Sleepover!

Two of Evan and Ben's greatest friends are Anna and Nathan, and luckily for us, we get along very well with their parents, Kara and Mark.  However, we never really get to hang out as adults because the kids always have to go home and go to bed early.  We came up with a way to solve that problem.

We knew the kids would absolutely go nuts for the chance to have a sleepover, so we decided that their whole family would come over for a sleepover.  That way, the kids would feel comfortable sleeping over and the grown ups could hang out after the kids were in bed.

So, they all came over and it worked out beautifully.  We had the greatest nacho bar for dinner out of this cookbook that Ian got from his brother Reid for Christmas.  It had recipes based on one of our favorite games, Settlers of Catan, laid out in a grid that looked like the game board.  Since Mark really likes to play games as well, we thought they would appreciate it.  The nachos were great, and the kids changed into their pj's and retired to their rooms.

We poured another round of wine and sat down to enjoy our game and a leisurely evening.  We played a couple of rounds of Settlers, had a great time, and decided to head to sleep a little after midnight.  Amazingly enough, we were not the last ones to go to sleep!  Ben and Anna crashed in their room at about 10:45, but Evan and Nathan were still poking around and playing with legos when we went upstairs to change for bed.  I went out to check on them right before I went to sleep as the clock was approaching one in the morning and I saw their little faces still peering out of the door.  Fortunately for everyone, they crashed shortly after that.

In the morning, no one was really any worse for wear.  We had pancakes for everyone, the kiddos played a little more, and we all went home to rest and relax after our big night.  It was the perfect way to do a sleepover and let everyone have a little fun.  Looking forward to the next time!

(dinner game board)

(munchkins enjoying their dinner)

(wiggle worms getting ready for bed)

(fun after kiddo bedtime)

(Ripple wore out first.)

(They all survived...happy the morning after)

A New Ride

So, for the past 6 years or so I've had a perfectly nice car.  I've been driving the boys around in a 2009 Duke blue Camry.  It's been a lovely, comfortable car, but this past year is really the first year that I've started to think I needed something a little bigger.  I kept needing to carpool with people, but I couldn't offer to carpool their kids in return because I could only seat one additional kid in the car.  Not to mention, when Grandma and Grandpa came to visit, one of the grandparents had to sit wedged in the backseat between two large carseats unable to buckle their seatbelt-not optimal.  

I started to think about getting a bigger car.  I didn't know what I wanted though-a minivan, an SUV, or something else.  So, we started looking.  When we were in Charlotte we were able to go test drive a few.  After driving the Odyssey, I actually started liking the whole minivan thing better than I thought I would.  It didn't drive as much like a "minivan" as I thought, it had lots of fun gadgets, and it got better gas mileage than I was thinking.

So, we got home from our test drives and we started making lists of the pros and cons of each car.  I even put the question to facebook.  The overwhelming answer from facebook was that I couldn't go wrong with the big Honda minivan.  Plus, in going over everything, we decided that it was indeed the best decision for us.

A few weeks later, we put the boys in the car and drove on over to the Honda dealership.  We sat them in their chairs with the Angry Birds loaded on each phone, and sat down with the salesman.  Except for a short period of time when there was a tornado warning and we thought we were going to get blown away, it went pretty smoothly.  We walked out, or should I say drove out with exactly what we wanted.

For the past few weeks I've been driving around in our new car.  I'm just waiting for the opportunity to transport lots of people or haul lots of stuff, I definitely have the room.  The kids have even had a playdate in the van!  It is comfortable to drive and definitely has more buttons than I can ever hope to figure out.  So far, my biggest accomplishment has been being able to fit it in the garage.  Every time I have to back out I have to put in my driver's side mirror, but I've only hit a mirror on the garage once, so I'm getting the hang of it.

Now, I can officially call myself a minivan mom, but I think it will make our lives much easier, so I'm a happy camper!

