The Winter Is Sure Giving Us A Run
For our money that is…
Now you see, I do live in the mountains and yes we are use to the snow and cold BUT, there is usually a little bit of a break in between storms for us to re-cooperate. Since Dec. 17th,
- I have seen my grass for about a total of 4 days.
- The girls have maybe went a total of four FULL days of school (meaning no delays or snow cancellations).
- We lost power for 4 days.
- We have seen more ice that we ever care to!
- We have came up with so many creative ways to sled that you would be amazed
It is a winter for the history books for sure. I am itching for the sun so I can go out and run and get more fit. This winter has really done me in and I am so just wanting to get out and run, run and did I say run?
Anyways… I thought I would share some videos of our little sledding runs and some pictures to make you smile from our own little version of North Pole!
First Glance at North Pole, NC
The Girls Taking a Sled Run
M Having Fun with the Circular Sled
Mommy and L Taking a Sled Run
Snow Gals
The Girls SnowWoman
M Loves to Make Snow Angels
The Girls Love to Crash the Sled
The Girls LOVE to Sled
The Snow Is Here So We Should Enjoy It I Guess
Happy Winter Everyone!!
No tags for this post.Oh No Another Snow Day What To Do
Snow Day, Snow Day, Snow Day and yet another Snow Day! Some parents may cringe at the thought of a snow day, but I actually look forward to snow days. Yes, snow days can involve getting out and throwing snow balls at each other’s head or finding the biggest hill to sled down or if the wind chills are sub below zero, they can involve creative ideas inside.
Make sure to shop seasonal sales at your local stores such as Wal-Mart or Target. I found gingerbread man kits 75% off and it is never a wrong time to make Gingerbread Men .
Also, Valentine’s Day is coming up so a perfect time to get out the art supplies kit and make homemade Valentine’s Day cards that will mean so much more to your kid’s friends!
Let the kids be creative and have indoor parties. My girls brought out the strobe light AKA flash light, turned out all the lights in the hall and we had a dance party. Each girl got a parent and we danced our little hearts out to Party in the USA! We acted goofy, we laughed hard, and we danced to our heart’s content. The girls were enjoying it so much.
A couple hours later, we got an invite to a Halloween Party. Please check yes or no. Of course, we checked yes and showed up with our best costume on.
Decorations filled the halls and scary oops I mean silly ghost stories were told by the girls. Can you believe that the pickle ran across the road? WOOOO… I know I was scared too .
Take time out of the day and have chill time. My girls love to read books so take a time-out session on the couch and cuddle up to a good book. If your child is too young, they can draw during this time and make their own picture book.
Chore time. Make it a game. Who can get their chores done the fastest? Who can sing the loudest while doing their chores? Who can make the bed up the neatest? Who can fold the most wash clothes? Girls love it!
Have an indoor picnic in your living room complete with a homemade tent that involves draping blankets from couch to couch. Bring out the peanut butter and jelly to see who can make the sloppiest sandwich or who can make the neatest sandwich.
ABC and 123 time. Create activities throughout the house such as count the door knobs, windows, or closests. Find letters in a magazine that spells each family members name and create a collage on construction paper.
These are just some of the few activities we had fun with over the last couple of weeks of snow days. It really can be fun and not stressful. Keep it changing and entertaining and don’t forget to give the kids some downtime to recoup from each activity so they will not have melt downs.
Happy Snow Day!
No tags for this post.And This is What December Is All About Right
You know this is truly the most wonderful time of year, but even in all the hustle and bustle we simply cannot forget why we celebrate this time of year.
This month has been a month of craziness for sure. As most of you know, I took on the task of going back to school full-time since the girls were both in school (something I am debating now having them in school). So the last two weeks have been up very late nights studying and putting the finalizing touches on end of semester projects. I am so thrilled and happy that I made it to the end of semester. I cannot say it was easy, but I can say I put my whole strength and heart into my work. Well, I can say that work has definitely paid off. I have completed the semester with a 4.0 GPA. I am a bit of perfectionist when it comes to work and I will stress and stress about things. I have cried some tears this semester but now, I can sit back and breathe. I can enjoy the season. I can celebrate with my family Jesus Christ’s birth. I can enjoy seeing the girls smiles on Christmas morning. I can enjoy time with my extended family. I can just take it all in now without any worries or stress. Now… that my friends is what December is all about.
M was in a Christmas play at church last Sunday. I will share video and pictures of that soon. It went soooo well and was sooo funny and cute! I want to leave you though now with this short video. It will move you for sure. This was an act put on right after the play. Enjoy 
Day 12 Thankful for Time in NYC
Today I am thankful for getting one on one time with my two daughters M and L in NYC. I was nervous about taking them, but the nervousness totally went away once we got into the city.
