Yay for Snow!

Valentine's Day weekend we finally got that snow I blogged about! The kids were ecstatic!!! I was at work during most of it falling, and I got excited too! We got to play in it after we slid home from my workplace (don't get me started on how shocked I was we didn't close earlier!) while it was just about to get dark, and then again the next day! It was a ton of fun..well once we got Preston convined he HAD to wear gloves!

Dad and Jax built a snowman the night before, and the next day I had told him he could go out and put a scarf on the snowman. Well, I was too lazy to bundle him all up because I was running out of warm snow playclothes so yes I let him run out in his pjs before breakfast to place the scarf! :)

His and dad's proud creation! I know what you are thinking...it is sort of sad. But, man you should have seen the one I tried to build! :) Snowman making is apparently not my forte.

But, now just plain old playing in the snow I can handle!

Oh what fun it is to play in the snow!

The Roller Rink

I don't know why my kids call it that..except maybe they heard it on Kai Lan?? Anyway, we went to the roller rink recently..and it was the boys' first time!!! They loved it! Jackson a little more so than Preston, but that is because Jackson caught on so well I think! He did a great job. Just like everything else in life, he attacked it and didn't give up! It brought back so many memories for me and Paul to be in a skating rink again. It was alot of fun! Oh, and back to the recent Kai Lan episode..I had overheard it while the boys were watching it and thought, "Oh, this is good. They are seeing what the skating is about before we go." haha! When I told Preston we were going he said, "What? But, we don't know how! It is hard! What do the directions say?" :)

Preston was more about the arcades and winning tickets. :) But, that was okay because Kipp had rented out the rink so we had it all to ourselves. So, with no strangers around my kids had alot more freedom. That might be a bad thing though because I noticed the kids shopping the other day are starting to act more free everywhere we go like there is no chance of getting kidnapped! :( Totally stressing me out!

I think I was catching a picture of him just about to fall...there were alot of those! :) It's a wonder he didn't have more bruises than he did, but he was such a trooper! (However, we went back again recently and he had (still has) blisters all over his calves from the skates rubbing and his socks not being tall enough! Lesson learned there! But, poor guy!)

He handled it all very well though both times. He did have some low blood sugars first trip that made him kind of whiny. And, he cried when we left and said, "I didn't get to skate that long because you had to check my sugar! Next time we come I don't want to have diabetes!" :( That broke my heart!! But, next trip we just did a better job keeping in range beforehand and also made sure we got there on time to maximize his skating time.

But, when he wasn't falling..he was all smiles!

As you can see Preston did try..with slip on skates and regular skates. We still need to try rollerblades. My sister said those are best to try first. We just tried regular though since that is how we learned. He did ok. At first he wasn't scared at all (and probably should have been.) Then, he got skiddish, but mostly tired!!! So, he was ready to just go play games. Paul was so patient with them though. That made me so proud!

It was a very memorable evening. Skating was such a big part of mine and Paul's early years going "steady." But, then at the same time it was kind of sad. Time is flying, people! I have rencently become VERY aware of how things feel so different now that I am older. Nothing feels the same anymore! Vacation anticipation, going "out" clubbing, taking small spontaneous trips, roller skating, dancing, etc. It all feels so different in so many ways for so many reasons. We don't move like we used to, we don't look like we used to, we can't just leave it all behind like we used to, we can't be reckless (ok..well we never were really THAT wild and reckless sadly..maybe we should have taken our chances when we had the opportunity!). You get the picture though. I am kind of sad lately about it. That sounds horrible. With all my blessings!? But, I am just being honest. :) Do you feel it too?

How 'Bout Them Cowboys...

Recently we went with some friends to see my man, George Strait, in concert along with LeAnn Womack and Reba McEntire. It was quite an interesting evening since Jackson came down with a fever that afternoon (and we later found out the next day he had the flu!) But, thanks to Maw Maw who came through for us and watched the boys (and did NOT catch the flu:)) so we could still go.

I like Reba..don't get me wrong..and she is a great entertainer! But, man, nothing beats George. Well, maybe.. I've never seen Jason Aldean. He might come in a close second.

I LOVE how he holds the microphone and turns his head to the side like this when he is singing!! (I didn't have my good camera because it is too bulky so sorry for the poor picture quality!)

I think another reason I love his concerts is because his songs have so much history behind them when it comes to me and Paul. We even played one at our wedding. And, we know all the words!

Here are our friends, Matt and Eleisha. They are the sweetest people! Seriously. They are almost too good to be true! :)

What a fun night!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

I heart my family..and the time we spent together celebrating Valentine's Day!

The kids loved their goodies! (Honestly, I just started last year getting them a little something and hadn't really thought to make it a tradition, but you know Jackson! He reminded me!):)
Preston's stash...

