We're Still Here...

My last blog was in December...wow. I know all five of you missed me (ok, five might be a little on the high side). We've been busy and on the road a good bit, but enjoying every minute of it. Here is a top-ten overview of what's been going on in our world:

1. I started back to work in November. I work for Tillman Allen Greer, a local marketing and communications firm, publishers of Gwinnett Magazine and Gwinnett Business Journal. I enjoy my job and work with a group of truly great people. Sure, I miss the kids some days, but they enjoy their time at school and I enjoy the opportunity to use words other than "potty" throughout the day.

2. We got a new car shortly after Christmas. This was definitely not in our plans, but our transmission started slipping in the Altima we bought in Aug 2003. With seven years, over 100,000 miles, and a cost of around $5k to replace the transmission, it made the most sense to make a change. Ryan did a great job negotiating with the Nissan dealership (a process I loathe) and now we're the owners of yet another Altima that will hopefully be as good of a car as the previous one.

3. Cadence has become quite the little diva. Her favoite accessories are shoes and Mardi Gras beads. She loves to sing, dance, play outside, take baths/play in water, and watch sports with her Daddy. We have to hide mini-marshmallows from her - she's addicted. She's also very independent, knows what she wants, and is capable of taking up for herself...not even two, going on twenty.

4. Preston turned 4 back in January. We had a low-key party with just family and he had a great time. Since Preston is in the beginning stages of reading he got a V-Reader for his birthday to help him along. He loves it! He knows and can recognize many sight words and can "read" a few books (you know, the ones we've read so many times that he's memorized them.) Thanks to his teacher at school his writing skills are improving, but he still struggles with being left-handed. It requires a little more focus and that's hard at his age; although, he amazes with the way he views the world and how he's learned to draw certain shapes in a way that makes sense to him.


5. I celebrated my 7 3/4 birthday!

6. We got to catch up with some of our college friends at a Clemson baseball game/birthday celebration. My friends are getting old ;)
7. We've been sick...a lot. I've had a stomach bug three times in the last five months, Ryan's had bronchitis for almost two months, and the kids have had their share of viruses/fevers, colds, etc. Although I'm normally more a fan of Fall, right now I'm ready for some hot weather to burn off some of these germs! We are sick and tired of being sick and tired.

8. I correctly answered Final Jeopardy one night.

9. I realized my boss has a guitar signed by Garth Brooks in the cafe at our office. I warned him that if it mysteriously disappears, the last person he should check with is me ;)

10. "Aunt Kayla" got married 2 weeks ago! Preston & Cadence did a great job as ring bearer and flower girl. We were all very proud of them. It was a beautiful ceremony and we're all happy to officially welcome "Uncle Jamie" to the family.

Star of the Show

A star is born...enjoy!

Letters from the North Pole

Everyone has something that makes the Holiday season exciting for them…decorating, Christmas music, cooler weather, shopping, family time, parties, etc. One of my favorite parts of the holiday season is receiving Christmas cards. I get so excited when I see a card arrive in the mail (and yes, I'm disappointed on days in December when I don't receive a Christmas card). I can’t wait to open my mail to see what's inside and then hang the card and/or picture up. When I have all my Christmas cards hanging up I feel like all of our family and friends are here in our house to share the holidays with us. It’s the little things sometimes that make me happy!

My favorite Christmas cards to receive are handmade cards. I also like cards that have letters or notes about what that particular person/family has been up to over the last year. I would love to someday return the favor of a handmade card, but I don’t have a lot of extra time on my hands and I need all the help I can get. The past few years we’ve sent out photo cards because they are quick and easy, and this year, Shutterfly is going to help me out with this super-cool promotion.

Here are a few of my ideas for this year (of course with our pics), but you’ll have to check your mail to see what the final decision is…

Special note to Shutterfly…The past few years as postage has continued to go up and our family budget has continued to shrink, we debate whether or not it makes financial sense to send Christmas cards. Thank you for offering this promotion this year so that I don’t have to make that tough decision!

Thanksgiving 2010

For Thanksgiving this year we spent time with our family in Spartanburg.

I had to miss out on most of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade so I could play in the garage with the kids, but that was okay. Preston was able to catch a ball several times in a row (which is a big deal for him, as he usually gets frustrated and quits), so I took advantage of our time together and enjoyed the moment.

Just like most of you, we enjoyed a yummy turkey with way too many sides. Eating was a little different for me this year because of my new food allergies, but I was strong and didn't give in to my temptations (and my mom made me my own little sweet potato casserole without pecans). Cadence thoroughly enjoyed the turkey. I think she ate more than all of us combined. It must have helped to have four new teeth to chew with.

My mom said she wanted to go to Macy's at 4am on Friday to go shopping. I agreed to go (because I thought she really wanted to) but she changed her mind (and I was SO glad). Instead, we got up around 7 a.m. and got the mall around 8:30 a.m. We didn't really need anything, but had a good time people watching and did pick up a few gift items. My sweet husband stayed home with the kids for most of the day, even though he didn't feel very well. We picked them up in the afternoon so he could rest and continued shopping. Nine hours on my feet left me wanting to sit and do absolutely nothing the next day.

