An extra long weekend!

So...

our long weekend...has turned into an extra long weekend!

Im SOOO ready for Summer weather...this is the first winter that BOY we have been HIT with the COLD and the freezing and the ice..and snow! It feels like we have been out of school more than in school for the month of January!

Now...I dont mind that at all!

But....whew, I can not handle this cold! Poor Tickles cant handle it either. She SO loves to be outside and tries her best to stay outside as long as she possibly can...and then she starts meowing at the door ready to fly in! She will sit by the door wanting out..and then once I open the door...she will pause for a minute like 'do I really want to go out in this!?!?' Sometimes she just turns around and goes back to one of her two spots {the dining room chair or the kitchen table chair} and then sometimes she just bites the bullet and takes off!

We have ventured out some while we have been out but for the most part...we have been laying low! We have another day off, tomorrow, due to freezing temps and rain/snow/ice. We shall see what happens! At least we will be snug as a bug here while we see!

Soooo...what should you do when it is SUPER cold outside?!?! Enjoy my newest obsession!! LaLa got me hooked on this while we were in NYC....and I am SO glad I tried hers while we were on vacation! Chai tea! OH my goodness......................so cozy warm..full of goodness yumminess! :) Try it...love it...and THANK me later! :)

 We had a girl's day....and Callie joined us too! We had lunch....with some shopping before seeing Paddington 2! It was such a cute movie!

 These two play so well together and are such sweet friends!

 So...today...I had two doctor appointments...long story....nothing bad....thought I had broken my nose...long story, but thankfully it was confirmed that I didnt!......but during my first appointment I stopped by where Tyler and I got married before I went! It was so cute still! It was painted different than when we had our wedding but it made my heart smile to see it still so cute and quaint! Im glad to see it still looking great and being loved by the family that lives in it! I showed this picture to Lily and Alexis and they were both like 'wow!!....that house is SO cute!' :) :)
Now...stay tuned to see how much 'snow' we get tomorrow! Prayers we dont loose power!!

The A & G club!

Whoo hoo!!!

We made it through the first week back and we all survived!

In fact.....we all survived with flying colors!!....

and you want to know how I know?!?!

Because we all have smiles on our faces...and the girls brought home AWESOME report cards!

We were back in the groove with Wednesday night Church also this week so, whew...we are glad to have made it....and have a nice long weekend too!

Our first Wednesday back was so much fun! The kiddos made robots out of each other...and then did a Bible study on how you dont want to make a robot of yourself to be 'better'...'stronger', etc...that God made you exactly how he wanted you to be. Also did a fingerprint craft and how they all had their own fingerprints. They were all so fascinated!  Alexis worked hard to make Elyn a robot!

And this sweet group made robot Gabe! :)

And...TODAY!..whoo hoo...its Friday!! These two were ready to go back to school....and today..they were ready to have a long weekend! :)

THIS chick came home with ALLLL A's! Super proud of her! She has had such a great 4th grade year! {Insert all the happy faces in the world! So thankful for this from last year!}

And..this cool super chick did awesome too! So...if you want to be in the 'A & G' club....you should want to...because it is a cool club that my girls are in! :) :)

I LOVED this sweet note from Alexis' teacher! Makes my heart burst!

And...Lily's teacher wrote that Lily is a super hardworker, so sweet and doing so well in class! GREAT to hear from that little feisty stinker too!! We celebrated tonight by letting the girls choose where to eat to celebrate such a great ending to our first week back!......they chose Effianas! {Of course!} :) So, we had a great dinner and now we are curled up and warm watching movies since we have a cold freeze coming in again! BOO!

Some late minute Christmas pictures

Aunt Pam shared some late minute Christmas pictures that she took and so I thought I have to share them to my blog for memory's sake! :)

Love this picture. Nannie gave Lily and Alexis both a porcelain doll for Christmas as a keep sake from her! They were both thrilled at how beautiful they are! What's funny...I think Nannie got the names wrong on the gift because Alexis' doll has brown hair and Lily's doll has blonde hair...but the girls didnt seem to mind and I think they were actually happy to have a doll that had opposite hair than them!

