The Mckenna Family

Tubing in Helen

2009-09-02T14:00:00.005-04:00

I have always said how lucky we are to live where we do. Unless you have lived in a small town where it takes you 30 minutes to get to your local wal-mart (becuase there was not a target) you can not truly appreciate everything that there is to do in this area. We can be in the mountains or in the city in no time at all. One of our new favorite things to do is to go tubing in Helen. We went recently with some of our extended family and had a great time. I did not get many picture while tubing because I did not want to risk drowning my camera :)! I would be LOST without my camera. Afterwards we had a picnic and the kids threw rocks in the water. So much fun and another great family memory.

Falcolns and water fun

2009-09-02T13:50:00.006-04:00

A few weeks ago we took the kids (or should I say the kids took Robbie) to a scrimmage game to see the falcons play for free. This is the second year that we have done this and again we had a lot of fun. They play a game and afterward they set up several fun things for the kids to do. You can get players autographs if you are willing to stand in a forever long line. If you know us well you know we are very adventurous and are always looking to do something fun. especially if it is free. After we did this we took the kids to play in the fountains at centennial Olympic park since it is right across the street. They got to play with 3,258,235 of there closest friends. :)!!! Needless to say it was a little busy as usual.

My first born enters the 2nd grade!!!

2009-09-02T13:31:00.005-04:00

On August 11, Lydia made her debut in the new adventures of 2ND grade. Every time I think about this it makes me very sad. She is an amazing little girl (although she would say that she is not little)and I am so proud of her. She is so smart and it is some what strange to see her mature into a big girl. She is reading fluently and will begin to learn how to write in cursive this year. She has a huge heart and is always willing to do and give to others. We are always trying to instill in each of our kids to put others first even when it is not easy. She absolutely loves her school and we are so thankful that she can go there. She goes on Tuesday and Thursday and we home school on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Many people have a hard time understanding why we do this, so to put it simply this is a choice that we have made and we can only hope that others with respect our decision. We feel that a majority of your learning in life happens outside of the classroom and at the end of the day whether you go to a christian private school, a public school, or home school you are going to end up being who God wants you to be no matter where or how you were educated. Our desire for our children is for them to love Jesus and to treat others the ways that we think would make Jesus smile.

I wish I had a pause button!

2009-07-25T21:29:00.002-04:00

Grayson has been so cute lately that I really wish I had a magical pause button so he could not get in bigger. The other day he was tired because he had not had a nap and he came up to me and said "I want to sit in your yap (lap)". He got on my lap and then he took each of my hands and placed one on each leg and said "rub". I asked him if I could have a kiss and he said "no, you can kiss my foot". He enjoys giving me a hard time when I ask him for a kiss. He thought this was hilarious. The next morning when he got out of bed he came in my room and said "I awake" and then he snuggled on my lap for 20 minutes. It was so sweet. Afterward he asked me for an awful (waffle).

Thomas the Train

2009-07-25T21:13:00.002-04:00

We took the kids to see Thomas the Train Live on Stage at the Fox theater recently. We told the kids we were going somewhere fun but they had no idea where we were going. It was a surprise. They kept trying to guess where we were going. When Lydia found out she said "I have been hearing about this on the radio." They really enjoyed it and I think we all had the songs stuck in our head for days afterwards.

Fun on the Fourth

2009-07-20T11:53:00.006-04:00

This year for the fourth we went to the waterfront in Brunswick,Georgia to see the fabulous fire works. It was so much fun. They had dancing, snow cones, free watermelon and best of all the crowds were minimal. Much to our surprise Caleb went to town when the dancing started. The kids had so much fun with some of there cousins.

Slipping and Sliding

2009-07-16T22:39:00.002-04:00

We had such a good time at Aunt Allison's pool. She received the award for the most awesome slide. (other than the fact that I sent Grayson down by himself and he slid down backwards with a look of extreme panic. However it did not keep him from going back again, and again, and again... just not by himself anymore!)

Fun in the Sun

2009-07-14T10:03:00.004-04:00

We went to the beach in Savannah with Nana recently. The kids had never been to this beach before and they all had an amazing time. I think that we were there for about 5 hours. The weather was perfect and we could not of had a better time. We made sand castles, played in the water, collected shells and went to the sugar shack for ice cream.

