Celebrating My Birthday

Sophie and Abbie check out Paw-paw's new toy!

Here's an action shot-thankfully no broken bones or anything. (I'm just glad it's not a big trampoline!)

me and my girls!

The last Sunday in February, we celebrated my birthday and Uncle JoWie's (just a few days early) over at Nana and Paw-paw's house. Nana had prepared a wonderful meal complete with my favorite, strawberry cake, for dessert. We were provided with entertainment by Paw-paw's new toy, the Urban Rebounder, which he had just purchased. He decided to buy it along with some tapes to use for exercise. We were all giving my dad a hard time about it because he's usually not into exercise that much, etc. Well, the girls thought that it was the best thing ever! They loved jumping on it! Many of the adults took a turn on it too. My dad had heard all these claims about if you jump for a few minutes, it will do this, this, and this. My mom has to figure out what to do with the mini-trampoline now. =) On the actual day of my birthday, Sophie was able to take an art class with Anna Kate while Abbie and I played with Anna Kate's little brother, Will at McDonald's. After the class, we were able to go to lunch with them. Matt came in town on the afternoon of my birthday and we ended up going out to eat with my family at Carrabba's. All in all, it was a good birthday.

Quick Update

Paula and Sophie at the Valentine's Day party (at school)

Sophie's getting ready to work on the car

February was a good month for us overall but last week was a little rough. Both girls had ear infections and Matt was out of town during part of that time. Abbie was very clingy and just wanted to be held or rocked a lot (which is very unusual for her). However, earlier in the month Sophie had lots of fun decorating Valentine's Day cards and cookies as well as visiting the Discovery Center with the Ice's one day. She discovered the "Shadow Room" on our last trip there and loved it! The girls also enjoyed the big slide, working on the car, playing in the grocery store, etc. Let me tell you though, it's hard to keep up with several kids of different ages in a place with that many different things to do!! We also were able to go mini-bowling for a second time with the Walker's. The kids enjoyed bowling but they really enjoyed running across the lanes while waiting for their turn to bowl. Next time, Sara and I might just save our money!

This past weekend, Matt took Sophie to see "Miss Nelson is Missing" at the Nashville Children's Theater and she loved it!

Visiting our Favorite Fireman

Uncle Mike, Abbie and Sophie

Sophie and Abbie

Abbie gives a wave as she pulls her truck out

 

This past weekend, we knew that Sophie would be disappointed because Matt's dad, Paw-paw Tom and his sister, Leia, were supposed to have flown in for President's Day weekend. Since the weather was bad in Atlanta and many other places, their flight was cancelled and so they postponed their trip until another time. I decided to give my Uncle Mike a call to see if he would be working at the fire hall and he was working! We hadn't taken Sophie to visit a fire hall since she was about Abbie's age. Anyway, the girls enjoyed seeing Uncle Mike, checking out the fire trucks and pretending to drive. They also took a look around the fire station itself. We forgot our digital camera so we took pictures on Matt's new phone. We were a bit concerned about Abbie because she really got upset almost as soon as we got there when there was a loud noise at the station. Then, she calmed down and warmed right up to Uncle Mike. =) After our visit to the station, we asked Abbie, "who's a fireman?" and she like to say, "me!" and then we say, "who else?" and she responds "unca Mike!" The girls received coloring books on the way out. Thanks for letting us come and visit, Uncle Mike!

President's Day Funny

Earlier this week, Sophie came home telling us that they learned about a couple of our past presidents. She brought home a little handout with some facts on it that they studied. They had focused on George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. I looked through the handout and then later I was quizzing her about them. I told her a few additional things about the presidents, etc. Well, she said, "Mom, I wasn't alive when he was (meaning Lincoln) but you remember him. You were living then." I just cracked up. I was speechless! =) Too funny! I had to explain that no, he was way before my time but we sure did get a laugh out of that comment!

A "Fancy Nancy" Party

Sophie's all ready to go!

All the girls (and Will) after they got dressed up!

Anna Kate and Sophie

Sophie was so excited to be able to attend her friend, Anna Kate's, Fancy Nancy party! All of the girls dressed up for the party. Then, the girls got all dolled up with jewelry, tiaras, and face glitter. We took pictures and then they enjoyed a nice lunch, followed by Anna Kate opening her gifts and finally the Fancy Nancy cake with ice cream. All of the girls had a wonderful time! Sophie and I kind of snuck out of the house while Abbie and her daddy were at the store. I knew that Abbie would hate to be left out, especially if she knew that she missed out on seeing her friend, Will (Anna Kate's little brother).

Sledding Buddies

Here's just one more picture for now. Sophie and Matt really had a great time sledding as I said earlier. I took this picture from our back door so that I didn't have to get back into the snow. Yes, lazy I know!

A Real Snow!

Abbie and Matt

Friday night-Abbie's 1st real experience in snow. She's saying, "what are you people trying to do to me?"

Sophie

the girls on the "Levitator"

This past Friday, we finally got a "real" snow. It started snowing in the morning but by early to mid afternoon, the ground was pretty well covered. That evening, we walked over to our neighbor's home for a little bit and let the girls check out the snow. Then, on Saturday morning, we woke up to more snow. The snow had a layer of ice on top so it was a challenge to walk in but we got somewhere between 4-6 inches I would guess. Abbie seemed to enjoy the snow better on Saturday and wanted to try and keep up with her big sister. We all went out but Matt and the girls took turns sledding. (He always went with them though.) Our side yard was fun but the alley behind our house was a really nice place for sledding because it's a long gradual hill. Sophie LOVED sledding and we were so happy that she was finally able to try it! Abbie liked it fine but we didn't want her sledding too much. She just wanted to be where Sophie was so on Saturday and Sunday afternoons Matt and Sophie went sledding during part of Abbie's naptime. It worked out well. Sophie also really enjoyed being able to sled with some of the neighbors on the alley parallel to ours.

We had bought some sleds for the last snow and found that my parents still had some of our sleds, including a wooden one that worked really well. Paw-paw (my dad) had also decided to buy the sled shown above for the girls (the Levitator). I'm sure they will enjoy it more in the future. In the picture above, they were trying it out in the house since my dad had just brought it over. The girls still have some of their mismatched snow attire on from that morning (we always go for the layered look for snow and it doesn't really matter how well things match). =) It was funny because my dad told Sophie that the sled was called the Levitator. Then, Sophie kept saying, we need to try out the Levitator or we should let our neighbors borrow the Levitator (when Matt took Sophie sledding with their neighbors they shared some sleds but didn't take that one with them).

In other news, Abbie had her two year check-up last week and all was well. She weighs 29 pounds which is 78th percentile but is only in the 42nd (I think) percentile for height.

After so much togetherness time, I think I'm about ready for some sense of normalcy. I guess every now and then it's good to slow down and just spend time as a family.