Lunch Share

Friday, the kids had "Lunch Share" to kick off the start of Catholic Schools Week. Parents are asked to bring one item to share, and are invited to stay for lunch. This is always a favorite event because they get to have soda! pizza! and lots of yummy desserts!

I started off in Abby's classroom, while Greg was with Nate.

Then we switched! I brought in brownies for Nate's class and you have thought they were made of gold. No less than 6 kids/parents told me how good they were. (Seriously, have they never tasted a Betty Crocker brownie mix before!?)

Someone enjoys dessert. And blue icing.

Such a fun event, and so happy that the whole family got to participate!!

At last.....SNOW!

We left my parents' house in NC extra early on the 6th, to avoid the onslaught of bad weather. Within 30 minutes of getting back to T-Town, the sleet started!!! The kids ran outside to join their friends, and I swear I've never seen them so happy to play in the rain!!

 About 2 hours later, the sleet finally turned to SNOW!! Most of the neighborhood kids congregated in our yard, and they had oh so much fun :)

Abby, Kate & Caroline made a beeline for the trampoline...

...while Jack & Nate declared "war" on the girls and began to make snowballs

The girls started piling snow in the wheelbarrow (smart!) to make their stash of snowballs

These days, Nate & Evers are playing football non-stop!

Abby the snow angel

I was out there, briefly! :)

Jake joined the football gang

Lily, Abby, and Kate attempting to build a snowman

It was a good night! I had to call Nate inside at 8 pm because he still had not eaten dinner.

 Since the next morning was the beginning of the weekend, the kids were thrilled to see a *little* bit of snow remaining. They played outside on & off for most of the day, especially in the backyard since it was pretty untouched from the night before.

Who knew that ONE INCH of snow could produce such fun!?

Life in Alabama.....

Christmas Break: Last Stop!

We got to Clemmons (my parents' house) in the late afternoon on the 1st. Greg & Poppy were excited to see everyone, and Nate was excited to finally start the big lego set he got for Christmas! (I wouldn't let him do it in Charlotte because I thought Gibson may either steal or choke on some of the pieces!)

This was his biggest set ever....1329 pieces!

That night, we introduced the kids to Monopoly. Naturally, Nate wanted to be the banker! We had fun but I forgot how loooooong that game is. In hindsight, we should have used the "short game" option. (Next time!) Anyways, this kept us entertained for 2 nights and Nanny & Poppy let us bring it home with us to Alabama. Fun fun!

Guess who woke up early and immediately went to work on the Millenium Falcon??? Yep, and he was done before lunch. I love how focused & determined he gets when working on these sets.

Nanny & Poppy took the kids to see "Trolls" that afternoon at the $2 theatre. (Why don't we have one of those?!) Abby had already seen it, but wanted to go back a second time. And since she got the Trolls soundtrack (plus a boombox) for Christmas, she had been singing the songs non-stop!

Tuesday the 3rd was a bit of a blur because Lora had her baby!!! (See previous post on that.) My parents and I left the house around 5 am and returned around 6 pm. Long day! Greg was in charge of the kids, and they visited Greg's great aunt, Marguerite, for a few hours. She lives about 20 away in the most amazing house. I think it has something like 10 bedrooms?! The kids loved exploring it and playing outside while Greg & Aunt Marguerite caught up. Then, Greg took the kids for a stroll around Wake Forest campus so Greg could reminisce about his college days :)

When we got back to Clemmons that night, Mom & I pretty much collapsed onto the couch. It was just an emotionally draining day because we were so worried about Lora, etc. (And also a wonderful day because we got to meet Baby Otis!) However, Poppy still had some energy & took the kids to a Wake Forest basketball game with Greg. It was Abby's first game !

 On Wednesday, N&P surprised the kids with a trip to the mall to do the Mall Jump!! These pictures don't do their huge grins justice. They had an absolute ball! Click here to watch a brief video of them jumping.

We almost talked Nate into doing a back flip, but he chickened out at the last moment.

Abby just enjoyed flying high, pointing her toes, and giggling! :)

After Mall Jump, Nate went to browse PS4 games with Poppy at GameStop, while Miss Priss wanted to ride the carousel. She was the only one on it and had her pick of seats!

I requested lunch at The Loop, because it was one of my favorite chain restaurants to eat while in college. My black bean burger did not disappoint!!! And I introduced the kids to "suicides"....where you get multiple types of soda from the machine and mix them all together. (Don't know why it took me so long to show them this! #momfail)

Wednesday night, the monopoly board was cleared (there still wasn't a winner but Greg was pretty much a shoo-in), and we tried a new game - Reverse Charades. It was super fun but I'll just say this: I will NEVER be on the same team with Nanny for this game again. She was the worst guesser!!! #blinddog #typewriter #DJ

Thursday, we went to Durham to welcome home Otis (see previous post), but not before dropping Greg off at the RDU airport. He was headed to PERU (!) for his brother's wedding. The kids were sad to see Daddy go, but oh so thrilled to see their newest cousin!!!

