My goodness...We can't recall a time when we had snow on the ground for such a long time in Atlanta! It's finally almost all gone now, but since my last post, there has been up to 5 inches around our house! It was especially fun in the beginning! Such beauty and that quiet stillness during that first night as the soft snow came down! The silence was broken fairly early the next day by all the children's squeals and laughter as they hurled snowballs and tried to steer their little sleds down the hills as best they could ( remember, these are precious Southern children..sledding is not a common past time) :). Unfortunately on the first day, little Hadley drove her sled right in to a mailbox after navigating our hill. She was alright, thank goodness! The twins (and mommy and daddy) were right out there sledding with them all! Such fun. Jamie actually went around knocking on doors gathering all the kids and parents so that we could enjoy eachother's company just as we had during the spring and summer evenings on Waldenbrooke Ct. It was a wonderful time! All the kids were on alert to hear about each following day's continued cold temperatures and that breath holding moment when the news reporters would get to the C's in their alphabetical listing of school closings! Cobb County was out from Monday to Friday! Then of course the following Monday was MLK day so even an extra day off! There was the daily ritual of sledding down our hill and the Edward's, as those are pretty much the only ones in the neighborhood! This snow storm brought ice on top of the snow so the sledding was a bit more dangerous. Cade wiped out and scratched his little face up pretty badly! Finally we all opted to sled on the road instead as the hills were just too fast!. Each morning, I would hear this little knock and by the time I could get to the foyer I would see at least 4-5 children with big smiles bursting to ask to borrow our sleds and hill! We loved it! The twins could only stay out a little while, and when they went in for a nap, Daddy and Shane would join the other bigger kids and played so hard that you couldn't distinquish the difference between them! One young lady ( whose father is quite the outdoor enthusiast) came zooming down the road on her fourwheeler pulling a huge inflatable that would normally be pulled behind a boat! Upon realizing that she was having a hard time pulling the kids on it, she disappeared, only to return on a bigger fourwheeler! ha ha! the children loved it! Sweet days when no one could go anywhere, but just all be together! I think we kept a continual fire everyday, and wore out the chile recipes and brownie mix! All the neighborhood ladies are so good about sharing groceries when one is out of something! I think we all owed eachother something (not that anyone ever expects anything in return) by the time the snow was gone! I saw eggs and milk swapping hands on the street! What a sweet place to live! I must say that after the week, we were all a bit ready to explore a little farther than the neighborhood! ( not even any mail to retrieve for the week) It was a bit humorous to observe human nature. The men ( all of us actually) had a great need to be productive after so many days of sluffing off the schedule and work, so at the same time, they all started shoveling the driveways! The same father, Jerry, who is the outdoor guru, brought out his bobcat and cleared his driveway, then the street, then the entrance..the children still seemed to plead, "please, no", but it was time! We were all relieved as most the neighborhoods around had terrible streets through the weekend. The whole storm has been dubbed "Snowpocolypse 2011". Quite an adventure! I can't believe it was the twins' 5th time seeing snow in their little lifetimes ( although one time was while we were in Scottish Rite with Cade and there was no opportunity to play).
Shane was extrememely happy to get back to school yesterday! Since he had been out half the week before the storm due to the flu, he had endured about as much home time as anyone could take!;) Although he never complained, I could just tell! I do remember what it was like to be a teenager and be cut off from friends and the social life. LOL! At least this generation has facebook and cell phones! It was really different all those years ago when I was his age! He is staying after school for football conditioning every day and has that pained look upon entering the door from all the soreness! He's such a wonderful young man! I'm so glad he always has time for hugs and mom's affection. Last night I went up[ to do my final covering up of the babies and he had already beat me to it. So sweet!
Darby finally was able to get on a flight back from UNC, where she had been visiting Jared! I didn't think she was going to make it back for some time! She got to play in the residual snow with the twins for a bit! She had never been home during any of the previous snows to enjoy the sledding or events with them! So good to have her around! We're trying to prepare our hearts to say goodbye to her on February 3rd as she heads off to Argentina and Peru for her study abroad! Goodness, how we will miss her! Thank goodness for skype! She got her typhoid and yellow fever vaccines yesterday! Another trip to the dentist and I think we'll be close to wrapping up the to do list!
