1st lake trip of 2011!

Today was a gorgeous day! We decided since the weather was so wonderful that we would go down to the lake for the day. We don't have our boat ready for the water yet but decided we could still go down and have a great day. We took the kids fishing, knowing that it was probably still a bit cold to catch anything from the dock but knew the kids would still have fun. We only fished for about 30 minutes before Anthony decided that the fish were still "wrapped in their mud blankets" and weren't coming out now. Caroline fished for all of 2 minutes before she was done but all she could talk about all day was "catch a fish, let's catch some fish". She was more interested in walking around the dock and I had to stay right there on top of her because I was afraid she would decide she wanted go swimming. She kept saying "It's not cold, I'll just swim for a minute".

Anthony, the serious fisherman!
Caroline thought the best way to fish was to put the end of the fishing pole in the water.

She was quite mad that her daddy was trying to help her cast it. I think I heard "I got it, I do it myself" about 100 times in the 2 minutes she fished.

Anthony is great at casting all by himself.

We also took the kids to play miniature golf. Anthony loves to play and would play all day, once again, Caroline was interested for about 5 minutes then was done with it. I think they had a great time though, Anthony playing and Caroline just walking around.

The first 3 holes Caroline would hit her ball one time then pick it up and carry it to the hole and then hit it in. After that she wouldn't hit it at all, she would just carry her ball to the hole and throw it in then play with the flags that were in the hole. It made Anthony so mad that she wouldn't get out of his way. Caroline's response to Anthony when he would get frustrated with her "It's ok bro, calm down". Both my kids just crack me up!

One of the few times Caroline tried to hit the ball.

Anthony looking quite serious.

Just a side note: I no longer have any kids in diapers!!!! OH HAPPY DAY! Caroline has been in panties except nap time and bedtime for the last week and is doing great. She was in panties all day today while we were out and no accidents!! This makes me so happy.

A lot of updates!

Wow, I am getting really bad about posting often. Guess I am going to have to do better about that. Things here have been a little crazy busy and there isn't a lot of extra time to post. I will definately try to do better though. A few weeks ago we had another big snowstorm. I, of course, had to work and daddy was sweet enough to take me and pick me up from work. The whole way that morning you could see no lines on the road and we didn't pass not one state truck but we made it fine. Charlie had to be at my house at 5:15am and anyone who knows Charlie knows that she doesn't do mornings well at all! Anyway, she took Anthony out to play while Caroline was napping because it was just a little too cold for her outside. Anthony said he had the best time ever except that he couldn't sled a lot because the snow covered up his sled. So here he is riding his track hoe and digging in the snow.

He said this was a snow beard.

Charlie made the kids snow cream after coming in from playing. Anthony thinks it's the best thing he has ever eaten and asks for it daily. He wants it to snow more just so we can make more, but he did tell me that only Cha Cha knows how to make it so she is just going to have to come play with him in the snow then make some.

Anthony at the bounce house.

We went with some friends to lunch then to the bounce house. It's amazing how many people stopped us and said how brave we are for taking out 6 kids to lunch. There were 4 adults and 6 kids ranging in age from 4-1. They were actually really good, no major meltdowns, everyone ate good, and they weren't too hyper at the table. It was a great lunch. It just amazes me how many people think we are crazy for taking so many kids out. It really is fun and the kids have a great time, it's not too hard at all. Plus, we can't handle being in the house all the time so this is a great time to get out and let the kids have fun but also get to have some adult conversation while they are playing.

Caroline waiting her turn on the slide.

She was watching a baby. She is totally obsessed with babies and wants to hold them and play and talk to them all the time. It's hard to keep her away from other peoples kids.

The kids helping me cook with their aprons

Anthony and I went to the movies with some friends a few weeks ago. This is up right before we went in. He looks excited doesn't he?!

For my birthday weekend Chad and I decided to go to The Grove Park Inn for a night. I won a free night at a race that I ran last year so we thought this was the perfect time for it. We dropped the kids off with their Nana Kim and Grandad on Saturday morning and we went to Asheville. We decided to go to the movies first since we haven't done that in a few years together. We saw The Fighter. Very good movie. After that we went and checked in at The Grove Park. We felt a little out of place there. There were tons of older people and middle aged people that were dressed very nicely that were carrying around their glasses of wine. Chad and I had on nice jeans and shirts but we were totally the only ones. We went to the room and got settled, Chad of course watched a little TV while I was getting ready for us to go to dinner. He also looked at the menus, and couldn't believe that how expensive everything was! I wanted to order room service and of course he said, "Kendra, there is no way that I am paying that much for room service and then having to tip the guy. We could go to Texas Roadhouse for that!" Oh jeeze, all that man ever talks about when we go to Asheville is eating at Texas Roadhouse. I would prefer to eat somewhere different at least part of the time but I have realized if we do he spends the whole dinner comparing it to Texas Roadhouse so it's not worth it.