My plan for Saturday was to rest, spend part of the day visiting with family & friends, and then head back to GA in time to watch the Clemson/Carolina game. Boy did I ever get to rest. I ended up getting sick Saturday (not the kind of rest I was looking for), Ryan was sick, and the kids were cranky. My mom washed up all of our clothes and took great care of us. She and Preston had a special date to the park and CFA so they could get out of the house and away from all of our germs. We watched the Clemson/Carolina game (which didn't make me feel any better) and called it a day.

Sunday morning we rested a little more and I was feeling a little better, so we headed home around lunchtime.

We're trying to recover from the Thanksgiving holiday. Our little family is still not really well, but we're getting through. Cadence has a double ear infection, Ryan has strep, P has a minor cough that will hopefully remain at that & go away, and I'm better and praying that I don't get any of the other germs plaguing our house.

Weekend Away

Last weekend Ryan and I took a trip to Niagara Falls, ON, CA. Below is a brief synopsis of what we did/saw while we were there. THANKS to our parents for taking care of the kids so that we could enjoy this time together!

Day One:
Flew into Buffalo, NY. We picked up our rental car and headed to Duffs, on the recommendation of one of Ryan's friends who used to live in the area. They really do have some of the best Wings. We also tried french fries w/ gravy (as recommended). The fries were great and while the gravy was okay, I'll continue to eat my fries plain or with ketchup. (In the south, we know gravy is for biscuits. And, we know that the only real gravy is white gravy.)

After lunch we headed toward the border. Since this was only my second trip out of the country and my first time ever driving across the border, I was very excited; however, the border patrol guy really disappointed me when he told me he didn't have a stamp for my passport. Maybe next time.

Below is the view from our room upon our arrival on Friday. It was amazing. Clear skies and lots of rainbows.

We didn't really have a plan for Friday so we just enjoyed our time alone - walking through town and taking pictures of the American and Canadian waterfalls. We spent some time getting information on all the sightseeing opportunites in the area and planned our next two days. We walked to the IMAX theatre to view the 6:00 pm showing; however, it was being played in Korean, so we had to wait until 7:00 pm. We had eaten a big lunch late in the afternoon and weren't very hungry, so we decided to check out Margaritaville since it was right next door. We went back to the IMAX at 7. It was the worst IMAX movie I've ever seen. After that, we walked back through town, stopped at Starbucks for hot chocolate to warm up, and then called it an early night.

Day Two:
We slept until 8:30 am with no interruptions!!! After breakfast we headed down to the falls and into the tunnels behind the Canadian falls for a closer look at the water. It's truly amazing to see/hear/feel the power of the water. We also did the Niagara's Fury attraction. It was much like something you'd do at Disney World, but we thoroughly enjoyed it. Saturday afternoon we drove up the river to see the original site of the Falls, to see the whirlpool, and visit the Niagara Falls Butterfly Conservatory. This was pretty cool until butterflies started landing on me. The first one didn't bother me too much, but the more they decided to perch on me, the more it freaked me out. Supposedly it brings good luck if one lands on you, so I should be set for 2011. Belowis a pic of several butterflies having a snack.

One thing we noticed our first day in Niagara Falls was that the squirrels we saw running about were black. It was my goal to get a picture. As we were leaving the conservatory, I was able to get a shot of this little guy.

About 2 pm Saturday, we realized we had not yet had lunch, so we stopped at a local pizza place and had some delicious pizza. After that we headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up for dinner. We weren't sure where we were going to have dinner. There were several steakhouses with ads everywhere you turned and we thought we'd check out one of them. Ryan called to make reservations while I was getting ready and encountered rude staff at several of the restaurants. After a little more online research, he contacted one of the best rated, non-chain, local restaurants in town - a Greek restaurant. Not exactly what we had planned, but seriously, this turned out to be one of the best meals we've ever had! Below is a picture of KouTouki...Traditional Greek Cuisine. Next time you're in Niagara Falls, check it out ;)

Day Three:
Sunday was our last day. It worked out well because the weather cooled off a little and rain was supposed to come in that afternoon. This is a view the from our room Sunday morning.

After taking a few more pictures and driving around town a little while, we headed back across the bridge to good 'ol USA. We headed back toward Buffalo, again, not really having a plan for the day, other than to be at the airport in time to catch our flight. I used my phone to search Google Maps for "restaurants, Buffalo, NY" and several places popped up based on our location at the moment. I selected Pearl Street Grill & Brewery, Buffalo, NY, for us to stop by for lunch. I had a burger and Ryan tried the Beef on Weck. The coolest thing about this place was the building itself. I especially enjoyed the belt/pulley style ceiling fans.

After lunch we drove around town and then headed back to the airport since the rain started to come in. We hoped to get an earlier flight, but the 4:00 flight was full. We hung out for a few more hours, boarded our plane, and headed home.

We had to wait until Monday morning to see the kiddos. As much as we enjoyed some alone time, we were so happy to see their smiling faces.