Flying Kites and Building Snowmen

The MLK Jr. holiday was a beautiful, sunny, windy, daddy-off-work kind of day.  We had music class in the morning (which was nice to have Daddy there, of course), and then we decided to fly a kite!

It had been rainy and a was a little muddy - but totally worth it!

Connor may be a world champion kite flier (uh...is there such a thing?) someday - he has always loved it.

Little sister was very excited, too - and we were in need of some time and free space just to RUN!

Prepping for kite maneuvering...

Keep it in the air!

Success!  Beautiful.

I gave Connor a shot behind the lens while Annalee was in control of the kite.

Look at this beauty!  Go Connor photographer!

Oh my...love her so!  Determination...

Daddy and baby girl.

Winding it up for the day.  My handsome guys.

 So...after that day, the NC weather guys started calling for some snow.  That was January 20th, remember.  We did get a bit of a snow/ice and kids were out of school for a couple days.  Then another week and a half went by and they started calling for more storms.  Everyone in the south buys out all the milk and bread in the stores (milk sandwiches, anyone?) and prepares for the snow-pocalypse.  And finally, for once, it is REALLY snowing.  Like 3rd day of snow, just waiting for power to go out, nothing open, stay off the roads, Syracuse-ish SNOW.  Woo hoo!  Jonathan worked the majority of the day Tuesday, til they sent everyone home.  The kids and I baked banana bread, had lunch, and postponed nap time to see if we could build a little snowman!

The run-and-dive....a Connor classic in water at any state...

Check out those snowy footprints!

Beautiful big wet snow perfect for rolling and packing!

...and eating, if your name is Annalee!

Mmm!  So happy.

Connor and I did quite a bit of rolling (only 1-2 inches had fallen at that point) and Annalee did lots of patting and sticking...and we had success!

WOO HOO!

Mr. Snowman, I think something is missing...

...definitely needed some hair!

He is one cool dude.

Don't mind the grass, just some nice toddler additions.

Conversation hearts - not the best snowman decorating tool but they were definitely pretty before they got drippy!  Oh...and before Annalee shoved them in her mouth! ;)

Many more snow pics to come...but kites in January and snowmen in February - who could ask for more???

November 2013

Ah, November.  When leaves finally starting changing colors around here and I could hear my mother in my head saying, "LOOK at all the beautiful - fall - colors."  Surprisingly, I gave myself enough time one crisp Sunday morning to take the kids for a wagon ride and get a few pictures while the trees were beautiful.

Annalee was delighted that we had a "goggy" visit us! :)

Then after church, we walked with Daddy to take some pictures by the "lake".

We put them under another tree and I immediately got fire ant stings...again.  Thankfully, again, only I stepped in the mound but Connor was about 3 inches away so we whisked them into the grass.  Then I laid down and tried to capture their preciousness while my foot and ankle swelled up...

...it was bright and sunny... ;)

looooooooooove

I had my Thanksgiving table set even though we went to NY.  We enjoyed lots of different types of squash from the farmer's market...enjoyed them as decoration, too!

We had a last minute visit from Dan, Alicia, Laura, and Pat after they went to a Knicks/Bobcats game.  It was pretty chilly while they visited, but we got outside for a bit.

Annalee and her long Uncle Dan played house.

Laura and Pat thought they would head back up to school, but I convinced them to stay and play a game...and then our game of Mexican Train lasted til Dan and Alicia had to be rushed to the airport for their flight.  Whoops!  It was so fun, though! :)

Don't be sad, Shmores... ;)

The kids got up from nap just in time to say goodbye - come visit again, guys!  We miss you!

Later that week, our wonderful VA friend Sara and baby Caleb came to visit!  Jonathan came home for lunch and flew Caleb around...yeah, they were quick buds.

Wish we lived closer, friends!

Since we were going to be traveling for Thanksgiving AND Christmas, we tried to start getting some Christmas things out before we left.  Thus the start of the "HO HO HO-ing" children. :)

We got to have one more visit with Matthew and Kelly as they made their move to Georgia.  We also celebrated Reagan's birthday, because we wouldn't see him over Thanksgiving.  Big 2 year old!

We got a little Thanksgiving crafty with turkey hands...

...and Daddy brought us our first peppermint chocolate chip (Chick Fil A) milkshake of the season!  Annalee agreed with mommy wholeheartedly that they are the bomb!

The night we flew out for Thanksgiving was the Hemby Bridge Christmas Festival and Tree Lighting.  Our children's choir from church was singing, and we got to see a lot of fun people, including Santa!

It was very chilly again!

Children's choir did a wonderful job!

Connor was happy to see Santa this year and told him that he wanted a blue lollipop.  He never wavered on that wish, all through November and December!  So sweet.  Annalee was not thrilled but not screaming, so we went for it! :)

"Who is this guy?!" ;)