Elf on the Shelf??

A few years ago I heard about the "Elf on the Shelf". It's a toy elf that you leave around the house and he "watches" during the day and reports to Santa at night if the kids have been good or bad. You move him around every day for effect. Anyway, I thought the idea sounded cute, so I mentioned it to Sam. He was all excited about having a visiting elf until bedtime when it seemed to really freak him out. Mike had to make a "phone call" to Santa cancelling the elf request. A few friends of ours have the elf this year, so I mentioned it to Sam again thinking maybe he'd be more into the idea now that he's older. Just like last time he was keen on the idea and just like last time, he started freaking out at bedtime. And just like last time, we had to call Santa again! It's so funny the things that excite and scare them. So no elf on the shelf for this family!

We drove around and looked at lights with the kids tonight. They loved it and got so excited at some of the houses. At one point Sam said he would cry they were so pretty! And Abby just got giddy. We are finishing up the night with the Dora Christmas movie. I love these family times!

On my last post I mentioned the chocolate advent calendar. Abby has a new love this week. That's right...chocolate! We had to call Grandma and get an extra and now she comes running into the kitchen to find the right number and get her piece of chocolate. She still has some progress to make though. Mike offered her a Hershey Kiss today and she turned it down. Apparently she only loves advent calendar chocolate! Me, I'd rather have a Kiss any day! :)

December has finally arrived! We (especially the kids) have been anxiously awaiting this day. Sam came running into our room at (gasp!) 5:30ish this morning telling us that today was the day he could start getting chocolates from his advent calendar. Every year my Mom gets him one and he loves getting a piece of chocolate (usually first thing in the morning) and counting down the days to Christmas. Sam was very concerned about Abby not having her own this morning, but since she doesn't eat chocolate, Mom didn't get her one this year. Once Abby assured him it was fine, he opened up his first window this morning. I think it's sweet he was looking out for his little sister. Or maybe, knowing she doesn't touch the stuff, he was hoping he could get hers! Anyway, the countdown has begun!

I wanted to find a way to really get them into the spirit of Christmas this year. Something simple they can do every day to remind them of Christ. I came up with the idea of 25 Days of Service. There was a great story in the Friend magazine this month about a boy who fills a little manger with hay for each act of service he did. This was the perfect story to introduce my idea. Instead of a manger with hay, we're going to make a paper chain and each link will represent an act of service. I hope to have a very long paper chain. Sam and Abby were both very excited about it and our chain already has 5 links! They were pretty funny about it. Sam would drop a chip on the floor and say, "Oh no! I dropped my chip!" And Abby would pick it up like it was some huge act and they'd tell me they needed a link. I appreciate their enthusiasm and I hope it continues.

Come what may and love it.

I taught YW today and I used a talk by Elder Worthlin, "Come what may and love it". I think this was more for me than the girls. Funny how often that is the case. I've been trying super hard lately to be more patient with my children. Really, I've just been trying not to yell as much. This really helped to put things into perspective and I'm really going to try to make this my new thing. We can't control what happens, but we can control how we react to what happens. This is also good since we've really been trying to reinforce this concept for Sam.

I've thought on this a lot the last few weeks. I'm no longer teaching pre-school. They called me one day and said they didn't need me anymore. I've never been let go from a job, so this was a little hard for me to come to terms with. It was because I had done anything, I just became a victim of "restructuring". I've gotten used to having more free time and am trying to use it for good things. Oddly enough, I got a call last week from the bank where I used to work with an offer to work a little through the holidays. What a blessing and I can truly see God's hand in this. It's much more money than I would have made at pre-school and had a been working there still, I would not have been available for it. And, I'm getting used to slowing down a bit and having more time for myself. It was very weird the first day Sam and Abby were both gone, but I am quickly getting used to it!

