Nanny & Poppy's visit

Nanny & Poppy arrived last Thursday afternoon, and the kids were so excited! As always, Abby asked to see what clothes Nanny bought for her at the outlets on the way :) She immediately put on a new outfit, and then we headed outside so the kids could show off some moves on the trampoline!

 

#hotmess



#sillygoose

 N&P brought the kids a (belated) Valentine's gift, and Abby got to work on hers right away. It's a book / scrapbook titled "All About Me" (her favorite subject)! She loved all the craft supplies that came with it:

A girl after my own heart...

While I cooked dinner, N&P entertained the kids and played games. I had given the kids Guess Who and Uno Attack for Valentine's Day, and they are new family favorites!



Family game night after dinner. Love my selfie stick!

 Friday, the kids were at school so the rest of us had an adult lunch date. We wanted to take N&P to our new favorite pizza place - Post Office Pies! (If you are local - you MUST go there. It's so good!)

Kale & Brussel Sprout salad. Heaven!



Chicken & veggie pizza, plus a pepperoni one. YUM!

Nanny & I had "Happy Hour" outside while Miss Priss was swinging & singing

 Friday night, Nate had his belt ceremony, where he earned his brown belt level 2. So proud of him! This was the first time he was really unsure he'd pass, because he struggled this cycle to get the forms down and break all the boards on the first try.

 Abby had had a low-grade fever Friday afternoon, but was acting normal so I didn't think anymore of it. Well, Saturday morning, she woke up and was burning up! Not to mention acting pretty pitiful. A few people had been sick in her class with a fever & cough, so we diagnosed her with the same. She rested a lot on Saturday, watched movies in her room, and even had a few visitors....

 Abby rallied around lunchtime and I wanted her to get some fresh air, so I lured her outside with the promise of a picnic lunch on the trampoline! :) With the selfie stick, of course.

 She taught us how to play Dead Man, Popcorn, and Marco Polo. It was a fun 2 hours and then she de-railed fast.....(more on that later)

 

While the girls had an afternoon at home, the boys went to the UA basketball game vs. Mississippi State. Poppy had really been looking forward to this! Unfortunately, UA lost but I know all 3 of them had a great time anyways :)

#giraffeneck

 Saturday night after dinner, we sang half of "Happy Birthday," gave Nate half of a cupcake, and half of a party hat. He turned 8 and a half! :) So hard to believe...

 Then all of us loaded up & headed to the annual Holy Spirit Talent Show. We've gone the past 3 years and love it! Abby was determined to go, because she loves all the singing & dancing. But truth be told, she should have stayed at home. She sat in Greg's lap most of the night, and even fell asleep on his shoulder towards the end. Nate, on the other hand, had a great time sitting & goofing off with some of his classmates.

 Sunday morning, Abby was pretty pitiful again and still had a fever, so Nanny & Poppy decided it would be best to head home. Not before a Krispy Kreme run though!! :)

It was another great trip; I just hate that Abby was sick for most of it!!! As always, thank you for making the looooong drive, Nanny and Poppy. We love you!

Nate's half birthday!

It's hard to believe that this little drooly, handsome, baby boy was only 1/2 year old here:

 

And yesterday he officially became 8 1/2!!! :(

 Where does the time go!?

I feel so lucky to have Nate as my son! He's the most tender-hearted, sweet, intelligent, sensitive, and caring boy you will ever meet.

 

These days.....

-His favorite shows are "Lab Rats" and "Love It or List It" (yes, that's a real estate/flipping-type show that I watch, and the kids have fallen in love with it. Ha!)

-He is on his way to becoming the next Harry Houdini. He got a magic set for Christmas, and then bought a second set with his own money.

-He still loves to read, but has not have the same zest for reading since he finished the Harry Potter series last summer. I got him a pre-teen Adventure Bible for Christmas though, and most nights, he is in his room reading it before bed. He already knows more about the bible than I do. #awesome

-He is REALLY into gadgets & technology!! Greg recently got a Surface Pro (a type of tablet) through work, so we decided to keep that at home and hand down our old laptop to Nate. He wants to get a typing tutor type program, and loves playing Minecraft on the laptop. Or messing around on the Surface Pro or his kindle. I swear he would do this all day long if we let him! We also got him an email address and he's allowed to email family members. He thinks he's such a big shot :)

-If it's nice weather, he's outside jumping on the trampoline or shooting hoops at one of the neighbor's houses.

-He just became a brown belt, level 2 in taekwondo! He really struggled this last cycle and was sure he was not going to pass his belt test. But, he did!

 

We celebrated Nate last night with a mini (half) cupcake, a half party hat, and half of the "Happy Birthday" song. Yes, we are dorks! :)

 

 Happy half birthday to my favorite boy in the world!!

Valentine's Day

I'm aware that most kids just get candy on Valentine's Day. But, it's so fun to shop and so sometimes I go a little overboard....

 

Lipgloss set!

New games!

Chocolate chip heart pancakes for breakfast!

 

My Valentines all ready for church!

 Greg cooked the fam heart-shaped grilled cheese for lunch (YUM!), and then Abby & I met her bestie Mia at the UA gymnastics meet that afternoon. It was her first time seeing "big girls" do gymnastics and she was so excited!!

