Happy Birthday, Charlotte!

 

Being a part of a family is something special.  It means that you have a group where you belong.  You are supported.  You are loved. 

 

Family is not always those that you are related to.  Sometimes God abundantly blesses us with others who are not our own blood. 

 

 

I am so thankful that God chose to bless us with Charlotte and her family.

 

 

What a special little girl!  It has been so fun to watch her grow and change. 

 

 

From the time she was born, Hudson considered her his little sister, and she is SO much like him.  We joke all the time that they really are siblings because they are so alike.

 

 

 

Hudson takes his "big brother" role seriously and always protects Charlotte or stands up for her even if they do have the occasional spat sometimes.

 

 

We love Charlotte's spunky little spirit.  She is so smart, articulate, fun, and sweet.  She knows that she has a special place in our hearts. 

 

 

With her contagious smile, she lights up the room.  She is a helper and gives great hugs.

 

 

 

It's so hard to believe that this little girl is TWO!  Where has the time gone?  She is growing so fast. 

 

 

Happy Birthday, Charlotte!  We love you so much, and continue to pray for God's blessings and will in your life.  Thanks for bringing so much joy into ours.

 



Spring is here...iPhone photo update

The azaleas are blooming and the pollen is swirling.  The air has that hazy yellow appearance.  It's Springtime in Augusta!!!  Someone should tell Mother Nature that her little "cold weather" games are old!  It's just not right having to light a fire in the fireplace when all of the flowers are blooming and the days are turning longer.  We are having another little "cold snap" and this is supposed to be the last one.  I sure do hope so.  We have gone from shorts weather to jacket/scarf weather over and over for the past month, and sometimes in the very same day.

I haven't blogged in awhile, so I wanted to do an update with some of our Spring-ish pictures. 

We went to Alabama for Ella's 7th birthday.  It was lots of fun.  I still cannot believe that she is SEVEN!!  UNREAL!  We got to meet Baby Jackson, and he is a doll. 

Rara had a birthday, and the kids made it extra special.  They had a great time celebrating with her.

Hudson had his St. Patricks Day parade at school.  I was so glad that I could go.  We were out of school on that day for a furlough day.

Mom and I took Hudson to the zoo on a Saturday when we were having beautiful weather.

T-ball has started, and Hudson is loving it.  He's doing really good and I am so proud of him.  I can't wait until his games start.  My boy loves playing ball.

 

Hudson had a skating party at school that he was so excited about.  He did a great job on skates!

 

Here are a few more iPhone pictures of more Spring fun...

 

Okay Winter, YOU WIN!

The beginning of 2014 will be one that we won't soon forget. We have met our quota for bizarre natural disasters and weather here in Georgia over the last 3 weeks.  Let's do a quick recap..

snowstorm....check

catastrophic ice storm that is being called the worst one in history for our area....check

4.4 earthquake....check

3.2 earthquake 2 days after the 4.4 earthquake....check

We do live in GEORGIA!!!  These past few weeks have truly been unbelievable.  The damage and devastation that the ice storm left is indescribable.  It's never a good sign when Jim Cantore from The Weather Channel comes to your town and broadcasts live during a storm. Our tall pine trees are not made to handle ice accumulation, and when there is an inch+ built up, they start snapping.

 The only way to describe the sounds is to compare it to a war zone.  It messes with your mind as you just sit and listen to the trees snap and hear the HUGE branches and trees hit the earth with such a loud BOOM.  You just sit, wait, and pray that one does not come through your ceiling.  Very unsettling. 

After the precipitation was over, day light brings so much disaster and destruction.  Our streets were not passable, and trees littered the ground everywhere. Many homes had trees come through their roofs.

(These are very large trees that were just doubled over and broken from all of the ice accumulation.)