Anyway, on to our recent activities. We were so fortunate to be able to spend a weekend in Johnson City, TN over Halloween weekend to attend a reception for my cousin, Matt who recently married a really sweet girl from that area. It was a beautiful drive up there through the mountains with all the fall colors. We stayed in Johnson City at the Carnegie Hotel. This was our first time in a hotel with our children. They did well except for waking up at the crack of dawn. Sam, in fact, cried when we got home because he missed the hotel and wished we lived there! It was a really pretty area. Most of our time was spent in Jonesborough. It was such a cute little town. They had the little main street all decorated for fall with huge pots of mums, hay bales, and scarecrows lining the streets. The reception was lovely with a delicious dinner and dancing. Most of all we had a great time visiting with family we haven't seen in a while. My aunt & uncle and cousins as well as my brother and his wife. Sam and Abby thoroughly enjoyed their time with Uncle Caleb and Aunt Taylee. All in all a very fun weekend.

We also took a trip to Charleston in October to spend the weekend with Mike's mom while he went to some Phish concerts with his buddies. We went to Boone Hall Plantation to pick out pumpkins and then spent some time on the Battery in Charleston and had lunch at Hymans. We even took a quick ride over to The Citadel to show the kids where Mike went to college. It was so nice to spend a day together as a family.

We also hosted our first ever Halloween party. Since we weren't home for Halloween & trick or treating, I told Sam and Abby we would have a party at the house so they could wear their costumes. They each got to invite a few friends and we had the party in the back yard. We had two pinatas, mummy dogs for dinner, a giant spider web cookie, eyeball donuts, and fun games like pin the nose on the pumpkin and mummy wrap, where you wrap yourself like a mummy with toilet paper. Of course, the pinatas were the highlight. And also very hard to break. So much so, that Mike finally had to pick it up and toss it in the air and hit with the bat like you would a baseball. That finally did the trick. I think the kids all had a fun time. Maybe we'll do it again next year. Maybe. :)

Yesterday we spent the day cooking a pig. One of Mike's customers was kind enough to shoot a pig last weekend and gave it to us! It was almost like having a 3rd child this week! Since we didn't have the freezer or fridge space for such a huge amount of meat, we had to keep it in a cooler on ice all week. We borrowed one of those gigantic barrel grill cooker things and Mike spent the day cooking it. We invited several of our neighbors and some family and had a big ol' tasty pig pickin'. It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun, and we managed to get rid of most of it.

The highlight of the day was, of course, South Carolina's win over the Florida Gators to win the SEC East. Two things which the Gamecocks hadn't ever done. As you can imagine, we are most excited about this and Mike is working to get tickets to the SEC Championship game in Atlanta. Go Gamecocks!

Bring on Fall!!

Well, we are now into the school routine (I think!). Sam is really enjoying kindergarten. I am so pleased he is making friends, although not fast enough for his taste based on our conversation this morning. He apparently feels like he should already be great friends with everyone in his class. I assured him that as each week goes by, he will get to know all the kids better. I love that he has that attitude - that he wants to be friends with everyone. That's just how he is - such a sweetie!

He started his first karate class today. They offer it as an after school program at his school one day a week. I was able to watch for the last 10 minutes and it was cute to see him. He definitely has a lot of room to improve, but he loved it and is enthusiastic! Abby even enjoyed watching and was doing the different poses right along with the class. Too cute!

Abby and I start back to preschool tomorrow, so life will really be crazy! She is going to be in the 3 year old class and I will be teaching the "older babies". We have 4 kids who will be turning 1 within the first few months of school starting.

I'm really looking forward to the school year, but a bit sad about losing some of my free time. I've really enjoyed being able to go the Y this summer to work out. That will be a bit more difficult now, but I feel like I'll be able to get in 1 or 2 Zumba classes and hopefully some weightlifting still. It will just take more planning.

Football season is in full swing. The Gamecocks played their first game last week, so our Saturdays will be occupied for the next few months with football and we'll see even less of Mike than we normally do! :)

And we're just hoping the cool fall weather will come have a nice long visit with us. I am so over this hot & humid summer weather. Bring on Fall!

Back to School

Sam started kindergarten last week. He was a little nervous in the days leading up to the 19th, but when he woke up that morning, he was ready to go! I think I was more nervous than he was.

The day before the first day, I took the kids to McDonalds for an ice cream cone and play time. We met some friends who have a daughter who was also starting kindergarten. Sam and Abby enjoyed their ice cream and had a great time on the playground. (thank goodness for the coolness of the playroom on a hot day!)

That night for dinner we had pizza and did a little back to school party for Sam. It wasn't anything fancy - I just tried to make the table a little more festive than normal. I think he liked it because when he came to the table, he had a big smile on his face and said, "I can't believe this is all for me!" I think we'll have to make this a family tradition.

