GO Pink Pacers..Walk on....

The Avon Walk is this weekend in Charlotte. Dave and I are going to Volunteer for the event. I am excited and ready! Here is the history of my team!

For many years, I had seen advertisements for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. It was something that always caught my eye and would always make me think. I knew in the back of my mind that this was something I might do. In 2006, one of my Sweet Briar friends sent me a fundraising letter for the Avon Walk. It had been years since I had thought about it and decided to look into it further. I was excited to see that it was now in a place near me, Charlotte NC! I immediately told myself I am doing it! I started training and figured this would be something that I would be doing by myself. I had a 5 month old and a 3 year old and still felt that I had to do this. In retrospect, it may not have been the best timing!

In August, before the October walk, I ran into one of my neighbors. She was a fellow Women's college alum and a new breast cancer survivor. I asked Anne if she wanted to walk in the Avon Walk with me and she immediately said yes! I was so excited to have a partner in this and it was even more amazing that she was a survivor. I was honored to be able to do this with her. Anne and I bonded...We trained together, laughed together and cried together. We went to the walk and were truly blown away by the experience. We raised $6,000 and walked away fulfilled. At this time, Anne was a 3 year Breast Cancer survivor walking with me in a 40 mile walk. She was my rock!

After we got home we decided to start a team! Anne and I were able to get 11 team members to join us the next year! We were officially called The PINK PACERS! I loved having a team! We had an amazing time and once again..we were changed! The Pink Pacers were amazing in the fundraising and we reached $34,000! I was in AWE of what we had accomplished! We were 4th place for Charlotte Walkers in fundraising! I was nothing short of proud. This time, Anne was a 4 year Breast Cancer survivor!

In 2008 we are at it again! Half of us are walking and half of us are Crewing! The half of us that are walking have raised almost $27,000. AMAZING! The other half of us are volunteering and manning a Rest Stop. Our theme is the Breast of the 80s and I am ready to go! I am so excited to cheer these men and women on! We are at mile 17 and I know that is a huge rest stop because you start to get tired around that time. I am ready to go! Anne is a FIVE YEAR Breast Cancer survivor!

In 2009, I am in the process of starting another team for the DC walk in May! My goals are set high and I hope that we are as much of a success as we have been in the past! The Pink Pacers Walk ON and I am so honored and proud to be a part of this amazing group. That one decision that I made 3 years ago has changed me. I am finally doing something that is bigger then me and not about me. I am pushing myself to take it one step further then I ever thought I could. I am not done and I will WALK ON....

The Pink Pacers have raised upwards of $67,000 since we started in 2006.

2006
Anne Neeley
Katy Gilliam

2007 Pink Pacers Team
Anne Neeley
Katy Gilliam
Allison Paul
Mary Stillman
Brooke Bowersox
Mary Lloyd Preble
Wendy Woodall
Kathy Del Pizzo
Suzie McGuinn
Mike Stanaway
Pavita Derebail
Gina Wesanko
Karen Kelce

2008 Pink Pacers / Crew
Anne Neeley
Katy Gilliam
Carolyn Back
Rachel Bearman
Christen Borrello
Paul Borrello
Dave Gilliam
Susan Egnoto
Carter Gray
Julie Harris
Leslie Henson
Steve McGuinn
Suzie McGuinn
Carolyn Morris
Mary Loyd Preble
Bryna Rapp
Anne Marie Schneider
Mike Stanaway
Robin Stanaway
Patty Wild
Michelle Young
* Mary Stillman - injured and deferring to the DC walk in 2009

Dave's birthday and field trip!

We have had an awesome week. It has been crazy busy and cray fun! Yesterday the kids decided that they wanted to celebrate Dave's Birthday early. The first picture is from that fun celebration. The next picture is Anna's first experience with a camera. It is a bit blurry but she did make my face look leaner! Good job Anna!

The next pictures are from Scott's field trip to the pumpkin patch today. We had such a great time. Lilly's mom and I went with the class and loved getting to know his teachers. He is so lucky this year to have such awesome teachers. We LOVE Scroggs! Mrs. Edmonds is Scott's lead teacher and she is on the better end of breast cancer. She found out in May that she had BC and started Chemo 10 days later and continued through the summer. She came back to school for the new school year and was only with our kids for 8 days before she had to leave for a double mastectomy (sp). We are so excited that after 1 1/2 months, she is back for the year. This was her first week back and it was such a nice day getting to know her. We were also lucky enough to have her husband with us. I think I have convinced him to walk in the Avon walk with me in May. I also may have recruited a few more team members as well. All in all, I call that a fantastic day!

Dave and I are gearing up for the Avon walk next week. We will be volunteering and are excited and ready to go!

Will's Birthday AND yard work!

Here Dave and I are looking super fantastic! We have been planting to try and get our yard looking somewhat cozy! I think we are on our way and I am so excited. I want it to have a cottage-like feel and hope some day it will get there! Maybe after a few more sweat sessions like the one you see in this picture!
Aww, Molly and Scott! These two have known each other since they were born. Leigh and I use to switch off every week with the children. I would take Molly one week and she would take Scott the next. They are so cute! I hope that they are able to know each other for the rest of their lives. They may not be at the same school or have the same friends but when they are together they are like family. They are also pretty darn cute, huh?

We love Jess! Jess was our neighbor in Garrett Farms and was Scott and Anna's babysitter since they were born. She is not at Meredith College so we are doing our best "Women's College pose" for the pictures!
Here Scott is at Will's 3rd bday party. It was the coolest party! Leigh and Jeff got a HUGE dump truck to come and it was really neat. I am not sure anyone could top something like that. I was shocked to see Scott ask to get back in it!!!!!!!! Who knew??????

