Rocky

I still pick out Amelia and Luke's outfit everyday.  This is not a fight at all, it is actually quite necessary because otherwise they both might go to school naked.  That is how much they care or notice what they wear each day.  In fact, both of them have come downstairs in the middle of winter bare foot and start to put on their shoes.  If I ask, "where are your socks?" they will both immediately answer, "You forgot to put them out."  Sigh.  I hope I have never forgot to put their underwear out but who knows?   Then there is Addison...my little one who wants to do everything herself.  She headed upstairs by herself and 10 minutes later she came down like this (everything but the bow in her hair).  "Guess what mommy, I got dressed by myself!"  She even picked this out of her closet herself.  I was so proud of her (although her underwear somehow had the waist band around the legs and legs around the waist) but then I realized.  Uh oh, this might be the one whom actually has an opinion on her wardrobe.  

Happy Valentines Day!  Pink heart pancakes and strawberries:)  I actually am a good mom, once in awhile;)

After a couple years of retirement, Luke asked to play flag football again.  Although I am just looking at his shirt now and it sure doesn't say "Flag Football" does it?  Hmm...anyway he is the running back on his team, The Ravens, and he has so far scored all of the touchdowns for his team.  This is impressive and he is fast but this is pretty relaxed football and at any given time, half of the team members have wondered off the field due to chasing a bird, a bug, a kiss from mom, etc.  I love watching him spin around and score though, so cute! 

I have taken to calling Luke Rocky because he has ANOTHER black eye.  This one from FLAG football.  Go figure, a head to the face...ouch.  He does look super tough though.

Florida Mini-Vacay

One of the many lovely things about the south is school being out for three days to celebrate Mardi Gras.  Three days to essentially party.  It blows my mind but we will so enjoy the days off.  This year my parents were sweet enough to watch the kids solo at their Florida house.  So, Stephen and I drove them to my parents on a Friday night and then we surprised the kids with a day at the Magic Kingdom the next day before we drove home.  I realize I cannot be in a 60 mile radius of Orlando and not visit the Magic Kingdom.  It truly is magic and I feel the pull.  My kids I realized...not so much.

Early on in the day, a visit to the new Dumbo ride.  Good thing we visited early because it broke down later in the day...boo.  

I physically could not skip the photo op with Mickey.  No matter how many times we have been there, it is a must.  Well for me at least, the rest of the family would have been okay with skipping I think.

Addison refused to be in another picture with Mickey after she realized he once again was wearing the wrong color shoes (she insists he should be wearing his yellow shoes) and that he was not escorted by Minnie.  Being this is my third kid and our gazillionith trip to Disney, we were all quite okay without her in the picture.  It's not worth the fuss.

It was fun to have Grandma and Grandpa with us.  We knew going in that it was going to be a crowded day at the park and it sure was.  We have been so blessed in the past to be able to walk on ride after ride after ride.  So the kids were done with all the lines and people by the afternoon and ready to go back to Grandma and Grandpa's.  We asked them, "Is there anything else you guys want to go on?"  "Nope" x3.  That's when we realized that maybe after last year's visit, Disney had lost it's thrill a little bit.  Oh well, at least we got to go on It's a Small World, right mom?  

My kids then stayed with my parents the next three days and they had a blast swimming, golfing, golf cart riding, shuffle boarding, etc.  It is a retirement community but they kept them BUSY!!  They all definitely preferred playing with Grandma and Grandpa over Disney.  That is when I have to remember, keep it simple Jenni.  Live and learn I guess.  Either that or I just can't drive anywhere near Orlando again for a few years.  

Thanks Mom and Dad for a great trip!  The kids loved the time with both of you, what great memories with their grandparents :)  And as a special treat, my mom sent them back with full bags of CLEAN clothes and homemade cupcakes!  You Rock Mom!  

When you are 4, birthdays are a BIG deal...

My seasoned blog readers will recognize this...The Children's House birthday celebration.  Although, now instead of me boo hooing about Luke turning a year older, we substitute in Addison.  She was SUPER, DUPER excited for it to finally be her turn for a birthday celebration.  