The morning of the first day went really smoothly. We had my Mom come over to stay with Abby so we'd be able to focus on Sam at school. I was feeling pretty good and even thinking I might get through the morning without crying. We got to the school and were walking in and one of the administrators welcomed Sam and he said so proudly and excitedly, "I'm going to Kindergarten!" That's when my tears started. I was just so proud of him! My little guy was going to school and he was ready and excited. It was what we had been preparing him for. I pulled myself together and got him settled in his classroom. He walked right in and made himself at home. I think he would have been just fine without a good-bye kiss and hug from us. Thankfully, they were having a Boo Hoo Breakfast in the media center for the kindergarten parents. We stopped there so I could wipe my tears.

That first day was pretty tough. I had no idea what the routine for his day was or when he had lunch or anything! I found myself thinking about him wondering what he was doing and then I'd start missing him, so then I'd try not to think about him and would then feel guilty for not thinking about him! It was a tormented day for me! I was about to crawl out of my skin while waiting in the line of cars that afternoon. I don't remember ever being so anxious to see him!

Then I got worried that he wouldn't want to tell me about his day. I was so happy when he jumped in the car and was talking a mile a minute sharing his day with us!

So today, we finished up day 4 and he seems to be adjusting really well. I'm so proud of him and so happy that he loves school and his teacher.

Happy Anniversary

Mike and I celebrated our 11th anniversary on August 5th. Well, we didn't actually celebrate that day, but that's the date anyway. The 5th happened to be the night of Sam's kindergarten orientation meeting, so that took priority. To celebrate, we took the kids to my Mom & Dad's for the weekend. We pretty much do this every year on our anniversary. It's fun for us and fun for them.

This year we decided to head up to Charlotte. We took in a movie here Friday night. Mike chose Dinner for Schmucks. It was funny at times, but the overall story line was kind of dumb. Definitely not worth the $20 it cost to get in. Come to think of it, not many movies are worth the price of admission anymore!

Anyway, we got up Saturday morning around 8 (which is sleeping in for us - the kids are usually up at 6) and left for Charlotte around 10:30. We stopped at a Ruby Tuesday for lunch in Rock Hill on our way up and headed for Concord Mills Outlet Mall. Mike's not usually much of a shopper, but I think he had a good time. We found some good deals and he got 2 new pairs of shoes, couple pants, and 4 shirts from Polo. He did pretty well!

We headed back to the hotel around 4. Our crazy GPS took us what had to have been the long way, but we did get to see a lot of Charlotte and about every red light on the way! The hotel was nice and we rested for a bit and then got ready for dinner. Every couple of years Mike likes to splurge and go out to a really nice dinner. We debated over which restaurant to go to and decided on Sullivans. We went to one in Denver with his parents once and it was really good, so we thought we'd try it again and we were not disappointed! Our server was so friendly and down to earth, not stiff and uppity like you often get in nice restaurants. We had an amazing fried calamari appetizer - the BEST I've ever had, steaks, au gratin potatoes, asparagus, and a slice of key lime pie for dessert. They even comped the dessert when they found out it was our anniversary. As you can imagine we were stuffed when we walked out and had enough leftovers for lunch the next day!

It was so nice to sleep in again on Sunday. Overall, it was just fun to reconnect with Mike. We often get so busy in our daily lives, that we don't get to just hang out and have an uninterrupted conversation. I can't believe it's been 11 years! Time sure does fly, especially since having children. I love him more now than I did then and look forward to spending forever with him!

Happy Anniversary Babe!

Growing Up

Ok, I know - it has been just about 2 months since my last posting. That tells you what a busy summer we've had! I am working on a post that will recap our entire summer.

This morning I took Sam to his elementary school for his kindergarten screening. He was a little nervous (or so he said), but sure didn't show it! He walked right in and made himself at home. I wish, wish, wish I could have been a fly on the wall! I can't get him to really tell me what she asked him, but I think its general stuff like does he know his name, address, birthdate, the alphabet, numbers, etc. I was sure he'd do fine and he did!

