Sophia's First Snow

Sophia finally experienced her first snow! We got close to two inches of snow which kept us snowed in for a couple of days. 

We kept ourselves busy with snowball fights, sledding, snow ice cream, lots of movies, and hot chocolate. It was a really peaceful couple of days!

2013 Recap

Hey there! Remember me? I used to blog here, but then life got busy and I got behind. I kept saying I would blog, but I kept putting it off and I got behind. Then it seemed like a lot of work to go back and try and update everything so I just never did it.

But then, I started thinking about all of the things that I didn't post about. I felt guilty for not documenting our memories. So, I have made a goal for 2014 to try and post more often. Ideally I would like to post once a week, but if I can just do once a month I'll be happy with that.

Rather than going back and adding in posts, I thought I would try and do one big "catch all" post and just highlight the big stuff. So, here goes....

Aiden played his first year of baseball in the spring. He was on the Orioles. Baseball was totally new to him, and while he had fun, I don't think it was really his sport. He hasn't asked to sign up for baseball again, he says he wants to try soccer instead. 

Sophia turned one and we had a Minnie Mouse birthday party for her. We had a bounce house for the older kids, but I'm pretty sure Sophia enjoyed it just as much as the big kids. 

Jenny finished second grade, and we had a busy summer. We spent lots of time sleeping in, going to the pool, and hanging out with friends and family. We took a trip to Tennessee with my mom, brother, SIL, niece, and cousins. Kenny and Aiden had a good time at VBS and we also went strawberry picking.

In August, Aiden started his first year of school in Pre-K and Jenny started third grade. I am proud to say that they are both doing really well, and amaze me with how much they learn! 

August was a busy month, because we also moved. I always forget how difficult it is to move. I hope the next time we move I can hire movers!

Jenny turned 8 on August 30. I ate lunch with her at school, and we had a small surprise party for her with a couple of her friends. She didn't think we were going to do anything for her birthday since we had just moved, so she was really surprised!

In the fall we went to a pumpkin patch, corn maze, and we took a trip to Helen Georgia with my family. The kids also dressed up for Halloween. Jenny was Harley Quinn (a character from Batman), Aiden was Robin, and Sophia was a bumble bee. I loved that she was a bumble bee, because Jenny was also a bumble bee the first time she went trick or treating. :)

The holidays passed by too quickly, as they always do. Thanksgiving was spent at my cousin's house. We had a wonderful Christmas, and my children (and Jaime and I) were very spoiled with some really great gifts! We celebrated New Year's Eve at my mom's house with family. 

 2013 was a difficult year with my Dad passing away, but we made it through. It wasn't easy, but I know God was with us every step of the way. 2013 was also a year full of blessings. I am hoping that 2014 brings many more blessings, and hopefully less heartache. I just wanted to say that I appreciate each and everyone of you who said a prayer for my family this year. 

"And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” Matthew 21:22

Spring Break 2013

Last week was Jenny's spring break. We didn't have many plans, mostly just several doctor and dentist appointments. We tried to do a few fun things though. My mom was also on vacation last week, so she came with us sometimes too.

On Monday, we went with my mom to Stone Mountain. We have gone to Stone Mountain several times, but this was our first time to go there and ride the "Ride the Ducks" ride. It was a lot of fun! The ride started out on land, where we took a tour of the park. Then, before we knew it, we ended up on a dirt road that led down to a lake. On this road, our driver floored the gas pedal and we took off into the water! Water splashed up around the sides of the boat, but none of us got wet. Children 9 and under had to wear life jackets. Jenny and Aiden didn't mind them, but Sophia didn't like her's at all. Eventually she fell asleep on the ride. We also saw an animal show where they brought out several baby animals for everyone to look at. There were even a few that we could touch if we wanted. We also rode the Sky Lift, walked around on the top of the mountain, saw the 4D movie "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island", and the kids played in Geyser Towers. By the end of the day we were all worn out!

On Tuesday the kids and I went with my parents to Suwanne to let them play in the fountains. Jenny always loves the fountains. Aiden has never liked them. I keep hoping every year that he will like them since he is older, but he never does. He just runs around them and tries to avoid getting wet. This was Sophia's first time to get in the water from the fountains. She didn't mind touching the water with her hands, but once we put her any closer, she wanted nothing to do with it!

