~Winter Break~

Hi Friends!

Well....Last week was Noah's official "Winter Break." His school follows the Paulding County school calendar, so lucky us! We got a week off! And, what a fun-filled week it was! It blew in with a blanket of snowy white, and ended with a tease of Spring. Only in Georgia, right? lol!

I was soooo looking forward to this week...sleeping in past 6 a.m.....being a little lazy with the kids, and having Noah follow Sailer & I on some of our fun outings. It was great! Definitely made me look forward to summertime...even if he'll only get 8 short weeks :(

We started the week with a fun family Valentine's get-together at Big Daddy and Dede's house....it was really just an excuse to get the grandkids together, I think :) As always, we had a blast....goofing off, eating, and enjoying everyone's company. This year, we milked Valentine's Day...for sure! It was the perfect excuse to bake (several times!), eat a little more chocolate than usual, and, in Sailer's case....wear our red heart dress twice in one week! :)

Since we've had children, I have to admit....Jason & I skimp on gift-giving for each other......we truly enjoy giving more to the kids, and we receive such great joy from that. But...of course, Jason is known for being sneaky and surprising me....so, I got a surprise delivery a few days before V-Day. It was a giant size print of Noah & Sailer from our beach trip last summer. It is my absolute favorite picture of them together. It's beautiful! And, then, Jason & Noah gave us girls beautiful roses to enjoy as well....we are lucky to have such great men in our lives! Noah was a little sad that boys don't get represented much on Valentine's, so we had to dart out and get him the latest Transformer....ha! Bless his heart...he was completely heartbroken...so we just had to do something!

And...later in the week, we thought it would be fun to coordinate a Valentine's playgroup

(didn't I tell you we were milking V-day this year???) & surprise b-day party for one of my dearest friends, Lindsey. Success! Lindsey didn't suspect a thing! It was so fun! We had the honor of meeting Lindsey last Spring, and we hit if off immediately. We are 2 crazy girly-girls...who share many of the same passions in life....we love the Lord & we love Fashion. lol! Can't get any better than that! And, the best part? Our kids happen to adore each other too! Our girls are 16 days apart, and I think we are currently arranging the marriage of Noah & Charlotte....J/K!

And...one more extra special event for our week....my friend, Sarah's FIRST baby shower....8 of us got together to plan this shower for Sarah & Curtis as they welcome their first born son, Grey, in early Spring. Only 1 or 2 pictures will be shown below of the shower, but you are welcome to follow up on Sarah's blog here to read her story & see pictures from the shower.....they are a very special couple who have waited patiently for the Lord's blessing of a child...and, now, we are beginning to see His plan unfold. It is unbelievable! We cannot wait to meet baby Grey!

Hope you all are have had a great week as well! We are sooooo ready for Spring, aren't you??? Especially b/c my baby girl is turning TWO next month! I can't even believe it! Sailer's b-day invitations were mailed out a few days ago, and it really hit me. She's almost TWO. Can't. Believe. It. The countdown is officially on, and we cannot wait to celebrate at her whimsical fairy party. It's going to be very special! :)

Love to All!

She was so sweet smelling her roses...but, in all honesty, she was WAY more excited about her balloon :)
Checkin' out his new transformer....Optimus Prime...
Mommy's beautiful roses....:)
The kids & I (mainly me, this time) made these Valentine's cupcakes for our family get-together....we (I) love baking sweets!
Haaaa! Well...we tried. This is the best shot of the grandkids....it's hard to keep them still for very long, especially Maddie, since she in on the go these days! This will be a sweet memory though....thank goodness for the heart bracelets Dede got...they kept the girls occupied for a bit...
Laura & Uncle Shane with their latest addition...Mr. Jake Pendley! Such a cutie-pie!
Sailer, Charlotte, Marlee, & Courtney at playgroup at our house....such sweet girls! (Parker & Noah were MIA at this point...)
Our little feast for the kids & Lindsey....for her special 26th birthday!
Singing Happy Birthday!!!!!
Sailer was nuts over Lindsey's balloon....I'm surprised she allowed her to take it home..lol!
Beautiful Lindsey!
Sarah's special shower cake...welcoming baby Grey!
At this point, some of the guest had left, but we tried to get a group shot for Sarah....we had such a great time! Sarah received some amazing gifts!

~Our Winter Utopia~

It snowed!!!!! And, what a beautiful sight it was!!!!! And, for once, it wasn't messy, slushy snow...it was perfect, light, and fluffy!!!! Gorgeous! Although Jason worked on Saturday, he was able to stay home for a few hours to enjoy the snow with us. We rode the Kabota around the property, and took lots of pictures! Below is our home with a blanket of white....

