Is that more snow?

Well, how has everyone been?  We've been home and just hanging out!  I have vowed to make January my "clean-it-up or clean-it-out" month since my house is one giant mess from top to bottom!  So, I attempted last week to start cleaning out our storage room ... ended up making me sick which I passed on to the children and then to Stewart!  So, for the past 7 days, we have had alot of home time - I couldn't go to work and the kids couldn't go to school because of their fever!  I think we are all on the mend, finally!

And, that's a good thing because Mother Nature dropped about 6 inches of snow on us last night and this morning!  So, we are still at home ... but for totally different reasons!  The children weren't all that thrilled to go outside and romp in the powder, but they enjoyed a few minutes of the "sand"!

 Perfectly pristine when we first went out there!

 "Cheese, mommy!"  Ma in her kerchief and me, in my tutu :-)

 She was all about just laying in it!

 This is Ian trying to make a snow angel!

 He stood up to look at his masterpiece and he said, "Mommy, that's a pretty snow angel!"  Too bad he never actually laid down in the snow or moved his arms up and down!

Ian was not happy that mommy's car didn't get in snow so he insisted on "feeding it"!

We are supposed to go to Boone, NC, tomorrow for a 3-day strategic planning session!  Wouldn't be a big deal when normally the children would be in school and their routine would be set, but with snow all over and ice expected for the next couple of days to form, who knows what we should do!

I did want to show you these 2 pictures since Ian has started playing dress-up, too :-)

 We gave him a Superman costume for Christmas - so funny :-)

And, when we had our breakfast with the neighbors the day after New Years, he came home with a Tigger costume which he stayed in all day!  So cute!

Well, we don't have a whole lot planned in the coming weeks!  Just hoping to get through the clean-out process first quarter!  Love to all and I hope that you are enjoying the beautiful snow, if you have some in your backyard right now :-)

White Christmas

As I mentioned in the previous post, the snow started falling Christmas Day about 3 p.m. and it just didn't let up. It snowed pretty much through the night - this morning, we woke up to a winter wonderland!

 Bonner really wanted to help daddy rake the snow in an effort to build a snowman!  And, of course, no raking effort is complete without a tutu on :-)

 Ian was telling me all about the snow - or sometimes, he refers to it as sand - and how it falls from the sky!

Here's daddy trying to get our snowman started ...

As Bonner said, "Our snowman is crying!"

Who knows what fun the rest of the week will bring, but I'm sure it will be adventurous!  We are going to snuggle up in the bed tonight and watch one of the movies the kids got for Christmas!  Hopefully, it will be the start to a regularly-occurring movie night!  Love to all!  Merry Christmas - hope to "talk" to you before the new year!

Christmas Day

We came back from Perry Christmas Eve and got right to work!  Santa hadn't quite come and gone just yet so we were busy getting everything ready for his arrival.  We unloaded the car and poof - he had snuck in and snuck out without our even seeing him!  We finally got in the bed about 2 a.m. and slept good - when I woke up at 9:30 a.m., I looked over at Stewart and he was watching TV; I checked the clock and said, "Have you heard the kids yet?"  "No, they are still sleeping!"  And sleeping they did ... until about 10:00 a.m.  It was fantastic!  They woke up so excited!  Ian peered out of their bedroom door and saw the remnants of Bonner's gifts since they were sitting out towards the hallway - he immediately said, "Santa!"  So cute!  I'll try to post some videos at some point!

 Santa brought Bonner a Baby Doll and some accessories!

 Since our family Christmas tree is out on the porch and it's so darn cold out there, Santa brought there gifts and put them in front of their 2 little trees!

You can barely see, but there's a camera made out of legos smack-dab in the middle of Ian's stuff from Santa.  That's all he asked Santa to bring him and he loves it!  Santa thought it might be fun to bring him some Toy Story friends, too, because he loves that movie!  And, Santa was right - he won't go anywhere without Woody & Rex now!

 Our great neighbors made us a delicious breakfast casserole - we all loved it, especially Ian!

 The 1st gift Bonner wanted to open was a ballerina outfit and slippers.  It's hard to tell where her leotard ends and her legs start since they are so white!  Aunt Taylor & Uncle Justin came over in the morning to celebrate with us - they gave Bonner this cute little tea set that changes colors when you put cold water in it.  Needless to say, we used alot of water throughout the day :-)

 Aunt Taylor & Uncle Justin gave Ian this remote-controlled firetruck - oh my goodness, he LOVES it!  Woke up first thing this morning looking for it!  It's really cute and super-easy to control which means that mommy and daddy really like it, too!

 Gigi gave each kiddo a book that reads them 3 songs - of course, Bonner's books are all about princesses and Ian's, Elmo and the Sesame Street gang.  They were really good about playing with each toy they opened for a good long time ... I know the time will come when they just want to rip into each of them, but for now, I relish in the fact that they are somewhat appreciative!