The first task to cover was getting L on the plane. She did NOT want to fly at all. I stayed really positive and upbeat with her and the plane ride went so smoothly. Both girls were just amazed and kept looking out the windows. L was teary eyed when we first got on, but after she realized how cool it was, she had everyone laughing on the plane.
L would say, mommy look there is water, we get to land in the water! Ummm no sweetie we will land on the pavement . Then she said mommy, will we get to jump out of the plane? WHAT!! She would say, oh I have a headache, I need to close the window. Then 2 minutes later, oh I need to see the sun let me open the window. She had us all cracking up and she was so enjoying every minute of not having to be in a carseat .
M was so laid back, taking in all the sights and asking some really good questions about the landing and just the airplane in general. She has wanted to ride on an airplane for so long and it made me so happy that she got the chance.
Once, we arrived in the city. The girls were so excited and ready to take the city head on. We first were took by taxi cab to Dylan’s candy store.
Oh my the taxis. Needless to say, we only rode in two taxis the whole time we were there because they scared me so bad with their driving. They could care less who they cut off or cut in front of and how close they get to someone! EEEEK….
Once we arrived at the candy store, the girls did a short video shoot for the Show. Each child ages 5 to 8 was interviewed individually some questions. I heard the producers cracking up laughing, so I knew it was going to be pretty funny. I made sure I seen the questions first before I agreed for my girls to be asked. The producers came out and said the girls did so good and I would get to see the video the next day.
So we headed onto the city.. just the girls and I. I loved having this mother/daughter time with them. We took the subway. The first couple of times, I kept getting on the wrong subway and the attendants were so nice to let us get on the correct ones without charging us haha. After a while, M said mom you are really getting the hang of these subways . The girls just loved taking the subways to get to everything.
Our first stop was Central Park. It was so beautiful. We didn’t do the whole five mile walk of the park, because I knew the girls would get really tired so we just did the outskirts of Central park.
I wanted to do the horse and carriage rides around Central Park, but wanted to save that for when hubby is with us so we can do it as a whole family.
Next stop was FAO Schwartz Toy Store. It is a really HUGE toy store and the girls just went wild. They loved it.
Even the employees get right in there with the kids and begin playing with the toys.
We then walked by Rockefeller Center, but my wonderful batteries decided to die in my camera so I don’t have pictures. By this time it was starting to get dark in the city, so we headed back to get something to eat and get in for the evening. I didn’t want to be out much past dark with myself and the girls.
The next morning, we were up very early and out of the hotel room by 8am to go to Times Square.
The girls just loved all the lights and billboards. We also went to see where the different News people were. We happened to catch Kris Allen on Good Morning America.
We just had so much fun going in and out of stores and just taking in all the sights and sounds of Times Square. We then headed over to Bryant Park and let the girls enjoy their donuts.
We also got to meet up here at Bryant Park with my wonderful co-worker who works in NYC. I just adore her and was so happy we got to meet up. It also warmed my heart that this meet-up with Dina was one of M’s top 3 things that she loved about NYC!
My girls really showed off for Dina . The girls got to see the people ice skating there in Bryant Park as well. That was very cool!
We then headed back to the subway, and as you can see on the girl’s shirts. They LOVE NYC!
It was time to get ready for the show. We were not allowed to take any cameras or cell phones to the show, so I don’t have any pictures of this part of our trip. This was one part of the trip, I was nervous about. I didn’t know how everything was going down, but one thing I knew is that I would control what my girls heard at the show. Once we were taken back to the green room with all the other ages 5 to 8 children and their moms, we realized we were the last show to tape that day. She tapes 3 shows a day, I believe 2 times a week. Going in, I knew this show was about Do you talk to your kids about sex and what do children face in today’s world? I know my morals and values of how I want to bring my girls up. I am very protective over them, so I wanted to give my opinion and see how other mom’s were approaching this same topic.
So all the mom’s got their hair and make-up done… didn’t I look fabulous? hehe!