From School Days to Pool Days

2009-07-13T14:56:00.003-04:00

We LOVE our pool.

Father's Day

2009-07-12T23:11:00.002-04:00

This year for Father's Day the kids each made Robbie something and they each picked him out a little something for him. Lydia made him a picture frame and we put a cute picture of all of them in it. Caleb made him a coffee mug with a picture of them from soccer and Grayson, well he just colored him a picture. All of us together got him a tent because he wants us all to go camping soon! :( I am a little frightend by that idea but we will see how that works out. I would not consider myself a "camper".

Family Pictures

2009-06-30T18:06:00.003-04:00

A good friend of mine took these pictures of our family. She lives on a gorgeous farm and graciously said that she would be glad to do it. Believe it or not we took these in between thunderstorms.

Lydia's Dance Recital

2009-06-30T17:59:00.005-04:00

Lydia had her dance recital the day after Caleb's birthday party so needless to say we had a VERY busy weekend. Although it was a crazy weekend we were glad that it worked out that way so that a lot of our family could be at both events. Lydia always looks forward to her recitals and was so glad that everyone was there to watch. As always she did a beautiful job. She told me her favorite part was when she had to shake her "booty".

Caleb's 5th birthday party

2009-06-29T12:34:00.003-04:00

I know, I know, it has been awhile since I have posted. Sorry! Anyway, as hard as it is for me to believe, Caleb has turned 5!!! He requested to have his party at Catch Air this year. Although nothing about this place is cheap I figured you only turn 5 once so why not spend way more money than any parent should!:) He was so excited about his party that I promise he asked everyday for 3 weeks how many days until his party. I think it turned out just as he had hoped that it would.

Family Fun

2009-06-10T12:45:00.003-04:00

We went to the aquarium and to the brave's game with "uncle cody" recently and had a really fun time. We are so glad to have him living closer to us.

Pickin' Strawberries

2009-06-04T15:42:00.003-04:00

Last Thursday we went and picked ALOT of strawberries. The kids had more fun doing this than I ever would have imagined. I heard Caleb say one time "this is the best day ever"! It made my heart smile. Doing these things are the family memories that they will have forever.We came home and made strawberry jam.

Lydia's last day of school!

2009-06-04T12:18:00.003-04:00

We had a welcome summer party for Lydia's last of school party. They had picnic food served on frisbees. We played summer bingo,hot beachball (aka hot potato)and musical sea shells. The kids also decorated sun visors. All of the kids had alot of fun. Mrs. Van Every had each child come up and she said something special about each child. Although I am sad that she is out of first grade, I have been so looking forward to school being over.

Caleb's end of the year party and Pre-k graduation.

2009-06-02T23:56:00.003-04:00

Okay it has been awhile since I have posted but Caleb did graduate pre-k about 3 weeks ago. My heart melted he was sooo cute. They sang several songs and he did not miss a beat. He did every hand motion and every dance all with a huge smile. He noticed us in the audience and waved to us with such pride. These are all things that Caleb would have never done even 6 months ago so I was extremely proud. His class had a fun end of the year party. They did spin art and made a craft. I am going to really miss his little class. Luckily we get to go back there next year!!

Potty training...oh how fun!

2009-06-02T23:42:00.002-04:00

I have always said that I was going to be in no rush to potty train Grayson. I was in a hurry for both Caleb and Lydia because I was pregnant and did not want two in diapers. We got the potty out and he decided he wanted to be like his brother and sister. He pretty much did it on his own. It certainly helps to have older siblings to help out. We were going outside one day and he decided he did not want to wear clothes but he certainly did not want to get his little feet dirty! Yes Grayson is VERY nice nasty. It is pretty funny because you would not expect that from him. Now he will just climb on and off the "big boy potty" like it is no big deal at all.

Coupon Challenge

2009-05-18T09:31:00.003-04:00

I have mentioned in an earlier post that I had started to become a little addicted to using coupons. I went to publix yesterday and yet again saved ALOT of money. In case you did not know publix will accept competitors coupons (at least most will).I got a ton of stuff. One blog that a friend shared on her blog that I have grown to LOVE is http://www.moneysavingmom.com/

Before my coupons and store savings the total was $121.57 but I only paid $47.31.

