January 2016

As always, January was so, so busy for us. As soon as the holidays ended and the kids went back to school, we started birthday season. Somehow, someone gave Mason permission to turn 4! This little guy is growing up on us and becoming such an awesome little man. We celebrated his actual birthday at home with cupcakes and presents.

I love his reaction to getting his Kindle. He was so excited and loves this thing.

For his party, we decided to go with the Sports Connection and it was a hit amongst the 3 and 4 year olds. After this party, he was invited to 4 more Sports Connection parties and loves each and every one. For his party, we chose the bouncy houses and the mini bowling and the kids loved it. 

The weekend after Mason's party was supposed to be Aubrey's birthday party. But instead, we ended up doing this.

The kids did enjoy the snow and missed a few days of snow, including Aubrey's actual birthday. She was devastated to spend her birthday home from school (I'll remind her of that fact in a few years). The roads really weren't that bad to travel near our house, so I took her out to celebrate her birthday to brighten her day. That night, we went out for dinner and then did cake and presents so I think she ended up having a great day, even if she wasn't in school.

Getting her nails done

Opening her American Girl doll that I finally won the battle to buy for her.

Posing with her doll that she named Abby. Story behind the name. Mason has struggled with Aubrey's name since he started talking. He called her "Aubee" for a long time and only recently has he been able to say "Aubwee". R sounds are still hard for him. Aubrey wanted to name her doll something close to Aubrey so when I mentioned Abby and how it was close to what Mason calls her, her face lit up. So, Abby it was.

Finally, the next weekend was beautiful and warm so Aubrey's birthday party could go down. She wanted a dance party this year so we found a dance studio near us that hosts birthday parties. They did a dance routine, some free dance, and some activities with the girls before cake and snacks. It was a great party and Aubrey had a blast spending time with her friends.

Mason had a good time, as well, I think. 

Decorating their "feet art"

As usual, birthdays dominate January for us. But, we also had a lot of football talk going on since our Carolina Panthers eventually made it to the Super Bowl. Even Aubrey, the anti-sports girl, got into the Panthers' spirit so we had a to take a family picture while rocking our Panthers' gear.

So, that was our January. It was a busy, but great month.

Well, hi

My sad little blog. I have had a serious case of life happening over the past 5 months and this little space has been completely neglected. The spring semester of school totally kicked my butt and left zero time for pretty much everything that wasn't essential. So, I have a lot of catching up to do over the next little while. So, I will be adding the past 5 months of our lives to the blog as I can and hope that I remember what's actually happened over that time.

December 2015

There were so many Christmas-related events in December but we did squeeze in some other events in the month.

Aubrey's cheerleading squad wrapped up their season with a party and awards banquet. After all the drama that went along with this season, I was glad to see it end. Aubrey was pretty sad about it ending, but glad football season was over for her. 

The MICS cheerleaders had their mini cheerleading event for K-2 early this year. Aubrey was excited to get to cheer more and they added in stunts that stopped this momma's heart for a few beats.

We also convinced Aubrey to pull her last top tooth that was hanging by a thread and she got many comments about asking for her two top teeth over Christmas.

The last newsworthy event of the month involved every single member of our family being sick. Mason started out with another ear infection. But, after some extra loving and a day of antibiotics, he was back to normal.

The rest of us getting sick was not cute enough to get pictures for. Aubrey, Todd, and I all got a nasty stomach virus the day after Mason's ear infection and it was bad. I honestly don't think I would wish that mess on my worst enemy. Luckily, it all started on a Friday and we were good to go by Sunday. We managed to clean and disinfect our house with a whole can of Lysol after that event because I had no desire to keep that mess in our house. 

For New Year's Eve we let Aubrey stay up to watch the ball drop on tv and I was surprised she managed to be wide open and full of energy until about 11:30. Todd and I were both struggling to keep our eyes open, but we all made it to midnight. It was fun to spend that time with her and I can't wait until the whole family can go out together and do something fun.

So, that was our December. It was such a busy month but still managed to be my favorite of the year. Despite the few days of sickness, it was overall fun and exciting and lots of good memories were made. We can't wait to see what 2016 holds for us!

Christmas 2015

I swear, Christmas just gets better and better every year. As the kids get older, I have more and more fun watching them enjoy the season. They start adding presents to their wish list right after their birthdays and their anticipation is so high all year. As soon as we decorate the house after Thanksgiving, their imaginations are in full gear. We try to balance out the wishes with lots of talk about the reason for Christmas and why its such an important holiday to us. They seem to be understanding Jesus a lot more and getting that we give presents for a reason and that makes my heart happy.

After starting the holiday season with decorating, our next Christmas adventure was going to Christmas in Davidson. I had never heard of this event before, but our nanny works for a chocolate company in Davidson that was set up at the event and she said I should bring the kids up for it. The cute little downtown of Davidson transforms into a Christmas village for a few nights with crafts, horse rides, food, and entertainment. The parking in Davidson is so limited, so they offered shuttle rides in the form of a trolly from satellite locations. Mason was fascinated with the fact we were riding in a trolly. Once we got into Davidson, I quickly realized it was going to be a long night because it was sooooo crowded. Their downtown is really small and it doesn't take much for it to be crowded, so adding in an event makes it nuts. But, the kids seemed to enjoy it and it was nice to get out and spend time together. We ended the evening by watching the live nativity put on by one of the churches and that was great way to get some good discussion in about the reason for Christmas. I hope we can go back next year and I will be a little more prepared to handle the craziness that went along with the event.

