"Big Guwl Pwincess Bed"

Finally we converted her crib to the toddler bed, or as Hannah calls it her, "Big Guwl Pwincess Bed".  Although there is nothing princess about it, really.  She was one happy camper!  She has fallen out a few times in her sleep so far, but nothing too bad.

Ouch!

Hannah took a tumble down a few steps on our deck and earned quite a marking on her face.  Just in time for our family pictures scheduled for Saturday, of course.

[on a separate note:  check out how long her hair is when it is wet and not wavy!]

Birthday @ Dollywood

We went to TN for Memorial weekend to see family.  Mimi and Granddaddy Pete treated the birthday girl (and all of us including Uncle Tyson, Aunt Amanda, Elle & Emerson) to a day at Dollywood.  This park has come a LONG WAY in my lifetime (when I was little it was a hillbilly-esque park called Silver Dollar City).  We had a completely wonderful day!  All the kids were so good, the lines were very short, the weather comfortable, and the company the best!  Tyson and I rode a roller coaster that was the fastest thing I have ever been on.  We screamed our heads off!  I was amazed at all the rides that Hannah could enjoy - even some by herself.  *sigh*  She's getting so big.

trying to teach her to lift 2 fingers on the trolly ride over

when we got to the top of the Ferris Wheel, she said, "I so big.  I fly like a bird!".

duckies with cousin Elle

Beyond soaked after the River Battle.  It was their FAVORITE... a unique ride where you shoot other boats and spectators with water cannons while they shoot you.  Uncle Tyson and Daddy LOVED pelting people and both were a little sore afterwards!

new favorite picture of my dad!!

After Dollywood, we crashed at Mimi's and had a small party for the birthday girl!

She was beside herself with excitement for all the Rapunzel dress-up stuff!

priceless look beholding herself as a "pwincess".

Family Reunion

My Aunt Kaye hosted a family reunion for the Riddle side (my dad's mother's family). I haven't been back to TN for a reunion in... well, over a decade, sad to say. It was wonderful to see family from Alabama, TN, Mississippi and Ohio and introduce them to my kids. Tyson and Amanda brought their new pink carriage jumpie for the kids - what a godsend!  Elle, Hannah, and Emerson wore matching dresses that Mimi gave them.  They were way too hyper to pose nicely together, though.

Aunt Amanda brought birdhouses for the kiddos to paint.  Hannah also painted lovely blue streaks in her hair.  :)

Toni, Inez & Ron

Sweet Emerson!

Cutie Conor!  Jackson was thrilled to have another boy to play with after being surrounded by dolls and dress-up all weekend.

Cousins - Nikki Lynn, Jimmy, my Dad, and Debi

It seems that blogging is not as fun to me without the capability to add photos.   Our camera that is now only taking blurry pictures has a dead battery ... and now it will no longer charge.  Sooo... I gotta figure something out soon before Hannah's birthday next week.
 
(NEXT week.  Next Friday my baby turns 2.  I'm totally unprepared for this - both mentally and practically.)

Anyways, I pulled some out from the last few weeks that I had not posted...

 

snugglin' on the couch together in their jammies





Easter morning... somebody was less than eager to have a photo shoot at 8AM.

We put our tent up in the backyard and the kids had a BLAST.  We've got to carve out time somehow to go camping soon.

Hannah kept playing "Night Night" and giving her brother smooches. 

We went to Peak Fest in Apex. 

We kicked off the Summer Kids Club for our church at our house.  Jackson is thrilled to get to be with the "big kids" (1st-5th graders).  The high lite... playing Balloon Ball.  Jax and Hannah have been playing with it all week.

 

You know you have an older brother when...

Some of the first sounds you made were car noises and guns blasting.

Pirate Hannah

Some of your first words were pirate ("pie-yat"), Star Wars ("saw-was"), and Legos ("wegos"). 

On a daily basis you want to "pway bad guy" with a pretend sword (any stick/straw/broom will do). 

You eat sugary cereal WAY before your older sibling was allowed to do so.  (My fave is when she requests "Apple Jacksons" - aka Apple Jacks).

You've learned to show love by mauling someone over wrestling.

You think bugs are cute and want me to touch them too.  You collect rocks.

You think flatulence is funny.

(((sigh)))
Guess it perfectly balances out the girly dress up, tea party, baby doll toting, little pwincess we have the other half of the time.

