Funny Things

Every day I laugh at my children but usually by the end of the day I forget to put their funny antics down on paper. So here are a few of today's laughs...

On the way to Target:

"Mama, have you seen that sign at Target that says "YES running?"

Clearly she's been told to stop running more than once!

Once we got to Target she insisted on standing instead of sitting:

"Springer, the sign (pointing to the attached sticker) says no standing."

"Mama, why don't we just put a little piece of paper over the sign?"

In the car...

"Can I call Pops?"

Well he's in a meeting right now; what do you need?

"I just wanted to see if he wants to get in a row boat with me."

Where are you going in a row boat?

very matter of factly: "Swimming"

Still in the car....

"Let's pray to Pops....dear Pops I just want to thank you so much for my presents. Thank you for my bike (and then very much to herself: "Oh, no that's from Kane!"), anyway thank you Pops for my sleeping bag; I wuv it. Amen. Thanks Pops. I wuv you. I wuv you Nana. I wuv you Nonna. I wuv you Tutu. I wuv you Kane. I wuv you Granny. I wuv you Daddy."

Raleigh

A trip to Raleigh to see our dear friends the McClatchey's wrapped up our last week of vacation. Carver and Springer adore every minute they get with Abigail and Sarah Curtis and we all enjoyed meeting sweet baby Will. While the grown ups caught up (and I snuggled Will) the kids played Wii...for hours. The next day Carver complained that his arm was sore and it occurred to me that it was due to Wii boxing and tennis overload!

Sarah Curtis and Carver duke it out on Wii boxing!

Springer takes after her mama...she was content to just snuggle Will.

At one point she told me "Will just WUVS to sit in my wap."

And I think he agreed!

Little Will could not escape Springer's 'helpfulness'! Donna sweetly allowed Springer to help feed him...she was thrilled to be the big girl.

You should see how many shots it took to get this one!
Carver, Abigail (7 1/2), Will (7 weeks), Sarah Curtis (6) and Springer

The big kids get a turn with Will.

Sweet friends

I still laugh remembering Carver, probably 3 or 4 years ago, saying that Sarah Curtis' beautiful hair was like peanut butter. He meant it as the greatest of compliments, but we all laughed that he may not win the ladies over with those analogies!

A bit blurry (thanks to our little photographer) but a shot of the grown ups and Will nonetheless. Old friends who know you well and still love you are rare-these are gems.

December Wildness

I am still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that Christmas is really over. Each year I feel like the month flies by and this year proved no exception. Despite my best planning and organizing (I ordered my Christmas cards in September!) things snuck up on me. It probably wasn't helped by three trips to the doctor: Springer was diagnosed with 'almost asthma' and had a terrible bout with a cough; Carver came down with a high fever/upper respiratory/ear infection the last week of school and I had a maddening chest cold-even fractured a rib from so much coughing! Add to that a Christmas Open House with 125+ folks dropping in and a quick two day trip to Georgia...well, you get the idea! So in lieu of a daily update all month long let me bring you up to speed with a story in pictures.

Our month started with lots of coughing and many a late night outside snuggled under quilts. Those times proved to be good for the lungs and the soul!

Oh, Christmas tree!

Springer and Mae enjoyed strawberry cake (along with who knows what else they managed to snag from the dessert tables!) at the annual Christmas Open House.

Springer, Skylar, Ellie, Anna Wade and Abby at Christmas Tea.

Springer's Christmas music at school...they moved around so much that most every picture blurred.

Christmas snuggles

A short trip to Columbus and some ice cream making with Granny and Sara James

Back up to Atlanta for Family Christmas...

Carver, Smith, Springer, Madison, Isabella and Sara James

Micah gets some baby love from sweet Smith

Children's Christmas Eve service (and party) at Covenant Presbyterian

Mae and Springer as princesses at our Christmas Eve dinner

The train: Springer, Carver, Sam, Jack and Mary Gray on Christmas Eve

Digging in to the new presents!

Rock'Em Sock'Em robots with Daddy

Post present rest time...Springer loves her huge bear from her great grandfather, but didn't want to part with her new scooter either...perfect solution!

Thanksgiving Week

We enjoyed a wonderful five days with G's sister, Paola, brother in law, David, and their four children. Carver and Springer loved every second with their cousins and miss them terribly. Sweet days.... Springer and Aunt Paola
They worked tirelessly to outfit Camp Carver...complete with signs, chairs and a play kitchen.

Our little frog princess, Maggie.

Springer wrestling with Uncle David.

A little Jonas Brother concert (check out the boom mic his cousin, Molly, made for him!).

Molly (11), Maggie (9), Springer (3), Jack (7), Carver (6) and Josh (15!).

the sweet 'girl cousins'

and our fellas

Springer LOVES playing with her 'big cousin' Josh

Carver and Jack really enjoyed each other. I don't think they spent 5 minutes a part all week.

Thanksgiving Celebration

Springer, Giorgio and I enjoyed a sweet Thanksgiving service and lunch at her preschool today. It was the perfect way to kick off Thanksgiving week!

Sweet Friends

What started as a fully dressed playdate with Mae ended something like this!

Renaissance Festival

After Carver's last soccer game of the season we headed up to the Renaissance Festival. At the last minute some friends offered us their tickets and we knew it would be something interesting do see and do if nothing else. It certainly did not disappoint. Out in the middle of the woods is this entire Renaissance 'town'...lots of food, animals, rides, music, jousting-most anything you could imagine. One of the highlights of the day was Carver and Springer's ride on a camel. It was all smiles and laughter until....
Springer spotted the elephant next to her. THAT was not at all what she wanted to see; and she proceeded to cover her face until he was out of sight! We still don't know why this typically fearless child (and lover of elephants) got so upset over the sitting elephant. I think that elephant made as a big impression on her as her camel ride!

The jousting was another favorite...we watched a tournament and then the children decided to try their hand at it. Yes, they each left with a shield and have enjoyed many a sword fight over the past 24 hours! (I vetoed the wood swords opting instead to go with the foam swords we have at home...I had images of visits to the emergency room with two wood swords flying around.)

A little lesson in archery.

Meeting a 'real' knight

So our Saturday didn't go quite as we planned, but boy what fantastic memories were made. They're already talking about what they want to do when we come next year!