Gorgeous Weekend, Gorgeous Family

What an absolutely gorgeous weekend. Saturday was the annual Taste of Folly where residents take to the streets to enjoy all the food from local restaurants, bands and jump castles one could ever want. It was a beautiful day to get out with the family after such a cold January. And guess what, we are practically famous after someone took this photo of us and posted it on their facebook page. How funny - it is the only shot I have of us enjoying the street festival. One of our Folly neighbors saw it and pointed it out. Check out that gorgeous family on the far right!

To see the original FB post go here:

Almost Famous

We also took a long walk on the pier. Where I did manage to snap a few shots....

White Stripes and Yellow Belts

Chapel and Eli had a test in karate this week to advance to their respective next levels. Eli received a white stripe on his white belt and Chapel moved all the way up to a yellow belt. The kids really have a chance to run around and work on self control at the same time in Mr. Reggie and Mr. Dave's class. A great combination of fun and skill!

Showing off front position pose.

With Mr. Dave.

Mr. Reggie putting Eli's stripe on his belt.

Eli giving us a block!

The proud students!

Sophie's Choice - Teddy Bear Style

Conor and Jude went on a bear hunt at school this week and as a part of the activity were asked to bring in their own teddy bear or favorite cuddle partner. They both sleep with two stuffed animals each night; Conor with BB and Cat and Jude with Blue Bear and Max. I was sure they were going to pick BB and Blue Bear, their very first cuddle partners, to go on the bear hunt. These bears just happen to match and in my mind would have been the perfect twin accessories to take to class.

But, no. Conor chose Cat and Jude chose Max. Which were still cute but not nearly as "twinsy".

So BB and Blue Bear sat home with me and looked pitiful. You can just see the rejection on their sweet little faces!

IT WAS PERFECT

Turning 36 could not have been any sweeter (unless I was turning 30 but since that ain't happening, I will embrace 36!) Why was it great? Let me count my blessings....

1. Weekend with my wonderful husband in beautiful Hilton Head. He was there for a convention and I tagged along but, hey, it was kid free (thanks mom & dad), I enjoyed lots of sleep, HBO movies, dinners and walks on the beach with the hubby, and a beautiful view from our suite.

View from our room.

2. My sweet kids and I went to cupcake - a most delectable sweet treat! Chapel's friend Annie came too.

3. Chapel and Eli presented me with the cutest gift - they played my all time favorite Depeche Mode song and did this little dance for me last night....

4. I finally purchased ECLIPSE on Apple TV and watched it. Brett was such a great sport watching it with me, he only mouthed, "REALLY" about 18 times during the viewing!

It really was the perfect birthday! Thanks to all my friends and family for their love and warm wishes.

Framed

With two sick boys over the past four days, we have been limited to mostly hanging around home. Brett & I took advantage of the downtime and continued working on some ongoing projects. One of our ideas was to frame all the souvenir photos we have taken over the years and hang them all on a wall going up to our third floor. Man oh man, what an undertaking - especially when my hubby can NEVER turn down the opportunity to purchase one of these oddly sized portraits. To give you an idea:

One of our very first - Medieval Times. We were maybe 22.

Chapel & Eli at the Dixie Stampede.

Biltmore - over the years.

Coca-Cola Museum in Atlanta - pre twins.


Our first trip to Disney - Chapel had just turned one.

SC Aquarium - Fish-or-Treat. Robert went with me & kids minus Jude who was sick.

Georgia aquarium with mom, Caroline Ed & Anne.

Posing with Belle. Twins first & second Disney trip.

My princess with a princess.

Luau at the Polynesian. YUM!

And those are just a sampling. Seriously, there are so many good memories here. Can't wait to see what these are going to look like all on the wall!

GNO & Girls Date Night

With this weekend being a long one, I am looking forward to two things. Tonight is book club, but since no one in the club had time to read the book over the holidays, we have decided it will be more of a GNO (Girl's Night Out). All my girlfriends agree, the cold weather has created a bad case of cabin fever for us moms so a night out with just the ladies sounds like a great way to catch up and escape for a few hours. We have chosen Rita's on Folly Beach - I love their burgers! I think my last GNO was the Children's Museum Gala when my sis was in town (refer to blurry pic below.)

Second, Chapel and I have been talking about watching GONE WITH THE WIND for a while now. She has been begging for a GWTW movie date night since we put the tree up and she played with all the Scarlett ornaments. Brett says the movie might be a inappropriate for her age - what do you think? Can a six year old watch/understand/not be damaged by watching GWTW?

Hope you have a nice, long weekend!

GNO & Girl

Officially 2 and 1/2

On the 8th of January, the twins officially turned 2 years, 6 months. WOW. That sounds old considering I still refer to them as the babies. It seems like only yesterday, right? While I don't miss being the size of a WHALE (crazy now that I look back on these how incredibly big I was).....

I do miss these two sweet newborns......

But I really am enjoying the independence that comes with this age. Conor and Jude play well with Chapel and Eli, giving me a chance to do a few things around the house when I am not playing referee between all four.

I am thankful that they still LOVE to be together, even still sleeping together.

And they kill me with their funny little mannerisms and silly ways.....

I CAN'T even begin to imagine what these two will be like in another 2.5 years!

Mountain Man

I was a little worried when Eli received the invitation to Zach's 5th birthday party at the indoor climbing wall. Was it safe? Could Eli do it? Why was there a two page waiver inserted into the invitation that I had to sign saying that I would not hold Half Moon Outfitters responsible should something go wrong????? Needless to say, I worried for no reason. Eli was quite the agile climber and loved the harness, ropes, wall and all. Brett and I were most impressed with his abilities. What a new, fun thing to do for a birthday party!

Getting started.

Showing off his mad skills.

On his way back down.

Chillin' with Zach's brother.

Happy Birthday Sweet Celeste

This weekend we celebrated Celeste turning 3! Celeste lives on Folly Beach and her mom and dad, Darlynne and Harry, have been friends of ours since before either of us ever even had babies. There aren't too many kids who grow up on Folly compared to living in the suburbs and everyone having babies all at the same time, so it's awesome to have great friends with kids that live nearby.

Conor and Jude getting ready for the party....

Ready, Set, Rock-n-Roll...... Jude loved this huge slide.

Darlynne and Harry. Notice the minimum height line behind Darlee. This is the slide that Jude was sliding down over and over and over! I think he might have been a tad a short for his top choice.

Me being adventurous and going down with Eli. I ONLY did this twice - phew.

Mom and Dad taking a much needed break after helping me chase 4 kiddos.

Celeste blowing out the candles.

And our friend Mariah with her sweet kids Gavin and Mali - enjoying some delicious homemade strawberry cake.