Encouragement for Mama

It was a LONG weekend and I think both of my kiddos could tell mommy was still stressed on Monday morning. Dave worked super late Friday night, ALL day Saturday, and left right after church on Sunday for work again.  Plus he had a dinner "meeting" tonight . . and it's not even month end!  So after a weekend of running here and there, HT super doubles, mystery shops, a birthday party, lesson plans, cheerleading, and doing all of the regular activities solo (did I mention that Sunday was a nightmare at church since almost half of my teachers called out at the last minute)  by Monday I was still exhausted.  I have to give Dave a lot of credit for all that he does when he is home!  Anyway, to my surprise Savannah wrote me a little note of encouragement and left it in my purse for me to find at school.  I love that girl!!!

African Safari Night at PSE

Tonight the second graders at Savannah's school participated in African Safari night! They had to *raise* enough money to make the minimum *donation* but then were able to have a blast from 6-8pm at school tonight.  They rotated in groups through fun activities like face painting, African games, dance, drum making, etc.  Then the kiddos were able to enjoy a pizza dinner before heading home.  It was a challenge talking her into washing her face afterwards . . . but mama won that battle. :)

Uncle Mark Visits

Savannah was SO excited that Uncle Mark made the trip to Charlotte just to watch her cheer at the game today!  Afterwards she and Preston talked him into coming back to our house for brownies and a fun game of sequence. :)

Valentine's Day 2014

By Friday, we all had seen enough snow and I was determined to get the van out of the garage!  So, we left for a play date to see the Lego movie with some friends.  Thankfully we made it safely there and back . . and even squeezed in an afternoon full of errands (which included picking up our annual Cheesecake Factory cheesecake to share after the kids were in bed).

Preston and Savannah enjoyed their Valentine gifts

And I got the BEST card ever!!! 

I'm so thankful we were able to finally escape the house, enjoy some delicious cheesecake, watch a redbox movie, and unwind in a nice quiet house!  What a great Valentine's Day!

Winter Storm 2014 ~ Part Three

We started day three of our home bound adventure with the movie Frozen.  A friend sent it in a link so the only way we could watch it was on the iPad . . but these two didn't seem to mind. :)  Actually they stayed in their jammies all day long!  They even wore them under their snow clothes.

After lunch time we had planned to go out in the snow to play, but it was STILL snowing.  Enough fell overnight to completely cover where we had played the day before and it was still snowing (after a few hours of freezing rain that fell early in the morning).  So we asked the kids to have some rest time and then we headed out!  After a few sleds down the driveway we quickly discovered that this snow was different, better for snowmen than sledding.

We hadn't gotten mail for 2 days and the only car that tried to get out got stuck before even getting to the end of the street!  So Dave and I decided to take action and start shovelling the driveway.  He did 90% of it, but I did help for over an hour.  While we shovelled the kids still found games to play and snow to sled on in the neighbor's driveway. 

After a few hours of fun, the newspaper finally came and Dave and I grabbed lawn chairs to relax on the freshly shovelled driveway in the sun while catching up on the news.  When the kids had played long enough and were ready to go in we packed it all up, spread salt for today, and then everyone came in for nice warm baths . . and clean jammies!  After dinner we had yummy s'mores for  dessert (what diet?).  Now we're all ready for the big melt. 

Winter Storm 2014 ~ Part Two

After a long run on the treadmill while the kids played together, I decided to make Savannah happy and let her do a science project while daddy was at work.  Although the plastic strawberry car didn't work exactly like we expected, it was fun to watch Savannah follow the directions and assemble the car so well.   Shortly after finishing the project I realized that the snow had really picked up and that the sidewalks were all covered so I texted Dave that he might need to check the weather.

 

By the time Dave got home around 11am this is what our backyard looked like.  I measured the snow and it was 5.5 inches in addition to the 2-3 inches that fell last night!



After lunch and good naps, we all went out to play.  Preston was the first to clear the slide and Savannah was the first one that got to try our new snow tube . . . after making a snow angel that is.

Then to the front yard for some sledding fun!

The weather was not very cooperative as the snow had completely changed to sleet by this point.  After a bit of sledding fun and a few pictures, Savannah and I were done and headed inside!

And once the boys were done outside, this is the mess that was left in the floor . . . which is why snow days aren't days "off" for mamas!

While they were still unlayering Savannah and I whipped our first ever batch of snow cream.  It was delicious and everyone enjoyed it . . well everyone but Preston that is.

We spent the rest of the afternoon working on Savannah's school project (Sally Ride), finishing our Valentine cards and gifts, and Savannah worked hard to finish her spelling and math homework for the week!  Now all of the laundry is done, the dishes are washed and we are praying that our power stays on despite the freezing rain that continues to fall.  There is more snow headed our way tomorrow . . .

Winter Storm 2014 ~ Part One

Apparently we have yet to see the worst of the snow that is to arrive.  I have to say today's 1-2 inches was beautiful!  It snowed from 11am - 5pm and was just picture perfect . . . never made the roads a mess and was just enough for Dave to whip up a snowman after working all day at the office.  Thanks to our friends the Edgertons for their awesome gift of a snowman kit!!  Hopefully we can get a cleaner "snowball" man (as Preston calls it) tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Susan!!

Happy Birthday Susan!  Getting ready to eat some ice-cream cake.

On Saturday Susan brought the girls to Charlotte to have some more fun celebrating her birthday . . and let the kiddos play of course.  The short trip was filled with fun and for the most part everyone played well together.  I didn't get any pictures of the major weekend activity, playing school, but here are a few other pictures from the weekend!

Sunday morning waiting for cinnamon rolls

Preston showing off his soccer skills outside

 It was super fun having them here, even if it was only for a little bit.  We can't wait to see them again in March for Alyssa's birthday. :)

Dinner with the Williams

I thought and prayed that this day would never come . . . but it has.  I can hardly believe it, but our most cherished neighbors finally sold their house and are moving this week!  Although they are only moving a few miles away, it still breaks my heart to know that my precious friend, fill in mom, health advisor, babysitter, dog owning neighbors are leaving me!  We have been neighbors for 10 years and I'm not sure who I will call at 6am on Sunday morning when my hair dryer blows up now.  We decided that we wanted to take them out to dinner, but Marlene opted for me to make dinner at home instead so on Thursday we had "Farlene" and Mr. Howard over for dinner.  It was a super fun evening with playing cards, dinner and of course reading books.  We do wish them well, but oh how they will be missed.

The Circus!!

Being that it was month end we had not planned on going to the circus this year . . . and besides, last time we went I was not very impressed.  BUT, when Savannah's free tickets arrived in the mail this week Dave willingly rearranged his weekend work schedule so that we could have a family outing to the circus on Saturday.  It was a super fun morning and nice that we were able to sleep in a bit too before heading uptown for the 11:00 Ringling Brothers show.  We had to leave early so Dave could get to work and we could get home and get Savannah changed for cheerleading, but we did squeeze in a nice yummy lunch out at Brixx before heading home.  So for a whopping $27 we enjoyed the circus, got our parking validated, and had lunch for 4 at a fun restaurant within walking distance of the coliseum.  Not a bad way to spend a Saturday!!