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The kids watching Cinderella

The kids have recently decided they like the movie Cinderella.  They asked to watch it tonight before bed and we let them after they got their pj's on.

I have recently started exercising again.  It has been way too long and I used to really enjoy it.  I started after the first of the year and have stuck with it!  I am striving for a minimum of 3 days a week, but ideally do 4-5. I usually walk/jog in the evenings after supper.  It has helped me to keep up with how far I am going by writing it on my whiteboard calendar.  Just for fun, I tallied up what I had done this month and was pleasantly surprised with the number.  When you are walking 2-3 miles at a time it doesn't seem like much but it really adds up.  I don't have a specific distance goal in mind, but I know that I want to walk further in March than I did this month.  I have increased my speed, incline, etc.  I enjoy jogging, but my knees don't!  So, I will stick with a brisk walking pace.  Hoping I can stick with it!  Paul is being extremely supportive and actually is the one who started back on the treadmill before I did.  The kids think it is fun to watch me.  Katherine often sits in her stroller playing while watching me.

Another Year Older...

Today was my birthday.  Paul surprised me with a tablet!  I have wanted one for a couple of years now.  I think I am going to love it!  I was really shocked since we don't usually get that big of a gift for birthdays.  I took the kids to school for a little while.  I had several things to get done today.  Not really anything fun, but I enjoyed talking to several friends that called, texted, etc.

I picked the kids up early and we went to get a cake pop for my birthday.  It was kind of strange taking them in Starbuck's but they were great and enjoyed going somewhere different.  They loved their cake pops.  We came home for a little while so I could get ready to meet Paul for supper.  I took the kids by mom's work before I went to Nashville.

We ate at Silo which is a cook farm-to-fork restaurant in Germantown.  It was a cool atmosphere and the food was great!  They source most of their menu items from local farmers.  The menu changes daily based on what is in season and available.  We came home and I worked on getting my tablet set up before Mom brought the kids home to us!  It was a good birthday!

Happy Birthday Nonna!

Today was Nonna's birthday!  I cooked supper for her when we got home while she and the kids played games and watched a show. Mom brought coconut pie for dessert.  It was fun hanging out for Mom's birthday.  I gave mom a photo book of our Christmas festivities again this year.  It is nice to have all of our Christmas  pictures in one place.

Bring on Spring!

We enjoyed another nice day today!  It was so nice that the vehicles got a bath! The kids loved splashing and "helping" Paul get the cars clean.  Luke is really getting into riding his bike now which is so fun.  He decided he wanted to try to ride without training wheels.  It didn't last very long, but it was fun to see him try!  We are ready for warmer weather around here.  It hasn't been an extremely cold weather, but if it is not going to snow I would rather the warmer weather get here.

(Adventure) Science Museum

The most fun she had

The weather here was so nice -- unseasonably warm.  It was so nice!  Paula developed a high temperature yesterday and went to the doctor.  They ended up admitting her to Vandy.  She is going to have a lot of tests run to see what the source of her temp is.  They suspect her port is infected.

We went to the Adventure Science Museum this afternoon.  Luke has been asking to go ever since I told him that Nashville had a Children's Museum.  I hate to say it, but we were not impressed at all.  It really is not for younger children.  There just wasn't as much to hold their attention as the museums we have been to in Chattanooga and Atlanta.  We were actually in there just over an hour.  It will be quite a while before we go back.  After the museum we went to the hospital so Paul could visit with Paula.  The kids and I have been fighting a cough, sniffles this week so I didn't want to expose her to our germs.  She was in good spirits, but has continued to have a high temp.  I was glad he got to visit with her.

Next, we headed to Green Hills and ate supper at California Pizza Kitchen.  That was my pick to celebrate my upcoming birthday with the kids.  The food was yummy as usual!  It was a very busy day but we had fun being together.  We are hopeful that Paula's temp will be gone soon so she can go home!

That's Our Girl

Paul went to the Predators game for "work" tonight.  He and one of the owners took an insurance adjuster.  I was glad he got to go.  Paul doesn't get too do near as much fun stuff as I do!  The kids and I met Nonna at Chik-fil-a.  It actually wasn't too crowded so we let the kids play on the playground while we finished eating.  A trip to Target was next.  We let the kids leisurely walk the toy aisles.  They were satisfied with just window shopping on this trip and took no for an answer when they asked for a toy.  Katherine not only enjoyed looking at the dolls and kitchen stuff but also loved the trucks and trains.  I think it is neat she has a big brother in Luke and enjoys playing with all of his stuff, too.

Bath Time at Nonna's

We went to Mom's tonight to do some things.  We made a fabric headboard for her guest bedroom and recovered some chairs upstairs.  It was a very crafty/productive day.  The kids love taking a bath at Mom's for some reason.  They got clean and then played for a while.  Bath time is a favorite of theirs!

Valentine's Day Surprise

The kids were so excited to see Bop and Nene

Mutual admiration!

Luke was asking Paul and I this morning if we were coming to his Valentine's Day party. Paul was not going to be able to make it.  For some reason this really upset Luke and he was sad all the way to school.  He finally told me why he was sad.  I knew there was no way Paul could be there. Paula had chemo on Monday but I called to see if she was up to surprising the kids at their parties.  She was excited for the invite.  She and Bill met me at the school this afternoon.  The kids weren't really sure what to think, but were excited to see them!  Their parties, as per usual, consisted of them eating a lot of junk food.

The rest of our night was low-key.  Paul brought home a pizza instead of me cooking or going out.  Paul sent me flowers which was a big shock.  He hasn't done that in years and it was fun!

