Big News

We've got some news, and Sims would like to share it with you.

He is going to be a big brother!  The due date is October 4. 

From the moment we told Sims the news, he said that he wanted a sister.  And we found out last week that he is getting what he wants.  It's a girl!  We are super excited for all of the big changes ahead!

Easter

Okay, I know that I am a month behind on posting this, but better late than never.  I've got a lot of catch up to do on the blog, and the best place to start is Easter.

We stayed at home Easter weekend and dyed eggs on Saturday.  Actually, Jason and I did most of the egg dying.  Sims ended up not feeling so great after we got everything set up, so he only dyed one or two of them. 

We woke up early on Easter to find that the Easter Bunny had visited.

Even though Sims looks mad or scary in this picture (this is what happens when I tell him to smile at the camera), he was actually very happy to finally get real golf clubs and golf gloves. He had been asking for real clubs for months!  He got one right-handed club and glove and one left-handed club and glove.  He seems to hit both ways, and the Easter Bunny didn't know which one to get.  (We have now determined that he is a lefty, when it comes to golf.) 

Sims wore his very first suit to church, and he loved being dressed like his daddy.  After church, we went to Mom and Smith's house for a big dinner. 

Then we spent the rest of the afternoon playing games and watching Sims play golf for hours.  It took him a while to get used to how heavy the real clubs are, but even a blister didn't stop him.  We have never seen him spend this much time doing anything! 

 

It was a wonderful, relaxing Easter day!

The Homestead

Over President's Day weekend, we spent a couple of days at The Homestead in Hot Springs, VA.  The goal was to see some snow, and we were willing to drive 5 hours to see it.  We filled our days there with so many activities that we were all exhausted when we got home.

The day we got there, it was about 25 degrees in the heat of the day, with a howling wind (and no snow.  The picture above was from the day we left.)  So we spent that day exploring inside.  We found rooms set up with corn hole and a giant chess board.  We played family bingo and just walked around this huge resort.  We had dinner in the Commonwealth Room, which was a big buffet that reminded us a lot of the Blue Ridge Dining Room at the Grove Park Inn.  In other words, it was a darn good buffet!

We woke up the next morning and went swimming in the indoor pool.  The pool looked like a larger version of the indoor pool at my summer camp growing up, which was likely built around the same time as this pool (around the turn of last century).  It brought back so many great memories of camp!

After that, it was time to go to the ski slopes.  We weren't planning to ski, since we didn't have enough time to do everything.  But we wanted to see snow, even if it was manmade.  Luckily the weather was much warmer than the previous day (a balmy 45 degrees), so it was easy to bundle up and stay warm.  We had lunch at the ski lodge (outside!), and then we enjoyed the snow.

Sims loved sliding in the snow and watching people ski.  When the kids came out for their group lesson, he got really interested in wanting to ski.  Next year we will have to take him skiing! 

Next up was ice skating!  This was Sims' first time ice skating, so it took him a little bit to get the hang of it.  By the end, he was actually skating by himself!

Yes, those are people swimming in the pool in the background!

Sims would skate around the rink once, then he would come off the ice and take a break while Jason skated around the rink once.  I'm not sure if Sims really needed to rest.  It seemed more like he was fascinated by the wooden boxes you put your skates on to tie them up.  Then he would say, "I'm gonna go help the Hurricanes," and off he would go skating.  This boy sure loves his hockey!  Now, he at least understands how hard hockey is.

After that, it was time for a break and afternoon tea in the lobby.  I loved all the lounging areas around the resort.  They were tucked in all sorts of places.  You could find some as busy or as quiet as you wanted.

Then we got ready for a hayride around the property.  We were the only ones who signed up for the hayride, so it was like we were on a personal tour.  We rode up to the ski lodge and made smores by the fire.

We discovered that Sims doesn't really like smores.  He's not a fan of the marshmallows.  But he does love the chocolate and graham crackers!  Then we headed to dinner at Sam Snead's Tavern.  Needless to say, after dinner we headed to bed!  It had been a big day.

The next morning, we woke up to snow!  We were excited to get out there and play.  We went downstairs and bought a sled and headed out.

We were happy to get our snow fix!  Then it was time for us to go home, but not before having lunch at the Casino Restaurant.  Sims ate quickly and took a nap in the restaurant, while we finished.  It was an exhausting couple of days, but it was so worth the trip.  Jason and I are even talking about trying to go again.  We might need to stay a least one more day to warrant the 5 hour drive though.  That was tough!

Valentines

We discussed with Sims some ideas about what to give his classmates this year for Valentine's Day, and he decided to give them cars.  This was after he wanted to give them bugs, but we couldn't really find any on such short notice.  So cars it was.

This year's valentines were really simple.  I just used a free printable, and we stuffed it into a bag with a car.  It was really cute how Sims chose different color cars for each person as he helped stuff the bags.

I think they turned out pretty cute, and they were super easy, too.  Gotta love that.  I hope his friends liked them, even though they weren't candy.  But if you roll the car backwards, it will zoom forward by itself.  Fancy!

