Collector's Item

Beenie Boos are the collector's item of choice at my house. Both for Addie and for her sister. We have tons of these big-eyed creatures all over the house, and in this instance, they are students at school. I would say it's a strange thing to collect if I had not collected Beenie Babies (their retro cousin) in my day!

Playdate

Which one is my child? Can't tell until they turn around...

Collins had her friend Liza over for a playdate which made me realize how similar these girls look!

They did all sorts of fun things which Addie could not handle being left out of...it's not easy being the little sister sometimes.

 

These two even somehow convinced me to let them take the jeep all the way around the neighborhood...eight-year-olds really like to push the limits is what I'm learning. Having Liza come play was good practice for the slumber party we are preparing to host for Collins's 8th birthday. Because no big deal to have four 8-year-olds spend the whole night, right??? 😬

Friday Mornings

Love Friday mornings with these two! Recently we checked out the Science Museum's live animal storytime then explored the museum. Luke loved petting a real rabbit and seeing the huge dinosaurs, and Addie liked the discovery room the best. I just enjoy seeing these two be sweet together. I realize we don't have that many Friday mornings together before summer vacation and then Addie starting kindergarten. I'm savoring this neat time they have together while it lasts.

 

Lightbulb Moment

I've been worried that Addie was not far along enough with knowing her ABC's. Then after Donna had knee surgery, Addie wanted to make her a card and write the words herself. I wasn't sure she could do that, but said okay. As I started spelling the words, she started writing the letters very confidently! I didn't know she knew all those letters let alone could write them herself! It was a lightbulb moment for me that she is learning more than I am giving her credit for. Watching her make that sweet card helped relieved my worries and reminded me to trust my smart girl. She is exactly where she needs to be.

 

 

Quick Visit

Mom and Baba came to town for a quick visit- to help me with a couple of babysitting needs I had. Addie built something to impress them upon arrival...

 

Al came over, and we went to lunch, puzzled, played, ate tacos, and watched TV. A perfect Sunday? I think so.

 

While I was away, some fun was had...

Thankful they came to visit, if only for a short time!

Park Time

When the kids are all grown up, I think I'll look back at their childhood and remember the thousands of hours we logged at the playground and park. I think playing outside in the fresh air is so important for their little bodies and minds. So even through the winter months, we are outside enjoying climbing, imagining, and playing. Even when they don't particularly want to! :)

 

Addie's Class

Her class is so cute, and she is genuinely excited to go to school every day. They really seem to all get along well, and she talks about them a lot at home. Going into this school year, I was worried because she didn't know a lot of the kids in the class. But so glad she ended up with this bunch. Addie is having a really good school year so far!

Brian Turns 40

So believe it or not, not everyone is into birthdays. My husband is one of these people. He doesn't understand why people make such a fuss over their birthdays. And turns out that even when he is having a big milestone birthday like 40- it is no big deal. So try as I might, I could not get him to tell me how he wanted to celebrate because he honestly DID NOT CARE!

So we decided to celebrate in the simplest of ways...first with a birthday breakfast complete with a meat cake.

 

I made monkey bread (one of my favorites from childhood) because the girls had never had it before. Collins was taking it to the table, and it slipped right off the platter and onto the floor. Funny moment- just had to take a picture.

So Brian blew out some candles, and we had a tasty breakfast...no big deal!

 

While Brian was at work, we decorated and made a birthday cake...

My cute assistant...Addie wanted to make her Dad a Wolfpack cake so red velvet it was!

 40 candles!!!!

  Brian decided he wanted go to Amedeo's for pizza which made for a fun dinner...

Then back home for cake and presents and Howling Cow ice cream (did you know they sold it in grocery stores now?!?)...Collins wanted to help me light the candles until she saw how much fire that created and then she backed off quick!

 The birthday boy blew them out so fast I didn't even get a picture of the giant fire!

 

We gave him a list of "40 Reasons We Love Daddy" that we all compiled together. It was not an elaborate or fancy 40th birthday celebration, but hopefully it was one that showed him how very loved he is.

Birthday at the Beach

Because the hurricane damaged the Sea Oats house, we haven't been able to spend much time at Wrightsville Beach lately. So when it came time to celebrate Brian's 40th birthday, I realized it would be special if we could get away to the beach. Donna and Marty rented a place on Lollipop Cove for MLK weekend, and we excitedly headed out of town.

The house was on a quiet road on the cove which was great for scootering and bike riding...

and the house had an elevator! This blew their minds.

But the best feature of the house by far was the water views.

We weren't as close to the ocean as we normally are, but it was just a short scooter ride there...

But we quickly realized that there was plenty to entertain us at the house...

We headed to the south end of the island to hunt for shells...

and we found a big one!

Luke's favorite part of the beach house was our own private beach where he could throw rocks into the water...

Finally, the sun made an appearance...

 We watched the NFL playoffs and celebrated with birthday pound cake...

Then raced down to the end of the road for the best sunset views...

 

We tried fishing, but we think the fish were too cold to bite. :)

  It was Luke's first attempt at holding a fishing rod. He was a little dangerous with that thing!

 

 Our last night there, something cool happened- a rare red wolf moon appeared...

I stayed up until after midnight to watch the eclipse, and it was completely worth the lack of sleep. The low that night was about 20 degrees so I had to keep popping out onto the deck to see the progress of the eclipse, but I couldn't stay out too long because it was that cold. It was amazing to watch the progress of the eclipse- especially over the still cove. Once the moon was directly in front of the sun, it was completely dark and quiet. And then the moon actually appeared red! You could see every star in the sky and feel the breeze. I felt bad for the rest of the family that they were sleeping through this amazing solar phenomenon!

Sunrise over the cove...not a bad place to drink your morning coffee.

 

 Love when she reads to her sister...

Our last morning there we went for a FREEZING bike ride...seriously the wind brought tears to our eyes! It was frigid cold that day.

 Sweet sleeping baby on the way back to Raleigh...

It was a wonderful birthday getaway! We celebrated our favorite boy, took a break from all our recent stresses, and spent time together at the beach. Exactly what we all needed! Many thanks to Donna and Marty for making this fun trip happen.