Rockin the Snowhawk

The COLD weather and snow here has made us start thinking about planning our summer vacations. Oh, how we wish we were lounging on the sand and listening to waves crashing! That's probably where my mind was when we sat down to do our next family project. Our objective was to decorate a snowman together. C secretly wishes he was a surfer (he even asked Santa for a real surfboard and we had to explain that we didn't live anywhere near a surf city), so I knew he would love the idea when I suggested making a surfing snowman. I'm sure snowmen wish they weren't so cold all the time! And since we make the rules for our project, we decided that this snowman was not going to melt :)

Can you see his snow mohawk (snowhawk)? That's my creative boy!

In the Meadow We Could

Well, we could if there was enough snow! Our schools have been closed for the last 2 days. We didn't get more than a half inch of snow though, although we were forecasted at times up to 6 inches. Yesterday we met up with some friends for a playdate that seems to be an annual thing now, our we-got-a-snowday-but-no-snow playdate :)

These two have declared themselves to be "best friends". He is so sweet with her. Whenever he saw that she wanted something he would run and go get it for her!

This morning we got up and started baking. We made sugar cookies, then made cookie/brownie bars. The kiddos have lots of fun "helping" in the kitchen.

Well, AP didn't help so much because there were babies that needed to be tended to!I also got to use my new Perfect Brownie pan. And they turned out perfectly!We took our baked goods, along with drinks and toiletries, to our church that is serving as an emergency Red Cross shelter due to the cold temperatures.

After we made our delivery we decided to make the best of the snow that we had. It was SOOOO cold outside! Can you see what little sister was doing to her brother?He got her back!AP wanted to see what it felt like on her face :)There wasn't enough to make a snowman, but they decided to make snow mountains, which looked more like anthills :)We spent a total of about 16 minutes outside before mommy decided she was too cold! AP soon followed, then C came in about 10 minutes later. Even though there wasn't much snow, we have enjoyed getting to see friends, help others, stay warm, and be together!

Sweet Children of Mine

Since this is sort of a family scrapbook as well as a blog, there are a few things that I've been meaning to post before I forgot. I want to remember the funny things they say and what they are like at each little stage in their lives.

Earlier this week as I was brushing the kiddos' teeth they each shared thoughts with me that I later thought were so fitting and sort of summed up their little personalities right now.

After I finished with C, he just said out of nowhere, "Mom, I'm going to love you forever!" He has such a sweet spirit. He says things like this randomly all the time. He is so "go with the flow" and is happy as long as knows we all love each other :)

As soon as I was done with AP's teeth, she said "Mom, why do boys' peepees look like worms?" Yep, that's my girl. She is so inquisitive and curious about EVERYTHING. She does not stop talking about something or asking questions until she knows everything she thinks she needs to know.

I also don't want to forget how AP plays with her babies. She always has a baby on her hip or in it's stroller. Sometimes the baby is still in her belly (and yes, she has already asked how they get there and how they come out!). Today I heard her comforting her baby and when I asked her why her baby was crying she said "my baby is still in China and she is crying for her mommy and daddy. I need to get on an airplane and go get her." I love to see her processing all this information. Her little brain never rests! And I don't know why she picked China?

Lastly, I love the relationship between the two of them right now. They will play for hours together, pretending to be chefs or parents or teachers. (or completely destroying a room) I bet you can guess who calls all the shots when they play :)

Tonight they got married to each other.

Then later AP married C AND daddy, but daddy wouldn't let me take a picture of that one!

But, lest anyone think they always play nicely together, they do fight with each other just as often! They have pushing each other's buttons down to a science. AP knows exactly which stuffed animal to run in C's room and get and run away with to make him freak!

(after looking back at this post, it appears that I only take pictures of AP, but C has taken cues from his daddy and no longer likes to cooperate for pictures!)

Befores and Afters

Monday night, my friend and I re-joined Weight W@tchers. Yes, we REjoined. We did it together about 5 years ago and were successful, but 2 kids a piece later we both sort of let ourselves ago. Hubs reluctantly took our picture before we went into our meeting. So this is our "before". Check back in, oh, 5 months for the "after".

Here is my second "before" picture. This was our kitchen on Monday.

You might remember that we replaced the black laminate counters with granite last spring. That was my birthday present.

This is what my kitchen looks like this afternoon!

I love the way it turned out! I blogged here about finding the great granite deal. But, then I decided that the black with copper, although I loved it, would make the kitchen look too dark. So I chose a natural stone, but added in a few pieces of the black granite.

Peachy New Year

On New Years Eve Hubs and I snuck away to Atlanta, just the 2 of us. This was the first time that we have ever left the kiddos for more than just overnight. We were all a little stressed leading up to the time we were to drop the kiddos off. They stayed with Boompa and Baba one night, then aunt and uncle the next night. I know/knew they were in good hands the whole time, but as a mom you can't help but worry about all the what ifs that could happen while you are away. All that to say, as soon as I dropped them off I was a lot less worried, and ready to have a little carefree time with Hubs.

On Thursday night/New Years Eve, we went to the Chick Fil A Bowl. We won't talk about the score of the game, but we had fun. (I have a few pictures from the game, but I didn't have my SD card in my camera so it saved them to the camera's memory and I have no idea how to get them off). In Atlanta, a giant peach drops as the clock strikes midnight. We enjoyed watching that and may or may not have already been in our pj's at that point :) It didn't matter how early we went to bed, though, because our hotel was partying, or at least our hall was, until 6:30 AM!

The next day we decided to go out and explore Atlanta with no real plan in mind. We first headed to Underground Atlanta. There was really nothing there that interested me at all, but we found some lunch and then decided to try our luck at the Marta system.

We successfully figured which train to board and rode out to the Buckhead area to go shopping.
There are 2 really great shopping malls there about a block from each other. We did lots of walking and lots of shopping. Then we decided to catch a movie. Can you tell we were enjoying having no real schedule or plans? We saw "UP In The Air". It was pretty good and a little bit sad. When we came out of the theater it was already dark so we decided to use our Marta skills to get us back downtown.

Here is where we stayed...just kidding, but it was decorated really neat and we passed it several times, so I took a pic.


Do we look weary from our travels? This was on the train back to downtown.

After we navigated our way back we went to the Hard Rock Atlanta for dinner. We stuffed ourselves then crashed for a long night of uninterrupted sleep. The next morning we hurried back to our much missed babies (furry ones and real ones). It was great to have a refreshing weekend away just the 2 of us. Thanks to our families who shuffled the kiddos around for us!