{ Eight }

I don't remember growing older...when did they?

As I've said many times before, the New Year is so bittersweet for me.  It's always exciting starting a new year and seeing how the Lord is going to lead us and provide.  But it also means that my sweet Hannah girl turns one year older. 

This year we let Hannah & Samuel stay up to ring in 2014 with us.  Sammy actually made it this year!  They had a lot of fun but they passed out as soon as their heads hit the pillow.  After they went to bed, Bobby & I started decorating for her eighth birthday party.  She told me she loves waking up and seeing the house all decorated for her birthday.

Hannah decided to have a Despicable Me party this year so I looked at every blog and Pintrest board I could find to get some ideas.  I think it turned out really cute and the kids all definitely had fun. 

Happenings

It's been hard to update our blog when my computer is on vacation.  My pictures won't upload to Bobby's new (non-Mac) computer and it's hard to find time to plug mine into the television so I can get everything done.

Anyway, not too much has been happening...

Just Mr. Amos growing & changing daily.  And getting cuter by the day at that.  Man alive is this kid not the cutest ever?!

We've been keeping up with our school work.  Clearly school is super fun as evidenced from these pictures...

Hannah has been saving her money all year to buy an American Girl Doll.  At $110 for just the doll and the book it took a while.  But she made it to $84 dollars by herself and then my parents gave her $40 for her birthday. 
So this past Monday my friend, Kim, and I surprised Hannah by taking her to the AG store in Atlanta, GA.  She had no idea we were going, she just thought we were taking Kim Christmas shopping at the mall. 

When we pulled into the parking lot we pointed and asked, "What store is that?"  She gazes out the window and replies, "Macy's." 
We asked again and once again she replied Macy's. 
I said, "Hannah, the store with the pick letters beside Macy's!" 
"Oh it's just the American Girl Store."
Kim asked, "What is it Hannah?"
"Just the American Girl (starting to speak slowly) store.  JUST THE AMERICAN GIRL STORE!!!!" 

She was so excited.  She already knew which doll she wanted but we still spent about an hour letting her look at all the dolls and their accessories.  They had Julie's VW bug out on display for the kids to play with and she really enjoyed that. 
I am so proud that Hannah saved her own money to buy her doll.  She takes really good care of Allison (her Madame Alexander doll) but she's been even more careful with Rebecca. 

Wizard of Oz

As I've mentioned before, Hannah loves all things Wizard of Oz at the moment.  We're reading the book together.  Several Mom's & I traded the Oz figures from McDonald's Happy Meals like they were baseball cards.  I found her a Dorothy costume for $10 after Halloween. 

So when the Seneca library posted that they would be having a Wizard of Oz party we just had to go!  It really was a cute party.  We made hot air balloon crafts and enjoyed cake & other refreshments.  I didn't take a lot of pictures because I was pretty busy trying to keep Amos from eating all of the cookies & lollipops...

Amos James

Amos actually says a lot more than I've listed but I didn't have room.  Those are his newest words.  And I completely forgot that he loves to read books.  His favorites are The Very Busy Spider and he can now make the sounds for a goat, cow and pig.  If we're busy and can't read to him, he'll just sit and look through his books by himself.

He can also say monkey and his favorite stuffed animal is a sock money.  I ended up buying it for him because he was trying to climb out of his stroller while yelling, "MONKEY!" and pointing to the display.  I had to pry it out of his chubby little hands so I could pay for it.

Amos is such a ham and will position himself in front of a camera or phone and yell, "Cheese!" so you can take his picture.  It's so sweet and sometimes I just follow him around with the camera just to see him smile and say 'cheese.'

Three posts in one day...impressive I know.  The fact is, my beloved laptop is going haywire on me.  I can't get the screen to come on when I open it so I either have to hook it up to the television with a ridiculous mass of cords or shine a flashlight on the screen while I work (interesting fore sure but it works!)  Hopefully we'll be able to fix it without having to cut off any of our limbs but we'll see.  I'm getting the hang of working with a flashlight propped on my shoulder!

Stumphouse Falls

Last Saturday we meet up with a few friends at the Stumphouse Tunnel.  We didn't actually go in the tunnel, that's an adventure for a hot summer day.  Instead we had a picnic lunch by the stream, let the kids play in the leaves and then the Dad's took all the kids to see the waterfall while the Mom's took a break.  It was so chilly that day but the kids did not mind at all. 

They've been begging to go back.  I had fun too so I believe we'll return soon for one of Sammy's Exploration Days for school.

Marathon

Once again Bobby ran the marathon in the Spinx Runfest in Greenville.  Bless him, it was a freezing cold morning when the kids & I got there at 10am so I can't even imagine being there at 7am.

I completely forgot to make signs this year but no big deal.  The kids were just excited to cheer for Bobby (and the other runners) as he finished.

When Bobby finished we let the kids slide down the hill a few times before heading to lunch.  This may have been their favorite part of the marathon!

A Fall Field Trip

Today my parents & I took my sweet babies to Cherokee today.  It's so beautiful this time of year - the leaves are turning, the mountains are gorgeous and the weather is wonderful. 

We spent about three hours at Santa's Land and then wandered around downtown Cherokee shopping and watching full blooded Cherokee Indians dancing.  We've been studying about Pioneers and Native Americans so this was a fun field trip as well.

We arrived home full of sugar yet exhausted from all of the walking.  I am so thankful for my parents who basically paid for everything and took turns watching Amos so I could join the kids on the rides.

I'm sorry there are so many pictures to look through but the photo collage site I use is not cooperating at the moment.  Plus this is basically our family photo album/scrapbook so...  There were a ton more photos so I at least narrowed it down to my favorites.

--Amos & Papa looking at the bears.--

 --Have you seen 'Parental Guidance'?  It's Carl the Kangaroo!--

--"I was PREPARED!!"--

 --What is Papa pointing at?  Not sure because the kids were more interested in the fish they were feeding.--

 --The view from the top of the ferris wheel.  Just beautiful.--

 --My ferris wheel buddy.--

 --Amos on the train.--

 --The Rudi Coaster.  Hannah & Samuel are on the front.--

 --Reindeer.  And they are so beautiful.--