Deep in the Snow of North Carolina!

We woke up Sunday morning after Christmas to a very DEEP winter wonderland. This was the second time it snowed this winter, the first time, the kids and I were in Texas. Around 10:00am, we decided to venture out into this abyss of snow, and an abyss it was, especially for little legs like Noah's and Calvin's! (Note to self: having a pair of snow boots might be a good idea when it has snowed every year that you have lived here in NC.) By the way, I did get us some last week, hopefully the snow will visit us again soon.
This was the first time Noah really enjoyed himself. As you will see from the pictures, the snow was up to his thighs. Calvin won the prize for funniest looking dog EVER! I had not idea that the snow would stick to his legs like it did!

We got 8 and a half inches of snow.

Karis and I made snow angels, while Calvin and Noah tried to stay on their feet. Pour Calvin looked like he was trudging through a trench, but he loved it. He was prancing around the whole time.

In case you were wondering about the title of the post, "Deep in the Heart of Texas," is a very familiar song sung by Texans. I like the play on words since the snow was so deep, and like I have said, I still have a lot of Texas left in me!

Christmas Eve and Day

Our family opened all our presents on Christmas Eve. That is the tradition in our house, leaving our stockings for Christmas morning. We all got some great gifts as you can tell by Karis' expression in the collage!




We spent the rest of Christmas Eve playing and learning about our new toys. I was so thankful for my new Bible, the spine of my other one was coming off. Before we opened gifts, Justin told the kids the Christmas story using out "Little People" nativity set and Lori's hand puppets that she made Karis a few years ago. (I love to watch my kids engage with Justin when he speaks God's Word to them, they seem to really listen and focus when he teaches them. What a blessing and joy for me!).

Wise men bowing down to the Savior!

On Christmas day, we ate some yummy cinnamon rolls for breakfast, played with our new toys, and hung out together. After lunch, the kids helped me make Jesus' birthday cake, as in another one of our traditions. I decided to just let them take over all the decorating without any help or guidance, that was a little tricky for me since I like decorating cakes. The finished product turned out pretty good I might add!

eating the decorations and decorating the cake

Happy Birthday Jesus!

One of Justin's Christmas presents was a fire pit. We gave it to him early so we have been enjoying it most of December. We have made smores, sat and talked, and the kids' favorite thing is throwing pine cones in the fire to see the flame go up!

Kids testing out Daddy's Christmas present!

It's Official!

My little girl has lost her first tooth!

Christmas/Birthday in Texas 2010

As our new tradition, the kids and I went to Texas for a week before Justin came. We stayed with my parents first and enjoyed lots of time with Papa John, Amma, Aunt Tanya, Madison, and Brooklynn. Unfortunately my brother was busy working most of the time, so we only got to see him twice. He did however win the best present award for Noah's birthday: "monster truck Mater," as Noah calls it. It is always a joy just hanging out at my folks house, since they have a tractor and four wheeler. We watched Madison play softball, had Brooklynn spend the night, and simply spent time just being "together." Of course, we did some outlet shopping and made a Target run, but the time was relaxing and so much fun.

The first few days the weather was a little chilly, so we made a fire and roasted smores with the cousins. Karis and Noah both rode tractor with Papa John.

Noah learning to drive the tractor!

Fun times hanging with the cousins

My parents threw Noah and Karis a birthday party that Saturday. My best friend growing up, Mandy, came and brought her two boys. It was a wonderful time of catching up and seeing our kids play together. Thanks for coming Mandy, I so loved seeing you girl! My two great aunts and Aunt Debbie also came to the party.

Karis, Henry(Mandy's oldest), and Noah


The kids opening their birthday gifts.

The kids being picked up by the "backhoe," as Noah called Papa John's tractor.

We picked Justin up from the airport on Wednesday the next week and headed to Orange to visit his family. We had four full days of fun and spending time with his family.

We did Christmas first on Thursday night along with his Mamou.

A night of fun and loving on the family, including Roxy (Pop Pop and Grammy's dog).

Family photo

Friday, we had family pictures taken by one of Courtney's friends. He did a fantastic job capturing the kids personalities.

Karis driving Pop Pop "old truck."

Smile for the camera!

Noah loving his Pop Pop

After pictures, we went to a pizza place for Noah's birthday party, because this was his actual birthday! (He had three parties this year!) Of course, Aunt Courtney made his party a Cars/ Monster truck theme!

Saturday, Mamou, Courtney, Justin, the kids and I went to Shangri La, a botanical garden and nature center in Orange. They had fun Christmas activities for the kids to do and the flowers are always beautiful to look at.

At Shangri La, Noah wasn't too sure about the owl staring at him!

Sunday was Grammy's birthday, at we all went to church together. Lisa, Grammy's daughter, made a surprise visit to her that morning. It was sweet and nice to see Lisa and for her surprising Grammy like that.

Another family photo: Lisa in toe this time!

Thanks to both families, our trip was fun, memorable, and we came home with two extra full suitcases! Christmas always comes early, and it seems like the kids opened gifts all of December. I am sure this is also because Noah's birthday is in December too! We love all of you and are thankful you are our family.

O Come Let us Adore Him

May you enjoy spending time with your families as you celebrate the birth of our Savior, who came to "save His people from their sins," (Matthew 1:21).

