On the first Saturday of the month, the four of us drove up to the Children's Museum INK and spent the morning there playing with the kids at all of the different exhibits. They have little rooms set up as different real-life places and the kids can role play being a dentist at a dentist office, a waiter at a 50s diner, a beautician at a salon, a doctor at a hospital, a judge or lawyer in a courtroom, a shopper at a grocery store, etc. They also have an indoor playground area, an old police car, and a huge old firetruck to climb all around. It's a blast for them! We packed our lunch and ate there before hitting the road. It was a nice way to spend a Saturday doing something different as a family.
The next week Audrey started back to school, but before sending her we had a Mommy-Daughter date to conclude her winter break. We went to the dentist (okay, that part wasn't as fun for me at least), then to lunch, and then I gave her a choice between painting pottery or getting a new stuffed animal at Build-a-Bear. It took her .02 seconds to decide on Build-a-Bear and she ecstatically put together a new bunny she named Cutie Pie.
The following weekend we took a road trip to Lexington, South Carolina to visit our friends the Taylors who moved there about six months ago. It was such a blast hanging out for two days and the kids enjoyed playing together nonstop. Everyone got along very, very well and the only issue was Audrey having second thoughts about spending the night in the girls' room. At 3am. When we were on the other end of the house and couldn't hear her. So, that meant waking poor Mrs. Kara who then had to come wake us. (It's not like she doesn't already have to get up to feed a baby. What's one more time?) David and Brian snuck away for a quick golf game on Sunday morning, which thrilled them to death. We ate delicious food, played games, and talked nonstop about big issues, little topics, and everything in between. Both Kara and I teared up when it was time to go on Sunday after lunch. We miss them terribly and are looking forward to our next marathon catch-up session!
Of course we got some work done this month, too. It can't all be fun and games (at least to this Type-A.) We finally painted the guest room and worked hard cleaning out three closets in the basement. We threw out 5-6 bags of trash and took a huge load to Goodwill. I began consigning the kids' summer clothes from last year. I also went through mine and David's old memorabilia, trashed stuff that neither of us had a clue about, and reorganized what was left. We got a new roof put on, a new TV for the basement, a new TV table, and several other accessories/pieces of decor for the basement, which all required hanging/putting out/arranging.
The last weekend of the month, I got to cash in my Christmas gift. I wrote about it in a previous TT post, but I'll give a brief overview again: On Saturday the 25th, after the roofers woke us up bright and early putting on our new roof, David and I dropped the kids off at his parents' and drove downtown for the Hot Chocolate 5K/15K. We went straight to the expo at the Georgia World Congress Center to get our race bibs then back to the hotel for naps and not naps. ;) We took a walk around Piedmont Park then through downtown before changing and going out to a delicious dinner at a local Italian spot called Pasta da Pulcinella. We were in bed by 8:00 and after turning down a $17 in-room movie option, we snuggled and watched Modern Family reruns until turning out the lights around 9:30. That next morning, we bundled up and drove as close as we could to Turner field and found a deck. (Reminder: Next time pay the stupid $10 for a parking pass in a lot there!) We walked about 3/4 mile to the start line and jumped around in our corral trying to stay warm. I think it was about 25 degrees and David had the beginnings of a cold. Nonetheless, we rocked it and crossed the finish line. Maybe not super fast, but we did it. They had our chocolate bowl "goodie bags" (fondue with various dipping foods plus hot chocolate) waiting for us after the race. We walked back to the car, showered, and got ready to go get the kids. It was a wonderful, much-needed break!
The next week we had a snow and ice storm hit that crippled the city. The problem was that instead of happening overnight, it began mid-morning. Then everyone decided to leave work early and dismiss school early and DOT workers couldn't do anything to help the frozen roads because millions of cars were on them. People were stuck in their cars for 6 plus hours and kids in several counties had to spend the night in schools. It made national news, mostly as the butt of Northerner's jokes. I made my feelings clear on that in an earlier post, so I'll choose to point out that we were incredibly blessed to be safe and together and that it was awesome to hear of all the ways people, restaurants, stores, etc. came together to help one another out. I'm proud to be a Georgia Peach, even if it means we don't handle snow well! We of course played outdoors in it (Audrey loved it, Luke kind of just tolerated it). We made a snowman, we made snow angels, we had a snowball fight, we "sledded" in our laundry basket, and we tramped through the gorgeous and scenic woods. Then, when we couldn't stand the cold anymore, we did play dough and bubble baths and movies indoors. It was just enough to get it out of our system.
Hmmm...what else this month? I got new glasses, David went to Ohio for business for two days, we had two great play dates with our friends the Eries, and I had a lovely girls' night out dinner with a friend that lasted 3.5 hours. It's been a wonderful month, but we are still very much dying for routine. Even in routine in a single area would be nice! For instance, Audrey started back to school on the 8th, then had MLK day off then missed a day for snow. Kind of a big deal when you only go to school three days a week anyway! Several of my runs got cancelled or had to be done indoors on a treadmill (YUCK) due to the weather. David traveled, the kids fought colds, etc. etc. etc. Maybe by the end of my February update we'll be able to report some normalcy. Nonetheless, the amount of fun stuff we got to do and the few important projects we tackled balanced out the unpredictability pretty well.
We hope your new year started off well, too! Enjoy the pics: January Picture Gallery
The next week we had a snow and ice storm hit that crippled the city. The problem was that instead of happening overnight, it began mid-morning. Then everyone decided to leave work early and dismiss school early and DOT workers couldn't do anything to help the frozen roads because millions of cars were on them. People were stuck in their cars for 6 plus hours and kids in several counties had to spend the night in schools. It made national news, mostly as the butt of Northerner's jokes. I made my feelings clear on that in an earlier post, so I'll choose to point out that we were incredibly blessed to be safe and together and that it was awesome to hear of all the ways people, restaurants, stores, etc. came together to help one another out. I'm proud to be a Georgia Peach, even if it means we don't handle snow well! We of course played outdoors in it (Audrey loved it, Luke kind of just tolerated it). We made a snowman, we made snow angels, we had a snowball fight, we "sledded" in our laundry basket, and we tramped through the gorgeous and scenic woods. Then, when we couldn't stand the cold anymore, we did play dough and bubble baths and movies indoors. It was just enough to get it out of our system.
Hmmm...what else this month? I got new glasses, David went to Ohio for business for two days, we had two great play dates with our friends the Eries, and I had a lovely girls' night out dinner with a friend that lasted 3.5 hours. It's been a wonderful month, but we are still very much dying for routine. Even in routine in a single area would be nice! For instance, Audrey started back to school on the 8th, then had MLK day off then missed a day for snow. Kind of a big deal when you only go to school three days a week anyway! Several of my runs got cancelled or had to be done indoors on a treadmill (YUCK) due to the weather. David traveled, the kids fought colds, etc. etc. etc. Maybe by the end of my February update we'll be able to report some normalcy. Nonetheless, the amount of fun stuff we got to do and the few important projects we tackled balanced out the unpredictability pretty well.
We hope your new year started off well, too! Enjoy the pics: January Picture Gallery
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