As her teachers discuss stories of Addison during each year, Addison would walk around the room and show each child corresponding pictures.  And when I say, "show" the children, I mean she would very deliberately step directly in front of each child and practically place the picture in front of their nose.  She wanted them to appreciate every flippin' baby moment.  This was her big day and nobody was going to miss it, darn it.  After discussing each year, she walks around the candle (the sun) while holding the earth to signify another year.  Hmm, that sounds kind of hippy drippy weird but it is adorable and makes me tear up each time she makes her orbit.

Holding up the baptismal dress Addison wore for her baptism as well as her big sister, her aunts and her mommy.

Addison about to blow out her candle.  Happy Birhday!

After the celebration of her life, Addison gets to announce the snacks she chose to share with her school.  So this little bitty baby of mine stands in front of 50 people and clearly says, "Today I brought big butterfly cookies, little boxes of raisins, jelly sandwiches and napkins."  Perfect little hostess, all smiles.  I pretty much can't properly welcome one person into my home without bumbling and mumbling.  Then comes the humongous task of picking out her three helpers...all the children wait anxiously to hear if she will call their name.  And do not be fooled these 3,4 and 5 year olds do some major lobbying to jockey for position to help with snack.  I couldn't help but feel like it was preschool Survivor or something.  Each child Addison picked to help, then walked up to her and told her thank you and gave her a hug!  That school continues to amaze me.  How they take these 44 children and motivate them to be well mannered, polite, patient and loving is beyond me.  Because all I get from Addison is a "Mom, you are SO mean."  

More 4 year old birthday fun!

When we returned from Colorado we had a mini birthday party with Grandpa to continue to celebrate Miss Addison's 4th birthday.  Addison is into anything fancy lately so she asked for bracelets, necklaces and lip glosses this year.  

All smiles for more presents.

I posted these pictures because look at sweet big brother, Luke.  I love his expressions and being all excited for her.

Addison had told Grandpa she wanted a beautiful butterfly necklace.  I told him not to worry about it and he could just get her some toys (see above).  But guess what Grandpa found?   This was the cutest moment and brought tears to our eyes...she opened the necklace and literally jumped into Grandpa's arms for this hug...

...and then she grabbed his face and said, "Awww, Grampy."  So special.  

Addison and her Grampy.

Amelia and Luke learning to ride a two-wheeler was filled with crying, temper tantrums and screams of frustrations...and that was just from Stephen and I.  We thought for sure they would be riding around their respective college campuses with training wheels on their bikes.  So with the third  child we thought we would try something new, something less stressful.  A "balance bike."  These bikes are very low to the ground and do not have pedals.  The theory being the child learns to balance and scoot herself along so when she is ready she can just zoom on a two wheeler.  We have friends that swear by these.  Addison took one look at the bike and said, "Daddy you forgot the pedals."  We tried to explain to her how great it will be to learn to scoot and practice.  The first time we took her outside to practice she asked me, "If I do a good job, then will Daddy buy me some pedals?"  So then, I felt like I was depriving the poor child of pedals.  Sigh, I think we failed again with the whole bike riding lessons.

Our sweet and spicy four year old!

Keystone Colorado!

 Three weeks ago Stephen mentioned to me he somehow had 6 days off in a row on his schedule.  For an Emergency Room doctor with a crazy schedule and no official vacation days off, this was an oddity.  It took us all of a minute to decide to take advantage of this blessing and plan a quick vacation.  Stephen has always wanted to take the family on a ski trip and we thought the kids were old enough this year to handle it.  So two weeks later, we found ourselves in Keystone, Colorado!

Our condo was behind the kids over in the corner with great views of all the mountains.  The pools, hot tubs and water slides were extremely heated so the kids enjoyed swimming while in Colorado also.  

This is immediately following our arrival into the mountains.  The kids couldn't wait to get their hands on some snow and snowball fights started promptly.  

We could walk to the village and to the gondola from our condo which made it super convenient with little kids.  We went to explore the village and have some lunch when we first arrived.  The village had lots of neat decorations and ice sculptures.  

