14 inches of snow

The boys and I had the fun of traveling to Banner Elk, NC to spend some time with my mom. We had a great time playing lots of SORRY and Chutes and Ladders in between our snow adventures and warming up in the pool. We could not beleive the amount of snow that landed that Wed. night...14 inches in 24 hours! Amazing! It was beautiful, dreamy, and oh so much fun! At one point walking to the pool, Tate lost his snowboot in the snow, and when he stepped, it covered his whole leg...crazy snow drifts. On Thursday we were suppose to head into Boone to meet up with my cousin and her parents. Well, that was postponed a day, but so worth the wait. Renee is due with her first child ...a little girl, in a few weeks, so it was wonderful to catch up with her and Uncle Marvin and Aunt Wanda. Thanks for trekking over to Makatos! After that, I traveled down memory lane and went onto the ASU campus. It was so fun showing the boys where mommy and daddy lived and hung out before we were married. Besdies that day out, we hung close to the cabin and spent tons of time at the pool and in the snow...best of both worlds:-)

Ski School 2010

Here are some pictures from the boys day at Sugar Mtn, It was quite overcast that day, and snowed a little towards the end, but an overall success. They were ready for more after skiiing 10-4:30!

Giddy!

Can I just tell you that I'm giddy today? The last few days I have been packing and getting things ready for a trip with the boys. I love packing, organizing, and checking off my lists as we prepare to travel. I also have been trying to pace myself while I will be driving solo with my boys, so at times, I get a little anxious with the thought of any emergency I may have with them. I know that is not form the Lord, and He quickly reminds me of the blessing of age. The age of Owen and Griffin's helpfulness and attentiveness to assisting their mama. So, I'm giddy! The excitement of spending time in a new place with my mom andt he boys will be fun.
Pls. pry for safe travel, ease with traffic, good health, safe ski adventures(hopefully) and a wonderful time in the mtns. of NC! AHH, home sweet home:-)

Owen's 7th

Last Friday was such a wonderful day! We started off the day with Owen's breakfast choice of homemade waffles with powdered sugar and yes, chocolate syrup. It was a first, but I doubt a last for birthday treats. Then for lunch we planned a Chuck-E-Cheese party. I must say that I was eating crow on this one, because it was great! We were the only party at lunch and so we had the place, essentially to ourselves. Owen had asked 7 little buddies of his to join him, and they all were so polite and sweet to come. This party was enjoyable in some many ways; Owen made the guest list, made the invitations, picked out the cake, and choose his party to be his "present" from us, so Chad and I had fun taking all the excitement in. After an afternoon of playing outside once we were home, Owen requested white bean chili for dinner. So, he totally enjoyed being king of the day!

Lord, thank you for blessing us with Owen and all the uniqueness that comes along with him. He is a wonderful delight in our home and has such a tender heart towards you. I know you have created him to glorify You, and my prayer is that with every growing decision he would honor you with his heart, words, and deeds.

Tate Funnies

Ok, so I have to share these two moments we had with Tate. They definitely went into our laugh jar today, but I wanted to give you a little laugh too.

#1
He was looking over Griffin's scrapbook that I had been working on, and he saw a very pregnant picture of me. So, he asked, "where's Tate?" so I pointed to my belly in the picture and said, there you are. He said," Did you eat me?"

#2
Chad was driving home from lunch and I was reading an article to the boys about Winter Olympic Hopefuls. When I got to talking about a speed skater, Apollo Ohnu, Tate had his own thoughts. Right as I finished saying "Ohnu," he piped up and said, "Dos, Tres, Cuatro, Cinco" Chad and I busted out laughing! And then Griffin said, "I can play uno." Fun times with the fellas!

Hope I made you smile today!

A connection and a conversation

Owen: Mom, it's really easy to understand.
Mom: what are you talking about?
Owen: well, Yoda is like God, you and Dad are like Anakin, and we are Padawans. You know, God is our master and Yoda is the Jedi Master, and Anakin is training the padawans about being a Jedi like you teach us about God.
Mom: you are right.
Chad: well then who is DarthVader?
Owen: Dad, Satan of course.

Needless to say, I was giggling with his connection(b/c I am not into sci-fi) and blown away at the same time. as with all analogies, they break down at some point, but I was totally impressed with his discovery.

So, moms, had I rushed us out the door this morning, I would have missed this conversation. Let's challenge each other to hear our children more, because when we are honest, they teach us so much more:-0

December Cheer

Our month has been full of "non-traditional" school stuff. The pictures below will only include some of our winter fun, but I'll share the highlights first:

- wrapped up Owen's school with scoring a 100 on his semester review in math! Way to go o-man!
- Tate gave us the gift of potty training...yippee!!!!
- hosted our 2nd Vinson Boys' Ornament Exchange with lots of friends (33 kids, 12 moms)
- baking cookies for BIble study teachers and local firemen...this was our 3rd yr going
- driving around to see the holiday lights
- went to the Murfreesboro Parade with friends
- Owen went with his scouts to a local potter and made his own dish...video below...it's awesome!
- attending the FSM Cowboy Christmas Party and doing some square dancing and learning poker..thks Jerry!
- Chad starting his doctorate program
- hosting my mom a few days before Christmas and treating her to ICE..an amazing ice sculpting that depicts the Charlie Brown Christmas Story...it was all of 9 degrees in this place- crazy cold!!
- enjoyed the slowness of our Christmas morning in our own home, although we missed seeing family
- the boys loving hot chocolate with their Christmas breakfast
- watching lots of holiday movie specials
- the Sunday after Christmas we loved on others by taking candy canes to 2 local assisted living homes and gave lots of big hugs and smiles to the residents. I'm sure this is something we will continue as a family, because the boys really enjoyed seeing their faces light up when they were handed a treat.














Owen on the ice slide




"Tate our little politician" - shaking hands, huggin' and wishing meeeerrrrrrrry Christmas-