Planting day again! Our weekend was just jam packed with 2 birthday parties and landscaping! Scott loved to chop up the red clay in with the planting soil! He was the best dirt/clay chopper around!

Super fun weekend full of Birthdays!

Here is Anna before we left for Max's 5th bday party riding Maizie's bike! She looks so big on it! We hope she will get one from Santa for Christmas. I believe this girl is ready!
Here are Scott and Max at Kidzu for his birthday party! It was so fun! the boys were building something here and having a blast. We must go back again soon!
Here is sweet Atlee after her brother's birthday cake! I think that she might have enjoyed it..right?
I think these girls are trouble in years to come! Atlee is 21 months, Anna is almost 3 and Laura is 2 1/2!
Look at cutie pie Atlee ready to fight fires! The safety goggles are the BEST! You can't fight fires without safety goggles!

Max is 5 and we had a blast!

Today was a fun filled day full of no naps, the mall, the plant store and Max's big 5 birthday party! We had so much fun! This was Anna and I trying to start the day out with a self portrait. Needless to say, Mommy has a big head in this picture! It is a silly picture but I had to share!


Here is one of the hundreds of pictures we took of Anna! She loves to look up and the sky and give the biggest cheesiest grin she can! It is super cute but I do not like the "up the nose" shot when the picture is taken! We were shoing off her adorable Halloween outfit that we wore today to kick of the season! We are so excited! We asked Anna what she was going to be for Halloween this year and she said "a tutu!" We laughed! When the weather is nice (which it is often) we get to go in the alley and ride bikes and play with our awesome neighbors! We LOVE where we live! It is so much fun and we are surrounded by such amazing friends! Below is Anna riding Maizie's Bike! We tend to switch riding toys around like hotcakes! We are always trading while playing!
Here is a picture of one of my favorite little 1 year olds! Atlee is dressed in her finest firefighter uniform with protecting eye wear in case of emergency. You never know when Kidzu needs a miniature firefighter to help out! Atlee was dressed and ready! We were at Max's 5th birthday having the best time! Scott and Anna could have stayed there forever. They had great friends and FUN toys! I think we will be next in line to get a membership there. It is awesome!
Here are the crazy girls!!!!!!!!! Atlee, Anna and Laura are buddies and have so much fun together! Girlfriends are the best..aren't they! Lucky for them, I love their parents as much as they love each other! Ahhh, it is a good life! ;)

Tonight when the kids crashed in their beds..Scott asked Dave the cutest question.

Scott: "Daddy, is today Wednesday?"

Dave: "No son, today is Friday and tomorrow you don't have school."

Scott: "I wish we had school on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday AND Saturday."

Dave: "Sorry, we only have school during the week. Tomorrow is a day off!"

Scott: "I love Kindergarten. I want to go all the time."

I have no memory of loving school as much as Scott does. He comes home every day with cute new facts and new things that he has learned. I honestly think he loves it more and more each day. The more he goes the more he LOVES it! What a fun life he is leading right now. He loves learning and has great friends. Our kids are having so much fun! Thank goodness I am writing all of this down so in the future when they blame me for their "miserable" childhoods..I have proof that they had fun! I have it documented! Ha! :)

Another day at the Gilliams

I love that Scott loves school SO much! Last night when I was putting him to bed he said "I need to go to sleep because I GET TO GO TO KINDERGARTEN TOMORROW!" He is excited every morning to walk with Daddy to the school. What a fun thing to watch! I am not sure I ever was that excited about school. Even when I was in Kindergarten! I hope he continues to love school this much for the rest of his life.
Anna is just not getting into the fun of dressing up! This is so fun to watch. Here you can see she has picked out her baby tutu along with her fanshionable pumps accentuated with a princess hat and wand! I think she forgot her undergarments for this sweet costume! Who needs underwear any way????

Scott decided that he wanted to make patterns with his beads. This was great because it allowed me time to get dinner ready! We had yummy BBQ chicken! I just thought he looked cute so I had to take a picture.

We are excited because tonight we will be going to Max's 5th birthday party at Kidzu! Scott and Anna can not wait. We are also going to Will Furmen's party at Garrett Farms tomorrow. We are excited to go back to the old neighborhood and see our friends! We are also going to be planting in the backyard to try and get it to look more cozy! It is getting better and better each week. The weather is finally Fall-like and we LOVE it! I think Daisy does too. she never comes inside. I am not sure if that is because she thinks we are all crazy or because she loves being in that awesome weather!

Asheboro

We went to Ashboro this week for Grandmother's funeral. It was a beautiful ceremony and Dad did a fantastic job singing. He sang "Morning has Broken" and "Abide with me." He was better then I have ever heard him. It was very sad but beautiful. Here are the pictures from our day celebrating Grandmother. The children were perfect! I am so proud of them. The loved going and staying at the hotel with the cousins. They got to swim in the pool and run up and down the halls! We also took them to Sir Pizza. Sir Pizza is a place that Grandmom use to take us when we were little. The kids loved the square pieces of pizza. They had a blast. Below are the pictures from the trip! The last picture is a picture of the Acme McCrary area. Acme McCrary is our family hosery that is located in Asheboro. My mother is a McCrary and her Father-in-law started this company. Luckily we make Spanx now! That has helped boost the sale of hosery in a non-hose wearing time! YAY Spanx!

Anyway, we are thankful that Grandmother is in a better place. She was such a vibrant and wonderful Grandmother. I am relieved that she went in a pretty fast manor. That is what she wanted. I love and miss you Grandmom. (Sept. 26th)

Walker and John are 9
Scott is 5
Anna is almost 3!
Sallie is 5 1/2
Bobby is 4 1/2
Caroline is 2