(what it looks like)

(a picture as I was driving out of the parking lot for the first time)

(the beautiful sunset that evening)

Happy Birthday to Me!

I had a quiet, but happy birthday this year!  It was the Monday when everyone returns back to school and work, and the day that Ian went out of down for a week, so there wasn't too much celebrating to be had.  However, I have great friends and family and they made sure I felt loved and gained just a few pounds.  This post is really a homage to the lovely desserts that everyone made for me to celebrate.  Ian made this decadent tower of cream puffs covered in caramel and chocolate. My friend Sarah came over for a little girls night and brought the most awesome chocolate layer cake topped with chocolate frosting and dark chocolate pieces.  My sweet tooth was definitely satisfied that week....I think I ate most of these two desserts all by myself!

(Yum!)

(I think 33 will be a very good year!)

New Year-Old Memories

After a wonderful New Years celebration in Jackson Tennessee, it was finally time to go home.  So, the alarm went off early on a dreary, dark morning and we started to pack the car.  Now, we knew the weather was going to be dicey, and sure enough, as we were packing the car big snowflakes started to fall.  I remembered that the boys had rarely seen snow falling before and they had to get moving anyway, so I woke them up before the sun was up, they put on their coats, and they ran outside to play in the falling snowflakes!  Boy, it was cold, but they had a ball scraping snow off the car and the grass and smushing it into a "snowball".

Once the car was packed, we gave Aunt Beth and Uncle Roy some big hugs, chiseled the ice off the front window, and headed off into the snowstorm.  We were basically outracing it, so before long we were back into a dreary rain which was nice because it meant I didn't have to drive in the slippery stuff.  Once we had been on the road for a few hours, we arrived in Nashville.  Everytime we drive through Nashville, Ian and I always talk longingly about our former Vandy haunts.  So, this time, we actually decided to stop at one of our favorite places, Pancake Pantry.

We parked and headed in.  Unfortunately, we were directly behind the Georgia women's basketball team in line, but we were seated amazingly fast all things considered.  It was honestly very weird for Ian and I to be there with kids. We've never been there and even thought about a kids' menu, but they had one, and the boys happily picked out a "bear" shaped snowman with chocolate chips.  Ian got the traditional grill cooks medley and I had to get the french toast.  It was all as delicious as we remembered.

By that point, the cold and snowflakes had caught back up with us.  We debated about the next segment of our adventure, but we knew that the boys would be in the car for the rest of the day.  So, we decided to brave the cold for a few more minutes and walk down to Peabody on Vanderbilt's campus for an important bit of reminiscing.   We walked to the center of their beautiful lawn in front of what used to be called the Social Religious building, and we stopped right where the sidewalks cross.

About 12 and a half years ago, on a November evening, Ian and I stood directly on that spot and he asked me to marry him.  So, we went back to that spot and tried to explain to the boys how important of a spot this was in their lives as well.  I don't know how much of it sunk in, but Ian and I had fun remembering and just being amazed at where we had come in those 12 years.

In no time, we had some cold, complaining little ones, so we ushered them back to the car, hopped in, and drove the remaining nine or so hours home.  It was a long day, but a wonderful trip!

(My boys on "the spot"-Don't they look happy to be there?)

(My boy and I)

(This proposal wasn't quite the same as 12 years ago, but it might have possibly been cuter!)

(Self portrait of the married couple...boy, I'm glad I said yes!)

Happy New Year!

We had been having a great trip in Tennessee and had a great New Years Eve Day hanging out with Grandma and having adventures in Jackson, TN.  The next day, New Years Day was all about celebrating!  Grandma came over to Uncle Roy and Aunt Beth's house and we had a great time ushering in the New Year.  The boys had never really done anything to celebrate this particular holiday so it was fun to introduce them to some new traditions.

We started off the day by bringing out the New Year's horns and hats.  Evan knew a little about the holiday and made some confetti to toss all over the house-how festive of him!  The boys really enjoyed everything though.