 Ian got some binoculars - so funny watch him try to focus on something with them!

 Our other neighbors, the Anderson's, brought over yummy cookies and these cute pj's for the kids!  Can you say, "Perfect gift!"  Both children insisted that they be able to wear them immediately.  In fact, Bonner just wanted to wear hers over the new leotard!

 And, they couldn't have picked a more appropriate pair for Ian - it was Woody all around this Christmas!  Is he not precious?

 They got these CD Players, too, that had 2 microphones so they can sing together!  I'll definitely try to post some videos because later in the night, we cranked up the Christmas music and they had a field day listening to "their music!"

 Bonner is always pretending to cut your hair, brush your hair, pull your hair ... you know, lots of things hair-related.  Well, when I found this Disney Princess salon kit that came with a hair dryer, curling iron, straightener, perfume bottle, curler, etc., I just couldn't resist.  And, Grandbuddy was a very good sport when Bonner wanted to "fix his hair!"

 Yes, that is a curler in his hair and her using a curling iron on him!  So cute!  I videotaped it, too; she insisted on him having lipstick on and perfume!  So funny!

 Ian asked if mommy and daddy would get him a train for Christmas.  Well, I got this train table and set about a year and a half ago - we had the train table downstairs collecting dust and had hidden the train in the garage for just the right moment.  Well, Christmas 2010 was that moment.  It took Uncle Justin and daddy some finagling, but they finally got the train set put together on the awkward table.  Ian loves it!

 And, as much as Ian's Christmas was everything about Toy Story, Bonner's was everything about princesses ... she got a princess castle so that her princesses "have somewhere to sleep"!  She played with it for quite a while, too!  Her new Sleeping Beauty really seemed to enjoy it :-)

 And, after an exciting day of opening presents, eating lots of food, and hanging out with family, we took some time to remember what we were really celebrating.  Stewart got out his granddaddy's bible and read the Christmas story from Luke 2.  We then lit 2 candles on a little birthday cake for Jesus and sang him, "Happy Birthday!"  The kids were so sweet.  I got it on video, too, so I'll try to get it posted!  I'm amazed that they can sing that whole song all by themselves!

And, of course, Christmas isn't Christmas without snow ... SNOW?  Yes, that's right!  I experienced my first White Christmas ever!  It started falling about 3 p.m. or so and snowed all evening!  We probably got about 3 inches total.  My next post will be pictures from this morning's adventure in the snow!  I told the children that I had waited 35+ years to see snow on Christmas and they are already spoiled to think it just happens that way!

All and all, our Christmas was spectacular.  Santa was good to me; I got an iPad which I am very excited about ... gotta get a chance to figure out how to use it, but it seems really cool!  We just enjoyed each other's company; it was pretty relaxing as it took us all day to open our presents.  We didn't make a big fuss about food which was nice - we just took it all in with the children!  As Stewart said at the end of the night, "If it was this much fun this year, what's next year going to be like?"

Christmas in Perry

Merry Christmas to everyone!  I hope the past several days have been absolutely fantastic for you and your families!  I am just getting a chance to sit down - much less sit down and actually do something :-)  It's been a very exciting week for us as we have celebrated Christmas for many days now!  Here are some pictures from our trip to Perry this week.

We had a wonderful time there as the entire family was able to celebrate the grace that God has bestowed upon the family, especially Ms. Marti.  She went to Emory on Wednesday to see the oncologist there for a 2nd opinion.  He reported everything just as Macon did so that was great!  She will go back the first part of January to get the treatment plan confirmed with the radiologist; however, the plan now is to treat what's left of the tumor with 15 rounds of radiation in hopes of killing the remains.  It will be tough, but at this point, there's no need for chemotherapy and we are all greatful for that.  As you can see in the pictures, she has bounced back from her surgery; she looks great and seems to be feeling pretty good.  Of course, after the 2 2-year-olds left, she's probably hibernating to catch up on her sleep :-)

Cards - especially Spades - is a critical aspect to life at the Bloodworth household!  It was so funny because the kids walked into the living room and "started dealing".  When you asked them what they were doing, they were both quick to respond, "Playing caaahhhhhdddds".  Bonner looks like she even knows how to shuffle!

 I just love this picture with Ian's arm leaning on his Aunt Kay's knee.  He was taken with the book that she gave them Christmas!

 Somehow or another, it came up to listen to your heart beat - so Ian went into Nanny's room and found this stethoscope.  It's sad that he knows exactly what it's used for, but it was so cute of him.  He wanted to listen to Kay's heart and then his own!  Precious!

 Nanny gave Bonner this Dora that goes in your bathtub - the cutest thing about it is that it came with Dora's boy/girl twins.  Bonner now just talk about "the twins" - "Where are my twins, mommy?"  So funny!

