This & That

Chloe has been wanting the American Girl Doll of the Year for some time now; well, because Santa just brought her a new one, I certainly wasn't going to entertain the idea.  She decided to count all of her money in her piggy bank...after a few extra chores...she had enough to buy her doll all on her own.  I placed the order and a few days later Saige arrived!  Chloe was over the moon! 

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The weekend after Blake's 30th Birthday, we headed to Nashville for APSU's Candlelight Ball.  We look forward to this event every year.  I have been on the committee for 2 years now, and I really do enjoy it...this is the only committee I've ever been on that truly runs itself!  The event was held at the Hilton in Downtown Nashville.  Because so many of our close friends go ever year, it's always a great night followed by a fun time out on the town--we generally end the night at The Big Bang and with a hot dog from the street vendor! 

2012-2013 Committee 

I love this girl!

I really liked the way Cassie {at Lyndon's} did my hair...simple & chic! 

The Handsome Hubby...newly 30, by the way! 

Chloe & I snuck off to get pedicures together before I left for the day.  It was her first time, and she did great--no squirming at all!

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Carter has grown to LOVE Chuck E. Cheese.  So much so, he asks us to take him there daily.  Well, we decided to pack up the kids and go last weekend---why we thought it would be a good idea to go on a Saturday afternoon...I have no idea! But, the kids had a great time!

Enjoying his push up pop!

and getting hugs from Chuck E!!!! 

Later that night, we headed to a dinner party to celebrate Blake's best friend's upcoming wedding!  It was a small, intimate dinner party with some really great friends!  We had a great time!

At church the next day, Chloe decided to go to 'big church' with us!  I can never tell if she fully understands what is going on, but I know she loves being there with us.  She asked for my pen during service...and this is what she wrote: 

"Thank you God :) Love Chloe"

My heart swelled...it proved me that she got out of it all she needed too...that she is thankful for God!

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Well, we had another very BIG happening take place this week--Chloe lost her 1st tooth!  It has been hanging there for weeks {maybe months} now.  Blake and I have been dying to pull it, but she wants nothing to do with it!  Well, she and I were playing pet shop and crawling on the floor.  She leaned down and bumped her mouth on one of her stuffed animals.  When she sat up, her mouth was bleeding.  We quickly figured out that she had all but knocked it out.  I told her that we were past the point of no return...she kept saying "I just want God to take it out" ... she was terrified.  Long story short, she finally covered her eyes and let Daddy pull it out!  Afterwards, she realized that it wasn't that big of a deal.  She now has a gummy grin...since she had the other front tooth pulled a few years back!

The tooth fairy was gracious and left her $10!! 

She was nice and puffy from crying for 20 minutes!  Sad, sad, sad! 

The sweet gummy grin before school yesterday!

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I was so thankful to be able to attend Chloe's Easter Egg Hunt at school yesterday. The kids were so hyped up because Spring Break started today...so the extra candy really helped ;) 

All her loot!

Chloe & Rebekah--sweet friends.

Because the weather was so pretty yesterday, the kids wanted to play outside.  They were so sweet together.  Carter refused to get out of the swing and Momma was tired of pushing so Chloe took over pushing duties! 

We are excited about Easter this weekend--lots of fun, family plans--an Egg Hunt, Egg Dying, Easter Service & Lunch with Jenks!

We hope you have a blessed Easter!

Update on 1st Grade

I was so excited when I received these pictures from Chloe's teacher, Ms. Kemmer.  They were taken while the kids read to the Pre-K classes.  It was Read Across America Week...each student picked out their favorite Dr. Seuss Book and practiced to make sure they were familiar enough to read it out loud!  Chloe chose to read Green Eggs and Ham!!

We also had a conference with her teacher that week...I knew Chloe was doing well, but I was overwhelmed with pride when I was shown her Progress Report: 

Not only does she have straight A's, which is AMAZING, but she is also now ON GRADE LEVEL in Reading.  This is a HUGE accomplishment that she has worked so extremely hard for!  I just can't even express how proud I was for her!  So thankful for Ms. Kemmer and everyone at the Academy that help my sweet girl grow and flourish every day!

Blake's 30th Birthday: Colorado Visit

I guess you could say that I robbed the cradle when I started dating Blake.  He is a whole 6 months older than me...which means he turns "30" first {on March 12th officially}!!!  When we talked about what he wanted to do to celebrate, he decided that he wanted to visit our friends out in Colorado and go skiing.  Sounded like fun to me.  So with lots of strategic planning as far as the kids go, we headed to Denver on February 27th {I'm just a tad bit behind on blogging}!!

I have never seen so much snow in my entire life...this is their NORM!

We were so happy to be able to stay with our friends, Jimmy & Sarah.  They moved out to Colorado Springs a few years ago, and we have been itching to visit since Blake loves to ski and I have never tried it.  Well, I was pretty hyped up about our first skiing experience...little did I know.

Colorado has so much to offer; we ate lots of great food and drank lots of good local beer.  It seemed like there was a local brewery on every single corner {not kidding}!!  

We were able to visit the Garden of the Gods & also drink some water from natural spring wells!

We decided to spend 2 of the days skiing at 2 different resorts.  We stayed in a house that was kind of in the center of all the major ski resorts.  First up, VAIL!  Of course I had heard of Vail.  Who hasn't?  It was incredibly beautiful, but I have to say I was not very impressed with the people there.  Apparently, all the people skiing there were professionals...so, when I got to the top of the mountain and my knees were knocking, no one was super excited to assist me ;)  Because we paid an exorbitant amount of money to ski in Vail, I told Blake to go ahead because I did not want to waste their skiing time!  I jumped on the gondola and headed to the bar...and hung out there for the next 2 hours!!  I knew right away that skiing was NOT my thing!  Blake, of course, loved it and was great at it {he hasn't skied  since he was like 8...go figure}!

The next day we skied at Copper Mountain.  My experience here was SO.MUCH.BETTER!  It might have been the super nice and friendly people or maybe because Jimmy's wife was with us so she was able to give me a few pointers.  Needless to say, I actually went down 2 Greens on the 2nd day...it wasn't pretty, and I'm pretty sure I will never ski again...but, I'm glad that I did it!!  I have been told that skiing does not come naturally...I would say that this is the truest of statements!

The bottom of the 2nd Green I slid/fell skied down!

Photo taken before I slid skied down the 2nd Green...they only convinced me to go up for a 2nd time because there was a bar on the way down!  Not sure that drink was worth the blood, sweat, and tears I left on the mountain!

All in all, we had a great time.  I think Blake enjoyed celebrating his 30th on the ski slopes with good friends!

The kids also had a great time staying with Birdie and Jenks.  I was thankful for a few photo updates throughout the weekend!

For the record, Jenks braved Chuck E Cheese with 2 kids...I was super impressed ;)

We also got a bit of snow back home while we were gone...I think the kids were excited!  They wouldn't know what to do with Colorado snow!!