Snow is falling

We have already had our first snow at the new house and it isn't even winter yet. This happened the first weekend in December. We returned from the mountains to find our front yard covered! The girls and their daddy had already begun snowball throwing in the mountains but when we got home that is all that Savanna wanted to do. On Sunday everyone headed outside to build a snowman. We weren't sure if it would work but he hung around for a week in our yard. Everything around him melted but he remained in tact for us to enjoy. Sadie insisted on checking on our snowman each time we left the house. His remnants still remain in the front yard almost 3 weeks later.

Where my hair go?

Well, the time came quite a while ago that Sadie needed a trim but I couldn't bring myself to cut her thin little head of hair. I was taking pictures of the girls one day and realized that it MUST be done! I couldn't see those sweet eyes. She was great and it only took a couple of minutes, literally.

Abby's Buffet

Today the girls decided to open a restaurant and they called it Abby's Buffet. They each put on their aprons and got started. Savanna was the waitress and Sadie did the cooking. I was the customer so I can honestly say that my pumpkin and strawberry soup was delicioso!

baby Jesus

Yesterday we read the story of Jesus' birth a million times in one of our Bible stories books. There are pictures of course for the little ones. On this particular page we were reading about Mary and Joseph asking the innkeeper for a place to sleep. The illustration shows a pregnant Mary and out of the blue Sadie asks, "Mary eat baby Jesus?". We have had a lot of "out of the mouths of babes" moments around here lately and we are loving it!

Turkey Day

What a wonderful Thanksgiving we had! This year didn't feel like the whirlwind it usually does. It was so nice to get to visit with family, especially the ones that we only see at holidays! We made pilgrim hats for dessert and paper bag turkeys for decoration. Savanna wore her indian hat she made at school, "purple horse" was her name. Both girls love the attention they receive at Grammy and Pa's house and playing with their cousin John at Nana and Poppy's house. When we got to Grammy and Pa's Savanna asked me if they were going to be the only children there. I don't know who she was waiting for to show up. Sadie just follows her big sister around but has recently begun to have an opinion of her own. Savanna is having a hard time accepting that Sadie won't do what she says anymore. Our sweet girls are growing up too fast!

The Night Before Christmas

As we were getting out our Christmas books the girls started "reading" through them. Savanna wanted to read The Night Before Christmas so she and I enjoyed the story while Sadie "read" another book. We were almost to the end of the book and Savanna asked me if Santa was nocturnal. Oh out of the mouths of babes!

Loving rivalry

For our birthdays my parents handed over their NCSU/UNC football tickets. We had a blast! Granted, more fun would have been had if I could brag that my team came out on top but what a great game it was. We invited some friends, also a mixed marriage, and enjoyed ourselves a little before, during and after the game. Yes, we were the last ones to leave the parking deck. It was so worth a grown up day and no better place to enjoy grown up time than in Chapel Hill. Good news is that we didn't burn down the deck with our grill plus we ran into another old friend who was surprisingly parked nearby. I can still and ALWAYS will say GO HEELS!

say AHHHHH

Savanna had her first trip to the dentist last month! I know "bad mommy" but all is well. She has been with me for cleanings but never been in the chair herself and she did absolutely wonderfully. I was SO proud of her!! We saw a family dentist in Burlington who also happened to be a Carolina dental school graduate. She and her staff were wonderful as well. Ms. Lisa cleaned her teeth and did a great job of telling her everything that is going on as we know that is what Savanna needs, a play by play. There were no cavities, just a little tartar build up so we have been doing something right. Way to go Savanna! She is probably the most excited about her new Diego toothbrush though.

Sleep tight

Sadie, where are you? 

Note: Sadie is alive!

You may think this is gross!

No pictures for this post but laughs are guaranteed. Last night we decided to check out the new outlets so we had a late dinner and headed to Cracker Barrel. On the way in Savanna yells to Sadie to look at the moon. Well, one might have been alarmed to hear her voice rather than excitement but Sadie saw the moon, all was well, and we headed inside. The girls are constantly searching for the moon. We were finishing dinner and Savanna says, "mommy you might think this is gross" so I look over to see her scooping butter from her plate with bacon. Yep, it was gross! Her heart was probably saying the same thing. While I finished my meal she and Noah were playing the peg game on the table. His first try left 4 pegs so he let Savanna have a turn. We both laughed that she would get one peg on her first try. Can you believe that on her first try the girl only had 2 left. The game stated that she must be "purty smart." I will agree with that. In fairness, on his second try Noah had one or two left as well. There is nothing like 5 year old entertainment!

Leaves Leaves Leaves!

Here we are.....the first fall in our new house and we are really enjoying the leaves. Noah and I appreciate the lack of and the girls are satisfied with what has fallen. They love to jump in them, roll in them and rake them up to start all over. There is even some chasing in order to shower the other with leaves. They think this is hysterical and I like nothing more than to hear those contagious little laughs of my girls. Happy Fall!

Daddy field trip

What a lucky day for Savanna! Noah had taken the day off from work and decided to go with Savanna's class to the fire station. Each year they walk over since the fire station is next door to the church where she attends playschool. It is such a treat for the kids to see the firemen dress in their "work clothes" complete with the oxygen mask and to see them slide down the pole. Oh and yes, she will wear those witch tights until they have holes in them. She asks to wear them everyday but there is only so much that will match purple and black striped tights. This was a good trip for a daddy and his big girl.