 I just love this picture of Bonner - leaning back and just taking in her new Dora and the twins!

 Nanny gave Ian 2 big trucks and Aunt Terri and Uncle Glenn gave him a Little People Barn - he was just taking it all in!

And, Bonner got her 1st Doll House and was so excited.  If it had come with 2 families, or at least 2 daddies, that would have been great - because they (continue) to fight over that little man!

 The big cousins liked to put Ian on Nanny's rug and throw him in the air!  As you can see, he didn't mind one bit.  Everytime they finished, he would immediately say, "Again!"

And here is Nanny with all of her grandchildren - so precious!  Notice Bonner still has her tutu on ... she wears it all the time and never forgets that you need to put it back on after diaper changes, pajamas, etc.  You'll see it in most all of her pictures - some battles are just not worth fighting!  It is who she is!

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas

Well, we are tired, tired, tired ... but had a terrific weekend with great friends and enjoyed some new adventures that will hopefully become family traditions!

On Thursday, Ian & Bonner built their first gingerbread house :-)

 Just getting started...

 

Working together ...

And the finished product ... Kids did pretty good for their first try!

Friday afternoon, we headed to the mountains to embark on our first train ride to the North Pole - aboard the Polar Express, of course.  As you can see, there was plenty of snow in the mountains - made for a tricky drive up to our friend's house; thank goodness for 4-wheel drive!

Kids weren't real interested in "the sand" (that's what they called the snow) - they wanted to curl up fireside instead - after a snack, of course :-)

I cannot believe it, but I left my camera at the house when we left out Friday night for our train ride.... so I couldn't really capture our trip aboard the Polar Express near as much as I would have liked.  The train went out of Bryson City, NC, and lasted about an hour.  They had a museum at the depot with big train tracks and several trains running all about.  Ian & Bonner preferred this little train table, though, more than anything!

As you can see, they are in their pajamas!  That's because in the book, the little boy boards the train in his pj's - of course, we had to go right along to make for an incredible adventure!  You read the book on your way to the "North Pole" where there were several houses lit up quite brightly.  And, at the North Pole, Santa boarded the train and made his rounds... and of course, everyone received a bell, the first gift of Christmas, as it's described in the book!  Ian and Bonner enjoyed the red & green Rice Krispy treat, too :-)  These are the only pictures I have on my phone - maybe Stewart has some better ones; I'll have to see!

It was ssssoooo much fun!  Kids had a blast!  We just hung out with our friends in the mountains yesterday - they have 6-year-old twin girls and then a little girl that's a month younger than Ian & Bonner ... everyone got along quite nicely and it was a great weekend away.

On our way home today, we stopped at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC, to catch a glimpse of the Gingerbread Houses - and these are not just your typical gingerbread houses ... they are magnificent - I think that all parts have to be edible.  Maybe Ian & Bonner can hone their gingerbread-house-making skills over the next few years and submit an entry :-)

 Ian saw this "gingerbread house" and said, "That's Ian & Bonner on the tractor!"  Just too cute!

 This was one of my favorites - a completely edible church ...

With Mary, Joseph, & Baby Jesus included!  So sweet!

Ian is such a little ham - he saw some other people sitting next to one of these Christmas trees having their picture taken so he asked if he could "sit on the bench for a picture" ... notice how he leaned in to the tree.  Maybe I should check on some modeling opportunities :-) Ha!!!

I also wanted to give everyone an update on Ms. Marti, Stewart's mom.  She has undergone numerous scans and tests over the past several weeks and so far, as an answer to prayers, everything has come back clear!  It's actually quite remarkable and definitely a Christmas miracle for the family!  She has a CT Scan on Tuesday of this week to get a look at the tumor a few weeks post-op.  And, then on Wednesday, she will go to Emory to meet with an oncologist there and to discuss her treatment (options).  The hope is that since it seems the cancer is contained only in the remnants of the brain tumor, radiation could be used without any chemo.  We'll keep you posted; but, please know that your prayers are greatly appreciated!!!  They have sustained the family over the past several weeks; and, we are so thankful that God has answered your prayers!  It has made this holiday season so special already!

This week will be very busy as we get ready for Christmas!  As I scurry around trying to get everything done at the last minute, I pray that I will be able to take a deep breath and remember the true reason for the season!  Without the birth of my Savior, Jesus Christ, I would not be able to live life with such confidence that no matter what happens day-to-day, I have eternal life!  He came for each of us and I pray, especially during this CHRISTmas season, that all of those that I know and love, love Him as much as I do!  I often wonder what was really going through Mary's mind during that first night ... I look at my children and am often overwhelmed by the sheer responsibility of raising Godly people that can give back ... I can only imagine what she was thinking!  Thank God, though, that she was up to the task and took her responsibility so greatly!

Merry Christmas to everyone and know that He came for you!

Love,

Jennifer