Jackson's stash...

And, then even though there was still snow and ice on the ground, Hayley came and watched the kids as we had previously planned for us to go out to eat.

Even though this was our 19th Valentine's day together, I still love my Valentine!!! :))

We went to Chow Baby...hmm..what to say about that? I kind of was disappointed. Maybe it's because I am a horrible cook or because I had heard so much about it that tainted my expectations. Either way, the food was just okay. It was reasonably priced though, and the wine was good! :)

Even though I am not "technically" room mom of Jackson's class since we joined in halfway through the year, I am at nearly all the events helping and all because Jackson typically needs insulin. Thankfully, I was there all the time last year, so I don't think it appears strange to him. But, I like it! :)) Because I get to take pictures!

A huge thanks to cousin Aimee for these delicious cookies that I purchased from her for the kids to ice and decorate..and then eat of course!

And, the class party would not be complete without Valentine cards!! I just love this boy! So, I had to help him to make sure he knew how to spell the other kids names and where to place their name and his name on the cards. (Let me just add, I will probably NEVER buy store bought cards again! No matter how hard I try I end up with these tiny cards that kills me and Jackson as we try to fit the names in the tiny spaces.) Anyway, since I was helping him I wasn't taking pictures. So, I was like "Ok..pretend you are writing out your cards and smile for the camera." :) He is so me..so he went right along with it! :) And, yes I do know he is wearing Christmas pajamas in February.

I am really proud of his handwriting skills!

He has come a very long way!

Hope you had a great Valentine's Day, too!

Walt Disney World Part II

Here are some more shots from our fun Disney trip! This one was taken while we were waiting on Playhouse Disney Live on Stage to start. As you can see, Preston was very excited! I am still proud yet again we sat on the germy floor. :) haha! No, seriously..it was carpet. But, Paul was like "we are sitting on the floor???" That is when it occurred to me maybe we are pretty snobby! :)

See? It looks like Paul is LOVING the floor right about now, huh?
A special first was Jackson riding the Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios! He was worried waiting in line; thankfully I could throw in the whole peer pressure vibe by saying "Nicholas rode this!" Finally, when we were just about to board, he saw some young children about his size about to get on the ride as well. They had already rode it before, too, so they could tell him how it wasn't that scary. Thank goodness for that! :) He was still skiddish. But, he ended up loving it! The other day he asked, "Why don't you and dad watch the Twilight Zone on TV?" And, my favorite question of all, "Why was the TV show in there black and white with no colors?" haha! I didn't even realize he didn't know that TV used to be black and white!

We had another character meal there, too. But, this time it was the Little Einsteins and JoJo and Goliath. They had a little part where the kids could get up and participate. Jackson was upset with himself last year for being too shy to do this kind of stuff, but this year he was ready! So, I tried to encourage Preston, and as you can see he got up there and dashed right back to me!

JoJo's Circus doesn't come on anymore I don't think?? Jackson used to really like it. I am not sure Preston has ever seen it. But, he loved JoJo anyway! He still talks about her. Thank goodness they didn't inherit the fear of clowns that runs in Paul's family! :)

Jackson performing on stage...

And, we also got to see some army men from Toy Story!

And, this time not only did we see Woody, but we also saw Buzz!!!!

And, Daddy got to do something fun and unique, too!

He tried out for the Disney American Idol producers!! He made it past the first cut, and they wanted to put him in 2nd round. But, he is superdad and decided to forego it because it takes up so much of your day. He said he didn't want to keep the kids waiting. I wanted him to keep going though! I really pushed him to try out! But, he said also round two song choices weren't really well-suited for him. I think he had fun doing it though!

Another reason he probably didn't want to keep us waiting was because it was very cold and windy the last day of our trip. We had beautiful weather leading up to that though, so I wasn't complaining. Sadly, we took winter coats but neglected to take them thinking the sun would come out and warm things up so we had to get the kids a snuggly blanket. Guess how much this Mickey blanket cost with Disney inflation? ha! Not such a magical price after all!

This was taken when we rode the ferryboat from our hotel to Downtown Disney at night. That is a favorite tradition of ours including eating at Fulton's Crabhouse. YUM! Thankfully, the kids were very well behaved at dinner (it is kind of fancy for them) and we had a super understanding waiter!

As you can tell, we had such a blast, but it wore the kids out!! This was one afternoon after we left the park when we went back to the room to rest for a bit before dinner.

Preston got to ride a lot more than the last trip, but still obviously wasn't tall enough for everything. But, don't worry I found things to occupy him while he was waiting. Sorry, dad! :)) Hey..at least the dentist said he doesn't have any cavities yesterday!

If you need any help planning your trips to Disney, just ask me! I would love to help!

Ahh...goodbye Disney...until next year!