Winter Exhibition Champ

A little while back Lillian participated in a Winter Exhibition at her gym.  The event was for the girls that are not yet participating on a team.  This little one rocked it!  She placed first in all four events.  I think it's safe to say that we have another gymnast on our hands!! The best part was her precious smile! She loved it, and we loved cheering her on! The sad part is that I was having major camera problems at the time, and my photos are very limited! 


These two are best buddies!  Maddie has been a great role model for her!

Love that smile -and those medals! Our Winter Exhibition Champion!

Can you see her trying to hold that smile in?

Let it shine!

Just casually looking over and making sure we're watching!

And Lindsey just sent me this picture-Maddie's official State Championship picture.  We love these girls and are so proud of them!!

I'll end by saying that this is a year round commitment for the entire family. Practices are 3 days a week all year!  We have loved following Maddie, and just can't wait to until Lillian is officially competing! 

Plans Change

The plan was simple-Josh and Lindsey would be in Fairhope this week for a conference.  I was going to head to Alex City with the kiddos after the senior meal at our church to handle school, gymnastics, dance and all the other day to day duties. Our plans changed due to the weather and a sick little one.  It all worked out for the best because Maddie and Lillian's school has been closed all week!  The weather was much worse on their side of the state. However, it was so cold here that we stayed inside most all week.

Pop and Papa getting ready to eat and enjoy the entertainment at the Senior meal.

These three were great helpers. I was busy in the kitchen, so this is the best picture I could get!

This one felt perfectly fine -and then he didn't!!  He woke up from his nap running a slight fever.  Mostly, he just didn't look right!  The doctors in town had already closed, so I decided I better head to Urgent Care before the snow arrived. By the time we got there, he had a fever of 101.5 and was diagnosed with the flu!

He actually had no desire to go out when the snow began falling, but he did want to watch his sisters.

Before long, Beau joined in on the fun and kept him company.

And then Pop came home and briefly took him outside.  This smile is misleading, because he was still feeling pretty crummy at this point!

Maddie gathered some snow, and we headed in and made some snow ice cream.

Most of this week has been spent doing really important things-painting fingernails and toenails, watching Little Rascals 1000 times, sitting by the fire, popping popcorn and making smores over the fireplace.  I call that making memories!

I actually have several snow pictures that Maddie took that I look forward to sharing.  However, I'm ready for a sunny day with temperatures of about 75 degrees.  Enough is enough! Also, I am happy to say that Reed is feeling much better!!

A Weekend of Hunting

This was a weekend for hunting!  I met Lindsey and the girls in Tuscaloosa to look for beauty walk dresses, and Pop picked Reed up and they headed dove hunting!  Time is running down, and this could possibly be Maddie's last weekend to deer hunt.  I am happy to say that the weekend was a success!

Dove hunting is tough work!  After a fun hunt, Reed came home with me and promptly slept for four hours! That meant that is was up way past bedtime...........

After an extremely cold afternoon, Maddie was ready to leave the stand and come home.  She and Pop were actually unloading their gun to come down, when this four point came into the field.  She made a perfect shot, and her third one of the year was down!! Lillian and Reed were super excited, too!

These two are quite the pair!

The next day after church, we headed down to do a little dove hunting.  And I use the term "we" very loosely.  I am by no means a hunter, but I did enjoy watching the kiddos and Beau!

On the lookout for doves!

 Reed's on the lookout with Pop, and Maddie's target practicing with the BB gun!

Sweet girl! She is growing up too fast!  She has a heart of gold, and is simply the best big sister ever!

I would have never, ever believed our little princess would hold a bird like this!!!

Sweetest little hunter ever!

I am headed to their house for the week.  Lindsey and Josh are attending a conference, and I will be attempting to hold the fort down!!  I do love our visits!

Snowmen and a Deer

I love cold weather-in short spurts and I have officially had enough!  I am ready for lazy pool days and all that comes with that!  Things have been really low key around here this week.  We are all back in school and at work. The kiddos will be back this weekend, so things will liven up considerably again!

This is Lillian two years ago when she was at their wonderful preschool.........

And this is Reed this year!  We are all going to miss this wonderful school when Reed moves on to big school!

As this picture shows, Lillian was thrilled when Maddie shot this doe!  Lindsey asked her if she was ready to hunt now, and she promptly told her no! I think she's happy just enjoying Maddie's success.

Maddie and her dad were hunting behind their house.

She was super excited and that makes us excited, too!

And this sweet little thing has been doing a little hunting, also!  He's a natural. Beau spends a lot of time gazing out the front door or our windows just waiting to see something in the yard. 

Have a great week!

Snowflakes and a New Year

We started the New Year with a bang!  We bundled the kids up in the absolutely freezing weather and shot some fireworks! (I am eagerly waiting for sunny and 75 degrees!) The great thing is that at this point they don't realize when midnight actually occurs.......So, we shot fireworks around 7:00, and were all in bed by 9:00 or so!  I call that a win!  We are all excited to see what the new year has in store for us.  In just eight short weeks, we will welcome John Sawyer.

Even with all the layers, it was still quite cold!  Still, fun was had by all!  This one is not too sure of loud noises! She stayed pretty close to me!

This one would run up and watch as Pop and Maddie lit the fireworks, and then run under the Magnolia tree!

This one was Pop's special helper and flashlight holder.

Love them so......

Ready to launch another one!

 They picked out some really fun fireworks that went way up in the air, but I think the sparklers may have been their favorite!

I introduced them to the art of making snowflakes.  In no time at all they were experts!  Maddie quickly learned to fold the paper and cut them out all by herself!  Lillian also did a fantastic job!

The entire den soon looked like a winter wonderland!  At one time, I counted over 40, but that was early in the process.

Concentrating!

This cutie was the only one that made it until the end of the ballgame!   That would be pizza on his cute little face!

Roll Tide!! 

Happy New Year!

Santa Express

I just realized that I never posted about our train ride with Santa.  So much fun!! Next year, John Sawyer will get to ride with us, and we just can't wait!  Uncle C and Aunt Tay were in Auburn for Tristan's graduation on this day, so they weren't able to join us. Basically, we boarded the Long Island car and enjoyed a long ride.  Santa and one of his elves joined us along the way, and stopped to chat with all the children!

All aboard!

Waiting to see Santa!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Santa is all ears!

Daddy's girl!

Brother wasn't into having his picture made at this time! 

What a fun ride!

This was actually taken before the train ride.  Reed had been to our house for a few days.  This is his reunion with Lillian!  They really love each other, and were thrilled to see each other.  So sweet!

I highly recommend this fun trip!  We will be back next year! I think this is my last Christmas post!  On to our new adventures in 2018.  We have lots of big things in store for this year!