On Thursday we tried a new place that we had never been before. There is a children's museum in Atlanta called Imagine It! I have been wanting to take my kids to a children's museum for a long time, but just never found the time to go. So, after a quick doctor appointment for Jenny on Thursday morning, we headed to Atlanta to the children's museum. There were lots of things there for Jenny and Aiden to do. They even had events at certain times of the day. We missed the first couple of them, but we made it in time for the dancing one, the science one, and story time. I think the dancing may have been Jenny and Aiden's favorite part! Some of the exhibits included things like: a grocery store with grocery carts and a cash register, a farm with a cow that could be milked, a washable wall that could be painted on, a pond full of fake, magnetic fish and fishing poles, and lots of other smaller exhibits. There was also a small section of toys for children Sophia's age. When it was time to go, Jenny and Aiden both weren't ready to leave.

We had a great spring break and we are looking forward to lazy, summer days! It was a nice preview to the summer.

First Day of April

It is finally starting to feel like Spring around here! This seemed like it was the longest Winter ever, so it is nice to enjoy some warmer weather!

We woke up this morning to a sweet face peeking out at us through her crib rails. As much as I am ready for Sophia to have her own room, I know will miss her once she is not in our room anymore. Poor Jaime has a cold, so we spent most of the day in the house. He was off from work today, so it was nice to have him home, even if he didn't feel well. 

I am using this week to do some spring cleaning. I am hoping to have it all done by Sunday so that we can enjoy next week. Next week is Jenny's spring break. We have lots of doctor and dentist appointments scheduled next week, so I want to try and take advantage of the time we are able to spend doing fun things. I definitely don't want to spend the week cleaning! Today we started with cleaning out the van and washing the outside. If you know me well, you will know that I have never ever had a clean vehicle! It is usually always full of things that don't belong. When I was younger it was things like: trash, extra clothes, shoes, etc. Now that I have kids it is usually: trash, toys, sippy cups, clothes, jackets, shoes, video games, etc. This time it was particularly bad because it hadn't been cleaned out in a while! Between Girl Scouts and Aiden's baseball games, plus all of the other things in between, it had gotten out of control! Jaime and Aiden cleaned out the inside while Sophia took a nap and I cleaned a few things inside the house. After Sophia's nap, we went to the car wash where we washed the outside and vacuumed and cleaned the inside.

After the car wash we went to the park so that Aiden could practice baseball with Jaime. Jaime doesn't really like baseball, and he has never played before. Where he is from, soccer is more commonly played. So he and I helped Aiden together. Jaime even said that he thinks that Aiden's baseball bat might be the first real bat he has ever swung! Aiden wasn't too thrilled about coming to the park to practice. All he wanted to do was play on the playground. First he practiced throwing and catching the ball, and then he practiced hitting. Eventually we told him that after he hit the ball three times, we could go to the playground. There's nothing wrong with a little bribery if you as me! Especially since it helped him to be more serious - and it wasn't long before he hit the ball three times!

We headed to the playground where he had a blast! Sophia played on the swings, and tried out the slide. She really loved swinging, but she wasn't too sure about the slide. Haha! We put her on a slide last week for the first time, and she liked it. This slide was a little different though, it was steeper. I think it made her a little scared. 

Once it got so dark it was difficult to see, we came home and had a late dinner of sub sandwiches. Publix makes the best sandwiches. I think I might like theirs better than Subway. Aiden and Sophia were up past bedtime, so hopefully they will sleep in a little tomorrow. I doubt it! 

Tomorrow is day two of spring cleaning. I haven't even decided what I am going to clean yet. Whatever I do, I also need to do the laundry too. After our busy Easter weekend, the laundry is out of control! Funny how it seems like whenever I focus on a certain area, like today I focused on the van, it seems like all of the other areas of the house fall apart and get out of control. Most of the time I really feel like it is impossible to have a perfectly clean house all of the time. This stay at home mom stuff is much harder than it looks! 

I hope you all had a wonderful first day of April and I hope you didn't fall for too many April Fool's Jokes!