Using coupons and finding the great deals can take up a good bit of time. I have really grown to enjoy it and find that is certainly worth my efforts. The key is using coupons on things that are already on sale.One example of a great deal I got yesterday was on Ritz crackers. They were Buy One Get One Free. At publix that means you can get one at half price. So if you got one they would be $1.83. I had a coupon from target for $1 off and at publix you can stack coupons so I had another coupon from kraft for $1 off. So I got them free plus some overage. I also had a coupon where if you buy a box of Ritz crackers you got a box of wheat thins for free. So I got a box of Ritz and a box of wheat thins for free. I also got 3 boxes of cereal for about $1 a box. I got 3 containers of yogurt for about .50 (12 yogurts total) and two deoderants for .25 each. I had gotten a coupon for $5 off at target with a $50 purchase and I found somewhere on the Internet a coupon for $5 off a $25 at Rite Aid. Luckily for me my publix happily accepted both. Hopefully I will inspire someone else to save money as I have been inspired by others.

Mother's Day

2009-05-13T15:25:00.005-04:00

I had a wonderful mothers day this year. Robbie got the kids up early (very very early!!) to cook me breakfast with the new waffle iron they had bought me. Lydia picked one out that you could make heart shaped waffles.I had wrapping paper on my chair and some balloons. He had taken them the week before to paint me a spoon rest for the kitchen at "Splatters" (our local pottery place). It was such a pleasant surprise. Lydia had also made me a portrait of myself at her art class and Caleb (with the help of Ms. Nancy) had made me the cutest pillow with his hand print as a flower and his fingerprints as bugs. Robbie also let them each pick me out something. Lydia picked me out a very cute necklace that said "MOM" and Caleb picked me out a very cute ring with blue and pink "diamonds". I wore them both very proudly to church.

Mother's Tea

2009-05-13T14:56:00.003-04:00

On Friday Caleb had a "Mother's Tea" in honor of mothers day. It was incredibly nice. I had been in the day before and the walls were somewhat bare compared to normal. I assumed it was because school was winding down and Ms. Nancy was trying to prepare for the end of the year. Boy was I wrong. When I went in for the tea there were all new decorations hanging up that the kids had made for us. Huge pink flowers covered one wall. She had pulled pink tulle through the ceiling tiles. Everything was so nice.

Special Time with Grayson

2009-05-12T17:53:00.003-04:00

I have always given Grayson such a hard time about being "my difficult one." He is slowly becoming easier and easier and I have really enjoyed some special time with him lately. He is talking more and more each day and it is fun yet depressing to watch him grow. I have been taking him lately to the soft play at the mall while Caleb and Lydia are in school. Robbie and I always laugh at the fact that he is such an easy "only" child. I will ask him, "Do you love mommy?" and he says "yeah...and dad...and sissy(Lydia)...and brudder (brother/Caleb)". It is so sweet. He hesitates after he says each persons name. I am not sure why he has decided to call Caleb brudder but it is really cute. I realized today that this was our last outing alone because Caleb's officially graduates pre-k on Thursday. I am not sure if I am prepared for that or not. And Grayson will start school next year :(

Soccer Trophy

2009-05-11T13:08:00.002-04:00

Caleb got his first trophy this weekend. He was soooo proud of it. It is bitter sweet to have soccer over. We really enjoyed watching him grow. He became more agressive each game.

Rainy Day Fun

2009-05-09T19:38:00.003-04:00

Lately we have had ALOT of rain , so I did what any good parent would do... I sent the kids out to play. They begged me to let them go out in there rain gear so I figured what could it hurt. It was not freezing and it was not lightning so off they went. And what a mess it was!!!!! Nothing like a bath at 11:00.

The Coupon Challenge

2009-05-09T18:17:00.004-04:00

I have been very inspired lately by some of my frugal friends (thanks Kelly and Crystal) to use coupons lately. It has become a "game" to see how much I can save. It is really fun. I bought all of this stuff for $7.50 and it is all valued at $23.00 normally.

