Lunar New Year and Valentines 2016

February started out with a lot of rain and snow melt which created a river in our yard/driveway

Elijah turns 5!

Elijah turned 5 at the end of January and since his favorite thing lately was Hulk, we had a Hulk party.  He helped with some of the preparations by making 4 big melty-bead Hulks for decorations.

It's funny that his favorite superhero is Hulk, because even though Elijah's usually pretty mild mannered, he does have a very intense side.  We sure love this little guy and are proud to call him ours.  5 seems like a big birthday to me and all of a sudden my little Momma's boy is looking very big.  

Snow days!

I just love making my kids look all chubby in layers and layers of snow clothes.  I could not stop cracking up at their cute little round bodies, which is why they look a little grumpy in some of these photos.

Fun at home January 2016

The kids got a new basic Lego set for Christmas to supplement the Legos they had gotten hand-me-down from some nice neighbors in Hawaii and spent a lot of time building all kinds of mansions, vehicles, and restaurants in January.  

Great Grandma's birthday!

We spent Christmas at home but drove out to Illinois on New Year's Eve to visit Grandma for her 90th birthday!  Betty Tam just loves her namesake.

Christmas 2015

Once the Nutcracker was over, we decided it was time to decorate for Christmas.  This is one of my favorite pieces, the advent calendar made by my mom.

Nutcracker December 2015

The first order of business in December, after Thanksgiving is over, is getting a Christmas tree!  We went to a nice local farm this year (Reed Island Christmas Tree Farm) where you can choose and cut your own tree.  It was really fun for everyone and the weather was pretty nice for us too, a little chilly but not terribly cold.

End of November and Thanksgiving 2015

Here are my cute girls after church one day in matching tights.  I love dressing them up semi-matching.

November 2015

Nothing like a good example to help you learn dental hygiene!  Betty loves to copy everything they do.

October 2015

Ryan took the kids and some of the Rivas to a Pumpkin Festival in Hillsville one Saturday.  They had a lot of fun.

Cora's 7th birthday

Look who we found on the front page of the Galax Gazette!  Our almost birthday girl!  The elementary school had one of their fun enrichment weeks the week before her birthday, and then a fall break with one week off the week of her birthday.  The kids always like going to enrichment week, where they get to choose which classes they want to go to, with fun themes like yoga, outer space, Dr. Seuss, etc.  Elijah's class had a field trip to a pumpkin patch and they got to choose a pumpkin to bring home.  Poor guy came walking up to the parent pick up lot complaining about his backpack being so heavy because he chose such a big pumpkin. (The pumpkin was actually still on the small-medium side, but for a 4 year old, it was pretty heavy.) 

End of September 2015

I made the kids commit to a Halloween theme early so I could have time to sew everything I would need.  This year we chose a Peter Pan theme, which I loved!  This will have been the 4th year in a row that we've done a family theme, I hope I can keep convincing them as they get older. Last year we were Care Bears, the year before that Ryan and the kids were Little Mermaid characters (Ryan was Eric, Cora was Ariel, and Elijah was a shark)  The year before that, we were all Legos.  I like to make most of the costumes, as much as I can, but I'm not opposed to buying some things, especially if the price is good and they'll be able to be added to the dress-up box and be played with again. This hat from Amazon was a good purchase I think.  Even when I made items for costumes, I like to make things that can be worn again or at least added to the dress-up box.  Like last year, the kids wore their Care Bear hats as winter hats, and their Care Bear pants as pajamas.

Beginning of September 2015

This sassy girl got her cute little purse at the annual huge Hillsville Labor Day Flea Market.  It makes her look so grown up! She also got the little heart bracelet, a nice vendor just gave it to her as we were perusing.  

End of August 2015

They're off!  First day of pre-K for Elijah, and first day of 1st grade for Cora.  No tears were shed, although it may have been a close call for me.  Betty did not like being stuck with just me all day.  But the kids did great!  They like their new teachers and classes.  Ryan walked them up the first day, and I kept walking Elijah into his class for a couple more days after that, and then he was ready to go on his own!

Great Smoky Mountains 2015

Our last weekend before the kids started school we spent camping in the Great Smoky Mountains.  It is just a few hours away from us and is a beautiful place to explore and enjoy with the family.  We camped at the Cosby campground on the northeastern side of the park.  It was a good choice, not too busy or crowded.