The Leonard Family

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Snow Days

It is truly a winter wonderland here in Cumming this morning! We were all VERY happy to be home all together through this "winter storm"! I got home Monday afternoon a little early and Steven and the kids were already home! By Tuesday morning it was snowing like crazy! That round was so beautiful but the snow didn't last on the ground through the afternoon. Then on Wednesday the next round came through and by this morning we probably have over 5"! It's just beautiful (from the warmth and safety of our home! It is very peaceful sitting on the couch with my coffee watching it come down outside!)

It has really been great! The four of us have been here together playing and having fun! WE have gone back and forth between our house and the Reilly's (have I mentioned how fun it is to be around the corner from them?!) The kids all made Valentine's cookies over here and decorated them with white, light pink and hot pink icing (yep, Elizabeth and I made homemade icing! My first time ever!) We spent the whole day at their house yesterday sledding and playing. We didn't completely intend to stay the WHOLE day but we walked over there and the ice was coming down so hard through the afternoon we just couldn't walk home with the kids in that! We walked home around 9pm last night and it was so peaceful and beautiful!

Jack had SO much fun sledding! I couldnt believe how fast he was going and how brave he was. There was one crash into some trees! The kids have actually done pretty well and seem to be enjoying making up new games and playing. It has been nice to have Morgan and William to play with! We have made some fun memories and I am sure we will talk about being snowed in the winter of 2014. It's been pretty wild! I will definitely take some more pictures today! There is talk of a snowman?!

We spent my birthday weekend in Savannah! Steven and I went to an Oyster Roast with family while the kiddos got some fun time with Mimi and Aunt Neese! We spent some time walking around River Street and enjoying the weather! It was a fun trip with lots of good visiting!

Jack playing in one of the squares in Savannah

River Street

Treats!

Adult night out!

Nannie and Mommy

Lucy snuggled with the boys

Leonards on my birthday!

We went to the Reptile Exhibit at Polo last week! Jack and Lucy had a fun time and touched ALL the reptiles!

Snakes!

Now that is a BIG snake!

Fun times at the Circus with Hannah and Avery!

Lucy dancing with Hannah before the show!

SNACKS! I think we ate more snacks than actually watched the show!

Frozen yogurt at Chill Hill!

It's SNOWING!!!

This is fun!

Cookies with friends!

The girls helped out the WHOLE time so they got to lick the beaters!

Time to decorate!

The girls spending time icing their cookies!

Jack made a smiley face!

Here we go!!!

Wooo hoooo!

Ouch! I think they hit a bump!

Jack was FLYING and spinning on his sled!

Lucy went one time...she liked running around better :)

The snow was a little too hard to make snow angels!

Oh gracious!

There he goes!

Watch the trees!!!

Yikes!

LOVE HER!

It took a few tries to get up the hill!

This is the way to do a snow day!

Snow Snuggles!

Reading by the fire!

How we travel when it snows!

And heading back home!

Thursday, January 30, 2014

A little catch up with a bit of ice!

I am not sure what happened to January but it came and is going very QUICKLY! We have had a VERY VERY cold January! Lots of single digit temperatures with school canceled and then of course the SNOWJAM of 2014. We also managed to get a few things done around the house and the kids rooms painted with some help from Grandbubba! Steven has done a decent amount of traveling and we had a visit from Mimi to help out! It's been a great month with some good family time, but I think we will enjoy moving into February after this week! (And it doesn't hurt that my birthday kicks off the month!)

Jack has been logging some great time reading! We are tracking the minutes he is reading for a contest at school! Lucy started ballet on Thursday morning at Goddard and is ABSOLUTELY loving it! We love to see what she is learning and she is eager to show us! Ha! I ran a 15K race downtown with my running girls and we all survived the Winter Storm this week!

Quick recap of the adventures of Snowjam 2014. Poppa was able to get both kids from school around noon on Tuesday just as the snow moved in! They were safe and warm in the house and that was the MOST important thing! At 11:30 on Tuesday, I went to grab lunch with some friends before a 2:00pm meeting I had scheduled. When we left the office it was barely snowing... at 12:30 we headed back to the office and it took almost 1.5 hours to make it the 2 miles back. I got in my car around 2:20 Tuesday to head home. At close to 8:00 I managed to get off GA400 at Haynes Bridge Road. Almost 6 hours into my drive. It was one of the scariest times for me. The car continued to spin the tires and barely make it up a few hills. My phone was dying and it was a scary time. There were only a few cars making it up at this time. The entire road was covered in ice. I knew I would not make it home and only hoped to make it off the highway. With lots of prayers (many said VERY loudly) I got off 400 and made it to a hotel. There were no rooms available and the lobby had no heat working. BUT I was off the road! A VERY VERY nice woman met me and asked if she could help. I used her phone charger and she offered to let me sleep on her couch in her room. I was so very blessed to be helped by a stranger and was in a much better situation than many! I was able to make it home around lunch time yesterday. It was as crazy as anything they showed on the news. Just wow!
Steven was in Alabama and made it home on some very bad roads around 5:00 yesterday afternoon. We were VERY VERY happy to all be back home together. Thankful for the kiddos being safe with Poppa and that Steven and I were not stranded on the roads! Perspective Perspective!!!

Check out some catch up pictures!