Friday Fun

2009-05-09T18:06:00.002-04:00

Okay, so it was not this Friday it was two weeks ago but it has been awhile since I have been able to post. These are some pictures of the kids at the children's museum. We have season passes there and the kids always enjoy going.

Art show

2009-04-23T23:09:00.004-04:00

This week at Caleb's school... I feel like I am always saying that. I can not begin to tell you how impressed with all of the things his school does to make things fun and exciting for the kids. Anyway, this week they had an art show at his school. Every student made something to be put on display at the art show. They sold them for a fundraiser to by new computers for the school. (Yes, the school only goes to Kindergarten and they have there own computer lab.) Also, each class had to make something to be auctioned off. Ms. Nancy had each child bring in a piece of clothing of there's. She traced each of there hand on it and made an amazing quilt.

A day at the circus

2009-04-23T22:54:00.003-04:00

Last week Caleb had a "circus" at his school. It was so much fun for the kids. They had the gym at the school decorated like a circus tent. Each child's ticket into the circus was to dress up like a circus character. They had pony rides, snow cones, popcorn, hot dogs and many many fun carnival games. Both of the boys dressed up like pirates and they were very cute if I do say so myself. Caleb's favorite thing was the huge bounce house that they had set up. This made me laugh because last year I could not have paid him to get in one. Funny how things change. He is getting so big. He was also very proud of himself because he ate a hot dog with a bun.

Easter Sunday

2009-04-14T10:25:00.003-04:00

On Sunday we had a very low key day. We went to church, we out for brunch, came home to have our final Easter egg hunt and color eggs. I was singing "Christ the Lord has risen today..." and Lydia thought I was crazy. I told her that maybe she would sing that at church like mom and dad did growing up. She later told me that they did not. I did not really expect her to since we go to a more contemporary church than we did as kids.

Saturday

2009-04-14T10:21:00.003-04:00

On Saturday we went to yet another Easter egg hunt. This one was at Lydia's friend Mary Blakeley's house. They live on a farm and had a great place for the hunt.

Friday

2009-04-14T10:14:00.003-04:00

On Friday we went to the Braves game. We have been to several others and we always have sooo much fun. Unfortunately it rained very hard and they had a rain delay after the third inning so we ended up leaving early. The kids were very disappointed! On Fridays they usually do fireworks after the game so they hated to miss that. Luckily we left because we found out the game did not get over until after 1:00! We are planning to go back in a couple of weeks.

Thursday

2009-04-14T10:12:00.004-04:00

We did not do anything special on Thursday. The kids played outside all day and Robbie and I FINALLY cleaned out our garage. Sadly we discarded a lot of the kids old clothes and many other things I can not bare to mention. We simply do not have the room to save everything forever :(! It just means I get to buy everything new when our next one or four come! :)!Something funny that happend was an incident with Grayson and the potty. We have somewhat considered trying to start potty training Grayson. We potty trained both Caleb and Lydia simply because I refused to have two in diapers at the same time. And since I am not pregnant I have not been in any rush to do so. He is not even 2 and 1/2 yet! Any way, we have the potty out and sometimes he will try and sometimes he does not care. I was having Caleb show him how. Grayson watched him potty and then tried real hard to get something out but nothing was happening. He simply looked down at his "business" and simply said "it's broke". I could not help but to laugh.

Wednesday

2009-04-14T10:07:00.002-04:00

On Wednesday we went shopping for Easter shoes and new spring clothes for the kids. We also took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese! Yes we are the best parents ever:)! As always they had a blast as all kids do.

Tuesday

2009-04-14T09:48:00.004-04:00

On Tuesday night we went to the Atlanta Thrashers game. A nurse Robbie works with has season tickets and could not go that night so she gave them to us. After all according to Caleb, Robbie's favorite sport is hockey. Caleb and Robbie had been to one other game before, but it was the first time for the rest of us. We really enjoyed it. Especially the $13 we spent on ice cream for the kids. We rode the Marta to and from the game and this was probably Caleb's favorite part. People on the train were laughing because he kept naming each stop we were at. He LOVES to ride the Marta. He often says he wants to be a Marta driver when he grows up.

