Easter 2016

We attended the early service at church so that we could make it to Burlington for Easter lunch.  One non-negotiable for me is spending holidays with family so we often find ourselves travelling on the holidays.  Never-the-less it's always worth the effort to be able to laugh and just relax with my sweet family!  We missed the Page kids this year, but we still had an Easter egg hunt and lots of yummy food so all in all it was fun day.

Someone was a bit sleep deprived and fell asleep quickly on the way home.  He even slept through a stop for gas. ;)  I hope my kids will always remember the fun times at Great Grandma's house and cherish these memories as much as I do.  What a special day celebrating our Risen Savior.

 HAPPY EASTER!

Date Nights with our Kiddos

Winter Jam rolled into Charlotte this weekend and the boys couldn't wait to go!  I mean $10 for 10 bands that end with their favorite group King and Country?!?  What's not awesome about that . . if you're a boy that is. :)  Savannah and I opted to have a fun girls afternoon out instead!

I surprised her with a trip to the salon to get our toes done first.  It was just in time for Easter and exactly what we both needed to relax and unwind to start Easter break.  After that we spent a solid 4 hours at the mall.  We did tons of shopping and ended our night with her favorite dinner out at McAlisters.  Super fun!

 Meanwhile the boys were jamming out at the concert.  I texted Dave a few times to remind him that it was getting late and we had to be at church early for Easter, but he said Preston was still "going strong."  Later I found out that he totally fell asleep before the last band came on.  At least we were headed into Spring break and could take it easy for a week to catch up on sleep.

I think we all four had the perfect evening doing exactly what we love most!

Preston's Farm Field Trip

Today the kindergarten classes at PSE finally got to go on their farm field trip.  It was scheduled and rescheduled a few times due to a very rainy Fall, so they were super excited to get to go on their first field trip today!!

The buses were late, but it all worked out and honestly they really didn't care that they arrived late . . I mean it was their very first field trip!

It was my first experience with an all boy group . .  but they couldn't have been sweeter!!  Our group first went to the cotton station where they felt the real cotton and had a chance to separate the seeds.

Next up was watermelon planting and then they learned about railroads as they entered a restored train.

After that the class went to the petting farm . . . 

The last two stations were the super grain bin slide and the hayride!

Even Ms. Bridges took a slide!

It was a beautiful day for a field trip.  When the buses pulled out of the farm before lunch there were a bunch of exhausted kindergarteners!!

Savannah's Raleigh Field Trip

We're on our way!  For weeks Savannah has talked non-stop about the big Raleigh field trip and the day finally arrived!!  After arriving at school bright and early at 6am, the buses rolled out of the parking lot at 6:30am.  It was still dark, but after our first rest stop I snapped this selfie on the way to Raleigh.  She is one excited girl. :)

My fun group of girls

Our first stop was the best in my opinion.  We had an hour to explore the state science museum.  Wow!  The coolest thing was the huge whale skeleton in the front of the museum.  After seeing that, it was so clear how Jonah could have fit in the belly of a whale.  It was enormous!

The girls also enjoyed learning how to complete a circuit which enabled them to play the drums.  There were so many fascinating things to explore and learn about in this museum.  We even ventured into the globe and accidentally got stuck across the bridge.  Thankfully another student saw us and opened the door just before we started to panic. :)

After the science museum we had a tour at the state capital. The tour guide was very impressed with the amount of knowledge our class already had.  He kept asking "are you sure these are fourth graders?"  He even commented about how he had been in education for 35 years and could tell when there was a sparkle in the kids' eyes.  He kept giving them more and more information until we had to stop him because it was lunch time!

Thankfully it was a beautiful day and we enjoyed our picnic lunch outside before heading to the legislative building for our tour there.  Again, our fourth graders shined with their knowledge as the other class of fifth graders from another school seemed a bit clueless.  Clearly our students were well prepared and able to see first hand the things they already learned about in school.

