Charles Towne Landing

When the rain ended yesterday we decided to head out to Charles Towne Landing with the girls.  It was a wonderful family adventure filled with exploring, learning, walking, and animal watching.  Another great reason to love living here!

Throwback Thursday: A Day in History

I thought it would be fun to go back and see if there were any post from 2-6-14 and there were three!

2-6-07
This was a pregnancy update when I was pregnant with Georgia!

I had another doctor appointment today and all was well. I weighed in at 100.5 which was a four pound gain. I now feel I am well on my way to gaining and showing it. The doc listened to the heartbeat which was in the 150's. The baby has apparently stepped off the treadmill and is now walking around at a slow pace! Everything else was as usual and I go again in four weeks. Seventeen weeks down and twenty three to go!

2-6-08
These next few pictures were from a trip we took to Columbia to see our friends Allison and Cory and their children Ava Love and Tate, SO LONG AGO!!!!
The bottom two were from a post on the same day about the girls and I have some time together after we got back from Columbia.

A Tribute

Jay's sweet grandfather passed away yesterday and though we mourn the loss of a great man we rejoice in the life he led and the faith that he upheld.

Legacy is defined as "something being handed down by a predecessor."  When I think of Mr. Stansell and his legacy I see it as a living, continuing effort through Jay.  Mr. Stansell spent a great deal of time with Jay taking him to Clemson games, a trip to Disney World, imparting wisdom and advice and leading by example.  I see so many of the benefits of their relationship in Jay today.  I know that many of the character traits that Jay displays as a husband and a father are a direct result of his relationship with his grandfather.  I can think of no better way to honor the memory of someone than by living your life with the blessings that they bestowed onto you.

I am grateful for the time that I knew Mr. Stansell and the impact he had on our family.  

Weeping through our loss will turn to joy through our memories

Wait for it, wait for it...

I can't believe this is happening, but here I am BLOGGING after an almost three year hiatus!  Not that anything posted will be earth-shattering, but one never knows.
As I was recently looking for an old soccer picture of Katie Jo I realized how much fun it was looking back at the days of old and wow! the memories of the girls when they were younger blew my mind.  It made me realize how this really is an excellent log of life.  Facebook used to feel that way and now it feels full of articles and links and not a lot of the everyday fun that first hooked me.
So, this spot will be a place for family to see our exciting or not-so-exciting happenings, a place for me to record the girl's activities, their funny sayings, what they are in to at the moment, or just a catch up when I don't blog for awhile.  That will happen frequently. ;)
Recently,
Katie Jo got Terrific Kid
Georgia lost a tooth
Katie Jo competed in a gymnastics meet
Georgia turned 100 for the 100th day of school
We went on a fun family trip to Caw Caw park
Oh yeah, and it snowed (kind of)

And it was Pop's birthday

We got to help him celebrate!

Princess Katie Jo

I had to post these photos of Katie Jo from this morning. She is wearing a dress Gran and Pop bought her and it is too girly for words! I think she liked it too don't you? Georgia has one too but she was running a fever and had to miss church. She had on a blog worthy outfit that she had picked out herself with sandals and purple socks. It's too bad the camera got put away before we could capture it.
Speaking of the Flowertown Festival, it was this weekend. My mom and dad were here for the weekend and she and I went yesterday morning. I took a photo of the things we bought because thats the random kind of stuff that occurs when you have a blog. My favorite? The wooden cutting board and the kettle korn!

Just Because

I will be the first to admit I have gotten terrible at keeping up with this blog. I could make a lot of excuses but basically I haven't made the time.
So here are just a couple to let you see that the girls are growing and we are all doing great!

Here is the new dog, Topaz. She is a gem (no pun intended) and we love having her as part of our family.
Classic Georgia. That's all there is to say bout this one.
Katie Jo lost her first tooth back at the end of January. It was very exciting and the tooth fairy brought her two dollars. She got in bed with us that night and when I asked her the next day, "Why" she said she was afraid the tooth fairy would wake her up!

Georgia started taking ballet in January. I would love to say she likes it but she is still on the fence about that one. She does like the leotards and I guess that's all that matters at this point.

Sleeping Quarters

Everybody has new bedding! The girls got theirs from Gran and Pop for Christmas, but I haven't gotten around to taking a picture yet. Both girls got the bedding, throw pillow, rug and wall art. We're planning on painting a pink accent wall in each of their rooms but that won't happen for a couple more weeks. Katie Jo and Georgia both loved what they got which is good because it wasn't going back! :)

This is Katie Jo's room

This is Georgia's room

This is our master bedroom. Dillard's had a huge sale today and we found this gem of a set. I paid $100 for the duvet cover, shams, and four accent pillows. I think that was a pretty good deal! The girls love it. They felt like they were jumping around on a marshmallow!

Christmas 2010

Santa is all set up and ready to be discovered.Katie Jo's loot. She had a "Scooby Doo" theme.
Georgia's loot. She had a "Fashion Barbie" theme.
And Santa left them both "Furry Frenzies" to enjoy.
They discovered their things and immediately started playing.
Georgia had to check out Barbie's shoes first!
Yay for the unicorn pillow pet! It was a last second request and so far her favorite thing she got.



Katie Jo and Georgia went shopping with me separately to get each other gifts. Georgia picked out a sparkle pair of shoes and a blanket for Katie Jo and Katie Jo picked out a "Tangled" t-shirt and skirt and a new hat and gloves set. This was by far the best thing we could do to get them in the spirit of giving. They were both so excited to see the other open their gift to see the reaction. Jay and I don't do gifts for each other but we do give gifts to each other that the girls pick out. This year Jay got a sweater and some boxers. I got new bath towels!
We spent quite some time opening gifts. The girls had their gifts from Santa then gifts from Mommy and Daddy. After breakfast we opened gifts from Mia, Aunt Joni, and Aunt Jessica and family, and Grandaddy and Mema. They got lots of wonderful dolls, clothes, activities, and books.







After a break we opened gifts from Gran and Pop. They helped the girls get ready for dance class with new leotards, tap shoes, and ballet shoes. They also were kind enough to do new bedding for each of the girls' bedrooms.




We had a lovely Christmas dinner at 5ish and by then it felt like 10 pm!
We bought a birthday cake and lit the candles to sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus.
We also got a family gift this year. We haven't had any video gaming systems before and Jay found the new xbox 360 kinect. It doesn't involve any hand held devices and the kinect sensor reads your profile so that when you step in front of the game your character immediately comes on the screen! Cool! He bought the girls an animal game and they love making their animals do tricks and interacting with it on screen. Below is Georgia with her animal the tiger.
The day after Christmas we had snow! It wasn't much but when your children are little and you never see it, it is a BIG deal! We enjoyed it and we enjoyed having COLD weather for the Christmas weekend.