Decemeber Post #1

E-man at the Christmas tree lighting, what a happy little guy!

Kaitlynn and her little Possy in front of the tree

Riding together on the Horse Carriage

Ethan enjoying Santa Clause as usual.

Swinging together in teh Botanical gardens. (Yes is was 70 degrees in Decemeber)

The Annual Red Springs Train Ride.

Annual Barnett Ginger Bread House creations.

This Year December seemed to be busier then ever.  We had activities planned just about every day, but we had so much fun!  It started with the Christmas tree lightening, then Breakfast with Santa one weekend, along with a trip to the Botanical Gardens.  Then the next week we hit the Red Springs train, sipped hot cocoa and made Ginger Bread Houses.  E was crazy about the train ride and LOVED the lights.  Kait was a HUGE helper on the Ginger Bread Houses, especially when it came to the candy and the frosting! =)  She has made quite a few friends here, but as you can see, there are WAY more boys then girls!  She is definitly her Daddy's little girl, but in this picture she looks so grown up!  She is very fun loving and LOVES to tease her dad.  E is just fun, he laughs ALL the time, and is SOOO curious.  What a blessing it is to have a wonderful family!

November

E-man cleaning

Trip to the zoo in the fall!

Checking out the monkey!

Trip to the beach, in the Ferris Wheel

Celebrating T's Birthday

Helping blow out the candles

Helping to clean the house.

   November was full of fun and excitement as well.  We headed to the beach for a quick get-away after a long couple of weeks.  The weather was great and the kids had a great time.  Then we headed to Atlanta for Thanksgiving this year.  It was so much fun spending time with our good friends the Weber's.  The food was AMAZING as always and the kids traveled SOOO well.  We also celebrated T's Birthday with some close friends, cake and ice cream.  The weather had gotten a little cooler, hence the pics of the kids cleaning so much. =) E-man is walking and running like crazy.  He LOVES to cuddle.  He is very easy going and entertains himself quite well.  He is not speaking too much, but he loves to wave and blow kisses.  Plus, he enjoys singing songs and making baskets in the basketball hoop.  Him and kait Play soooo well and keep us on our toes.  Kait is starting to really enjoy coloring and works on "coloring in the lines."  She is working on learning to write her letters and she loves stories, puzzles and can count to 10 in Spanish.  She is very loving and is a HUGE helper for mom.  She is, by far, a Daddies little girl and T can't get enough of it!  We are so blessed and love our family SOOO much.

October for us!

Kait's cake





Riding the train at the pumpkin patch

Eating cake with friends

Family photo

Riding the train car, she LOVED this ride!

E-man's cake

Our little sugar addict!

Not sure who opened more of his presents, Kait or E.

Visiting Pluto at Disney

Big hugs for Buzz!

Nap time in the stroller

Have to see Mickey!

Kait TERRIFIED of ALL the princesses!

Picking out pumpkins

All dressed up for church

Little red riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf

Batman!

Pumpkin in a pumpkin patch!

  
   October was so busy, I'm not sure we could have packed anything more into this month!  We celebrated two birthdays, went to disneyland and had Halloween.  The month was packed full of fun and experience.  E-man had a birthday, he LOVED his cake and there was hardly anything left.  Kait had a great day at the pumpkin patch and LOVED playing play-do with friends.  After cake and ice cream we headed to Disney with Grandparents.  It was a fabulous time, meeting characters, riding rides, and watching parades.  It was fabulous! After we returned it was full speed into Halloween costume making as we ALL had to dress up this year.  It was SOOOO much fun, can't wait for next year!

Setpember in our home



Kait loves helping her brother



Ethan's first REAL trip to the beach and he LOVED it!

His smile...it is his saving grace.

Making pizzas with friends.

September was great.  The weather was warm and we had a great time playing outside.  My mom came out for a quick visit and we had so much fun.  The kids were a little sick, so I'm so glad I had help from my mom.  Ethan was walking and kept me on my toes and Kaitlynn was into singing and dancing!

Pics

Where is Kait? Oh, there she is!

I Love Ice cream!

Fun at the zoo, Really, E, It is fun!

Sharing her movie on the way to the zoo.

August, almost over...

My Handsome little man!

Us and our co-workers on the Trolley ride!

Preschool with their "home made" pasta jewelry!

Kait all dolled up and ready for church

The beautiful Biltmore!