Then it was almost show time for us to go on stage. I know there were teenagers and moms on before us, but I have no idea what they talked about as we were kept in the back. So I’m not sure how that went down. It was our turn so they led the moms onto stage of the 5 to 8 age group. Each mom was asked a couple of questions. I was asked about an incident of a little boy that kept kissing M last year in Kindy and then the second question I was asked if I had ever talked to my girls about sex. My response was, Absolutely not. I think they are too young and yes I want to be the one to talk to them, we are a very conservative family, that loves God and is guided by God, we have several morals and values in our family and I want to make sure I do it the right way. They then showed us the video they had taped of the girls from the day before. OMG… this will by far be the best part of the show. It is sooooo funny. Oh I loved it. L cracked up everyone and the whole audience was laughing. The video is like a Kids say the darndest things and oh did they LOL. It went very well, I was really pleased. They then said ok let’s bring out the little girls. Once they brought out the girls, they went into asking them more about their answers. So since L’s answers were so darn cute… once question was Where do babies come from? L said from a Doctor. They asked L on stage where the Doctor gets the baby from and she said from the babysitter. Then they said where does the babysitter get the baby, L said from the doctor. OMG it was so funny and cute. LOVED IT. M said that the baby comes from God . God picks out a special baby to place in mommy’s belly. It melted my heart. They didn’t talk to M on stage and she wanted to speak so she was sad they only spoke to L, but I assured her that she was on the taped video from the day before.
Overall, I was really pleased. Again, I don’t know how the first few segments went, but I was really pleased how my girls and I presented ourselves and glad that they could provide some clean fun laughter .
It took a very long time to tape so by the time we were done, it was time to head to the airport to fly back home.
We were in the car headed to the airport and I heard L sound like she was crying. I said what is wrong… she said mommy I am going to miss NYC. Oh it broke my heart, it was then I was soooo happy we did this and I had the chance to let the girls experience NYC. It was such a fun time and we all can’t wait to go back .
M was so excited about flying at night on the plane and L as you can see slept the whole time back home on the plane .
Fun times and I love the memories that we created!
No tags for this post.Day 11 Thankful for Gift of Life
Today I am thankful for getting up enough courage to go give blood for the first time! I have always wanted to but kept putting it off because I thought it would hurt. Now, I have never been afraid of giving blood at the dr’s office, but I knew at the blood drives you have to give a whole lot of blood.
I walked in and had the biggest smile on my face and knew I was going to DO THIS. I took my oldest daughter with me for moral support. I only had to wait about 10 minutes before they called my name to come on back. They checked my iron levels and did my blood pressure. At first she said my blood pressure in my right arm and it was 160 over something… I was like ummm not hardly. I have never had any blood pressure problems. Yes, I admit I was a bit nervous but not that much. So, she took my blood pressure in the other arm. It was 130 over something which still seems high for me since mine is usually 104 over 70. Anyways she said that was good and they could accept that.
I go get in the chair and they prick me which didn’t bother me at all. I sat there squeezing this ball while the blood dripped into the bag. M was like “Does that not hurt mommy”. It sure didn’t. I couldn’t even feel it the whole time. They came by and kept checking then finally said I was done. A nurse came in to take out the needle and try to get me to stop bleeding. After a couple tries they finally had to put more pressure because I was still freely giving blood. Thank goodness they got it to stop and they go to put my arm down and there I went. I told the nurse that I wasn’t feeling too good and that I felt like I was going to pass out. That’s all I remember…I then remember looking up and seeing about five people over me and the nurse telling me to cough, keep coughing, then a guy was holding a fan into my face. They gave me something to drink and some crackers… I began feeling like myself. They had me stay there for a good bit to make sure I was going to be ok. I missed school tonight 
because of this. I knew M would be freaked so I asked where she was and one of the nurses had took her to the back because she was very worried about mommy. She asked me later if I had went to sleep… poor baby girl.
Anywho… I still feel a little weak but its all good. I’m just so happy I finally did this and could help out. The blood levels are really low right now so that is what pushed me to do this. Even after all this, I will go back and do it again. I will be more prepared for next time .
Day 6 of Thankfulness
Today I am so thankful for weekends. We are always so busy during the week with school, work, church and extracurricular activities that there is not much time for down time. Weekends we all sit down and talk about the week and always go on a little adventure with the girls. We are not much of staying home, so it just gives us the chance to get out as a family and have some reconnection time from the hectic week.
One thing on the weekends, I really look forward to is Sunday lunch. Each week my mom and I take turns cooking Sunday lunch after church. I so enjoy getting the whole extended family getting together and now that it is fall, we all sit down and watch football after lunch. You can hear screaming, “its good”, or just some plain cheering from us all. It is funny to watch us all get into the games so much!
I have always said why can’t weekends be 5 days and weekdays be 2 days haha. Thank you Lord for giving us weekends that we can make special memories with our families!
Do you all have special weekend traditions your family does?
No tags for this post.A Girl And Her Hula Hoop
Creativity goes such a long way. I just would love to be able to look into L’s mind some days and just get a glimpse of what she is all thinking about. She will get in her own little world at times and just play and play. She loves to be creative and very artsy.
