What did we do besides sledding?

We did a lot, but I guess the first question to answer is "How much did it snow?" Not a ton, but enough to have fun - you can get an idea from this pic. (Unfortunately, I broke my windshield wiper off while scraping so I'll have to get a new one.)

Grace enjoyed looking cute as always.

And, of course, swinging. I think this swing may be the best investment I've ever made in my life. HAHA! We do use it year round.


Archie liked sledding down this mini-hill between our house and the neighbors, too.

Sledding Adventures

We had a blast sledding today. Hunter braved the cold around 9:30 or so and ventured off to school. It was a short day (Tech closed at 3:30) and when he got back home we headed off with our neighbor to the local elementary school which has a HUGE hill! This pic is blurry but you can see the pure joy on their faces.


Daddy got in on the fun!

Grace spent most of the day looking cute like this:

But she eventually decided to get in on the action, too.

It was a steep hill.

Dream diet

Archie's dream diet is expressed in this cute dialog. (He loves hot dogs almost as much as his Mama. Aren't they a food group or something.)

Me: Peeling carrots in a quiet kitchen

Archie: Rushing in "I don't want to eat carrots; I just want to eat hot dogs..."

Can a boy live on them?

Grace, meanwhile, would scarf a giant can of baked beans down by herself if you'd let her.

Gingerbread Fun!

Archie and Daddy had fun with this gingerbread decorating kit from Trader Joe's. They were gracious enough to share their creation with the rest of us! I love gingerbread!

We were so eager to try our creation that we couldn't even keep the knife back long enough for a picture.


I think Archie's other favorite Christmas activity so far has been the Blacksburg Christmas parade and the Festival of Trees in Knoxville.

Around Our Christmas Tree

We're getting ready for Christmas! The house is decorated, and Hunt's handmade felt advent calendar countdown (from his childhood) has become a daily tradition. I love all these pics and couldn't decide on which one to post. Archie's hugging Grace in a slightly different way in all of them and it's all so sweet!



Archie definitely likes Christmas. Last night we went to a kid's Christmas festival at the church where he does Mother's Day Out and he had a blast!

Action shots are all I can get of Grace these days, but I guess those are the best!

Thanks to Aunt Kay for making the bows on the top of our tree. They're beautiful!

If the snow keeps up, we'll have a white Christmas around here!
We're so thankful for all the fun we can have celebrating Jesus' birthday all season!

A few reasons to be thankful!

I'm thankful for my husband, kids, family and and a whole lot more. Aren't my babies cute? (I'm also thankful for this photo where I caught them both smiling.)

We just celebrated a major milestone birthday of my mom's with her older sister and brother. How fun! Archie helped blow out Memaw's candles.

We finally got a pic of both kids with Grandpa DeJ last time he was in Blacksburg. Doesn't everyone look happy? (Hokies are doing pretty well, too, which is another big reason for thanksgiving :)

Here's where I'll begin to wax philosophical or sentimental or something. I'm thankful for my kids attitudes (most of the time) and the things they say. I decided when Archie was little that everyday I would make a point to tell him about one thing I was thankful for. It could be as simple as a flower or more complex such as pointing out a specific aspect of a person. This has proven to be one of our most successful parenting strategies and has communicated to him how to have a thankful heart. I LOVE to hear his spontaneous thankfulness! After we do something fun or give him something, he often remembers to say "thank you" to us or whoever treated him! Way to go! Rejoice evermore. Be thankful in all things. For this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus!

I am also thankful for Grace who I coached word-by-word to say "I love Mama" a couple of times tonight. Pretty good for 15 months, I think!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Life on the Farm!

Life on the farm is pretty cool! Two weeks ago, I braved another car trip with the kids to go see a college friend. With her sister's help on the road, we made it to Pennsylvania and had a great time! It was my first time spending extended time with old friends since being back in the States. We dressed the kids up for Halloween and made some cool pictures. That's a monster pumpkin (but I think our little pumpkins, i.e. kids, are cuter still).


Archie's favorite part of the trip was a tractor ride! Thanks so much, Uncle Karl! When we took Archie to see the dairy calves, he was a little scared and his response was priceless. I was holding Grace and my friend was holding Archie. When she asked if he wanted to get down and walk, he just said "NOPE!" Keep him away from those cows. MOOO!

