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!!

A Snow Day!!!

A group sled ride!

Although we were disappointed with the little bit of snow we got overnight, the kids didn't let that spoil their fun day out of school!  As soon as I was off of the treadmill we all bundled up and headed out for some sledding fun.  The snow wasn't sticky enough for snowballs or snowmen (which we were super sad about since the Edgerton family just gave us this awesome snowman kit) but the kids had a blast anyway.  One of the only perks to having a super steep driveway is that all of the neighborhood kids come over to sled.  At one point there were 12 kids on various sleds going down our driveway!  After about an hour of excitement, my kiddos were ready for some hot chocolate and TV time.

Loving the spiked hair

We've played cards, watched TV, and had lunch . . . now it's quiet time!  Whew!  We'll see what the afternoon holds and will all be watching the weather to see if school may be out tomorrow too??

This is what our afternoon held . . . some dress up and dancing!  WHERE IS DADDY??!!?!!

Our MLK Holiday

Preston enjoying his s'more!

Our holiday weekend festivities started on Sunday afternoon.  The Neal family invited us over for an afternoon of fun and dinner too!  Our kids had an absolute blast riding the roller coaster in their front yard and then down the hill.  They played and played and played until it got too cold and then everyone came in for a delicious dinner.  Preston asked if Ms. Julie could send me the recipe because it was "so yummy".  After dinner the kids had a dance party and then Julie and Charlie brought out the s'more maker for some inside homemade treats.  Of course Savannah and Preston LOVED that and ate plenty.

Today I wasn't quite brave enough to take the kids to Discovery Place by myself so while I was on the treadmill I told the kids to make a top 10 list of things they wanted to do today.  Preston then asked "so we're going to stay home all day?  and don't have to do any errands?"  When I said yes he said "this is the best day ever!"   I didn't realize errands were so bad, but I do generally have a lot of them. :) 

Here is their list.  We manged to get every single thing crossed off and then some.  We spent a lot of time outside after "rest" time since it was in the 60s this afternoon.  I also managed to squeeze in a nap for myself, organized a pantry shelf, cleaned the toaster oven, gathered a donate bag, fixed a blind and had time to make a casserole and catch up on e-mails.  It's amazing what I can get done when the car stays parked in the garage all day.  We all (well at least 3 of us) had a wonderful, restful day at home!!

Preston's Valentine for me that he made while I ran this morning

Upward Cheer 2014

Way to get some air Savannah!

Upward is off to a great start this year.  Today was Savannah's second game and her squad is having a blast!  They have wonderful coaches who love helping the girls learn new cheers . . . and they get into the games too!  Here are a few pictures from their game today.

Goodbye 2013 . . . Hello 2014

2013 was a great year for our family. 

We definitely have a lot to be thankful for . . . here are the top 10 highlights!

#10~ Dave was transferred to Town & Country Ford and he is still enjoying being back at Sonic
#9 ~ I started back in the classroom teaching part time at CCS.  We have all adjusted to a new normal
#8 ~ Savannah continues to love school, especially reading, and is rockin' the AR points
#7 ~ Preston LOVED his first real experience with soccer and was pretty good too. :)
#6 ~ Dave and I were able to vacation in Las Vegas together (my first time there and first time flying solo)
#5 ~ We officially became debt free in October!
#4 ~ We are very blessed to have been so healthy this past year
#3 ~ Preston made huge progress with his speech thanks to a great therapist
#2 ~ We were able to meet all of Dave's extended family from NJ for the first time on a vacation in the VA mountains.  What a wonderful weekend that was!!
#1 ~ Our family is so thankful to have such a great network of friends at our church. With no immediate family in town it is truly a blessing to have friends to call when you need something!

Looking ahead we are excited to see what God has planned for our family in 2014.  There truly is never a dull moment around here so I'll finish this post with a funny moment that already happened this year . . . a conversation that was overheard between my two kiddos while I was on the treadmill:

S: Welcome back to school Preston. We have a lot to catch up on, do you want to start with math?
P: Okay
S: We are going to learn about odd and even. Do you know anything about odd and even?
P: Yes
S: Well what do you know?
P: I don't know ABOUT them, but I know what they did
S: Huh??
P: They ate from the tree they weren't supposed to
S: What?
P: Adam and Eve, you know, they ate from that tree.

Hilarious!  Thank you Lord for the blessings you have given us.  We are truly grateful!

The Biltmore House at Christmas

In Savannah's enrichment class she just finished reading the book The Mystery of the Biltmore House by Carole Marsh.  They spent a lot of time doing activities based on this book and Savannah frequently complained that it was "boring".  So, we decided to try to bring it to life a bit by taking a family trip to the Biltmore House.  Dave had extra vacation time and we thought it would be less crowded to go during the week so yesterday we all headed to Asheville, NC to tour the Biltmore.  I have to say that I was a bit worried about Preston being a handful midway through the house, but he never complained and was certainly a trooper despite the massive crowds and cool winds.

 

The last time Dave and I were there was our babymoon when I was pregnant with Savannah.  Neither of us had been at Christmas so it was fun to see it all decorated . . . but I do have to say that it wasn't all I imagined it would be.  We did a quick drive through the gardens and stopped at the winery.  Unfortunately we would have had to wait over 2 hours to get the back scenes tour of the winery so we opted not to wait for that.  As a side note, they had tons of samples stations set up (which made both of our kiddos excited) and if you ask Preston his favorite part he'll tell you it was the "kretzel samples and shuttle buses." 

Celebrating on Christmas Day 2013

Twas the night before Christmas and Santa has come!

These two were up bright and early super excited to see what was under the tree . . and came with gifts made for daddy

Wearing our Christmas Jammies!

SO excited!!

We enjoyed a fun Christmas morning and had some yummy french toast.  Both kids were pleased with their loot . . . Savannah got her long awaited American Girl doll and Preston received some soccer goals and a few other things.  After getting all showered and dressed up we were off to Burlington to celebrate with my family.  Not long after we arrived we enjoyed a delicious meal and then it was time to open the living room full of gifts!

Page Family Picture

Pure sassiness!

What an awesome day we had celebrating Christ with our family!  The cousins LOVED playing together and grandma just loved having everyone in her house.  As usual, there was a fight over the golf balls she made, but thankfully this time no one (Denny) went through the wall. :)