A Moment in the Day

This old girl has found a favorite spot. She's not allowed upstairs, and is so obedient, that she refuses to come up even if she is coaxed and coo'd and called...

10 Years

This year marks our 10th Anniversary. We were just brilliant to get married in the year 2000, it is so easy to remember how many year's we've been married.

We decided on a relaxing but still fun celebration this year and spent the first part of our days away at Lake Lure. Kevin's brother, David, has a house there that we stayed in. Lake Lure's claim to fame is that the movie Dirty Dancing was filmed there. Don't worry, we didn't do a re-enactment. The first morning (after searching HIGH and LOW for a coffee shop, any coffee shop) we went down to the lake and decided to sign up for one of their Pontoon Tours. They told us they thought they had room but had a senior group coming first thing and needed to get them loaded first. We shortly decided to rent our own Pontoon boat. It was so peaceful driving all around the lake and there were lots of big houses to look at. It reminded me a lot of Cour D'Alene. We also did some hiking at Chimney Rock. Our hope was to go to the Rock itself, but they had some elevator issues and so it was closed off. While that was disappointing, we found a nice hike with a waterfall. We spent the next day doing a whole lot of nothing, which we both needed at the time.

A few days later we drove to Asheville to continue the celebration at the Biltmore. Kevin has a high school friend who had connections at the Grove Park Inn and we were able to stay there for two nights. The land the hotel sits on is simply gorgeous. We checked in and had lunch out on the porch and you just couldn't ask for a prettier setting.

The Biltmore House was what I think we were both most excited about and it did not disappoint. I had been once, shortly after we moved to North Carolina and Mom and Dad took us there around Christmas Time. We got parked, made haste into the house where we rented our self-guided-tour headphones and were off. It is such a beautiful and fascinating home, and the history of the family only makes it more so. The big treat on this day was two-fold: It was some kind of special promotion so we got to see the basement and another floor that are not normally on the standard tour; we also purchased a Roof Top Tour pass for that afternoon.

The Roof Top tour was I think my favorite part. I am fascinated by anything 'behind the scenes' or that is off limits or left in its original state. We started the tour by seeing several guest rooms that were currently being used as storage. We couldn't take any pictures but it was amazing. At one point we saw a suit of armor from Japan. But the best view was from the top, and when they say roof top, they literally mean you are going to stand on the roof. We were allowed to take pictures here and it was a beautiful view. I think both of us enjoyed the extra history during this special tour almost as much as the tour itself.

On a mushier note, I can hardly believe it's been 10 years that Kevin and I have been married. I'm married to a man who accepts me just as I am (not an easy task), has exceeded my expectations as a husband and a father to our kids, has roped me into country music (and I love it), likes to travel and have and have fun, and is still the guy singing on stage that made me swoon 10 years ago. What better way to celebrate than with cake? So I had one made up, and we DID re-enact a little wedding tradition.

Mother's Day at Nana's

The whole gang came in for Mother's day and it was so fun to see everyone at Fletcher & Nancy's place. Somehow it is always beautiful Mother's Day weekend. We all migrated outside and the kids and men had fun playing ball, and launching (what else?) a rocket! We got some group pictures of everyone together and I got my annual Mother's Day picture of me and the kids in Nancy & Fletcher's beautiful garden.

Mother's Day Tea

Adison and I thought it would be fun to take Grammy out for a Mother's Day Tea this year and what better place to do it than the Tea Room in Wake Forrest. I can't remember if Adison had been there before, but this was the first time she was old enough to act like a lady and enjoy it. It's such a fun place to visit, we all got dressed up and ready to enjoy some good food and good dessert.
Adison loved getting a real teacup to put her lemonade in. The three of us enjoyed some special girl time together and I love the picture of the three of us at the table. This might just need to be our new tradition. I'm so thankful for my Mom and for such a fun way to celebrate together.

That's a Lot of Books

Cole's school has a Read-A-Thon every year where kids keep track of the minutes they've read, families pledge cents per minute and there are prizes given at the end of the year. This year Cole read over 3,000 minutes and got a little plaque and a certificate for a cookie. I am so impressed with my little boy. He's so dedicated and enjoys learning, and will spend countless hours on whatever subject interests him the most at that moment. He's so happy for his prizes, you can see him pointing to it afterwards while he's sitting down and we couldn't be more proud.