Our arrival day also happened to be little missy's 4th birthday!  Miss Addison Kate got to celebrate her 4th birthday up on a mountain in Colorado!  (Last year, she spent it at the Magic Kingdom; purely by accident we have traveled to fun places on her birthday...we are setting up her future husband for failure I am sure, poor guy).

Because it was Addison's birthday we decided to celebrate big and take the gondola to the very top of the mountain and enjoy a fondue dinner.  (This is on the bottom of the mountain right before we got on.)

First gondola ride...for both of us.  This is right about the time I had a giant anxiety attack remembering that I am terrified of open heights and wondering what in the world I was doing going 10,000 feet up a mountain in a blizzard.  What if the cables broke, what if it got stuck, why didn't I put our long unders on, why was I in Colorado with a height fear???  Of course the rest of the family was woo hooing the whole time so I tried to pull myself together.

FONDUE!!!

Too much fondue and fun for this four year old.  Addison was deposited on this bed in half snow gear a lot on this trip.  

On the way to ski day number one!  Addison definitely was the lucky one on this trip, she got pulled everywhere either in a sled or in a wagon.  And with the elevation difference, Stephen and I were huffing and puffing a lot on this trip while pulling kids.  

Got our ski gear, we were almost ready!  It was the first time on skis for all five of us so we decided to get a private ski instructor for all of us instead of putting the kids in ski school.  We wanted to share this experience with them instead of separating all day and just meeting up in the afternoon.  It worked out really well and the kids definitely progressed a lot faster having so much personalized attention.  

Yup, that is Addison, going down the kids bunny hill within five minutes of putting skis on.  Typical Addison, "I got this."

My snow babies.

The cutest snow bunny...Addison looks pretty cute too. ;)

Amelia learned super quick and was much braver than I had expected.  This is the 9 year old who still thinks Dumbo is a thrill ride so I was thinking we would never get off the mountain.  But this kid was the first one to move up to the bigger hills every time.  She absolutely loved skiing and keeps asking when we can go again.  Luke was our speed demon and decided turning was for woosies.  I would slowly meander my way down the mountain, full of turns and going as slow as possible.  Luke would be a red blur flying past all of us.  We found him the perfect t-shirt souvenir that said, "Go fast or go home." 

Daddy and Mimi...love.

Our whole crew...ski style.

Stinking cute while riding on the gondola.  

Luke and Addison playing on the snow fort while Daddy and Mimi hit the slopes for more runs.

Addison Kate being Addison Kate.  

My little man.

On top of the snow fort were more ice sculptures.  

Some of my favorite times were home in the condo.  I have noticed the less stuff we have, the more fun we have and the more we enjoy each other.  All we had was a deck of cards and some coloring books so we found Amelia and Luke in this exact position between ski runs (they loved switching on the fireplace with a light switch).  I love them in their ski socks and long unders.  Addison colored to her little hearts content.  

We tried to fit in all the winter fun we could because our winter fun in Mississippi is actually closer to summer fun in the rest of the country.  Addison "ice skating" with a safety cone.  I know my youngest well and knew ice skating would be fun for about 3 1/2 minutes so I  saved the $30 and just took the two of us out in our boots.  Three minutes later she and I were cozy by the fire, eating cookies and watching the rest of the family ice skate.  

The big kids lasted a little longer on the ice.

Tubing!  

Lots of fun things to do in the village.  Amelia and Luke were happy to play giant chess and wished we would have left them there longer.  We took this picture to give to Amelia's chess coaches (yes she is on the chess team).  I love my little brainiac.  

Stephen and I went to Colorado right after we got married, so close to 12 years ago.  We went in the fall so we did hiking and horseback riding.  It was nice to be back in the mountains but looking at this picture I realized I am wearing the same jacket and hat.  That is probably pretty pitiful. 

The kids night swimming.  The steam rising from the pool is out of control so my pictures weren't great but they loved swimming in the freezing (literally) cold.  Stephen and I enjoyed watching the kids experience so many new things on this trip.  Sometimes, while piling on three pairs of snow pants, hats and gloves, hauling ski gear,  clearing snot off little faces, you wonder what in the heck were we  thinking?  But it is the memories, all the family memories we stock pile up...that is why we do it.  This trip will always be- remember that first time we went skiing?