Daddy's home

The slow down of the economy has led to a decrease in daddy's travel. We are not complaining because, as you can see from the photo, Olivia and Zach are enjoying every minute that daddy is home. We had the luxury over the holidays to spend two uninterrupted weeks of family time and I have to say, we were a little spoiled. We have fun together, so why not?!

Speaking of the holidays, I finally finished the task (before March arrived) of showcasing all of my wonderful holiday photo cards. I love looking at beautiful photos of my friends and family throughout the year, so it's nice to look above my desk in the kitchen to see all the smiling, adorable faces! Thanks for having such cute kids!

This past weekend, we visited the lake house on Saturday and cleaned out the cove (yuck), but it will be worth it when the water level rises soon. It was sunny, gorgeous and warm for a change! Except for the wasp sting, things were good. We were back in Atlanta Sunday, so I took the kids to Suwanne to see Aunt Karen, Uncle Mike and Gavin. Their neighborhood had a chili cookoff, so we invited ourselves. Zach enjoys a messy plate and face of chili, spagetti or whatever. I typically find chocolate all around his mouth (becuase he is hooked on Dove Dark chocolate like his mommy). I ask if he had been eating anything and I get the innocent "no", when the evidence is right on his face. Silly boy. Olivia helped herself to an entire bag of crackers.....

Inheriting the love of travel

For some reason, this weekend reminded me of several trips Dave and I have been lucky enough to take over the years. We were hiking with the kids Saturday at the Chattahoochee Nature Center and my mind went back to a few years ago when Dave and I were hiking in Park City, Utah. It was summer, so we began hiking the ski slopes and enjoying a beautiful, sunny day. The air was amazingly clear, the temperature just right and we found ourselves 'exploring' the mountains, lakes and wildlife. Well, we actually got lost for several hours, but who cares, I had my built-in compass with me (aka Dave). At the end of the journey of many, many hours, we came upon three moose. A young woman hiking by herself had run into them as well and was waiting patiently until someone came along. That's where we come in. We were as scared as she was, but it was still a beautiful site. The moose examined us just as much as we respectfully admired them. I was awestruck. Eventually, I would say 15 minutes or more, all parties involved decided to move on. The Stein Erikson hotel was absolutely amazing (this is where Katherine Heigl married a year ago). I try to forget the race we attended in Salt Lake City later that weekend; it was 100+ degress in the desert, but it was also the reason we were able to hike in Park City in the first place. Sorry, I cannot locate pictures at this time, but they really are beautiful :-)

As I was reading the travel section of the Sunday paper, an article about Joseph Haydn, the classical composer, took me back to another trip that Dave and I were lucky enough to experience. We decided to travel Europe for a couple of weeks (well before kids) and were making our way from Belgium, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. We found small hotels or bed and breakfast to stay in along the way, with no real plans. One afternoon we found a quaint town along a river in Austria. As we checked in, the hotel said we had gotten the last room for the night and also asked if we would be attending the Haydn symphony. We also were able to get the last two tickets to the concert, but it was absolutely amazing. The river meandering along the town, the sunset before we went into the symphony hall, the symphony itself was magical. I love Europe and long to go back. I know I inherit the love of travel from my parents (my dad in particular). I have traveled with them a few times cross country to Oregon and each trip was amazing. There is so much to see in this country, but I cannot get enough. If a trip is involved, I'm usually the one to say Yes!

We are lucky enough to tavel with Dave's work, so here's to the next trip.... Amelia Island in March!

Learning new things

Olivia is in Pre-K this year and she recently moved seats in her class. She is now seated next to Meadow, who happens to have an older sister (the ripe old age of 6, maybe?). Over the last week or so, Olivia has shown me new things she has learned from Meadow. As of last week, she can now snap her fingers. I have tried to teach my kids this trick when they ask me (ok, so maybe I do snap my fingers and expect things to happen automatically, but instead my kids get sidetracked and want me to teach them something - the nerve!) :-) So, she can snap her fingers (5 years old). Brady hopped in the car today and declared that he broke his finger trying to snap! Zach said, "don't worry, Brady, it will grow back." I then asked Brady if it was his finger or finger nail that broke and he again said finger. But of course, he was not in pain. Olivia also started printing her name in block letters. You know the ones, where the little girls love to write their name and then color it in... This takes forever at this age, but hey, it's cute. She tried to do it on the mulitple Valentine card for her classmates. Mommy had to knick this one in the bud. Hey, it was 8:15 pm and we needed to hit the bath and bed! Brady's grandma taught Brady, which was taught to Olivia, how to hold your fingers and make a lowercase 'b' and 'd'. Luckily, she doesn't get these letters mixed up, but is their a trick for and 'S'? Ah, lots and lots of handwriting at this age. My little lefty is teaching me quite a bit about this lefty world.