Proud Nanny with her 5th grandchild

Nate & Abby got a little bored with all the "adults just talking." but luckily they have a super cool uncle who plays drums. And who showed them how to play.

Let's just say, I'm glad they were out the sunroom doing this, and we could close the door :)

After an amazing visit with Baby Otis, Lora, and John, we headed back one last time to Clemmons. We finished off our trip with dinner the Pueb....a family favorite. Nate ordered an ADULT combo meal - enchilada, taco, rice, and beans - and ate every bite. Kind of amazing, kind of disgusting. He is a growing boy!!

The kids and I left Clemmons very early on the 6th, and headed back to Tuscaloosa before the bad weather hit. We made the 9 hour trip without much difficulty, and just a little bit of sleet. I was thankful we made it home safely, but also thankful for a very long & memorable visit with family!!

My new nephew, Otis!

My older sister, Lora, had her first child on Tuesday, January 3rd. I was SO happy that she went into labor while I was still in North Carolina for Christmas break!!!!!!

Greg, the kids and I were at my parents house in Clemmons, which is about 1.5 hours from Durham where Lora & John live.  We got a text at 3:30 am saying she had been admitted to the hospital and was 6 cm. She said not to come right away, but once Mom & I heard the news, we couldn't go back to sleep! We decided to shower and gather our things for a day at the hospital. Finally, at 5 am, we headed to the hospital with Dad. As we were coming up the elevator at 7 am, we got a text from John that she was pushing!!! We were relieved we had made it just in time. We headed to the waiting room and my younger sister, Becky, joined us just a few minutes later (she had drive 2 hours from her house in Charlotte.)

Waiting room selfie!

 Well, around 9 am more visitors arrived, Steve (John's dad) and his wife Chris. And still no baby.

Around 11:30, Robin (John's mom) arrived. And still no baby.

We were getting antsy so we sent a nurse manager in to see what was going on. She reported that Lora was pushing and still no baby. My mom was a wreck!

Finally, John texted the news at 12:05 that Otis was here!!!!

Apparently, my poor sister was pushing for FIVE hours. WITHOUT any drugs!! (Yes, by choice.) Otis was sunny-side up, and his skull was pressing on her spine a lot. For the last hour or so, his lips were "out," but nothing else. Craziness! His lips and face came out pretty bruised and swollen, and John remarked that it looked like he'd been in a bar fight. Poor little guy! We thought he looked just perfect though.

Otis Thomas White

1/3/17

7 lbs 11 oz and 21 inches

 It took a loooooong time for Lora to get cleaned up and then transferred to a recovery room. We were dying to see Otis, and finally got to around 3:30 pm. What a day! But, he was worth the wait :)

Proud Grandmothers - Nanny & Chris

My parents were thrilled to welcome grandchild #5!!

At the time he was born, he was still "Guppie" to everyone.

Lora & John made us wait a whole other day before they decided on the name!

Proud Aunt :)

The new White family!

 Mom, Dad, and I left the hospital and got home around 6 pm. Just in time to say hi to Greg & the kids before they went off to a Wake Forest basketball game. (And somehow, my dad had the energy to go with them!) Which meant Mom & I had a quiet night at home, toasting Otis and watching the Bachelor on DVR :)

 It killed us to stay away from the hospital on Wednesday, but we knew Lora & John needed time to get acclimated to Otis, and to figure out nursing, get some rest, etc. Looks like Otis was pretty cozy and didn't miss us too much :)

 On Thursday, Otis was discharged from the hospital, and we (my parents, the kids, and I) were able to help welcome him home! We decorated in a hurry because we barely made it in time!

Could this little family be any cuter!?

Abby barely let Aunt Lora get in the door before asking to hold Baby Otis. She was smitten!

Sweet Otis napped in his swing while everyone had lunch - Brixx pizza and salad, yum!

I wasn't sure if Nate would want to hold Otis, but he finally decided to! :)

Proud big cousins

Proud Nanny & Poppy

When the kids got bored with all the oohing and aahing over Otis, they could be found in the sunroom on Uncle John's drum set :)

I almost forgot to get a shot of the beautiful new momma with her boy!!

Lora texted that afternoon - Otis had barely moved since we left. Guess we wore him out!!

I am just over the moon that I have a new nephew (that makes 3!) and that my sister is a mom. She is going to be AMAZING and I'm so excited to hear about her journey, every step of the way....

(Well, unless it's at 3:00 in the morning....)