Next, we ate our delicious New Year's Day feast prepared by Aunt Beth.  Everything was delicious.  We had cornbread, ham, mac and cheese, cabbage, and or course, black eyed peas.  Aunt Beth put a delicious tomato relish on the peas which made them outstanding.  I ate so many of them that I will definitely have good luck this year!  We topped the meal off with some sparkling grape juice.  The boys had never had any fizzy drink so they didn't quite know what to think.  Benny made some funny faces while Evan drank his whole glass and asked for seconds.

We finished out the day with a little present opening and football.  We all sat around the television and watched Aunt Beth's beloved LSU Tigers.  At halftime we had enough of a break to open some more goodies from Grandma and Aunt Beth and Uncle Roy.  We were quite spoiled rotten.  The kids got a Snoopy Sno Cone Maker which they've already put to good use, and we got a beautiful John Besh cookbook which we've already tried (it definitely is filled with some good recipes).

It was a great day, and we had so much fun celebrating with everyone.  It was such a great trip and we really enjoyed spending time with our family.  Stay tuned for tales from our adventurous trip home!

(Happy...)

(...happy...)

(...Happy New Year!)

(trying some bubbly)

(a table full of fun)

(reading a book with Grandma)

(Me and my Grandma-I love you, Grandma Rose!)

Great Times with Great-Grandma Rose

After a wonderful Christmas celebration in Charlotte, we headed down the road to TN to visit Uncle Roy and Aunt Beth and Great-Grandma Rose in Jackson, TN for a little New Year's Celebrating.  It is always a long drive to get down there, but it is always completely worth it.  This time, Ian and I had a pizza place in Knoxville picked out where we wanted to stop for lunch on the drive.  However, we were making really good time, so we actually needed a detour so our lunch stop would be open when we headed by.  So, we decided to do a little scenic drive through Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, two well-known tourist stops.  Well, Gatlinburg was everything that I thought it would be.  It was quaint with little cabin-style hotels nestled in the Smoky Mountains.  Then, we moved into Pigeon Forge and I was completely surprised.  I thought we had arrived in Myrtle Beach or even Las Vegas with all the gaudy huge buildings that you would expect of either city.  It was definitely an interesting drive (and a great pizza place at the end of it).

Finally, after our long day, we arrived at Great-Grandma Rose's new place.  It looks like a great place to live, and I hope she settles in and enjoys herself.  When we arrived the first night after 12 hours in the car, the boys were definitely glad to see Great-Grandma and were also a little bonkers!  She had been concerned about disturbing her neighbors with whom she was sharing a wall, and my hyperactive boys running around and yelling certainly didn't help.  We had a good visit, but there was a little shushing involved, and we decided that Benny had one of the loudest voices in the world.  After a good visit with Grandma, we headed over to Uncle Roy and Aunt Beth's house because they were nice enough to let us stay there even after all of their Christmas company.  We had a delicious dinner and everyone quickly crashed.

The next day, a much more well-rested family headed back over to Great-Grandma's house.  This time we were prepared.  We brought our new I-Phones complete with the game Angry Birds so the boys could play some quiet games on the phone when they got noisy.  We had a great conversation with Grandma, and I really felt like we had some nice time to talk.  She also gave us all some great gifts.  She gave the boys some cute toys, and then she gave me the most wonderful gift.  She gave me a box of treasures from her old house.  Everything in that box had a story, everything in that box will always remind me of her, and I will treasure everything in that box-from the antique bottles to the handmade trivets.  She is so sweet to think of all of her grandkids and give them some of her most treasured possessions-don't worry Grandma, they will be well-taken care of.

