February Full of Fun

We are finally getting back in to the swing of our regular routine after having the kids home for over a week and then half a week of school last week. This is our first full week of normalcy in a long time. We have had a fun and busy few weeks though. Every time it is nice outside we are trying to enjoy it after being stuck inside for days. 

Here are some highlights from the last week or so…

Aunt Becky got engaged!!!

I got to spend some special time with Sam at a birthday party. The party was at Chuck E. Cheese and he was so excited to get to go with just me. We had a lot of fun playing together.

The kids got to finally see some of their best buddies after a week of being snowed in.

For years we got together with this group of friends at least once a month. Once the big kids started school, it got harder. On President’s day they were all out of school so we hiked the mountain together. It was so fun to have them all back together.

Sam and his buddy Davis bringing up the rear. They were slow but they had fun!

Reese’s first soccer practice of the season. I am excited about this season. She seems really pumped up about it and really liked her coach.

Lance and I celebrated our ninth anniversary. We went to dinner and had a great time hanging out.

Saturday we hosted a baby shower at our house and then went to the Gladiators game that night. It was such a fun game. The players were very feisty so there were fights every few minutes. It was so fun!

This little guy was kind of all over the place. He made it hard to watch the game.

Reese talked Aunt Becky’s ear off for most of the game. We left after the second period so hopefully she got to enjoy the third quarter in peace.

Hayes snuggled up with his buddy Tommy for a long time. He sat still in Tommy’s lap longer than he has ever done for me. It was really sweet.

Sunday we went to early service at church because Reese was invited to a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese at 11:00. I took her to that but it was a much different experience than when I took Sam. She was off playing with her friends and didn’t need me around at all. After the party we cleaned the cars and then headed to the mountain with some friends. Once we worked up an big appetite we went to La Parilla for dinner.

Yesterday was a beautiful (but chilly) day so I took the boys to the park to play with some friends from church.

Today I took Hayes to his first experience with story time at the library near our house. He wasn’t sure what to think but I loved the sweet lady in charge. I am excited to do that with him again. We are so ready for spring so we can enjoy being outside some more!!

Snow Days ~ Again

We had another crazy ice/snow storm again this week. They were saying it was going to be worse than a couple of weeks ago so we were a little nervous. Fortunately for us, it was not worse! When Reese got off the bus Monday the bus driver told us that school had been cancelled for Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday was just a rainy day and Lance was even brave enough to go in to work. This time he packed a change of clothes just in case he got stuck at work. Because the news had been asking people to stay home, his drive home wasn’t too bad that evening.

Wednesday we woke up to just a bit of sleet and ice piled up around the deck and bushes but it continued to sleet most of the day. There was a lull mid day and we went out to check it out. The ice covered everything so we pulled out the sleds. The kids were flying down the driveway.

It was so much fun. Everyone was giggling and laughing. When we first went outside the kids just had their warm hats on. I was so nervous seeing them go down the hills and asked them to put their helmets on. There was a lot of fighting about it. (We saw a news story about several people in the hospital Wednesday night due to head injuries from sledding so finally they understood what I was asking them to do and didn’t fight it Thursday.)

Hayes, once again, loved every minute of it. He enjoyed sledding with me and by himself.

Sam was a dare devil on this sled. He would just dive on to it and fly down the hill. He probably had the most fun out of everyone. I was so glad he got to enjoy it this time.

Reese had a lot of fun until she went right through a puddle of slush and it splashed all over her face. That was her last run for the day. It was so funny but she was not happy! And she was so mad at Lance for taking a picture of her slush covered face.

Wednesday night in to Thursday morning it actually snowed. We woke up to a “Winter Wonderland” as Reese called it. It really was so pretty. Lance took the kids out in it again and they had a lot of fun once again.

He even made a snow man for them.

I have to say, it has been beautiful and fun BUT I am soooo ready for spring!

Donuts With Daddy

Yesterday Sam had “Donuts with Daddy” at school. When I was getting him ready for school I asked him if he wanted to dress like Daddy. He, of course, said yes!

Lance said once they were at school Sam was so shy. He said that Sam wouldn’t even talk to him and barely looked at him. He is so funny when we are at school with him. Sam said he enjoyed having Daddy there and that they got to eat “big donuts”.

So sweet!!

Maaaaa! Mama!

