Friday Favorites

I had planned to do a "Throwback Thursday" post for these photos but decided to hold off instead of putting up two new posts in one day. I'm calling this "Friday Favorites" because these are probably two of my favorite photos ever.

Samantha - about 1 month, wearing one of my favorite little outfits - a simple little onesie from Meemaw but if you look closely you'll notice that is a turtle monogram. Could this be when her love of turtles started?? This photo is just so sweet. I love her little hand up towards her face.

Me & my Gabrielle - a beautiful photo (which is difficult for me to say as I don't care for really any photo of myself!); I am about 6 months pregnant, maybe 7? I remember the day of this planned photo shoot, done by a friend of mine, I was feeling so tired and just blah. I wanted to cancel but after I saw the photos I was so glad I didn't. I love having this moment between me and my little one captured. As she gets older, there are definitely frustrating moments between us, mostly because we are just too much alike. I love my little girl though. She will always be my precious little girl just like in this picture!

Sledding for the First Time!

What's a snow day without sledding?

We don't own a sled but a few years ago I saw an idea on a blog I read regularly to use a laundry basket. At the time the girls were only 3 and not quite 1 so the laundry basket was ideal. Ed attached Mattie's leash and pulled them around. They loved it (until the basket tipped over and well, you would have thought they had dropped several feet but my girls are a tad on the dramatic side and they were little).

The girls saw the pictures of themselves in the laundry basket a few days ago. With the memory fresh in their mind, they asked if we could take the laundry basket out again. When Ed got home from work yesterday we piled on the layers and headed out one last time for the day.


The girls were a bit disappointed at first when I informed them they were not going to be pulled with a leash this time around. They are not babies anymore! Big girls get sent down the hills on their own!! But they quickly realized how much more fun real sledding is (if you can call sliding down a short little dip in a laundry basket "real sledding"!)


We don't have any real hills near our house but we made do with the slight slope of our front yard. After a few turns in the basket our friendly neighbor across the street brought over their real sled for us to try out. Wow - this was so much better!


Mommy even gave it a try. I can't believe this was the first time I have ever been on a sled but I did grow up on a pretty flat island and only had snow a few times ever. This was so much fun!

I will be buying a sled the next chance I get. Ed's comment was "if that's what it takes to only have snow every 3-4 years, go for it!" He is not a big fan of snow. He does have fun with the girls in the snow though.

The next time we'll be prepared with our own sled and will have to search out some better hills!!

January 29, 2014

Another snow day for us! As far as amount goes, it was ideal. Timing? Well, not so great because we now have two more days of school to make up this year. But it was a fun day so maybe it was worth it?

School was let out early yesterday to avoid buses on the road during the beginning of the storm. Well, the snow didn't start here until almost 7:00 last night so early release really wasn't necessary. I understand making any kind of decision about school delays, releases and cancellations is a difficult one and no choice is ever going to make everyone happy. But an early release with reasons of snow only made for a long afternoon anticipating the white stuff.

It was cold and it was getting late but I promised the girls they could go outside during the actual snowfall this time around. The first flakes were teeny tiny little things but we bundled up and headed out regardless.

We awoke this morning to a winter wonderland for sure! Everything was so pretty covered in snow!!

Snow cream was for breakfast - obviously, right? We are in the south!

Right after our breakfast of champions we bundled up again and headed out to play. The snow was dry and powdery. Not good for making snowmen. We made snow blobs instead!

Gabrielle's snow man

Samantha's snow man - I made the hump, she decorated it.

We walked around and explored the yard. We even went to the creek in our backyard, through the "forest" as the girls call it. The girls have only been back there once or twice. As a child, I played in the woods all the time, near a big ditch. Funny how I do not let my kids do the same thing when I have nothing but fun memories of the same experience. But I guess I was a little older when I was running through the woods with my friends! Back to present tense, the girls were nervous in the beginning but soon the nerves turned to fun on our "adventure."

We were outside for a quite a while before the cold started really getting to us. One last thing to do before heading in to get dry and warm - snow angels!!

Playing in the snow is only fun if you warm up afterwards with hot chocolate, right? I used my espresso/latte machine to froth the milk for the hot chocolate. It makes the best hot chocolate. Hot enough to warm the body but not too hot to not sip on right away! And so thick and creamy too!!

Cheesiness at its best!

It is freezing now!! Actually, it is way below freezing right now, literally. School has been cancelled again for tomorrow. The only plans for the evening - to not get out of the warm bed any more than absolutely necessary and sleep in a little tomorrow!

Food Bank Kids' Day

On Saturday a group from our church went to the Food Bank for a kids day mission project. We learned a little bit about how the food bank works - where the donations come from, who receives the food found there, etc. The kids seemed to have the general idea, giving answers to all of the coordinator's questions. I really liked how the coordinator explained to the kids what they meant as "people who are hungry." She asked them if they knew that feeling, sometime after breakfast but before lunch when your tummy is a little rumbly. The kids all confirmed they knew that feeling. She then explained that is not the type of hungry the food bank serves. The food bank is for people who don't know where or when their next meal will come from. Their refrigerators and cabinets are bare and they don't know when they will be able to get food.

Wow! I hope my girls were paying attention. Even though I knew the purpose of the food bank, to hear it put in those terms and really think about it is heartbreaking.

After learning about the food bank we were assigned our jobs. Our church group, as well as other individuals who came on their own, were given the job to bag up potatoes. There were about 6-7 huge crates of potatoes and we were to sort out the bad ones and bag up the good ones in about 10 lb. portions.

It was at times a dirty and yucky job but everyone seemed to enjoy it. Gabrielle even asked if we could go back another day. Yes!! Absolutely!! I would love for our family to do more hands on service projects for our community. While we donate to various causes when we can, I think a hands on, giving of your time, and even seeing face to face the people you are helping is so important. And I think it helps the girls understand - and even give me the reminder I need - just how blessed we are.

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,  I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
  “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’"

~ Matthew 25:35-40, NIV