South GA Trip

Last Saturday, we headed down to south GA to see Stephen's side of the family.  We made the 5-hour trek early, made great time, and got there around lunch time!  We saw Stephen's dad and hung around the house, playing games and catching up.  We went to his aunt's house to see her that afternoon.  When we got home, his dad cooked up a feast.  Stephen started feeling bad, even getting a fever that night (!), so the rest of the night consisted of taking care of him and getting the kids (and us!) to bed.

She whooped me.

Sunday morning, Stephen's fever was gone, so we went over to Stephen's cousin Randy's house to see him, his wife, and their 2 little girls.  Poor Randy broke his ankle and had to have surgery, so he is on crutches for about 6 weeks.  We got to hang out with them for a couple of hours before heading back home.  Some more family came to visit that afternoon.  Before we went back to his aunt's house that evening, we went by a little park that has a cool, very old partial train that you can actually get on.  The kids loved it!

Parker and Baby Aubree.

He was so sweet with her!

Parker and Addie Grace.

Sydney wanted to do jumping shots.

Usually the shots we got were of us either starting to jump or landing.

See?

Trampoline fun, before Parker hurt his finger! (which further cements why I never want to get one!)

Monday, we woke up early and headed down to Jacksonville, FL for the day.  Stephen had to meet some clients for work down there, so the kiddos and I tagged along for the trip.  We dropped Stephen off and headed to a nearby mall.  Luckily, the mall wasn't as crazy as I thought it would be, seeing as it was only 4 days before Christmas.  It was definitely not a relaxing trip- trying to keep the 3 kids next to me while every distraction in the world is around them was not easy!- but we managed.  We went to pick Stephen back up, and his client took us up to the top floor of a tall building to see the views.  It was great!  When we made the trip back to south GA, we got ready to go to the Okefenokee Swamp Park to see their lights.  We met up with Randy and his fam again. We got to ride on a real train around the park to see all the lights, we got to see Santa, the kids got to ride on a little train, we saw a live reptile show, and more!  It was fun.  We grabbed Zaxby's on the way home and headed back to hit the hay.  To say we were tired would be an understatement.

Hanging with Mickey at the mall.

It was warm!

The Riverwalk in Jacksonville.

Santa!!

Uncle Randy, Aunt Ashley, Aubree, Addie Grace, and Sydney on the train.

All aboard!

Look at sassy Taylor! 

Tuesday morning, we woke up, ate breakfast, and hit the road!  The trip home took longer than it did coming, but we made it back safely, thank goodness.  It was a fun trip, but there's no place like home!

Christmas programs/parties

Last week at school, Taylor and Parker were busy getting ready for their class Christmas performances.

Parker's performance was on Tuesday, followed by his party (that I had to plan!).  Parker had been practicing his songs at home, and I was looking forward to getting to see him sing them on stage.  Anytime you get a group of 2/3-year-olds together to sing guarantees a smile.  Well, at the actual event, I could see Parker hiding behind his teacher when he walked down the aisle of the chapel to go up front.  I was sitting in the front row, and as he walked by me, he kind of slyly tried to walk to me instead of to the front of the chapel.  His teacher grabbed his hand and took him up front, where he, of course, started crying.  It was so sad.  The whole performance, Parker was either crying or looking miserable.  After walking to me again, I finally took him over by his friends and just had him sit in my lap. When I ask Parker now what he did at his performance, he says, "I cried!"  It was followed by a fun party where there were lots of parents and grandparents, lunch, a book swap, and the teachers' gifts were given.

The stockings the room moms made for the kiddos.

We also made these when we got together- gift card wreaths for each teacher.

Can you spy Parker?

Poor buddy.  It was all downhill from here.

Taylor's class performance was on Thursday.  This time, Stephen was in town and Sydney and Parker were able to come, too.  The two pre-K classes and the KG classes all sang "Jingle Bells" together, and then each class performed their own song.  Taylor's class performed "All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth".  It was adorable!

Hi Taylor!

All classes singing "Jingle Bells" together.

Taylor's class!

Friday was Taylor's class party (again, I had to plan! Ahh!).  It went off without a hitch, thank goodness.  Luckily, for both classes where I'm room mom, the parents are super involved and supportive.  The kids got to eat yummy food, they got a goody bag from their teacher, they did a book swap, and they got to check out early!  I'm not sure what was the best part.  :)

And now... no more school for 18 days!

JOY

They sure do bring me joy!

2012

2013

2014

2015

Gingerbread House

It's time for our (6th) annual making-of-the-gingerbread-house!  This year, we had a nice surprise... we got "socked" (a stocking filled with goodies arrives at your doorstep, and you then pass it on to another unsuspecting neighbor), and normally we get fun little goodies, like candy, small toys for the kids, etc.  However, this year, we got the best sock ever, which included a gingerbread house!  Cha-ching!  That really made this no-longer-working mom feeling very appreciative.

So, once we were socked, the kids couldn't wait to put it together.  Here are some pics!

