Winter Storm 2014

School today was a little difficult.  I had two little girls who couldn't seem to keep from looking out the window at the snow flurries. We did manage to get most everything done.  The rest we will finish in the morning since school is cancelled.

Kayla is learning about electricity in science and today her reading was about series and parallel circuits.  We pulled out the electricity kit and had a little fun. Their favorite thing is to make the red disc go flying.  You can see it in the top of the next picture.

We also took a little snow break.  The kids thought this was great.  Of course we had no idea what was coming over the next couple of hours.

Kayla and Macy tried to build a snowman but I think it turned into more of a snow bump.  They will try again tomorrow.

And while they played I enjoyed a little bit of this...

The snow kept coming and the roads were getting worse.  It took Marc about 1 1/2 hours to get home, but that is nothing compared to many of our friends.  Some have been on the road over 6 hours. There are kids stuck at school and parents desperately trying to get to them. I just saw an article that the assistant principal that I worked under (now a principal at the elementary school I went to) sent her teachers home and is at school with two little kindergarteners while their parents try hard to get to them. She is such a class act.  Another friend is spending the night with 200 high schoolers.  God bless him. I am so thankful to be home with my family and that we had no where to go today. We may actually have some company tonight if one of Marc's employees can't make it home.  He is on his way home so if it gets too bad he may crash here.

So the snow kept coming and the girls kept wanting to play.  Marc took them out for some sledding fun. The squealing brought our neighbor over to the fence so we invited her to come join us.  They had a great time, but soon little fingers were getting too cold. 

Silly Brooke decided that she wanted to climb up the steepest part of the hill. She made it though!

 

And a few snowballs were exchanged.

The girls had a blast and more fun is to come tomorrow. Schools have already cancelled, and although I'm sure we will end up with some work to do, we will still manage to squeeze in some snow time.

The Things I Love About Running

Last September I got a crazy idea that I wanted to run a 5K. I was not a runner and never had been a runner. When I mentioned this to Marc I'm sure his jaw dropped. But he quickly signed on to the plan too and training started. We did the C25K program. That first run was awful.  I'd run 1/10th of a mile and be worn out. I could hop on my bike and ride 8 miles, but I couldn't run 1/10th of a mile. But we pushed through and ran 3 days a week for 3 months. I didn't skip a run. Ever. Early in December we participated in the Reindeer Run here in Canton. While I can't say I ran every bit of it (there were some killer hills) I can say I did it. And I can also say I have no desire to run another one. ha!

Since then I have still be running 3 times a week, but right now I am doing mostly intervals with some 2 mile runs thrown in here and there. I've heard people talk about how much they love to run and how they love this thing called a runners high that has alluded me all these months. While I can't say I love running there are a few things I do love about it that make me continue. 

1. I love counting down the last 60 seconds when I know I am almost done. 

2. I love the feeling of showering and knowing I'm done with that for the day. 

3. I love knowing that since I ran today I don't have to do it tomorrow.

4. I love knowing that I ran a 5K and I have no desire to do that again.

The Game of Life

Macy gave Kayla the game Life for Christmas. I remember having fun playing that growing up and although it has changed some over the years it is still a fun game.  We have played it several times and there are often questions that everyone has to answer.  Today one of the questions asked which musical instrument would you play in a family band.  Kayla said she would play the flute.  Macy said she would play the piano. And Brooke said she would play the cowbell.  I died laughing. Of course at 4 years old the only musical instruments she comes in contact with are in choir so that was a perfectly reasonable choice for her.  I love spending my afternoons with these three!

Brooke's Party

We had a nice time celebrating Brooke's birthday. She is still at an age where simple is still fun.  We had family over for dinner (which includes the Andersons since they are pretty much family), they played, hit a pinata, opened gifts, and enjoyed some cake.

Mrs. Deidre once again did a fabulous job on the cake.

 

Brooke had a great time celebrating her birthday and we are thankful for another year with this precious girl.

Happy 4th Birthday Brooke!

