Valentine's in Georgia

This year Valentines and Presidents Day fell on the same weekend so we took advantage of Mike's Monday off and headed to Georgia for a visit. Wade had fun with Gray Gray and his little step cousin Mary from England who was also visiting!  

Poor Mike, not too romantic of a Valentines Day.....we ate catfish for dinner at Rays Mill Pond. He gave me a cycling jersey with a map of the Hawaiian islands. Possibly to motivate me to ride more???? I will I hope as the triathlon is mid August and I have a long way to go. 

I also took it as a "let's go back someday". We only spent time on Maui and I would love to see Pearl Harbor and Volcanoes National Park. 

We drove home as a snowstorm hit. It going to be very cold all week. Wade is still more of a beach boy than snow bunny but he still has a trip to Salt Lake coming up in a few weeks so it's not time to break out the sandals just yet. Thanks ️Aunt Mary for watching Wade on this snow day!

Now that we are done with the flu and our trip to Georgia I just have one business trip before head to the Mid Atlantic Quilt festival for one night. Yes this mama is looking forward to a little quilty R&R !!!!  

Two new Skiers in the family!

We gave Alden and Landon a day skiing for their Christmas gift this year. Appalachian Ski Mountain it was on MLK Monday. Weather and snow conditions were great and it wasn't as crowded as we feared. We started with a lesson with Mr Ken then had the afternoon to practice. 

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️Aunt Mary kept Wade occupied in the lodge and he liked watching all the activity too!

By the end of the day Landon had this run!  Great progress for the very first time on skiis

http://youtu.be/C0118rRx9lo

Maybe we can make this a Christmas gift tradition!!

Thank You Jim Morgan

Mr Morgan is retiring from Krispy Kreme and I wish him all the best. But I would also like to thank him for restoring my faith in leaders. I knew almost immediately after arriving at Krispy Kreme that he was no ordinary CEO.  Krispy Kreme was thought by many on the brink of collapse when he took over.  At my first company wide meeting he reminded everyone to keep their Faith and Family priorities in check or we would be no good to the company. Not that he didn't expect us to work hard....just keep things in balance. I love that he was not afraid to talk about his faith in our politically correct world. 

But how about this from your CEO?  He found out the day we were to first hold Wade in our arms and left us a voice mail just to say he would be praying for us. I had worked there about 6 months, surely this man was too busy to treat us all like that. But he made time...and the video that was made for him recounted story after story where he did similar things for others. 

Krispy Kreme is now a healthy company and such a great working environment. He was successful both on paper but more importantly in the hearts of us all. 

A New Year

Kim's crew came up for a few days over New Years. They always bring a ton of activity to the cabin with Mary's crew. Wade loves the flurry of 4 older wild cousins!  We did pose them for this shot

Then no trip to see ️Aunt Leanne is complete without doughnuts. The boys had a contest. Marshall was the winner by eating 8 but Landon held his own with 4. Their Moms halted the contest. 😜Wade thinks he is holding up his number but trust me he only had one. 

The first week of the year has been a blur...between finding a new car and feeling better (sinus issues and sore from wreck) I think I am now ready to tackle 2015. No real resolutions this year, but goals:

1-sell my house

2-potty train Wade

3-complete the Ramblin Rose triathlon in August

4-utilize my new freezer....for easier weeknight meals and more garden output

5-stay healthy and positive for my two guys at home whom I couldn't imagine not being in my life

Off to Dogwood for an overnight quilt fest with the Bee. Never fails to recharge my batteries!  Happy New Year!

Christmas 2014

I finally got the video done for Wade that I meant to do last year, but my procrastination allowed me to include some photos of this year's Christmas preparation too. It's amazing how much he has changed. 

http://youtu.be/y-9yzCCzmZQ

We had Grey Grey and Teenie here with Mary and her boys Christmas Eve. They helped Wade decorate a train cake. I got this pan to make cakes for Landon's third birthday ... seems like just yesterday. 

On Christmas morning he still didn't know what to expect...if you listen close he will say "that's not my toy"

http://youtu.be/OUnUfVlKPSI

Yes this huge Cars themed train table now serves as my coffee table in the cabin. 

We had a nice relaxing day, sharing Christmas lunch and gifts with Mikes side of the family.  We took Friday off and Dad treated us all to lunch at the Mexican restaurant (also to celebrate their 11th wedding anniversary). Mary and I then took the boys to see the final Hobbit movie. 

Didn't expect the weekend to end on this note....

A man made a left turn right into our path. Mike was driving and thankfully we all were fine. Wade was pretty shaken )as was his Mommy) when after the impact all you see and smell is the smoke from the airbag charges. So I will have a few extra to do's tomorrow as we look to get a replacement. This Explorer was a 2002 and had about 235,000 miles but we had just spent about $5,000 getting it back in good shape last year.....  But what's most import is that it kept us all safe. Bye bye old friend. Hello car payment. 

Change of Heart

Wade told us he did not want to go see Santa this morning while cowering in the corner. I told him we could just wave to him as we ate our pancakes with Max. But after watching Max sit with Santa (and get a candy cane) he ran right up to him and told him he would like a green car. We also checked and Santa would prefer chocolate chip cookies when he stops by the cabin Christmas Eve.

Christmas is a coming!

Wade asked all last week about a Christmas tree so Sunday afternoon we finally had a chance to drive up to Sparta and select one. Rudolph has the nose for finding a good tree. 

We need a skinny tree !!!  This one will be just right. 

He thought hanging the ornaments was a race I think and was very proud of his end result. Daddy will do some rearranging in a little while I feel certain. 

So we are about ready!  I even got his stocking done so he could hang it, there were just enough scraps to make a third one. I stole these fabrics and pattern from Mrs Goodneedle at one of our Bee's Dirty Santa exchanges several years back. They are perfect for the cabin  and I think she forgave me   

I have gotten cards mailed, most of the shopping done and even a batch of spice cookies made. Now let's get to enjoying the company of friends and family and delighting in Christmas through the eyes of a three year old.