Christmas decorating and Thanksgiving!

Okay, so the title of this post is backwards, but that is because I uploaded the pictures in the wrong order, and I was too lazy to reload them the right way. Sorry!!!! After we ate our wonderful Thanksgiving meal, we decorated for Christmas. Karis loves opening all the tubs and ohhing and ahhing over all the decorations. There is nothing like playing Christmas music and decorating the house to put us all in the Christmas mood. We added a new Christmas CD to our collection this year.

Karis and Noah by "their" tree. I love to see their little personalities as they decorate. Noah put all his ornaments on the same branch, we finally had to move some of them because the limb was drooping so much. Karis is meticulous and likes to spread all her ornaments around.

The kids decorating the BIG tree! Noah did one ornament and was ready to move onto the next thing. Karis is wonderful helper.

Karis putting on the star with Daddy's help.

My boys in front of a lighted tree.

Some pictures from our Christmas card photo shoot at a friend's house.

Sibling love!


My boys

Our tradition for Thanksgiving is to make a thankful tree. We write something we are thankful for every night after dinner. It is so funny to hear what the kids say. Almost all of Noah's were food, since we usually just ate right before we wrote on our leaves.

Happy Belated 3rd BIrthday Noah John!

This birthday post for you Noah is only nine days late! This year has flown by, sweet Noah. Three, wow, my little "bud" is three. I remember praying for you before you were born, and I remember when I saw you for the first time and how I thought my heart would burst with love.

Noah, you are so sweet, you love playing by yourself and with your sister, your favorite toys are your cars, and you "love" eating all the time! Your first words every morning are, "I want breakfast," even before you are fully awake. What you mean is "I want a cereal bar and a nana." I always thought that I talked a lot, being a girl and all, but your chatter endlessly. Everyday, you talk constantly and cause us all to laugh at your silliness. Sometimes you can be a little too rough with your sister, especially when you two are wrestling! I am so glad that you love cuddling with me and giving me still slobbery kisses! Oh Noah, you are a joy and blessing to our hearts.

My prayer for you is that Jesus will save you one day and that you will be "a righteous and upright man who walks with God," just like both men you were named after, Noah in the Bible and your Papa John.
We love you sweet Noah John!

Happy Belated 3rd Birthday Noah John!

Run Like the Wind, Mom, Run Like the Wind!

Hi. This is Justin writing this post. I highjacked the blog to let you know how proud I am of Jeanna for running a 10k (6.4 miles) a few weeks ago. And, she finished 2nd in her age group! The kids and I were at the finish line yelling, "Run like the wind, mommy, run like the wind."

"Let's Do the Puzzle"

Noah got his very first bike for his birthday:

But, he was more excited about his new Snot Rod and Cars puzzle:

A field trip, a smart board, and the end of soccer season

One Friday in October, the kids and I went on a field trip to our "neighbor Suzie's" library at her school. The kids had a wonderful time seeing where she works and visiting with her in her favorite domain, her library! Karis and Noah loved looking at all the books. Karis was introduced to a smart board, a board that she got to do some of her favorite computer games with. Noah really liked the pointer finger pen that Ms. Suzie had, but he was more interested in the fire truck in the library. Ms. Suzie read Noah books in the fire engine and played with the kids on the smart board.

Thanks so much "neighbor Suzie" for showing us your FUN library.

Karis' soccer seasoned finished at the beginning of November. Her team improved over the season, and we enjoyed seeing her play, learn, and understand more of the game. The experience was good, and we are all looking forward to soccer in the spring.

My little goalie throwing the ball to her teammates.

We are gearing up for Thanksgiving, doing our "thankful tree" every night, reading books and singing songs about Thanksgiving, and getting ready for our Thanksgiving day meal with our friend Joseph. More pictures to come about our holiday, hope you all have a wonderful, enjoyable, Thanksgiving.

I-N-C-R-E-D-I-B-L-E!

Family night last week was super hero night: The Incredibles came to dinner! After much thought and (trying to be creative), the only thing I made for the night were masks for all of us. We wore them for awhile and it was fun, but the mask gave me a BIG headache! The night started with us decorating our cupcakes with an "I" out of candy corn. We then ate homemade pizza (I figured we could be like the Ninja Turtles) and our cupcakes. After posing for some pictures, we watched the movie The Incredibles, which is one of our favorite ones.

Bob (Mr. Incredible) and Dash

The Incredibles in action! Watch out, we are ready for battle!

Princess Tea Party

Our second themed family night was all for Karis: Princess Tea Party Night. I pulled out all the stops, at least all that I knew of to put on a full fledged tea party for dinner. Karis and I dressed in our princess clothes, and Noah and Justin dressed in nice clothes.

My little princess and me dressed for our tea party.

Thanks to my friend Lori, I made scones for the first time. They were absolutely yummy! I also made my Aunt Barbara's tea cakes which were also fantastic! We had hot tea, a vegetable tray with ranch dip and fruit.

Tea anyone?

Yummy scones, one of my new favorite things.

We tried to get the kids to stick out their pinky while drinking the tea, not so easy for Noah. It was fun being silly and trying to be English!

Family photo!

Up next: super hero night. Family themed nights are so fun. We watched Cinderella after tea and all enjoyed the family classic, even Noah said "that was good Mommy."