January and Februrary 2017

Apparently I can post like every other month now so here is January and February! Life has been hectic as always. As most of you know, I started a part-time gig as a travel agent specializing in Disney vacations the end of 2016 so the first two months of 2017 have been busy with that. Add in some new responsibilities as membership chair of our pool, my regular job, the kids and their crazy schedules, small attempts at a social life and family time, and life has been pretty insane.


We were able to host my cousins and their infant son for a night and the kids enjoyed seeing their baby cousin!

We also hosted friends for our annual New Year's pajama brunch. But at the end of January. The original date was changed this year because of our trip to NC to help after my mom's knee surgery but we couldn't give up one of our favorite traditions totally. We had to do it without Bryan as he was in IL doing some family stuff, but we still had a great time eating and playing with friends!



The weather has been super mild this winter. Not a single snow day yet (although the next week doesn't look as good) so we have enjoyed lots of time outside playing. Noelle has become quite a tree climber and is almost always off the ground or on our neighbor's trampoline these days. We have also enjoyed the newly remodeled tire park playground and some hikes, both solo and with neighbors!

We spent a day at the zoo as well. The polar bear was swimming, the animals were all out and about, and it was our friends' first time there so was a great way to spend the day!



While we haven't been able to host either grandma in quite some time and our original President's Day weekend plans with Bryan's mom got cancelled, we did use that Sunday to head down to DC to check out the Air and Space Museum and some monuments with Uncle Ray and Miss Carly. It was a fun (but super crowded) day!



And I have been doing a lot of running. I did my first even trail run, a 10K in Columbia that I loved and I have been keeping up my miles to get me ready for what I think will be my last marathon for time this November. Noelle even joined me for a run through the park, which quickly became a hike to a waterfall nearby!



So we have been keeping active and busy, enjoying the "winter" weather (even though it scares me for the future of our planet!), and trying to enjoy time with friends and family!

The Holiday Season

December is always a whirlwind. Who am I kidding? Life is a whirlwind with full-time jobs and kids and everything else that comes with it. So we kept the holidays from Thanksgiving up through New Years as low key as possible!

Starting with Thanksgiving, we spent the day at home with just the four of us. It was our first time doing that and it was fabulous! We started the day with a hike and then enjoyed an early dinner of rotisserie chicken (Kellen thought it was turkey so close enough) and all the traditional sides. Our amazing realtor gives us a pie from a local bakery each year so that capped off the meal and we were thankful for one another.

That weekend we went for pizza and joined friends for the annual Christmas tree lighting in our town. This is one of my favorite traditions in our neck of the woods and it is a can't miss event for us when we are in town!

December saw us celebrate a couple of different ways. We made cookies with friends, we went to a local ballet studio's performance of the Nutcracker and brunch with a group of moms and daughters, attended some holiday parties, and got things decorated at home.

 

 

Christmas Eve Eve we went to Climbzone as a family and then Christmas Eve was spent in what has become a tradition: Kirby Open House, Church, and then the Hollywoods for heavy appetizers and fun. This year we ended swim practice to the mix but otherwise it was celebrations as usual!

 

Christmas morning we woke up to find presents under the tree. We kept things pretty low key since we had done the cruise and are visiting Disney in September and we hope to do a few small trips here and there over the next year but the kids got lots of books, clothes, some legos, and a few other goodies. After brunch, the kids and I packed up and drove to NC on mercifully empty highways.

 

My mom had her knee replaced on the 23rd so as we arrived, the ambulance soon pulled up to unload her and take her to her room upstairs for recovery. While in NC we spent a lot of time hanging out with my mom playing games or watching TV. We did exchange gifts, had some great meals, and the kids and I did journey down to Manteo to the aquarium and the Christmas house while we were in town. We stayed a little longer than usual, thus postponing our normal New Years Brunch to late January, but enjoyed helping my mom along the road to recovery and getting out and about on long walks with their dog.

 

All in all we enjoyed the holidays for what they are supposed to be - time with family and friends and we hope everyone else had a great season!