I blame the groundhog

Two words-more snow! Though I must say, on the heels of "ice-cation 2015", this new blanket of white fluffy goodness was a welcome sight. I do enjoy the beautiful sight of fresh, falling snow outside our kitchen window. It's my kind of magical...for a few days anyway. ;-)

After picking up Evan from school yesterday(the only day of school not cancelled in the past week), the boys enjoyed some warm Campbell's soup-Frozen style! Is there any other way?

 And then we suited up! 

After we played outside(for a whopping 20 minutes at most) we came in for hot cocoa and of course, the movie "Frozen." Soggy socks, pink cheeks-check! This morning we enjoyed the fruits of sitting snow-that is, perfectly fit for snowball packing and snowman rolling. And to think we're expecting another winter blanket overnight, me thinks it's time to break out the snow cream recipes. If only we had milk...

Thanks for the the snow North Carolina...now I think we can happily bid winter goodbye. :-)

Looking back at Christmas, and forward to the new year

Are you there blog? It's me, your writer!

Ok so I'm fully aware that I have fallen off of this whole blog wheel. But, Lord willing we have a lot of excited things slated for 2015, and I hope to jump back on the blog train to share them all. As our seasons change, I expect the taste of this blog will grow with us. Namely, one of the most exciting things I'm looking forward to in 2015 is starting Kindergarten with Evan-at home! The sail is set, adventures in HOMESCHOOLING await. If only capital letters could contain my excitement...can I get an exclamation point?! There you have it, one not so small change that will inevitably take over this blog should I be faithful to chronicle our journey-and I plan to. :-)

But before we jump into the new year, I just couldn't skip Christmas!

Without further adieu, I present the parade of Christmas 2014...

We celebrated this Christmas over several different family gatherings, and so it went on and on and on! Man, January has been a let down... :-) First we enjoyed time with Chris' family in Raleigh and then with us here in Wilson. It was a special treat to share some extended time with Grandma and Aunt Paige. We spent Christmas Eve in Raleigh with them opening presents, eating at Panera and outrunning power outages before a special church service.

On Christmas day it was just the four of us. It was the perfect cozy day, starting with cinnamon rolls and a Christmas story and ending with  a special happy birthday Jesus dinner and cake, followed by a nighttime pajama ride to check out Christmas lights.

 

My parents spent the week of Christmas in Florida this year, so we had our Christmas on New Years. As always we had a great time and are still enjoying our presents. I got a much needed new coat, which was absolutely perfect because, to top off our holiday celebrations, Chris' sweet aunt and uncle invited us up to Boone the following weekend for a wonderful mountain getaway.

Our Christmas on New Years in Goldsberry with Gigi and Poppy...

 

Yes, this is me hugging my new set of lamps-it's amazing how much you appreciate home decor as you get older! We hope to totally makeover our master bedroom this year, and Christmas brought us two big steps closer with a fabric headboard from Chris' mom and these beautiful lamps from Gigi.

Boone bound...

And while this is random, I couldn't help but sprinkle it in-Evan's preschool Christmas program was just too adorable not to post!

I spy January

Here are some snapshots of our January, courtesy of the Iphone. There's just something special about finding these captured memories in your cell phone bank-these are the slices of life too precious to wait for the real camera. And for one reason or another, whether they make you laugh or give a sentimental sigh of "awww,"you're so glad you had your phone with you to freeze that moment. :-) Will I ever print these photos out? Probably not. Is the quality the best? Nope. But am I gonna blog them to ooo and aaaaa over for all time? You betcha!

Yes, that's our dog making himself comfortable in the infant carseat...

 

Angel baby

Brownies, blankets and boxes-a boy's best friend

 

This month's steal of a deal-these adorable slippers from children's place-$2.80 shipped!

- 

Can you find his head?

 

Watermelon anyone? To the left is the newest addition to the wall, thanks to Pier 1 & GiGi. :-)

Homemade granola bars, and Evan's maiden voyage in our new "sit n' stand.":-)

 

Baby shower at Chris' work-so sweet!

The lion king, and a couple of cute cubs

This past week my mom treated me to an amazing night out to see "The Lion King" at the new DPAC.

The costumes, colors, singing and dancing were all truly breathtaking, and I am so thankful for the experience! I wasn't quite sure what I was expecting from this Disney Broadway musical, but it did not disappoint! If you have a chance, I would highly recommend catching it before it ends-I really can't say enough good about it! My favorite part was the opening "Circle of Life" number-the animals were amazing to see coming down the aisles and successfully set the pace for a very entertaining show. I hope we'll get a chance to bring Evan to see it one day!

 

 

Speaking of my little cub, later on that week he had his first "official" playdate with his friend Cole, who is just over a month younger. It was super cute to see them play together and actually sort of "interact" versus just observing each other. I'm noticing more and more that Evan is really starting to leap out of his shell, engaging himself more with what's going on around him rather than just taking it in. They grow up so fast!

 Cute cubs learning to share. :-)

I had a great time catching up with friends and enjoying some fun fellowship-thanks for having us Kristie and Cole!

Slices of January

...a taste of what we've been up to so far in 2011. 

To kick off the new year, we visited the "Imagination Station" Science museum here in downtown Wilson.

  

Learning is fun!

 

Our weekends lately have been littered with furniture store hopping as we've been on the search for a new couch for quite some time now. Thankfully, we found the perfect one just recently and it's on its way! Not only will we be welcoming our new chocolate couch soon but also-insert dramatic music here- "monster ottoman." I may dedicate an entire post to monster ottoman, otherwise entitled "Compromise in marriage...giving your husband a few inches in home decor." We did get an amazing deal and in the end, monster ottoman was thrown in for f.r.e.e! Hence all is well in love and war-ahem-furniture shopping that is.  And who knows, I may come to love it in the end (read-compromise). :-)

In other highlights, Piper (remember him-brown eyes, curly hair, mischievous paws) got a special treat from our recent trip to Greenville-a Pupcake! I love it when we find new "gems" of shops here and there and "The Perfect Cake" in Greenville definitely made my day. I wish we had a cake shop here in Wilson! Then again, it's probably for the best-says my waistline!

 

 

Evan and I have been home bodies lately as it's been very chilly outside! This past week we saw another snow and a not so fun mix of rain and ice. I think it's safe to say we're ready for Spring...though I do enjoy our cozy mornings reading by the fireplace(a new favorite part of the day with my sweet boy)! :-)

Next up in January-"The Lion King," new recipes, old books, and of course, a lot of picture taking!