  During the storm, almost everyone lost electricity.  To put it into perspective, here are some numbers for ya.  85% of our city lost power.  That's more than 600,000 customers.  SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND!!  That's a lot of cold people.  Thank goodness that our city prepared for this storm and had power crews ready to go before the storm even hit.  There were over 8,000 linemen brought in from Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, and even other states.  They worked 24 hours a day to restore power.  It's day 6 now, and there are still people without power, but they are still out in full force working.  The sight of power poles, transformers, and lines laying all over the grounds was unreal. 

Bless those workers who left their families and worked LOOONG hours to help get our city up and running again.  They worked in the ice and sleet and even during the earthquakes.

 

Our area was declared a "state of emergency", and the governer came and surveyed the damage.  We have missed 6 school days in the last three weeks due to incliment weather.  The days of the ice storm put everyone into survival mode.  Generators and chain saws flew off the shelves.  I heard someone say that it seemed like we had experienced a tornado, a Winter storm, and black Friday all at the same time.  It's safe to say that many people will now be creating a survival kit after going through this. 

I could not be more thankful that all of my family and friends came out on this side of the storm unharmed.  There may be damage to houses and cars, but at least everyone took proper precaution and we are all safe.  It's nice to see so many people coming together to help each other out. 

Two nights after the storm, we had our first "big" earthquake.  It was really scary.  The whole house shook and the loud noise sounded like an 18 wheeler was coming through the wall.  We had another one 2 days later that was a little smaller.  Whew!  We just aren't used to all of this.

I purchased a new pair of flip flops in hopes of Spring coming SOON!  I am ready for our 98 degree weather, and won't even complain about the humidity being high enough to swim through the air!

Valentines Day was mostly forgotten this year due to the fact that most people were still in "survival mode" on that day.  I am glad that I did get to go out and spend some time with these funny little Valentines.  I love them!

The past few days have been gorgeous!  We were able to get outside and play while we enjoyed the warm Spring-ish weather.  It's not supposed to stay, but we will gladly take it for as long as we can get it!!!

Winter Update

Spring fever hits me every year about this time. This year is no different. I long for warmer days where we can throw on a pair of shorts and flip flops and daylight outlasts supper time. This Winter has been the coldest one I can ever remember. We usually have a few really cold days here each year, but good grief, this year has been COLD for weeks!!! I don't even like wearing a jacket and most of our Winters are mild enough for me to get by without wearing one most of the season. Not this year! We have had school delays, NEGATIVE wind chills, and temps in the teens and twenties for weeks!!! Seriously??? This is Georgia. If its going to be this cold, at least give us a little snow. We have been trapped indoors for days and we are all SO over it. Having to pile on layers and layers of clothing, constantly running the heat on high, and keeping a fire in the fire place day in and day out has become old. We just want warmer weather. That groundhog better have a good forecast when he comes out soon if he knows what's good for him!

All kidding aside, I am so thankful for a warm home and warm clothes. There are many places that are suffering from much colder temps than we are, and I constantly think about people who don't have heat, and poor animals that get left out in the cold. :(

So far the start of 2014 has been good and busy. We rang the new year in at Lake Oconee with our great friends, started back to school, and have celebrated quite a few birthdays. I had Hudson's mid year conference with his teacher to review his progress, and I'm so proud of him. He may be the youngest in his class, but that does not stop him from doing well. He's doing great with academics as well as everything else. I just love his teacher, and thank the Lord for her. We have been so blessed this year and last with the best teachers we could have ever asked for. We are so thankful for his school and the wonderful program that he's in. He has learned so much.
It's hard to believe that it's time to register him for kindergarten. I cannot believe that my baby is going to be in the grade that I teach. This time has come so quickly, and it's so bittersweet.  He had a dentist appointment yesterday, and it was discovered that he has his first loose tooth. WHAT???? He's too little for that!!! I'm not ready for this! People always say that kids grow too fast, but they really do. These times are so short and go by so fast.
We are gearing up for t-ball season. Hudson is so excited to play this year and can't wait for it to start.   We're also looking forward to all of the fun things that Spring brings.  Birthdays, Easter, and warmer weather will be welcomed around here soon!

I'm guilty of not taking one single picture this year with my real camera, so here's a little update in iPhone photos.