day of rain, the kids still had a blast! :o)

Choir Performance~Valerie & Lauren

2011-04-19T20:22:00.004-04:00

After Andrea's performance, we moved on over to the Worship Center for Valerie and Lauren's performances in "Happily Forever After". They both did a wonderful jobs! Lauren started out a a tourist and then changed into a princess dress and joined the choir. Valerie played the part of Fee Fee, the keeper of the bridge.

This is right after the musical was over. You can tell how proud Valerie was of herself!

Lauren is on the front row in both of these pictures...

Choir Performance~Andrea

2011-04-19T14:41:00.002-04:00

March 27th, Andrea had a choir performance at church. She was excited to see so many family members there to watch her! Thanks for making the trip out to see her!

Angela & Bob

Granpa, Gran, and Nana

Gran & Nana

Granpa & Gran (with Nana cropped out because she was TALKING!)

The star of the show!

Andrea Gets Her Cast Off

2011-04-19T14:31:00.001-04:00

On March 9th, Andrea got to go back to the doctor to get her cast removed. As you can see, she was a nervous wreck while we were waiting for them to come into the room. Ha Ha Ha!

"Andrea, stop being silly and let me see your cast for the picture..."
It actually tickled her when they were cutting it off!

2011-04-13T22:45:00.005-04:00

After many, many months of asking when they could get their ears pierced (mostly by Andrea), Russell finally gave in. You should have seen Andrea's face when he finally said yes! The girls decided amongst themselves what the order would be. Andrea first, then Lauren, then Valerie. They were all brave and are very glad that they did it! Enjoy the video!

O S C A R ... M A Y E R

2011-03-31T21:20:00.003-04:00

We left church one day to find the Weiner Mobile at the new Kroger across the street from church. Lauren missed it because she was at Grandmama's. :o( The Hardmans were there and we have them to thank for the pictures.

Daddy's Birthday

2011-03-31T21:06:00.005-04:00

March 4th was Daddy's 69th birthday. Thank goodness he does not even own a computer or I'd probably be in trouble for broadcasting his age. :o) We got together at Carrabba's in Athens.

No pictures of Angela, Bob,Valerie or Chad, but they were all there as well.

I forgot to take a picture of me with Daddy at the restaurant so we stopped by his place.

That may sound weird, but he has a thing about pictures and has some rules that go into effect when he turns 70...that's my Daddy.

Don't ever say Aunt Mandy does not know how to have fun.

Katie taking care of Tucker and Ben/looking for an excuse to be out of her chair. :o)

Andrea Is Playing Soccer!!!

2011-03-31T20:55:00.004-04:00

We began March with Andrea's first soccer practice and ended it with her first game. Her team is the Fire Flies and she loves playing!

February Pictures Part Three

2011-02-27T21:30:00.003-05:00

I tried to make this past Friday really special. Valerie was at Grandmama's so it was the perfect time to order a "movie night" icing cake, since Valerie does not care for icing cake. Lauren and Andrea just loved it.

Russell has become quite the runner. We went out one weekend and cheered him on in a race.

Valerie's teacher worked out a deal with her. If she could stay focused for so many days, then she could bring in Daisy as a reward. Valerie finally earned the required number of stickers. She was beside herself when I came up to the school with Daisy.

Andrea fell on Valentine's night and broke her wrist. We were in and out of the urgent care in an hour and a half. I let her pick whatever she wanted for supper, she went with Raviolis. :o)

February Pictures Part Two

2011-02-27T20:59:00.005-05:00

Ready to head out with their Daddy for a special date night.

Russell took Andrea to the Chick-fil-a Daddy/Daughter date night. We kept it a surprise to her as to where he was taking her. That ended up being a bit of a mistake. He said that when they got to the parking lot she said, "What are we doing in this ridiculous place?" Found out later that she was hoping for Monkey Joe's. She gave Russell a bit of a hard time, but really did have fun!

I could not love this picture from the Gainesville Parks and Recreation Daddy Daughter Dance anymore. Wish I could have been there, but I know they need this special time together.

February Pictures Part One

2011-02-27T20:25:00.003-05:00

Ben has gotten to where he loves to hug. He can give a great hug!

He was on a roll one night when Micah was over. I think he hugged him about 4 times.

Cute of Ben asleep in the stroller. I have no recollection of where we were...maybe the mall?

Rebekah got off the bus here one day and the girls had so much fun. They all made a big deal about fixing supper for their dolls.

Segraves Slope

2011-01-17T13:58:00.003-05:00

We had such fun in the snow in January. We put together a little video of our fun. Enjoy!

