Holidays are upon us

The kids and I got a head start before Chad and headed up to his parents house a week before Thanksgiving. Ty and Aidan helped Granny decorate for Christmas, since we won't be with them during Christmas we celebrated both Thanksgiving and Christmas in November. They loved putting the ornaments on the tree, most of Granny's ornaments were on the bottom half and most on the same several branches. They were so proud, and so was Granny. Ty was so excited this year for Christmas presents, he could hardly wait until it was time to open. For several days he would re-organize his presents and then sit and look at the gifts wondering what they might be. Time has flown between returning from Thanksgiving and now packing up to leave again for Christmas. Ty has now lost both his bottom front two teeth, he can hardly hang onto the money from the tooth fairy. His favorite place to go and spend his money - Target! Aidan had her Tangled birthday party, dressed in her rapunzel dress. After the food, cake and presents we went outside after dark and set off all the floating lanterns - she was so excited. Can't believe our baby girl is 3, or as she likes to say "I'm free". Ty had his first Christmas program, and was so adoreable! His pre-k class did an amazing job, singing jingle bells, fa-la-la-la, and We wish you a merry Christmas. Chad and I are taking the kids up to a cabin in the mountains to spend Christmas and Ty can hardly wait. He has made a calendar in his room and marks off each day until we leave. He is hoping for snow - we will see. Snow or no snow we are looking forward to the memories made as a family.

Year is coming to an end, and our babies keep growing

Wow, it's catch up time. Ty began pre-school in August, bringing back such sweet memories for momma as he is going to the shcool where I attended elementary school. He was so amazed as we sat in the auditorium for open house that his momma sung on that very stage when I was a little girl. He just loves his teacher, which happens to be a good friend of mine from college. Chad and I think he was having his very first crush with his teacher. In just the first few weeks of school she could put together a book with all the cards and gifts he would bring her. He is in heaven getting to read books, do crafts, and play with his friends all the while calling it school :) He is picking up how to read so quickly, and never ceases to impress us with all the knowledge he is retaining. He is growing so quickly, and amazingly enough is already loosing his bottom front two teeth. I didn't believe him at first - I mean a four year old loosing his teeth already just didn't sound right, but after feeling the tooth was indeed loose I began to panic a little thinking he knocked it loose. However, I looked into his mouth seeing the two big teeth coming in behind. Just can't believe how big our babies are getting. Aidan celebrates her third birthday in just a few short weeks. She got to attend her very first princess birthday party for a few of her friends. She got to dress up in her Rapunzel dress (from her favorite movie Tangled) and the girls spend the afternoon putting on pretend makeup, practicing the art of walking in heels, and making braclets from ribbon and beads. She is still a perfect mix of princess and tomgirl. She is most content to put on a frilly tutu and get outside to play in a nice fresh mud puddle. Our babies keep our lives filled with laughter, love. Enjoying every minute of these years, they pass by so quickly.

Summer is gone

Wow, summer has flown by. We have been blessed with several trips away with friends, trips to visit with family and to have family and friends make time to come visit with us. We have lived at the beach, the kids just love the salty life! Ty body surfs in the water, which still makes me a bit nervous but I try to keep my cool. Aidan is more and more daring going further out in the water each time but her most favorite thing is to chase the seagulls. Summer is nearly at it's end now and Ty will start pre-school on August 23rd (can't believe it!) He is also beginning his speech therapy because as Ty puts it "I get stuck on my words" Aidan is getting to be our big girl as well. She is in a big girl bed now, going on the big girl potty, and in the last week is swimming like a big girl. She has no fear of the water and just jumps in and goes. Time is going too quickly, our babies are growing up. We will be posting lots of pictures from the summer.

Where did May go?

Finally getting my head above water to get a chance to update everyone. On Mother's day we traveled half way up to Kentucky to meet Chad's parents, Ty and Aidan were getting to spend a week on Granny and Grandad's farm. Ty and Aidan made such sweet Mother's day cards, Ty was so excited to give them. Ty and Aidan had such a good week, they got to go to Dinosaur world (which Ty LOVED). Several of Grandad's sisters and Granny's sisters came to visit them, they love all their crazy aunts. One night when we called to talk to them Ty got on the phone and said "I love you mommy and daddy, miss you but I have to go right now I'm playing go fish with Aunt Linda" The next week I traveled all the way to Granny and Grandad's to pick them up. We spent a few days up there traveling around to see more family. The kids and I were able go to their cousin's (my nephew's) graduation party. We also traveled to see "crazy Aunt Sherry" as Aidan and Ty call her. Her daughter owns a cafe on the first floor of her home so several cousins came to eat lunch with us and hang out for the day. We returned home from our 11 1/2 hour drive just in time to unpack - do laundary and repack for our fun packed trip to Disney. We had breakfast with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto. I'm surprised the kids were able to eat their breakfast, they were so excited to see all the characters. We went to the Disney Hollywood Studios where we saw lots of shows like Jake and the pirates (Ty was so excited) we also saw The little mermaid and Beauty and the Beast and Aidan was mesmerized. We spent the next day at Magic Kingdom, it never gets old to see the looks on their faces when we turn the corner on Main street and they see the Castle. Ty has been into pirates, I think we rode the pirates of the caribbean ride about 5 times. Aidan and Ty loved meeting all the characters but Ty's favorite was still Buzz and Woody. Aidan was beyond excited to meet the princesses but she was most excited to meet the princess from her FAVORITE movie right now, Tangled. Daddy waited in the hot sun for an hour and a half while I took them to see the parade so that Ty and Aidan could meet Rapunzel and Flynn Ryder. Aidan just keep touching her long hair, it was so sweet. I have a feeling that the next time we go she will be dressed in one of her princess dresses. We are now able able to take a few day rest before we travel just a bit north to stay for a long weekend on the beach. We are making such special memories but I think we all may sleep for the entire month of June.

