The birthday boy!Thursday, February 25, 2010
Indie Turns One!!
My nephew Indie turned one on February 22nd, and the kids and I went to Richmond to celebrate. My mom came up on Friday afternoon and we all drove to Richmond together. Chris is super busy at work, so he stayed home to get a few things done. It was a great party, and my sister did a fantastic job with The Hungry Caterpillar theme! Indie is getting so big...he's walking now, and the cousins had fun together.
The birthday boy!
The birthday boy!
Valentine's Day
Chris and I have never been huge fans of Valentine's Day (we celebrate our anniversary and say 'I Love You' EVERY DAY!), but it's been fun to celebrate with the kids the past few years. Our neighbor had a Valentine's Day party, a few days before Valentine's Day. There were about 20 kids there (plus adults), so it was fun, but a little crazy. The kids decorated bags (below), exchanged valentines with their friends, did a flower with a heart thumbprint craft and had a potluck lunch.
I have been going to Jazzercise since October, and on Valentine's Day they had a Sweetheart Class where you could bring someone with you. They don't normally have childcare on Sundays, but they did for this class (so men could have no excuses to back out!). Chris went with me, and had a good time. There were actually a lot of men there (some people brought their moms or another friend).... and Chris did really well. He was surprised how good of a workout it was, and was still a little sore on Tuesday. :) He was a good sport, and after our workout, we went out for Mexican food with the kids for dinner.
I have been going to Jazzercise since October, and on Valentine's Day they had a Sweetheart Class where you could bring someone with you. They don't normally have childcare on Sundays, but they did for this class (so men could have no excuses to back out!). Chris went with me, and had a good time. There were actually a lot of men there (some people brought their moms or another friend).... and Chris did really well. He was surprised how good of a workout it was, and was still a little sore on Tuesday. :) He was a good sport, and after our workout, we went out for Mexican food with the kids for dinner.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Out and about...of course!
For those of you that know me, I'm not a stay-at-home type of stay-at-home mom. The kids and I are having a lot of fun exploring Raleigh and playing with our friends. Here's a few things that we've been up to lately.
Visit to the Holly Springs Fire Station with some of our friends. The firemen were GREAT with the kids! They gave us a tour of the fire station, showed us the trucks and put on full gear for the kids (and taught them some fire safety too!).
Explore-A-Story at Bass Lake Park is one of our favorites! Once a month we go to the park, hear stories, do a craft and then an activity outside. This month was about squirrels. After the program, it was so nice outside we went for a walk and had a picnic. Before leaving, we went in to the "animal room" and the park ranger pulled out a snake for the kids to touch and "hold". Keira loved the snake and thought it was funny it gave her a "hug" on her wrist (above).
Visit to the Holly Springs Fire Station with some of our friends. The firemen were GREAT with the kids! They gave us a tour of the fire station, showed us the trucks and put on full gear for the kids (and taught them some fire safety too!).
Explore-A-Story at Bass Lake Park is one of our favorites! Once a month we go to the park, hear stories, do a craft and then an activity outside. This month was about squirrels. After the program, it was so nice outside we went for a walk and had a picnic. Before leaving, we went in to the "animal room" and the park ranger pulled out a snake for the kids to touch and "hold". Keira loved the snake and thought it was funny it gave her a "hug" on her wrist (above).
It does snow in North Carolina! The kids enjoyed the first (and probably last) snowfall of the year by sledding and playing with their friends outside.
Keira just started gymnastics and LOVES it! In her first class she practiced handstands (left) and backwards rolls (right).
The kids Ready-to-Learn preschool class took a field trip to PetSmart. They learned about different animals and how to take care of them. They got to pet a guinea pig and two different types of lizards.
My grandmother gave us some money for Christmas, and we used it to buy a membership to the Marbles Children's Museum in downtown Raleigh. We go at least once a month and the kids have a blast! Last week there was a new exhibit open, which was a lot of fun. Liam and his friend Tucker (left) at the lemonade stand and Keira (right) making pizzas in the pizza restaurant.
The kids Ready-to-Learn preschool class took a field trip to PetSmart. They learned about different animals and how to take care of them. They got to pet a guinea pig and two different types of lizards.
My grandmother gave us some money for Christmas, and we used it to buy a membership to the Marbles Children's Museum in downtown Raleigh. We go at least once a month and the kids have a blast! Last week there was a new exhibit open, which was a lot of fun. Liam and his friend Tucker (left) at the lemonade stand and Keira (right) making pizzas in the pizza restaurant.
yes, I'm a total blog slacker!
Here's the last few months in a nutshell...
Thanksgiving: went to Topsail Beach, NC for the We AHR Family reunion. We spent the week with extended family in an 8-bedroom beach house (28 people!), and had a great time.
Christmas: We headed up to Northern Virginia to
spend a week with the McNierney family. The first few days we had almost two feet of snow, so the kids had a great time sledding and playing with their cousins. We went and saw the ICE Show outside of DC, and of course the ice slides were a huge hit (family photo to right)! We visited with numerous friends, and enjoyed catching up with them too. Christmas with 2 grandparents, 8 siblings, 10 grandkids and 5 dogs is always crazy, but fun!
Enjoying the snow! Family photo (left) and Tiffany helping the cousins, Chelsea, Keira, Liam and Nate build a snowman in the front yard (right).
Thanksgiving: went to Topsail Beach, NC for the We AHR Family reunion. We spent the week with extended family in an 8-bedroom beach house (28 people!), and had a great time.