(On a side note, I know there are a lot of months that got skipped here on the blog. You just have to live with that. I just have to let it go. It is just too much for me to go back and play catch up with. I'll try to do better this year.)

Ben's Birthday Party

2010-09-30T10:11:00.008-04:00

The girls call Ben so many names, so we put them all on the cake. One of the Benny Boos should have been Benny Boy.

Time to open presents!

Wonder if this is what I look like when I am stressed? I think Ben wanted all the other kids to back off and just let him have his space!

Thank you everyone!

Time for cake...

More please?

Ben and D-Dad

Ben and Angela

Ben with Grandmama and Granny

Maybe next year Ben can be a part of the game in the front yard.

Ben and Nana

Sydney

Jayden

Ben with Amy and Me

Ben with Gran and Granpa

Valerie and Grandmama

Valerie and Aunt Janice

Lauren and Uncle Wayne

Ben with Aunt Janice and Uncle Wayne

Ben's Birthday

2010-09-22T09:52:00.006-04:00

Ben turned one on August 21st. He had a fever, but we tried to make the best of the day. He LOVED being pulled around in the wagon!

I tried and tried to get a picture of Ben and Tess looking at the camera, to no avail...until I asked Andrea to help. Can you tell she is holding Tess in place by her collar in the picture below? I love the look of accomplishment and control she has on her face!

This is how Ben felt for most of the day. :(

Russell took a trip for work and flew back into town on Ben's birthday. We picked him up at the airport and then went to a CFA Dwarf House for supper. Ben got to open his gift from all of us with Daddy.

Had to use the door for dwarfs on the way out...

Random

2010-09-15T22:01:00.004-04:00

Ben loves to grab Valerie's hand and go for a walk. It is really very sweet. He is always the one who initiates it.

Ben had a fever on his birthday. Lauren will rarely ask to hold him anymore, but asked on this day. She was very sad that he was sick for his birthday.

Here is Andrea right after earning her last sticker needed to get into the prize bucket. She was so excited that she got to the top before Valerie and Lauren!

Caught in the Act

2010-09-14T11:28:00.001-04:00

Anyone want Ben to come "redecorate" your house for you? He's really good at it!

The First Day of School

2010-09-10T18:39:00.002-04:00

August 5th was the first day of school for Valerie and Lauren. Valerie is in 4th grade and Lauren is in 3rd grade. They were both very excited about going! They like getting a special "first day of school treat" when they get home off the bus. This year we had snow cones.

American Girl

2010-09-10T18:27:00.001-04:00

Back in the beginning of August, we took a trip to the American Girl store. Valerie and Lauren were thrilled to be there. They both used birthday money to buy their dolls. We had told them that Mommy and Daddy would not buy them dolls that cost so much, so they just saved up and did it themselves. Of course now they would like to have some accessories...good grief! :)

FYI

2010-08-31T21:33:00.002-04:00

For those who are checking our blog, you can stop for a while. Our main computer will not turn on, therefore I can not access the pictures that were uploaded from the camera to do a post. We have access to the Internet through our lap top, but there are not any pictures stored on it. Sorry to disappoint...especially the grandparents who are wanting current pictures! :(

Ben is Walking!!!

2010-08-12T16:17:00.003-04:00

Valerie and Lauren's Birthday Party

2010-07-25T21:13:00.000-04:00

Happy Day

2010-07-21T22:01:00.001-04:00

Today has been a fun day of celebrating Valerie's 10th birthday and Ben turning 11 months old!

Ben Talking

2010-07-20T23:22:00.002-04:00

Every parent looks forward to their child's first words, right? Ben's first word was "bye". His second word was "up". Next he said, "Da Da". So naturally I had the camera ready to record his fourth and most important word!

Oh well, maybe "Mommy" will be next! :)

So Busy

2010-06-16T18:38:00.002-04:00

Seems like I never have the time to sit down and blog anymore. It is a combination of a slow computer and having 4 kids. Anyway, I just wanted to post this one from the beach. There are about 150 more, but those may never get posted. :) I have skipped a lot of happenings around here between the last post and this one...again, they may never get posted! :)

2010-04-26T22:43:00.001-04:00

Fun With Katie and Meeting Baby Tucker

2010-04-24T10:45:00.003-04:00

Valerie and Lauren had fun hiding eggs for Katie and Andrea to find in the backyard. The eggs were empty, but that did not matter!

Andrea loves having Katie over to spend the night.

Sweet baby and his Daddy.