A New (Car) Addition to the Family

We've been in need of a new car for some time now.  Our newest car was 10 years old, and our usual family car had become unreliable and, therefore, very expensive!  It was time to trade it in for something much newer.  We, also, have wanted to get a new, larger 4-wheel drive vehicle.  We have loved Jason's Jeep Wrangler, and it is still really reliable (at 15 years old!).  But it is small and very difficult to get Sims in the back and in his seat.  It, also, has almost zero storage space inside.

So after looking around, doing research (Jason, not me), and lots of talking about it, we finally made a decision.  And we were so incredibly lucky to find a 2012 Jeep Wrangler Sahara with only 6000 miles on it at a price that we wanted to pay!  When I say we were lucky, I mean it!  The price of the car had been lowered the day we found it.  As Jason was test driving it, another couple, who had already seen it the weekend before, came to buy it.  If Jason had gotten there 15 minutes later, we would still be looking for a car!

So here it is:

It has everything Jason was looking for and then some.  This baby has navigation and satellite radio!  These were not things we were planning to have.  We were actually looking at the lower models because, well, this is a Wrangler!  It's not supposed to be overly fancy.  But, in the end, we are super excited to have a much larger (4 doors with tons more storage space inside), much upgraded Wrangler.  Plus, I can drive this one, too!  (The older Jeep is a manual, and I don't have those skills.)

In celebration, we booked a summer trip to Ocracoke.  And I plan on seeing some snow before this winter is over, so we may be going on a mountain trip soon, too.  These trips will be even better with our new Jeep!

New Year's Goals - 2013

I have seriously debated whether to even write about my goals for this year.  You see, I didn't do so well on last year's goals.  It's kind of embarrassing.  I accomplished the first part of my first goal, and part of my 7th goal.  Let's just forget about the ones in between.

So my goal this year is going to be much simpler: Be more creative.  There it is.  No specifics.  Just an intent to do more creative things and surround myself with more creativity.  This is actually a family goal and not just a personal one.

Considering that we now have Photoshop at home and a writing tablet to go with it, I think we have started the year right.  Not to mention our trip to the art museum yesterday.  This may actually be a goal I can accomplish.  There are 11 and a half more (long) months to go though...

As an aside note, it was so funny to hear what Sims said about the art we saw.  "What is this?  Art?," which is what he said about a piece of modern art.  "He has no clothes, and he has no clothes," he said when walking past a group of statues.  He pointed at each one as he said this very matter-of-factly.  "No clothes.  No clothes.  No clothes."  I think he got a lot out of the trip.

Christmas Celebration

Here it is: the final Christmas post!  I've likely been dragging this out because I really love the Christmas season and I hate to see it end.  We didn't take down our Christmas decorations until Epiphany (which is appropriate, since that is the last day of the Christmas season), and we still have a few Christmas things lingering around our house, like the gingerbread house we made and Sims' art work.  I guess those will have to come down this weekend. 

I should have taken some pictures of the decorations in Sims' room.  I have always put a small tree in his room, but this year he went all out.  Mom was purging some of her old Christmas stuff, and Sims wanted a huge amount of it!  His room has filled with Santas.  There was a chef Santa, fishing Santa, golfing Santa, NC State Santa...  He was so sad to put them away, but he got to put some model airplanes in their place, which made him very happy!  (Thanks, Smith, for the airplanes!)

Well, on to our Christmas celebration.  Our celebration always starts on Christmas Eve.  Mom, Smith and Isla came over to help us decorate dozens and dozens of sugar cookies.  Both of the kiddos did a great job decorating without a lot of help.  Once they had the icing on the cookie, they spent a fair amount of time and creativity on each one.

Cookie decorating is a newish tradition for us.  We've only been doing it for a few years, and it is something that we all look forward to doing.  We made so many cookies though!  I think we may still have a couple left!

I, also, have to mention that this was our first Christmas with our new kitchen, and I just kept gushing about how much I love the kitchen.  And this was after days of baking and baking and more baking.

After our Christmas Eve dinner of shrimp and grits (perhaps the beginning of another tradition?), we headed out to church.  Once home, Sims chose some cookies to leave out for Santa, and we all got to bed early.

Surprisingly, Sims slept in on Christmas morning.  The first thing that he said when he woke up was "Did Santa come?"  He has so excited to see that Santa had visited our house, and he got exactly what he had asked Santa to bring him: a 3-wheeled scooter, a helmet and a trumpet.

Playing his trumpet while balancing on his new balance board that Jason and I gave him.  That takes some skill!

 

Showing off his chef's hat and apron

After a lazy morning opening and enjoying our gifts, we headed over to Mom and Smith's house.  Sims spent the afternoon mastering his scooter skills.

It didn't take him long to get the hang of turning and using the brake. 

Once Isla got there, the two of them had a grand 'ole time.

Those two love each other so much.  It is such a wonderful thing to see.

This was a special Christmas Day celebration because Neely's parents got to join us.  They are lots of fun, and we loved having them with us.  I hope they can join us every year.

The day after Christmas we left for Charlotte to visit with Jason's family.  We spent the rest of the week there, where I didn't take a single picture.  It's all or nothing when it comes to me taking pictures, I guess.  We spent our visit hanging out, eating, shopping, looking at art at the Mint Museum, and having a girls' night.  The girls' night consisted of dinner and a cute play called the Winter Wonderettes.  Girls' nights are always fun!

We came back home exhausted but happy.  We had a wonderful Christmas!