Are they not the cutest!? Look at them holding hands

 While Abby & I were at the gymnastics meet, Greg took Nate mountain biking on some trails at Sokol. They had a blast! We reconvened for dinner, and the kids got to eat in front of the TV & watch a movie....

 ...while Greg and I had an adult meal (read: quiet one!) in the kitchen. We had the most delicious surf & turf meal! #freshmarketforthewin

Such a simple Valentine's Day, but a good one!

Valentine's Day Parties

Both kids had great class parties for Valentine's Day last week...

 

At Nate's party, we made ice cream sundaes with lots of toppings. So yummy!

 The first game we played was a relay race called "Breathless." Each team had to transfer 10 hearts made out of tissue paper, using only their straws. It was hilarious.

 Then, we played "Cupid's Arrow," where each team tried to shoot Q-tips through their straw into a bucket.

 Two classmates' moms came in to twist balloons for all the kids too!

Nate asked for a fancy sword :)

 And I saw this little nugget in the hallway on my way out.

Love his little heart!

 Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend Abby's party since it was at the same time as Nate's (and I'm his room mom.) Luckily, a few of the moms who did attend sent me some pictures:

Her bestie, Mia

 

Making ice cream sundaes!



Musical hearts game



Checking out their loot before heading home

Nate's Basketball Season

Nate's 3rd season of basketball came to a close this week, on Tuesday night. It was yet another rough season, but luckily, Nate still had fun. I'm not sure how much he improved, to be honest, so that was a little frustrating for us to watch (especially Greg)!

 

Most of the boys on his team are classmates, and have played with him the past 2 years. We picked up 4 new players this year, and they were a welcome addition.

 

Some highlights from the season:



Ninja defense moves!

The Four-Eyes Club :)

Fighting for the rebound!

He shoots, he scores!

 

At the last game of the regular season, we had our first lead EVER!!





 We were winning the WHOLE GAME, but then lost by 2 points at the buzzer. Oh my goodness, it was so nerve-wracking to watch as a parent! Not to mention how heartbreaking it was to see them come SO close to winning, and then lose at the very end. (Did I mention that we didn't win ANY games all season!?) As you can see, many of the boys were very upset....

We were in the "bronze" category for the tournament, and had our game this past Tuesday night. It was another close one - the opponent had only won one game - but we still managed to lose. The refs were pretty awful, so I'd like to blame them, but no such luck :( Again, some of the boys got pretty upset because we only lost by a few points. Truth be told, I think Nate was just relieved the season was over. Ha!

As a sidenote, Abby got dragged to 2 practices & 1 game per week. Luckily, she was quite the trooper and didn't mind going too much. Mostly because she is Nate's biggest fan! And she loved playing with lots of the other little siblings:



Lunch Share

Last Friday, Nate had his annual Lunch Share at school. This signals the end of Catholic Schools Week, and gives the kids a chance to let loose a little bit.

 

Every kid brings in an item to share, such as pizza, chips, cookies, etc. Of course the kids love it and there is always waaaay too much (junk) food!

 

Parents are always invited to attend but only a few from Nate's class were able to make it this year. I was happy I was able to join my favorite 2nd grader!



#mommasboy

Abby's class had Lunch Share at the same exact time, and Greg was unable to attend due to a last-minute meeting. So, Mia's mom adopted Abby for the day and Abby got to sit with her BFF Mia. I hopped over there for about minute just to check on her and give her a kiss, and she barely noticed I was there :)

 

Love my kiddos and their awesome school!

Abby's Debut

Last Thursday, Abby read in mass for the first time! This was a big deal because she was only 1 of 2 kindergarteners picked to read. Proud mom moment!!

 

She had about 3 weeks to practice, and seemed more excited than nervous. Thank goodness she got a Barbie microphone with a stand for Christmas, so we could practice at home every night :)

 

When the big day arrived, Abby seemed nervous on the way to school and insisted on reading her part at least 307 times out loud.

 

Mass was packed ... it was a campus-wide mass (grades PK-12) and a lot of parents attended too since it was Catholic Schools Week. She sat a few pews in front of Greg & I, and looked back at us many times during mass. I could tell she was super nervous but just gave her a cheesy "thumbs up" every time.

 

Finally, it was time for the Petitions to be read. She was about the 4th one to read.

 

And she did awesome!!!!!!!!!!! You could barely see her over that big podium, but I was so proud because she spoke slowly & clearly like we had practiced. It was a little quiet though, so you'll have to turn the volume up if you want to watch the very brief video clip here.

 

Abby plus Elijah, the other kindergarten reader :)

I remember when Nate was in kindergarten and he read for the first time.... I was in awe of him for being so brave, and I was equally in awe of Abby when she did it. Because let's be honest....if you know me, you know that public speaking is pretty much my worst nightmare. I'm so thankful neither of my kids inherited that from me!!

 

I promised Abby an after-school treat for doing so well, and she picked TCBY. And Nate got some ice cream too because he insisted I never treated him after his first reading. Ha!

So proud of our "baby" girl; can't wait to see what she does next!