My baby is four.  I can not believe it has been four years since I brought this precious little girl home from the hospital. She has added such a fun dynamic to our family. She is so smart, silly, demanding, inquisitive, talkative, helpful, and she always knows exactly what she wants. She keeps us on our toes but she is such a ray of sunshine in our days too.

Some of your favorites:

books: Berenstain Bears

games: Blockus and puzzles

song: All My Fountains

TV show: Doc McStuffins and Sofia

food: noodles, fruit, nutella, chips

drink: chocolate milk, apple juice, "coke-sprite" (which is really just sprite and you don't get it that often)

sweet: candy

friend: Beau

clothing: leggings to wear with your boots especially your "boot jeans" as you like to call them

You started Cubbies this year. Daddy and I work in your classroom and it has been so much fun getting to know all of your sweet little friends. You love learning your Bible verses each week and you learn them very quickly. 

You are my big helper on Mondays and Wednesdays.  When your sisters are at school we either run errands or hang out around the house.  You love to be out and about when it's just the two of us. And I usually find a way to swing by a chick-fil-a for a chocolate milk for you.

You have officially dropped your naps. I was really hoping that you would nap at least until the end of the school year. Your sisters have rest time and you have quickly adapted to the change.  You are very good about staying in your room for an hour reading and playing quietly. Some evenings are still hard for you when you get tired, but overall you have made the transition beautifully.

You know what you want, when you want it, and you make that abundantly clear. We are working really hard on using our words when you get upset or frustrated. You want to be big and independent like your sisters, but I still need my baby girl!

Brooke,
I can't believe that you are four years old.  You have been looking forward to your birthday for months. It's hard for me to see my baby growing up, but thankfully you still want to be my baby at times. Your daddy and I are so proud of you. You are such a sweet, smart, loving little girl and we are so blessed that God gave you to us. I know four is going to be such a great year for you.  There are so many things that you are going to learn and experience. On one hand I wish you would stay little forever, but on the other hand I love the freedom and independence we are getting as you and your sisters get older. I can't wait to see what this year holds for you sweet girl.

Love,
Mommy

Year In Review

Marc's Yearly Contribution to the Blog

1. My wife is so smart.

2. Coaching two seasons of little girl soccer in one year is 2.5x as much fun.

3. Free-handing a circular saw while cutting wood is not a good idea. On the other hand (haha), free-handing a 4" tile saw makes the cuts a lot quicker.

4. Building our own furniture allowed me to take advantage of surprisingly cheap lumber prices and really late summer evenings of free labor.

5. I can keep facial hair for a whole year (well not the exact same hair as it is groomed frequently).

6. Even a tough HOA can be defeated with kindness, reasonableness, and a letter from a top-notch high-powered attorney.

7. A trusted car mechanic is worth much more than he charges.

8. My wife deserves a raise and a vacation.

9. Being generous as a family makes us so much richer at Christmas.

10. Miscommunication is terrible.

11. Apparently I've grown up in the last year. I drink coffee a couple times a week now.

12. Catching a redeye flight home from the west coast is always worth the tiredness to spend time with my family (after a nap; they don't want me around beforehand).

13. The hill in our backyard that I worked so hard to minimize while building the house has now become our kids' favorite attraction as they sled down. We're still waiting for our first snow in this house, but cardboard on grass works for now.

14. Camping with three little girls in one tent is great once they go to sleep. We had a blast though and look forward to doing it again soon (but not in the freezing cold).

15. Slip and slides haven't improved much in 30 years.

Christmas Gifts

I forgot to add these in last year so I wanted to go back and stick them in. The girls went shopping for Marc and I on their own.  They planned with my mom to go shopping one night that they were going to spend the night. I just wanted to share what they got us and how they did such a good job picking out gifts.