And the Next Day...

"milking a cow"

Going fishing

Katherine kept inching closer and closer to Luke

A future farm girl?

We all got a good night's sleep last night and were ready to start the day. We intended to eat breakfast at another local restaurant - Rise and Dine, but it had a 40 minute wait with standing room only.  So, we decided to not do that.  Luckily, there was a Panera next door so we did that. The kids decided where we went today.  After researching the Georgia Aquarium and realizing it was going to cost us well over $100 to go we decided to choose between the Children's Museum of Atlanta or going to the Chattanooga Aquarium.  Luke chose the museum.  It did not disappoint.  It was very hands on which the kid's loved.  It was hard to get Luke out of the "ball" section.  There was an intricate system of pulleys, levers, cranes, etc that you could manipulate all these balls with.  It was pretty cool.  There was also a farm-to-table area which taught the kids about how the food gets from the farm to the local grocery store.  Katherine enjoyed the dress up area, tap dancing, painting on the walls and playing in the sand.  I would say they had as much, if not more fun, there than they did at Lego Land.

They were both worn out when we got back in the car.  It rained almost the whole way on us.  We stopped for gas once and got a snack.  We got home around 6 and had to get ready for the week ahead.  The weekend was so much fun! The kids were great and didn't make a fuss the whole time we were gone.  They like to get away just as much as we do.

A Most Exciting Day!

Waiting to go in the Lego Factory!

There were life-size Legos everywhere!

Turner Field in Lego City

Our first 4-D movie experience

A fun ride we all rode together

Paul spent a long time building a tower around Katherine

Yep, Katherine was in there!

K liked the Lego Friends area

Luke so proud of his new set!

He was still all smiles after a very long day of fun!

We are having a great time in Atlanta. Our condo is perfect for us.  It is older, but very clean and has plenty of room for us.  We started the day off with breakfast at Thumb's Up Dinner.  I would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Atlanta or the surrounding area.  It was fabulous!  They had a very diverse menu and the service was excellent.  We went to the original which isn't in the nicest of areas, but we felt safe.

After we were stuffed we headed to Lego Land!  I must say it was pretty fun. The kids had a blast.  There was an entire room with the city of Atlanta built in Legos.  There was a ride, a cool play area, a track to build and race your Lego car, a 4D movie theater among other things.  We spent over two hours there and really felt like we got our moneys worth.  Of course there was a gift shop at the end.  Luke took forever deciding what to get.  There were a lot of sets that we had never seen before.

The kids napped when we left there until we got to our next stop -- IKEA.  That was my one request of the trip.  It was absolutely packed!  It was hard to navigate a double stroller, but it is a very family friendly store.  They were out of the shelves that we planned to get for Luke's room, but we managed to pick up a few other things.  It is so reasonably priced, it is hard to leave there empty-handed.  We went back to the condo after the and rested for a long while.  We enjoyed a late dinner out downtown.  Tomorrow is still up in the air.  We are deciding between the aquarium, the children's museum or driving to Chattanooga.  We will probably let the kids decide.

Surprise Trip!

Paul and I decided about a month ago it would be fun to take a weekend trip.  I am the type that always needs something to look forward to!  We decided Atlanta would be perfect -- it is not too far away and is kid friendly.  We did no tell the kids were we were going until we picked them up from school today.  When we told them Atlanta that didn't mean much, but when we said we were going to Lego Land they Luke was ecstatic.  I have never seen his eyes so big!  We stopped for Mexican before arriving at our condo late tonight.  The drive down was smooth sailing which is always nice.  Next stop Lego Land!

Five Year Check-Up and Daddy's Girl

Luke's five year well check up was today.  We had actually not seen Dr. Patterson since last year's well visit.  When Luke needs to go to the doctor we normally just do the fast track clinic at the pediatrician's office.  Dr. P was impressed with how mature Luke is.  I was pleased to learn that he has hit a little spurt in his height.  He typically is <50th a="" and="" bit="" but="" didn="" e="" everything="" fall.="" finished="" for="" get="" good="" had="" he="" it="" kindergarten="" long="" make="" nbsp="" needs="" of="" out="" over="" p="" peep="" percentile="" ready="" she="" shots="" spent="" t="" there="" this="" three="" time="" to="" up="" us.="" was="" were="" which="" with="" year="">
After the doctor I had a couple of errands to run and I let him pick where he wanted to go for lunch.  He picked Johnny Rocket's at Opry Mills.  We were so glad that Paul was able to meet us. Since Luke did so well and was patient during the doctor visit I let him pick out a small set at the Lego store.  He was excited.  I don't know how, but I didn't get a picture of him all day!  I picked up a few clothes for each of them and Katherine had to model everything when I showed it to her.  She is such a girl!

I had fun with my little man today and think it is important to have one on one time with each of them when I can.  

Luke's Photography

I found this picture (and several others just like it) on the camera.  Apparently Luke was styling his Lego super hero figures for a photo session!  We still haven't worked all the Lego's he got for his birthday!  We wait until a special occasion to put a new one together.

We enjoyed a fun night out with Bill and Paula tonight. We all met at a little Italian restaurant in Hendersonville - Nana Rosa's.  This is the first time we have taken the kids to a nice restaurant in a long time.  They did so good!  We all dressed up a little bit which was fun.  The staff was so kind to us.  The owner brought each of the kids a little gift.  It was fun hearing Bill explain the difference between "fast food" and a "fine dining" experience to the kids.  Considering we were there close to two hours I was completely impressed with how mature the kids were.  Paul and I said if they acted like that all the time we would do things like that more often!