It just has me thinking today, how did the little baby I once held in my arms, suddenly get to be old enough to go to Kindergarten? When did this happen? As I looked at him in the mirror this morning while we were brushing his teeth, I suddeny saw him in a whole new light. He is no longer a baby, toddler, or even preschooler. He looks like a kindergartener!

I love both of my children equally. My whole heart belongs to each of them, I just love them differently. Sam is such a good, sweet, smart and fun loving boy. We are so blessed to have him in our family. I thank my Heavenly Father every day for the gift that he is to me. I really feel so unworthy to be the Mom of one of His sweetest little spirits. We often hear from people that Sam is a joy or a delight. Just yesterday someone told me he was a treat. I love that other people can see his enthusiasm for life. And I hope beyond hope, that his is always the case.

I think Abby and I will be sending a piece of our hearts to school with him each day. I hope he knows how much we love him and how proud we are of him!

Vacation, how I love thee

Can I just say that I love, love, love a good vacation with my family? We are so lucky that Mike's Mom, Dianne, lives at the beach. We pretty much spend a week at Isle of Palms every year around Memorial Day with her. Her condo is in Wild Dunes right on the beach and with a pool.

This year we got there on Friday evening. The kids had McDonalds in the car for dinner and were way excited about their Shrek Happy Meal toys. (that may well be one of the highlights of the trip for them - collecting 3 new Shrek toys!) Mike helped us get unloaded and settled in and then he left us to go deep sea fishing for 2 days. His group was leaving at 4 am on Saturday so he left to spend the night with the friends he was going with. I got a text from him at 4:44 am on Saturday saying they had just crossed under the Ravenel Bridge. I was a bit nervous about him going 60 miles out on the ocean, but he assured me the guy who has in charge really knew what he was doing. He finally rejoined us early Monday morning having caught a ton of Mahi Mahi. He brought home several gallon bags full for us to freeze. We made Mahi nuggets one night for the kids and they really liked them. I'm not a big fish eater, but those and the grilled filets we had were delicious! This was something he had been wanting to do for quite a while, so I'm glad he got to do it. And thank goodness for Dramamine - he didn't even get seasick!

While he was out on the open seas, the kids, Dianne, and I set our sights on the pool. This was the first time we had been to a pool this year, but Sam and Abby were like fish to water. They got their floaties and hopped right in. Before long they were both jumping to me from the side and having a blast. They totally wore themselves out. Sam was even asking me if we could go home - you know he's tired when that happens!

We went to the beach for a few hours on Sunday so they could play in the waves. Abby couldn't quite decide if she wanted to stay in the water or collect sea shells. She was back and forth and squealing every time the water hit her. She was pretty funny. Sam was totally dedicated to the waves. He had his little board and spent his time "surfing" or jumping in the waves. I'm really proud of him. He is so outgoing and friendly and made a friend at the pool and the beach. I love that he can do that!

Tuesday we decided to go to the water park, Whirlin' Waters. It was an over cast day but we hoped for the best. We had been there about 10 minutes when it started raining and thundering & lightening. So we hunkered under a covered area for 1 hour when we were able to get a pass to come back. As a consolation, we took the kids to McDonalds again and Sam got the Donkey from Shrek, which he had really been wanting. We tried again Wednesday with much better luck. It was a beautiful sunny day and thankfully not crowded at all. We all had such a great time!

They had this giant tree house with several levels and things to run through with water falling every where. There was a giant bucket at the very top that constantly fills with water and then tips over dumping water out. We were very careful to avoid the dumping area. Sam loved the tree house. It had 4 different slides and he and I tried them all out. There was a toddler area for Abby with sprinklers and slides for her. She thought the slides looked like fun but chickened out when we got to them. Her favorite things were the lazy river and the wave pool "when the waves were off". Sam and Daddy enjoyed the wave pool with the waves on. Sam and Mike climbed to the top of a very tall water slide (like the huge kind at the fair). Sam got nervous at the top and decided he didn't want to slide down after all. Mike went down and then Sam got brave. He and I (who wasn't feeling so brave) climbed back up and went down. Turns out it was a lot of fun, so we went a few more times. All in all, it was a great day and so much fun to be together as a family. It's not often we get to do that and we all enjoyed it.