When Hayes can't see me in the house, his new thing to do is walk around yelling "Maaaaaa! Maaaaaa! Mama!" It is so cute to hear.


- Posted from my iPhone

More Snow Fun

Yesterday around 12:30, Lance and the big kids set off on an adventure to go get Lance’s car. We bundled everyone up and off they went.

Hayes and I stayed home in the warm house! I didn’t really want Sam to go because he had been so sick all week but he didn’t have a fever in the morning and seemed to be fine.

It was so funny to see them all walk off through the woods. Lance said Sam was a slow poke and wouldn’t stay with them.

Once they got to the ballpark, the kids ran the bases on the baseball field. Lance said it was pretty because it was untouched…until our kids got there. I think the walk and the run at the park did Sam in because he had a fever the rest of the afternoon. After Lance got home with his car, we took Amy her van back because they didn’t have a car at home. Her husband had abandoned his car and walked the last two miles home. We then went through the CFA drive thru because we just wanted to be out of the house.

This morning I told the kids that this would probably be the last day the snow was here because it was going to warm up this weekend. We decided it would be fun to go and play. This was the first time I had taken Hayes out to play.

Hayes, of course, loved being outside and the snow didn’t phase him at all. He sat it in, walked on it, ate it, and just enjoyed being outside.

I was worried his hands were getting super cold and wet but he accidentally took a glove off and his hand was not too cold or wet.

Sam woke up with no fever again this morning and I am hoping we have turned a corner with him. He was not happy when we first got outside because he couldn’t find his gloves. I told him his hands were going to be really cold if he touched the snow. He said, “I don’t care!” Well, as soon as he did that he started crying that his hands were cold. Reese kindly went inside to get him some socks to put on his hands and he had fun after that.

We made a few snowballs but the snow really didn’t stick and we definitely couldn’t make a snowman.

I think Hayes would play outside even in the pouring down rain, a hurricane, or a huge snow storm.

Reese said, “Let’s take a picture to show the snow.” But you can’t see it in Sam’s hands because of the white socks. Ha!

I am glad they were able to get out in the snow one more time because it will probably be another three years before we see it again!

Snow Exciting

We were so excited Tuesday morning when it started snowing. I had to run to Costco with the boys (Sam was home sick from school) and while we were there the flurries started. On my way home I heard that Reese’s school would be getting out two hours early. When Reese got off the bus at 12:20 the snow was coming down at a nice pace but wasn’t covering much. She was super excited to see the snow and she said they only did snow stuff at school. Once inside I put both boys down for a nap and got a call from my friend, Amy, who was stranded in the front of my neighborhood and was headed to my house in a neighbors truck. She was headed to pick her son up from preschool (the same school Sam goes to). She was able to have someone else pick him up from school and it took that lady four hours to go the five miles there and back! At 1:00 Lance called and said he was headed home. He asked what the roads looked like and I sent him this picture and told him Amy’s story.

At 1:20, only twenty minutes after talking to Lance the first time, I sent him this picture. That is how much snow came down in just that short amount of time.

Since Sam was so sick I wouldn’t let him go outside but Reese couldn’t wait to check it all out. She played for a while by herself. She made a snow angel, spun in circles, tasted some snow, attempted the sled on the driveway, and got really cold.

At one point I had put the boys to bed and Reese was having some girl time with me and Amy, Reese looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, “We shouldn’t have done all of that stuff at school.” When I asked her what she meant she said they did stuff that was going to make it snow but it just made the roads bad so Daddy couldn’t get home. It was heartbreaking and I assured her that only God could make it snow like that and she couldn’t do anything to change it. I think it made her feel better.

Long, long, long story short, Lance didn’t make it home that night and Amy and her baby spent the night with us. After Lance had been in the car for about nine hours, a friend from our old church called him to see where he was because her husband had gotten stuck and had a hotel room. He was at West Paces Ferry and there was no way he was going to make it as far as her husband had. She told him to hold on and she might be able to get him connected with some one she knew. Thankfully he had gotten off the interstate at West Paces Ferry as she called because she had a friend who lived a mile from there. Lance and his carpool buddy were able to park his car and walk a mile to the house. They stayed the night on the floor of the living room on some outdoor furniture cushions because there was a house full of people staying there. I was so happy to have him out of the car and somewhere safe and warm.

