Sam's First Sled Ride

When the weather finally warmed up to the 20's, I felt it was time to get Sam out of the house. Bundled up in his snowsuit and hat, he was looking pretty stiff. We have no idea if he enjoyed it or not. He didn't cry. He didn't really smile. He simply...fell asleep.

 A little deep.

 Of course we had to stop to make snow angels

 I love, love, love living here. To have this as my "backyard"...so pretty.

 "Mom, is this fun for you?"

 Usually this view is covered with sailboats!

  Trekking it back home!

Snow Day Part Two

Day Two surviving Hercules was a success! Tom took the girls sledding, while I stayed in the warm house with my Samuel. I personally think I got the better end of the deal as the windchill was still in the single digits and well, for me, that's painful.

I love that Tom allows Madeline to sled with her hat covering her eyes.

 I think we have THE best hill to sled! Nothing beats our view of the water at the bottom either:)

A bunch of little videos Tom took of the girls! 

Sweet Ella kicking her sister's sled at the bottom. Nice, right? Sore loser because Madeline had just beat her in a race:)

Check out that view!

Hercules!

We experienced our first winter storm of the new year! They named it Hercules and he brought us a lot of snow, but more importantly laughter and really fun times! I loved that Ella had a snow day from school, and Tom was still on winter break so we were able to spend extra family time together. We went sledding a bunch, built a pink snowman, drank a lot of hot cocoa, and figured out how to close our windows tight enough to keep the house above 60 degrees:) We never lost power even with the negative temperatures and high wind speeds so I would say we survived Hercules! One storm down...

Day One:

"Yeahhhh! Ella has a snow day!" 

Brrrrr. 

 Lots of AG time. Bookshelves are now used as dollhouses. 

Snow bunny!

 My other snow bunny!

 The wall of snow behind our house

 And Ella jumps into it!

 Madeline buries herself in it!

 Tom is a big kid in the snow:)

 Ain't nobody safe.

  She's trying to build the biggest snowball to throw it at her dad.

 What our back door looked like.

 What our front patio looked like!

 My girls! 

 We made a pink snowman! With a tutu!

They definitely love the snow. Obviously, right?

 And Sam stayed inside. Windchills were way too cold to bring a baby outside.

Day Two: To Be Continued

New Year's Eve

We celebrated the ending of 2013 with our amazing friends here at Fort Adams. We wanted low key,  family-friendly, and somewhere close to home so we could actually have fun and not worry about driving home;)

We chose our friend Jen's house! We played Cards Against Humanity and laughed until we cried. Watched the kiddos play Just Dance and carry around baby dolls. We enjoyed the interaction between baby Griffin and baby Sam. And best of all, I wore my awesome cat sweater Tom bought me for Christmas. Even though the girls begged me not to leave the house in it;) 

We came home before the ball dropped, let the girls make the couches into their beds, daring them to stay up until midnight (they failed), and popped a bottle of champagne open to toast to the ending of a very busy, very fulfilling, at times scary, a lot stressful, but extremely beautifully blessed 2013. With the birth of our sweet son, our big move to Rhode Island, Madeline being sick, Ella starting Kindergarten, Tom starting his Master's...2013 has been memorable to say the least. We have a lot to look forward to in 2014 though and welcome it with open arms and clinking champagne glasses:)

Note: in the top right pic Claire has on a cat sweater as well. She thought my sweater was pretty awesome of course. (I may pass it down to her one day.)

Bottom left pic is how we celebrated our first day of the New Year...seeing Frozen:)

Is there anything cuter than Sam in this tux onesie with a suit jacket? Bahahahaha

 His socks never ever stay on.

 Back home. Ringing in the New Year with my three biggest blessings.

 Tom caught a sweet moment with mama and her boy.

 And soundly they slept. 

 She tried. She really tried. We even woke her at midnight, but she flopped back down on her pillow. The next morning she cried because she didn't see the ball drop. Ha! 

Well Hello...

2014! Happy New Year to all.

The New Year always brings about new things. New changes. New beginnings. Maybe new endings. Out with the old. In with the new, right?

I'm not one for resolutions. I never stick to them anyway so I always decide it's better just to not make them in order to save myself from disappointment. But this year I started something new for myself. My sorority sister/wonderful friend Leah asked me to choose one word to describe how I want my year to be. I thought about it for a few days and the same word kept popping into my head: Healthy.

I want this year to be full of healthy decisions. I want to make healthier food choices, exercise more, teach the girls to make healthy choices. But being healthy just isn't about food and working out a lot. It's definition includes "functioning well or being sound". I'm pretty sure we could all use a little healthy in our lifestyles. I want a healthier marriage, friendships and relationships with my children. I want to be able to look past the wet towel that is left on our bed. Every. Single. Morning. I want to be able to look beyond the Play-Doh mess that Madeline can make and just relax and enjoy the crazy creations she comes up with. I want to display patience when the girls are constantly at each other's throats and be able to look back and remember I was the same way with my older brother. There is nothing worse for me than to go to bed with mom guilt for being a "bad mom" that day for yelling entirely too much. There isn't anything healthy about it either.

I know it won't be easy. Any of it. I love my skittles, and sugary cereals. My exercise regimes in the last ten years are less than stellar. I'm impatient, and my yelling can get scary;) But I will try my very best to make it my healthiest year yet. In every aspect of my world. Because I know I want to live a long, happy, fulfilling life with my family. And I want my children to do the same.

Healthy. Yes. That's the word I have chosen for 2014.

So here's to a very strong, prosperous, and healthy New Year! Slainte!