We returned home around 7 pm on Thursday to a freshly cleaned house. My sweet friend cleaned my house for me while we were gone as a thank you for helping out with her son. I've never had someone clean my house for me and I have to say, I could get used to this!

We're all home, refreshed, rejuvenated and nicely tanned. Our busy month has begun! I go to girls camp next week for 2 1/2 days, the week after Sam, Abby, and I are going to VBS at Shandon Baptist, and then we leave for Utah at the end of the month. Throw in 8 swimming lesson, a visit from Josh and Amanda and their girls, birthdays, and Father's Day, I think June will just fly by!

Graduation Day

Today Sam had his graduation from preschool. He looked so cute! I made him wear a polo shirt (which for him is a huge deal since it required him to wear buttons - oh, dreaded buttons!) and these shorts, which he liked, surprisingly. The biggest surprise is that he wore them all day. Maybe we are making strides. But I digress. Anway, the kids all wore graduation caps and they had ribbons draped around their necks which said "2010" on one side and "Gradaute" on the other. They came marching out single file with"This Little Light of Mine" playing. They looked so adorable and grown up. There are 2 four year old classes so both classes sang a song. Sam's song was to the tune of "I'm a Little Tea Pot" and went:

I'm a little star shining bright
Growing bigger every night
When I finish preschool I will shout!
I'm a star so ya better watch out

Then each child's full name was called and they went up front to receive their certificate and a little box of things to help them go into kindergarten. They had baby picture up on a big screen as their names were called and they said what the kids said they want to be when they grow up. Sam said he wants to be a Dragon Trainer when he grows up! (Later today he told me he really wants to be a deep sea diver.) It was cute to hear what the kids all said. A few girls want to be princesses; one boy wants to be a Mario Brother. Sam's friend, Rachel, wants to be a golfer like her dad!

Then they played a slide show of pictures from the year. It was really nice. They played one of mine and Mike's favorite songs - "Let Them Be Little". I was starting to get weepy! I can't believe how grown up he is getting. I kept thinking, before I know it he'll be graduating from Kindergarten, then elementary school, and then high school. It makes me want to just treasure every day more than I have been lately. They grow up so fast!

Afterwards we went to Red Robin with our friends the Gillettes (their daughter is in Sam's class)and my Mom and Christy. It was a fun lunch and we had gotten the kids a few small gifts. All in all a pretty good day.

Tomorrow is our last day of preschool this year. I have to say I have really enjoyed being a part of the preschool program. I have loved teaching and it has been a great experience for Sam and Abby. It's bittersweet. On one hand I'm glad for the break and summer and am ready to slow down a bit. On the other, I think in a few weeks we're really going to miss it. We have a pretty busy summer (at least the first half), so I'm sure it will go by fast and he'll be off to Kindergarten before I know it.

Yay for Caleb & Taylee!!!

My brother, Caleb, and his sweet wife, Taylee, came for a short visit this weekend. They arrived around midnight Thursday and left this afternoon. :(

We are so glad they came and also so sad to see them go. Sam and Abby just adored having them here. It's really quite funny! Sam was smitten with Taylee and Abby with Caleb. They even fought over them. It was so cute to see them enjoy their aunt and uncle who they really haven't seen that many times. It made my heart happy.

Thursday we went to the zoo with our preschool friends and had a great time there. We wanted to go again with Caleb & Taylee (it's sort of tradition) so we went again on Friday with the family. We had a great time and enjoyed the animals and good company. Sam and Abby even had their first ice cream cones! I know, what kind of Mom am I depriving my kids of ice cream cones!?! They loved them, so I guess we'll have them a bit more frequently now!

5 years old!!

We celebrated Sam's 5th birthday on Thursday (April 22). We actually started celebrating on Wednesday night at Chuck E Cheese. We told him he could pick where we would have his birthday dinner and that he could bring a friend this year. He chose Chuck E Cheese and his friend Caleb. Unfortunately, Caleb (and Grandma & BeBa) couldn't come on Thursday, so we decided to go on Wednesday. They had a great time riding rides, eating ice cream and playing games. Chuck E Cheese even made an appearance, which tickled the kids - especially Abby. (I don't have many pictures from our trip - my camera battery died!)

