Indianapolis visit!!

We decided to make the trek up to Indianapolis with the kids at the end of February since we hadn't seen Grandpa in over 2 years (he hadn't even met Braxton yet!) and we haven't seen Grandma since last spring!! It was quite a long drive for the kids, but overall, they did fabulous. I just had to come to terms with the fact that they were going to need to watch about 8 hours of straight videos and just get over it :) Reilly talked about the upcoming trip to "M-b-an-a-powis" for the weeks leading up, since we had it marked on her calendar so she could count down the days. We cut the trip in half on the way up and stayed the night in Lexington, KY and then continued to Indy on Saturday morning. Of course, in Grandma-like-fashion, lunch was ready when we got there and homemade spaghetti sauce was on the stove for dinner. Yum. Grandpa got a kick out of the kids and just kept smiling and laughing with them. Reilly immediately started to tackle the "pole" (which I CANNOT believe I didn't get a picture of!?!?!).....the support beam that has been the source of much entertainment for all 16+ grandchildren that have been in Grandma and Grandpa's lives. Shawn remembers trying to climb the pole when he was a little guy! Reilly loved it when Shawn lifted her all the way to the top of it so she could touch the ceiling, but that wasn't enough for her....she must have tried 142 times to climb it herself :)

Sunday morning we woke up and headed straight to the famous Indianapolis Children's Museum, stopping to pick up Grandma on the way! This isn't just a regular museum....it's 5 stories high with exhibits, interactive areas, a planetarium, a food court, an enormous store, and soooo much more!! We have really been so excited about taking the kids there because we knew they would love it!! There is just so much to do and see that there was no way our aged children would last long enough to see it all, so we had to pick and choose....but we experienced lots and had a blast! It was so fun to have Grandma there with us!

Reilly and Braxton trying out a real Indy car...

Braxton would have stayed at the water tables all day if we let him!

One of the featured exhibits was a Dora and Diego area...pretty cute, but way too crowded!

There was this whole "barbie-land" area, and while we're not in to barbies, Reilly had a BLAST on the pretend runway! There was a dressing room with all kinds of clothes and then a real runway with music, lights, and cameras set up on stands where other children could pretend to be photographers! I couldn't get over Reilly's expressions! She was totally into it!

In the dinosaur area.....momma Reilly protecting her baby eggs.

After a good nap, we headed back over to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a full turkey dinner that Grandma insisted on!! This is the kitchen table in their house that Shawn has tons of memories from sitting around and "gathering" together with the fam daily when he was younger.

Grandpa (aka, Gene Hackman from the movie "Enemy of the State"!!!!) and Reilly

Monday morning we decided to let the kids enjoy some pool time, and once again, Grandma joined us!! She teaches water aerobics (yes, at 80 years of age!) so she told Reilly she would come show her a thing or two in the pool!!! Braxton loved the water:)

So sweet :) Grandma and Grandpa both told us how special it was for us to come visit and how much it meant to them. The kids definitely brought some joy and laughter into their day and it was so great to give them a chance to be with yet more of their great-grandparents!!

A visit at DeeDee And Poppi's.....and Braxton FINALLY likes the horses!

We went up to Greensboro for Memama's birthday celebration on February 19th. The kids had such a good time with their great-grandmother and we always mention how incredibly special our kids our to have three great-grandmothers that they know and get to see from time to time! This particular visit to DeeDee and Poppi's was a benchmark for sure, as it was the first time that Braxton actually started showing an interest in the horses!! For Reilly, it seemed like from the time DeeDee put her on Teddy's back for an Easter picture when she was 4 weeks old she's been in LOVE with all things horse! But Braxton has definitely been a bit more timid and not quite sure about these huge animals. Mom and Reilly were out riding when Braxton wanted to go out and see what was going on. He walked right up to mom and said "up", indicating that he wanted to get on Teddy with Reilly! And from that moment on, he kept asking for "more", "up", and "neighs". It was so cute and, needless to say, DeeDee was quite floored!!! :)

Valentines Day treats!

