Snow in Texas… What?!?!
- Posted by meredith on February 17th, 2010 filed in Family
- 5 Comments »
This past weekend, I drove with the kids down to Texas to hang out with my family and meet up with my cousin who lives in New Hampshire. As we were preparing to go down, we noticed this abnormal winter weather system approaching East Texas. David and I and weather.com concluded that if I drove down on Thursday – the day of the snow storm - it would be the safest on the roads - less chance of ice and slush… So with lots of prayer and the confidence of our new car (yeah!! we finally got one – my dream car – Honda Pilot!!!) I set off. About half way there, I broke in the car with a speeding ticket and a failure to comply with insurance ticket. Ugh. As I was sitting there upset about it, Audrey says in her little mouse voice, “Mama, you don’t have to be fwustwating. You need to dwive slowa. Dwive like those cawrs…” Thanks Aud. Anyways, I got about 2 hours from my parent’s house successfully avoiding snow, but so it began. I thought I was going to die. To top it off, as I was in the thick of slush and snow and nerves, I got a text from my sister saying my cousins flight was canceled… ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? I almost turned around to drive 4 hours home, but then I’d have to pass the dang cop again, so I kept going. Thankfully the roads cleared up and the last part of my trip wasn’t too bad. We got to Van and sadly there was no snow… bummer. But, about an hour later, snow came – and for our little town of Van – it came with a vengeance! We ended up with 6.5 inches of perfectly packable snow! Because Dallas (where my sister lives) got 10 inches, we stayed put at my parent’s house for a couple of days. It was a wonderful break with them, and the kids were in fantastic moods! It was very refreshing.
Audrey helping my Mom do dishes.
Making cookies and loving every minute of it!
Getting in a game of checkers with Papa. Connor was VERY proud of himself as he set my Dad up to take his king. Connor went on to win the game – a major highlight for him!
*****
The next morning we woke up to this Winter Wonderland!! I don’t think my parents knew what hit them when they were bundled up and frolicking in the snow at 8:30am! (It’s good for them – keeps them young – not that they are old…! : ) )
My dad built a snow fort to have a “real” snowball fight! This was a new concept for Connor, and he loved it!
Audrey got into it too! My dad made a little lookout for her!
After many rounds of snowballs flying through the air, Connor stormed Papa’s camp and knocked it over! Bliss for the kids!
My Mom got in on the action too! She and I teamed up to get my Dad. I think we got him good a couple of times! It was really fun. We were both pretty sore the next day!
The final picture before going inside to make some snow candy with my Grandmother.
What is snow candy you may ask? You boil REAL maple syrup (we used yummy stuff from New Hampshire) to a specific consistency and pour it over packed snow. It immediately turns into taffy-type candy. SO yummy and such a fun memory I have doing with Grammy when I was younger when we would visit in the winter. It is fun for me to get to do this with my kids and Grammy.
Connor showing off his piece.
Audrey wasn’t so sure of digging the candy out of the snow, so my Grandmother poured syrup on a wooden spoon. She said that was one of her favorite ways of eating it when she was little. Kind of like a lollipop.
Relaxing with Papa while watching the cardinals and other birds eat up the seeds that were scattered about the yard.
*****
Valentines day with my sister and her kids. My parents came over for a dinner and a party, and I have to say, having 7 kids in the mix wasn’t too terrible! They all had a great time together.
After dinner and cupcakes, the kids put on a show for the adults. The show quickly moved into a dance party – which was adorable to watch!
Superman even made an appearance dancing to none other than DC Talk! “Da..Da..Down with the DC TALK…”
After the dance party, Mimi read the kids a book, kissed them goodnight, and we all crashed! : ) What a fun night!
*****
Sunday night, my Cousin, Michaelyn, finally was able to fly into Dallas! We were able to meet up on Monday morning for breakfast before we headed back to Arkansas. I’m thankful I got to see her even if it was only for 1.5 hours! It had been at least 6 years since I saw her last.
So the trip had it’s share of unexpected events, but it was great! Thanks Mom, Dad and Lisa-Marie for such a fun time!
We finally made it home after a very long trip back – driving the speed limit to avoid my Cop friend makes for a LONG trip! ; )
let it snow!!
- Posted by meredith on February 2nd, 2010 filed in Family
- 4 Comments »
This past weekend, we got hit with a great snow storm! I don’t know who was more excited about it – me or the kids! (It may be a tie…) We had a lot of fun with the kids eating the snow, sledding on the snow and building snow families! It’s not every day it snows around here, so we have to take advantage of it when it does!
All day Friday it snowed and was a little too cold to play in it yet, so we had a fun day with friends inside. Michelle had the idea to make snow cones with concentrated apple juice! HUGE hit with me… I mean the kids! : )
Saturday, however, was the perfect day for sledding with about 5 – 6 inches of powdery snow and sun and no wind! We found an inner tube that I bought for the summer and went sledding down a little hill by our house. It was the perfect first hill to get used to sledding on.