This was at the Morris family Christmas at the Saks Community Center! We always have good food and lots of laughs there with catching up with family we dont get to see much!

Taking it back old school!

An old friend of mine posted this and WOW....

it was from a looooonnnnggg time ago!

Can you spot me?

I actually was being a back spot in this one instead of a flyer! I did it all....base, back spot, flyer, nothing in the pyramid because I was tumbling...you name it!

It is crazy to see and know how long ago this picture was taken!

OH the memories!

Kindergarten beauty

OOhhhh...

We had the 1st JHS pageant today!

Lily looked SO beautiful!

And...despite her refusing to smile half the time she was on stage............she placed as Kindergarten Beauty!

I dont know what her deal was!! But she would smile a little bit and then not the rest of the time! If she would have smiled.....she would have won! {or so I think!} :) Her dress was perfect.......her walk was good...........sooo....!

I asked her....

everyone asked her....

why she didnt smile....

and her response....

'Ehh...I just didnt want to!' OH me that child of mine! Stubborn to the core! :) :) Like I have said since the day she is born....she does everything on her own time and terms! Not ever going to change that! Oh me! :) Im still sooo proud of her and love that she had a good time and her sweet friends all looked beautiful too! It was a fun night! Alexis was bummed that she didnt get to be in it since the pageant was originally set for when we were in NYC. She rooted on her little sister, though, and made the best of it! Lily is spending the night with Abby Grace as I type this....so, Lily had a great night! :) :)

Friday night...rehearsal time with these sweet and sassy girls!

Ready to get her dress on!

Love my little beauty!

I love this one! :)

Little Miss Sassy pants!

Mrs. Sara did a great job on her hair! Alllll the pretty curls! Lily lit up when she saw it!

Heidie Grace, Abby Grace and Lily Grace! ha! Sweet girls!

Love these two! They are the bestest of friends!

So cute!

The stage was decorated really pretty!

 Some shots some friends took of her on stage!

 :)

 Lily smiling a little here!

 Sweet friends all dolled up!

 Daddy and Gran with Lily! Nan, Pawpaw and Brandi came to watch her shine too!

She was SOOOOO happy to see her Daddy giving her flowers! So sweet! She beamed when Tyler handed them to her!

Love!

Getting her trophy! She won Kindergarten Beauty!

She looks so grown here!

She loves her trophy!

She is a beauty both inside and out!

Back in the groove!

So...Tyler and I are back at work...

the two little ones are still on Christmas break!

Doesnt seem fair does it?! :)

The girls were supposed to start back today but due to the below freezing temps all week, a pipe burst at Kittystone flooding some halls of the school so it was delayed to begin until Monday!

My two were thrilled!

All of my friends on Facebook were singing the Christmas song...'And Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again!' {Take a guess at the name of the song!} :)

So, I actually like getting back in the groove before the girls and before my students. It gives me some time to ease back into everything and get caught up so it hasnt been bad!

The girls  have enjoyed being at Nan and Pawpaw's since they are getting to keep them since Tyler and I both are at work! They have been shopping, eating at fun places, watching movies, playing on their IPADS and more with them so to say they are having fun is true! Tyler and I are actually enjoying some quiet time too! :) :)

Tyler took this picture of Lily once they finished a book that Lily got from Christmas! It made the cutest zoo! This was taken on Tuesday which was our last day together before the real world struck! We stayed in our 'comfies' and just relaxed and did things like this! A perfect way to gear up for the busy work week that was next!

It is 2018!

I cant go without posting on the 1st day of 2018! RIGHT?!?! :) :)

So, what have we done on the 1st day of 2018?!

Daddy cooked his 'famous' chili and we SO enjoyed it while curled up watching our Tigers play in the Peach Bowl against UCF.

UCF showed up and played awesome. Auburn sank themselves. It was not fun to watch Auburn loose but it is fun watching Georgia loose to Oklahoma right now...and hopefully Bama will loose tonight when they play! :) :)

So, we have not gotten out of our comfy pjs.............ALL day!.......... and we have just relaxed and stayed out of the HISTORY making record lows! It has not gotten above freezing all day!...and wont for a couple of days! Craziness! I am SO ready for warmer weather now that Christmas is over! I am NOT a winter girl!

So, it has been mopping, laundry, cleaning out closets, football, chili eating, book reading, playing kind of day! Perfection!

In about an hour...Im sure Tyler will be watching the Bama game.... but I will be kicking off 2018 by watching the Bachelor! Whooo hooo!! It kicks off tonight! Happy 2018! I would say our first day in the new year was pretty perfect! Here's to many more! :)

The last hours in 2017!

So...2017 is winding down....

and we are soaking up the last days in 2017 and making it count!

Yesterday we went to see the Greatest Showman and it was fantastic! Such a great and humbling movie! A must see for sure and so glad we took a little break from taking down Christmas decorations to go see it!

All the Christmas decor is packed away....house is clean...and we are ready to roll into 2018!

We had the best Church service this morning and now we are relaxing and gearing up for all the New Years festivities tonight!

Daddy and I have a date night! Whooo hooo! The girls will be with Nan and Pawpaw for a little bit and then we are going to watch all the singing and fun on TV since Alexis is excited to see Times Square since we just came from there! Im excited too! :)

Such a good family movie! We had lunch and a movie before heading back home for me to finally finish up all the packing up of Christmas decorations! BOY, do I realize that I have a lot once it is time to put it all up! UGGHH, it isnt fun to pack it all up but it is sooo nice to have my house back to normal! :)

My two beautiful girls ready for Church in their 'sparkle and shine' New Years outfits!

These two ready to go eat with Nan and Pawpaw!

My date for the night....plus a photo bomber! :)

Us two! We enjoyed Longhorns before getting the girls and enjoying the rest of the night watching Ryan Seacrest!

These two cant hang! This picture...with the one below with Lily in it...was taken at 7:15pm! Yeah...New Year's party animals! :) :)

Yep...she cant hang! :) Happy New Years to all!

Rockin New Year's Eve...eve...eveish party!

We have made this a new tradition in the last couple of years and my girls look forward to it now every year!

The girls and their friends have SO much each year..and this year was no different!

This year was the biggest...with a total of 14 sweet girls! :) :)

Whew! :)

The tables were set! :)

So 'fancy!' :) :)

These sweet girls have been friends for years! They are the 'original three!' :)

And...then...Jaycee came in the mix!

Some of Alexis' crew starting piling in! I didnt even know they were all in the house half the time! They had a dance party...in Alexis' room...listened to their IPADS...and played the LOL surprise game too.

And..on the other hand...this crew...I knew they were in the house! WHEW! :) :)

Dance party! I walked in and snapped these pictures as they were not even noticing me! :)

Time to eat!

I had sparkling cider for all of them in 'fancy' glasses! The big girls all said 'cheers' and clanged them together...and the littles all thought they were super cool just to have 'fancy' glasses!!

It makes me smile to see Lily's little friend group growing! She is getting more and more sweet friends!

The whole gang! There were 7 big girls {6 of Alexis' friends} and 7 little girls {6 of Lily's friends!} Perfection! I love how Lily has just as many close friends and Alexis now! :)

The little girls made slim.........yes, the big girls were super mad at me but I did them first and ran out of all the supplies.......and to be honest...I could have probably winged it and done them too but I despise slime and just didnt want to fool with it anymore with the big girls! ha! They were having so much fun in Alexis' room...and not being crazy..that I just let them be! Oh well...they got over being mad at me once we went down to the basement to play! :)

Just Dance is always a hit!

All the girls love to just play and play!

A full basement of fun girls!

Air hockey tournament underway! Such a fun night with a bunch of fun and sweet girls!