Snow Day

Last week we had enough snow for the kids to play in. Ben took the day off work and we played in the snow most of the day. It was so much fun. Our lab, Riley, decided to wander off while we were building our snowman and we had to take a break and go find him. Silly dog, he headed to the street behind us and was playing with a bunch of kids.
The kids are all doing well. We've been really healthy this winter and I hope it stays that way. Sophie had her trip to Disney with Nana and Papa last month. She had a wonderful time! I'm so glad that the kids will have these memories with my parents. It is so special for them! We spent Valentines weekend in Va. Robin's little boy turned 2 on the 15th and we went for his party. It's amazing how fast the past two years have gone!
Ben is good. Work is slow so he's been home for dinner almost every night and home every weekend. It's nice having him around more! We head to Va to participate in the Shamrock 8k with Robin and her husband next weekend. Mom and Dad are keeping the kids. It'll be nice to have some time alone! I celebrated my 33rd birthday in Feb. Birthday's are not my favorite thing! Ben got me some beautiful flowers and took me out for a surprise dinner at The Melting Pot. We had a family party at my parents and birthday breakfast with friends. It was fun!

Christmas

Sorry it's taken me so long to update my blog. We've been busy and I've developed a facebook addiction. The holidays flew by like they always do. We loved decorating the new house. It was the first year that Ben has really gotten into the decorating. We headed to the mountains with my uncle Drew to cut down our tree. Ben got a speeding ticket on the way home. :) Mom and Dad came over to help decorate the tree. My very talented mom made bows for me to hang on the banisters.
We spent Christmas like we always do, here at home. Christmas eve we went to church with my family. Mom, Dad and Drew came over to help put out cookies for Santa and to give the kids their christmas jammies. My dad read the Night Before Christmas, just like he has every year of my life. That is my most special and favorite tradition.
Christmas morning we held the kids off until about 7:30. We sat down to open gifts and realized that there were tons of little black bugs crawling on all the gifts. Gross!! I had hidden a lot of the gifts in the garage in a moving box and we think that's where they came from. So, Ben sat under the tree and killed bugs off gifts before he handed them out. Not fun! The older kids got Nintendo DS's and Sophie got her "pink and blue" doll (Sleeping Beauty). We headed to my moms for a yummy dinner and to open more gifts. Every year we say that we're cutting back on gifts, but it has yet to happen.
Ben had the two weeks of Christmas and New Year's off from work. It was nice having him home for the kids programs and to spend time with us. We had a lot of fun having him around. We saw a lot of movies! We also took the older kids into Charlotte for the third year to go ice skating on an outdoor rink set up for the holidays. It was so much fun. JW can really skate, Lexie fell more than she skated.
For New Years, I headed to Va to spend time with Robin. Ben is so awesome and stayed home with the kids, who were sick. His parents came into town to help him out. I had a blast. Robin and I had some laid back time together. We saw movies, made cookies and ate junk food and went shopping. I got to spend time with an old friend from high school that I haven't seen in years. I enjoyed my time with him so much! It was a much needed vacation for me. Ben got to see what happens when you have sick kids at home. He did a great job managing medicine and taking them to the dr. What a great guy!