Six Years Old

Cole is 6! It's so hard to believe that he is six already. I asked him what he wanted and what he wanted to do for his birthday and he knew both immediately without hesitation. He requested we go to the Mellow Mushroom for dinner (granted!), to Goodberry's for ice cream afterwards, and he wanted money for his birthday to buy several lego sets he's had his eye on for a few weeks.

Mom and Dad came with us to celebrate. I don't think it's any secret that our family loves the Mellow Mushroom pizza, particularly putting all that parmesan cheese on it. When our table is done, is usually looks as though it snowed right on top of us. I have it all over me, somehow; the kids have it on their faces, in their lap, sometimes in their hair. We just love cheese. Cole is purposefully applying his cheese in the picture.

It was present time after ice cream, and that kid got more cash-money than I do on my birthday. He stayed true to his mission, though, and spent every dime of it on leggo's. He bought one large set in particular: a fire truck garage.

At six Cole is a voracious reader, a fact-teller, a very silly face-maker, he is purposeful and thoughtful and our lives are so rich because of him.

Note: he did receive one toy: a soft hockey stick/puck for he and Adison to play with. We've already had a high-stick, and 2 slashing incidents out in the garage. We're trying to cut down on the injuries.

Big Dolly

I have a doll that my Great Grandmother (Great-Mom) made for me when I was little. I don't remember very much about her, but I do remember her having beautiful painted nails, and that her hair was always fixed, she was a very pretty lady. Adison spotted this doll one day and is fascinated with it. I don't let her play with it all too much, because I want it to last, but when she gets a chance to hold it, she loves it, and has decided to call her Big Dolly.

Easter 2010

This year we decided to go up to the mountains for Easter. That was an odd decision at first, I enjoy going to the Easter service at church. But we sensed our family needed to get away and spend time together, and that we could enjoy sharing the Easter story with the kids sunday morning. We also had the exciting task of planting Christmas tree's on this visit! Fletcher and Nancy have a beautiful piece of land not far from their mountain house and when Kevin suggested the idea of growing some trees, caring for them as a family, Fletcher was on it faster than you could say Tree Lot. It was hard work, and I didn't even do the hardest work (Kevin did: I'm not sure he'll dig another hole again...) and while Adison preferred playing in the car, she played happily and Cole was our right hand man. And it seems there is always time for one thing with Kevin: shooting off a rocket.

I feel like everything I want to say about the mountains I've said 50 times over by now, but we just love it every time. This visit we went on a waterfall hike for the first time, made delicious s'more's, and had an easter egg hunt. Just looking at these pictures makes me want to start a camp fire.

Fetch!

In the last picture of this series, Cole is telling me this:

"I'm throwing the toy out in the yard and Adison is bringing it back to me!!"

They were both thrilled for themselves for this fabulous idea and giggling happily together.

Hockey Boy

Cole has been taking a Learn-To-Skate class for the past 6 weeks. It was his Christmas present from his Great Grandparents-Mattix. It was a rough start for him, and a LOT of tears. We wanted to teach him, though, that sometimes things don't happen quickly and it takes lots of practice. We told him he didn't have to do any other skating classes if he didn't want to, but he had to finish the ones we've already signed up for.

Kevin took him to practice several times, and things really started to click. His last lesson was last saturday, and he got a little certificate and an iron-on badge (that I'm supposed to put where? On his Jeans?). After talking to him about it, he decided he wanted to sign up for the next level. So we did, and he's back at it on saturday's.

With the weather warming, we are outside quite a bit more now, and Cole's been playing hockey in the garage with his stick and net.

He came running into me today, and told me to come look. Turns out he had drawn an ENTIRE ice rink out of chalk on the garage floor. He didn't leave out a single detail or blue-line. As if that wasn't enough, he has been formulating a list of things he will need as a hockey player. He is expecting these things for his birthday next month. We'll see about all that, but I thought I would share his list and drawing.



It's a bit hard to read, but the list says:

*2 pairs of Goalie pads
*a helmet
*a catcher glove and a stick holder glove
*a stick
*tape
*1 pair of goalie pads has skates on them
*the other pair of pads has roller skates on them

(He checked out a hockey book at the library, and it talked about roller hockey as well. I think it's cute that he thinks the skates are attached to the pads)

Even Better than Yesterday

The snow has packed down, frozen, and we got just a tiny little dusting on top of that. So this morning we woke up to a gorgeous sunny day, blue skies, perfect sledding snow. Halfway through our adventures our neighbor brought us out his big-time-official sled and we extended our runway (top of the hill, through said neighbors' front yard and into his back yard hill). We stayed outside much longer than yesterday and had a great time.