Beta Club Induction

We are so proud of Rebecca. School does not come easy for her. She really has to work at it to make good grades. When she didn't make Beta Club in 7th grade, she made it a goal to make it in 8th grade. We are proud to say her hard work paid off. She was initiated into the Beta Club this past Monday night.

Cheer Competition

Rebecca and I wrapped up our competition season yesterday with the

state cheer classic. Our girls worked so hard this season. While we didn't do as well as we had hoped, we made tremendous gains as a squad. I couldn't be more proud of the girls. Here is a video of their performance.

Rebecca was sad to see her middle school competition cheer season come to an end. She is more and more like me every day. : )

Here we are about to take the tumbling warm up mat.

This is my dear friend/c0-coach, Doris, and her daughter, Dionne.

Proud parents!!!

Daddy's Little Girl

I have really enjoyed coaching the girls. They have been a sweet group. We still have basketball season, but the "hard" part is over.

Trick-or-Treating

Rebecca was excited about going with the kids trick-or-treating. She didn't want to dress up until her friend, Miranda, showed up in her super girl outfit. They walked around for a little bit with Eric and the kids and then decided they were ready to join their friends.

Before the change into the costume

Rebecca and her pumpkins

A great group of teens

Rebecca's Loot

Carving Pumpkins

Halloween with 4 children is quite an adventure. We started out today with carving pumpkins. I bought each of the children their own pumpkin to carve. They each had a small and large pumpkin. They told me what they wanted on their pumpkin and I drew it out for them. They each had their own carving kit and got busy cleaning out their pumpkins and carving the faces. They went from working on them on the counter top to sitting in the middle of the floor working on them. My kitchen floor had pumpkin seeds and pulp all over it when it was all over. It was well worth it when I saw the smiles on their faces.

Rebecca found a pumpkin plant growing inside of her pumpkin.

Trying hard to get the top off

Starting to carve the face

The mess on my kitchen floor

The front porch

Pumpkin Jars

I love to browse craft sites online. I have been scouring them lately for new halloween ideas. I came across one that looked like fun for the entire family to do. The kids absolutely loved doing it and then seeing them all lit up. Here are a few pictures of our new pumpkins.

Rebecca and Mir Mir making their pumpkins

All lit up on the mantle

What's Happening at the Liles' House

We recently took a trip to Lenoir City, TN to celebrate my dad's 70th birthday. He informed me that I need to update my blog because he doesn't do facebook. Here's to you, Dad.

Life with 4 kids is amazing, a whirlwind, busy, crazy, and so many other words I can't describe. We are enjoying the children. They have definitely changed our world-for the good!! They pretty much go to school, go to after school care, do homework, and attend Rebecca's cheerleading events. We are signing them up for the Upward Bound basketball/cheerleading program at a local church. I think they are excited to get to participate in something.

Rebecca had her first cheer competition this past weekend. It was a very small competition (2 squads in her division). They came in 2nd. It was a great opportunity for the 7th graders to see what a competition is like on a very small scale. It also gave us a chance to see what kinds of improvements we can make. We have 5 more to go. We hope to increase our score each time.

Eric is doing a great job playing Mr. Mom. He picks up the kids most nights and gets them started on homework. I don't know what we would do without him.

I think everything finally caught up with me yesterday. I came down with strep throat. NOT FUN!!

Cheerleading, homework, and kids about sums up our life right now. Sorry there's nothing more exciting to post.

Life Is Good

It has been too long since my last post. A lot has happened in the Liles' house. On August 5th, we were blessed with 3 beautiful foster children. We had been working since March to get them in our home. Doubling our family size has been quite an experience. One that I wouldn't trade for the world.

We were blessed by friends and co-workers that showered us with the necessitates for everyday living with 6 people: laundry detergent, food, toilet paper, paper towels, napkins, games, and gift cards. They helped make our financial transition much easier. Thank you to everyone!!

School started on August 19th. Eric was a trooper taking each of them to their Meet the Teacher night. Because I had to be in my classroom to meet my new little ones, he took one of them at a time to meet their teacher. Everyone at the school was so impressed with Eric. The kids are in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade. They have adjusted nicely and love their teachers. We are having to learn how to balance the homework, but life is good.Rebecca is in the 8th grade this year. I can't believe it. She was excited about school starting and being "The Big Dog" at the school. She and her friends couldn't wait to be able to stay in the cafeteria in the mornings instead of having to wait in the hallway for school to begin. Oh the things that excited them. : )Here she is on her first day of middle school.

Rebecca has been an amazing big sister. She really helps us out with the night time baths and bed time. She loves to play the Wii with them and straighten the girl's hair. The hardest part for her has been having to share dinner "talk" time with them. We still manage to take her and do small little things with just her. I think(know) she likes that special attention.

Rebecca and I have also been VERY busy with cheerleading. We practice 4 days a week. It is

very time consuming for me. I love coaching and the girls. I can't wait to see what this year holds for us as a squad.

Eric's office is doing a management class. He goes in early on Wednesday mornings to learn how to become a better manager. He even has to study at night. It's kind of cute.

We aren't allowed to post photos of the kids on the internet. Sorry about that. Trust me when I say that they are beautiful children and we are enjoying them very much!!

That's it for now. Hopefully it won't be so long between posts next time.