3 things!

It hasnt been that long since I did the last '3 things' but I love this idea so I thought I would do a new one to since we are kicking off the new year!

Lily

1. She is already planning her birthday party!............and it isnt until September! She keeps coming back after a day or so making sure that I dont forget or to add something new to her idea! She wants a ballerina birthday. She wants to have cupcakes with a ballet shoe on them! :)

2. She is SO excited about playing soccer in a couple of months. She has already picked out her shoes, chin pads and new ball! I cant wait to see her hit the field and love soccer!

3. She refuses to call Alexis 'Sissy' anymore. For whatever reason she doesnt say it. It is actually really weird to me to hear her say 'Alexis' instead of 'Sissy.' Alexis, on the other hand, does NOT like the fact that Lily no longer calls her by it. She will tell Lily to stop and that her name  is Sissy but it doesnt work and Lily will say Alexis the very next time again!

Alexis

1. She is obsessed these past few months with the cooking channel! She has always loved watching it with me but these days she begs to watch The Kids Baking Championship! She gets sooo excited when it comes on! She even pretends to be on the show as she pretends to cook in her little kitchen. When I cook dinner she will pretend it is different things and act like a judge and critique it! :)

2.She is SUPER into all things fashion. Hence the hot pink lipstick she has on in the picture above, she cant get enough of all things girlie! She is a teenager in an eight year old body! :)

3. She is doing awesome in 3rd grade! When 3rd grade started...it was tough! Everything about it was tough but she has shown her determination and has worked so hard and is doing so great! I am super proud of how far she has come from the beginning to now!

Daddy!

 1. He has gotten into reading lately.  You can find him with a book in his hand and enjoying quiet time of getting into a good book!

2. He got a new gun safe for Christmas and is into polishing and shining his guns and gearing up to prep for Turkey season!

3. He is a hard little worker. If he isnt working on our yard...he is working on one of his clients yards. If he isnt doing that, he is helping his friend with his tree service! He is non-stop doing something!

Me!

1. I am officially obsessed with The Bachelor! I do...I admit it, I love it! I am so glad the new season is on and I am also counting down the seconds until Scandal and How To Get Away With Murder starts back up next week! Whooo hoooo! :)

2. I have officially done it! I have got low lights put in my hair. Some might think this is not a big deal...but to me, this is huge.  I am going on the 3rd hair cut with low lights and I keep going darker and darker. I can not picture myself not blonde...but I am liking the darker hair. It is getting closer to Spring and Summer...so more blonde is coming...but I will still keep some low lights because they have grown on me. I never thought I would say that I love low-lights! :)

3. I am loving that Wednesday night Church has started back since Christmas break! I am helping this semester in the 'Princess Training' class and loving the sweet little girls in there! Alexis decided to stick with Art since she loves and is SO good at it! I have mostly all 1st and 2nd graders and they are just precious! :)

Wordless Wednesday!

SNOW!

Well...

we were expected to get up to 3 or 4 inches of snow...

but it ended up being a little bit and mostly ice!

Soooo.....booooo!

It wasnt even enough to get out and play in it because it was for sure COLD outside!

We have enjoyed a nice long weekend even if it was icy and very cold outside!

The girls were soooooo excited that the snow started falling! They loved looking out and checking on it! They could not wait to wake up and see all the snow Saturday morning!

It started falling pretty hard! Lily kept trying to stick her tongue out and catch snow!

This was bright and early yesterday morning. We were disappointed that we didnt get what we thought. If it is going to be bad and super cold....we should at least have snow to enjoy!...otherwise....give me warm weather! :) :)

Since we were not snowed in like we thought were going to be, we ventured out and enjoyed Cooter Browns and then a late night basketball game! JSU won and I was surprised but it was crowded. I guess everyone was getting stir crazy cooped up inside like us!

Alexis participated in the free throw challenge during half-time with Nick and Alexis! They all ended up on TV too. She is famous now! :)

This was one of her throws!.......... :) :) is all I can say on it. She tried, sweet thing, but being a basketball star is not in her future! 'Big' Alexis and Nick actually did great and made it to the final round. They didnt win...........Cocky did!!!.....but they did great! Our Alexis enjoyed watching them finish to the final round though down on the court! :)
We had Church today and now we are back at home soaking up the last hours before school starts back for the girls! They are actually really excited about going back which to me is great! They love school and are excited to see their friends and teachers too!