Tucker James Sailors

My How Time Flies

2010-04-20T12:00:00.004-04:00

Hard to believe that Ben will be 8 months old tomorrow!

EASTER

2010-04-12T16:13:00.002-04:00

Valerie and Lauren's Baptism

2010-03-11T08:41:00.003-05:00

January 24, 2010 was a very special day for our family. The girls had been saying they were ready to be baptized for quite a while, and their big day finally came. We are so glad they have made public what Jesus has done in their hearts and could not be more proud of them.

Right afterward...one of the most natural smiles I have seen from Lauren. :)

Family and friends were invited back to our house after the service for lunch. Couldn't pass up the chance for a cousin picture with Allie Beth!

Russell and I gave the girls special keepsake boxes to help remember this day. They loved them. The top says, "Jesus loves me" and the inside says, "This I know".

I'm Hooked On...

2010-03-02T22:08:00.003-05:00

"Couponing"

Just got all of these items for just $37.59, before I started cutting coupons I would have paid 109.76!!! Some of the best deals were: free milk, Juicy Juice 1.33, Gorton's 10 pack fish fillets 3.69, Therma Care 1.99, Sure 0.39, and Pert Plus 0.99. So, I have very quickly gone from HATING coupons and rarely using them, to LOVING coupons!

A LIttle Of This, A Little Of That

2010-02-24T18:09:00.003-05:00

Last weekend we went to the Circus. We had a wonderful time!

School was cancelled on the day that the girls were to have their Valentine's Parties, so we had our own little party at home.

We had a shower for Mandy at our house. Looking forward to Baby Sailors arriving in April!

Everyone enjoyed the snow at the Segraves home!

(note the huge snowball Andrea made all by herself and Lauren's leg trying to kick it because I did not want Lauren in this picture)

We have acquired quite a few purple jackets over the years, this is just a small sampling!

Yes, that's Lauren listening to her iPod while nursing her stuffed animal.

Here is Angela with the kids at her birthday "party" at our house. Notice somebody new in the picture? That's Bob, Angela's then boyfriend and now FIANCE!!! The wedding will be this May!!! Could not be any happier for her! :)

Ben

2010-02-23T21:45:00.002-05:00

Ben with his Pooh...this picture is for Grandmama. :)

He enjoyed trying out his cup for the first time.

LOVES his bath!

Amazing Daisy

2010-01-20T23:10:00.002-05:00

OK, so maybe we are a little carried away with the posts about our new puppy, but she really is amazing. Much to our delight, she has learned to tell us when she needs to go outside. Thanks to Melanie for the great training tip! We honestly never thought it would work, but thought it couldn't hurt to try.

Merry Christmas!!!

2009-12-25T08:12:00.006-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone!! As most of you know, the family got a very special Christmas present this year! Here are some pics! (I'll post more later.)

(Ben is not awake yet as of the publishing of this post.)

And the video....

My How Ben Has Grown!

2009-12-14T22:17:00.003-05:00

Then (at four days old)...

Now (a week shy of four months old)...

What We've Been Up To

2009-12-09T22:53:00.004-05:00

Valerie had her very first piano recital this past Sunday. She was super excited about her big day and just beaming during the whole thing. She did a wonderful job!

We continued our family tradition of decorating gingerbread houses together. Ben can get in on the action next year...maybe. :)

Lauren had a special part in the Christmas play at her school. She was a whistle blower. She had been looking forward to this for many days and was very excited when the day of the play finally got here.

Part of Lauren's play included a Santa Claus. Now to us, this is Santa Butch, a family friend. However, I realized when Andrea was in tears because she wanted to "hug Santa" before he left the building, that to her this was not Santa Butch. Standing before her, about to walk out the door, was SANTA CLAUS. "How could we be letting her miss the opportunity to hug him?", must have been what she was thinking. So Russell and I quickly took her over to SANTA and she just fell into his legs, he picked her up and gave her a big hug. You can tell from her picture that she was just in awe of him. She asked him, "Where is yours reindeer?". He promptly replied that they were at the North Pole. I really don't think I can take her to the mall after this. She is too smart and will notice the difference in SANTA!

Ben thought Santa was pretty cool, too.

11 Weeks Old and Loving Life

2009-11-06T19:48:00.002-05:00

Andrea's 3rd Birthday

2009-11-06T09:16:00.002-05:00

Andrea had a great time celebrating her birthday. She was so excited that it had finally come. We had been counting down the days on a calendar.

Opening presents...

Blowing out candles on her Mickey Mouse cake...