On Thursday, we started out our day with Dunkin Donuts. This is a tradition we started a few years back. Since this is a rare treat (twice a year) the kids were on a sugar high all day. It was not a good day nutritionally! :)

After lunch, Abby went to Grandma's and Sam and I headed out to spend the birthday money that was burning a hole in his pocket. First we went back to Teddy Mountain, so he could pick out an outfit for the dragon he had gotten at his party. Then we headed to Target. He ended up getting the Slinky Dog from Toy Story, 2 new squishies, a DVD and 2 animals. Thankfully he had some money left over! We were even able to pick out the bedding for his bunkbeds that we'll be getting this week.

All in all, I think he had a great birthday!

Let the festivities begin!

Today we celebrated Sam's 5th birthday! (His birthday is not until the 22nd, but he wanted to have his party at Teddy Mountain and next Saturday was booked.) He spent the night last night with Grandma & BeBah, but was up at 4am this morning (thankfully he was at their house!). He was so excited all day and it seemed that 3 o'clock would never get here. He had 8 friends come and he had a great time. They each got to pick out a stuffed animal, then they got to stuff it and pick out a shirt or pair of shorts for it and then get their picture taken with it. He got a lot of fun presents - our gift to him was a Buzz LightYear and Woody toy. He was so excited about them. I made a Toy Story cake for him. It was sort of a tower of cupcakes with his Toy Story toys around it. I have to say it turned out pretty cute!

We plan to go to Chuck E Cheese next week and he is taking a friend with him. We're actually doing that the night before his birthday. Our tradition is to have Dunkin Donuts for the kids' birthday breakfast and then I'll take him back to Teddy Mountain to get an outfit for the dragon he got today with the points we earned.

I can't believe my little man is almost 5. I always get sentimental around his birthday, but this year seems more so. Before I know it, August will be here and he'll be off to Kindergarten. He is such a blessing to us and I am so grateful to be his Mom!

Happy Birthday Sam!

Eggs! Where are you?

Yesterday was the last day of preschool for the week, so the kids did their Easter parties. Abby's class had an egg hunt close to my classroom, so I was able to sneak out for bit to watch her class hunt for eggs. Abby, as many of you know, is very vocal and speaks very well. The rest of the class was pretty quiet as they were getting their eggs, but you could hear Abby loudly and clearly shouting, "Eggs! Where are you? Do you hear us?" It was so funny! They all looked so cute. Her class had a fruit party (thank you teachers!) instead of candy and junk, so they also didn't fill the eggs. Abby was a little disappointed, but I told her it was empty just like the tomb and she went along with that pretty well.

We have 3, yes 3, more egg hunts tomorrow. I'll have my camera for these and will post some pictures for you.

We just finished an addition to our back deck and had our fence pressure washed. What a difference! The deck is now big enough to actually enjoy and just makes the whole backyard feel bigger. The kids and I went out to enjoy it this afternoon, but several giant bees started hanging around so we had to sneak inside quickly!

We're looking forward to Easter and being able to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior. The atonement is such an amazing gift He gave us and I've been trying really hard this week to teach Sam and Abby the real reason for Easter. For FHE this week we did a scripture egg hunt, with 12 eggs, each egg having a scripture and item to tell the Easter story. I think they enjoyed it and it was a fun way to teach about Easter.

Buttons

To know Sam is to know that he does not like buttons of any kind. He especially does not like to wear clothing with buttons nor does he like to touch anything with buttons. I forgot this bit of information about him when I purchased a new comforter for my bed yesterday. It has buttons all over it and makes the fabric gather a bit. I think it's pretty. Sam's first words were, "I'm never getting in that bed again." According to Mike this is worth its weight in gold. Often times he'll find his way to our bed in the wee morning hours and go back to sleep with us. Guess that problem is now solved! Who knew after all this time of us trying different things to get him to go back to sleep in his own bed, all we needed was a comforter with buttons!

It's March already??

Sadly my posts seem to be getting farther and farther apart!

Life seems to have been very busy and hectic lately. I feel like I'm behind on everything! So what have we been up to the last month?