Audrey loving it!!
As did Connor!
Waiting for her turn!
Audrey’s turn – whatever Connor does, Audrey will try! Sidenote: Major props to David. He worked harder than anyone playing with kids. Carrying Audrey up each hill cause her little legs couldn’t make it, pushing the kids down the hill, carrying up the tube. He scored major Daddy points today!
*****
After over an hour of this hill, Joe and Joey came over, and thus began the hunt for a BIG hill… It took a couple of tries and we finally found it!
Joe tried it out first to make sure it was safe, and it was awesome! Yes, he was flying down the hill on an air mattress and yes, there is a road at the bottom. Thankfully there were a few people who were watching for cars… : )
Joey and Connor having a blast!
The long climb back up the hill. Once again – thanks Dads for being up for this!
Joe and David with the kids. Michelle stayed home with Kylah who was taking a nap – she was missed! She came out at the end of our time sledding, but the mattress popped about 2 minutes before she arrived, so she never got to go down the hill… Sorry Michelle!
Uncle Joe with Connor and Audrey.
Our family – taking a breather. Actually, I didn’t do anything all day since I’m getting bigger by the day, but it was great getting to see the fun!
*****
After the snow melted for a couple of days, the snow became the perfect snowman-snow. So the kids and I set out to make a snow family. I want to say it was blissful and all cheery attitudes, but it wasn’t… We had to stop at one point to have an attitude check! : ) They didn’t catch the vision until the very end of the family when we were accessorizing the family with carrot noses, scarves, and hats.
Connor dressing Snow-Mommy.
Audrey placing Snow-Baby-Matthew in his proper spot.
Taking a little taste of Snow-Daddy
Posing with Snow-Audrey
The Snow-kids and real kids!
Our little Snow-Family!
Back to Christmas…
- Posted by meredith on January 29th, 2010 filed in Family
- 2 Comments »
Well, I never did post about our Christmas, so here it goes…
This doesn’t seem like the normal, fun Christmas photo, but it represents what was going on in our house… David, Connor, and Audrey all got H1N1 the Monday before Christmas, so that began a long week of taking care of sickies!! We were scheduled to drive down to Alabama to spend Christmas with David’s family, but with fevers still high, we could not do it without infecting all 28 people who were together! So we ended up staying at our house until we knew with a doubt that we were not contagious! It was a huge bummer, but ended up being nice in the long run. Finally after watching David’s temperature like a hawk (kids were fine earlier in the week), it broke late Christmas Eve and was still gone the next morning. So we packed up and left around noon on Christmas day.
Here are some pictures from Christmas Eve and morning at our house…
Since we were staying home, I realized that we don’t have a lot of family traditions when it comes to Christmas because we are always at someone else’s house. So I was scrambling to find fun things to do with the kids that we can continue doing as they get older. One thing that came to mind was decorating their bedroom door. When I grew up on the Anastasis, we would do this every year to our cabin door, and I remember loving it! So decorating their door it was…
We had painted Christmas ornaments earlier in December and hadn’t done anything with them, so it was a perfect accessory for the door! Audrey was pretty cute as she only put ornaments on the tips of the tree branches and not anywhere else! Connor glued his to the middle in random order… This seemed a little backwards considering Connor is so by the book on the things, but hey, it’s good for him to be a little “crazy!” : )
The finished product in their matching Christmas pjs. It turned out to be a hit! So fun!
Christmas morning could not have been more relaxing with the kids. First of all, it snowed outside!!! The kids have never seen snow on Christmas morning, so that was a HUGE treat! It was so magical for the kids! They were more excited about that then they were about all the extra presents that were under the tree! : ) At about 6:30am they were running back and forth between the front door and the back door exclaiming, “It snowed!!!!” After David and I crawled out of bed, we opened stockings.
Reading a Superman book with the kids that was in Connor’s stocking. Apparently Santa switched a Dora toothbrush with a Spiderman toothbrush… Connor was pretty confused – but with a quick switcharoo, all was well! oops! ; )
This was their big present! They picked those to open first cause the package was the biggest! : ) They wore their costumes the rest of the morning and brought them with us to AL.
When we went to Six Flags, I picked up a Superman cape for David without him knowing, so that was his gift from the kids. Before now, they had just been wearing blankets as their capes – which is great for imagination – but now that they have the “real” thing, it is pretty cool!
Trying out her new laptop! Still wearing her supergirl costume!
Soon after we piled in the car and started driving for 10 hours down to AL to celebrate with David’s family! It was a bummer we missed out on the Christmas Eve and Christmas morning activities, but it turned out to be a nice relaxing time with our little family!
my baby girl…
- Posted by meredith on January 14th, 2010 filed in Family
- 4 Comments »
Tonight marked the first time that Audrey has put on my wedding dress! I really loved watching her excitement when I asked her if she wanted to wear it – to which she responded by jumping up and down – and then when I put it on her… SO adorable. The pictures speak for themselves.