Why is it that every child has to taste snow???
Silly boy!
The most precious girl in the world trying her best to walk through the snow...as you can see, it's easily 2-3 inches here!
Sailer wanted to follow Noah everywhere!

She wasn't loving the snow....especially b/c she fell within 3 minutes of being outside...but, after some TLC from mommy, she was fine to go back out. She's definitely an "indoor, sit by the fire" girl though...lol! :)
A little smile....maybe she is starting to like it????
Not sure daddy.....
Waving to the cars going by....VERY SLOWLY....
Sweet thing!
Noah was soooo happy!!!!



I just love him!!!! And, I LOVE to watch him having SNOW much fun!!!!!

Pretty good snow angel, huh???

Walking out to Big Daddy & Dede's for a snowy breakfast....

What a fun little excursion we had!!!!
My sister-n-law in doggy form...lol! The snow made for one super quick potty break!!!!
These are the trees outlining the lake behind my in-laws house....doesn't this look like a postcard? It was beautiful...and, when the morning sun hit the snow, it sparkled!




My in-laws home....
Our home..again. Sorry...didn't realize this was uploaded twice!
The view directly across the street from our house....We loved the morning sun! It was incredible!!!!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures! I have certainly enjoyed looking at all of yours! Happy Valentine's Day to ALL!!!!!

All Kinds of Busy In 2010!!!

Well Friends....after skimming my last post, which was entitled, "Welcome 2010," I'm not sure I would have welcomed it so enthusiastically if I would have known what 2010 would bring thus far....don't get me wrong, we've been busy in a good way, but we've also had a few "bumps" in the road as well. Unfortunately, Jason & I both got the stomach bug of the season, and the whole fiasco ended up sending me to the ER and putting BOTH of us out of commission for a solid week....luckily, we weren't sick at the same time....the good Lord allowed my bug to go away before Jason started getting sick. It was a nightmare...really! We are so glad to be well again, and even more thankful that our kids didn't get it! What a miracle that is!!!!

Anyway, on another front, Noah has had project after project it seems for school, and let's just say that this next week, which is Winter Break, is much welcomed here! The staff at his school are in full "prepare for kindergarten" mode, which I am super thankful for....even if it makes us all the more busy. Below are an assortment of pictures....some of Noah working on projects, some of Sailer & her buddies playing and crafting, and even a few from the Christmas season (I know...WAAAAAAY late on those!).

Enjoy!!!!!

Noah's Valentine's Shoebox....which is a great way to keep up with all of his goodies and cards received! We had a great time assembling his cards...all 20 of them! His class is huge!

Every Friday is show & tell presentation day....a few Fridays ago, Noah got to share his favorite community helper with the class...of course, it was a Firefighter! He proudly wore his badge, and showed his book!
Although you can't see them here, Sailer was working on a Valentine's Day craft at storytime at the library with Marlee, Charlotte, and Courtney. We had a blast! This girl loves listening to stories, and is very attentive!
Recently, Sailer & Charlotte visited Little Bears....which is a perfect little play place for kids 3 and under. They were so sweet! Here is Charlotte sliding down the slide...super fast! My girl was far too scared...surprisingly...to slide down. Maybe next time...
The girls especially loved the bubble machine!
Always a lover of puzzles....
This picture cracks me up, b/c Charlotte was carrying around a bag of Lays potato chips....silly girl! She cracks me up!!!!
Sailer taking a break to eat some cheese rice cakes...one of her favorite snacks! :)
Noah working on a project for the 100th day of school....for this assignment, each child had to creatively place 100 objects on half of a poster board. We decided to replicate the spider from the book...."The Very Busy Spider," by Eric Cane. Eric Cane is one of our favorite authors, and we had a blast working on this one! His teacher loved it! :)
Getting all of his materials ready!!!!
This picture was taken in mid-December....we had a fun lunch with Lindsey & Charlotte so the girls could exchange Christmas gifts. Charlotte got Sailer a super adorable pink flower handbag and Tinker Bell jewelry! My girl immediately wanted the jewelry on, and she took the handbag, and started struttin' her stuff around the Avenue! She lights up my world...seriously! She is a little mini-me when it comes to loving fashion and jewelry!


And...one last picture....this is such a fun memory! On a whim, Lindsey & I decided to chance taking the girls to see Santa....all was well until it was time to place the girls on his lap...lol! Charlotte was terrified, and Sailer was equally terrified to look at poor Santa! I know we'll be looking back at this next year and laughing!!!! What a fun time! :)