Recently we were outside on a Fall evening and she was so into her Hula Hoop. She just played and played… not even focusing on anything else but her hula hoop.
Oh she caught me taking pictures
Don’t you just love it? Not a care in the world… just a girl and her hula hoop!
My girls are always teaching me valuable lessons. Don’t sweat the small stuff. That is not what life is all about. Take time to breathe in and just appreciate what we do have. The Lord has a plan for all of us and we are working our way to fulfill the great plan. I do know life can be so stressful, but we do not have to dwell on the negative things…. look at all the positive things in your life. Once you do, you will see how blessed we truly all are!
No tags for this post.A 5th Birthday Tribute to My Baby Girl
As posted on October 15, 2008
As I am sitting here with the tears falling thinking back to 4 years exactly right now…I just cannot believe it has been 4 years. I was on my way to the hospital.
I remember hubbs telling me, just please let me sleep till midnight. HA.. you better believe when that clock hit 12am… I woke him up. I said hun, I am still having contractions pretty good and we should probably get to the hospital really soon since we are a bit away from it. I woke up my precious Madisyn who had no clue of what was going to about happen and then I woke up my step-daughter who said can I fix my hair. Ummm nope we have got to go. The contractions were coming so hard and painful… I was hitting my window all the way up the mountain to the hospital. It was soooo foggy too and hubbs was trying his best to get us there safely and fast.
I got to the ER and they were like, “Are you in labor?”. UMMMM YES…. that is why I am bent over like this. Ok let’s hurry and get you upstairs. They immediately wheeled me up. I said I don’t know if this is real labor (I was induced with Madisyn), but it sure hurts and I knew I should come to get check. I was two weeks early so I was like… I just don’t know. They said ok, let’s check you to see if we should keep you. I was thinking to myself Lord help us if this is not real. They got me settled in and checked me and OMG I was already dilated 7. I could not believe it. They said, oh yes you are definitely staying. They were hurrying around as fast as they could, because baby girl was coming out fast. They broke my water and I was to a 10 within just a short time… they were like please don’t push, the DR is on his way. Just hold on. Yea right… I can feel her she is coming. I bet I only let out two pushes and in walked the DR and she was out that fast. I knew she had swallowed her meconium because they could tell when they broke my water. But I didn’t know the cord was around her neck twice. I couldn’t hear her cry and she was blue and I immediately lost it. I was crying so hard. The room was swarmed with all kinds of drs and they whisked her away from me. I was like Please Lord, let her be ok… Please! With what seemed forever, I heard her first cry and oh was that a joyous sound to my ears. The team of dr’s got her breathing so well and I already had Madisyn in bed with me so we were itching to hold our beautiful Lyndsee. Yes, Madisyn was in the room with me the whole time and watched her sister be born. I would not have had it any other way.
Here are some pictures of that wonderful October 15, 2004 morning that our baby girl Lyndsee made her big debut.
I was so amazed at all her black hair since when Madisyn was born she was bald hehe. OH gosh what a sweet morning that was. I can’t believe these 4 years have went so fast and she looks so much like a grown little girl. Here is a picture from each of her birthdays.
6 month birthday
1 year birthday
2 year birthday
3 year birthday
4 year birthday
Updates:
The big 5 Year Old Princess
I will admit when I put her to bed last night, I had a good cry with L. I was holding her so tight and just telling her how I couldn’t believe she was 5. I told her she had to quit growing so fast. She was hugging me so tight and said but mommy I don’t have to turn 5, I want to stay 4 for you mommy. Ahhhh…. I love her so much. She means so much to our family indeed.
L you have grown by leaps and bounds this last year. You love to dance and sing. I always look forward to your “shows” you put on for us in the living room. You have to make sure your “stage” is set just so perfect before you will make your grand entrance. You are such a follower in your big sister’s footsteps and always wants to be doing what she is doing. Thankfully big sister loves that and you two are truly best of friends.
L you make us laugh so much with all your little stories you come up with and your creativity is out of this world. You cannot be still and always need to be doing something artsy with your time. You love to color, draw, cut paper, glue, and make crafts. You love to surprise us with your little gifts too that always have really big hearts drawn on them. Your big saying is coming up to us and saying “Mommy, I have a present for you” … then you proceed to give the biggest hug ever. I so heart that L. Also, you are always saying “I have big news” then you will say “I just farted” that is so not you girly girl but you think that is just the funniest thing.
L you still have to have mommy’s hair at night to go to sleep and if you wake up in middle of night and mommy is up working… you promptly will yell as loud as you can for mommy to come back to bed. Then we will cuddle and you are right back to sleep. We are still enjoying co-sleeping so much most definitely.