After a great morning with Grandma, we wanted to give her a chance to eat her lunch and relax, so we headed out for some adventures in Jackson, TN.  First, we went to a great hiking trail to et some energy out.  It was the perfect stop because all of the trails were raised with fenced overlooking some cypress swamps.  This meant that we had fenced trails where the boys could just run!  We didn't have to worry about them getting lost!  Their favorite part was definitely noticing that some of the water below us was frozen.  This led to a lot of throwing sticks in the water and poking it with sticks to see if it was frozen.  It certainly helped the boys get their wiggles out.  We finished up our hike with a trip to Steak and Shake which was of course, a delicious stop for everyone.

After our middle of the day adventures we headed back over to see Grandma again.  After another great chance to talk, we got to go on a tour of her new place.  We were wandering the halls just before dinnertime so we got the chance to meet a lot of the other residents.  The boys' favorite part was either the big aquarium or the almost life size dancing Santa.  I think my favorite part was the picture of my Grandaddy that they had put on the walls with other veterans.  What a nice touch.

At the end of the day, we headed home for another delicious Heatherly dinner.  They certainly fed us well while we were there, and we couldn't have asked for better hosts than Aunt Beth and Uncle Roy.  We were early to bed again because the next day was New Years Day and there was some celebrating to be done so stay tuned!

(Boys hike out their wiggles.)

(Overlooking the water)

(Interesting looking cypress plants)

(Is there ice??)

(long trail over the water)

(Mmmmm, Steak and Shake)

(Grandma and the boys check out the fish tank.)

(Santa!!)

More Holiday Fun!

While we were in Charlotte we did a great job celebrating the season, but there was also lots of fun to be had.  Since the boys' big Christmas present was a new bike for each of them, there was lots of bike riding to be done.  We went on several times while we were in Charlotte and the boys practiced speeding down the street.  Our little group would head outside, the boys would strap on their fabulous helmets that Grandma Dot bought them, the dogs would all get their leashes on (because of course we couldn't leave them behind), and we were off.  We made quite the procession with two boys on bikes (one in shark helmet one with a large plastic mohawk), a greyhound, a golden dog, a tiny brown and white poodle, and any number of grown ups running along behind them.  Ben and Evan both got pretty fast on their bikes and we had to run to keep up with both of them.  (Ian even filmed the whole adventure by strapping his new GoPro camera on to Evan's handlebars.)

(Gramps tests out Evan's new helmet.)

(my speedsters)

(a few pre-bike ride bubbles)

Now, the boys have a lot of energy, and they certainly couldn't get all of their energy out with a little bike riding, so one day we headed down to a local park and had a great time.  It's funny how there can be tons of new play structures and types of equipment around but kids will always migrate toward the old favorites.  They spent most of the time while we were there playing on the old dome jungle gym and the metal merry-go-round like we used to play on when we were kids.  There were a ton of kids on the merry-go-round, but fortunately we only had one injury when Benny might have gotten a little stepped on while trying to push it around.  I guess there's a reason most playgrounds don't have them anymore.

(Evan hangs like a monkey.)

(Ben takes his turn climbing.)

The boys weren't the only ones who got to have a little extra fun.  One night Gram and Gramps even let Ian and I go out to dinner with Reid and Candice without the kids!  Reid and Candice took us out to a great sushi place.  We had a great time and some delicious food.  They even had a shrimp tempura roll with teriyaki steak on top-it was delicious!  Afterward, we even went out for coffee (or hot chocolate) like the grown ups do.

(Mmmmm...sushi, with steak??)



(Reid and Candice celebrate a night out!)

One of the Davis family holiday traditions is for Ian and Gram to make a decadent dessert of some kind.  This time, they selected a triple layer mousse cake.  While Gram still felt a little under the weather, Ian was willing to pick up the slack, and they ended up with a beautiful and completely delicious dessert.  I think that Evan said it was the best *food* he had ever eaten!  It was pretty yummy.

(Ian's beautiful cake)

(Best FOOD ever)

(Benny didn't even get to sample the cake on the first night...Boy, the holidays are tiring!)