Aren't they precious?

My favorite part of the trip was playing Settlers of Caton after the kids went to bed. I never won, though :( Maybe next time.... The kids slept in the kitchen and it worked great (although somehow Archie always ended up on the air mattress with me before morning.

We can't wait to go back!

The Pumpkin Patch

We took the kids to the Sinkland Farms Pumpkin Festival Saturday and had a blast. The highlight, of course, was picking out our pumpkin which we'll hopefully carve in the next few days and turn the innards into pumpkin pie. Archie is such a Daddy's boy.

He loved his first pony ride. We found out her name was Trixie.

He was also pretty excited about the tractor a/k/a hayride we took to pick the pumpkin.

They also had a nice animal viewing/petting area. Grace would point and squeal with delight at each animal then scream in terror if it started moving toward her.

Yep! There were a lot of pumpkins.

Halloween Preview!

We've had a lot of fun trying on costumes at our house! Grace is going to be a lady bug. I've had my heart set on it for a long time for some reason. Good thing she doesn't have other thoughts on the matter yet. Aunt Kay probably wouldn't cuddle with too many bugs, but Grace probably is the cutest one that ever was.

Archie is going to be a pumpkin thanks to my friend who let him choose between an elephant and a pumpkin costume she wasn't using this year. (We guided him against the elephant because he doesn't like hats and it looks remarkably gray-blobbish without the hat which is the elephant's face.) He tried it on this morning and was pretty cute, but when he got tired of it (before I got a pic) Grace decided she wanted to wear something soft and fluffy! We went to a pumpkin festival so I thought it was pretty appropriate attire for the day. I am a little concerned Archie won't dress up for Halloween, but if he doesn't I guess I can still take him trick-or-treating. He doesn't seem to like dressing up, and it won't bother him in the least if he's the only kid not wearing a costume...

Something just happened that never ever happens...

And it's GREAT!

My kids fell asleep in the car on the way home from the eye doctor's in Salem and they are STILL sleeping in their beds. If Archie falls asleep for even an millisecond in the car he won't go back to sleep at home. But, he did, and it's GREAT!


Don't have a pic to go with the sleeping children so I attached one my friend made at Romp 'n' Roll yesterday. She invited me to her kid's gym and it was lots of fun!

A day with CARS!

I took my kids on my first solo car trip and survived it. We had fun at Memaw and Papa's the other week week. Mom met me halfway, and we took the kids to a mini-amusement park in Gatlinburg for the day. Archie loved all the stuff to ride. He rode the train, plane, teacups, pirate ship, ferris wheel, and probably other stuff, but his favorite was definitely the race cars.

Archie loved it, but didn't quite get it so this nice grandpa-type attendant helped him quite a bit.

Planes are another favorite. He has decided he wants to be an astronaut when he grows up. (No space shuttles available at this theme park...)


Grace liked some of the rides, too, but she mainly just liked being cute and the attention from Memaw!


The Ferris Wheel didn't go over as well as the swings, and they had to get her out before she even got started good. Maybe next time...

Daniel and the Train

Archie loves trains and he loves Bible stories and he loves puzzles. Why not combine them? Daniel and the Train!!! Who thought this up? I had no idea what he was talking about the first time he asked to play Daniel and the train. This puzzle is just too funny (but he loves it).

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival to You!

One thing I love about Blacksburg is how many Chinese there are. It's easy to make friends and practice language. Another great thing is we don't have to give up our favorite Chinese holiday celebrations. Last week we went to a GREAT Mid-Autumn Festival at Virginia Tech. The festival celebrates the full moon and people eat little cakes called moon cakes (which Archie was a big fan of). The evenings festivities included the finals of a karaoke competition and some great performances. Our friend won second place!

Some kids memorized an incredibly long chant that is made of groups of three characters! Pretty impressive!
All the participants in the performances:

Hanging out with the Grandparents

Here are a few pics of the kids I snapped at my parents house about a month ago. I'm a little late posting.

Archie has discovered pianos can make lots of noise:

Wow! Grace doesn't even take a bottle anymore!

My princess:

Daddy's little buddy: