~The~Scary~Basement~

I understand the fear of a scary basement. I had those growing up - dark, maybe a little window here and there, clanking and popping noises made by who-knows-what. You raced down with your heart pounding and quickly did whatever task forced you there. Turning on a light made it a little better, but you still didn't spend more time down there than you had to.

Our boys, especially Logan, still have a fear of our basement 

(unless they're getting hot chocolate packets or hot pockets). I don't understand this fear though. We have plenty of lights (with switches to turn them on before you ever have to enter the stairs or rooms) and three full sized windows because it is a walk out basement! But, the fear is there.

I often rejoice they that made it back alive when they return! But, they've never appreciated that.

Yesterday I sent Logan to get some toilet paper that is kept, not only in the basement, but, under the stairs! in the basement. He fussed that it was scary and he didn't want to go. I pulled the "if you just went without fussing, you'd be back by now," but he still wanted someone to go with him.

Natalie volunteered, opened the door, picked him up, and carrying him down the stairs said, 

"Oh, spirits of the basement! Please accept the offering of my brother and eat him and not me!"

She continued with more gems, throwing in a scream here and there, and low and behold . . .

both of them came back alive!

Natalie was fabulous, but we'll have to see if Logan wants Natalie to go with him next time.

Snow Day

With the threat of snow, school got let out early on Tuesday. 

Atlanta did get hit harder, especially with all the traffic and population there and in the surrounding area, but we missed the "big snow." 

Both Robert and I grew up where there was always snow in the winter and sometimes the response to snow seems a bit silly to us, but when people aren't use to the white stuff or have the winter gear to deal with it, you can't be too cautious.

With our inch of snow and hard freeze, school was canceled Wednesday, letting us have a day of fun and relaxing.

Alyssa went out from a chilly run.

 The boys played in the flurries Tuesday and the snow on Wednesday.

I missed taking pictures of them sledding up the hill at a neighbor's house. 

 There was enough snow for a little sledding, a bit of a snow angel, 

snowballs, fun on the trampoline,

and Logan's wish for enough snow to build "Olaf" from Frozen,

before he got his nose.

 I love walking through the woods, it is always so peaceful. You are immediately away from the world and noise. 

Snow makes it even more peaceful and beautiful. 

 We spent time warming up inside, drinking hot chocolate, and watching movies.

UGA was closed as well, so Robert got to spend the day at home with us too.

Our Southern Snowman

I never complain about our mild southern winters. I quickly get my fill of cold and snow and am ready for warmer temperatures. The lack of accumulated white stuff, though, does lead to creativity. Nearly every day I get to drive by our "southern snowman" and he makes me smile.

The family that lives here has changed the round hay bales, over the last few months, from a pumpkin to a turkey to Santa to a snowman.

We have gotten snow ever year since we've been here, except for last winter, and yesterday's 1 inch of snow (pictures in a post to come) was enough to close school for a day and provide a day of fun and excitement for the kids. Yes, even with just an inch.

Stay warm and have a happy rest of your winter!

You Were 7?!

The other night Logan was bemoaning the fact that he had to go to bed before the other kids.

He wanted to stay up as late as they did and he didn't want to go to school in the morning.

I told him, "well, when I was 7 and in 2nd grade, I had to go to bed early and go to school every day just like you."

"You were 7?!" was Logan's shocked reply.

I said, "Yes. I even have pictures."

"Where? on the camera?" 

"No." 

"On your phone?" 

"No." 

"On the computer?" 

"No."

So I got the photo album with pictures of me when I was little, including my school pictures.

The boys loved looking at pictures of me as a baby, and 2 years old, my clock cake when I turned 3 (Logan wants that for his next birthday), and all my school pictures.

Yes, I was in 2nd grade once. Try and find me.

(I'm sitting on the front row, the farthest left - blue turtleneck)

The boys giggled and said I looked funny, that I looked older in 3rd grade than I did in 4th (it was the haircut), and wanted to see more, and then wanted to see them all over again.

I had a fun time going down memory lane with my boys.

Rain

When you get 4 inches of rain over a 2-day period (see January 10th & 11th on the calendar below), 

the river, that is usually a bit of a walk from the house, can be seen out the back windows.

(the above picture is taken from the beginning of the path at our back yard)

In the 6 1/2 years we've lived here, the river will usually rise to the top of the bank during the winter, but only once before has it come so close to the back yard.

 Robert couldn't even go across the "path" because the water got deep within a few feet.

  We're grateful the path drops quickly from the back yard into the woods, the river would need to rise quite a bit more to come up to the back yard and even more to get into our house. The supposed 100 year flood plane is the edge of the woods in the back yard so we feel pretty confident we wouldn't need to sandbag any time soon - keeping that in mind, it is always really cool to see the river come up so close.

The kids always wish we had some raft or a small flat bottom boat they could go out in and explore the flooded woods. Maybe next time.

An Early Christmas

I thought I always wanted a tree with themed and coordinating decorations and ribbons. I tried, but the girls were little and my fragile balls and bows were grabbed at and quickly broken.

Each year as our boxes of decorations come out, I love all the mismatched ornaments and memories surrounding each item that goes on the tree.

From school pictures in wooden craft frames,

 to homemade decorations given to us from friends and family, and little drums and snowmen bought in bulk to fill in empty spots years ago,

 each item is lovingly placed and the tree fills in with memories.

This year, with plans to travel to Connecticut for Christmas, we decided to have the bulk of our Christmas early, opening gifts from each other and having only Santa come on Christmas. That way we didn't have to take up precious space in the car to pack all the gifts, only to tell the kids not to play with them because we didn't want them lost or broken before getting them back home.

We loved our early Christmas! And, honestly, I want to do this from now on. We planned to have our Christmas on the last day of school. Gifts were placed under the tree and the excitement mounted. Logan was counting down the days and couldn't wait.

Along with our normal few gifts the children get for sure (one from mom and dad and one from the rest of the siblings and grandparents), each of the children got gifts for each other. The boys had a Santa Shop at school and with Alyssa driving, she took Natalie to the dollar store to get things as well. It was so fun to have everyone thinking of each other and excited to see others open their gifts.

We had a Christmas dinner of ham, potatoes, and rolls. Then gathered around the tree and sang a couple of Christmas songs before taking turns to open gifts.

A tie for Robert.

 Some slippers for Alyssa.

 A cookie recipe and bag of ingredients for Natalie.

  Nerf guns,

 and more.

Logan was hugging everyone, no one was tired and cranky from waking up early, the gifts got to be played with without having a whole day to get bored of them.

After playing for a bit and cleaning up, the kids watched a movie and went to bed. 

I think it was one of the best Christmases ever!

Christmas in Connecticut!

We continue to enjoy our tradition of Christmas in Connecticut!

With Robert's sister and brother and their families there, it makes for a wonderful time with family and lots of cousins.

The drive is long, so getting some shut-eye in the van makes it go a bit faster.

 I know this is totally blurry, but trying to grab the camera and take a photo out of a moving vehicle at night is difficult. Although it's spelled just a bit different, it was fun to see a sign for Lenhartsville.

 The big snow CT got the week before we came up had all melted, but it started snowing Christmas Eve! Enough to play in a throw a few snowballs in that night.

 I'm a little out of order in my posts, so I'll blog later about our early celebration of Christmas, but Santa came to CT and left our gift and filled our stockings.

 The snow stuck around Christmas day and the kids got to play in it a bit before we headed up to Robert's brother's house for a few days.

 As a surprise, my sister-in-laws, got tickets to see Wicked on Broadway! I was so excited!

I loved every minute and was reminded of how much I loved using my birthday date with my dad, growing up, to go to the theater.

 The kids got more snow the day after Christmas, enough to sled a bit and make a snowman before seeing grass, but when it's snowy outside, it's fun to go swimming inside.

While we were driving to the pool Jake said, "my two favorite things snow and swimming."

 From the time they woke up, until they went to bed, every day was filled with cousin time. That is the best way to spend every day!

 We went to an inflatable place (not great pictures of those) that had hurricane simulator. 

 The winds would go up to 75 miles per hour and then back down.

 The cousins loved it - especially being all in there together!

 Right before the end of the year, Logan decided to lose his first tooth ever!

He was so excited to start out the new year missing a tooth.

 This year we finally came with full snow gear for everyone - coat, snow pants, boots, gloves - but except for the two dustings of snow, the weather stayed pretty mild. While we would have loved to have had lots of snow, it was nice to play outside without having to bundle up so much.

 And then there were always movies

 and games inside.

It was hard to say goodbye, especially when we had to leave a little earlier than planned in order to get out before the next big storm.

On the way home we asked the kids what their favorite part of the trip was - they all said, "everything!"

Thanks for a wonderful time!