Ice Storm 2015

I was starting to wonder if it was going to happen this year and it finally did. We got an ice storm (notice I said ICE and not snow). In typical Greenville fashion, pretty much everything is shut down, people are working from home, the news is telling us not to leave our houses and it suits me just fine! Our nanny Layla was able to make it here this morning and has been watching the boys so I can work, so it feels like a standard day...except that we got to do this right after lunch!

Put hats and gear on to go play! I use the term "gear" lightly. We have hats and jackets and tennis shoes. No ski bibs, no sleds, no teeny little gloves/mittens. I am very impressed with the other littles I've seen on Instagram and Facebook with the full shebang when it comes to snow attire, especially considering we may or may not get any snow at all so there's only a chance that the kid(s) can wear all this stuff one time. I do not get that good parent always prepared for any type of weather award. But that's OK. We'll live. I also use the term "play" lightly as we spent all of 5 minutes outside before coming back in. It literally took more time to get them ready to go outside than we actually spent outside. But hey, I got my ice storm pictures so I'm happy. :)

 

Stokes with his furry hat

William bundled up

He's not sure what to think

Stokes and William

It was cracking me up. They just stood in place!

Stokes checking out the ice

I took them outside in waves. Stokes and William first, while Ryan looked on from the comfort and warmth of inside the house. Please check out that big boy practicing standing and bearing weight on his legs and feet!!!

Layla and Ryan watching the fun

Still in the same place - he wouldn't move

Both boys had soaking wet khaki pants after just a few minutes
outside and a few falls to the ground.

 Then it was Ryan's turn!

Bundled up and ready to go

Hanging out in his Bumbo outside in the ice

He can sit on his own now, but I knew that he would be
so wet and cold, so we used the Bumbo instead!

This look says, "Mom, I'm cold. Why are you making me
sit out here so you can take pictures?!"

He was looking all around!

2015 Valentine's Day

My sweet little Valentines

Today was a great day. We started off with a yummy breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, cheesy eggs and cheesy grits. Truth: this was the parent breakfast. The boys got blueberry muffins (make with apple sauce substituted for eggs since Stokes is allergic but they got some bacon and got to try little mini pancakes!)

Post-breakfast, we loaded the boys up, drove to Gaffney and went to the outlets. Shopping = love, so it made sense to go up there today. Haha! I am actually not a huge shopping fan but when I'm in the mood to shop, it's good stuff. We made pit stop at Chick-Fil-A for lunch. We made a mess there. Oops. 

All 4 of my Valentines at Chick-Fil-A

Stokie!

He was having a lot of fun playing with the fry box

William!

Ryan!

By the time we got done with the outlets, it was late so we came home, fed the boys, put them to bed and feasted on this deliciousness. 

Filet from NY Butcher Shoppe, Vidalia onion, sautéed peppers
and orzo pasta salad with Clos Pegase Claret

What a fun Saturday Valentine's Day. Gosh, we sound boring and old, but if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck.... :) I seriously had a good time in the 3rd row of the van, sitting in between Stokes and William, and making them laugh while feeding them raisins on the way back to Greenville after shopping. My time with my boys is so much more precious now that I'm working all day and have a lot less quality time with them. They are just such big sweethearts. I LOVE it when I can make them smile and laugh. I'm feeling all lovey-dovey right now, but I seriously have to tell you that this is an AWESOME age. This has been a great Valentine's day for me this year. I'm feeling lots of love and my heart is so full it might blow up at any minute. I hope you felt a lot of love this year, too. XOXO

Flashback to Valentine's Day 2014! I just re-read my post from last year, which contains the following pictures. My little baby Valentines....*swoon*

Look how different they look from last year! They were so little!

William

Stokes

Ryan (with no hair!)

Super Bowl and a super scrape

This post begins last Sunday during the Super Bowl. We didn't really have big plans and invited our friends Stephanie and Clark to come over and watch with us. We also had MaSha over and Suzy came from Knoxville to help out through the week (more on that later). Not sure if you can tell, but we were cheering for the Seattle Seahawks. Shout out to former Clemson tiger, Byron Maxwell, a member of the "Legion of Boom". I put the boys in blue and green to cheer on the team. It didn't work. That's OK, we still enjoyed the night!

 

Stephanie and William

Clark with Stokes and William

I love this one - Steph playing with Ryan and then Clark
and the other two in the background

MaSha and Stokie

Clark with Ryan

MaSha holding Ryan

Stokie and Aunt Suzy

Thomas and William

Boy corner!

Family pic!

Steph and Clark are wonderful friends and are going to make such awesome parents! :)

As always MaSha was helpful and so sweet. Aunt Suzy came into town to help out with the boys. You may remember Aunt Suzy from this post. See, I had to travel for work on Monday - Friday all the way out to Long Beach, CA. That's a long time to be gone and we realized that Suzy hadn't seen the boys since last July and thought it would be awesome if she was willing and able to come stay with all my guys while I was gone. Thomas sure did appreciate the help and I felt good knowing that he and Layla had several extra sets of hands to take care of the little ones.

So that brings us to this weekend! Saturday was my birthday and I just loved spending time with my family. The weather was beautiful and we got the boys outside for a little while. So while we were outside, we let Stokes roam free and were hoping that he would hang out in the grass. Well...he face planted in the driveway. PLG! I mean, he went face first straight into the pavement. Not good. He actually didn't cry very long, but has a red, scraped up nose to show for it. I didn't get any pictures of it yesterday, but he was our little Rudolph with his red nose. Here's what it looks like as of tonight.

Look at him! Bless his heart! I'm sure it's the first of many scrapes and scabs, but it still makes me sad.

Apart from Stokes's close encounter with the driveway, it was a great weekend. Thomas and I went out to dinner at Anita's, one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, for my birthday while MaSha came over and watched the boys for us. She fed them dinner and got them to bed so we could have a date night. Thank you, MaSha!!

She also brought balloons for my birthday and they were a big hit! The boys loved playing with them! Check this out...

Balloon Fun!

Sunday we went to church and then spent some more time outside!!! We avoided the driveway this time and stayed in the grass.

Thomas and his boys

He's so happy!

Stokes was very hesitant to walk
in the grass!!

He literally just stood there and was
scared to walk. LOL

Ryan was chillin!

MaSha came over and was encouraging the walking

Thomas and William

William and me

Stokes and me

Weekend bonus!!! I got to meet my newest little love, Caroline Parker Young! She was born last Friday, Jan. 30th and I didn't get to meet her last weekend since I was battling a cold and then spent the whole week in CA. I was so ready to see this sweet girl and snuggle!!! Her Mama and Daddy are doing great and I'm so proud of them and excited for this journey to begin for them.

Newborn baby Caroline and her
"Auntie Katie" :)

She's so sweet!

Sweet Caroline

This gorgeous lady is her Mama

And here she is snuggling with her Daddy!

Wishing you lots of snuggles with your family and loved ones! xoxo