Playing with one of her new toys...

Saying goodnight through her streamers in her new nightgown...

Happy Halloween

2009-11-02T13:19:00.004-05:00

This year we had Ariel, a Bunny Rabbit, a Candy Corn Witch and Ben with a pumpkin head hat.

Cousins Alex (the bumble bee) and Will (the Ninja) came to trick- or- treat with us.

Ben slept through the whole thing.

Valerie's Candy Corn costume is our favorite from all her trick-or-treating years so far.

Andrea really does adore her little brother.

On Friday after school, Valerie pointed out to us that we had not bought our pumpkin yet this year. We have always bought one in the past and carved it together as a family. Luckily, we had been to Chick-fil-a a couple of weeks ago and they got to decorate these mini pumpkins. We convinced the girls that they would be our decorations for this year and they were quite happy with that!

Andrea's Milestone

2009-10-12T21:20:00.002-04:00

Andrea has said goodbye to her little silky blankets and hello to two new cotton blankets. She loves that she has two blankets just like her big sisters.

Snaps of Ben

2009-10-12T21:11:00.002-04:00

Thanks Amy D. for the cool shirt. :)

Here I was actually trying to get a picture of Ben crying. I think it is pretty funny that he looks as if he is laughing.

Sweet boy has been trying to find his thumb for a few weeks now. He finally hit the jackpot this morning.

Can you believe a 7 week old can do this?

Precious

Far Away Family

2009-10-12T21:04:00.001-04:00

Russell's Uncle Don and Aunt Jan stopped by for a visit while visiting with lots of relatives in GA. They are from Arizona and a pleasure to be around. Wish we could see them more, but we made the most of the time we got!

Andrea's Big Smile

2009-10-12T21:01:00.001-04:00

Gotta love the smile I got when I asked Andrea to smile big for this picture!

A Visit From Grandmama

2009-10-12T20:55:00.002-04:00

Russell's mom came for a visit recently before leaving for about a 3 week trip to get her "grandchild fix". Do you think she got what she was looking for?!

Apple.....Tree

2009-09-23T18:19:00.006-04:00

There has been some discussion in our house about whether or not Ben looks like Russell, and how much. So we've decided to take a poll. Below are Ben's and Russell's baby pictures. Please let us know what you think over there on the right--->
(You can click on the picture below, then zoom out for a better view.)

We Love Chick-fil-a!

2009-09-07T17:01:00.003-04:00

Today we all dressed in our favorite team and went to Chick-fil-a for a free chicken sandwich. We got 6 free sandwiches...

...that's right, 6, even Ben got his free sandwich. Thanks Great Aunt Janice for the GA outfit!

Our Baby Girl and Boy

2009-09-07T16:53:00.003-04:00

Ben is also known as angel boy around here. He is the most content baby we have ever been around. Thank God for that! :)

Andrea looked especially grown up for church this past Sunday. She will still always be our baby girl!

The Kids

2009-09-02T10:45:00.005-04:00

Here are a few pictures of what has happened around our house recently...

Lauren has finally lost her other front tooth. Gotta love that smile!

Andrea wrote "my A" all by herself. She was so proud!

The girls caught a frog. It stayed inside overnight and was released the next day. Valerie loved holding it and gave it a little pep talk before letting it go.

Ben loves all the entertainment.

LOTS of Pictures of Ben

2009-08-25T09:30:00.008-04:00

Here are several pictures from Ben's first 3 days:

Benjamin Patrick Segraves

2009-08-21T22:29:00.003-04:00

This is our precious new addition to our family. He was born at 4:36pm, weighed 8 lbs. 4 oz., and is 21 inches long. This is a picture of him wrapped up in a very special blanket. We bought it 11 years ago on our 2nd wedding anniversary. With each pregnancy, we have gotten it out of the closet and wondered if this would be the time we would get to use it. Once we found out Andrea was a little girl, we decided to give the blanket to Russell's sister who was expecting a little boy. We knew we were not going to have any more children and at least this way the blanket would always be "in the family". Little did we know that God would surprise us with our own little boy a couple of years later. Russell's sister, Amy, had only used the blanket a few times and was keeping it put away for when Russell and I had a grandson one day. I had always wondered why I never saw the blanket at her house, but never asked Amy why she didn't use it. I just thought it wasn't as special to her as it was to us. Little did I know that she realized how special it was to us and was scared to use it because she did not want to mess it up. So enjoy this picture that, until today, has only existed in our minds and hearts for the last 11 years!

