Welcome Home

We had such a relaxing trip to Asheville, but it didn't take me long to realize why God blessed us with such a peaceful getaway...the stomach bug had hit our house and was waiting for our return. 

Here's a shot of Ryan driving home...he looks like he might have an idea of what's to come!

Let me preface this story by saying that we get the stomach bug at least twice a year. ("We" meaning everyone except Ryan.)  If I get word that someone has it on the other side of Nashville, we will have caught it 32 minutes later.  The stomach virus loves us.  I wish we could say the same for it (although the easy and very temporary 5 pound weight loss that comes with it is always a great consolation benefit for me). 

It was great to get home and see the girls again but less than two hours after our return, Saylor threw up.  Unfortunately, she's not to the stage that Harper is at where she can direct herself to the bathroom or a trash can in time.  To make a long story short, I was up all night with Saylor and washed 4 loads of laundry between 8 pm and 3 am in the morning. 

This went on for two days and two nights.  Some how, God spared the rest of us from the virus, but I think poor Saylor got it bad enough to make up for it.

Harper was worried.  She didn't understand why her sister just laid around like this.

I would leave the room and literally find her laying anywhere she was, the couch, the dinner table, the floor...it was so pitiful.

I don't know how I would have dealt with it had I not had that little refresher time before it hit!  I am so thankful for God's planning.  I had plenty of energy to give lots of hugs and comfort, no matter the time of day or night.

Asheville Getaway

A few weeks ago, I surprised Ryan and booked a mini-vacation for two nights at the Inn on the Biltmore Estate.  Ryan's parents kept the girl's and we headed out for the 6 hour drive!  (Even a six hour drive is fun when there aren't kids in the car!) 

We had an amazing time.  The Hotel was gorgeous and had such great service.  It definitely deserved it's place in Travel & Leisure's top 500 hotels worldwide.  We catered to hand and foot.  We had the best breakfast buffet every morning (the hashbrown casserole was way better than Cracker Barrel's).  We had free admission to the Biltmore house so we took a tour of it and also took a tour of the winery and did a wine tasting (leaving with a case of assorted wines to stock our wine cooler). 

We had the best dinners ever in Asheville at The Admiral and The Red Stag Grill.  Really all we did was relax!  We slept in both mornings and took a nice long nap, too!

Here's our view from our hotel room.  We were lucky to wake up our first morning to snow!

The drive home was fun.  We took the scenic route through the mountains.  I stopped and got some Minnetonka moccasins for myself and the girls in Cherokee and then I had to get 3 pairs of cowboy boots in Pigeon Forge.  All the boots in the store were 1 Get 2 Free!  It was Ryan's idea to go in, he said he wanted boots...so I picked out two pairs and waited for him to pick out one.  And I waited...and waited...and waited.  Ryan couldn't find any that were perfect, so I went home with 3 pairs of boots  :-) 

Here are some photos we took on the drive home through the snowy mountians.

 

  

 

 

Snowed In!

The forecasters were right!  We're snowed in!  And even better, Ryan didn't have to go to work today because of it.  Ryan and Harper got some cuddle time in on the couch to watch a movie.  Ryan chose The Neverending Story, which was really scary to me when I was at least twice Harper's age.  I didn't say anything to him but when I heard the scary storm rolling in and that huge limstone dude on the bicycle come rolling through the forest, I went to check on them.  Harper was under the blanket, crying.  Needless to say, I quickly changed it to something a little more age-appropriate (Veggie Tales).

Once Saylor woke up from her nap, we bundled up and got ready to head out in the snow!

Brrrr!!!  It's so cold out!  Harper immediately tried out a snow angel.  (someone tell me how to rotate this picture!)

I was looking back at my blogs from last winter and there's a photo of Harper and Saylor last January.  Harper is wearing the coat Saylor has on today!  I can't believe she was Saylor's size a year ago.  

 

I called every store on earth yesterday looking for sleds, but no one had any.  So, we had to get creative.  Here are the girls sledding down the driveway on plastic bin lids.  They loved it!  Saylor kept saying "myyyyy tuuuurn, myyyy tuuuuuuurn, myyyy tuuuuuurn!"

Here's a picture of me and my baby bunny

 

The girls had the most fun sliding on Ryan's back down the hill on a cardboard box!

 

And now for the best picture of the day!!

After all the fun we had outside, we went back inside and had hot cocoa.  Then I sent Ryan to the grocery store to get stuff for chili, cheese straws, and home made toffee scones.  Who's coming for dinner?

Stop the Nudity!!!

What is it with my girls???  It's all about nudity around here (the children, that is....we're not running a nudist colony.  I honestly don't know where they get it).  Here are some shots from yesterday.  Just a typical morning in our house.  Nothing like a bare butt breakfast when it's freezing outside!

Harper is always the instigator...then Saylor immediately follow suit.

TV time!  (Yes, Harper is wiping her butt.  For no reason.)

Oh, and since we're on the subject of nudity and bare butts, let's talk poop!  Saylor has pooped in her potty for four days straight!  Now we just have to get her to quit peeing on the floor.

Zoo Day in November (Yeah, months ago)

We have a family zoo membership for the first time this year.  I took the girls once by myself and this is the first time this year that Ryan came with us, too!  I think we'll get a lot of use out of the membership, and definitely get our money's worth, this Spring (the tax write-off was nice).

I am aware that Saylor's clothes don't really match.  I remember the morning we left for the zoo.  It was awful trying to get the girl's ready to go, they were really whiny and yucky, so I left Saylor in her play clothes.  Some days I figure it's best to do that than to lose my mind  :-)  I'm learning how to "let it all go"...

The girl's favorite parts were the terrarium with all the lizards, snakes, and fish, and the carousel.  After the carousel, we took a break and played in the leaves and got some fun shots of the girls! It was a mini-photo shoot...

And every fun day at the zoo...or anywhere for that matter...always ends with a photo like this

I can't wait for warm weather again!!!!! 

Where Do I Find The Time?

I really, really, really, wish I had more time in my day. I would love to do more with my blog (like update it) but it always seems to get put on the back burner and then I'm overwhelmed with the challenge of "catching up" that I just don't do it all together!

The girls are at that age where they are doing new and hilarious things every day. I know one day I'm going to miss these moments and actually start forgetting the tiny details, so I need to try to create more time and really stick to this. Maybe I'll forgo showers...but the 7-minute showers I take wouldn't even give me enough time to blog. I know, I'll try and do it every night before the kids go to bed. They usually have fun playing in their play room for a little while before bed, which gives me some time to myself. So here goes!

Speaking of the play room...have you seen it? My parents got them the coolest teepee for Christmas! Here are some pics:

 

Harper Loves to Make up Rhyme Songs

She freezes up a little in front of the camera...but you can get the gist of her talent.