Christmas Fun at Stone Mountain

This was our second time visiting Stone Mountain to kick off the Christmas season!  It was another great time, and another late night where at least one of our kids was crashed out before we even left (this time that was Justin!)

Uncle Jeremy and Justin on the trolley that took us to the top of the mountain

Katelynn on the trolley (I know I'm not calling it the right name, but I can't think of what the correct name is at the moment.)  I could also pretend we were on the subway in New York by the looks of this picture.  Ha,ha

On TOP OF THE WORLD!!  My kids LOVED the top of the mountain.  It's all rocky and a little scary for me to watch them running around on the rocks.  They thought it was pretty cool.  Mommy was counting the seconds until I could breath without worrying.  It's amazing how much more of a worrywart you become the day you become a mom.

Stone Mountain puts on a super awesome Christmas event.  They have amazing shows and lights and fireworks...all kinds of fun.  One of our favorite activities is the 4D Polar Express movie.  It's just a clip of the actual movie, but so cool!  Ryan was all ready to go... although once we were in there and getting blown in the face with wind/squirts of water and snow falling on us, he wasn't quite as amused.

The big kids with one of the actors from a Christmas show we seen about toys that are unique and don't think they will be wanted because of it.  This robot wasn't smart like robots should be.  :)

Justin didn't make it this far into the night.  Katelynn was roasting marshmallows (her first time ever!) while waiting for the fireworks to start.

Uncle Jeremy was quite the sport- he carried my 30-pound sleeping boy all around.

Dad, Uncle Rob, and Aunt Debbie waiting on fireworks.

What a fun night!  I have a new favorite Thanksgiving tradition now!

Happy Turkey Day!

This was our year to travel down to my parent's house in Georgia for Thanksgiving.  The kids and I made turkey shirts (made out of their handprints) to wear for the day.  We drove down that morning and spent the weekend with my parents and my Aunt Debbie and Uncle Rob from Miami.  It's always a fun time!  Here were the few pictures I captured of Thanksgiving Day!

Jonathan did the honors of carving the turkey!

Ryan's Turkey shirt says, "I'm Stuffed!" 

Our Turkey Day Feast! 

 Katelynn served the rolls to everyone!

We hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving Day with family and friends just like we did!

Welcome to the Soccer Mom Life!

So I guess technically I have been a "soccer mom" for over a year now.  Justin started a soccer class last fall when Katelynn started attending preschool.  He was only 18 months old so he wasn't really playing soccer, just doing drills and such to gear him towards it.  We did one 12-week session and moved on to gymnastics for the rest of the year.  This year I started him again and have been amazed at the transition.  He is a much better listener and way more into it.  In fact, he was so psyched about it when he first started that he really peeked Katelynn's interest in it as well.  I try to kick the soccer ball back and forth with the kids a lot and we have done drills to the goal we have at home, and with that and her brother's excitement, Katelynn has been asking for months to play soccer too.

So today I finally caved.  She already has preschool four days a week and 1.5 hours of dance class each week so I was really stalling on the soccer practice, but I also love the idea of my girlie-girl playing soccer.  I personally think that sports are a great idea for kids.  I don't care about the competition part of it really, but I would love for all my kids to be involved in sports, if nothing else for the involvement it will put them in school activities with their peers.  Dance is great for Katelynn, but it's not a school sport that she can be involved in; soccer is.  While I'm also not into pushing my kids into things they don't want to do, I figured since Katelynn has so much interest in it now that I needed to jump on it while she was open to it and can decide if it's something she wants to play.  SHE LOVED IT!  And I know I'm a bit biased but I think she totally rocked the soccer field today, especially for it being her first time!  She jumped right into the class without any hesitation or shyness like I was expecting, was kicking the ball around during warm-up like she has been doing it forever.  I was quite surprised to see that half of practice is already playing an actual game (in Justin's class, we still don't even get close to playing the actual game of soccer) and while she was not aggressive about getting the ball in her possession, she ran the field and kept right up with where the ball was.  She was normally right beside whoever had it, just wasn't trying to steal it away at all.  I think she might have a real knack for soccer, and I just might be almost as excited as she is about playing!

