Sleepovers, birthday party, gymnastics, oh my!

This weekend was full of fun for my little cuties! On Saturday night, they spent their first night at Mamaw & Papaw's house.  We weren't sure if they were actually going to stay but they did just fine.  They got to sleep on air mattress on Mamaw & Papaw's floor and they thought that was the berries! Anna Kate was more than excited and Drew took a little convincing but from what I hear didn't have any issues after we dropped them off.  They thought they were having a camp out and Drew even asked when they were going to build the fire.  Haha! I guess we will need to put camping on the schedule this summer.  I think they will love it!
Sunday afternoon they went to a birthday party for a friend from school.  They had a late night and early morning at their sleepover and when you combine that with no nap, they were completely exhausted by dinner time.  Drew fell asleep on the couch while we made dinner and was finally convinced to get up and take a bath about 2 hours later.
Monday was a much needed small step towards getting back to normal.  Drew and Anna Kate went to DotDot's house for the first time in since Grandaddy got sick (over three weeks!).  They were really excited about going and even more excited to learn that Aunt Ashley would be coming for a visit.  We missed our weekend visit with her because of the birthday party so we planned for dinner Monday evening.  Monday was also their first gymnastics class! We have been talking for 2 years about taking them and we finally did it. We should have done it a long time ago because they had so.much.fun!  Aunt Ashley went with us so that made it that much more great! They were a little wound up and did not get a nap on Monday so I will be honest and say I was a little nervous about how it would go.  I will also be honest and tell you that I may or may not have threatened them on the way there that if they didn't behave and listen to their teacher that we would leave and not go back.  They did wonderfully! I would like to think that they took my threats seriously but the good behavior was likely because they were enjoying themselves so much. Either way, I'll take it! We plan to make gymnastics a part of our weekly routine. Our hope is that they will be ready to move out of the "Mommy and Me" class soon and in to a class with cousin Hayes! How fun would that be?!

 Drew's bed head after naps on Saturday. Such a handsome man!

 Ready to party! They were so very excited about going to Cydnee's party.

 First experience with a Pinata.  They did well and didn't hit anyone! Drew did use the bat as an air guitar before passing it along to the next person in line.  That boy.... he is such a little comedian. He loves it when people laugh at his antics!

 The loot!

 This is what tired looks like.  After all the activities this weekend and gymnastics Monday night, they were worn out!

Sound asleep. Their room was completely dark and neither or them even flinched at my flash.

2 year "Blogiversary"

January 1, 2014 was my 2 year "Blogiversary".  Like last year, I am pretty amazed that I have kept it up and I am oh so glad I did!  It is so very hard to believe a year has passed! Where did 365 days get off to so quickly?  What were we doing for all of those days?  Well, good news... the blog will tell me! (Seems I didn't leave my "corniness" in 2013!)  One thing I am disappointed I didn't do last year was get the blog printed into a book. Maybe I can make good on that this year. AND... I'll get to get two books! I am a terrible procrastinator and I know how time consuming it will be. I tried to "auto populate" a book with the 2012 blog last year and it came out as a 500 page book! So.... that means I am going to have to arrange every page. I do know how much I am going to love having it so I'm not sure why it has been so hard for me to just sit down and get it done.
Any way... moving on to more fun things..... I love going back and reading my "reviews" of Drew and Anna Kate's personalities.  Some things are forever unchanged and some things change daily.  One thing remains, they are awesome! I don't remember my life before them but it must have been somewhat boring.

