The one new thing is that God sent me a running/exercise partner. Julie, wife of Jon who runs the Woodlands Camp in Cleveland (www.woodlandscamp.org), saw me running a couple of weekend days and suggested we get together to run on a Sunday afternoon in January. We did, and then she asked if I ever ran on weekday mornings. As it turned out, our exercise schedules were compatible, so we started running nearly every morning at 5:30 AM. It's now September and we're still at it! She's easily the most dedicated exercise partner I've ever had, and motivates me to get out there even when I don't really want to. She's also an extremely pleasant person to know, and challenges and encourages me spiritually. I've enjoyed our friendship so much. Thanks, God, for unexpected blessings!
I'm not sure what's up with this spacing but it's unfixable. I don't think Blogspot likes stolen pictures.
One day early in February we got to have the Hicks boys over for a short time. Alison works some Saturdays and Carlton was otherwise engaged, so they came over to play. We get to hang out way too little now that everyone has started school and playgroup days are over.
Apparently the rest of the boys were outside playing or running from the camera because I only got pictures that included Tozer.Or my camera battery died. Or I forgot I was trying to take pictures. Who knows? That was eight months ago now.
Later that day we got the only snowfall of the winter.
James had a date planned with two young ladies for an evening out at Chick-Fil-A in Dahlonega. They put on a Daddy/Daughter date night in honor of Valentine's day. It seemed like the roads were clear so it was still a go.
All was well until the return trip, which took forever. They passed no less than three cars that had slid off the road, and a couple of abandoned ones where people just decided to walk. Thankfully careful driving and four wheel drive got them home safely. Date night was a success.
Here are a few random ones from the next morning. The sunrise was beautiful!
One day in February we went to INK. And I had pictures of it. So I'm posting them.
Sometimes you just have to get out of the house when it's winter and the daylight hours are short and you think you might go nuts without an outlet of some kind.
Amelia's going through a stage where she likes to experiment with props. We had a pair of crutches at the house for weeks that she hopped around for at least a part of every day.
Burn off that energy, people.
The Hicks invited the Himstedt boys to spend the night after a Friday night dinner. Alison and I decided it would be fun to meet at Unicoi State Park the next day for hiking and a picnic.
It was a great day for it. The weather was truly a winter gift that day. Just the right temperature.
There was much throwing in of stuff at every creek, and a lot of prodding of rocks to find bugs and living creepy things. The word "hike" sort of applied to the outing.
They all decided to try their hand at rock shot put when we reached the river.
Here are the responsible adults present. I love this friend.
Hiking/throwing stuff was a lot of fun. Afterward we picnicked and played on the playground.
The playground was next to a creek which was perfect for creek stomping, except that it was February. "Mom, Mom, Mom, can we just take our shoes off? We won't get all wet. Please, please, please?"
Talk about some frigid water.
Needless to say, everyone was soaking wet and dirty when they were through. But it's not often you get to creek stomp in February.
My THIRTY NINTH birthday was on February 18th. How did this happen? James surprised me by taking me out and the family out to eat. He had the whole family dress up in my honor (so I was really baffled as to where we might be going), then had no less than 20 of our friends meet us at El Campesino. It was a perfect birthday! Somewhere there are more photos of the evening, but I don't know where they are. Thirty nine. Boo.
We also made a trip to McDonough over Valentine's Day weekend. James and I usually do something exciting for Valentine's, like make dinner for the kids, eat it, and go to bed, but this year we weren't even together for it. There are several February birthdays in the family on my dad's side besides mine, so we planned to have dinner at Granny's in honor of it. James had a group at camp to take care of, so he couldn't come with us.On the way down we stopped by Imagine It in Atlanta. My yearly pass was about to expire.
The girls enjoy practicing their painting skills. Amelia painted afro rainbow head man.
Regular rainbow by Elizabeth.
Alien being chased by a tornado masterpiece.
Back at the house, Avery and Grandmom battled Beyblades.
I love the way Avery's actions tell a story without even using words.
Meanwhile, Grandmom pulled out from a long forgotten drawer, from way back in the day...a dickie. All the fashion of a turtleneck without the bulk. She even sent it home with us. Oh joy.
Mean old Mommy brought school work.
Here's the kids' favorite place in Grandmom and Grandad's house.
The girls set up a tea party. I believe the menu for the day was pizza, cupcakes, doughnuts, fruit, spaghetti, and juice, with a side of canned green beans.
My mom always talks about boring times at her Grandmother's house when she was a kid, which is why she is determined her grandkids would have plenty to play with at her house.
Our get together at Granny's house was fun too. It's always great to catch up with what the family's up to.
Uncle Doug is good about getting the afternoon started off with a good wrestling match with the boys.
Abi and Jesse
Uncle Danny and Caroline
A scary lady who showed up for the food.
Anna
Ashely, Anna, Aunt Angela, and Caroline
Abi and Cody
The eldest brother, the revered one.
One should never make fun of one's child. Even if he is having an unreasonable fit of temper.
Beyblade battling. All the cool kids are doing it these days.
One very smart thing Jonathan did while we were at their house in January was to have us get out our calendars and figure out several times through the year that we could get together. We decided that the weekend of February 23 was a good time for all of us to hang out in Cleveland. Naturally, it rained nearly the entire weekend. Still, good times were had by all.
Brynn keeps growing! Seven months old now.
The first rule of having a bunch of people in one room is to drag out something with lots of small pieces and make sure it takes up as much of the walking space as possible. It was a good exercise in teamwork though.
Grandmom got a phone with lots of gadgets she'll probably never use. Figuring out how to take a picture on it is priority one when all the grandkids are around.
Manicure time.
We even ventured out to church with the whole crowd.
Why is it so much easier to get a silly one than a real one?
Here's a couple of shots of my Monday riding lesson crew. I had a lot of fun doing weekly lessons for Maggie, Sara, and Amelia. There were a few pretty chilly winter afternoons!
Amelia's favorite horse is Niner.
And February is a wrap! Another month full of blessings we are nowhere close to deserving. Thank you, Lord!
Before I sign off, here is a recent question from Avery while I poured his Life cereal one morning: "Is there also Death cereal?"
No comments:
Post a Comment