Selfie on the trolly ride

Watching the living nativity

After school let out for break, we finally were able to see Santa. Northlake Mall set up the Santa experience a little different this year. You had to book the event in advance and pay up front. I was a little put off by the cost, but once we got there and it started, it was totally worth it. It had a Shrek theme and we got to ride in a virtual sleigh, get a pilot's license, and then end with a visit to Santa. Mason wasn't the most cooperative with Santa at first, but he finally warmed up and we got a great picture of them. 

Our next holiday event was walking through the lights at McAdenville. I love sharing this with the kids every year since I grew up just a few miles from McAdenville. They look forward to seeing all the lights and getting hot chocolate to warm up. We did it for the first time this year with no stroller and that was a mistake. Mason started complaining about being tired 1/4 of the way in and that went on the rest of the night.  It is so neat to see how much the town has changed over the years but still looks the same in many ways. We took a break about halfway through and ate dinner at the little restaurant in their downtown. The kids were able to get their hot chocolate and we made the trip back to the car. It was another nice night that I am glad we got to spend together.

The kids with Santa and an elf in front of the lake

After that fun, Todd and the kids took off to Raleigh to visit his family for Christmas. I had to work and stay home with the dogs so I got to enjoy 4 days by myself, which was a nice treat. Todd and the kids had a blast and were all spoiled before coming home Christmas Eve.

Once the kids got home on Christmas Eve, I planned some fun activities with them to give Todd a break. I bought and assembled our first gingerbread house and the kids had a blast decorating it.

After decorating the gingerbread house, we baked cookies for Santa. The kids love to help me in the kitchen and this was no exception.

Right before bedtime I let the kids open their presents from each other and then we set out treats for Santa and the reindeer. We ended the night by reading Twas The Night Before Christmas. The kids didn't seem to interested in the poem, but its one of my favorites and I hope they grow to love it.

Christmas morning the kids actually slept until we woke them up at 7:30. They tore through their presents and the squeals of happiness as they check out their toys never gets old.

First view of their haul

First view of their gifts from Todd and me

Checking out their scooter and bike

After we finished at our house, we drove to Todd's parents' house for family time and breakfast. The kids were given handmade bows and arrows and they were instantly hooked.

We came home and let the kids enjoy their new toys outside.

We wrapped up the night with my family and dinner at our house.

So, I would say Christmas was nothing but awesome this year. I am sad that the season is over, but excited the kids enjoyed it so much. It really is true that Christmas as a parent is even better than Christmas as a kid. 

Let's play catch up...AKA October and November 2015

So, I am only 2 months behind right now. I guess that's not too terrible. The last 2 months have been full of activity and life. I hope I can get all the details added in because I don't remember many of them now, let alone what I will remember in the future.

So, October. We finally settled into the back-to-school routine and it made life go by so quickly. Our days were a blur of school, dance, cheer, soccer, and repeat. 

We did get to squeeze in our usual trip to Hodge's Farm to pick our family pumpkins. We've gone every year since Aubrey was a baby and I look forward to watching them explore every year. However, some jerk kids in our neighborhood had to break the kids hearts by stealing our pumpkins right out of our front yard. I'm a firm believer in karma and know they will get what they deserve, but it was still hard to explain that to my kids the next morning.

I did buy the kids new pompkins later at the grocery store so they would have something to decorate.

After a lot of rain this month, Mason was able to finish out his 2nd season of soccer. I swear 3-year olds playing soccer has to be one of the cutest things ever.

Halloween was so much fun this year. Mason has gotten into Star Wars this year and has wanted to be Darth Vader most of the year. We begged and pleaded with Aubrey to be Princess Leia, but just like Mason's first Halloween, she refused to play into the family roles. So, Mason was Darth Vader, Todd revived his role as Luke Skywalker, and Aubrey was Strawberry Shortcake. It was nice to see her in such a different costume. I love the princesses and all, but seeing her choose a non-princess costume was nice. We trick-o-treated with several other families and the kids pulled in some serious candy. For 2 weeks after Halloween, Mason kept asking when it would be time to dress up for Halloween again. Poor kid still has no concept of time, but its rather cute to see him so excited about it.

November was slightly less busy for us. Our biggest event was hosting family Thanksgiving at our house. I love having Thanksgiving at our house every year. I love having people over and I love not having to travel so it makes perfect sense to host it here. This year Todd fried our turkey for the first time and it turned out so good. I was initially a little nervous, but Todd did a great job and no limbs or house were harmed in the process. We also got to meet my cousin's 4 week old son and my kids were so excited. Mason loved holding him and got mad when someone else held him other than him. It was took cute.

In other exciting news, Aubery lost 2 more teeth this month. The dentist told us she had 4 loose teeth and we were expecting them to come out quickly. 

We bought a fire pit for our backyard and the kids were so excited to roast marshmallows in their own backyard.

The day after Thanksgiving we went out to find our Christmas tree and decorate our house. After the tree was up and decorated, the kids had their usual hot chocolate and commentated while Todd and I decorated the house. We ended the evening by reading the Elf on the Shelf since Buddy the Elf made his long trip to our house the night before. 

So, that was the last 2 months in brief. Before we know it Christmas and New Year's will be here and I can't wait to see the fun we have then.