January Date Night

Our small group started back date nights and the Daniels hosted for January.  They had all 14 kids and I'm amazed at all the crafts and pictures Sara was able to take.  B and I went to Mimi's cafe specifically for the fried pickles and guess what!  They took 'em off the menu so we were not able to get them. :(  Won't be going back there any more.  We had a good time anyways and look forward to the next date night!

 

 

New Years Eve & Day 13-14

Our NYE plans this year were to go over the J/K and spend the night with them.  We ate dinner at their house too.  Keith fried some wings and fish.  We had fried pickles too.  The kids at mac & cheese and nuggets like usual.  It was a lot of fun.  After the kids went to bed, we adults stayed awake and watched Hard Knocks until it was close to the count-down.  We turned the channel to watch the ball drop in NYC then returned to Hard Knocks.  I think we finally went to bed at 3am.  We stayed up way to late!

For breakfast, Jen made a casserole and the kids ate cinnamon rolls.  It was a nice lazy morning with no need to rush.  Our NYDay plans included a movie at the wakefield cinema to see Frozen.  It was such a cute movie and now we have the sound track so we listen to it all the time.  Our favorite song at the moment is Let It Go. We were joined at the movies with the Gillams, the O'Janpas and the Caldwells.  All 8 adults sat in the front of the 10 kids.  I was skeptical when I saw the arrangement but it ended up working out pretty good.  E was in her carrier though for most of the movie.  Vic and Kristen had to take turns taking AK out when she would start to fuss but overall it was a really good time.  Expensive but fun.

The rest of the day was spent chilling out at the house and resting.  I think we all took long naps to catch up from the lack of sleep from the night before.  Back to work good-bye to Christmas vacation!

Disney World with G&G

This Disney trip has been planned since R was born.  When A came along, they decided they would take both kids together.  R was going to miss a week of school, but we weren't that worried about it.  The plans were made and this week at Disney was going to be jammed pack full of activities and character meals.
We drove to Jacksonville, FL Saturday morning October 19 and met Gram & Granddad to a hotel for the night.  We ate dinner at an Italian restaurant around the corner within walking distance.  Sunday morning R & A went with G & G towards Orlando while B and I drove back to NC with W & E.  It's about a 6 hour drive but seemed really different without the bigs.  I can't write about their time exactly but I'll just put pictures up to document their successful Disney trip. 

Saints vs Panthers Year 5

B and I have been doing to the Saints/Panthers game since 2008.  We usually go with Keith & Jenni and sometimes others.  This year we went with Chris and Heather also.  The game was WET with a torrential downpour right after halftime.  We had ponchos but they didn't really help all that much.  We had a great time though, even though the Saints lost 17-13.  After the game and drying off, we headed into downtown Charlotte for dinner and a movie.

C/H headed back to GA right after the game so they didn't enjoy a night out without kids.  K made reservations for Blackfinn for 8pm.  We didn't shower or anything, but changed our clothes then headed out.  B drove the 4 of us in the Camry and we parked down town in a parking garage.  Blackfinn was very good.  I got the skillet mac & cheese.  B got some sort of burger.  J also ordered the mac & cheese and K ate a huge steak.  We had a TV in our booth also so we got to watch SNF which is always nice.  After dinner K planned for us to go see Anchorman 2.  The theater was just above the restaurant so we had to walk around the corner and up an escalator.  The theater was really snazzy also.  We had servers come take our order at our seats and we had pull out desks that we could put our food on.  B and I shared a brownie sundae.  It was good, but would have been better if it was warm.  K got a milk shake and J got popcorn.  I had some of her popcorn and it was really good. I will order that next time (if there ever is a next time).  I will be honest, that I did not stay awake then entire time.  I tried, but I don't really stay awake past midnight much anymore.  However, then entire night was fun and I'm glad we did it.

I think it was 1:30 before we got in bed for the night.  When I rolled over at 6:30, B was already up and taking a shower.  He was going to take his computer down to the lobby to do some papers (since it was Monday).  I tried to go back to sleep but I could hear K snoring so I just got up and joined him.  Breakfast was ready and the big Saints group that stayed at the hotel was all down there getting ready to leave and drive back to New Orleans.  J/K made their way down stairs to the lobby by about 9 or 9:30.  I think we finally left around 10:30 to head back to Wake Forest to pick up all our kids.  Of course we missed our kids and loved getting pictures of them sent to us, but we had a great time celebrating our anniversary.  I know there are parents that never go off without their kids, but our marriage and our kids are too important for us not to get away.

Ell stayed with Andrew & Sara (getting ready for baby Savannah)

Rin stayed with Bella and other princesses

Wes stayed with Jason & Barbaranne Price for the weekend

Abe stayed with his god-parents for the weekend and loved being with the boys

Thanksgiving 2013

We did not have any family come into town this Thanksgiving.  Of course we love our family, but we were excited about having a relaxing break unlike what usually happens with tons of traveling and family visiting.  Our plans were to eat with the Gillams because they usually come over and eat with us.  This year we went to their house to eat.

K fried a turkey and we cooked a small ham in our crock-pot.  Jen made mac & cheese along with cranberry sauce.  I had sweet potato casserole and mushroom casserole.  For dessert, we had different pies (some home-made and some store bought).  We got to J/K's house around 2 and the kids played upstairs.  Keith had his iPads hooked through facetime so we could see the kids.  Since they were playing, we adults ate first.  It was nice to actually sit down together and talk since usually we are on kid patrol through meals.  The Lions were playing too so we watched football as well.  The food was all really good with the turkey being my favorite in addition to the sweet potato casserole.  After we adults finished, we fixed plates for the kids and they came downstairs to eat.  I can't remember how much or how well they ate, but they must have eaten enough to be full.  Abe had some pumpkin pie for dessert.   Rin and Wes had some ice cream.  After we all ate, the kids played some more and Linda/Sebastian stopped by for a while.  Linda was supposed to eat Thanksgiving dinner with us, but she decided to cook for her kids instead.  That was fine, I was glad she stopped by to visit.  Naptime ended (but I don't think it really ever started) and the kids played video games with the dads while Jen and I looked through fliers for Black Friday.  I don't think the kids ate again before bedtime, and since it was a holiday, we decided to just spend the night.  We put all the kids to bed and watched hard-knocks about the Cincinnati Bengals.  I think I fell asleep around 1 or 1:30.  The kids slept til 7 (as usual) and then our family headed out because we had to take care of Cooper, and we promised the kids we would decorate for Christmas.  The kids were so excited about getting our tree down from the attic that we didn't want to wait any longer.  Thanksgiving was late this year so instead of 4 weeks before Christmas, we only had 3. B started playing Christmas tunes before Thanksgiving which we don't normally do but we were running out of time.  I don't think I have any pictures from Thanksgiving but it was successful and we have more than enough.  I don't have the space or time to list all the things we are Thankful for but at the top of the list, God has given us his grace and mercies, salvation through his Son, and the chance to live life for His glory.