Instagrammin’ in January

January kicked off with a lot of fun and excitement, but then, for nearly two weeks, Jonathan and I were both beaten down with a terrible cold…so there was a lull in there and I was radio silent on Instagram.  We did have quite a few Girl Scout and Cub Scout activities with the kids, though, this month.  And another big story this month was the weather—we had incredibly cold temps causing several two-hour delays for school (something we’ve never had before), weather in the 50s and 60s, tons of rain, and then finally some snow.  We were all over the map and definitely took advantage of the great-weather days with outdoor activities.

happy new year! | davidson basketball game | go cats! | when in davdison #gottahittheswing | 3 of these things are not like the other. #groupof10 | my trx buddy | changing my oil. #hubbysnewhobby | jack insisted on this many jalapeños in his soft taco. #hechoweddown #iwasdoubtful | ella’ hadnmade pretzels | did a 9 round boxing workout.#tonsoffunhittingthebag | ella and i rocked a presentation on digital photography to her girl scout troop. #digitalphotographerpatch | yummy vietnamese food | better late than never. #christmasamaryllis | fan friday #gopanthers | ready for her powderpuff derby. | rainbow loom cuff | pogo stick mania over here—both kids have records over a thousand consecutive hops. | nature walk and photography scavenger hunt with my girl and gator. #digitalphotographerpatch #girlscoutjuniors | getting her shots. | beautiful light today for our 4-mile walk. | beautiful girl. | he’s out to ruin every single rug we own, but boy do we adore this pup. #themedsdestroyhistummy | ready for this cub scouts lego contest. #cubscoutwolf #pack164 | touring the police station with her girl scout troop. | enjoying the warmer weather with a 3.5-mile family walk. #onlyonekiddoneededtobecarriedforbreaks #thefurryone | finally some snow to go with the cold temps! | snow day and only one kid is hanging with me. | not very successful attempts at sledding, but still enjoying our snow day. | back for more time in the snow after a movie and hot cocoa. | the best snowman they could do with the dusting of snow we got.

Davidson

On New Year’s Day we all got decked out in our Davidson Wildcats gear and headed up to the Davidson campus for a midday basketball game.  Go Cats!  Davidson College has such a beautiful campus—and of course the swing is a must whenever we’re up there—so we had a great time exploring after the game.  The kids also love pointing out, year after year, the window that Jonathan broke while he was there in college (it was an accident).  I guess it’s just fun to think about your parents getting in trouble. 

{the group of ten by magdalena abakanowicz}

New Year’s Eve

We capped off 2013 with our annual New Year’s Eve Party.  The kids mostly stay upstairs playing games, Wii, and otherwise having fun.  They obviously enjoyed the photobooth downstairs, too, but that’s mostly the grownups’ domain.  This year we even added a new family to the mix, the Shaws.  I love all of these families and, as someone who never lived anywhere long enough to “grow up with” my friends, I just adore that Ella and Jack have known most of these kids either their entire lives or nearly.  This is a fun, and supportive (which we’ll come to know more dearly in 2014), group.  Hanging with this crew is always a great way to end one year and begin another.  Happy New Year!