Jesus Book

Mike discovered that Hannah had snuck into our room and found my Bible.  She was turning pages and singing "Jesus Loves Me".  Anytime she sees me with the Bible she points and says "Jesus Book".  Makes me so happy!

TEN

Yesterday marked our 10th Wedding Anniversary.  The day itself was very low-key as we already celebrated together last week.

Ten years of Joy.  Ten years of friendship.  Ten years of serving our Lord side-by-side.  I love my husband very much.

And even after all this time, he still surprises me. I'm educated enough to know that you do not go into a marriage hoping to change any aspect of your spouse.  However, a part of me not-so-secretly hoped that I would be the one to win over his heart for vegetables. 

Yes, vegetables. 

Not starches (corn, potatoes) nor iceberg lettuce (which is essentially water) that he will eat. I thought surely there will be one healthy vegetable that I can prepare in a different way that he would like. 



And for 10 years I have not succeeded in the veggie quest.  Not fried.  Not stir fried.  Not smothered in cheese.  For 10 years there has been none.  Oh, he'll be a good sport and eat a bite in front of the kids.  But, it was never enjoyed.

And then, just this week, he ate a vegetable and remarked, "This is probably the best vegetable I've ever eaten". 

Confession: I almost cried.
Stir fried Sugar Snap Peas is the winner!  (Which, for the record, I have made before but they were probably not touched).  Even Jackson ate them without much hesitation.

Looking forward to a lifetime of more surprises & joy!

Mountain Get-Away

Mike and I were able to do a short get-away together to celebrate our 10th Anniversary a week early.  Mike's mom graciously stayed with the kiddos for two days for us.

Tuesday morning we drove up to the Boone area and hiked. It was an incredibly gorgeous day for April in Boone... 72 degrees and sunny. After grabbing lunch in town, I took Mike to Hebron Rock Colony for the first time. It's basically a river bed full of gigantic boulders that you can jump and climb on while taking in some awesome small waterfalls. Since last Saturday's flooding, the water was up and made for some interesting crossings. After Hebron, we drove along the Blue Ridge Parkway and hiked a little more. Being there and able to hike in such beautiful weather makes me so ridiculously happy. I forget how much I love those mountains! I am so blessed to have a husband that enjoys them as much as I do.

my mountain man!

After hiking, we checked in at the Baird House Bed and Breakfast again in Valle Crucis.  The owners, Tom and Deede, are wonderful and we enjoyed catching up with them!

The Sarah Jane room, where we stayed

The Baird House, circa 1790. 

We then drove into Blowing Rock and had a nice dinner at the Storie Street Grille (thanks for the suggestion, Katie!), walked around the shops and downtown park, and then grabbed some ice cream at Kilwins.  We even ran into our friends the Hoots at Kilwins.  It was seriously a day FILLED with all my favorite things and beside my favorite person.  :)

Wednesday morning we were blessed by a huge breakfast spread and conversation with Tom and Deede.  We sat at the breakfast table for 2 1/2 hours, mostly chatting away!  The weather was much more typical of springtime in Boone (overcast, cooler, and rainy), so we went to the Mast General stores in Valle Crucis, including the Candy Barrel for some treats for the kids.  Later that day we drove around my old campus (which looks NOTHING like it did when I was there), ate lunch in town, and took a drive out to Todd, NC.  Mike likes to take the adventuresome drives to "see where this road goes".  It made for some beautiful scenery and we luckily were able to navigate back to the highway.  :)

It was a blessing to have this time alone with my hubby.  It was the PERFECT get-away!

miscellany

Having quirkly little kids makes for lots of smiles... 

Hannah: I pwincess puzzle.
Me:  You want to do the princess puzzle?
Hannah:  No, mommy. I pwincess puzzle. (as she sashays about in a pink dress)
Me:  You are a princess??
Hannah:  Nanna a pwincess a puzzle.
Me: Oh! You are Rapunzel?
Hannah:  Yesth.  Pwincess a puzzle.

Loves any kind of dress-up thing she can get her hands on.

Hannah is going through the hoarding stage of toddlerdom.  She totes all her most beloved possessions with her from room to room. I dubbed this the "Table of Love".

Daddy's girl - completely enamoured with corn on the cob and macaroni and cheese.

[Sorry for the poor quality shots.  Our camera is on the fritz... some of my most favorite shots from the last week are a blurry mess...and yet somehow others are perfectly clear.  Time to camera shop, I think]