Besides the gingerbread house, we were given the Grinch movie, a big popcorn bucket, movie-style candy, Nesquick (my kids always rave about our neighbors' "awesome" chocolate milk, so we kind of had an idea who socked us...) and more.

teamwork.

The finished product!

Mountain Living

A girl I grew up with during the summers spent at our mountain house sent me an awesome picture today.  It's a picture of a big majority of the mountain house folk, all dressed up at her wedding.  This picture brought a big smile to my face for a few reasons.

First of all, it's awesome to see everyone dressed up, looking fancy.  Normally, we're wearing tank tops or bathing suits and are soaking wet, either from the lake water or the sweat from the 90 degree weather.  Straight hair does care up there, so you never see it- unless you're one of those lucky ones with perfectly silky straight hair.

Another thing that made me smile was... well, the faces I see.  Almost every person older than me has known me since birth.  Everyone younger than me, I've known since birth.  We have hailed from many states- Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, Delaware, New Jersey, Arkansas- yet everyone makes the point to do summer together in the foothills of the SC mountains.  Kids with whom I played kick-the-can , rafted down the river, played countless games of ball tag in the lake, spend the nights in the clubhouse, lots of card games, and more are now married and have families of their own, and now our kids are friends.  It's pretty cool to have this group of people who aren't technically family feel like they are family.

Anyways, I just had to share.  I don't get up to the mountains as much as I used to be able to- with 3 kids, it's not always easy to make the 3 hour trek- but I am usually able to go up 3-4 times a summer.  My long talks in rocking chairs are now replaced with chasing kids to make sure they don't fall in the lake, but I know that the mountains will get more relaxing again as the kids get older.

It truly is a blessing to have this place to visit and these people in my life.  Thanks, Robin, if you're reading this!!

Master bathroom makeover

So, remember when I re-did our coat closet?  Well, I've struck again... this time with probably our next smallest space... the master toilet room!  Not the whole master bath-  I ain't got no energy for that!  I'm talking about the small room that boasts the toilet.  I've never touched this little room- no paint, no shelves, no pictures- but, after ~10 years, it needed some freshening up.  (no pun intended, people).

And again, I did this on the cheap!  We had a half-gallon left of the gray paint I used in Taylor's room, so I went with that same color.  (It's nice, because it compliments the main room with the shower and tub and all, which is a lighter gray/lavender color).  I repainted the trim with trim paint we had.  I purchased two prints from Etsy for a whopping $2.40, and I used a couple of frames I had on hand to put them in.  Bada bing, bada boom!  In about 4 hours and for $2.40, I was totally done.

Here's before:

Lovely marks on the wall.

Here's after: (the lighting makes some weird blotchy spots on the pics for some reason)

So, what's the next smallest space I can tackle...?

Busy weekend

I felt like we were non-stop this weekend!  I think the kids felt it, too, because they all admitted to being super tired tonight... and Taylor and Parker fell asleep in the car around 6:15 on our way home.
Friday evening, Stephen wasn't flying in until after dinner, so the kids and I ate and then watched Home Alone together, staying up a little later than normal.  Side note: I also came down with a terrible bout of pink eye (of all things!) that was accompanied by a sore throat, cough, and cold.  It's the worst case I've ever had- my eyes were swollen all around both of them, they not only itched but burned.  The doc gave me some antibiotic drops for my eyes, but everything else, she said, is viral.  It's been 5 days and the eye's still not normal, and the other symptoms are still present.  Bleh!  Anywho, this has completely wiped me from all energy.

Home Alone!  (poor Taylor didn't like the burglar parts... I had to reassure her that it was fake)

Saturday morning, our friends invited us to go to Bass Pro Shop with them to see Santa.  We headed there bright and early and got there a little before 9, when it opened.  We were probably 5 families back from the beginning of the line for Santa, and thank goodness we were, because that line got long quickly!  We had to wait there until 10:00, when Santa started seeing the kiddos.  It was good, though, because there were plenty of 4 wheelers/Gators/big fish tanks/stuffed bears/boats/carousels/remote control trains/etc. to keep them busy and entertained.

We ran into Taylor's friend, Hallie!

Watch out!

Before we saw Santa, all 3 kids said they wouldn't cry.  Well... 66.67% of them told the truth.  The one child who burst into tears when walking up?  My Taylor.  Poor thing, she's just like I was.  All big and brave until she sees the jolly ol' fellow himself, in the flesh.  So, I ended up in the picture, with a death grip on me from Taylor.

Taylor is crying off to the side.

Here's our end result- ha!  

After that, we walked around the mall for a while, playing in the Lego store and seeing the fun stores they had.  We ate lunch at the food court and then headed back towards home for a noon birthday party.  This party was at a froyo place, and the kids got to make yogurt concoctions (orange mixed with chocolate with PB chips, gummy bears, and m&ms on top... sure!), eat some snacks, and watch their friend Molly open her presents.

A couple hours later, we headed to CFA for Taylor's birthday party!

Sunday morning, we woke up, went to church, and then came home and played outside.  We met my parents for dinner that evening, getting home around 7 and then doing the nightly routine.  We have a busy week ahead of us, too.  'Tis the season, I suppose!