We joined the YMCA and I have been working out about 3 times a week. Once we are finished with preschool in May that number will increase. I've been enjoying it and have even taken a few classes - something I don't normally do. It's helping me get back into the swing of things. It's been about 5 years since I belonged to a gym. I'm a bit rusty! Anyway, today I did a Zumba class for the first time and LOVED it! I can't wait to go back next week. I'm not much of a dancer, so I was a little aprehensive at first (didn't want to make a total fool of myself), but thankfully the class was large and you have to pay attention to keep up, so I figured no one was really looking at me anyway! The kids seem to be enjoying the child watch, which is good. It makes it easier to not feel guilty about "me" time when I know they are having fun. One of these days Mike will join us there too. I've been trying not to give him too hard of a time. :)

This week we had a few lovely spring days and were able to get outside and enjoy them before the rain started today. Abby must have loved it because she keeps asking if we're going to the playground again today. I think we all have a little spring fever.

We are so proud of Abby. She started potty training about 2 weeks ago and is doing so great! She's had just a few accidents and still gets tickled when she goes. We gave Sam skittles when he was learning, but her reward has been to make a phone call. The first few days of potty training she would call Grandma right afterward and exclaim, "Grandma! Iwent tee-tee!" She would then talk for the next several minutes walking around the house with the phone in her hand. She's a girl for sure!

Abby, Mom, and I took a trip up to Concord Mills Mall in Charlotte last weekend. It was a fun girls day and Abby is a great shopper. In Bed Bath & Beyond, our first stop, she found a plastic princess chair and informed me that she was getting it. I tried to talk her out of it telling her we didn't have room for it in the stroller, it was our first store, etc, but she said she would carry it and proceeded to push it all the way to the front of the store. Thankfully it was lightweight and only $10 because we did indeed buy it for her! (I know, I'm a sucker for those big blue eyes!) I think she really felt like a big girl and behaved herself very well. She'll be a lot of fun as she gets older and I look forward to many more girls days with her.

Valentine's Day

Since Valentine's Day fell on a long weekend this year, we decided to make it a 4 day weekend and spend it with Mike's mom, Dianne, down in Isle of Palms. We love to go visit her and the kids especially look forward to it.
We knew snow was in the forecast and it started out that Columbia would get a dusting and most of the snow would be near Charleston, so we were excited about the prospect of snow. Of course, with our luck, we should have known that's not quite how it would work out. It seems that wherever we are, snow is not!
As it turns out, Columbia got a good six inches or more and IOP only got an inch or two. Nonetheless, Sam and Abby were so excited about the snow. When Abby woke up Saturday morning I had her look outside to see it. She looked at me and said, "Now we can build a snowman. Let's get our coats." She was ready!
We ate a quick breakfast and bundled them up. Seeing as how were aren't exactly prepared for snow we had to improvise. Luckily, they had both gotten rubber golashes for Christmas so they wore those for boots. They had been wearing their fleece footie jammies, so I had them just put some clothes on over those. Poor Sam didn't even have gloves, so he wore a pair of Dianne's socks! Abby reminded us of the little brother from A Christmas Story - she looked like as stuffed tick!
Anyway, they enjoyed being out in the snow. The snow was too crunchy to really make snowmen or snowangels as they had hoped for, but Sam did get to slide down the golf course hill on a cardboard box and they had fun holding it - at least until their fingers got "stingy" as Abby put it. Of course it was all gone by lunchtime, but it was pretty to see snow on the beach. Not something you see every day!
On Valentine's we did a treasure hunt this year. I think this will definitely need to be a new tradition. Sam and Abby loved it! I had hidden clues around the house and we all followed after them reading the clues. It was cute to see them try to figure out where to go next and get excited about finding the clues. Their treasure ended up being a new squishy dinosaur for Sam and a Strawberry Shortcake set for Abby along with a few DVDs (Mike got a little carried away at Target!). It was a fun day spent with the ones we love. Abby curled up next to me to watch her new Barney DVD and just said, "I love you, Momma." These are truly the moments you cherish as a parent.
We finished up the day with some delicious BBQ ribs that Mike and Ralph (Dianne's boyfriend) made us for dinner - Yum-O!

Hibernating

So I walked downstairs a bit ago only to find Sam sitting at the table eating a banana. Ok, but he has a plate in front of him with an apple and another half eaten banana. Hmm. So I ask, "Why do you have 2 bananas?" His response, "I'm hibernating and you need to make my room like a cave with bats & darkness." I think he's serious. At least he's hibernating with healthy food.