Walking in the Biltmore gardens
Well, I truly love living in North Carolina, but I do have to say, August is my LEAST favorite month of the year. This is the month that no matter what time of day, no matter what clothes you are wearing, no matter what you are doing, you are hot, sticky and sweaty. We made great memories, had some great fun, but go on August, leave us alone, we are all done!
Do you ever feel like the week you just survived had a theme? Mine would be "Clean up on isle..." For instance, Tuesday morning Tj was retrieving a diet pepsi from a higher area in our house when it dropped and spun around in circle after circle leaving a large spray of diet pepsi along it's path. Wed. Kait was eating applesauce and of course shot it across the table and onto the floor where it turned side ways and leaped out of the container across the floor and into the other room making sure to land on the couch as well. Thursday I was making dinner, like the good wife that I am =), I put potatoes and chicken on a plate right before it jumped off the counter and onto the floor shattering the plate. Luckily the potatoes caught most of the pieces but not before they when down the cupboards, across the floor and all over the stove. Friday we were making biscuits and Kaitlynn was stirring just enough to throw all the flour all over the counter and the floor. To make matters worse, I had JUST finished sweeping and mopping the floor the night before. Needless to say, I am out of clean towels. =)
On a more positive note, our little branch is growing, growing, growing. When we moved here two years ago, there were a total of 38 people in the congregation. Today, there was 91. Our goal is to reach 100 and have to open the over flow! Our primary has increased from 12-15 children to having 30 today. Plus, nursery which was non-existent when we arrived now has 6-7 children every single week. It is so fun to see the growth and to watch this transformation. I am so glad to be a part of this great and wonderful church.
More excitement happened as well, TJ's mom flew out last weekend to watch the kids while TJ and I headed to the Asheville Mountains for a conference and some play time. We had SOOO much fun. We visited the Biltmore, the largest private home in America and the 2nd most visited estate in the the U.S., we hiked some trails, went on a historic trolley ride, ate some GREAT FOOD and when to a dueling piano bar which was SOOO fun, we headed back for a second night. It cost us about $7.oo (for two diet cokes, two songs and a tip) for two hours of great music and entertainment!
We also survived the closest we have come to experiencing a hurricane and I can honestly say, I don't need to have any more experience with one. We had planned to head to Balitmore but decided to stay put since everyone else was trying to evacuate that part of the country. We had some rain, some wind and LOT's of clouds but other then that, not too exciting.
We are off to try to survive another week, hopefully one titled "my children, the littliest angels..." hahehaha

So, I'm really sorry about the long hiatus on blogging, but I will made a much better and more improved valiant effort to keep updated. Thanks Ady for the call today to motivate me to get my butt in gear! Our lives have been busy as always since little "E" came into our lives. We love him tons and tons and he keeps up on our toes. Kait loves him and can't get enough of him, even when he has had enough of her. Here are some pics (more to come) of what we have been up to over the past few months.
Basically, I work, play with the kids, clean and feed the kids, clean up after the kids, cook occasionally and go boating about every week. Life is so full of fun and excitement right now. Kait is 2 1/2 and talking NON-STOP, she also dances like crazy, has about 6 bears that must go everywhere with her. She cooks them dinner, puts them to sleep and changes their diapers. She loves playing ball, basketball, baseball, soccer, you name it, she loves it. She is a fish and loves to swim in the lake, the pool, jump in the sprinklers. She is always making us laugh. She is full of love and energy and we love her dearly. She is her daddy's "little buddy" as she calls it and can't get enough play time in with him. She has mastered her bike and is begging to get training wheels off. We will see about that...
Ethan is crawling like crazy. He loves to clap and show you how big he is. He LOVES his sister and chases her around the house NON-STOP. He is very mellow unless he needs food, sleep or a change in diaper. He has discovered real food and has cute four teeth in the last three weeks. He is definitely a "mommies boy" which I truly appreciate, even though TJ doesn't. He can sign a few works and he screams to communicate at this point. He is trying to walk, but just can't find the courage to take the first step! He is into everything and his smile melts our hearts.
I am staying busy with the kids. We go to the park, go for long bike rides in the neighborhood, have tea parties, read books and visit local attractions. I am trying to train for a 10K, although I am very intimidated by my sister's time and am not sure I could even attempt running 6.2 miles in under 50 minutes. I am still in the primary and loving every minute of it.
TJ is staying SUPER busy. He is working like crazy, serving the branch presidency, planting grass in our yard which caused a drout in our neighborhood and he is attempting new tricks on the wake board. He does get a little golf in every once in a while as well.
For the most part we are REALLy enjoying North Carolina although August is the HOTTEST and MOST humid month. We have been boating every single week since Easter weekend and don't know what we would do without the warm water. Well, my son is calling, so I am out of here! Hope you enjoy and there will be more to come soon!


My super fun pre-school group!

These are truly the "royalty" at our house.

I did put pants on him before bed....oh there they are, down on his feet.

We have been doing A LOT of boating/swimming

This is my beautiful 2 1/2 year old, don't let her fool you, nothing innocent about that one.

Alot of playing in the pool, sometimes it's more like wrestling.....

Ednless amounts of feeding, then more feeding and some more feeding!

And never enough smiles from this handsome little man....yes after 10 months we FINALLy have a little bit of hair!