The First Day of School

2009-08-08T09:31:00.005-04:00

Thursday was the first day of school for Valerie and Lauren. We went on Tuesday for Open House. They both seem happy with their teachers already and are making new friends in their classes.

Valerie's 9th and Lauren's 7th Birthday Party

2009-07-25T22:09:00.004-04:00

Valerie and Lauren were so excited to have their birthday party at home this year. I always feel like it is chaos, but all the kids seemed to have a blast! The bounce house was a big hit!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Fun at the park

2009-07-25T22:00:00.001-04:00

Through a summer program that the Braselton library has, the girls got to go check out a fire truck and play in the spray from the water hose. We met the Crozier's there and they all had a great time!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

4th of July

2009-07-25T21:50:00.002-04:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Great Friends

2009-07-25T17:13:00.005-04:00

This summer we finally had Anna and Emily over to spend the night. They are the daughters of my dear friend, Amy, from high school. I love that my girls have such great friendships with her girls. They all had a great time together and Valerie and Lauren are looking forward to going to their house next! I haven't broken the news to Andrea that she will not be going...

Beach Pictures

2009-07-01T09:30:00.001-04:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Mommy's Birthday

2009-05-28T10:38:00.007-04:00

We had a surprise party for Mommy. She had no idea we were up to something. The kids had fun hiding and waiting for their Nana/GiGi to open the door.

Cute that Katie and her Nana have the same facial expression. :)

End of School

2009-05-28T10:35:00.003-04:00

The end of the school year is such a busy time, but lots of fun, too. Lauren and Valerie both had ice cream parties to celebrate the end of school with their classmates.

Memorial Day

2009-05-25T10:02:00.002-04:00

Memorial Day was very eventful for us. Russell's mom came for a visit before her big trip to Alaska, Russell and I celebrated 13 years of marriage with a lunch at Red Lobster, we enjoyed a fun afternoon at the Crozier's, and we went to our neighborhood block party. I only whipped out the camera for the pool!

Mother's Day

2009-05-16T10:29:00.002-04:00

Don't tell Andrea your secrets...she went shopping with Russell and immediately told me she had "flowers for Mommy" once she came back home. I had a wonderful day!

Just in time for Summer

2009-05-15T13:44:00.002-04:00

One Sunday afternoon, Russell took the training wheels off of the girl's bikes. They have both done a great job learning to ride with out the training wheels. Russell will have to put up a video of them later, that is not something I have learned how to do yet!

Katie's 2nd Birthday Party

2009-05-15T13:40:00.002-04:00

We had a fun time at Katie's party. Here are Andrea and Katie just before Andrea got to ride on the little train they had at the party.

Mommy's helper

2009-05-15T13:36:00.002-04:00

Andrea loves to see herself on the computer, so here is a picture of her being my little helper. If I am doing something in the kitchen, she wants to be right there with me.

Easter

2009-04-20T11:13:00.002-04:00

Hope you had a great Easter.
Here is a glimpse of our Easter...

Romans 15:13

2009-04-10T18:30:00.003-04:00

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

For the last few weeks, Paula has felt in her heart that we were having a boy this time. This verse has put into words what she has been feeling and has given her confidence in her feeling.

And..............

The cake she ordered on Tuesday :) .............

Family Fun

2009-04-09T21:50:00.004-04:00

Today was a fun day. Some of Paula's family got together at our house for a laid back day of playing, eating and visiting. Enjoy the slide show!

We love our piano!

2009-04-03T21:30:00.002-04:00

Thanks to Bridget, D-Dad and Aunt Janice for letting us use
Granny & Pappy's piano.

Playing with Katie

2009-03-24T14:35:00.005-04:00

Katie came to play with her cousins a couple of weeks ago. They had lots of fun playing with the Barbie Jeep and the playset in the backyard.

This pairing did not last very long, Katie quickly decided that she only trusted Valerie to drive her arouond!

"It's not like I have hit any trees, I just do not have the arm strength to turn the steering wheel yet."

Snow Pictures from early March

2009-03-24T14:11:00.001-04:00

Daddy's Birthday

2009-03-06T14:31:00.000-05:00

We met at Carrabba's in Athens to celebrate Daddy's birthday. Russell had to work but we still had a good time. Mandy and Katie left just before this picture was taken by Sandy.

