Tuesday, August 15, 2017

January 2017

As usual, January was full of birthday fun. But, before we could start the celebrations, we got to enjoy some beautiful North Carolina snow. For NC, we actually got a decent amount so the kids (big and small) got to enjoy some nice sledding and snow ball fights in our neighborhood.



Thankfully, the snow was gone by the time we needed to leave for our Mason's 5th birthday celebration in Orlando. As much as I was dreading my baby boy turning 5, having that milestone birthday in Disney World seemed to make it a bit easier. We decided to stay on the Disney property this time and stayed at All Star Sports and Mason loved it. After having a fabulous character breakfast at Chef Mickey's we spent Mason's actual birthday in Hollywood Studios and Mason got to experience almost all of the Star Wars attractions. The next day, we visited Animal Kingdom, which was a treat for all of us because even Todd and I had never been there. Our last day of the trip was spent at Magic Kingdom and by the end of the day, we were all exhausted so we probably didn't get as much excitement about that day as we should have. 


With Mickey at Chef Mickey's

Watching the Storm Trooper parade through Hollywood Studios.

He chose a funnel cake for his birthday cake and it was bigger than his head.

Yep, 38 years old and no shame in taking a picture with my favorite guy Goofy.

The kids (with squinty sun faces) in front of the Tree of Life

Meeting Donald Duck at Animal Kingdom.

Obligatory Cinderella's Castle picture at the Magic Kingdom.

After the exhaustion of traveling to Florida, we decided to have a super low key birthday for Aubrey. She had dance on her birthday so we brought cupcakes for her friends to enjoy during class. Afterwards, she got her presents from us and enjoyed some cupcakes at home. Later that weekend, we invited her BFF over for a sleepover, which was one one of the most requested events in our house.  The girls had a blast and made Aubrey's birthday celebration a blast.




As usual, I was happy when January was over. Traveling and 2 birthdays made it an exhausting month so I was ready to get back to some sense of normalcy.

December 2016

We have lots of catching up to do. There has been lots of life going on since I last added to my blog so I just need to jump in and type away.

December as usual was such a busy month. I love the holiday season but there always seems like so much to do and it goes so quickly.

We started off with our Christmas/family pictures. I love getting these pictures every year because I get to see the real difference in the kids over the years and it is amazing.


Aubrey was in her first Christmas show at school and it was....interesting. I think the music teacher had some really high expectations for these 2nd and 3rd graders because this musical was really, really long. But, I have to be proud of Aubrey. Miss I Don't Like To Be In Front Of An Audience auditioned for a role and was given the opportunity for a speaking part. She did a great job. The play was really cute, but just a big dragged out and hard to understand at times.


We made our second journey to Christmas in Davidson and the kids seemed to really enjoy it again. It was pretty cold that night but something about celebrating Christmas just seems to make you forget how cold it is. 

Todd and I riding the trolly to the festivities.


Our next holiday celebration was watching Mason's last preschool Christmas show. Oh, the waterworks that ensued when I realized it was our last preschool Christmas show. This was the 5th time we've watched those cuties sing Christmas songs and it never gets old. 


The kids enjoyed wearing their Christmas jammies to church for Jesus' birthday party. Something about wearing pjs out in public just makes any event better. And add in a birthday party and it just was over the top.


Todd and the kids did the annual trip to Raleigh to visit his family while I went to work. Once they got home, I took the kids off Todd's hands and they built their first gingerbread train. The loved building it, but I had to watch them really closely to make sure they didn't eat all of the decorations.



The kids are really getting into writing the letter to Santa. It is so cute to watch them come up with the "perfect" letter and to watch Mason practice his writing.


Christmas Day was such a fun day. We actually had to wake the kids up to go open presents because we were so excited. After seeing Santa's loot, we did our traditional breakfast at Todd's parents. The kids spent Christmas Day playing with their toys before my parents and sister came over for dinner. Even though there was nothing different about our Christmas, I love the traditions and that the kids anticipate them. 


We spent New Year's Eve with my parents celebrating my mom's birthday. We did some shopping and then Todd grilled some yummy steaks, which was so much better than going out to fight the crowds. After my parents went home, Mason and Todd ended up crashing well before midnight so Aubrey and I brought in the New Year watching the ball drop on tv. It is fun that she is getting so excited about these traditions and I can't wait to see how they develop as she gets older.