Swinging into Spring

We hate to rub in our beautiful weather while everyone else seems to be having so many storms and bad weather but we are just loving being outside these days. Last week we enjoyed the beach and the pool several times. Ty is starting to learn how to use his bodyboard and ride waves in. He enjoys it until he gets caught in the water with his mouth or eyes open. He does not enjoy the salt. Aidan loves the beach simply because she can run non-stop. She runs up and down the beach and then into the water. We went to see Disney on Ice and the kids were just mesmerized. They had a whole princess part that Aidan couldn't take her eyes off. Then all the villains came out, Captain Hook, Jafar, etc- Ty was thrilled. However, both Aidan and Ty couldn't stay in their seats when all the toy story characters came out. It was so much fun to see their faces. We had a big weekend of Easter fun. We went to a big easter egg hunt where the easter bunny showed up. Aidan stalked him everywhere he went and kept cutting the line to go give him hugs. She cried when it was time to actually hunt the eggs because that meant we had to leave the easter bunny behind. Ty LOVES coloring the eggs. He kept asking when we could color the "spoiled eggs", he didn't realize we were calling them boiled eggs. As tradition for us Sunday morning Ty and Aidan got up and began searching for their baskets hidden somewhere in the house. One of Aidan's favorite things in her basket was her dress up Minnie Mouse. Ty was excited about several different things but was especially thrilled with the pj's he had asked for. We are getting ready for a whirlwind month of May, traveling just about the entire month. It will be busy but we are looking forward to a lot of exciting things.

Ball games, birthdays, beach, and broken tails

We are loving all thing summer here. Ty started his first T-ball game last Saturday. He was so excited when he woke up he immediatley put on his uniform and came downstairs ready to go. Opening day was exciting, all the kids got introduced on the field then they all got a big surprise as one of the military helicopters flew over then came back and landed on the field. It was a long morning but Ty had a blast. Aidan loves cheering for him. She stands at the fence and cheers "sweet T, sweet T!!" We had some beautiful weather last week and we just decided one afternoon to pack up and go play at the beach. Aidan and Ty loved running in and out of the water. We always have a blast finding sea shells and building sandcastles. We had a bit of a stressful time about 2 weeks ago. Bailey was hanging out on the floor while Ty and I were playing Mr. potato head. Aidan was bouncing around being silly and landed just on the right spot and broke Bailey's tail right in half. The break has healed however he is wanting to chew on it so now we are doctoring the sores he has made on his tail. Ty is getting so excited for his big number 4 birthday tomorrow. He has requested pancakes for dinner and a pirate birthday party. He will be having a pirate party next Saturday at a park with a big pirate ship. He is most excited about having an eye patch and telescope for his party. Can't believe how quickly time passes and how big our babies are getting.

Spring is in the air

As the rest of the world seems to be under snow now, we are enjoying the 60 and 70 degree weather. Ty is loving his new big boy bike which he takes on our walks down to the park. We have enjoyed quite a few family afternoons at the field down from our house playing kick ball. Ty has started his first team sport, beginning tball last week. He has gone to two practices now, and just loves being out on the field with all the kids. At his first practice Chad and I quickly realized that he has never been taught the terms of baseball - like first base, home, etc. He was too cute with the look on his face when the coach told him to touch first base. The whole time they were out there Ty kept asking Chad if he could put his batting helmet on, then when he did he realized how cool the sound of his new bat made when it hit his helmet. Too cute! Aidan loves his practices since she just loves any excuse to be outside. She watches him practice hitting the ball and when he hits it Aidan will chant "Sweet T, Sweet T" She is one of his biggest fans. Our little girl is just a mess, she is in her own world most of time. She just does and says the funniest things. One of her favorite times is when she wakes up early enough to catch Chad and I at the end of our early morning workouts. She gets on the floor with us and attempts to copy what we are doing, the whole time counting "1-2-3-4-5" When it comes to situps that girl can put us to shame. Ty is already getting geared up for his birthday next month. He doesn't know yet but we are taking a family trip over to Disney where we will have a birthday breakfast for him with some of the disney characters. Ty and Aidan will both be so excited.

Friends, travels, and growing up

After the holiday madness we settled home for a few weeks, Ty and Aidan are really becoming such close siblings. Often times without prompting Aidan will simply exclaim "I love you Twer" in which Ty will respond with reaching over and hugging her. They cause each other to have the biggest belly laughs, often when they are at the table for meals. They both of course still like to own the rights to their own toys and when and if the other may play with them, but they are getting better and solving their disputes calmly. About a week and a half into January I got up the nerve to embark on a trip with just me and the kids to travel four states, stopping three times to visit friends. We had a great journey up to our first stop, when we soon got a lesson in who is in control. We had been there one day and then proceeded to have one of the worst snow and ice storms Atlanta had seen. We were staying with dear friends, so Ty and Aidan had a blast playing with their friends and I enjoyed visiting with mine. However, we were snowed in, with the ice so bad I couldn't drive anywhere for 4 days. We were sad we didn't get to visit with all our other close friends who live there, except for Sunday at services. We also had to let down all our other friends in the other states we were supposed to travel to, making the decision that getting home and out of the dangerous weather was the best idea. Poor Ty cried, it's heartbreaking to let down your babies even when it's best for them. The next stop we were intended to travel was even further north and they had planned a party for us, Ty was so crushed we would not make it. We have promised to try to make the trip again. Ty is constantly talking about his 4th birthday, and Chad and I can't believe our baby turns 4. He has changed his birthday theme about 12 times so we will see what actually sticks come March. They are both growing up too quickly.