It's been a long time

I had meant to keep this blog updated as often as possible. Life happens. It happened and I haven't been able to update like I've wanted to. I have a ton of new pictures to share, not sure if I can upload all of the great ones at once. We'll have to see how the computer does.

Alex had a birthday! He turned 8 on February 14th. His birthday was on a Saturday so we had his party on the big day itself. We decided on doing a tae kwon do party at his martial arts school. I was a bit worried about it even up to the day before the party but I am SO glad we decided to have it there. Master Choi did a fabulous job and the kiddos had a great time. His Mimi MaryAnn gave him a Wii Fit and the whole family has really been enjoying it. Mary especially loves the yoga part of the game. She looks so cute doing some of the moves. The entire day went very well. Alex invited some friends over after the party to come and play for a bit. Alex Noblett spent the night which just made my Alex's day perfect.

His birthday cake - and yes, I made it myself! I think Delia would be sooooo proud, don't you? I took the picture from an actual photograph of him and did the buttercream frosting transfer. I think it looked fabulous.

Master Choi had a ninja sword for Alex to cut his cake. How cool was that?

Look at that kick! Mary doing her yoga.

The next weekend, we had belt testing. Alex's school has belt testing just about every two months. This time he was testing for a green belt. He knew his form, he had earned five tapes (very good), and he nailed his board breaking technique. It was all good! The following Wednesday was the belt ceremony -it felt like it lasted forever but we were very proud of him.

I like wearing my tutu to belt testing too. It must makes me feel right.

Mary's best friend invited her to attend her sister's bowling party. She was so excited! We have been trying to set up a playdate w/ Emily forever and this was perfect. I met her mom and dad, and the rest of her family. I bowled, we had cake and pizza, and we all had a great time. The two of them are so cute together.

Mary and Emily...BFFs!

Mary, Emily, and Selena - Selena was the birthday girl!

Today was the first day of March. It "roared in like a lion..."! 3 inches of snow - and it snowed all day long. It was absolutely beautiful. The kids had a blast playing outside, there was hot chocolate and chili for dinner. Good times. The only one who wasn't happy was Otis. Poor Otis, didn't want to go outside and was dying to go out and do his thing. He doesn't do well in storms in general...he didn't know what to think of the white stuff.

Stay tuned for more exciting developments!

Guess what?

Yesterday was a big day in a little girl's life. Little Mary lost her first tooth! Talk about milestones! It was our last first tooth and to be honest, it made me a little bit sad. But her excitement was very contagious and we were all very happy for her.

When you've lost your first tooth, you must absolutely lick the bowl clean when your mom makes a red velvet cake!

Congrats May May! Now on to tooth #2 (which by the way is VERY loose!).

Sick Kids

Well, we have had our share of germs around here this week. First it was Liv, then Alex, and now Mary. The younger two had strep. Poor Alex - he had to have the throat stick but I am so glad I took him in to the doctor. He got his meds and was better within a day. So I went back to work and wasn't there but thirty minutes before I got another call from the school. This time it was May May. Poor little angel (like my dad would say). She was so sick. And pretty unreasonable too. She could not understand why she couldn't play with Ashlyn even though she was sick. Ugh. But after 24 hours she, too, was better. In fact, she kept me super busy all day painting, crafting, and playing. When she went to bed she said, "whew, it was a long day!". Can you imagine?

Tomorrow we will have a great day - we will all be healthy and we will laugh a lot. I guarantee it!

Mama's Birthday

Well, it's been another year since we all got together and celebrated Mama's birthday. Is it just me or is time really flying by? I wish we could have done it up bigger but I guess the important thing is that we did it. We met my brother and his family at Red Lobster and had a family dinner in Mama's honor. She loved to order the Ultimate Feast - she wouldn't eat half of it but she'd order it every time. Mama loved her seafood! It was bittersweet to not have her there but like I always tell my kids...absent from the body means she is present with the Lord. And what could be better?

Olivia enjoyed her crab legs. My girl likes her crab legs! And she cracked them all by herself this time. I was impressed!

Guess what Alex had?

Chicken fingers and french fries. What else?

And Mary enjoyed a fabulous dish of Macaroni and Cheese - the same kind we have at home that is made from a box. But this plate cost $5. I hope it tasted good!

Here are the Wrights.

Fred and Alex. And NO! They don't look a bit alike!!!!!

Happy Birthday Mama. We love you and miss you more than ever. We never thought we'd be okay without you but somehow, we are good. We are living and we are thriving. One look at those little faces proves that "One smile shatters a thousand griefs". And we are smiling!

