Valentine's Day '13

I love Valentines Day! It just makes me happy. Once Christmas is over there seems to be a sudden long and drastic lull from exciting and fun, to boring and cold. This wonderful day of happiness and love puts a fresh new spin on any winter days remaining, and, reminds us once again how lucky we are to have the people we love surrounding us.

Now She's Nine

Our sweet Kadyn turned nine last week. She woke in the morning surrounded by balloons, each one having a birthday wish attached from individuals she loves. This year she decided to celebrate at Olive Garden with Loryn and Myah. Her favorite restaurant with her favorite friends. Loryn's oldest sister (Ally) happens to be Ryley's close friend as well. Since they all frequently hang out together it was a perfect match of friends and fun. We returned from dinner to find Steven, Thatch, and Haley had kindly prepped the cake, ice cream, and presents. We immediately enjoyed loads of sugar, after which the entire group disappeared upstairs to play with the exciting new toys. Kadyn is a wonderful daughter. Her desire to serve and love others (especially her siblings) is a true example of Christ. She amazes me daily and we're still not sure how we got so lucky to be watching over her. Happy 9th Birthday Kadyn!

Boarding With My Babe

What can I say? Just me, hubby, and three days in the mountains. Alright, perhaps my friends in the West wouldn't consider these mountains, but Steven and I knew if we could find snow and a hill big enough to board down, we'd be happy. Boy, were we happy! A fun and relaxing get away with the love of my life, what else could one ask for.

 

Here we are.

                                                                                                    Aren't we amazing! 

                                                                                                                        Just kidding.....

  We were pretty awesome though. Steven picked up right from our college days.          

                              
                                             

I picked up from where I last ended too....on my backside. 

After a few hours though I had grasped the concept pretty well. I think the warmer temperatures and having the mountain all to ourselves (to wipe out as much as we wanted) really helped.

Sweet Sisters

 It absolutely AMAZES me how much these two.....

Remind me of these two!

Flag Fun

Steven and I love the days following Christmas. With time on our side we have a wonderful opportunity to show the kiddos how to use all their fun new toys, and, with NC having a number of wonderfully warm days our new flag football set has been ideal to enjoy. At first we attempted to teach the actual game, but after Raxtus ate our ball, Steven came up with the brilliant idea of "flag tag". Each player wears their flags. Once you pull a flag from another player you may not pull another of their flags until you have pulled from someone else. You may keep "won" flags in your pocket, or,  choose to reattach them to missing spots on your belt and stay in the game longer. No one may pull from Azure or Haley until everyone else has had a flag taken, additionally you can only take one flag per game from the little ones. Once your belt is empty you sit down on the stairs. At the end of the game there are two winners - "last man standing" and "most belts won". Isn't that great! We have had so much fun playing this on a daily basis, with the exception of recent rainy days. Seriously, everyone should get a flag football set and play this today!

January Free Time

Our free time in January has been filled with numerous random outings. Visits to the arcade, that all SIX children enjoyed. Steven and the eldest three discovered a row of cars that race one another when played simultaneously. Oh boy. From that point, the game was on! We also made a trip up to Raleigh to enjoy our nearest Costco. Always well worth it. The majority of our free time however has mainly been filled with our love of games. We decided it was high time the older kids understood the respect one can gain for games when taught a great classic like Monopoly. They did a great job! Even Thatcher picked it up right away and he's only six. They did so well (and became so hooked) that we introduced The Game of Life and a few other favorites. Now, as the kiddos play throughout the day the eldest three wait patiently for the younger gals to fall fast asleep for nap or bedtime. At that point, they fully understand that Mom and/or Dad have three hours of uninterrupted game time, and thus, the fun begins.