Swinging into 2017!

Well....we have made it through the first week of 2017!

The girls have been lucky enough to still not be back in school! Their day is coming Monday unless the expected snow keeps us home! :)

Since school for the girls and dance hasnt started back....we really havent gotten back into our full normal groove but we have been soaking up not having to rush out of the house this week in the mornings to get in car line and loving that!

Tyler and I started back to the grind Tuesday and today JSU is closed due to the expected snow storm that is coming our way as I type this so we have had a pretty easy week!

This big group of my kiddos started Wednesday. They are our 1st semester cohort of students and they marked history because this is the largest group of accepted students who have the most males in their cohort! Each semester there are more and more male students wanting to become a nurse but this group marks history as to the largest cohort! They were all eager and nervous about starting the program Wednesday but I am looking forward to getting to know them and watching them as they continue through! :)

 Last night Tyler and I had a semi date night as we went to our Church Leadership banquet at the Train Depot. It was super nice and our Church catered Effinas too! Dr. Derek spoke about the growth of the Church and new expectations for 2017 and thanked us for being 'leaders' in the Church and then challenged us to 'Just walk across the room' and get to know the lost and help them learn about love and acceptance with hopes of them finding Jesus and becoming saved! It was a special night and thankful that Tyler and I were invited to join! We all got a gift of this book to read as we are 'challenged' for 2017! :)
Nan and Pawpaw kept the girls {as well as this week}since we thought dance started back but.........nope it is next week instead! They have been keeping warm at home and having fun! :)

 And this morning..............we joined everyone else in Alabama and rushed to buy bread and milk! haha! I think it is sooo funny how everyone freaks out when the word 'snow' is said in Alabama. Now dont get me wrong....I am one of those people too! {Just not as crazy as some people get!} :) Since we may be snowed in for the remaining of the weekend............I decided to get us out for a little bit before the snow comes so us girls went to Burger King {as a request of Lily with her 'crosonics' as she calls them} {and Tyler had to go in to work for a little bit...boo!} and then we headed to Winn-Dixie to pick up a couple of things as well as grabbing some movies from Redbox too! I thought Winn-Dixie would be a mad house but it wasnt. I think it only wasnt when we were there because it was 8:00 in the morning and everyone just hadnt woke up yet! :)

 This cracks me up! This is all over Facebook and makes me laugh! It is true though....everything is shutting down! ha! We shall see how much snow we get because it is coming our way! :) :)

Wordless Wednesday!

{When did she get soooooo grown!?!?!}

Peaceful New Years Eve!

Well....

we didnt make it until midnight in the Law home last night!

I was up at midnight though...coughing my head off but not ringing in the new year like everyone else!

We had a very low key and peaceful New Years with just us four watching football, celebrating with Yamato and playing Monopoly for the 1st time! It was a rainy and very yucky cold day and night so spending it low key in our pjs and hitting the bed early was perfection! :)

This was the only time..........in the whole day, that we didnt have our pajamas on! All day it rained...and all day we stayed warm and dry at home! Tyler and I spent half the day taking down Christmas decorations and cleaning the entire house! I already miss my Christmas decorations....but I sure do love a home that is 'back to normal' and all clean too!!
The girls have played so well together this entire break. While we took down decorations, they played American Girl dolls and watched movies together!
We got cleaned up and headed to one of our favorite places to eat! Yamato! YUM!

Her favorite...........give her sushi, give her edamame and give her chicken and rice! This girl is happy!

This girl is a hoard when it comes to these beans. She grabs hand fulls at a time and quickly tries to pop the beans out and eats them so no one else can have any!
And...........YES...my goodness, she still has a black eye! She was laying down in a booth one day last week while we were eating lunch so I told her to sit up. When she did, she put her hands on the edge of the table.......which is where her heavy with pointed ends bread plate was. Well, the plate won. Lily....well, got beat up by a plate. She has had a black eye ever since!!

