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!

Fun Friends!

Sparklers on New Year's Eve!

8 kiddos spent the night! Movie time!

This was one hour into my drive (trying to get on Ga400 around 3:15 Tuesday) It went downhill from there! 

Cinderella coming to check out the snow!

Jack in the snow!

Princess on the deck!

Backyard!

And then there was a fairy in the snow (don't ask.. I realize she doesn't have on a coat... she doesn't care!)

Sweet babies!

Pretty pool in the snow!

Happy babies!

Throwing snow!

Snow angels!

Now that is a sweet angel!

Hey!

Cheese!

Loving Hot Chocolate after the snow!

Yummy!

Helping break the ice in the hot tub!

Hard work!

Frozen!

The Leonard men having dinner after a hard day of painting!

Mommy and Daddy got an early dinner alone! So nice!
Sisters!!! Jenn's first 15K and she did AWESOME!!

Before the race! Pretty cold!!!

Way to go ladies!!



Sunday, December 29, 2013

Merry Merry!

It was a very very happy Christmas at the Leonards this year! We were so excited to have family in the house! We absolutely love having the house full and love that we have the room for everyone!!

We spent last Saturday in Gainesville celebrating with siblings and cousins! Nunno made such a yummy lunch and then we all opened presents together! The kids LOVED their new stuff (Jack's interactive globe is a hit!) and we hung out and then went to dinner at The Hat! We came home later that evening so we could get ready for Dinner Club on Sunday. It's a tradition we have done for YEARS! It was originally some girls getting together, then some couples, then some FAMILIES! We had 8 adults and 6 kids this year! It was SOOO fun! It started at 4pm and everyone left around 10pm! That is just SOOO happy!
Granny got in town that evening right before we ate dinner! She loved seeing everyone and especially the kids! We have loved having her here all week with us! Grandbubba got in Tuesday morning around 8am, and Nannie and Ugga got in around lunch time! We played with the kids, made Christmas cookies for Santa (EVERYONE decorated a cookie! it was fun!) and we all got in our matching pjs (yep..you read that right.. matching pjs) and set out the cookies and Daddy read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas!
The adults had a GORGEOUS dinner after the kiddos went to bed (beef tenderloin, sauteed asparagus, and kale/cauliflower/potato casserole) ...and maybe a little wine!
Christmas morning was so fun! Everyone was up with the kids! They were so excited about all their fun presents! Lucy and I made monkey bread and we finished just about the whole thing!!! We made a great lunch and had our last meal at the dining room table with all the china and crystal! Daddy has MASTERED his turkey! Just sooooo yummy! After a little rest in the afternoon, Poppa and Nunno came to play and have drinks and appetizers with us! It was such a happy day!
We have REALLY enjoyed the last few days being off work together and having some good time at home with the kids! Granny has been here and it's been so nice! We have cleaned up a lot of Christmas, taken down most of the decorations, moved Lucy into a big girl bed (YEP!!!!) and watched movies most nights!
It has been the happiest time! I wish time would SLOW down!

Mommy and her big boy on a date to a Christmas Program

Awesome friends!

Dinner Club!

Buddies!

Getting so big!

Part of the kids! William is missing!

Jack watching the dancing performance by our princess!

Making cookies on Christmas Eve!

Decorating...and EATING our cookies!

This is fun!

Sweet babies!

Nannie and Ugga!

Yep.. we have matching pjs! That is too fun!

The Leonards!

4 generations!

Leaving cookies and reindeer food!

Daddy reading 'Twas the Night before Christmas

Santa came!!!!!

Jack checking it out!

Happy girl!

We dressed up ALL.DAY.LONG

Jack got a Kindle Fire!

Playing with all the fun toys!

Jack and Lucy practicing their scooters!

Trying out William's new truck!

Lucy's first pedicure! She was so excited and sat so still! It was so fun!

What a big girl!

Granny and Lulu!

Sweet toes!

Smiles!

Girls day!

Look at me in my new big girl bed!

Jack had a sleepover to "keep an eye on Lucy!" Such a great big brother!