"I'm Not Tired"

Paige's favorite thing to say, every afternoon: "I'm not tired and I don't need a nap." But on Wednesday, this little girl fell asleep on the couch at 5 pm, was taken to bed, and didn't get up until 7 am :)

Short Drive to Family

Oh my, it's SO wonderful to live so close to family again! It takes 1.5ish hours to get to Jason's grandmother and aunts/uncles/cousins. That is nothing compared to what the kids are used to!

We visited this past weekend and the kids were excited to get late Christmas presents and to try Granny's Donuts (which is Paw Paw's favorite donut shop). We also got to go to a friend's gender reveal party, and we visited our old Westover Church (where the kids saw friends that they remembered :)). It was a lovely visit.

Daphne had no problems going to Nanny and sat in her lap to rock, read books, and look at her new doggy :) Nanny loved it!

The girls love Aunt Kim!

It was raining and the kids got a little crazy on Paw Paw.

Hoping to go back often!

New CC!

After our move, we knew we wanted to get involved with another Classical Conversations group right away - and we found one that meets within walking distance of our house! (We haven't actually walked there yet - can't get out of the house on time - but theoretically we will one day!)

Our first day back ended up being Pajama Day (Russell did not participate but Mer did):

They have each made a couple of new friends (and Paige has made one too). 

I took a picture of Russell's class's "pepper run" science experiment, also. The kids were amazed at how a small drop of dishsoap reacted with the bowl of water to make the pepper "run" to the edges of the bowl :)

Earrings

Look who's growing up! Meredith got her ears pierced today at her favorite store, Claire's :) She has been asking for at least a year, so we gave it to her as a Christmas present.

Before:

After (well, after she stopped crying and I got her an Icee!)

Snow!

Snow shut down the Carolinas for a few days last weekend. I, personally, could do without ever seeing snow again thankyouverymuch, but I do realize we moved to NC, not Florida. And Russell has missed snow.

I only got a couple of pictures (since I was sick and not going out in it), but the kids had a good time. They played in it, and met some friends out to go sledding. Daphne curiously walked around in it for a little while, too :)

Christmas Pictures

Christmas morning with kids = super fun :) We stayed at Paw Paw's house on Christmas Eve. The kids were so excited! Russell got Lego things and Star Wars things; Meredith got Palace Pets and a gift certificate to get her ears pierced; Paige got Paw Patrol; Daphne's favorite gift was her Leap Frog phone.

We had Jon/Meghan/Ella/Ava and Paw Paw over for Christmas dinner, and Jon and Meghan made some amazing lasagna. The kids exchanged presents and made a birthday cake for Jesus - always a favorite Christmas activity that brings the meaning of the season to life for them.

Family :)

So many precious visits with family between Thanksgiving and Christmas - and more to come, now that we live near so many :)

Mimi and the girls did yoga:

We went to Pops and Mimi's Sunday restaurant (a Mexican place - which gives free ice cream to kids):

We had to visit the Varsity in Atlanta, of course:

Another sibling/spouse pic :)

Visit with cousin Meg's kids:

Watching ducks with Mimi and Ella:

Fun dinner out with Jon and his fam - cheap (good) pizza and balloon animals!

Got to visit with Jason's cousins, Tony and Kasey (and girls):

Russell and his second cousin Renee bonded over Legos :)

Daphne and Ava:

In retrospect, I can't believe how much we've done in a month! 

Christmassy Things

Obviously, there's been a lot of chaos in the last month for us. And it's been really, really hard.

But there's been joy too, as we've kept (the bare minimum of, for this year) our annual Christmas traditions.

There's been gingerbread house making:

There has been sugar cookie decorating at Pops and Mimi's:

We picked and decorated Paw Paw's Christmas tree:

We went to the candlelight Christmas Eve service at the church where Jason grew up:

...and we thanked God for the gift of His Son, Jesus. 

Heaven

I actually don't know how to write this post. I have too many emotions and I also don't want to say too much about something that's not entirely mine to tell.

However, I want to honor my precious mother-in-law's memory, so.

A main reason we decided to move (and now have moved) to RDU was due to Kathy's stage 4 cancer diagnosis. We wanted to help, to make memories, to be together. We felt led by God to do so. He opened so many doors - Jason's job said yes, we didn't have a home to sell (we rented), we found our dream home to rent very quickly.

We still feel that this was the right thing to do.

Unfortunately (and fortunately, for she is no longer in pain), our amazing Kacki left this Earth for her Heavenly home on Sunday, December 18. She has left a huge hole in our hearts and not a day has gone by without me thinking of her many times. I am so, so blessed to have had a mother-in-law this hard to say goodbye to.