Drew, you are the  most stubborn child I have ever met. This is one of those things that has changed in you. When you were tiny, your sister was the demanding one. We always said you were just happy to be here. You still are a happy little boy that smiles with your whole face but if you have made your mind up about something, that is it. Wardrobe choice is our main argument most days. More often than not, you go places with outfits that don't match and aren't seasonally appropriate.  I have kind of given up. Its just not worth the fight (refer to your stubbornness). I think you are going to play an instrument of some kind. You can play "air guitar" (I guess it isn't really "air" because you will use things like toy swords as a guitar) with the best of them and you really, really love to play the drums.  Ironically this drives your father, the drummer, crazy! You know how to push his buttons and you will go head to head with him pretty much daily. I hope this is a phase because as a toddler, its cute. As a teenager, not so much!  During your spats you come out with some of the most hilarious things! Your new things is saying... "Daddy! People don't need to tell people (insert whatever it is that he is getting on to you for)".  A few weekends ago we were eating breakfast and you were going to town on the ottoman with your drum sticks and your daddy got on to you.  You came running across this living room with your crooked little pointer finger aimed directly at him and said "Daddy! People don't need to tell people not to play the drums! Daddy!"  We both had to look away so you didn't see us laughing.  You told him just last night "Daddy! People don't need to tell people that they have to go to bed!" Whew, you are something else! You also told  yelled at us that you were not going to go to bed and that you were not going to have a good night! This was in response to us telling you "Good night" before leaving your room. But for all the stubborn and meanness, you sure are cute and you are a great cuddler. You are the world's best greeter! When you get excited about seeing someone your face lights up, you yell their name, and then run to them with a big hug. It is so pure and genuine. Melt me and put me in the palm of your hand! You still like big trucks, cars, tools, anything "boy". You pick at your sister and play too rough with her but you get very concerned if she is hurt. I love your spunk!
Anna Kate, you are such a sass! That is your constant. I guess we know what you are going to be like when you grow up. You love to draw, color, and paint. You make notes and write letters.  You are a hoarder. You like packing bags, your bed, baskets, anything with a random array of your things.You tell stories. I have had to make the disclaimer to everyone that when you say "my mama says/does/etc...." that they shouldn't necessarily believe it! When you don't get your way you are a serious pouter. You try to protest by crossing your arms and stomping your foot as big as you can. This usually makes us laugh which is turn, makes you laugh. You are oh so dramatic. You have a little trick that when you really hurt yourself, you hold your breath while you cry, You have passed out at least 3 times while doing this. You have taken years off of our lives with this stunt! Even your poor brother comes flying when you get hurt now so he can help blow in your face to get you breathing again.  Oh, sis, you're a mess. You are so sweet though. You like to help with grocery shopping, cooking, laundry, & the dishes. You still mother your babies and Drew.  For a little while you were our early riser but recently, you have enjoyed sleeping in. If we try to wake you up, you hide under your covers and tell us you aren't ready to get up yet! You have a strange obsession with your hairbows. You pull the draw full of them out and will play with them for hours. You are a super sweet little girl that loves to give hugs and kisses. All we have to do is tell you that you will make someone sad if you don't tell them good-bye, give them a hug, etc.... and you will run straight to do it.  You are funny and most of the time you don't even mean to be.
I have been slacking in the blogging department lately.  I have been lacking in creativity and I think I remember this being an issue around this time last year. Since I am a fair weather friend, I am going to blame it on the cold! Hopefully, I'll come around and be able to keep up my end of the deal this year with the blog. I know I won't ever be sorry I did it!

 Playing his drum along with the band on Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

Smart girl! She got my iPad, climbed up on the bed, and started her baby doll game all by herself!

 Helping his daddy work on his tricycle

Talking to Mamaw on the phone. She was telling her that we were going to go to an "Elephant parade" that night.  Again, she can tell some pretty wild stories!

Rough patch

I have been a little MIA from the blogging world lately. We have been busy, busy but this time with not so fun things.  My sweet Uncle Jerry passed away just before Christmas and it seemed to have started the domino effect. My Uncle Jack had to go in for earlier than expected open heart surgery the day after Christmas and then my dad ended up in the hospital for almost a week's stay with a "rotten gallbladder" (those were his surgeon's words!).
Gladly, I report that my Uncle Jack (Pops as he is known to Drew and Anna Kate) is home from the hospital and seems to be recovering well! My dad is also recovering slowly but surely.  He was very sick before having his gallbladder removed and it is going to take him a while to get back to 100% but he is definitely going in the right direction. Needless to say, our life has been a little flipped on its ear. I am really hoping to return to normal soon and that all of the sickness is behind us for 2014!
It is hard to think about my Uncle Jerry being gone. His passing was so sudden and something no one expected.  I want Anna Kate and Drew to know about their "Uncle Papaw" and what a sweet and kind soul he was. I can only hope they grow up to be the kind of person he was. His relationship with them was something that was so very special because he chose them. He and Norma genuinely wanted to be a part of their lives. He never had grandkids of his own but I think he thought of Drew and Anna Kate as partly his (and of course, we were happy to share). Anna Kate and Drew looked forward to their time with Uncle Papaw and Uncle Norma and were always excited for them to come visit, especially on Mondays and Tuesdays while they were with DotDot. The Monday morning before he got sick, they said to me on our way to DotDot's house that they hoped they would come for a visit that day.  Anna Kate apparently decided they needed to go on an adventure and I think encouraged DotDot to call Uncle Papaw and Uncle Norma to come along. They went to feed the ducks and to lunch. I am so very thankful they got to have that day with him! I hope he enjoyed it as much as they did (they still talk about it weeks later!). We will miss him tremendously and I hope Drew and Anna Kate remember their special relationship with him. I hope to that they will be able to bring a little light to Uncle Norma's life. Her relationship with Jerry was one of great love. You could tell they had so much fun with each other and truly enjoyed their time and life together and I can't imagine her grief. I hope she will find some relief by continuing her "adventures" with Drew, Anna Kate, and my mom. I know they all look forward to them.
I have said before how lucky my little people are to have such wonderful people in their lives who love them dearly and lead by such great examples. I know they will have many fond memories of their childhood and all of the wonderful people who helped make it so special.

