Wednesday, February 29, 2012

February 2012

February 1- cailey surprised daddy with breakfast...that she baked herself from scratch, school, saw some great art work by the kiddos, kinsey finished her first story!, met kelly and tricia at baileywick for a picnic and playtime, too warm for feb 1, made baked stuffed shells, hung out with my big girl, started reading anne of green gables with her, family time in the evening, cailey stayed up reading TOO late b/c she loved it so much:), heard lots of laughter, and found out winston was better:).

February 2- school, met marsie and lucas at lake lynn to feed to the ducks and then let the kiddos play together in the 70 degree weather, a little more school while ephram napped, watched winston, played outside with the kiddos, cheerleading, and basketball for the girls while the boys and I played and read tons of books.

February 3- watched alex, co op, brought reece home for an impromptu playdate and sleepover, boys had a blast with walkie talkies/puzzles/star wars/legos/outside, etc. while girls went with keels to rollerskating, pizza w/ the lawley's, kinsey went with ashton while we cheered cailey on at her game, dropped cailey off for a sleepover at lawley's too, then boys came home and watched a movie before crashing:).

February 4- waffles for the boys, picked up the girls from cheryl's, watched kinsey cheer, dropped off reece, ran errands as a fam, brian and ephram were sick, had super tired girls, picked up bagels for lunch:), cailey and kinsey play at the Morgan's most of the day, braden and ephram made doghouses and other neat things with legos (played SO sweetly together), snuggled with my girls, did a bible study with cailey, and had a nice talk with each of them.

February 5- boys were sick with a bad cold, baked cookies with cailey, kids played all day, super bowl, awana, bed.

February 6- piano lessons, school, watched gymnastics while ephram played with carter, cailey went to lunch with speiers then to writing, curled kinsey's hair and had some nice time with her, played with ephram, sent the girls out to CFA for a daddy/daughter date, went on a date with the boys, helped braden with his wolf badge, scouts for braden, helped cailey with piano, watched kinsey do 'flips' on the bean bag, had a blast 'scaring' ephram down the stairs, and laughed a lot with the kiddos.

February 7- school, fun bengal tiger predator/prey 'try it' in science, money games with kinsey (she did awesome!), winter/valentine's day folder games with ephram, Mr. Snowman/polar bear polar bear story board/games/books with ephram and kinsey, hung out with C, listened to K read, did laundry, did q's with braden, lots of silliness and new recipe for dinner: bbq chicken nachos.

February 8- school, super doubles at lowes, dentist apts for oldest three, more school, play dough with youngest two, enjoyed listening to braden practice piano, and valentine's day crafts.

February 9- sesame seed birthday bagel:), braden to eye doctor, lots of SWEET birthday surprises from kiddos, school, met friends at CFA for lunch, played games with the kiddos all afternoon, lots of singing from kids, ate birthday cake and chex mix:), went out to dinner with friends while brian had the other four at cheerleading and basketball practice.

February 10- celebrated sweet ephram's gotcha day starting with a donut and hashbrowns, watched alex, co op, AHG after a quick trip home for lunch, played games with braden while the boys napped, curled cailey's hair and helped them dress for their daddy/daughter dance, took lots of pics before leaving on a double date with the boys and Marsie w/ her boys at Chili's, waited for the girls to get home and listened about their night of fun, and went to bed with a new sore throat.

February 11- woke up sick (achy/sore throat/no voice), couldn't go walking with leslie:(, brian took kids to kinsey's cheerleading, kids played together all day long and it was VERY nice to hear lots of laughter, chasing, see Valentine's crafts, see video making, outside play...turned inside for more fun, sweet and sour meatballs for dinner, slept a lot, shocked to find out whitney houston died...remembered going to a concert with mom...and listened to Greatest Love of All, and had a talk with Cailey about drugs. random. oh..and didn't get to go out with Brian for my birthday:(. (The Linscott's were supposed to babysit until I got sick).

February 12- still sick, brian took others to church, rested all day while everyone else enjoyed the sunny but COLD day, they ran errands, went to choir early, then to awana and back to choir.

February 13- school, jay came over to play with ephram and carter, gymnastics for other kiddos, started my fitness plan with beth, writing class for cailey, cold cold day:), kinsey went home with caroline for a playdate all afternoon, and had a fun family night together!

February 14- GREAT day! woke up early and made red velvet pancakes with strawberries for breakfast, loved that the kiddos enjoyed their 'heart attack' so much, school, fun fun day making V day crafts, creative heart lunches, read tons of books, took tons of pics, heart shaped pizza/pepperoni for dinner, scavenger hunt, loved being together, girl scout cookies, ephram threw up...and was really sick:(.

February 15- cailey and braden went on a run, school with kinsey, ephram was sick all day:(, school with others, lots of snuggles with ephram, hung out and played with the kiddos, outside play for oldest three (then a little sidewalk chalk for ephram later), shrimp and linguini:)!!, watched cailey try and try to figure out her 'skate board' thing, went super double shopping with cailey while the others read and played with brian.

