Let it Snow...or ICE

Friday was a perfect day at school. We arrived, ate lunch, and then were dismissed due to inclement weather! Tyson and Juel were so so excited that it was snowing. (They were staying at home with Amy. She took pictures and video of their reaction.)When large flakes started to fall, Tyson screamed "Look!! Jesus made the snow bigger!" Bless my heart!!! By the time I made it home from school, the snow turned to sleet/freezing rain. It was still fun to cuddle up, make a big pot of chilli, and enjoy family time. The next morning Mom came over and we took the kids out to play as promised. I did not think they would be able to do much, but the frozen ground was perfet for sledding. They had a blast. We pulled them all through the woods and over to mom's house for hot chocolate.

 

 

Hmm...check this out!

Very exciting

What is this??

 

 

Very exciting!

My happy boy attempting to make snowballs!

 

 

Juel is wearing my snow outfit. One of my favorite pictures of my childhood is my Grandaddy Biddy holding me wearing this suit! LOVE IT!!!

 

Sledding!

 

 

 

RALPH!

 

Look at that little hiney!!

(Mental mommy note...never let kids sled down this hill without someone at the bottom. Right after this picture I had to run to catch her because she was not stopping and headed for the pond. We had no idea they would slide so far with so little on the ground.)

I'm now at the bottom to "catch"

Gee always finds the fun!!

 

*I'm still hoping for REAL snow that we can play in, but this was a nice treat!!

 

Most of the weekend mom and I watched Downton Abbey and sorted/tagged clothes for Kids Exchange. On Sunday Juel wore the cutest blue snowflake dress...that I really wanted a picture of-this is what I got:

She later obliged for this cute outfit!!

Tyson is always willing to smile for the camera!

 

Wild All Along

Oh my goodness! Our girls weekend was absolutely wonderful! I had no idea how much I needed to get away. In fact, I had so much fun I only took 2 pictures! TWO! Now, I do have some videos on my phone, but I have sworn to never sharet those with the world wide web...what goes on the road, stays on the road. The Carolina Girls were pretending to be back in college!

Morgan and I arrived mid-day Thursday. It was raining and freezing cold when I left my house. When we arrived at the beach it was sunny and 78 degrees! We had a great time setting up in the condo and then doing some craft hunting before picking Cynthia up from the airport. She had a wild flight into MB that involved vomit bags and all! We were so happy to have her in our possession! We headed straight to Bumz, this little bar right beside the condo and began our fun! We stayed up way too late, but couldn't wait to pick up Brianne the next morning. As soon as we got her we drove about 100000 miles (lol Morgan) to BW3s for lunch...after a short visit to the condo filled with Annie Sloan Chalk painting...we headed to happy hour! It was immediately noticed that nothing had changed! We were so happy to be together!! Again we stayed up late, but everyone felt rested. It is amazing how rested you feel when you are not responsible for the well being of anyone other than yourself...you don't change diapers, cook, referee,chauffeur etc... I felt like I had slept for hours. We also began our obsession with "DowntoWn Abbey"-what a delightful picture show (spoken in an English accent). Saturday we shopped until Cynthia and Brianne dropped! (They just can't hang!) And then, you guessed it, headed to happy hour! And happy we were! This is where the Saturday story ends...on the web that is! Let's just say that Sunday we needed Wendy's and lots of sleep! I guess we've "been wild all along!"We did venture to the beach and that night we watched football (well I actually went to Target, but hey what can I say?) We stayed up late again talking, watching DA and finding old flames on Facebook! Then next morning our fun would end!  I even enjoyed the drive home --all alone in my car!

It was seriously wonderful! Being reunited with my season girls always "feels so good"! They are who I am completely myself with. We share memories that no one else could understand. Daddy always laughed because everytime we went on a trip during college I would tell him "it was the most fun I have ever had in my whole life..." It really was the most fun to sneak away from reality for a little while! I look forward to the summer when we hope to see each other again.

*Thank you so much to Clyde and Doris for letting us use their awesome condo! And to Travis and Mom for taking care of my babes without complaint!

I found a few pictures on my phone...sadly none of all of us and none where we are dressed up...oh well!

Brianne!!!

 

Morg and Biggs

 

 

Look at this outfit...she wore it all weekend (see evidence below)

(and notice Downton Abbey in the background)

 

 

I'll try to get some more pictures from Morgan!

 

 

 

Original picture of the 4 seasons!!!

Girls Weekend

I am so excited I can hardly contain myself....Tomorrow morning I am headed to MB to spend the weekend with Morgan, Cynthia, and Brianne! Just us. No husbands. No kids. Just us!Morgan's mom and dad have a condo at Myrtle Beach and are letting us use it for the long weekend. (Thanks Clyde and Miss Doris!)  It has been a long time since I have seen Cynthia or Brianne---long enough that both of them to have been pregnant, birthed babies, and lots more! I can't wait to see them face to face!  We are all looking forward to reading, sleeping uninterrupted, crafting, shopping, eating out etc kid free! Who knows what else we may do! We have several sources who have promised bail outs if needed! LOL!

Although I am so excited, I admit to being nervous about leaving Tyson and Juel. This will be the longest time I have ever been away. I know it will be good for all of us, but I will miss these sweet little things:

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday Gee!

We celebrated Mom's 59th birthday! She and I spent the day at the amazing spa at the Umstead in Cary this past Saturday! Aaaahhh....wonderful! Then we had a meal and cake on her birthday. Mrs. Caffie let Tyson and Juel make a cake for her. They  were so so proud and could not wait for her to see it. When she walked in Juel started squealing "ha-ee birt-day to me!"

New year we are thinking of a mother-daughter cruise (maybe with son too!)

5!

I can't believe that my sweet G-man is five years old today! He was our first "Carolina Girl" baby boy! I will never forget bursting out crying when I first held him! He was born before my blogging days began, so I thought I would include these sweet pictures of our first meeting! (A much thinner- pre-becoming-a-mother me...)

 

 

 

 

 

We went over to see his nursery (they were staying with Clyde and Doris because it was freezing in their house...they have surely come a long way-but I loved that house). I remember being so facinated with all of the sweet little baby stuff. I even took pictures of his clothes and shoes!

 

Happy 5th Birthday Sweet Gabriel! We love you so much!

 

*Surprisingly today is also Brianne's baby's birthday! He was born on Gabriel's 1st birthday. We were at his party when Brianne called to tell us!--I will find my pictures to feature him next year on his 5th birthday too! Happy Birthday Ryan!!

 

 

Busy But Blessed

The New Year has started with a bang! It has taken me a while to recover from being sick. Also, I started a new semester teaching at VGCC and have added classes at Wilson Community as well. The Wilson classes are hybrid courses, meaning they are taught partly face-to-face. I had my first class this Monday and LOVED it! Oh I can see myself doing lots of this in the future!

I feel so lucky that I am able to teach these classes so that I can stay home part time. Teaching in public school has become nearly overwhelming. I still love it so much, but oh me- it has become so much more about meetings/paperwork/ changing curriculum/testing etc. Sometimes I hardly know where to begin. I am truly worried about the future of our schools and pray each day for positive change. Thanks to my schedule I am able to face each day with a positive outlook, because the next day I will get to be with:

 

 

...all day! It is especially great on sunny days like today!

 

Here are a few cute pictures from this weekend:

(I love this precious outfit that was a gift from Karen for her birthday! I love Karen too! This woman has been a true angel from God for me this past month!)

Silly things!