We got him all regsitered for kindergarten today. We've applied to 2 other schools other than the one we are zoned for, but we had to turn in the paperwork at the school we're zoned for. I was impressed with the school, and the vice-prinicpal even gave us a spontaneous tour of the school. That helped both Sam and I be a little more comfortable with the prospects of kindergarten. I think he'll do fine wherever he goes.

Yesterday Sam and I went to the SC State Museum. It had been a good 10 years or so since I had been there and they have a dinosaur exhibit right now, so it seemed like a good way to spend the afternoon.

I have to interject here to say that Sam has just informed me that he's full and ready to hibernate. He'll be in his room waiting for me to make the bats. When I asked what I should make the bats with he said paper and then punch holes and use string to hang them from the ceiling. "Hurry, I'll be waiting," he says. Guess I should quit blogging for now and go make bats. I'll let you know about the museum later.

(Ok, so he didn't actually hibernate but we did make and hang a few bats from the ceiling fan. Too funny!)

Anyway, the museum was fun. The dinosaurs were big and moved and made noise. He got to sit in a T-Rex footprint, brush away dirt to uncover buried bones, and take pictures with a few. He asked me this morning if we could go again today, so he must have enjoyed it. I'll have to post some pictures later. I had forgotten my camera and borrowed Mom & Dad's when I dropped Abby off there. She stayed with Grandma and took a nap. :)

Where has January gone?

My goodness! It seems like Christmas was not so long ago, but it occurred to me today that January is already almost over! What a busy month it has been. We've been working on getting back into our pre-school routine. It's amazing how quickly you can get out of your routine in just 2 weeks! But back in it we are, and busy, busy. Sometimes, well many times, I think I really need to get better at time management. There just never seems to be enough of it!

Sam had two birthday parties already this month (and another coming up this week). The first one was a skating party. Sam had never (and still hasn't) skated. We arrived a bit late and the other kids were already "over" skating so they spent their time playing in the play area. It was basically a giant McDonald's like playground. He and the other 2 boys had a great time and it was a great way for him to get some of his wiggles out. They also danced on some platforms to the music playing. That was certainly a cute sight!

His second party was last weekend at our neighbor's house. This was a pirate themed party and he and Abby had a great time. I had intended to leave Abby at home, but the party was mostly outside and I kept looking over at our house next door and seeing Abby with her sweet face pressed up against the window watching it all. We felt so bad, we brought her over to play with the big kids and she had a good time too without getting in the way.

Last Friday the weather was amazing! We've had some really cold days this month, so we took advantage of the warm weather and headed out to the zoo. Some friends from church joined us and we ended up being there for about 4 hours! I think we saw about every animal and climbed on every statue at least once while we were there. It was a great day!

This past Friday we tried out a new bounce house and Sam and Abby bounced for 2 hours. Sam dressed up as a swamp monster and Abby tried on a Snow White dress and paired it with an indian headdress. They did puzzles and Sam and I played a short game of air hockey. All in all, a great time!

Yesterday, Dad came over and helped me build some shelves in our storage area under our stairs. It's basically just a big closet, but I now have 5 shelves about 38 inches long and 16 inches deep. They are fantastic. Now I can continue building our food storage and stocking up on sales and actually have somewhere to put it all! Thanks so much Dad!

After Church today, I tried out a new recipe for cupcake bites. I've been following Bakerella on her website (www.bakerella.com) and finally decided to try out one of her recipes. It took a few hours, but I was pretty pleased with the outcome. Mine turned out better than I expected, but not quite as good as Bakerella's. The kids sure liked them. It makes so many we have plenty to share!

This week I have to finish up Sam's kindergarten registration. Yikes! Is my little guy really that close to starting school?!?! I'm certainly having a hard time coming to terms with this. In our school district we can choose which school we'd like our child to attend, but it's all done by lottery. I've been busy researching the different schools and even a few magnet programs. Not an easy choice!

Also on my "to-do" list this week is to join our local YMCA. I feel like the lady in the Special K commercial who's rear end gets stuck in her chair after the holidays and it's time to do something about it! Mike is also on high blood pressure and cholesterol meds so hopefully he'll take good advantage too and make some improvements with his own health. We're going to be healthier in 2010!