More snow!!

Still in pajamas, Cameron threw on his sisters boots and asked to go outside while it was snowing Thursday.  I made him put on a hat and jacket and decided to take the camera! This is the first time I've ever let him play outside in the snow; he loved it!

Trying to catch snowflakes in his mouth!

I spent most of Thursday scrubbing the kitchen while Cameron watched way too many episodes of Mickey Mouse clubhouse!  The weather cleared up and after Philip brought Raegan home from school I had a chance to go to the chiropractor for a much needed adjustment and neck decompression and then to yoga! (Best Christmas gift ever honey!) and because I was feeling extra spoliled and FREE I made a trip to target in my yoga clothes and wandered around, chatted with some friends I ran into, and bought a cart full of things that I didn't really need and a bottle of contact solution that I really did need. ;) (I really overuse that winking smiley face, I know.) 

So then came Friday, snow started while we were rummaging around the kitchen for hot chocolate, cereal, and waffles (the frozen kind). The front yard looked like this when Philip left to take Raegan to school.

Then two hours later looked like this:

And it didn't stop...

I didn't let the little guy out to play in it, just too cold, instead Cameron found unique ways to play inside.

Hitting a balloon with a wooden kitchen spoon (who needs expensive toys anyways!)

Hiding under the laundry basket, while mommy does laundry.

Throwing all his toys out of the cabinet and using it to play peek-a-boo with mommy!

School closed almost as soon as it got started.  Philip was already at work but went back and picked up Raegan and kept her with him until he decided the road conditions were just too bad and he wanted his employees to get home safely.  So he closed the store at noon, which is a big deal, because 12-1 is generally their biggest sales hour.  It had to be really bad, for him to close before lunch.  

We also decided it would be best for him and Raegan not to try and make the drive home, but instead stay at a hotel across from the restaurant.  Sounds crazy I know, but I just couldn't let him take the risk of driving home on a long, curvy hwy, when a fatality accident had already been reported nearby that morning.  It turns out it was also a good idea because he would be able to determine the plan for closing or delaying opening in the morning without having to drive out in the bad weather before the crack of dawn. The bad was, this wasn't planned for so neither one of them had a change of clothes, Philip had to buy a phone charger, and the hotel was filled with a bus full of high schoolers!

They did make it home Saturday morning. Philip had to turn right around and head back up to work to complete end of month duties.  I took the kids out to play for a lil while.

These are deer tracks through our front yard. Some of them were about the size of a small child's foot! 

Oh Mr. Sun, sun please come out and play!!! We miss you!

Snow day #2

Two and a half days trapped in the house with two littles could make a mommy go crazy! :) here's how snow (ice) day #2 went down...

Raegan had a rough night and came down to sleep with us around 2am, which allowed Cameron to sleep in a little later than normal.  Philip went up to the store around 6 to resalt his parking lot and sidewalks before their delayed opening. 

The kids entertained themselves while I tried to complete my quiet time studies.  

Then we went upstairs to the playroom.  Raegan, wearing the gown she requested from the hospital when she was in the ER a couple weeks ago, played a patient with a broken heart.  Cameron may need to go back to med school to learn where a heart is.  

After lunch we snuggled up in my bed and watched the original Annie movie, through amazon prime.  Cameron was a tad bit bored with the movie and instead took pics with my phone.  It's fun to see life from his perspective.

The movie was during normal nap time for Cameron so he fell asleep soon after.

After naptime and noticing most all the ice had melted away during the day, we got ready and heading up to Chick-fil-A for dinner.  Family night included a breakfast for dinner special and our local librarian came to read bedtime stories with the kids!  The place was packed full of people tired of being cooped up in their homes.  We saw many friends and got to meet the families of our new marketing directors!  We have such a great and friendly community!

1st snow day this year - Feb 23

These two brought snow inside to play with.  They put food coloring and valentine heart sprinkles in their snow/ice to make a true mess! 

Raegan drew/colored this picture for me:

And I recycled one of Philip's old work shirts into matching headbands for me and Raegan.

The whole family took a long afternoon nap with the fireplace on in our bedroom. We enjoyed roast, potatoes and carrots for dinner and then played a lil monopoly before putting the kids to bed at 7.

Photo courtesy of Cameron Smith.

School is out again tomorrow... To be continued. 