This year I had a vision for a fun, Valentine's Day themed photo shoot for the kids. I keep telling myself that I MUST get better about taking "real" pictures of my own kids and stop letting time go by without capturing the special things! So, even though it takes 3x the effort and planning than a regular photo shoot, I insisted on doing this one and I'm so glad I did!! The kids had a blast, even though I typically only get about 12-14 minutes of time in before they loose it and cannot take any more direction from me :)









Shawn and I decided to do our Valentine's date night on Sunday so we could actually spend V-Day with our children at home. I got creative and made a "red dinner" for us to enjoy to celebrate the "love day"!! I died spaghetti noodles red (they ended up pink!), colored butter red for our bread, made strawberry milk, and red jello with whip cream for desert! The kids thought it was pretty cool that we had an entirely red meal. I even pulled out red place mats and red napkins for the occasion :) It was pretty fun!

Gideon Ridge...surprise overnight!

Shawn surprised me for Christmas and planned an overnight for us to go up to Blowing Rock (my FAVORITE town), just the two of us, between Christmas and New Years. We were really good about getting away and spending a day or two just talking, praying, and setting goals for the coming year during the first 5 years of marriage. Then, after children came into the picture, it's been a bit harder to be as intentional with our time. But, he was determined that we get back to "basics" and do our "goal setting" again. So, we left Tuesday morning and headed up to Blowing Rock, leaving the kids with Grandpa and Nanny. We stopped for lunch and then got to Blowing Rock in time to check out some outlets before checking in to the most amazing Inns we have ever seen. It was so "us"! (which means that we were the youngest couple there, by at least 20 years, and we loved the jazz music playing, the hot fire roaring in the living room, the awesome Inn Keeper with his unique-English/Russion-accent, and the quaint feel of being on the very tip top of the ridge of a mountain). Ahhh...so peaceful and so relaxing. We had lots of time to talk and pray and to set goals for things we want our marriage and our family to be about this year. IT was so nice to just have time to connect with eachother on such an intimate level and be intentional with this life we have been given. It's always been so fun in the past to do our "goal day" and then watch as prayers are answered and God shows up in huge ways throughout the year, just because we've been purposeful and made decisions around what we set out to accomplish or ways we wanted to grow during the year. Gideon Ridge Inn is a place we definitely plan to go back and visit!!


This was the view from the sitting area in our suite..."The Sunrise Suite"...

This was the dining room area in the main Inn....much different froma typical Bed&Breakfast...not all sitting at one huge table, totally awkward b/c you don't know any of the other folks, but small 2 person tables that just added to the intimacy of it all.
the living room/library room in the Inn with a gigantic wood-burning fireplace...


The sunrise from our BED! literally, I took this shot from the bed...you can even see the screen from the window! :)

Spring Fever!

Oh this weather has been so gorgeous :) Yesterday I took the kids up to Clark Creek Park to play on the playground there and it was definitely a milestone moment in my parenting! I actually sat on the bench, in the sun, while my children played on the playground!! Braxton climbed the stairs/ladder and went down the slide by himself and Reilly just played around doing whatever! It was so nice! And then, the pinnacle came when Reilly FINALLY understood how to pump her legs and swing by herself! We have, of course, been working on this for quite a while, but it hasn't ever really clicked for her. Yesterday, after I pushed her a few times, I could see her watching her shadow on the ground and she was doing all the proper movements with her body/legs so I could tell she was really trying to figure it all out. I gave her a bit more coaching and encouragement and within a few minutes, it all came together! Praise the Lord!! I actually got to sit and WATCH her swing, instead of break my arms pushing her over and over and "higher and higher"! It was fabulous :) And boy was she soooo excited!! When we got home, she wanted to go on to our playset and practice more swinging after naptime. So, we went out there and I got her started and off she went! The most precious part was listening to her while she was swinging. She was just praising God for everything! "Thank you God for this wonderful day! Thank you for the sunshine and blue skies! Thank you for the clouds and birds chirping! Thank you God for everything!" and then she looked at me, "Mommy, this is such a beautiful day!". I love that she is so full of praise and knows exactly Who deserves all the glory for the many blessings we have! It is such a gift.