February 16- school, took ephram to the dr. since he's still sick (found out it's prob a virus aka found out nothing), more school, grocery store, went to get a cfa salad and got the surprise of seeing Katherine at the window:), ephram didn't nap b/c of his breathing treatment so it was a LONG afternoon of a sad/grumpy/sick/tired boy, ephram spent the evening coughing uncontrollably and threw up twice in the van while kinsey and braden were with brian at cheerleading, cailey went to basketball, warm bath for e, rocked him to sleep, and lots of empathy from siblings.

February 17- a little school, (canceled alex and museum day since e is sick...we're on break from co op), played with kiddos all day, ephram was acting more normal, super doubles, started kiddos on spelling bee practice, kids played outside in the sunshine, braden and cailey played piano for a retirement home, another super doubles stop:), went to cailey's basketball game while brian stayed with the others, and was thrilled to see ephram feeling more normal:).

February 18- went on a walk/run with leslie, watched kinsey cheer, went to super doubles with e while brian took the others running (cailey and braden ran 3 while kinsey ran 1), met up with the others at spring forest park and had a picnic of Subway and played in the great sunshine, William's joined us for lunch/fun, braden went on a scout hike at blue jay point, and went out on a date with brian for his birthday to outback while the morgan's watched the kiddos.

February 19- walk/run with leslie, a little school, church, rainy cold afternoon, school with daddy, went to see the Vow with marsie, kiddos went to awana and then choir, AND we got them up to go outside and see the snow dusting we were getting:).

February 20- brian's home from work (yay!), piano for oldest two, math, watched gracie and emilee ruth, gymnastics for middle two (and brian finally got to go watch:), baked cookies, watched kiddos play in the little snow before it quickly melted, kinsey went to elena's birthday while the other kiddos played games/outside/drew/sang, etc., stacy and bryce came to play and sleepover, boys got right to it with Science and looked in a microscope upstairs, make your own pizzas:), pillow fights, stair races, simon says, etc. and all the kids slept over (4 plus our 4:)

February 21- made a big breakfast for all the kiddos/friends, watched bryce and braden have a BLAST with bugs and microscopes for hours, the girls did art/sang/played school/played horsey outside/got along ALL day, had a sad sad goodbye to sweet bryce and stacy, played cards with the kids, did some school with kinsey, more outside play for all, brian did school with big kids, did one more super double run, and crashed.

February 22- two oldest ran over 3 miles, school, met kelly and kiddos at baileywick for a park date in the WARM sunshine, a little more school, kids spent the afternoon playing outside, brian did History when he got home (Hitler), and they played outside more:).

February 23- school, kinsey finished her last "before I get my ears pierced lesson" in phonics!! YAY!, lots of games with ephram, made cards for brian's birthday, wrapped presents, took braden to the eye doctor to pick out his new glasses and they decided to check his eyes again..where i ended up passing out on the bathroom floor!, felt uneasy/strange the rest of the day, and girls had basketball and cheerleading practice.

February 24- watched alex, co op, girls had AHG, patsy aiken sale with boys, baked brian's birthday cake with braden, tons o' laundry, cleaned, signed our refinance papers:), and cheered SO loud for cailey girl as she scored her first basket at her game:)!!

February 25- ran with leslie, celebrated brian's birthday with presents and cheesecake:), watched kinsey's cheerleading, kinsey and cailey had their first soccer practice, grocery shopping with the boys, haircuts for the boys, saw some sweet sweet moments of cailey choosing to play with ephram instead of other things, morgan girls came over to play, and went to braden's blue and gold scout ceremony then saw Dan the Animal Man with some awesome animals!

February 26- went walking with leslie, kinsey ran a mile, cailey and braden went on a 4 mile run, big pancake breakfast for kiddos, church, went on a date with kinsey to get her ears pierced, cleaned, packed, early choir for cailey, awana, choir for all, ephram played legos with brian and i while the older kids were gone, and caught up on blogging.

February 27- piano lessons, school, gymnastics, nonny came and surprised the kiddos (on her way to charlotte), braden to eye dr, cailey to writing class, more school, games/puzzles/singing, etc. with nonny, packing more, realized i can't STAND the smell of sesame oil and will be making bulgogi with olive oil next time, and hung out with mom.

February 28- Kinsey ran a mile, cailey and Braden ran 3, said bye to mom, ephram stayed at beth's all day, drove to Laura's, watched the kiddos play in the sunshine and get along pretty much all day:), saw my 'leader' cailey doing duck duck goose and other games with the littles, caught up with laura, ephram went on an airport and golden corral date with brian and LOVED it!

February 29- started out with calling AAA b/c kinsey locked the keys in the van, said goodbye to the Welch's and went to Charlotte to help mom with the kids, cousins had a GREAT time playing together, got some sweet smiles, made brownies with the kiddos, kids played outside most of the day plus legos/dress up/chase, Ephram stayed home with Brian all day and in the afternoon went to the park then Chick Fil A for dinner:), we met Anne for dinner at Rusty's (yum) and got to catch up with her (YAY!!!), and hung out with mom before crashing at 9pm:).