Monday

2009-04-14T09:45:00.002-04:00

On Monday we had the laziest day ever!!! It was so much fun. We all slept in. We got up cooked brunch and later took a nap. We all took showers just to put our PJ's back on. We had family movie night and watched Madagascar 2. The kids always look forward to movie night. Ofcourse we had popcorn and other snacks. What would movie night be without snacks.

Sunday

2009-04-14T09:36:00.004-04:00

On Sunday we went to Six Flags. When the kids visited Santa at Christmas time he gave each of the kids a free pass to Six Flags so we figured we would check it out. The kids had a BLAST!!! They had added so many things for kids since the last time Robbie and I had gone a hundred years ago. There were only about 12 other people in the park so on several occasions we did not even have to get off the rides to get back in line we just rode them again. There favorite ride was the log ride. I did not get any pictures beacuse it is a water ride. They won a lovely snake at the ring toss game that is bigger than all of them put together!! And lucky me I get to keep this in our house!!!

Staycation 2009

2009-04-14T09:26:00.005-04:00

This year instead of going to disney world we decided to "stay" home for our vacation. Robbie took last week off and we had a very fun week at home. It was probably the most relaxing week we have ever had as a family. We did not have to pack or unpack. And the best thing is that we did not have to drive for hours in the car. On Saturday we woke up and went to breakfast and then we went to a local easter egg hunt. There were about 148,320... kids so it was a little crazy but the kids still had fun. Later that day Robbie took the boys to an Atlanta Hawks game. He had gotten tickets from a pharmaceutical rep so he figured it would be a fun and free boys night out. Lydia and I had a girls night and went and painted pottery and came home and watched the American girl movie Chrissa. We try every couple of months to take each child and do something special with them.

Robbie is 35!!!

2009-04-03T20:50:00.002-04:00

Okay it is official Robbie is 4 years older than me! At least until July :)! Luckily for all of us he was off today. We had our tradional dessert for breakfast routine. Robbie is not a huge fan of birthday cake so I have always gotten him a birthday cookie. They are VERY good. Happy Birthday Robbie! We love you!!

Caleb's cute little pre-k class

2009-04-03T20:43:00.003-04:00

Yesterday Caleb had his easter egg hunt at school. Unfortunately it was raining so it was held inside. Ms. Nancy had the parents send in an egg with each child's name on it so they could each find the eggs with there names on them. It was the first time I had seen it done like this but I thought it worked out very well. It gave each child the opportunity to get the same number of eggs.

Easter crafts

2009-04-03T20:34:00.005-04:00

On Wednesday we finally had a few rays of sunshine and the kids were able to go outside and make some festive easter crafts. Lydia and Grayson really love making things and Caleb could take it or leave it.

It is Easter time!

2009-04-03T20:24:00.005-04:00

Last weekend we had our annual easter egg hunt. Many of our friends and family were able to come and it is always so much for everyone. There were 17 kids and about 400+ eggs. I always think that next year we need to have more eggs, however I do not think you could ever have enough. It takes what seems to be about 1 minute for them all to be found. The kids also had fun coloring easter eggs with the lovely egg dye. This is every parents favorite activity!! Thankfully we had smocks.

Such an Imagination

2009-03-25T10:29:00.006-04:00

Caleb had Daddy's night at his preschool last night. They both said that they had a lot of fun. They went on a safari. Ms. Nancy made (very crafty) a jeep for them to get in and have there picture made. They had a dinosaur dig, painted dinosaurs, watched a volcano errupt and many many more things. One thing that struck me as humerous was a painting that Caleb had made for his dad at school with a short story about him. Ms. Nancy asked each child some questions about his/her dad and this apparently how Caleb sees his dad.

My Daddy's name is Robbie Mckenna. He is 5 years old. He has red hair and blue eyes. He is tall. My Daddy's favorite thing to eat is hot dogs. His favortie drink is lemonade. My daddy likes to go out to eat at Chili's it is his favorite restaurant.He works on the computer a lot. When daddy comes home from work he goes to bed. At work Daddy paints and he nails. For fun Daddy likes to play on the computer and stuff. My Daddy's favortie thing to wear is blue clothes. His favorite sport is hockey on TV.

