Christmastime

Things around here are a flurry of activity.  This is my favorite time of year, especially with a sweet little one running around.  I completely get into the magic of the season.  Since this blog is meant to keep up with our lives and document our days I just had to post a few pictures.

2012 Christmas Card

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Asheville

This weekend we made our way to Asheville, North Carolina.  It was a bit of a treat for all of us.  Anthony and I turned 31, and we scheduled this trip for my dad's birthday (which was back in July).  We stayed at a beautiful cabin right on the river, called Riverside.  It was perfect, and relaxing, and just what we needed.  Here are some snapshots from our weekend.  More to come

At the Biltmore... and my son is picking his nose... boys.  This will go in a wedding slideshow one day.

A little better

First smore!

Roasting marshmallows with Poppy

The view from our room.

Chance and Gram by the fire.

The swinging bridge to the little island

Mom and Dad at the Biltmore.

Taking a picture with an 18 month old...

Baptized

Chancey was baptized today!  And while we didn't get a ton of pictures... he was so ready for nap time it was an awesome time.  He was a bit on the grumpy side, but as soon as we laid him back he got a huge grin on his face.  It was such a sweet family time, and I am so glad we were able to share this time together. Love my little guy!

A post for me

This is totally a post for me.  My cousin just posted these pics of my grandmother when she was younger.  I just love looking at them.

It's Football Time!!

It's just about that time again.  Last weekend we packed up our little family and headed to Lexington for a scrimmage.  It was a little last notice, but they were opening the scrimmage to former players and their families.  Chancey wasn't much for the scrimmage, since there was an amazing set of stadium stairs to climb up and down 100 times.  But afterwards.  Afterwards Chance was over the moon running every which way on the field.  He was soaking it all in, and loving every minute.

Lately...

I had Parent Orientation the other night and got this sweet video of my Little Man.  He LOVES to slide at the park up the street and thinks he is such a big boy! And I love that the hubby takes him to have fun and is thoughtful to send me a video too!

Twilight Turtle

Have you seen this?  This is Twilight Turtle.  In our house we love Twilight Turtle.  Chancey had a stretch where he was having what we think were nightmares.  He would wake up crying and shaking.  He'd insist we stay with him and would point to the door and cry harder.  We were at a lose. My mom pointed out this little guy while we were shopping and I thought we could give it a try.  Now, when it's bedtime Twilight Turtle is part of the routine.  Little Man insists we turn the turtle on and he loves to change it's colors and watch the stars.  Here is the information from the Twilight Turtle website.


Twilight Turtle is a plush toy that transforms any room into a starry night sky to help comfort children to sleep. From within his plastic shell, Twilight Turtle projects a magical constellation of stars onto bedroom ceiling and walls in three soothing color options. Twilight Turtle's shell illuminates to help ease children's fear of the dark.

This interactive and educational toy includes eight actual constellations (such as The Big Dipper) embedded in the star pattern. Parents can sit with their children and identify these major constellations using the wonderfully illustrated Twilight Turtle Star Guide. Twilight Turtle helps make bedtime fun for children 3 and up.The Turtle plush is now available in 3 different colors: Classic Mocha, Blue or Purple! (Each Turtle still projects stars in the same 3 colors.) Select your favorite color plush from the pull-down menu, below.  

Food lately

 This time of year is one of my favorite times for food.  Everything is so fresh, and local!  I have a couple of farmers in town that I buy from weekly, and I also have my own small garden.  I think it is important to know where your food comes from.  I don't think you need to eat organic all the time, I just think you need to trust where your food comes from as much as possible.  Along with trusting where your food comes from a bonus is the good is SO yummy.  At least in my opinion.

The first round from my personal garden,  Green beans for my boys, peppers for me, and tomatoes to freeze for winter meals.

All my corn ready to go in the freezer for this winter.  This is from the farm I buy the majority of my food from.  Half a bushel for me and I sent half a bushel to my parents.

Not on the fresh food subject, but my grandma used to make a mean meringue.    I never have been able to master it, even though I love baking.  For my dad's birthday I finally managed a successful meringue on a homemade key lime pie.  Not bad, if I do say so myself.  So pretty... like clouds!

Stay-cation

This is my last weekend before school starts back.  I love being a teacher, but being a mommy full time is my favorite job!  I decided I wanted this time off to end with a bang, so we decided to plan a stay-cation.  It turned out to be so much fun!  We didn't get to do everything we had planned on, but we did most of it and had so much fun.  We wore sweet Chancey out.  He was most definitely ready for bed each night.

We started out on Friday night with homemade fettuccini and ice cream.  After dinner Anthony set up the tv on the deck and we watched Cars.  Chance really doesn't watch tv (unless sports are on) so this was a treat for him.  He made it through a little under an hour before it was time for bed.

*side note:  My child has some very expressive faces.  It just so happens on this night he showed his scary faces!

On Saturday we started the day with breakfast on the patio at one of our favorite spots.  The weather was perfect for being outside.  Good thing, because after breakfast we went to the zoo.  We saw some of our favorite animals (the sea lion and bears) and then headed to see some older animals at the special dinosaur exhibit.  Chance really seemed to like the dinosaurs, especially roaring back at them.   After nap we went to the pool.  Also one of his favorites.  We didn't stay long, because the water was too cool for him.  He was not happy that we had to cut swim time short, but once the breeze kicked up he started to shiver.  I think he would be quite content to live in the water if we would let him. 

On Sunday we had plans to go to church and to take a boat tour  on the river, but Chance's allergies and the busy weekend had caught up to him.  We spent a relaxing day playing around the house, ending with a family walk.


I am already making a list of fun things we can do during the school year.  This weekend was so much fun!  There are a ton of great things to do in our own backyard!  I am so happy we took the time to explore.  

Our Little Fish

With all the hype of the summer Olympics I just had to post this video!  Our little swimmer loves the water, and is so proud of himself.

This week(ish) in pictures

My child is a complete monkey.

Chance's Gotcha Parta "Forever Family" tree

At the Gotcha Party eating a yummy cupcake!

He loves music (FYI the volume is super low)... He was totally rockin out.

Finally ate lunch at school!  I LOVE that his teacher took a pic and texted me.

Big boy back pack!  It's as big as him, I know.

Our typical summertime lunches

We made a summer bucket list, since there are only a couple weeks left.  

Turned the car seat around.  He is pumped!

Little boys' dream right down the street from us!  He loves watching it!

Random, but my hair is slowly going darker.  Now if I could just figure out how to get it to curl like this.

Sick boy means we bring the fun inside.

and then take a nap on the couch...3 hours after actual nap time:)