The little ones have been active and seem as ready to get out as all of us! We went for a ride on Sunday and decided to go by the park. Even though it was cold, there were a ton of people there, attempting to cure their families of cabin fever :) Annabelle cried as we left! We promised we would come back soon! The rain now has moved in yesterday and today..hard to get a break with this weather. I do believe the Lord must be intending that all families work through any conflicts by spending time together. ha ha!
Annabelle's playtime is evolving and its a great gift to watch! She has started really playing with her baby dolls, not just loving on them! ( Jamie was afraid she might be making them fuss at eachother, Lord help us, we do "love loud" every now and then :) ha ha! On the contrary, she has been putting them in her little toy highchair (that Darby used for her dolls from her childhood) and in the stroller to push around the house! It is fun to see her interact with them. She holds them and sways as if she's trying to calm them, as I do Abigail. I love it! She also throroughly enjoys her chips and salsa still. We were so excited to use a Christmas gift card to the Mexican restaurant the other night and she kept saying "chips and sasa" as we were getting into the car to go. She could make a meal out of it! I still can't handle how spicy it is! Cade likes to go there for the balloons and teddy grahams! ha ha! Sweet times!
Annabelle will also now proudly tell you that she is "dada's girl". Oh my, Mother's just have to clean up the boo boo's I guess! Daddy's are everything else to their baby girls! However, we did have another slight show down between her and her dada! He was telling her it was time to take a nap the other day and she hesitated. She was having a simply wonderful time playing with her doodle pro ( like a the old etch-a- sketches) and didn't see the need to be interrupted! He called to her a couple of more times and when she realized that he wasn't going to give up, she very slowly tucked the pen back into its holder, cleared the screen, and tucked the toy away...as if to say, alright, now I am ready, therefore its okay! Again, Jamie couldn't help but smirk through the stern expression he was trying to give her! Sheez!
Cade has been a lot of fun! He keeps sneaking into areas where he knows he's not supposed to be. Someone inevitably leaves the study gate open and he's in there trying to crash the hard drive, or at least email the girl down the street ( just kidding, there will be no emailing any girl down the street, unless its to see when mommy's order of girl scout cookies will be in ;)! Annabelle came and tattled on him for the first time..she told me ," Cade bafnvejfnhow" I asked again, what? and got something similar...I finally figured out she was telling me he was in the bathroom and about to turn the sink on full blast while standing on his tippy toes and stool! Well at least I'll have another pair of eyes on him, unless she's teaming up with him! He was just precious last night at dinner..for whatever reason he acted like he wasn't hungry when we all were seated at the table. he got a bit fussy, so we put him down out of his booster seat and told him there would be no other food that night! After we prayed and he had meandered in the den for a couple of minutes, he returned, no doubt led by his little tummy, and we put him back in the seat. He saw us all eating and got upset. He put his hands together and wanted everyone to pray. He thought we had skipped that part and wanted it corrected! We had to pray again to make him happy and went on with dinner! Such a silly little one! He still has a terrible habit of standing right in front of the tv. It's a 52inch, so its not like he can't see it..In fact, I don't think he can from that close of a range. We keep telling him to back up ( sounding like our parents ), but it happens again everyday. Oh my! Well, we'll keep working on some of these things! :)
Little Abigail is my sunshine! She enjoys being sung to and of course, being held still! She can pull the biggest smile out and smack you with it at any time! What a blessing as it has changed the course of my day many times! She is sitting so well and playing with her toys! The physical therapist told me that I just don't know how phenomenal it is for her to be doing all that she is at this point! I'm so proud for her! We have another opthamologist appointment for her tomorrow! I expect it will go well! We see the ENT again on Feb 2nd! I'm sure it will be time to prepare for tubes in her little ears, but at least that will be her first surgery. ( amazing for a baby with Down's). She has started giggling more when I blow on her neck and snuggle into it! It's so cute! She is pure joy! I could just breathe her in constantly! I don't know how we got so lucky to have her!
Well, nap time is almost over, so I think I'll have a quick cup of coffee and start working on clean up and dinner! Love to all!
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