For the record, 99% of this is fabricated. I am not sure if I should be concerned or if I should just laugh. Robbie said that he could not find his picture until Ms. Nancy pointed out that Caleb had painted him with red hair??? of all things where did he get red hair??? He is a coke drinker. Unless we are at a baseball game he rarely eats a hot dog. He works at the hospital. He does enjoy the computer. He does wear blue sometimes. He will be 35 next week. And he knows very little about hockey. As much as he would like to come home and go to bed, let's face it, he has 3 kids!!!

Playing tennis

2009-03-24T18:15:00.003-04:00

Lydia started taking tennis lessons about a month ago and seems to really enjoy it. Forsyth county offers numerous activites for kids and adults and we have taken advantage of many of them. This particular class is for homeschool kids. She plays with a friend of hers, Mary Blakely that she used to take dance with. Caleb would like to play also but the only class they have for his age group is during the time that he is in school. Maybe next year. And yes she does have a cute tennis skirt however it has been too cold to wear it lately.

Our Dear Grayson

2009-03-18T16:51:00.002-04:00

Grayson is the type of child that is so sweet you just want to squeeze and kiss him all day. However, he is also the same child that can bring tears to my eyes on a very consistent basis.And not the happy kind of tears!!! He is pretty much reason A-Z we have yet to expand our family. These photos are all things that he did in just ONE week. It always makes me laugh when other people try and give me advice on how to handle our dear Grayson. But until you have been around him for any length of time you realize there is no mountain high enough for him. He will climb on anything, open anything and destroy anything. I probably hear 100 times a day "MOM! Grayson is ... you can pretty much fill in the blanks with anything. In these pictures of him you will se how he poured an entire box of cereal on the ground. I made him pick it up and put it in the trash. When I took this picture he did not know if he should smile or be scared. You will also see where he took a bag of suckers and put them in the trash can that belongs in his bathroom and proceeded up the stairs with it thinking that I would never notice. Also please notice the lipstick all over his body. Luckily it was a free sample and I would have never worn it anyway. Let's just say thank goodness for school next year. I love him to death, but have never been so challenged as I am with him!!!!

Mayfield Dairy

2009-03-16T14:22:00.008-04:00

Because we semi-homeschool, we try and go on many field trips so that the kids can learn outside of the traditional classroom. On Friday we went to the Mayfield Dairy plant in Brasselton, Georgia. We learned what happens to the milk from the time the cows are milked until it gets put in the grocery store. We saw a 10 minute video and took a 20 minute tour of the Mayfield plant. Afterwards we all got Mayfield ice-cream. And of course later that night we had to buy Mayfield ice cream at the grocery store.

Playing soccer

2009-03-15T22:06:00.003-04:00

Yes I am officially a soccer mom, and yes I do drive a mini-van :)! Caleb started playing soccer last week. He practices every Friday night and has games every Saturday morning. This schedule works out great because Robbie is off on Friday's and Saturdays so he is able to help coach his team. They are both learning together. The league he is on is fantastic. It is called "Upward soccer". It is a Christ based league. They have a prayer at each practice and game, there is a short devotion at half time during the games, and they have a bible verse they are to learn each week. Caleb really seems to enjoy it. The challenge is keeping Grayson from wanting to play on the field with the rest of the team. He sees no problem with doing whatever he wants. As sad as it makes me he will be old enough to play next year :(

answered prayer

2009-03-11T17:36:00.002-04:00

Hallelujah,Praise God, To God be the glory... Finally after almost 2 years on the market we have finally closed the door to our life in Beaufort. Our closing finally happend today and we are so thankful!!! We have been reminded that if you pray persistently God always answers our prayers. We have had many of our friends and family praying for us about this very huge burden in our life. Moms in Lydia's class would constantly ask me how things were going with the sell of our house because there child had been praying for Lydia's house to sell every night since school had started. It was really neat for Lydia to go to school with a praise rather than the constant prayer request. I pray that the knew owners would find happiness there and I am glad they are paying for it now!!!!! :)