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

another park break


"Mommy! I am driving to the King!"
(Magic Kingdom...that boy LOVED Disney and still talks about it:)

Ephram LOVES to swing...and Braden boy is my ham who screams, "Mom take a picture of me!"


Caliey girl sharing her stories and Kinsey hanging out waiting for Caroline to come
Once Caroline and Carter got there we never saw those four. They were each off on their own playing and having a ball.


love these...they were lost in conversation:) they also had a great time swinging together!

carter decided to dump a BUNCH of sand on ephram...the easiest thing to do was take his
shirt off. good thing it was the day BEFORE it snowed and over 70 degrees!



Monday, February 27, 2012

another fun day!


The next day was another school Holiday and we watched the Morgan's again so it meant no school for us....though I did do Kinsey's school since I can do hers individually. PLUS the Corbett's stayed for the morning which meant more fun for Braden too!


the morning was spent singing, writing plays, fixing hair, coloring, playing outside, chasing, chatting, playing games, jumping on the trampoline..and of course doing Science.


These girls were busy writing a play and making signs.


for lunch they had grilled ham, cheese, and pepperoni roll ups that they loved and devoured! then emily ruth played math games with kinsey:).


the girls came in and told me to come out and watch them play 'horsey' and it was HILARIOUS!! they took turns in twos and pulled the others in the wagon with a rope tied around their stomachs. i laughed so hard and they just had a blast together:)!

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Quadruple Sleepover!


Bryce and Stacy came over for a sleepover since they are moving soon and these two were THRILLED! They were already here when Kinsey got home from Elena's birthday party so she went from one super fun thing to another:).

The boys literally ran right upstairs to the homeschool room where they stayed most of the time with a Science book and Bryce's microscope. They had roly poly's, crawfish, worms, and a ton of other living creatures that I made SURE got back in their 'cases':). But they seriously had a blast learning and observing together! Makes me so so sad that these 'perfect' friends are moving away:(.

The girls all hung out together coloring at first and making signs before going outside while I prepped their dinner.


Bryce and Braden went out to hunt for more creepy crawlers:).




Gracie and Emily Ruth experienced 'make your own pizza' for the first time that night! Their reaction cracked me up because I found out that the whole time they thought it meant that they would put their own pizza in the microwave:). Sweet Leslie does NOT cook or like to cook so thankfully she thought it was just as funny!

Each of the kids had different pizzas which turned out pretty neat. The options were pepperoni, two kinds of cheese, mushrooms, ham, pineapple, orange peppers, and bbq chicken (which we turned into a whole pizza).


The pizza, grapes, and cookies (that the three oldest made earlier in the day) were a hit!


After dinner and clean up the kiddos did karaoke, three kinds of stair races, simon says (with brian), pillow fights, and obstacle races (ex. run up and down the stairs 10 times and do 5 push ups, etc.) Then they were all tired out and ready for a movie.

it was SO much fun!


the girls watched Tangled


while the boys decided ahead of time they'd rather do Science than watch a movie!!

SO SO sad to see them move but super thankful we'll get to see them in Greensboro every other month!

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Daddy's 37th Birthday!



We had a busy busy Saturday with cheerleading, two soccer practices, and braden's blue and gold ceremony for scouts but we still got to celebrate Brian for his birthday! There was lots of singing, presents, homemade cards, and his favorite Snicker Bar Cheesecake...oh, and even a Carolina game on tv. He got Carolina shirts from Nonny and Poppy, all three transformer movies and a new helicopter from me, and snicker bars and homemade gifts from the kiddos. We had fun celebrating him!! For breakfast he had his favorite...homemade waffles and a GALLON of orange juice all to himself:)! Braden also picked out a box of Frosted Flakes for him since it's his favorite cereal.



supporting my tarheel fan with the shirt:) AND
Carolina even won for his birthday!


Happy Birthday, Brian!!
We love you!

Friday, February 24, 2012

first school holiday...SNOW morning:)



I had a BIG surprise for the kiddos when they came home from piano lessons Monday morning! Not only could they play in the 'snow' (using the word loosely since it melted a couple hours later) BUT they were also getting the day OFF school because we were watching the Morgan girls (who go to public school) and the Corbett's were coming later on for a sleepover. OH BOY were they excited!! Now they suddenly understood why we did some school on Saturday and Sunday. We never take President's Day, etc. off because it doesn't make sense to do so. I would MUCH rather end sooner than take MLK day, etc. off. Brian was home with us too and used the day to run errands, etc. Ephram was SUPER excited to have daddy home:)!



hot chocolate break!


after playing outside they took a break to come inside for a while. They got creative and first had ephram in a 'cage' then moved on to making him a king. These girls had a BLAST playing with him and these laundry baskets! They easily did this for an hour...hilarious! And he LOVED every second:). (Kinsey was at Elena's birthday party during all of these).


Next up they had more fun with the laundry basket by using bean bags and coming up with all different contests. Such a fun fun morning/afternoon!