Because I'm Sure You've Been Wondering

AGG!  I went to go blog and realized I haven't blogged at all this year!!  I know I posted in February, but that was for Nomes' birthday and she really turned 2 at the end of the last year.  My personality really wants me to go back and post every awesome activity we've done so far with pictures of it all, but my lack of time says a short synopsis will have to do.  I know I could just skip everything in the last 4 months, but my personality won't let me do that either.  It seems like since moving back from NC that life has been in fast forward mode and just won't slow down.

So, here are a few things we've been up to since ringing in 2013.
 - Attended the annual Together for Life Walk to end abortion.
 - Stated back at BSF.
 - Started back at the Y.  We missed them and they missed us.
 - Aaron & I went back to NC to attend a wedding for some small group members.
 - I took the kids to the aquarium (maybe I will post a few pictures from here).  We had a great time.
 - My Moo Moo fell and broke both of her legs :(  We've been visiting with her quite a bit.
 - Aaron & I went to the Good Friday Celebration.  It was amazing.
 - We celebrated Easter with lots of good food and egg hunts.
 - The soccer season started in full force.
 - I went to see Mary Poppins at the Fox.
 - We've decided to continue with homeschool for next year and will be doing Classical Conversations.

As you can tell we are super busy with life, but its a beautiful life.

An 'Incredible' Halloween

This past weekend we attended our church's fall festival.  Levi has been obsessed with The Incredibles, so a costume idea wasn't too hard to conceive.  Levi loves to run.  It is literally his favorite thing to do which is why he makes the perfect Dash.  Naomi went as Jack Jack and Violet was with us too, but she just insisted on being invisible in all the pictures.  We couldn't let the kids have all the fun though.  Hope you all have a Happy Halloween and the beginning of a wonderful holiday season!

When Your an Addams

This past weekend I went to GA for a visit.  While I was there I had the awesome opportunity to see The Addams Family at the fabulous Fox Theatre.  I went with my sisters, mom, and aunt, and we had a blast!  The show was hilarious and we had so much fun!  If you get the chance to see it I definitely recommend it!

B.I.T.S.

The kids & I have been enjoying this new silly song.  Enjoy!

Birthday Fun

 Levi is 4!  I can't believe it.  We of course had a wonderful time celebrating his birthday with friends and family.  We were in GA the weekend before his birthday and had a party to celebrate with family and a few friends.  He loved it and got exactly what he asked for...a water hose!!!  I'm still not sure why he wanted it, but he had been asking for it for weeks so that is what he got.  He was thrilled and has asked to use it several times.  The only problem is that our rental property in NC doesn't have an outside water hookup for it :(  We are working on getting a solution so he can use it soon.  We also want to send a big shout out to Lou Lou for making his totally awesome monster truck cake.  He loved it!  He got so many wonderful things.  Lots of cars, a net for catching fish & bugs, clothes, a water hose, and the bird game!  Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate!

 Gramps even got his Batman car up and running again!

 Levi's actual birthday fell on Memorial Day this year.  Granddaddy, Grandmama, & Cara came up for a visit and we spent the day doing all the things that Levi loves doing in NC.  We went to the NOC center and watched some kayakers do tricks and then we went a visited a few waterfalls.  I made some cupcakes for us to celebrate his actual birthday and we had a mini party before they had to head back home.

 The birthday boy!

 Opening his presents he got a new fishing pole and 2 new VeggieTale movies!  Granddaddy & Grandmama also gave him a spray attachment for his waterhose!

 After Aaron's folks left we headed across the street to the park to grill our dinner.  Levi even caught a fish in his new net!  We had a great time together playing in the river and celebrating Levi's big day!

At the end of the day we had this awesome rainbow above the mountains in our backyard.  It was quite fitting for the wonderful day we had celebrating our son's birthday.  Levi is truly a blessing from God and we are so thankful he is part of our family.  His smile and humor brighten each day and his love for life is so contagious.  We love you and are so proud of our little guy!

Bears, Elk & a Hole in One

In Cherokee there is a little zoo that we checked out this past weekend.  The kids were free and adults were only $5, so it ended up being a pretty affordable attraction that the kids loved.  They mostly have bears, two tigers (one baby & one mama), a few monkeys, and some goats.  You could feed the bears and they would do tricks like clapping their hands to get you to give them more.  Levi absolutely loved it.  The baby tiger found Naomi quite intriguing, and the little fence that separated us didn't give me much comfort when it appeared that she might have been a good meal for him.  However, he did smile for the camera for me (see picture below).

 After our time at the zoo we went next door to play mini golf.  Levi didn't always follow the "rules" but on Hole 13 with a Par 3 he got a hole in one.  He didn't see the big deal in it, but I insisted on the photo.

 That evening we drove to the Cataloochee ranger station and campground area in the Great Smokey Mt. Nat'l Forest.  We heard that elk were in the forest and that you could seem them at the visitor center and at Cataloochee.  We've been to the visitor center twice with no such luck, but Cataloochee did not disappoint. They have radio collars on for the rangers to keep tabs on them.  They are slightly smaller than the elk our west, but not by much.  Levi was stoked, and to tell you the truth Aaron & I were too.  There were about 15 out in the field and then 2 more in another field as we were leaving that were males.  One still had his antlers.  We told Levi about how they lose their antlers in the spring/summer and they come back in the fall/winter.  Ever since when he see the wind blow he tells me "Mommy!  You see the trees moving?  I think its cold now so I think the elk growed their horns!"  We will definitely be venturing back there as fall approaches to see their "horns."