Another Davis tradition whenever we get together is to pull out a board game.  The game of choice this trip was Ticket to Ride.  So, several nights while we were there, we huddled around the kitchen table and attempted to take over Europe by building the longest and best train routes.  While we all thought we did well and surely would win, only Gram and Gramps took those honors.  In all the times I have played that game, I am yet to win, but it's still fun.

(Game night)

We had an absolutely fabulous trip, and it was so nice to get to spend the time with our family!  So until next year...Merry Christmas!

Good Morning, Christmas!

We had a great time celebrating the holidays in Charlotte with the Davises.  You already heard how we celebrated with the whole Davis family, but the boys were anxiously awaiting Christmas morning.  While they were excited, they were also a little nervous.  They had received an e-mail from Santa a few weeks before where he mentioned that their status on the naughty or nice list was still up in the air.  So, Evan especially was worried that he was going to get coal in his stocking.

On Christmas Eve, they watched NORAD's Santa Tracker on the TV to see where Santa was at that moment, and they made sure to get a plate filled with cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer.  (Santa had made the special request for cookies when he met with the boys at Evan's preschool and they remembered.)  So, they anxiously went to bed, actually slept in a little, and woke up excited to see what the day would bring.

Of course, before the boys could come downstairs, the Davis family had to set up their cameras so they could completely document the morning.  Then, we headed down.  First, Evan ran over to where he had left the cookies and said, "He did come!".  Then they noticed what was under the tree.  Benny immediately noticed a brand new Planes bike and gave it some big hugs. He definitely gets the award for best reactions of the morning.  It took Evan a few minutes to even notice the new bike that he got, but once he saw it, he immediately announced that it was a ninja bike.

 After that, they discovered their stockings in the other room.  Evan happily declared that indeed, he had made the nice list!  Stocking opening was a huge contrast from past years because in the past they took hours to open their stockings and wanted to explore everything the minute they saw it.  They savored every item and got too worn out before they finished opening everything.  This time, they flew through their stockings in no time.  They still really enjoyed what they got, but they looked at one thing and dug into the stocking for what else they had.  Evan especially liked the whoopie cushion that he got once Gram described what it was.  Both boys got White Out in their stockings and it was hilarious listening to everyone describe what White Out actually was...turns out it's pretty hard to describe.

Once the boys had whipped through their stockings we moved over to the Christmas tree.  Everyone started opening the presents before I could even hand them all out to everyone.  Santa had been very good to everyone and they enjoyed all their gifts.  Gram got a tea kettle.  Gramps had a fleece.  Ian and Gramps both got a leather tray made by Reid because he's getting quite good at leatherworking.  Candice had a very fashionable morning with lots of new clothing.  Ian and I both got our new IPhones and played with them the rest of the morning.

The boys got new super hero costumes.  At first, Evan really wanted to put it on but was also really shy about showing it off.  However, he got over that, and they spent the rest of the morning playing with their new toys in their superhero costumes.

After an exciting morning of generosity and gifts, we had our traditional morning brunch.  We had the delicious sausage casserole as usual, but we also had some new treats with Ian's orange rolls and Candice's chicken ring.  Both were delicious.  At the end of the meal, we opened our Christmas crackers, told silly jokes, put on our silly hats, and played with the little toys that we received.

We had a great, joy-filled morning, and I'm so thankful to have this time with our family!  Merry Christmas!

(The family reads The Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve.)

(The happy tree the next morning)

(Discovering the stockings)

(White out is amazing!)

(Laser fingers!)

(Ripple enjoys his stocking too.)

(Our Christmas family)

(Superheros)

(Superman explores his new art projector.)

(Cheeky little batman)

(Watch out for Superman)

(Candice loves her new sweater.)

(Reid smiles at his new film.)

(Woohoo-Ian can't wait to try his Settlers cookbook.)

(Gram shows off her new homemade ornaments from the boys.)

(Christmas brunch celebration)