What is it about Winter?

As I am sitting down to write my weekly blog update, I have been going through the last week in my head,I have looked through my pictures and despite being busy and definitely doing stuff, I can't say that I have lots to show for it. In the summer, even in the slower weeks, I still have lots of pictures and it seems like we do a lot more. I definitely enjoy the warmer weather much more than the cooler weather...good thing I live where I live. It definitely has something to do with winter! Here is what we DID do this last week.

The girls have started back to dance. They both still very much enjoy taking dance and are looking forward to another semester. Bayley also has started swimming once a week. It is just enough to keep her excited, but not burnt out about swimming. And starting next month all three kids will be playing in a local church basketball league. Kendal is especially excited and hopefully the other two have a good experience. It should be fun to watch!

The kids and I spent the weekend in Georgia helping my parents paint. Jeff stayed home and spent the weekend participating in church activities. We all met back up Sunday just in time to get ready for another week...a lot more of the same!

Celine, Skating, Training & Foam

So we enjoyed a few "firsts" this week. After over a year wait, Jeff and I were finally able to see Celine Dion in concert for the first time. I have wanted to see Celine in concert since she started her shows in Vegas many years ago. I was very disappointed that I was never able to catch her in concert during my trips to Vegas. So when I found out that she would be touring, I asked Jeff for tickets to her concert last year for Christmas. He obliged and after hiding the tickets in my sock drawer for the last year, we were finally able to use them on Saturday. The concert was great! I would definitely go to see her concert again...a good indicator on my value scale.

The view from our seats in Phillips Arena

Kendal experienced a first this week as well. Yesterday for MLK day, she accompanied Bayley and her friend to the local skating rink to give rollerskating a try. I prepped her the entire day leading up to going that she WAS going to fall and that it might hurt. She did awesome for her first time. She did not complain once and she really seemed to enjoy it! She was fine going off on her own and was very patient with herself as she learned a new skill. It probably wasn't the best day to be learning how to skate, as every other kid off school decided that the skating rink was the place to be...it was so crowded! I definitely think that she will want to go back!

Trey was our other child to experience a "first". For the first time ever he did something other than #1 in the potty...if you know what I mean. We have slowly begun the potty-training process with our youngest son. It is going to take a while, but hopefully by the time he is 3 years old, we will have it down. Until then, we just talk about it a whole bunch and celebrate any little milestones that we make!

Trey with his Foam airplane (he loved the foam)

Finally this week, the kids played with play foam for the first time. For those of you that may not be familiar with foam, it is wonderful. It is similar to play-doh in that you can shape it and store it, but better than play-doh in that it never dries out and seems to stay together much better. The kids loved it and all three played for over an hour with their foam. I will have no problem pulling out our foam again!

Kendal's creations

Routine is a Good Thing

I love routine...always have. My kids have always been very scheduled...I work around their schedules most of the time to ensure that they hit their nap times and that we get to bed around 7:30 pm. Not only are my kids happier and more well-behaved, but it sure makes my life as a mom much more enjoyable. The only time that our schedules get way out of whack seem to be over vacations, which I know comes with vacations and allows us to get more done and spend more quality time with family and friends. However, by the end of a vacation my kids are usually fried! And it takes a couple of days at least to get back on schedule. Last week we did much better and guess what?? I yelled a lot less, enjoyed my kids a lot more and they were much happier! Ta-da.

Happy Kids = Happy Mom

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Her Webkinz named Tiger

It is hard to believe that Christmas is over and we have already started the New Year. I can't believe how quickly Christmas came and went...I guess when you are having fun that is when time seems to move very quickly. We had a great Christmas. It was fun spending lots of time in Georgia with the Griffeth's, but it was also nice to be able to run back to Alabama for a good nights rest in our own beds and to still get a few things done over the break. The kids I think have had a great couple of weeks. For the most part they stayed healthy over the break, which made things not only more enjoyable for them but also for me. We did however have a one-day health scare with Trey who had some sort of asthma/bronchial attack last Sunday. He woke up Sunday morning with what I thought was the beginning of a cold with a cough. By Sunday afternoon he was coughing continously and having a hard time catching his breath. I took him to Urgent care where they quickly took us back and took his oxygen levels. Based upon his initial readings the doctor came in and said that they were going to start a breathing treatment and were calling the ambulance to have Trey transported to the Children's Hospital. Trey has had one of these "attacks" once before and after a breathing treatment quickly recovered...so I begged the doctor to wait on the ambulance and give the breathing treatment a try. To my relief, he responded very quickly and very well to the breathing treatment so the doctor let us proceed home on our own with a couple of prescriptions and orders to take him directly to the ER if he started having problems breathing again. By the next day you would have never had known that he had cough the day before.

Kendal and her dogs!

We really did have a great Christmas break. The kids loved how Santa new exactly what they wanted without them even having asked him for certain things. It was AMAZING! Our big family gift this year was the Wii...we have had a great time playing together as a family. I love how interactive it is and how the girls can compete with the Big Kids (Jeff and I). Jeff surprised me this year with a great present...one of those big Food Storage shelves that holds up to 600 cans and helps you rotate your food storage. Not only is it a very practical gift, but he also got a great deal (you know I was super Happy, not only with the practicality of the gift but also that he saved some $). My parents also gave us some money for Christmas to put towards increasing our food storage...it is one of our goals this year to organize and ensure that we have our years supply. Another gift I am really excited about is our new Flip camera...I am still testing it out, but so far I think it is going to be AWESOME. The blog will definitely be featuring more video in the near future!

Trey filling up his new dump truck with Barbies!

Bayley doesn't go back to school until Wednesday of this week, so we still have a couple of more days to go in our Christmas break. I am sure the next two days will be busy and fun...then it is back to the routine, which I think we all may be ready for!