Winter 2014

This has been an eventful winter.  Along with Joe's broken leg we have had some pretty crazy weather around here.  Our usual mild Georgia winter took a much harsher turn this year.  We had some seriously cold, snowy, icy, wet, gloomy days!  We had a beautiful snow the end of January.  We got several inches overnight, so the kids got to wake up to a winter wonderland.  How fun it was to see their excitement!  Kate was really into it...the boys were a little more hesitant.  Then about two weeks later, ice-a-palooza hit...or ice-pocalypse...take your pick.  In all my 34 years I have never experienced such a storm.  Nonetheless, we have somehow managed to survive Winter 2014, broken leg and all, and are here to tell about it :)  Here are a few photos taken along the way:

Ready for bed!

This was the evening before the snow began falling...we had been waiting at the windows all day for the snow to start.  It finally started falling shortly after everyone went down for bed.

The boys weren't so sure about it the next morning...Kate was off to the side making snow angels.  They couldn't quite figure it out ;)

View from our back deck

Going sledding!

This was just a few weeks after Joe broke his leg.  He wasn't too happy to not be able to play in the snow with everyone :(

Fun with neighbors!

Casey in the snow

Kate and Ansley

Sweet sisters!  Emily and Morgan

Joe pulling me, Matthew, and Kate on our 'sled'

 

Will & Kate loved it

Joshua, Will, & Kate making snow angels

Sweet girl

I think I must have put on and taken off boots, coats, hats, and gloves about 47 times that day! ;)  It was well worth it...so glad they got to experience this fun snow day.

Oh how I love these 3!  Out on a walk in the neighborhood 

We celebrated Grandmama's birthday

They have fun together ;)

Kate strapped "Rachel" into the car seat next to her and was so proud of herself ;)  She says she wants to be a Mommy when she grows up...she's going to make a great one.

We went to visit Greer and Mary Harper one afternoon.  They were kind enough to share their snacks with us!  

Friday night movie night!  

Baking and decorating cookies with Kate and Matthew:

The next few photos are from ice-pocalypse.  It hit on my birthday...34 is surely one I won't forget!  We woke up that morning to ice pouring down from the sky.  A few short hours later, we lost power.  And we didn't get it back for THREE. WHOLE. DAYS.  This was quite the experience.  It's one thing to lose power when it's just the two of us...it's another thing with two 2-yr olds and a 4-yr old.  The house got quite testy...and COLD...by the 2nd and 3rd day.  The kids were fussy...well, we were ALL fussy. lol  Luckily Joe had a generator we were able to use, so that helped some, thankfully.  I had never really experienced anything quite like this before...and hope I don't again for quite some time!  

This is NOT snow.  Ice.

Tall trees in our front yard bent over from the weight of the ice.  This is what created the biggest problem for the whole city.  Trees could not hold the weight of the ice...so they were snapping and falling everywhere.  As I'm writing this tonight there is still storm debris all over the city.  It has resembled a war zone around here this past month.  

We went over to Kelly and Billy's the first night since they fortunately still had power.  We ate dinner and bathed the kids, then they were able to snuggle up and watch "Jungle Book" for a little while.  We headed back home later on; then shortly after Kelly and Billy lost power too.  

Thank goodness for battery-operated toys!  They snuggled up in Joshua's bed the next day and played with the Leap Pads.

These are a few shots from Kate's Valentine's Day Party at school.  The party was cancelled due to the ice storm, so they re-scheduled it for the next week.  They had an ice cream party :)

Kate's sweet friend Hadley

Playing "stack the hearts"  

They made these cute "glasses" out of pipe-cleaners

Playing "musical hearts"

On a much warmer day!  Two sweet girls...Kate and Mary Harper

Jessica and I took Kate and Hadley to see "Beauty and the Beast" at the Bell downtown.  We had such a fun time!

Sweetness...

Love getting to do fun things with her.

They both crashed on the way home...precious.

And the St. Patrick's Day Parade at FBC...such a fun tradition!

Matthew, John, and Anna Grace

This was Kate's second year marching in the parade...I will miss this when they aren't there anymore!

And last but not least:

Sweet Lindsay bought this too cute Minnie suit for Kate.  She still has no idea, but in just a few short weeks, Joe and I are taking her to Disney for the first time.  We are so excited!