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep

2009-03-05T08:18:00.008-05:00

Andrea recently had her picture taken for a model search. Honestly, she was just due to have her picture made and our photographer happened to be participating in this contest. We have submitted her picture for the contest, not to try and win it, but to help a great cause. To vote for Andrea, it will cost you $1.00 a vote. Money donated through votes will go to an organization called Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep. Basically, this organization will send a photographer from the area to the hospital to photograph pictures of a stillborn or dying baby totally free of charge to the family (visit their web site for more detailed information http://www.nilmdts.org/). So, follow these steps to vote for Andrea and support a great cause! Voting ends April 2nd.

1. go to http://www.sandypucvotes.com/

2. scroll down to Atlanta, GA and click on it

3. select view gallery

4. click on S

5. click on Andrea's picture

6. follow the directions on the page for placing votes

Here is a picture of Andrea from her session, similar to the one you will see on the voting web site.

Shock and Awe

2009-02-17T19:16:00.002-05:00

Shock...

...and Awe

Baby Segraves is due to arrive August 30th.

Little Paula

2009-01-25T13:40:00.004-05:00

After all the comments from Paula's family about Andrea being a "little Paula", we thought we would put a comparison up. See the resemblance?

Andrea at 25 months

Paula at 17 months

Christmas Pictures

2009-01-04T22:30:00.007-05:00

Visiting with Russell's Mom on her birthday 12/23:

Making cookies for Santa

Christmas Eve at Paula's Dad's house:

Christmas Eve at Paula's Mom's house:

Christmas morning at home:

(gotta love the hair)

Waaaait a minute.......one of those kids is not mine.

Andrea with cousin Alex

Russell with his Mom and sister Amy

Christmas Day at Russell's Dad's house:

Andrea and Allie Beth

Fullness of God in Helpless Babe

2008-12-25T08:23:00.001-05:00

Today we celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. Through Him, God left his throne to come to Earth to die for us and forgive our sins. What a gift of love! Happy Birthday Jesus!!!

From our family to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas!!

Getting Ready for Christmas

2008-12-24T11:41:00.007-05:00

Here are a few pictures from the last month or so:

The girls got to ride on Aunt Bridget's church's float in the Comer Parade. Valerie and Lauren were 2 pretty angels...

...and have you ever seen a cuter sheep?

We all had fun doing one of our yearly Christmas traditions...making gingerbread houses.

"MWho's eating the candy minstead mof decorating? MI'm mnot!"

The finished products:

Pictures with Santa Butch (Persinger):

Now, are these 3 girls ready for Santa or what??

Big Canoe Weekend

2008-11-12T20:53:00.004-05:00

Other than almost dying of carbon monoxide poisoning on Friday, we had a great weekend at Big Canoe. It's too long of a story to put on the blog, but the bottom line is invest in a carbon monoxide detector for your house--trust me, it's worth it. Here are a few pictures from Saturday, the day when the scenery was a little prettier, colors were a little brighter, the air a little crisper, and life a little better.

Playing Catch-up Blogging

2008-11-02T20:13:00.002-05:00

I've been really behind lately on my blogging, but finally stopped putting it off. The next 3 entries cover our last month.

Happy 2nd Birthday Andrea!!!!!

2008-11-01T17:38:00.001-04:00

Our little baby is now 2 years old--so hard to believe. She is such a joy and a blessing. She has a strong will, but a sweet disposition and a smile that will melt your heart. We love you Andrea!

Halloween

2008-10-31T17:26:00.001-04:00

This year, the girls went as Tinkerbell, Supergirl, and Mickey Mouse.

We went down to the Crozier house and trick-or-treated with Rebekah, McKinney, and Micah (a.k.a. a Ballerina, Spiderman, and a Bumblebee).

Andrea got the hang of trick-or-treating pretty quickly...go to the door, get candy. Pretty simple. Here she is after scoring some loot.

This is what happens when you sugar up your kids in the evening.

Callaway Gardens Trip

2008-10-11T17:03:00.001-04:00

In early October, we took an overnight trip to Callaway Gardens and had a wonderful time. There's so much to do and see for adults and kids--and it's not too far away (read...you get there before the car whining begins).

One of the attractions is the butterfly house. Valerie (our bug lover) probably enjoyed this the most, although all 3 girls loved it.

Playing on one of several play areas for kids.

Pumpkin patch smiles.

Painting pumpkins at "AutumnFest". They have special festivals set up pretty much all throughout the year.

Valerie doing the bungee trampoline. (She was brave for a few minutes--then got scared.)

Three pretty girls in front of some pretty landscaping.

We had a great time in a great place--a nice family vacation.

Gameday Experience

2008-10-06T12:27:00.004-04:00

OK...I know this is really late--I've been busy.