School has started this year for you L, and I couldn’t be more proud. You have come so far and have your very own little best friend now. Yes, the teacher says you are still fragile at school and will not hesitate to shout saying you want your mommy right NOW . BUT… you wake up each morning so eager to go to school now, much differently from the beginning of the school year.
I’m just so proud of you my dear and all that you have accomplished in the last 5 years. Never quit being you sissy, because you always know how to bring a smile to everyone’s face. Mommy LOVES you so much my dear and I will always appreciate you so much for being such a mommy’s girl and such a wonderful daughter/little sister!
Happy Birthday baby girl!!
P.S. I told you tonight when I was laying down with you to go to sleep “Sissy, mommy has tried to make your birthday such a special day and I hope that I truly did.” You said: “Mommy it is special, because you are my mommy.” Sniff Sniff, tears rolling!
No tags for this post.Family Fun at Biltmore House
We are a family that will just get up one morning and take off. We do not plan, we just start driving. I love being adventurous and my girls love seeing the world like this. I didn’t get to do a whole lot of traveling growing up, so I have always said that I would change that with my girls. When we got the opportunity to tour the Biltmore House this weekend, I was ecstatic. I have been several times in my life, but my girls and hubby have not.
This estate is located in Asheville, NC.
The area is just beautiful and as you can see, the views are just remarkable. I could just sit there all day watching the views. You are not allowed to take pictures from inside the house, but please take my word for it. It is very beautiful, detailed, and just down right top notch designs. My girls never once complained while touring the house either.
You can see the very detailed architecturial work outside as well.
We took the guided tour inside and that was very fun, because we could engage with the tour guide and our girls could ask questions as well. I wanted to include them in every part I could. Once we were outside, we were on our own, so we took the chance to show the girls all the details of the outside of the house.
After taking in all the beautiful features of the outside of the house, we took a stroll through the gardens. I love nature, I love flowers and I love just taking a stroll with my family. This was so relaxing, girls were stopping and just taking in all the gardens had to offer. Just amazing time you can have with your family and just be you. Have quality conversations with them and just enjoy the view.
Up next, our tummy’s were starting to rumble a little bit. They have an awesome picnic area located at the Deer Park Restaurant which is on site of the Biltmore Estate. We enjoyed a nice boxed lunch that was healthy and not just some junk threw together all the while taking in the beautiful scenery.
It didn’t take long for the girls to say “I’m done eating”, once they found out we were headed to the Biltmore Farms. This is a fairly new feature of the Biltmore Estate, so I was excited to tour this as well. As you will see the girls were able to pet all the animals and be right there with the baby chicks.
The farm was all styled out in Fall decor, so the girls were enjoying that as well.
With that our tour came to an end. The girls are still talking about it and hubby said he was just blown away by the whole estate. It was definitely something he is glad he did and we would like to go back at Christmas and Spring as well. I know at Christmas they have Carolers all through the house singing Christmas songs. I just would love to see it all decorated as well for Christmas.
This is definitely a must see if you are ever in the mountains of NC. Your whole family will enjoy it and you can definitely make a full day out of it.
FYI: I did take these pictures with my own camera .
Mom is Hitting The Books Again
The girls were not the only ones to start school. Watch out.. because mommy is hitting the books again! See, I was going to school for my Computer Information Technology Degree when I found out I was pregnant with M. So, I decided to stop after I finished that semester and take a break. Well 7 years later and mommy is back. I only have a few classes I needed to take so I thought since I have some extra time on my hands to go ahead and sign up!
Boy has College changed in 7 years. Let’s take a look… shall we say “Mom meets College”
1) Mom… raising your hand is so old school. Please do not raise your hand to ask to go to the bathroom. Just walk out of class and do it!
2) Mom… don’t stuff your mouth full of food out in the hall. Hello, don’t you know you just take your food and drink into class and eat while the instructor is lecturing. I mean really now!
3) Mom… don’t be such a techno phobe. Go ahead and leave out your cell phone so you can return that all important text message or answer that all important cell phone call so all your classmates can hear you. Really get with the program here you know!
4) Mom… don’t act like you are loving class when you are really bored. I mean you know you can just get up in middle of class and leave to go on your merry way. Goodness.. what’s with you mom!
5) Mom…don’t just sit there with your hand waving in the air to add to the class discussion. Hello… don’t you know you are suppose to just blurt out what you want to say cutting off other people. Geez!
Ok.. Ok.. Ok… so I get it. I need to forget my manners when I’m at school. Now I get it !!! Jen you are so 2000. This is 2009!