We came back home.................put our pjs back on and played Monopoly!! So much fun! Alexis had $4 dollars to her name at one point.................... $4 DOLLARS!!................... and by the end of the game...she beat me! Talk about a lucky girl! :) :)
Daddy beat all of us, then Alexis.............and then me! BOO! :)
Lily, helped me some and then did her own thing. Monopoly is way over her head right now! haha!
We all headed to bed not long after the game was over.
We enjoyed watching all the bowl games and wrapped up 2016 with nice little family time! {And me trying to get my voice back!} :) :)

Wrapping up with the best of 2016!

Well, tonight is the last night of 2016!

There have been tears, laughter, memories galore, new friendships and two little girls have grown over the course of 2016. I am truly blessed to have had another year and look forward to what all 2017 brings!

So to reflect on some of the greatest memories of 2016...let me 'look back in time!' :)

January:
We enjoyed our one and only snow moments of 2016! The girls loved playing in it, eating it, making snow angels and throwing it on each other! :)

I love this picture!

February:
Always the best and sweetest time! Daddy/Daughter dance!

 We celebrated Valentine's Day biiiig time! :)

March:
Lily officially decided she was not a 'baby' anymore so she, out of nowhere, came up to me and wanted me to sell her 'giraffe-e and her blanket' to a baby girl! And so I did! :) This was HUGE considering she was soooo attached to both of them! :)

We also celebrated Bran and Linda getting married! :) :)

We celebrated Easter with family!

April: April is always a very busy month!
Lily had her tonsils out and it has been the best thing for her! She was a trooper and did so good during her recovery!

We celebrated Aubie's birthday.....Daddy's birthday and my birthday all in April! :)

This little sassy thing LOVED her first season of t-ball!!

May:
The girls did awesome during the dance recitals! :)

Beautiful!

We celebrated Mother's Day with Gran and Nan....and my little family of four!

2nd grade came and went in May! :)

June:
The girls were flower girls in Miss. Leslie's wedding! My two girls are PROS at being flower girls! I have lost count at how many times they have been in weddings!................and I see a lot more in our future too! :)

BEACH TIME!!

The beach! LOVE!

July:
Alexis turned 8!! WOW!! Super fun birthday party on the Lake at Gran's with her best friends!

 4th of July Auburn trip! Love!!

 Tyler and I celebrated our 11 year wedding anniversary by riding our bikes down the trail to Georgia! Whew, I cant even believe I made it! 24 miles! :)

August:
Football season in full effect!...and for Auburn too! Alexis and her cheer squad had a great season! They placed 2nd in their cheer competition and the boys went undefeated and won the championship game! It was a great season!

Alexis rolled right on into 3rd grade!

Lily started Pre-K at Kittystone! She LOVED that she was starting 'big girl' school with her big sister!!

I had the best trip with some of my most favorite people...that just so happen to be family to San Diego California to visit Blake and Margie with Meg and Mal!

September:
We celebrated Lily turning 5!!!

Cant believe she is 5!

 We celebrated Brandi getting Teacher of the Year!

October:
Lily had her very 1st school field trip to the Pumpkin Patch! She had a blast! She searched and searched for the perfect pumpkin to bring home!

Her sweet class! Nan and Pawpaw came with me for the fun of her field trip on this day!

 We partied big time celebrating Nannie turning 80! :)

 We celebrated Halloween!

 And of course having our fun Halloween party and doing Church Fall Festivals, Haunted houses with friends, making Halloween food, and trick or treating!

 November:
We celebrated Tickles 1st 'Gotcha Day' since it was a whole year that she 'adopted' us!.....and decided to live with us! :)

Tyler and Pawpaw had an awesome trip to South Dakota on a pheasant hunt!

We celebrated Thanksgiving with the Law crew!

As well as my side too! :)

December:
Watched little missy win Division Supreme in the Sweet Southern Sass pageant!

And watched this one win too!

Had the BEST time at my 5th Dirty Santa party! Always love this and cant believe it has been 5 years!

Alexis and Lily celebrated with their sweet friends to start a new tradition!

Enjoyed Callaway Gardens Christmas trip with Gran, Ben and Andrew!

Alexis pulled her very own tooth for the first time! This marks history considering she doesnt like anything blood, etc! :) So brave! :)

We enjoyed Christmas as Santa came....opening gifts with all family too....and Christmas caroling, the Christmas Eve service at Church!...the list goes on and on! :)

Had a blast ringing in the new year with the bestest of friends during our New Years Eve...Eve party! These sweet friends had a blast!
HERE'S to 2017!