Stone Mountain

We spent the day at Stone Mountain Park yesterday. It was sunny for the first time in forever so we took advantage of it and headed out. We stopped at Chick-fil-A for lunch first - can't go wrong with that, right? So we entered the park around 1:30 or so. Our plan was to climb up to the top of the mountain. My kids had never done that before. And I know Lorena has never done it.

I used to do it as a child many times - my Uncle Renee used to take us most every weekend, we would take Chico the dog and climb up to the top. We'd stop at our "cave" and have a picnic, head to the top and then climb back down. Those were fun memories. Anyway, the kids were excited about giving it a whirl. So we started out. Alex fell down and skinned his knees right away. I thought it was all over at that point. But my boy brushed himself off and started on his way, despite his injury. Way to go Bubby!

We had a great time. The kids climbed on every rock they could find. They climbed trees when they could find them. Mary had an incredible amount of energy and would run everywhere. Everywhere.

We made it almost to the top, when we saw the rails on this super steep spot. To the left of the rails was the "cave". I was unable to enjoy it at all because my kids suddenly became crazy kids and were climbing all over it and jumping off and in every possible way trying to give me a heart attack. Apparently I have a fear of heights and it was raging yesterday on that mountain! I could just picture any one of the kids falling off the cave and rolling down the mountain. Yikes. Thank goodness no one did.

At one point, we went off on a trail and were able to see a great view of Mount Carmel. The kids were excited about that.

Liv saw moss everywhere and was particularly interested in it. For some reason, Lorena thought it was gross so Liv would tease her by touching it all the time. Here's a shot of her moss.

We finally made it to the top!

It was c-o-l-d!!! The kids were shivering and dying to get down. We decided to take the tram down to the bottom of the mountain and take the train around to our car. Well, long story short, the tram cost $30 for us to ride and when we reached the bottom, there was no train to take us to our car. So we had to walk! All the way to the other side of the mountain.It was getting colder and darker. Mary was whiney and we were all exhausted. Praise the Lord we finally made it before anyone fell out! We were so thankful to see the car! So our adventure ended w/ four very tired kiddos but some wonderful memories made.

Vacation

Today was our first day of vacation. It was a nice and relaxing day. I got up fairly early (7:30ish) to write out my Christmas cards. I know, I know - it's awfully late to be sending them out but that's just the way it has to be this year. I feel lucky to have gotten them out at all. I just can't believe how busy we have been. There has been something every single day. But it's done. The cards are in the mail.

Of course Jay slept late. That's his favorite thing to do. The kids played, read, and just relaxed. It was all good. Lorena came over around 6pm. We were expecting her at 4:30 but Uncle DoDo was on Bolivian time. So by the time she came and DoDo left, we still had to have dinner. We ended up leaving here at 7:45 - we were heading out to Lake Lanier to see the lights. Needless to say, we didn't make it. We got there and the line was so long to get into the park that we turned around and headed back home. We didn't think we'd make it before the park closed. We drove all that way for nothing! But we will not give up...we will try again tomorrow.

Last night was the kids' Christmas program at church. The kids all did a great job! I am always amazed at how the program just comes together. There were kids aged 2 all the way up to 18 in this program!

This first picture is of Alex participating in the Angel Choir during the regular service. The kids dressed like angels - it was very cute.

The next picture is later that night. As you know, Mary has never cared to participate on stage. She chooses not to speak, sing, or in anyway follow directions. This year was different. She did it all ! She was awesome!

So she sang two songs w/ her friends. I like the star sunglasses they wore while singing "Jump for Joy". She actually jumped! Here's a video:

Then she had to come out and say her lines in a poem. Each child had several lines and together they made up a poem. Mary's lines were "Don't be afraid, the angel said, I bring a happy story. Then all around the shone the light of heaven's greatest glory". Just listen to this!

Isn't that fabulous? But let's not forget the boy. He was the most reluctant participant this year. Not sure why but it didn't matter - he did great anyway. He sang first...

Then he said his lines....




Wonderful!

Now, onto our other girl. She did double duty - she was in the elementary program...

and also in the Youth program (middle and high school).

She sang the cutest song!

And then changed clothes to be an angel in the finale of the play.

We were blessed to have Mimi and PapaJohn make the long drive out to see the kids. It meant a lot to the kiddos. Mimi said that John took over 200 pictures! I can't even imagine! Of course he has a very fancy camera....

That was the excitement for this weekend. And with the big performance, all of our obligations are finally completed. No more parties, brunches, recitals, pageants, programs, ornament exchanges, cookie swaps, ensemble singing, belt ceremonies....it's all finished! We are coasting into Christmas now. Now, I just have to find some "alone" time to wrap all the gifts. Hopefully, Jay will be able to help w/ this soon - maybe he can take the kids somewhere.