 Saturday morning we went into town to go to the Greening Up the Mountain Festival.  There was lots to see and do.  We ate hotdogs and snow cones and enjoyed the booths and music.

Exploring

We have decided to make living in NC an experience not just a place to live while Aaron works.  That being said we are trying to do many things and enjoy all that the surrounding area has to offer.  Aaron & I love to explore - just ride in the car, enjoy the scenery and see what we find.  Anytime we are in a new place we always hop in the car and go exploring.  We have decided to make weekend our exploration time.  We plan to make it family time where we do just that - hop in the car and see what we find.  Our first weekend exploring has some great finds.  I'm not a photographer (even though I'd love to be) and have no fancy camera (even though I'd love one), but I tried to capture some of our finds.

We came across this old barn.  I LOVE the color and had to capture it.

 I loved this church atop the hill with the mountains.  Turns out its right next to our house.

 We found this "cave" that Levi feel in absolutely in love with.

This creek was right beside the cave and the kids loved playing in it.  Levi has been asking to go back ever since.

 Naomi was a huge fan of the creek!

 

Happy Easter!

I know this is a ton of pictures for one post, but with strict orders from grandparents to have "lots of pictures" I forced to obliged.  You might as well get used to it.  

Easter this year was slightly different that usual with us being gone and not being here long enough to make any friends to spend the time with.  However we had a wonderful weekend.  Before we moved our church back home had an egg hunt so the kids were able to join in the fun there before we headed to NC.  We decided to do our own egg hunt with the eggs Bay & Lou sent in our care package.  The kids loved it and had so much fun searching for eggs in the yard.  Levi even helped hide the ones for Naomi.  From the look of the pictures you can tell that Naomi had more fun putting her bucket on her head than putting eggs in them.  Sunday morning we visited a nearby church and they had an egg hunt that they invited us to so our kids did get to hunt a few eggs then as well.  My favorite part of the day was Naomi's dress.  Vain in know, but it was a crocheted dress that Moo had made for my sisters and I when we were Naomi's age.  We all wore it and for my daughter to wear it was really special to me.  She was not as cooperative as I would have like in getting her picture, but I was able to get a few good shots.  Maybe I can dress her up again for some better pics.  After church we grabbed some lunch and spent the rest of the day exploring our new town.

The best part of the weekend was sharing the story of Easter with our kids.  The previous Sunday the kids went to church with Aaron's parents.  Levi has been talking about Palm Sunday ever since and goes around the house yelling "Hosanna to our King!"  It has been a great privilege to teach my children about our Savior and Lord.  For them to learn not just about Easter, but that Easter could not have happened without Good Friday.  It has been a good reminder for myself as well.  I'll end with this thought.  I read/heard somewhere that many people died on a cross, but only one died for our sins and rose again.  Hallelujah!  I rose and my eternity is sealed forever!

Happy Halloween

For Halloween this year Levi decided he wanted to dress up like Woody from Toy Story. I figured everyone would expect Naomi to be Jessie, but I wanted to do something different, so I made her Woody's horse, Bull's Eye. I made both their costumes with some help from my mom, and had a great time doing it. My favorite part is Naomi's mane. I think they were pretty cute, but I'm biased for sure. We got lots of use out of our costumes attending the Trunk or Treat at our church and Aaron's parents church as well as the festival at my parent's church. Levi's favorite part by far was the hayride and all the candy. Here are some photos from our weekend.

Bull's Eye (Woody didn't want his photo taken)

Woody!

Family fun on the hayride.

Just a Swingin'

With temperatures in the 90s and 100s over the last several weeks, we have spent most of our time indoors. However, last week we had a nice break for about 2 days with slightly cooler temps (80s) so we took advantage of it and headed to the park for the evening. Naomi loved the swing, which also happens to be Levi's favorite thing to do as well. Here they are smiles and all...

Bad at Posting

Lately I have been very bad at 1) taking pictures, and 2) posting the pictures I actually do take. However, I have taken a few here and there that for whatever reason I haven't uploaded to post. Here is a little taste.

Naomi is rolling around everywhere! She is trying really hard to crawl, but hasn't quite mastered it just yet. This day she roller herself right under the TV cabinet.

At Levi's 3 year check-up the doctor noticed a heart murmur and sent us to a pediatric cardiologist to have it checked out. Levi wasn't too sure about it all. After being hooked up to all these cords and an ultrasound of his heart, the doctor told us it was just an innocent murmur and nothing to worry about. We have to go back in 5 years to make sure it hasn't developed into anything more serious. Can't believe Levi will be 8 then!

The is crazy man being what I like to call bucket head. He is so much fun!

So Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-A was well over a month ago, but I'm just now getting around to posting this picture. Aaron's sister, Cara, dressed him up. I think she did a pretty good job. Just wished I had gotten a picture of the whole outfit. He definitely enjoyed his free meal!

Cabin Trip

A few weeks ago we took a weekend trip to my parent's cabin in North Georgia. We had a great time getting away. We hiked to a few waterfalls, went to the park, visited Brasstown Bald, and watched a few movies. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the weekend.

Some of the waterfalls had little rock formations someone had made.

View from Brasstown Bald

Naomi and the notorious fox.

Waterfall. Can you see Aaron & Levi?