Ethan's Leadership Conference & Caden's Art Show

A couple of weekends ago, Ethan was one of seven 1st graders invited to attend a leadership conference. They were asked to wear ties and he looked adorable in his "business clothes!"

 He and his friends were so sweet when I dropped him off and they had a terrific time learning leadership skills with the other Mill Creek leaders :-) 

 Not the best picture, but his counselor texted me this pic letting me know that Ethan had volunteered to go on stage for one of the events. I'm so grateful that he is part of a school that adores him and builds him up just as Shadowbrook did!

 Then, Caden had his Art Show at school the following week. His art teachers are the most creative individuals and they make the most precious pieces to display. Thankfully, we get to keep them after the show each year!

 He decided to show Ethan his creations...

 And finally stood still long enough for me to take a picture :-)

February Wrap-up

We ended February with a beautiful rainbow to conclude the school week followed by a trip to the mall on a random school day off. This picture does not do it justice but it was the brightest, most vibrant rainbow I have ever seen. You could actually see each individual color of the rainbow!

Since the winter has been mild and we did not use any of our weather days this year, the kids had a random Friday out of school. We took advantage of it with a trip to the mall. Lunch, the carousel, and the Cookie Company were just what the day called for!

 They were all spinning when they came off of the carousel ;-)

Even Lindsey and Merideth rode!

Spark Pinewood Derby

The boys derby cars this year were their favorite colors. Ben always works so hard and does a great job getting them ready for Derby. After doing the cutting this year, Ethan and Caden did the sanding and painting.

Ethan's car once it was cut

 Time to sand...

 Paint time...

 Then it was finally the big day! 

The first entries...

 Ethan's and Caden's are the red and blue cars in the lower left of the picture

 Ready to Race!

 And another successful Derby year! 

A great time was had by all!

Sweet Caroline

Caroline was born on February 1st and we couldn't have been more excited! After giving Chad, Ashley, and Collier a couple of weeks to acclimate, I packed up the bikes and sent the boys to Mimi's for the weekend so I could head to Huntsville and get some snuggles from my new sweet baby girl! Ethan and Caden had a blast with Mimi and they met me at Chad and Ashley's Sunday afternoon so that they could meet Caroline for the first time, too. 

They had an amazing time as always with Mimi riding bikes...

 climbing trees...

 

and visiting the airplane museum in Birmingham.

 Mimi also stopped by the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville to let the boys take a quick look around there as well.

While I got my weekend cuddles, I also got to see Collier play in her Mercedes that Chad controls by remote. So much fun!!

 Once the boys arrived and had some cousin time, we got ready for a late night trip home :-)

LOVE that we now have 2 boys and 2 girls in the family!!

The Flu

The entire month of January was a blur. Every single one person in our family got the flu...it was horrible. I started it all with a boatload of medicine and misery. Ben completely rocked and sent me to our bedroom for a week of sequestered time away from everyone and he moved into the guest room and took care of both boys' schedules, school, meals, and the house! 

Once I was finally well again, we ventured downtown the following weekend and took the boys to the top of the Sundial to see the city. Ethan was a trooper but by the time we left, he was running a temp. 

 I was devastated, we were SOOOOO careful and I spent an entire week away from everyone. I took Ethan to the Pediatrician and she enlightened me that the incubation period had expired and confirmed that he had caught it at school. As soon as Ethan tested positive, Ben took Caden to get tested even though he felt fine. He also tested positive even though he had no symptoms and they were both put on Tamiflu just as I had been. That  meant a week out of school for them as well :-(  They were set  up with TV's in their rooms for the week and we even invested in Roku's and streaming players for them to watch Netflix.

 As you can tell, Ethan was in heaven once he was past the vomiting and first few days of feeling completely awful. 

The boys finally starting feeling normal again, but then Ben began feeling bad. It was his turn for Tamiflu. Thankfully, his bout of the flu only lasted a few days and our house returned to normal by the end of the month.

But, I would be perfectly happy to never experience a January like that again!

Jesse's 40th Birthday & New Year's Eve

Right before Christmas we went up to celebrate Jesse's 40th birthday. Jesse flew down from Virginia to celebrate Ben's birthday with him so we were excited that his birthday fell while they were in town visiting for the holidays and we were all able to celebrate with him. The boys LOVE going up to Jesse's family's land and always have a blast!

First up - Feeding the cows

 Then Mason was kind enough to take Caden on a ride on his dirtbike while Carson took the boys on long rides on the 4-wheeler exploring the woods.

 Then we came in for birthday presents and dinner. 

A fun time was had by all!!

After Christmas, we headed back up there for New Year's. We were planning on celebrating down here, but changed our minds and decided to go up there instead. The boys had so much fun getting into a Popper fight with Carson and Mason!

 

Then some sparklers

 Bottle Rockets

 Roman Candles

Some upside down tickle time

Followed by getting ready for the big stuff

 Lots of the big stuff!

After all of the fireworks were done, we headed inside to watch the ball drop before heading home.

What a great New Year's Eve!