Two Saturdays ago, the guys from ESPN's College Gameday came to Athens for the Alabama vs. UGA game. Brent, Holt, and I made 2 signs to take to the set and hold up behind Chris, Lee, and Kirk. Brent and I took the signs while Holt stayed at the tailgate spot to watch for our signs and cook up a feast. We had a great time all day (up until the 31-0 first half). Here are some pictures:

Brent and I at the set before air time:

A shot that made the OnlineAthens website:

Here is a shot taken from my TV. See our signs right beside Chris Fowler's head?

Here's a closer shot:

Brent was able to get a little closer than I did and got a pretty good face shot. He's now signing autographs for a nominal fee.

Back at the tailgate spot....wait, what's that on the lower left of my sign?

...Lee Corso's autograph. Brent and I "stalked him" (Jennie's description) after the show and got him to come over and autograph our signs.

The other cool thing about the day is the sign we made for me was chosen as one of the top 5 on the ESPN College Gameday website. They then allowed everyone to vote for about 4 days on the best sign. Mine won!! As you can see, it got 38% of the votes online. A true testament to Brent's mad Photoshop skills, Holt's mad sturdy-PVC sign making skills, and my mad "supervising" skills (i.e., the ability to mostly stay out of their way).

All in all it was a great day/week even though the Dawgs lost. I'm confident that we're going to get it turned back around this weekend vs. Tennessee and eventually take the SEC East.

Lauren 1st Soccer Game

2008-09-13T18:42:00.003-04:00

Lauren decided she wanted to play soccer this year after seeing her cousin Will play. Saturday was picture day and opening day. She got a lot of playing time and kicked the ball 3 or 4 times. Her team played hard but lost 5-0.

(OK, you got me...this is not from Saturday--she's obviously wearing a different uniform...it must have been at one of her practices.)

Hummingbirds

2008-08-31T16:10:00.004-04:00

We have recently put up a hummingbird feeder outside of our breakfast room window. I thought it would be neat, but I underestimated how much we would all (even Andrea) really enjoy watching them. We all are constantly looking out the window as we eat to see them darting in to the feeder. Here are a couple of pictures I took and a video Paula was able to get:

Listen closely at the 26 second mark and you can hear the distinctive "humming" as one gets really close to Paula:

Interesting Olympic Facts

2008-08-25T11:29:00.002-04:00

Well the Olympics are over. I'm sad to see them go, but happy to be able to get some more sleep. Here are some interesting facts:

•China won 1 gold medal per every 25 million citizens.
•The US won 1 gold medal per every 8.5 million citizens.
•Jamaica won 1 gold medal per every 450,000 citizens. (If China had won at this rate, it would have had 2,889 gold medals.)

•India, with 17% of the world's population, won 0.31% of total medals.
•China, with 19.8% of the world's population, won 10.4% of total medals.
•The US, with 4.6% of the world's population, won 11.5% of total medals.
•Jamaica, with 0.041% of the world's population, won 1.5% of total medals.

•If Michael Phelps were a country, he would have been 9th in the gold medal standings, ahead of France, Netherlands, Spain, Canada, Argentina, Switzerland, Brazil and Mexico.

•The US had 110 total medals.
•China had 100 total medals.
•Russia had 72 total medals.
•The former Soviet Union had a combined 173 total medals.

•27 out of 51 of China's gold medals were in judged sports.
•4 out of 36 of USA's gold medals were in judged sports.
•Excluding judged sports, USA had 32 golds, 31 silvers, and 27 bronzes.
•Excluding judged sports, China had 24 golds, 17 silvers, and 14 bronzes.

•A total of 958 medals were handed out, the most in Olympic history.

Dwight Schrute's Centathlon

2008-08-21T23:59:00.000-04:00

I stayed up waaaayyy too late tonight, but it was worth it. USA won men's beach volleyball and I saw this gem of a commercial....

The Air Hockey Game

2008-08-20T23:55:00.000-04:00

Proof that Andrea is going to love sports....

Proof that Valerie watches too much TV...

(This was actually from a few months ago...about a month after American Idol ended.)

Riding the bus

2008-08-17T22:22:00.003-04:00

Valerie and Lauren have been asking to ride the bus for quite some time now. They finally got that opportunity last Thursday--they loved it. (Their only complaints were that it was hot and loud.) They loved it so much, they rode it again on Friday.

First Day of School

2008-08-07T10:25:00.002-04:00

Today Valerie and Lauren went back to school. :( Valerie is in the 3rd grade and Lauren in the 1st. Andrea put on her backpack (she actually did ask for it repeatedly until we gave it to her) and tried to pass for a student. The school caught on, so she's back home with us.