Our last stop was the history museum.  Let's just say we were all pretty tired by this point so when they begged for the gift shop first I said "why not?"  We explored around and then saw the huge Billy Graham exhibit and the dress exhibit, which was also pretty interesting.  By this point we were all ready for the bus!

We headed to the bus around 3pm and by the time we loaded up they handed out the pizzas for dinner and we were homeward bound.  It was a fun-filled, yet exhausting day.  I was thankful to be able to go with Savannah's class and experience this first hand with her, but even more thankful when the bus rolled into school at 7:15pm!!

Savannah & me in front of the history museum, just before leaving Raleigh.

Wishful & Creative Thinking

Last week out of the blue the kids decided that they would petition the tooth fairy for some money . . even though they admitted up front that they hadn't even lost a tooth!  Crazy!  They both knew that the book fair was coming up and they are trying so hard to save money for Disney so they decided asking the magical tooth fairy for some dough was their best option.  Preston even drew a cupcake "with a cherry on top". Needless to say the tooth fairy did not make a stop at our house to leave them any money.

Outside of the Leprechaun trap

So fast forward to this week and I thought the kids were just making traps for St. Patrick's Day fun . . until I read the notes that they left for the leprechaun.  Again they were both asking for money!!  This time the focus for Savannah was to have more money for her Raleigh trip tomorrow.

Inside the trap

Once again they struck out as the Leprechaun obviously came and took a swim in their pool along with eating all of the candy left for him, but he also left a note saying that he was not leaving any of his gold.  On the bright side when he visited Preston's class at school today during specials, he did leave everyone in the class a necklace and shamrock.

Spring Time Fun at Home

The weather recently has been just amazing!  Savannah & Preston have both spent many hours outside and have become quite creative with the games they play.

We recently had a new family move in across the street and the 4 kids spend a lot of time playing with our kiddos.  Just this weekend they spent at least two solid hours on the front porch making Leprechaun traps. Makes me thankful once again for our nice private neighborhood and great neighbors.

Season Openers for Running and Football

Today was my first race of the season!  Thankfully it was super close to home so everyone joined me for the morning fun.  While I was running Dave and the kids enjoyed taking some funny pictures.

 But it wasn't long before I crossed the finish line!  33:29 for my first 4 mile race of the season.  Definitely not my best time, but hey, for a season opener I'll take it.  I was 7th in my age group!

Melissa and I signed up for a pack of 6 races this year.  This is first one with the final one being a half marathon in October.  After these pictures I bribed the kids with a doughnut to get their picture taken with the Easter Bunny that was set up at the race.  It'll probably be the last picture I ever get of them with the bunny. :(

Then we headed home for some rest before going to Preston's first flag football game!  Their team did great and ended up tying at the end.  It was super hot and sunny but also a lot of fun to see him play a new sport.  There is certainly a learning curve for the flag football rules, but hopefully all the moms will eventually figure it out. :)  I'm not sure it'll be his favorite sport, but it's too early to know right now. I do have to say that seeing him on the field with a mouth guard and all made him seem SO much bigger and older and so not a baby anymore. Sniff Sniff

 Here's to a Spring filled with exercise and fun!  I'm just praying this weather is here to stay.

Savannah's Baptism

On Sunday Savannah was baptized at Carmel.  It was such a special day for our family!!!  Words can't even express how grateful we are for the many people who have poured into Savannah's life throughout the past nine years.  From Sunday school teachers to camp counselors, friends who have walked the day to day journey of parenting with us, and family members who have prayed for her . . . we are eternally grateful for the seeds you planted in her heart.  She completed the First Step class with Mrs. Lee over a year ago and has really thought through this process.  We are confident in her decision to accept Christ and celebrate the work He has already done in her life.

Huge thank you to Jay Hancock for be willing to baptize her, as he was the pastor that married us, to Aunt Cherry who got up at 4am to be there for Savannah's special day, and to every other person that stood up to celebrate with us at 8am Sunday morning.  God is good and we are thankful for this blessing!