Alabama Basketball

Hugh loves basketball.  It was his sport of choice growing up and is still his favorite sport to play.  Needless to say he has been thrilled that Alabama has had a pretty good team this year.  He picked a game (v. Ole Miss) and planned for the whole family to go.

Poor Houston.  He'll get his revenge on those sisters one day.  The game was a success.  Alabama won--almost convincingly.  Houston sat and watched the entire game.  Maybe he loves basketball too?

Snow Cones, Decorating & Soccer

Wow this month has flown by! The girls have been busy learning about Abraham Lincoln and George Washington for President's Day.  They continue to amaze me with all they have learned in kindergarten.  Next week they are celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday all week so I know we should be reporting lots of Green Eggs and Ham events!  Houston speaks in complete sentences now and can sing a ton of songs.  His favorite is You Are My Sunshine and I love it.

We've all been enjoying the perfect weather the last few days.  The kids have played outside every day and  have acted like they have been imprisoned for years.  It is all I can do to drag them inside when I have to.  Can't say that I blame them because I'm lovin' it too.  Houston is officially a dirt magnet if you didn't already know.  It is amazing how dirty he can get in only a few seconds.  I guess that is natural for boys and I love that about him.  He is an absolute joy and cracks me up all of the time.  He officially doesn't meet a stranger and asks me what every single item in the grocery store is.  Exhausting, but I love it and wouldn't want it any other way.

Here are some pics of what we've been up to.

The kids have discovered Lincoln Logs and they love them.  These are a couple of their most recent creations.  

Houston was in a silly mood one morning and wanted me to take pictures of his "funny" faces.

The girls have been decorating again.  The first picture is a "pink" ensemble they created in honor of Valentine's Day.  The following day they created a purple tribute to Valentine's and unfortunately I failed to capture the purple decor with my camera.  The decorated duck was a random creation left on my kitchen counter as a prize for me!

Germ-a-phobes close your eyes!  The girls love eating dirty snow.  What can I say?  They only get this opportunity once a month lately.

Is it normal for soccer players to be this cute?  I'm thinking not, but oh my goodness aren't they cute?  This was before our first practice and they fueled up with some bananas.

They love soccer already.  Practice wasn't anything but fun to both of them and I'll have to say they've got game!

This is how you stop the ball with your elbow.

The coach figured out early if you put them on opposite teams it is full blown game on.  I love to see the smiles on their faces even though they both really wanted to get the ball!  Aidyn said she can't wait to play in front of a crowd.  Hugh & I pray that they have confidence and it is encouraging to see Him in little things like soccer.  Aidyn was devastated to learn that there is no goalie position in their age group.  Her parents weren't aware of this either or we would have prepared her for this.  She is taking it all in strides and waiting until practice next week.  We're excited to learn how the game works as much as the girls.  It's a fun learning experience for the whole family.  I'm sure you'll be getting some more updates soon since our first game is in less than two weeks!

Happy Birthday, Hugh!

Hugh's big 35th was last week so we tried to celebrate in a big way!  The girls were most excited about surprising him with a cake or cupcakes.  We kept everything quiet between the girls and I so Houston wouldn't tell about any of our surprises.  Unfortunately, the girls told him about the cake to distract him at some point so I showed it to him.  I had it carefully hidden in the laundry room along with his gifts.  I was cooking dinner and heard the sound I was dreading!  Houston opened Daddy's gifts!  I'll have to admit it was funny.  It's so hard for all of us to not give in to temptation, but a two year old and presents?

Football and cake....perfect combination for Hugh!

The kids had a little too much fun playing in what was left of the wrapping paper.  The girls shredded and then pretended the paper was ice skates and skated around the kitchen.  Who needs toys around this house?  

Hugh's final birthday treat was dinner at Hot 'n Hot.  Our absolute favorite date spot and it did not disappoint.  The only part that was disappointing was the fact that we were so full after appetizers and entrees that we couldn't eat any dessert--truly disappointing!