Marc's gifts:

from Kayla: an ornament, a small tool set because she heard him say that he had lost his, and an IHOP gift card

from Macy: a frisbee disk to play outside (he loves frisbee), gloves for running, and a manly headband to keep his ears warm while running

from Brooke: a hat for running and a glow in the dark ball

My gifts:

from Kayla: a word game, a "best teacher" ornament, and a Casting Crowns CD

from Macy: a sleeping bag (so I can go camping with them), warm socks, chapstick, and a journal so we can start writing back and forth like I do with Kayla (I was going to start hers when she turned 7 but she beat me to it)

from Brooke: warm socks, gum (because she loves to get gum out of my purse), and a small spatula because mine melted

I can honestly say that these gifts meant more to us than anything else we received. Oh how I love these girls and their sweet hearts. Marc and I are so incredibly blessed.

Christmas Break Project

Marc and I (well mostly me) have been talking about finally getting the back splash in our kitchen done.  We decided to try and tackle it over the Christmas break.  It was somewhat of a last minute decision but we headed out to a tile store where were thought we'd find some good variety.  Variety we found but not for the price we wanted to pay. So we went back to our house building supply stomping grounds. Good ole Home Depot and Lowes. It took several trips to each to figure out exactly what we wanted and to get enough materials.  I think Marc said he ended up at one of the two stores eight times over a 24 hour period - Woodstock, Holly Springs, Canton, Jasper, and Cumming.  Maybe an Alpharetta store in there as well.  I've lost track.

We put the girls to bed around 8:00 Friday night and got started on the butler's pantry. It actually went pretty quick so we tackled another small area by the refrigerator. Then we called it a night.

Saturday morning was the slowest part of our project.  Marc had to go out and pick up the rest of the tile. We also had to work through the area to go above the stove. The cuts on the frame weren't going well at first so it took some thinking to figure out what to do.  Once we got it worked out we laid everything out.

 

Once Marc and I start a project we like to work until it's done.  We were up until 1:00 in the morning finishing it (including the grouting and cleaning), but it turned out so good!

Strange how the lighting can affect the colors so much.  I'd say the true coloring is right in the middle of these two.

It was a big project but we love it. Next project: repainting my pantry shelves.

Christmas 2013

We had such a wonderful Christmas morning.  Macy woke up first and was a ball of excitement. Marc and I snuggled in bed with her for a while before Brooke woke up.  When I sent Macy to quietly check on Kayla she "somehow" woke her up. hmm...

Brooke has been asking for this lady bug every.single.time we have been to Old Navy in the last 2 months.  She was thrilled to see it show up in her stocking.

The purple tervis lid has been quite popular and caused a few disagreements.  Macy was glad another one showed up in her stocking this year.

Books! We added at least a dozen books to our collection.  I love that both of my girls enjoy reading so much. 

Sweet girl bought me a Casting Crowns CD.

More books!

Marc bought the girls a snow sled.  Of course we hardly get snow here in Georgia, but we do have a nice hill the girls love sliding down on cardboard.  We're hoping this sled works well on grass. 

The roller skates were a hit.  We have yet to try them out other than a little bit in the house, but she sure was excited to get them!

Scooters were the big presents this year. The three wheel design is great.

Kayla got this cool scooter that she has to wiggle to make it move.  She's getting really good at it too!

Before we left for my mom's my sister asked for me to bring a jacket for Brooke so that Brooke could show Molly how to ride her new toy.  Apparently there was some trauma drama when she first tried it out. She was pretty terrified. Brooke tried to show her how much fun it was, but it took Aunt Stephanie. I put her on there and we started chasing down Kayla on her scooter.  She had the best time.

We wrapped up our Christmas celebrations at Grammie and Grampie's house on the 26th. The girls were given some fun educational toys that will be a big help in school.

We are so wonderfully blessed.  I tried to make this season intentional and filled with some quiet family time that we often don't get this time of year.  While it was still a busy few weeks (especially since we had a late Thanksgiving) I think we did better than we have in the past. I love this time of year and focusing on the baby, born to a poor family, who lived his life only to give it for us. Yes, we were blessed with a busy season of activities and presents that overflowed from under the tree.  But more than that we were blessed that Jesus stepped out of heaven and willingly came down into this sinful and dirty world. We are blessed that he lived a sinless life so that He could make the ultimate sacrifice.  That is the ultimate blessing. Nothing we have or do can compare, and for that I am eternally grateful.