Another conversation to keep me amused was Brady picking up a book in our car today.

Zach: "Brady you can't read that book. It is a Level 1 Book."

Brady: Hmp.... "I can see Thomas" (reading no doubt) "His".....pause, pause, pause... "Zach, what is this word?"

Zach: "Oh, that word is 'view'."
Olivia is sitting in the front car seat in her own world looking at a new Dr. Seuss book about Rainforest and animals. Surprise, surprise. Oh these kids keep a smile on my face!

We returned from Delray Beach, Florida Sunday night. I received several compliments on how sweet my children were on the plane and at the airport. They were especially good, so I have to give them props. It was not as warm as I would have liked, but we still enjoyed the beach, hot tub and our friends, Justin and Brandon (and some really good Mellow Mushroom pizza). A few nights before, I branded myself at Senor Frogs (it was much more family oriented than the locations in Mexico). My forearm touched the "HOT PLATE" and guess what, it was hot. I'll have a scar to remind me of this trip. Olivia and Zach found a Man of War (blue jelly fish) on the beach, and that entertained them to no end. My sister, Kim, was on pins and needles everytime they poked at the jelly. They knew to touch him on the top, but those tentacles were long! We also listened to a band at Boston's on the Beach Saturday afternoon (by chance). Zach fell in love with the singer, Amber Leigh. She's been singing and playing the fiddle since 13 or so with her dad. She is beautiful and entertaining to watch, so Olivia was mesmerized too. Aunt Kim bought us a CD, so guess who has been listening to country music (even though Amber Leigh does great pop cover songs), no less than 14 times on Monday. When will this week end? Maybe I can 'lose' the CD. Nah, that would put Zach over the top. He has told everyone he sees about this "Kimberly.....no, no Amber Leigh" who is a rock star. It's good to know they pay attention and enjoy the places we go. A huge thanks to Aunt Kim for having us - yet again.

First born

A few days ago, Olivia and Zach hopped onto the scale to weigh themselves. It started out simple enough. Olivia weighs more than Zach; she IS 18 months older than him. Then, the kids move on to the height chart on our bathroom wall. Olivia is taller than Zach. You probably see where this is going. Over the weekend, we noticed that Zach was going through one of those (as most parents have experienced from time to time) a "rough time". I say it's hormones - hey, he's a growing boy! He's happy one minute, spitting mad the next and then the hysterical crying fit ensues. The rest of the day was bearable, but I knew there was a storm brewing.

As Olivia was getting ready for bed, Dave was flossing her teeth. I was reading to Zach; spending quality time with each kid since we have the luxury of Dave not traveling as much. Olivia pops into Zach's room in an excitement like no other. "Mom, I have new teeth!" Huh? I didn't know she had loose teeth and we do talk about that upcoming event often. It turns out, she has her 6 year molars coming in. Little did I know, they have 6 year molars..... for those of you with kids around this age. Olivia is a little over 5 years. She was so excited that she popped back into Zach's room to say "I'm SO excited; I cannot wait until school tomorrow so that I can tell all my friends!" Then, off she went to enjoy.

I immediately saw it coming..... Zach turns to me in a pout and says "Mom, why didn't you have me first? Why did you have to have Olivia first and me second?" Trying to explain this (to Zach, who gets everything) is a bit hard. I told him it was a game of chance. The egg that is there is chosen and then later on, another egg is chosen. If I have/had another baby, which is not in the plan, that baby would be younger than both Olivia and Zach. He thought on this a minute, but it still did not seem to quell his upset feelings. She's always bigger, stronger, taller, gets and will lose teeth before him (or will she?). I told him to wait it out until he is a teenager and things will work to his advantage. I love that my kids are close because they play so well together, but wow, I didn't see this one coming. Poor guy.

Firsts.....