I love the creativity!

We have the most creative kids.  When the girls were younger, they would play with cereal boxes while I grocery shopped and pretended they were characters and role play with them.  They never get bored because they can come up with some interesting things to play!

Last night while I cooked dinner the kids planned a campout in our living room.  They read books in the dark because they only wanted light from their lantern.  Hollyn brought in their princess CD player and they listened to cds while enjoying the great outdoors!

These are some pictures of the girls' talent in decorating.  I never know what to expect when they spend an entire day at home.

These are pictures of some creative decorating the girls did to their pink guitars.  The dresses they are wearing are beautiful dress up clothes that their sweet great great aunt gave them for their birthday.  Both of the guitars are complete with tiaras, one is wearing a scarf and the other is "holding" a mirror.  Never a dull moment and we love it!  Let me know if you need the girls to come over and decorate anything.  I'm sure they will give you a good laugh!

Catching up, Ice, Snow & tooth fairies

I've been so slow to get things done this year!  It's time to do some catching up so here we go.....Aidyn & Hollyn will celebrate their 100th day of kindergarten this week.  It's going so quickly.  They are still loving their dance class.  After Christmas they got to start using the "bar" in their class.  They have long awaited the time they would be "old" enough for this and now it's here.  In reality, they were excited the first week and now it's already old news!  We found out last week that their dance recital theme is a Circus and their class will be the ringmasters!  Now they are anxious to see their costumes--so am I!  Back to school--they are reading like champs!  This week in their reading time they both chose a chapter book instead of something easy to tackle.  We're so pleased with them.  We've also started a new "responsibility" chart for a few chores and they are doing so well.  They are making their beds, setting the table and picking up their toys every day.  Houston is a doll, a busy one, as usual.  He has been talking so much lately and has had some potty success this week even though we're not training yet.  I found this earlier in the week when making dinner....

This would be Mr. Darcy, our beloved stuffed dog--in the refrigerator of course!  Found at exactly Houston height. 

We took the girls ice skating during Christmas break.  They loved it.  Of course now they would like to take ice skating lessons.  They may not ever need them.  They skated pretty awesome for their first attempt.

After about 20 minutes they took off on their own.

There were some falls along the way (some intentional), but no tears, just smiles.

A few kisses from Daddy will make anyone smile!

Look at the grace and technique!

We also had a chance to play in the little bit of snow we got.

Pure joy and sweetness.

Last, but certainly not least.....

Aidyn on January 16th, 2011......

Aidyn on January 17th, 2011.  Interesting little bit of info about our teeth--The girls' teeth all came in opposite of each other.  Hollyn would get a tooth on the right side and then Aidyn would get the same tooth on the left.  Now, Hollyn lost a tooth on the right and Aidyn lost a tooth on the left.  We'll see if it keeps happening the same way.  Pretty cool!

Georgia Aquarium

We decided at the last minute to take a quick trip while the kids were still out of school.  Atlanta has been our go to city this past year so we decided to stick with it.  Short drive with lots to do.  We decided to go to the Georgia Aquarium since we had never been.  Make a mental note--never go during the holidays!  It was impressive to say the least, but oh my goodness at the people.  Several staff members told us we were there on the busiest day of the year.  Once you pay for tickets there is no going back!  We made the best of it and did get to see some really neat things.

We ate at Johnny Rockets and Houston wasn't sure about the hat.  I think it is cute!

We saw giant fish--not sure exactly what kind this is.

Sharks, of course.

Sting rays,

& other unidentified fish.

The kids soaked it all in.

They played with a few sea creatures.

We saw an octopus in action.

This is a whale shark.  It doesn't look that big in the picture, but trust me, this is one big fish!

The highlight of the exhibits was a mermaid!

She danced to Christmas songs in the same tank as the giant fish.  Pretty impressive by my standards. Hope you kids have fun memories from the trip!