Coming down the hall for the first time to show Daddy. She could barely walk in it! : )
Posing for Daddy.
Seriously… Could she be any more beautiful???
I’m going to LOVE comparing these pictures when she gets married one day… : )
Checking herself out in the mirror. She could not stop looking and swaying and smiling…
What a sweet girl!! I’m sure that one day I’m going to look back at this and think, “Where has the time gone!” What a wonderful memory for me tonight! : )
December at a glance…
- Posted by meredith on January 2nd, 2010 filed in Family
- 2 Comments »
Wow – it has been WAY too long since I have written anything, so this entry will be one enormous entry!! I’m going to cover December’s activities from the beginning… One day I’ll print this off, and this will be our journal of memories for our family… one day!!
Here we go…
Every year, the Dunns and our family have a Christmas party, and this year’s get-together was a blast! We went over to their house around 1pm and opened presents from each other and Auntie Elizabeth (our friend from growing up in Mercy Ships), played with toys, took naps, ate dinner, went to a Christmas parade, made ginger bread houses and ate lots of candy, and crashed!!
Opening her awesome stroller! Check out her cute sweater dress and matching shoes! I secretly want that outfit! : )
Making ginger bread houses. This was something that Krista and I did when we lived in Texas. More like her family did it, and I did it a few times with them. Love the tradition!! Krista and I are so blessed to get to continue it with our kids! 
The dads getting involved! It was such a fun evening!
The finished product!
The four kids – Jack, Audrey, Connor & Sam
I’m not sure they could be any cuter together!! Thanks for a great night Krista and Jackson!
*****
The kids in front of our tree. It took a while to get our tree to stand up straight – it actually fell over at one point… Finally, after about an hour of messing with it, we wrapped dental floss around the tree and a hook in the wall! Kind of ghetto, but it works!!
*****
On December 6th, we got a new roomie… Uncle Joe!! Because his job started a month earlier than Michelle’s job, he stayed with us while Michelle and the kids wrapped up thing in Nebraska…why are they wrapping things up??? They are moving here!! Actually, tomorrow is the official moving day!!! We are SO excited to have them around, watch our kids grow up together, play endless card games, do fun family things togther, etc…:) Anyways, it was really fun having him stay with us. The kids really bonded with him!
Joe skyped with Michelle and the kids quite a bit, and naturally, our kids joined in. I took this picture cause both of the boys stripped down to their undies to show their belly buttons off!! They were having a blast over the computer – imagine what it’ll be like when they are here!
*****
The next weekend was my Grandmother’s 80th birthday, so the kids and I packed up and joined the party! It was so fun to have another weekend with my family. Connor and Audrey always love it there! Sidenote: Doesn’t my Grandmother look AMAZING for 80???? It told her I would be very happy if I looked like her when I grow up!
We went to a children’s museum one of the days that we were in Texas. The kids loved it. Audrey especially loved the kitchen part. She could cook and watch herself on TV at the same time. She would have stayed there for hours if we would have let her!
She also loved the singing part.
Connor was checking Audrey out in the ambulance… Notice he strapped her down so she couldn’t move! :) She was a good sport getting shot after shot!
Audrey had some much needed tickle time with my Dad. It had been too long since we had seen him!
Somehow she figured out if she asked him for a hug, then he couldn’t tickle her! Has she been watching boxing on Nick Jr instead of Dora??? (isn’t that what happens during boxing??)
While we were waiting for my Dad to pick up my aunt and uncle from the airport, my mom and I took the kids to dinner and then a live nativity set. They loved it!! They responded to everyone perfectly and wished each person there a “Merry Christmas!” So cute!
Hot chocolate…
and kisses were to follow!
Connor playing the card game War with my Grandmother. I love it! I remember playing games with her when I was little, so it is pretty special to see her engaging with my 4 year old!
One of the perks about visiting Texas is getting to see my sister and her kids! So fun!
*****
Back in Arkansas, Connor had his Christmas party at his Preschool. Audrey and I have gone to their parties, and everytime, Connor is so sweet to Audrey. He really includes her and is proud to show her around. I love it! Here they were making snowman ornaments.
Connor’s best friend in his class – Michael. I asked Connor what he likes about Michael to which he replied, “he’s funny!!” I think he appreciates humor because of David!
Connor’s class and Mrs. Hatcher after they did their little Christmas book exchange. How cute!
*****
On the 19th, David and Connor went to Addison Penner’s 2nd birthday party while Audrey and I stayed home cause we were both sick. Little did we know, this was just the beginning of our house being inundated with sickness!!!! To sum up… David, Connor and Audrey all ended up having H1N1 starting the Monday before Christmas… (that whole saga will be saved for another post…) Audrey and I were very sad to miss the party – espcially cause it was a complete girlie – Dora – themed party!! Could it be any more perfect??? : )
Well, for those of you who actually made it to the end of this post, you are a true friend!! : ) More to come from Christmas and Thanksgiving and our trip to Colorado… but for now, Good night!! : )