Christmas: We headed up to Northern Virginia to
spend a week with the McNierney family. The first few days we had almost two feet of snow, so the kids had a great time sledding and playing with their cousins. We went and saw the ICE Show outside of DC, and of course the ice slides were a huge hit (family photo to right)! We visited with numerous friends, and enjoyed catching up with them too. Christmas with 2 grandparents, 8 siblings, 10 grandkids and 5 dogs is always crazy, but fun!
Enjoying the snow! Family photo (left) and Tiffany helping the cousins, Chelsea, Keira, Liam and Nate build a snowman in the front yard (right).
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Halloween weekend
We had a family night on the Thursday before Halloween and carved pumpkins and watched The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. Keira loved getting her hands dirty and pulling out the pumpkin guts...but Liam wouldn't touch them. All he wanted to do was put the "lid" back on the pumpkin when we were done.
We started out Halloween day by going to Hollyfest, which is our town's annual festival. It just happened to fall on Halloween this year. We spent most of the day there playing on the moon bounces, making crafts, playing on the playground, enjoying treats and visiting with friends.
Liam and Keira painting luminaries (looks like Liam might be a lefty like Mommy!)
After Hollyfest, we headed home for (wishful thinking) naps and quiet time, before the evening festivities began. Some of the kids' friends (and cousin Maggie and Adam) came over for pizza dinner and then we all headed out for trick or treating. This year the kids picked out what they want to be for Halloween, and Keira was a turtle and Liam was Tigger. 
Keira understood Halloween last year, but this is the first year Liam got it, and they both had a great time. We trick or treated for a couple of hours, and then headed home. We ended the night going to our neighbor's house for a (30th) birthday celebration.
Conner (pumpkin), Tucker (Army man), Liam and Keira trick or treating
On Sunday the kids' friend Cameron had his 3rd birthday party at the New Hope Valley Railway station. To start the party, we took an hour long train ride with the steam engine. We were on the caboose for the first half of the ride, and then the train stopped to move the engine to the back of the train, so we were in the front of the train on the way home. It was cool to get an up-close view of the engine hooking up to our train car. After we returned, they had the birthday party on the stationary caboose at the station. The railway also has a Santa train in December, so since the kids had so much fun, we are planning on doing that one too.
Keira and Issac get a front-row view of the steam engine hooking up to our car at the half-way point
Keira, Liam and Chris checking out the scenery from the upper seats
We started out Halloween day by going to Hollyfest, which is our town's annual festival. It just happened to fall on Halloween this year. We spent most of the day there playing on the moon bounces, making crafts, playing on the playground, enjoying treats and visiting with friends.
Liam and Keira painting luminaries (looks like Liam might be a lefty like Mommy!) 
Keira understood Halloween last year, but this is the first year Liam got it, and they both had a great time. We trick or treated for a couple of hours, and then headed home. We ended the night going to our neighbor's house for a (30th) birthday celebration.
Conner (pumpkin), Tucker (Army man), Liam and Keira trick or treating On Sunday the kids' friend Cameron had his 3rd birthday party at the New Hope Valley Railway station. To start the party, we took an hour long train ride with the steam engine. We were on the caboose for the first half of the ride, and then the train stopped to move the engine to the back of the train, so we were in the front of the train on the way home. It was cool to get an up-close view of the engine hooking up to our train car. After we returned, they had the birthday party on the stationary caboose at the station. The railway also has a Santa train in December, so since the kids had so much fun, we are planning on doing that one too.
Keira and Issac get a front-row view of the steam engine hooking up to our car at the half-way point
Keira, Liam and Chris checking out the scenery from the upper seatsLiam is a big boy!!
It's official...Liam is potty trained! He's been potty trained for a few weeks, but I didn't want to jinx it by putting it in writing just yet. :) We started out with naked potty training over a weekend, and we weren't sure he was going to get it at first. But the following Wednesday night, something clicked...and he's been doing fantastic ever since! We even went to the zoo that Thursday (armed with 5 pairs of pants/undies just in case!), and he only had one accident. For the past month, he's had relatively few accidents, and is now asking to go potty (before it was more us making sure he went every hour or so). We were worried about training him because we heard boys were hard, but he was very easy and caught on quickly. We're so proud of him...and he's proud of himself!
State Fair
Friday, October 23rd we went to the Raleigh State Fair. This was our 2nd year going, and we again had a great time. The animals are always the highlight of the fair for the kids...we visited the rabbit barn, the main building where the cows/calves were (unfortunately the line was ridiculously long, or we would have milked a cow!), and the kids favorite place, the poultry tent.... which is where they can hold the baby chicks and ducks (Keira is shown holding a baby duck below).
We also went to the petting/feeding zoo, which the kids just LOVE. They fed the goats, camels and other animals carrots. 
After feeding the animals (and washing hands!), we grabbed dinner and walked around to the rides. The fried foods are always big at the fair, and Chris and I decided to try fried cookie dough and chocolate covered bacon...which were both really good! The kids had fun on the rides (below with Chris on the whirly worm), and it was overall a fun time at the fair!
We also went to the petting/feeding zoo, which the kids just LOVE. They fed the goats, camels and other animals carrots. 
After feeding the animals (and washing hands!), we grabbed dinner and walked around to the rides. The fried foods are always big at the fair, and Chris and I decided to try fried cookie dough and chocolate covered bacon...which were both really good! The kids had fun on the rides (below with Chris on the whirly worm), and it was overall a fun time at the fair!
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