Cabin Fever?

After spending most of the day home and playing in the snow, we were finally ready to venture out and see if we were going to be able to make our date night at Nama's the night after the big snow. We headed out to our usual 1st stop, Starbucks. :) After grabbing a coffee we headed over to Grammy & Papa's house where Noah got his first lesson in Snow Shoveling 101. After visiting for a while and sharing some popcorn we headed over to Mom's house. She was watched the kids for us while we enjoyed dinner at Nama's. It was definitely good to get out.

Pretty

These guys sit in the tree outside of our workout room window. I love to watch them while I'm on the treadmill - makes it a little more bearable-ha! We have cardinals, bluejays and two fat squirrels that live in the tree.

Magic Wizard's Potions

Noah's Aunt Amie got him this great box of goodies for Christmas this year and he was sweet to share it with Rachel. They were so excited to open up the box and get started. Luckily Kate was napping so that we didn't have too many little hands involved. The kit comes with four test tubes with lids and a holder, a magic wand, magic hat and all the 'stuff' you need to concoct the experiments. Noah and Rachel couldn't wait to get started. The first experiment they did was the magic wand where you turned a liquid into purple crystals to fill your wand with. Very cool - this is one of the coolest potions in the box (in my opinion). That one took about an hour, so there was plenty of time to try out most of the rest of the spells as well. Noah used the new purple wand and let Rachel use his Harry Potter wand - so cute. They had fun changing colors of potions and making potions bubble and fizz. They also made a crystal ball beaker and the last spell we did created a glow in the dark potion. Very cool.

Winter Wonderland

It snowed like crazy again! This is the most snow I think East Tennessee has seen in a long, long time! The kids are loving it and I enjoy it as well. I'm not sure how much Doug is enjoying it, since he had to shovel off the driveway. I guess all those years up north were good for something. ;) The phone rang at 6:04 this morning to let me know Noah's school had been canceled for the day, so I knew we had gotten some snow... When I crawled out of my bed it was nice to look outside and see all that gorgeous snow. Of course the kids couldn't wait to get out there and play in it. We all got dressed warmly and headed outside. Doug shoveled while the kids and I put together our snowman and had a snow ball fight. Kate started fussing the minute she walked outside and decided she would much rather take a long winter's nap than be out in the cold. Phoebe could not wait to get outside and run in all the snow. She had a wonderful time running, rolling, and digging. She ran around like a puppy for about an hour. Snow angels galore later, we headed back inside for hot chocolate and some magic wizards potions...

Creative

Noah loves Legos - He's been playing with legos in some form or another since he learned to sit up on his own. He had Mega Blocks, Duplos and he got his first set of real Legos when he was not quite four years old. He has built all sorts of things from fire trucks and firestations, airports and airplanes, houses, Star Wars ships, trains, lots and lots of things... But our favorite things that he builds are the ones he comes up with on his own. He built this b-wing fighter (Star Wars) all by himself looking at a picture of one in a book. I love how creative he can be and he is like his dad in that he can build things he wants to build and knows how to use unique pieces to make what he wants to build work.

2 Cute Girls

It's been a relatively quiet week so far with the kids returning to school. Noah has been missed and Rachel went back to school for one day this week and complaining because she wanted to go more... Kate misses Rachel when she is at school. She walks around the house calling for her and throwing her hands in the air, saying "Rachel? I no know?". Rachel has gotten to be so, so good with Kate. Now that Kate is showing interest in playing baby dolls and dress up, Rachel is in 7th Heaven. :) They were playing cars on this day and killing me with the little pink hat. I love these pictures of them. Kate kills me pointing her keys at her car and pushing the buttons. Today I saw that she had her keys, her purse and her phone in the cup holders of her car... Makes me laugh.

2010: Our Year In Review

January: Playing in the snow

February: Our big dude turns 7 years old!

March: Happy 1st Birthday Kate!

Saint Patricks Day - Trip to Look Rock

April: Picnic at Metcalf Bottoms

Happy Easter!

May: Kate takes her 1st steps!

Mother's Day

June: Father's Day Snuggles With Dad

July: Kate get's her big girl car seat!

Playing in the sprinklers

August: Springbrook Park

September: Booms Day

Birthday loving for Mommy

October: Halloween!

Panama City Beach - Loving our vacation!

November: Rachel turns 5 years old!!

December: Can you tell how much Kate loves Santa?

2010 has been good to us -- We have continued to enjoy the perks of living at 'home', surrounded by our family and enjoying the closeness that we can now share. Noah finished up the first grade and started the second. He is enjoying it very much, although is adjusting to the work load that comes with school as the grades advance. He loves to read and is reading at well into a third grade level. He played spring and fall soccer and really improved as the year advanced. He took swim lessons all summer for improvement and is now swimming like a fish! He is in the middle of his basketball season and seems to be improving and enjoying it as well. He continues to love all things Star Wars, Harry Potter and Lego. Rachel started and finished her first year of preschool and started her second year at Fairview Methodist Church. She loves her teachers, Miss Kim and Miss Christy and of course, all of her little friends as well. She continues to take gymnastics, although this fall she moved into the older tumbling class. She tries hard and is in the middle of the class as far as skill goes. The ages of the kids in this new class are 5-10 years. She has decided that she would like to try playing soccer this spring as well. Rachel learned to swim this year and is quite good at it. We hope she will want to swim on the team next year and continue to enjoy time in the water. She amazed us by tying her shoes by herself after watching me do it one time! She is an awesome big sister - so helpful to me and loving to Kate. She still adores all things girly - nail polish, lip gloss and mascara being right at the top of her list. Other loves are play-doh, her baby dolls and any kind of crafting. Miss Kate has grown so much this year and she has really begun chattering right along with her brother and sister. She says well over 50 words now and isn't afraid to tell you just what she thinks! She has done a lot of new things this year such as take her very first steps! She got new earrings and used the potty for the first time. She walked in the ocean and picked up pretty seashells. She continues to make us laugh every single day and tickle us with all her antics. She loves her car, baby dolls, phones, purses and anything with buttons. Doug and I are doing well - He wishes for more air traffic to keep him busier at work, or maybe not. ;) I am still loving being home with the kids and keeping them busy playing and learning. We both thoroughly enjoyed our vacation to the beach this year - We agree that it was our best one yet! We hope we can continue to try to steal away each summer for some well needed and deserved play time. We saw 14 years of marriage this year and that is amazing to think about. In February it will be 16 years that we have been together. It's been a wonderful adventure and I feel blessed beyond belief to have him and our children. We would like to wish each of you a very Happy New Year! May your 2011 be blessed!