I cannot believe I am saying this already, but WOW, my children are growing up so fast. I sound like all the older parents who say this, but when you are mired in the dirty diapers, sleepless nights, potty training issues, and temper tantrum episodes, it feels as if they will never grow up. Well, as of this morning, I am saying it "they grow up so fast".

Olivia had her first (non-family) sleepover 2 weeks ago at our neighbor, Skylar's, house. It was only next door, but it doesn't matter, it was her first real sleepover. This is BIG people! Skylar's dad asked me if I wanted to take a picture and I did not.... I should have. So, last night, I had two sleepovers at my house. Olivia had Skylar over to our house and Zach decided he needed a sleepover buddy too. Garrett, his best buddy in the neighborhood, to the rescue! It was amazing and still is (they are playing like champs as I write this blog). Everyone went to bed on time; actually the boys were asking if they could go to sleep while everyone was wrapping up dinner. The boys were exhausted; Zach especially since he woke me up at 5:30 am that morning. Fast forward to Saturday morning...I heard little feet around 6:50 am, but finally and leisurely crawled out of bed at 7:30 am (what a treat) to find them playing happily. Oh, their little cherub faces, the sweet smiles, the amount of sleep we all recieved - can we do this again??! I found that they helped themselves to a quick breakfast of yogurt- see photo. Yes, my children help themselves to the kid scissors that are tucked away above my washer (they use chairs to climb). Note to everyone, my kids are almost too good with scissors. Does anyone need a haircut? :-) It truly was amazing, but also a reality check that my children are growing up and are big enough to have sleepovers. What's next, driving?! Oh Dave......

Also, as a very, very, very proud parent, I have to give her a shout out on this one (and follow Amy P.'s lead).... Olivia's class has started spelling tests each week. She made a 100% this past Thursday and I am an extremely proud parent on this one. Yay, Olivia!!

Life is good and my kids are happy, what else can you ask for? Maybe, we will get a little snow early this week, (just a touch), then we can hop on a plane and head to south Florida for some sunny beach time. Now, that would make a really great week.

SeaWorld and the Daytona 24 Hour Race

We were in Daytona and Orlando last week on a mini vacation. The weather was not as warm as we had hoped for, but the family time was unbelievable! After making this trek last year, Dave and I knew some of the possible pitfalls that could happen. Last year, all Olivia would talk about, whine about, eat, sleep, breathe was SeaWorld. Well, this year, we (as sane parents) decided to make the trip to SeaWorld at the beginning of the vacation. Hence, we would not have to listen to the whining of "when are we going to SeaWorld". Well, I am happy to say, it worked!! Thursday, we spent the entire day at the park with very little crowds. I wouldn't even call them crowds at all. The Budweiser beer area was one of my favorite places especially since they had gluten free beer, oh and the Dolphin and Whale show! Both kids played hard, ate cotton candy (mommy ate half a bag to keep her energy up - he he he) and watched every show offered. It was such a fun, fun day! While in Daytona, we played on the beach (chilly weather, but still nice), swam in the hot tub and played with everything imaginable in the really nice condo where we stayed. Except for the iPhone/hot tub incident that I never want to talk about again....ahem, it was an amazing, low-key trip. Zach had to wait for his "special thing" on Sunday. He is a HUGE race fan, so going to a 24-Hour race for the entire 24 hours would have suited him just fine, but we waited to see the last 4 hours. It took Zach a while to understand that the cars would race while we were sleeping Saturday night. Now, at home, he plays with his race cars and talks about how long they have been racing (days and days). We walked our tails off at the race, but the weather was incredible and we even were able to ride a ferris wheel! The kids loved it.

Life is back to the normal craziness here in Atlanta, but now were are looking forward to Delray Beach, Florida and seeing Aunt Kim next Wednesday - Sunday. Dave will be in the Canary Islands (that's off the coast of Africa), so I'm psyched for him. He's not so excited (work trip), but hey, do we ever travel anywhere without it being a work trip?!

Yes, we like to travel.

The Feet Say it All

Just in case we lose her at SeaWorld this week, she'll have her name written on her feet! We are heading to Daytona, Florida tomorrow for the 24 Hours of Daytona race with Dave. Yes, we always tag along on work trips :-). Olivia will not say anything without the word "SeaWorld" attached to it. So, yes, she is excited! This afternoon, she came home from school and decided her feet needed a little pazazz. Witness, the decoration (toenails and all).