First Day of Febuary

The first day of Febuary brought us a wintery suprise! We woke up to the first big ice storm of the season. We've seen a few of these in our life, but we are still uterly amazed at how every tiny detail is absolutely layered with ice. The kids enjoyed eating icicles off the car and Caleb's bike. We love watching the wild Blue Jays and Cardinals feast on our neighbors wild bird seed. Even in the icey cold weather!!

 

 

And it only took me 10 minutes to chizzle the ice of the car before we could get the door open!

 

No More Naps?

So James has recently decided that he is "too big" to take naps. Every time we are home and it is nap time, he absolutely refuses to lie down and rest. He'll get up and play trains or just sit and whine, or sneak out of his room and sit at the top of the stairs. So, wondering if it might just be time to give them up, I decided to give it a couple of days to see how it went. Here is a picture of James day 1 of no nap around 5:30 pm at the dinner table.

 

And here is day two of mommy giving in to no naps around 5:45pm (supposed to be watching a movie).

 

As you can see, I don't think he's QUITE ready yet. What do you think?

The Biltmore

So while Michelle was here, we decided that it was the perfect opportunity to check out the famous Vanderbilt mansion in Asheville, NC. Melanie, Heidi, and Michelle took off Friday night and enjoyed a luxurious hotel night stay (with dreamy down-feather pillows included) in Asheville.

 

Saturday we spent the day touring the mansion house. I think we went through at least 60 rooms! It was one of the best house tours I've ever been on! The grounds were amazing, even in the dead of winter! I'd love to see it in full bloom. Anyway, everything was amazing, the cute shops and restaraunts, the restoration of the rooms, the beautiful drive. Highly recommend it!

 

 

Birthday Fun

On Michelle's Birthday, we enjoyed a fabulous dinner at Kabuki Japanese Steakhouse. The kids loved watching our chef cook our food right at our table - especially the "fire volcanoes!" The food was fantastic; we tried everything from Filet Mignon, Chicken, scallops, shrimp, lobster, fried rice, vegitables, yum. Sooooo good. Michelle and I caught tossed shrimp in our mouths on the first shot. Better luck next time, Bryce!

Michelle made an amazing Paula Dean Coconut Cream cake for her birthday! All 7 layers contained the perfect amount of refreshing goodness. It will be remembered for quite some time.

Happy 30th!

Michelle's Visit

Melanie's sister, Michelle, came out on a last minute trip to celebrate her 30th birthday! We had a great time together and the kids already miss playing with "Aunt Chelle!"

We did a lot of fun things in just 4 days. Here we are at adventure world - a fun indoor roller skating rink with bounce houses, blow-up slides, obstacle course, and a lot of kids! James has turned out to be an excellent roller skater (who knew!) We had a great time!

Our Cute Kids!

The kids in their new Christmas church clothes in sunny Shreveport.

 

 

 

 

Fireworks!

In honor of the New Year, we watched fireworks over the Cane River Lake in Natchitoches (Nakidish) last Saturday.
The whole side of the river was lit up with Christmas lights! It was so pretty!

 

Bryce, Talana, Mom & Dad J, Jason, Madeleine

 

Lucy closing her eyes.