Umstead

I had a rare Sunday off and was trying to get the kids out of the house so Todd could have some time to get caught up on things. It was absolutely beautiful, so I took the kids to Umstead to go hiking. We've gone several times before, but we've always had 2 adults, so I knew it might get interesting trying to hop across the creek! I was right... eventually, Kate got a little too brave, and fell in up to her knee. She quickly learned that creek water in January is pretty chilly! We all had fun, though, and got some new fun pictures in the process.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Celebrating baby Parker

Our family loves babies. I mean L.O.V.E.S. babies. My aunt Ann from Atlanta told her co-worker that she was going to a baby shower for one of her (bazillion) nieces, and he said, "Man, your family is like rabbits!" Not that far from the truth... but when your mom is one of 9 kids, and most of them had 2-3 kids, and now most of them are having babies... well, you see how these things happen! Sweet baby Parker is only the 3rd grandbaby in our immediate family (#1 and #2 belong to me), so you can imagine just how spoiled this baby already is, and he's not even here yet!

This is the diaper tricycle that I made, courtesy of a fantastic Pinterest find.  Thanks to Kamley Lane for a great tutorial!

I meant to take another picture of the table once we got all of the food out, but these were the basics.  We also had fruit salad, and a couple egg casseroles, thanks to my mom and mother-in-law!

Cupcakes!  I made the chocolate toppers and could not believe how EASY they were!  I used the molds and little chocolate wafers (already colored) from Michael's.  Seriously, so easy.  Don't be scared - try it!

When Erin & Jeff first told their parents about the baby, he was the size of a blueberry, so that's what they nicknamed him until he had a real name... hence the random bowl of blueberries ;)

The cookies were my mom's idea - I was just the implementer!  Simple round sugar cookies, pipe the blue water icing, flood it to make it nice and smooth, add a goldfish, and use white icing to stick the little "bubbles."  Ta da!

I had to "girl-ify" the new sunroom a little for the shower :)  Todd wanted to make sure the flowers weren't a permanent addition!

Katie and Erin (left and middle) are friends from middle school or high school?  And Meredith (on the right) is our baby sister.

Two of the aunts - Mary & Jane

Eninbaby (her nickname from forever ago)

Katie (middle & high school), Emily (middle school through college), and Angela (college... she introduced Erin & Jeff) - the girls are all due about 8 weeks apart, all with boys!

Aunt Erin and Kate, who was showing her true colors during the shower.  Hmph.

Almost wine-thirty!

Beautiful afghan by our parents' sweet friend, Donna

Paint it Purple!

I love this little mischevious look... what's even funnier is that Aunt Jane (holding Kate), is pretty feisty, and Megan (our cousin looking on), was pretty feisty at that age too.  How fitting that they're all together!

Erin's friend, Angela made this adorable diaper cake!

Who doesn't love baby clothes?!

A few of our aunts and uncles bought the entire travel system

My mother-in-law, Vivian, got her this awesome exersaucer!

Kate being Kate

One of our oldest friends, Kim (we've all been friends since before we could talk), and her newest baby boy, Harrison!

Snow day!

I had a plan last Friday... the kids had an early release day; I'd taken vacation to get ready for Erin's shower, and my mom was coming over to help. And then it snowed... and they cancelled school before it even started snowing. Hmmm. And I had a conference call in the morning. Luckily, the kids really wanted to go outside, and Todd helped them find snow pants and all that fun stuff, and I'd found snow boots on clearance at Target the day before. I thought *surely* that if I bought snow boots, it wouldn't snow. Wishful thinking! Anyway, the kids played outside; I listened to my conference call, and then I got to go play too! The kids were ready to come back in not long after I got out there, which I was fine with. I don't really love the cold, but it was fun to watch them play. Then we got cracking on the rest of our to-do list as the snow melted away :)

 

 

Kate thought it was hilarious that there was snow on the ladder

They thought that they would push the snow off by sliding down... it didn't really work!

 

Brett tried too :)

 

Snow angel

She kept trying... the ice on top of the snow, and her little tiny body were just not cooperating.

I do love the look of the snow - as long as it melts quickly and goes away!

Happy half birthday, potater!

The kids school does morning prayer every single morning at the start of the school day. The entire school, grades K-8 (3 or 4 classes of each grade), meet in the courtyard to start the day off with some reflection, some prayer, celebrate special accomplishments, sports announcements, and birthdays! Of course, there are some kids, like Kate, who have those pesky summer birthdays, so they get to celebrate their half birthday! They even get to dress out that day, and they get to bring in snack for their class. We always bring in some delicious Daylight Donuts since they're peanut product-free, and it's owned by a family from our school!

The only downside was that it was raining on Kate's half birthday, so they had morning prayer inside over the loud speaker. We still got to hang out in the office to see Kate get called up and get her pencil :)

Kate was so excited!

Waiting for morning prayer to start, with her assistant on the right, and the Assistant Principal on the far left.  The little boy is Mark, one of Brett's friends, whose birthday is also July 15 :)

Happy 30-something!

In the midst of our Christmas fun, we also squeezed in a fun birthday celebration for Todd. Happy New Year's Eve & birthday!

 

 

 

 

Go Pack Go!

Cheering on the Packers!

 

Christmas with G&G

Todd's parents (aka Grandma and Grandpa) drove from their house in Illinois, to Todd's sister's house in Denver to spend Christmas with her. Then they drove from Denver to Raleigh, where Vivian stays through the winter. Smart lady - NC winters might be crazy, but we at least get SOME warm weather. Anyway, they had quite the adventure - several hours stuck on the highway, being run into the guardrail, etc. - but they finally made it! We celebrated Christmas with them once they got into town. Here is a little glimpse at our Christmas fun, part 3!

Clockwise from top left - 1. Kate got more girly legos. 2. Brett modeling his new Marquette sweatshirt.  3. The kids got their new calendars from Grandma, as always!  4. Brett got a new Cubs truck to go with his other trucks.  5.  Kate showing off her new Brave ornament.  6.  Brett showing off his new Transformers ornament.  7.  Kate kept shooting baskets with her wrapping paper, and making the 3 Goggles everytime she made a basket.