So.. I have to tell you all that I feel like I officially became the soccer mom today.  Officially.  And the exact moment I knew it was when I was yelling for my kid to kick the ball and two other parents looked over at me wondering why in the world I was yelling.  Yep.  Sorry, kids,  mommy is going to be that kind of mom.  You know, the one who can't keep from cheering her kids on, yelling and clapping and getting excited when my kid rocks the socks off a game of soccer?  Yep, that's officially going to be me.  I just can't help it!  No, I won't be yelling at the referee when they call a bad play (are there even refs in soccer?  I have no idea...) or swearing or anything of that nature.  I'm not THAT kind of yelling/cheering mom, but I also can't sit back and pretend not to be proud when my kids do something great.  So, yeah, I became a soccer mom today.  The one who also was wearing an infant and had a 2-year old beside me all the while still having to cheer on my little girl. 

(Did I mention I was the only mom who had other kids with me watching too?  Yep, the rest of the moms and dads sat on their smartphones and worked on their laptops while I rocked a tired baby, watched one play soccer and another play trucks and yelled just a tiny bit.  So I say I win the title for sure.  Soccer mom it is!)

Perfect Day for a Bike Ride!

With Katelynn fast approaching kindergarten and my stressing over where she will attend school (since I am not a huge fan of our homeschool), I find myself on a weekly basis considering moving from where we currently live.  By moving, I just mean a different school district; not out of state or the Charlotte area.  And then there are days like today where the weather is gorgeous, the kids are loving playing in the culdesac, and we head out on the greenway for a bike ride when I start to think that I love where we are and don't want to move.  The greenway is such a great spot for the kids to be able to grow up riding bikes on! 

Today we decided to do a craft and needed pine cones so we headed out in search of some pine cones on the trail with bikes!  (That's what the sand buckets are for:  our pine cones.)

And, yes, Justin is riding a girls pink and blue bike.  It's Katelynn's old bike.  He will get a boy bike eventually, but in the meantime he does not seem to mind having a girl bike at all. 

And just for a quick mommy brag:  he has improved tremendously on riding in bike in such a short time span!  If you would have told me even two months ago that he would bike on the trail without needing any help, I would have said you were crazy.  Yet, here we were today and he was riding like he has been doing it forever!  Just another way my kids amaze me each and everyday!

Just like her Mommy

Yesterday Katelynn asked me if I wanted to play school with her.  So, of course, I said I did and she immediately started giving me spelling words and work to do as her student.  It was so cute to watch her try to mimic what she does in preschool. 

My teacher:  Ms. Katelynn

 Spelling Test.  This was the teacher's test sheet for my spelling words :)

 And this was my workbook.. where she wrote my name for me and then gave me a pencil to write my spelling words as she dictated them.  My favorite was when she said "CAT.  Kuh.. not a K"

I also find myself amazed each day at how much more I see myself as a child in her.  Somehow she is migrating towards most of what were my biggest interests as a child.  I remember enjoying playing school with all my dolls and friends.  I am pretty sure my mom still has clothes pins with my student's names on them, and Katelynn and Justin have actually started reading some of my books that I had as a child that I had marked up as library books that I used in conjunction with my "playing teacher" days.  Her love for coloring and writing and reading, playing with dolls and barbies; those were all my top interests as a child.  I suppose many of those are any young little girls favorite things to do, but it is still such a flashback for me as I watch my own little girl engaging in all the activities I can remember doing at her age. 

Gorgeous Fall Weather = Leaves of fun!

We have had an excellent several days of warm temperatures (65ish) that have made for some great playtimes in piles of leaves!  I am sure we always have a gorgeous fall, but for some reason this year I am just constantly in awe of the gorgeous fall colors of the leaves around our house.  It makes living against the woods a huge bonus this time of year!  With the sun shining on all the colors, I could just sit in the backyard for hours and gawk at the beauty of it. 

The kids can't get enough of jumping in the leaves.  We have played in them all weekend!!!  There are so many great shots... and these are probably less than half of what I took!