Instagrammin’ in December

December was  a busy month.  An exhausting month.  Some definite highs with Christmas, of course, but some definite lows with a little more hospital time than we’d like.  But, we end this month counting our many, many blessings and looking forward to returning to a bit of normal.
Finger knitting the night away.  | Picture from the ER—Jack had a run in with the banister. #crackedhisheadopen #wowheadwoundsbleedalot | He got 3 staples in his head. #uptil3am | Lunch with my girl at school. | Lunch with my boy at school.  #wenttoschoollate #hadtotellhisfriendsaboutthestaples | Making kefir water. | My workout buddy. | Hoping to help a little girl in our community have a great Christmas. #salvationarmyangeltree | Night o’ Jon. #OMB #artisanaldonuts | Our drinking buddies. #rootbeer | Barefoot soccer. #futsal | My tennis buddy tonight. | Checking in to the hospital for his kidney surgery. #UPJobstruction | Floor mat in the hospital elevator. #nicetouch #hopeourdoctorhasanexcellentwednesday | Waiting for our visitor happy face so we can see Jonathan in recovery. | Happy to see dad but sad to see him in pain.  #reallyroughcoupleofdays #monthlongrecovery | Walker races—he actually had me time him.  Took him 15 minutes the first time and about a minute and a half before he discharged. | Taking Jonathan home after an overnight in the hospital. | He lost another tooth! | Hoping to cheer Jonathan up with some of his favorite donuts. | Holiday party at school with Ella. | And Jack’s holiday party. | They were obsessed with the santa hats this year. | Poor Gator’s back at the vet. | Took Jonathan on a lunch date—a week after surgery and it’s his first time out of the house since discharging from the hospital. | Beautiful day to be outside!  #nofilter | My walking buddy for 3.5 miles. | Before | After—the  kids have long since outgrown the alphabet cards. | He found his own snuggle puppy. | Getting in some Christmas activities. | Frozen with friends. | Hanging with our good friends Baden and Ilse. | We’re in Gainesville! | At Swamphead Brewery. | Gainesville icons. | At Satchel’s—one side of the table. | And the other. | Gotta’ love a place that has the dessert menu on a viewfinder. | Trying out her new sewing machine. #christmaspresentfromus | Her first project—a new bag for her lap loom. | He’s driving again!  All it takes is a low-rider seat and his daughter’s pink pillow under the seatbelt.

Gainesville for Christmas

After Christmas, we headed down to Gainesville for a few days for a visit with Jonathan’s side of the family.  Unfortunately, it rained for nearly our entire visit so we weren’t able to do many of the activities we had planned.  Fortunately, we had a good time hanging out anyways.  We always do when the whole crew invades Nana and PopPop’s house.  Rain and not many outdoor activities = not a lot of photos.  I just snapped a few when we opened each other’s Christmas gifts.









{family friend long and his daughter belen—jonathan grew up with long and i went to college with him.  he was in our wedding.}





{this is gator’s “help me find a quiet corner away from all of the crazy kids” face.}


{we brought ella’s new sewing machine down to florida so that aunt jacqui could help us get all set up on it.  i’ve never sewn a stitch on a machine in my life, so i was of no use to her.  i keep having aspirations that i’ll learn on ella’s machine, but then decide that it’s just easier to let her sew it for me.}

Visit with Lauren

After Christmas we headed down to Gainesville to visit family and friends—Nana and PopPop, Aunt Jacqui and Uncle Randy, Aunt Chrissy, Uncle Chris, Jacob, Noah, and Emilee, and a few of Jonathan’s high school friends/my college friends (they’re one in the same).  While we were in Gainesville, my good friend Lauren, who also happens to be Ella’s Godmother, brought her two cuties up from Tampa for the day to see us.  We had a great time having lunch at The Swamp (about the only restaurant—kid-friendly restaurant at least—that was still around from our college days) and then we decided to check out the actual Swamp, where the Florida Gators play.  Zoey and Reese were all decked out for the occasion.  So thankful they made the trip up to see us—Ella and I love Lauren…just still wish she lived down the road from us! 

Merry Christmas!

I love our Christmas’s at home.  We get up earlier than usual—the sun does have to be up, though—and go straight for the stockings (well, I go straight for the coffee).  Growing up, my family always had stockings overflowing with goodies, so we’ve continued that tradition and stockings for us take a good bit of time to open and check out.  After stockings, we have a nice breakfast together (usually something I’ve put together the night before that was cooking while we opened stockings).  And, then after breakfast we dive in to the Santa gifts and the presents under the tree.  We stay in our pajamas most of the day, play with our new toys, and have a nice—but by no means fancy—dinner in the early evening.  The home-run Christmas gifts this year were the pogo sticks, rainbow loom bands, and Minecraft masks from Santa and from us, for Jack, football-themed gifts (Madden for Wii, a Panthers sideline hat and t-shirt, and a few football stats books) and, for Ella, a real (as in not just for kids) sewing machine (one I hope to learn to use, too).  Jonathan had to settle for a photo of his big gift—I commissioned a cornhole set with Davidson Wildcats on one side and Florida Gators on the other from Jacqui’s neighbor in Orlando, so this had to be picked up on our trip to Florida after Christmas.  I got a Vitamix and TRX set that I am loving—so here’s to a healthy 2014!  It was a very merry Christmas indeed.