So off to dinner, to guess where???? Texas Roadhouse! I was hoping we could eat at Grove Park but there was nothing there that Chad would actually eat. We had a great time at dinner, it was nice to have some alone time. Then we came back to the hotel and relaxed.

4am on Sunday morning I woke up with gastro. So there went the rest of our weekend. We missed breakfast at Grove Park and our couples massage, which secretly I think Chad was thankful for. He wasn't real sure about a massage. I think he would have loved it but oh well. We headed home about 9:30am and on the way home Chad called his mom to tell her that he could bring me home then get the kids. Kim told him that Anthony had woken up at 4am with gastro also. Oh dear is all I could think because neither one of my kids has ever had gastro before and I wasn't sure how well Chad would handle it because I totally couldn't get out of bed to help. Kim decided to keep the kids for a few more hours so I could get home and then about lunch time Chad called and said he was coming to get the kids. As Kim was putting Caroline in the car she started throwing up. So now Chad was the only one that could take care of us all. To be honest, I was a little nervous, he doesn't do well with sickness. But he did a great job.

A couple days later Kim and her husband got it, Chad got it, and now Betty has it. Guess we are passing it along in the family. So sorry everyone!! Hope everyone feels better soon.

Happy New Year and late Merry Christmas.

We had the most wonderful Christmas this year. The kids got tons of toys and it even snowed on Christmas! We got a total of about 6-7 inches of snow on Christmas which meant that by 11am Chad was out working. At least we got to open up gifts before he had to go out. I woke up Christmas morning about 6am and started making baked french toast, which I make only one time year and it is AMAZING! I then woke Chad up about 7am and then we got the kids up about 7:15am since we knew that my family would be there by 7:30am. Chad made the rule that we can't leave the house on Christmas but he never said my family couldn't come to me! I don't think I could stand having Christmas without my family so it works out great. Caroline was thrilled with her new Bitty Baby Twins and Anthony loved his Leapster Explorer but I think what he liked best of all was his Paper Jams. He rocked out all morning and had all of my family playing with him. I totally could see him in a rock band because he gets all in to, singing, dancing and jumping around.
We then let them open the gifts from us and my family. Anthony loved opening but Caroline really couldn't have cared less because she was too busy with her babies and stroller that Nanny and Papa got her. It took her until about lunch time to open everything and the only reason it was done by then was because Anthony opened most of hers also!
Overall, it was an amazing Christmas, I love Christmas even more now that I am a parent than when I was a kid and that's saying a lot. (My sister and I used to get up between 1am and 4am every year). It is just so fun seeing the kids open their gifts and play with everything and just be so excited and getting to spend time with family is awesome too.
We had Christmas with Chad's family on Dec. 22nd and had a wonderful dinner then the kids opened their gifts. I don't think that my house will ever be the same though! I have their playroom full and we still have toys in the living room. I definately have to go through all their stuff and make a trip to Goodwill.
I have to tell about the gifts that the kids got for Chad and I. Mom took them shopping and just let them loose in the store and let them pick out anything in the store that they wanted to get. Mom said she had so much fun and would definately be doing it again next year. It is just amazing how much thought they put in to the gifts as young as they are. The ones that the kids got for Chad are just priceless. Anthony was so excited about what he got Chad that he told his Nanny that his daddy would be so excited that he was going to just jump up and down! So here is what we got. Caroline to Chad-Elvis Pressley coffee cups and hot chocolate. She totally knows that Chad is always looking for coffee cups because he always leaves his outside. Anthony for Chad- Fix a Flat!!!! Isn't that priceless??? Chad did a really good job being super excited about this one. Anthony kept saying you can fix flat tires on anything now, and you have a lot of stuff that could get flat tires. Caroline for Anthony- nerf football. Anthony for Caroline- pom poms and a megaphone. (Oh dear, lets hope this doesn't mean she will be a cheerleader). Caroline for me- hairbows, fingernail polish. Anthony for me-earrings, key chain, bracelet. These gifts from the kids are definately my favorite of all for Christmas.