Lydia E. Mckenna...first grader...toothless wonder

2009-03-09T16:18:00.005-04:00

Lydia finally lost her third tooth on Thursday. It makes me soooo sad everytime this awful thing happens. I begged her to let me get some super glue and put it back. She just laughed. It had been loose for over a month. The tooth fairy brought her seven gold dollars. We are assuming that is because she is seven ??? Hopefully it will be a long time before this tragedy happens again. :)

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

2009-03-07T15:17:00.005-05:00

This is the second year that we have celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday which is on March 2. We had "Green Eggs and Ham" for dinner and the kids and I made a "Cat in the Hat" cake for dessert. The kids really enjoy all of his books. They always want to read them over and over. Last year we were able to go see Seusical the Musical at the Alliance chldren's theater downtown. We will have to see what we will come up with next year.

"Our real snow day"

2009-03-06T08:51:00.004-05:00

Last Sunday it finally snowed "for real" in our area. Although it was not a significant amount the kids still had tons of fun. This time it was REALLY cold! We are about 30 minutes north of Atlanta and were very disappointed at first watching on the news Atlanta getting tons of snow and we had not gotten any yet. A few hours later we finally got some. It was not a lot, but it was more than we had ever had. It snowed for about 3 hours or so. The kids played in it for about 30-45 minutes and then came in for some hot chocolate.

Our Valentine's Day

2009-03-05T20:00:00.004-05:00

Because Lydia's birthday is on the 14th, we usually celebrate valentine's day on the 13th. This year we started what I think will be a new tradition. The kids usually get a few valentine's gifts from grandparents and us. This year we did a scavenger hunt for them to find the gifts. Because Lydia can read this year we hid clues all over the house and they ended up finding there gifts in the garage. They went from room to room. One clue was "this is where Caleb sleeps" etc. We got each of them a pair of sunglasses and a small toy, Nana got them all rain boots and matching rain coats. And Gamma gave each of them a new game for the Wii. We had heart shaped pancakes for breakfast and pink grits. For dessert later that day we made heart shaped lollypop cookies that they each got to decorate. (yes even Grayson)!Next year I think we may try and make heart shaped pizza. We were going to do that this year but we ran out of time. I always try and fit way to many activities into one day.

The never ending birthday.

2009-03-05T19:47:00.006-05:00

I am going to try and play catch up on a few of the events that have happened since I first started this blog. ....

As always, our kids birthday's never seem to end. The weekend after Lydia's birthday party Nana came in town to celebrate her "actual birthday". We all made her birthday cake this year. This is something Lydia requestesd because she LOVES to cook. She honestly pretty much did everything on her own. I pretty much just supervised. Even the icing and the fondant. Another one of our traditions (although it is not doctor recommended) is that we have birthday cake for breakfast. We always decorate the dining room with ballons/plastic tablecloth/and Happy Birthday banners. The always expect it but yet act suprised and very excited. We got her a new American Girl doll, and outfit to match and some new crayons and markers. (the last one's all got thrown away after I found Grayson coloring all over the wall with them so after realizing we really needed those I felt I should replace them. :)! Nana gave her a new camera and the #7 precious moment and Gamma gave her a new purse and wallet to match mine with some spending money inside.

Later that day we went to "Snow Mountain" and had a blast. The best part was that it was not very cold outside. We stayed for 7 hours and the kids begged to stay longer. We highly recommend this to anyone that has not done it already. Although if it is actually cold it may not be as fun! They had an area where you could throw snowballs and make snowmen and igloos, an area for Lydia's age and older where you could go down the huge hill in tubes, and an area called little angels for the other kids. All of the kids really enjoy this. Robbie and I were very sore after carying Grayson up and down the hill for hours in the snow .

Lydia's 7th birthday party

2009-02-17T08:14:00.002-05:00

Lydia celebrated her 7th birthday with some of her wonderful friends from Savannah on February 7th. She has celebrated her birthday for the past two years with Mandolin who was born 2 days before she was. Brandi and I took all of the girls to "Sweet and Sassy" for a fun morning of pampering. They each had a mini manicure, mini-pedicure, and up-do and there makeup done. I think they each had an incredible time. Afterwards we took them to the American Girl store for dessert. Such fun memories for all of the girls.