Valentine's day 2015

This year our kiddos really enjoyed opening valentines cards from their nanny and finding one dollar bills inside! They each got a card and it was a like a race to see who could open theirs first. 

We had MOPS on Friday and Cameron made this for me in Moppets.  He was able to pick out which one was his out of all of them laying on the floor outside his classroom and then handed it to me and said "momma."  It's just lovely isn't it ;)

Saturday morning Philip told me HappyValentine's Day before the sun even came up and then our kiddos came downstairs and crawled up in our bed to get tickled and hear me read the Valentine's Day card Philip had given to me. 

We finished packing and loading the car and stopped by CFA for breakfast on our way out of town.

Isn't he thoughtful! 

When we got to Tyler our first stop was to meet this little guy, Camden:

So tiny, the kids were basically fighting over who could hold him next! Now anytime I say "aunt Melissa" Cameron immediately says, "baby" and holds his arms like he's cradling a baby.  It's cute!

That evening Philip and I started our valentines date early with a steak dinner at Bernard's, then a lil valentines shopping to pick out a new perfume for me and since they were having a really great sale some clothes for each of us as well.  

Then we still had time to grab some frozen yogurt at TCBY and Carmex at Target before our movie, American Sniper, started.  GREAT movie, had me on the edge of my seat and in tears, maybe not the most romantic valentines date movie, but that's okay.  I'm glad our dinner reservations were so early, it was really nice to enjoy a long afternoon/evening with my sweet hubby without any children in the backseat. 

2 yr 3 months - Feb 16th, 2015

Cameron loves bubbles!  

He also loves playing outside!

And his sister

And his best bud, Max

He didn't qualify for speech therapy at the evaluation we had done, so we may try back in a few months.  he hasn't had to go to the dr since his 2 yr check up so I'm not certain how big he is but he is definitely growing faster than his sister.  We are still working on potty training, definitely not an easy task in the middle of winter.  He always reminds us to pray before each meal. 

He enjoys playing with cars and trains, hiding and then jumping out to scare people, playing with playdoh, watching Mickey Mouse clubhouse, and pretending to read and then showing us the pictures in the book like a school teacher would. 

Transitioning into 2015

Wow, crazy to think I've been a full time stay at home mom for a full year now.

Some of my favorite times from this past year were:

- doing the hotdog dance with my kids at the end of every Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episode!

-taking the kids to Disney World

-being at the birth of and holding my brand new baby nephew

-summer pool parties with new and old friends as well as family get togethers
-joining Community Bible Study

-going to a couple of Baylor games including the first one in the new stadium with Philip (a great football season!)
-attending weddings for family and friends

-watching Philip catch some giant fish in the Atlantic and riding bikes along the beach during our trip to Key West in November
-Christmas with both our families at our home

2014 was a year of less stress and great health for our whole family.  It was a year of making new friendships and enjoying visits from long time friends. We spent a lot of time renovating our new home, and enjoying time out on the water on our new dock. 

2014 was a year of relaxation for me, a year for regrouping, discovering my new role; it kinda felt like my first year of retirement.  I now own my own time, instead of selling it to someone else and feeling torn between my work and family.  Often times self-managing my time isn't easy.  I don't have anyone telling me where I have to be at what time.  I always thought being a stay-at-home mom would be easy and boring, but its anything but.  There are still so many decisions to be made, and still things that I feel like I don't have time to do.  There's so much to be done, but many days I spend hours rocking my lil guy, playing a board game or reading a new book with Raegan, listening to a friend who is hurting, or meeting new people (young and old) in our community.  I love having the ability to chose how I spend my time and pray that I will spend each day productively doing God's will.

So now we already a month and a half into 2015.  At the end of my first yoga class this year, Sondra, our instructor/the yoga guru, asked us to close our eyes, clear our minds, rest and to let one word come to our mind for 2015.  The word that came to me was "available."  I've thought a little more about this word and what it means for this year.  I have been SO blessed to be able to choose how I spend my days.  I can choose to spend my time wrapped up in my own little world or I can make myself available to make a difference in someone else's life.  I want to be available to love on and serve others.  I need to remember that God is ALWAYS available to me.  I'm currently in the middle of studying Luke, and find it so convenient that Jesus wasn't sitting up in a temple where people had to search him out, so often the stories in Luke depict him in the streets among the common people, the sinners (Luke 7: 36-50), the sick (Luke 5:12-13), and the broken-hearted (Luke 7:12-13).  He was available.