A Busy Day

2008-08-05T22:23:00.000-04:00

Today, the girls had a very busy day. First, they helped make scarecrows for the town of Hoschton. Hoschton (the town right next to us) is trying to break the Guiness Book of World Records for the most scarecrows in one place. Next, they went to see Meemaw in Athens (Meemaw is Russell's step-mother's mom.) Then, they went to see Russell's softball game (Russell's team won, but more importantly, Russell's hamstring is still in one piece).

More Otto Pics

2008-08-04T11:10:00.004-04:00

Here are a few more pictures from Otto's visit that he must have "forgotten" to share with everyone...

A Guest Blogger

2008-08-01T22:26:00.008-04:00

Today, I (Otto) got to go to the Segraves house to spend the night. The have agreed to let me be a guest blogger on their blog. My Mom and Dad are gone to Asheville, NC to see a concert and see some house. Apparently, the house is special because they built more of it, or something like that. Anyway, we have had a wonderful time playing today. Valerie, Lauren, and Andrea were very excited to see me...not as excited as I am when I see a cardboard box, but close. Here we are going for a skip....

And here we are after a long day...

Here are a few pictures of our day...

We also had a special treat. Micah (from the Crozier Crew) came over to visit. If you remember from my blog, I have babysat him before....

We had a wonderful day and I'm looking forward to tomorrow. We will get to play some more before my Mom and Dad come to pick me up.

A Beary Happy Birthday Party

2008-07-26T22:40:00.004-04:00

Thanks to everyone that came to Valerie & Lauren's birthday party at Build-a-Bear. They had a wonderful time. You can view the slide show of the party over there on the right -->

Happy Birthday Lauren!!!!!

2008-07-23T07:37:00.000-04:00

Today, Lauren turns 6!!!! Happy Birthday Lauren!! We love you!!

Happy Birthday Valerie!!!!!

2008-07-21T08:58:00.002-04:00

Today is Valerie's 8th birthday!!! Happy Birthday Valerie!! We love you!!

A Fun Day at Blue Ridge

2008-07-20T23:00:00.001-04:00

Today after church we went to Paula's aunt's house on Lake Blue Ridge. We had a wonderful time swimming, jet skiing, fishing, and relaxing. (We caught several fish, but our camera ran out of batteries, so there are no pictures. Really. No....really.)

Welcome to our blog...

2008-07-18T15:16:00.001-04:00

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The Segraves Blog

One Last Post

Choir Performance~Valerie & Lauren

Choir Performance~Andrea

Andrea Gets Her Cast Off

O S C A R ... M A Y E R

Daddy's Birthday

Andrea Is Playing Soccer!!!

February Pictures Part Three

February Pictures Part Two

February Pictures Part One

Segraves Slope

Ben's Birthday Party

Ben's Birthday

Random

Caught in the Act

The First Day of School

American Girl

FYI

Ben is Walking!!!

Valerie and Lauren's Birthday Party

Happy Day

Ben Talking

So Busy

Fun With Katie and Meeting Baby Tucker

My How Time Flies

EASTER

Valerie and Lauren's Baptism

I'm Hooked On...

A LIttle Of This, A Little Of That

Ben

Amazing Daisy

More Christmas Puppy Pics and Video

Merry Christmas!!!

My How Ben Has Grown!

What We've Been Up To

11 Weeks Old and Loving Life

Andrea's 3rd Birthday

Happy Halloween

Andrea's Milestone

Snaps of Ben

Far Away Family

Andrea's Big Smile

A Visit From Grandmama

Apple.....Tree

We Love Chick-fil-a!

Our Baby Girl and Boy

The Kids

LOTS of Pictures of Ben

Benjamin Patrick Segraves

The First Day of School

Valerie's 9th and Lauren's 7th Birthday Party

Fun at the park

4th of July

Great Friends

Beach Pictures

Mommy's Birthday

End of School

Memorial Day

Mother's Day

Just in time for Summer

Katie's 2nd Birthday Party

Mommy's helper

Easter

Romans 15:13

Family Fun

We love our piano!

Playing with Katie

Snow Pictures from early March

Daddy's Birthday

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep

Shock and Awe

Little Paula

Christmas Pictures

Fullness of God in Helpless Babe

Getting Ready for Christmas

Big Canoe Weekend

Playing Catch-up Blogging

Happy 2nd Birthday Andrea!!!!!

Halloween