This morning Lance decided to attempt the trek home. After talking to a neighbor who had gotten stuck in the same area as Lance he figured they could make it. And they did!! It took them a little over two hours but it was so exciting to see him walk up in the backyard. He had to park his car at the ballpark and walk through the woods because there were no cars that could make it in to the entrance of our neighborhood.

Amy was also able to get home this morning.  A neighbor from her neighborhood offered to come and get her. Unfortunately even in a four wheel drive truck he still couldn’t make it up the first hill in the neighborhood. Thankfully there were some people driving around on their ATV and he asked for their help. They drove to our house and picked her up to take her back to the truck. It was an adventure for sure!!

As Lance was walking up this afternoon, the big kids and I were headed outside to play. Sam only lasted about three minutes because he felt so bad. Reese got in a few trips down the hill on the sled before deciding to go back in too. Oh well!

It definitely hasn’t been the type of snow days we were hoping for but I just kept telling myself it could be so much worse. There were thousands of kids who were stuck at schools because their parents were stuck on the road. I know I would have been a wreck if that was my case so I was so thankful to have all of my kids at home with me.

Braces

For the second time in my life, I got braces put on my teeth today. Hopefully they will only be on for less than a year.



- Posted from my iPhone

Our Long Weekend Fun

We had a fun and busy weekend. It was nice to have Monday with everyone home too. As soon as Reese got off the bus on Friday we started the fun. We got in the car and headed to Sky Zone, an indoor trampoline park. We met a couple of Sam’s friends from class there and the kids had a blast! Sam was super excited to get to do something special with his friends outside of school. The pictures are not so great from my iPhone but you get the idea.

Saturday morning we were up bright and early to take Reese to a cheer camp at KSU. She did this camp last year and couldn’t wait to do it again. Last year she did the dance part of camp but this year she chose to do the cheer part. She said she wanted to do it because they got to do stunts but they ended up not doing stunts. She said she had a lot of fun.

After I dropped Reese off, I came back home to get Sam. I had promised him some alone time. We had breakfast at CFA and then went to spend one of his Christmas gift cards at Target.

After the camp the little kids performed with the cheerleaders and dancers during halftime of the girls basketball game.

Unfortunately I didn’t get to see her perform because that morning Hayes had a fever and was so crabby. He cried for about an hour straight. Finally I changed his diaper while we were sitting on my bed. After I changed him, I let him lay there and rubbed his belly. He eventually fell asleep but only slept for about 45 minutes. A little while later we put him down for a nap and he slept for almost four hours. I had to wake him up because I wanted to check on him. After the game, Reese fell asleep in the car on the way home. When Lance pulled in to the garage he left her in there and she slept for another 30 minutes or so. Once she came inside she laid on the couch and didn’t move again the rest of the day. It turned out she had a fever too.

Sunday morning, Reese, Hayes, and I all stayed home from church. They both woke up fever-free and were feeling much better. We took it easy most of the day while Lance took Sam out for some more alone time after church. I painted Reese’s fingers and toes, played with her hair, she played with mine, and we put bows in Hayes’ hair. Ha! He took another really long nap that afternoon.

Sunday night Lance and I had our first community group meeting with a group from our new church. We have a couple of friends in that group and it was great getting to meet some new people. The kids stayed home with the babysitter and seemed to all enjoy their evening together.

Monday everyone felt great so we got up and moving. It was a beautiful day! We started our morning off with a CFA breakfast (again) and then we went to Academy Sports to buy Reese new soccer cleats, shin guards, and socks. Then we headed home to pack up a lunch so we could go hiking at the mountain.

The big kids did so great. They loved climbing on the rocks.

We hiked all the way to the top. We have never done that before because we always have the stroller and you can’t push it to the top. This time we borrowed a friends backpack carrier for Hayes and it was perfect. He did so great in it.

It really was a gorgeous day. You could see all the way to Atlanta and you could watch airplanes land at the airport near by. We ate our picnic lunch at the top while we took a break.

There were so many people there too! We saw several families that we know on our way back down.

After our hike we let Hayes out in the field to run around and explore. Of course, he loved that but just couldn’t stay away from the stairs near by. Ugh! He is always in to something.

We were so proud of the kids for making it all the way to the top and back. Now we are on the hunt for our own backpack carrier!