New Year's Eve

Drew and Anna Kate can party with the best of them. It seems their Mom & Dad have passed along their night owl tendencies. Unlike the last few years,we got to have John Clay with us for New Year's Eve and it was great! It was fun to go hear his band play at New Years parties before the kids but now that they are here, it is nice to be together as a family.  We went to Aunt Teresa's annual New Year's Eve Christmas party and it was loads of fun. Raylan was there and Drew and Anna Kate really enjoyed playing with him. All of the "babies" made it until midnight and were still going strong when we left. They fell asleep pretty quickly once we got into the car. I can't think of many better ways to have rang in the New Year!

 We tried to get them to watch TV in Aunt Teresa's bed while the adults played games and watched football but I think the only thing we accomplished is destroying her bed!

 Happy New Year from Drew! I hate that my pictures turned out so blurry!

Crazy girl.  I told you she was still partying down at midnight!  She kept telling everyone "Merry New Year"!

Christmas

Whew! I have dodged a bullet! I am blogging about Christmas over a month later because I misplaced my camera for a bit! I am glad to report I have found it so.... on with the Christmas blog!
Drew and Anna Kate managed to stay healthy this Christmas (if you remember, the were both sick on Christmas last year with Anna Kate requiring a trip to the doctor on Christmas Eve).  Christmas is a lot more fun when you feel good!  Another positive from this Christmas was that we got to stretch it out for one extra day! The Garner side of the family decided to have their celebration on Christmas Eve Eve.  We really did enjoy not having to rush from one place to the other and getting to spend time with each side of the family!
Our first stop was to Pepaw & Ann's house. They get the award for fastest growing family! The crowd feels like it has doubled in size from a few years ago! It's a good thing though. You can never have too much family!

 Cousin Rylee helping Drew and Uncle Aaron open gifts.

 A digger! Someone knows Drew all too well.

 Sis got a camera. She loves to take pictures!

On Christmas Eve we went to Mamaw & Papaw's house. They get the award for most overkill on presents! Not a bad thing either! Ha!  It felt like we all we did all day was eat and open presents and ate and opened more presents!

 Smiling with cousin Raylan. This was the best I got out of about 25.

 Sweet cousins watching for Santa Claus.

 He's here! This was the big even of the day. Santa came and handed out presents! So much fun! Drew and Anna Kate surprised me with how friendly they were with him. Anna Kate went straight to him. Drew was a little nervous at first but warmed up pretty quickly.

 Getting her next present.

 Drew had no time for pictures... he had gifts to open!

 A Doc McStuffins doll! Her face is cute in this picture.

 Drew got more trucks!

 We fed the reindeer at Mamaw & Papaw's house before we left because we figured Drew & Anna Kate would be asleep when we got home. We were right!

 Really getting in to throwing it. If you look close enough, you can see Anna Kate is throwing half of her's behind her!

On Christmas day Drew and Anna Kate got up and played with their gifts Santa left them over night (which wasn't much considering the loot they had received the previous two days).  After they enjoyed their new gifts for a while, we headed to DotDot and Grandaddy's for breakfast and gifts with them and Aunt Ashley!

 Another Doc McStuffin's doll for AK and some Cars for Drew!

Silly kids! I couldn't get them to pose seriously for a picture. This was all I managed....

 And that semi hug turned in to this!

 More presents!

 Sweet girl!

 One of Drew's favorite gifts.  It is Thomas set that you build with Legos. DotDot has to put it together for him when he is at her house and I'm going to go on a limb and say it is one of her least favorite gifts! 

 Sweet hugs for Daddy!  Drew and Anna Kate went shopping for all of their "people" with Aunt Ashley at the Dollar Store a couple of weeks before Christmas. They got to pick out anything they wanted for me, John Clay, DotDot, Grandaddy, Mamaw, & Papaw. I think they had a lot of fun and it was fun for us to see what they picked out. They got me a cell phone carry case, Dot Dot and Mamaw got Santa & Mrs. Claus salt and pepper shackers, Papaw got a candle and Grandaddy got candy.  Daddy's gift was the best. It was a rubber snake.  The hugs in the pictures were to thank Anna Kate for her thoughtful gift!

 Drew got some drums! 

 Anna Kate getting in on the drum action! I think she was singing too.

Drew got a tool set. He was working hard to help Granaddy put Anna Kate's new kitchen set together.