Little helpers

Both girls went with me to help serve at the Homeless shelter and they were such great helpers! They politely asked if the guests would like bread. That was their job to add the roll to the plate. Everyone was very friendly to them and they were friendly back. We are so lucky to have such good helpers in our family!

Retiring

This season's soccer has come to an end and we have all decided that Savanna would like to retire from the sport. After all ..."mommy, I don't like to run" puts a damper on the ability to effectively play this sport. Maybe sports are not her forte and we will stick with the arts. At least, for now that is a good plan! The other day she thought she might like to try karate but I think she has already forgotten about that. Thank goodness! We don't want her learning anything she could use against us, any of us! She is already a step ahead of us on everything else. This soccer season concluded after learning a little more about the game and making some friends from the team. That is all we could ask for!

1 little, 2 little witches

This Halloween has been filled with fun activities for our little witches. Savanna saw a picture in a magazine and decided that she would like to be a witch. Of course, then Sadie hopped on that bandwagon. At one point Sadie decided to be a boy and Savanna wanted to change into Uniqua but we were already working on our witch costumes so we stuck with that. I think they turned out to be precious witches! Savanna was a "mean" witch and Sadie was a "happy" witch. Everything is happy in her eyes and I love it! Our costumes were put to good use as they were worn to Savanna's class Halloween party, trick or treating downtown, Truck or Treat at school and neighborhood trick or treating.

Truck or Treat

As a fundraiser for our playschool they put on a touch a truck event where children can come and climb on, ask questions about, and honk the horns of various vehicles. We have enjoyed this event for the past several years. It has been held the weekend of Halloween for the past couple of years and children are invited to dress up in their costumes. Well you know we took advantage of another opportunity to sport our costumes. The girls had a good time playing games, climbing on a number of vehicles (boats, motorcycles, garbage truckes, police cars, etc.), and seeing their friends in costume.

Picking pumpkins

The girls, who we all know have their own opinions, were in charge of choosing their own pumpkins this year. Savanna's class went on a field trip to the pumpkin patch and she chose a nice one there then we took Sadie to another pumpkin patch for hers. They were both pleased with their choices and they look fabulous on our front porch. Noah got one on Sadie's pumpkin trip and I found mine at Harris Teeter. Lame I know but it is a nice looking pumpkin for a good price. Can't beat that!! I am sad to say that none of the 4 pumpkins on the porch were carved into jack-o-lanterns this year though.

Turning 5

Our first born is now a five year old who will be off to Kindergarten next fall. She is the independent, opinionated child she has always been but is really starting to look like a big girl instead of a little kid. She is quite proud of the big kid she has become. Can't you see the transformation from 4 (pink shirt) to 5 (blue dress)? We celebrated with a Backyardigans party in our backyard surrounded by friends and family. Our adventure took us to the beach where we helped our Backyardigans friends decipher a birthday message for the birthday girl.

Birthday Adventures

For Savanna's birthday trip she wanted to picnic at the airport and then visit the children's museum in Raleigh. It was a beautiful day to be at the airport to play and watch the planes. There were quite a few taking off and landing while we were there. We tried to talk her into the state fair but she insisted on the Marbles museum. It is huge and gave us all plenty of entertainment. Savanna enjoyed designing dog clothes while Sadie wanted to surf and play soccer. We closed the museum down and headed to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner and yummy birthday dessert which we savored for days.

New Tricks

We like to head to the park whenever possible although it is not as often now that we have our own playset in the backyard. Savanna has been practicing on the monkey bars at home and sure enough can make it all the way across most monkey bars she meets. Sadie is a brave soul and will try anything so the big playground in Elon provides endless entertainment for her.

Oh Sadie!

The terrible twos was a breeze with Savanna but Sadie has a different take on the term. She is our child who is into EVERYTHING. To make matters worse for us she is also very opinionated and independent. One of my favorites is when she got out of the car while I was holding her arm. As soon as she stepped to the ground she crossed her arms and said in an I mean it tone "I do it myself!"
Another example, this morning I went in her room to get her up and she is holding up her diaper. Yes, the one she went to bed wearing the night before. Thankfully there were no additional surprises except that she had also put her pajama pants back on sans diaper. As of right now, she is still wearing no diaper and am keeping my fingers crossed that she is not sitting in a puddle of peepee at this moment. This girl is giving us a run for our money!

Crystal Coast

Now that we have found the beaches here we are hooked. Our trip to Emerald Isle was a blast and full of beautiful weather. The first few days were cool, as you can tell by Sadie's stiffness in the water. But by the end of the week Savanna's bookini was just right for jumping waves. We had a busy week of adventures including the aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores, the Maritime Museum in Beaufort, and Shackleford Banks. Savanna loved seeing dolphins. Sadie had a good time in the water and searching for shells. Thank goodness for tidal pools and this trip provided a large one with hours of entertainment. There was skipping shells with daddy and jumping waves with mommy. There is so much to do while at the beach!

Beating the Rain

We enjoy the zoo and one Sunday we decided to pack up and go. The forecast was calling for rain in the late afternoon so we thought we would try to beat the weather. An early picnic lunch hit the spot and then we headed in to see the animals. We started in Africa, but it did in fact start raining while we were there. We will have to save North America for another time. The rain did take us to the aviary exhibit which we usually bypass on a sunny day. There we saw lots of colorful birds. The girls also liked the vents on the floor. Many times we found Sadie with her head down with the air blowing her hair. The elephants were so close to the front of the exhibit that we could see the hair on their backs. We saw lemurs, gorillas, a lion, emus, zebras, and giraffes. Though our trip was cut short we had a good time with the "amals" at the zoo.