Samantha's 5th birthday party

We decided this was a good year to have her party out of the house.  So we picked a local place called Family Fun Center.  You pay per kid and get 45 minutes in a play area (ball pits, slides, climbing, all sorts of fun) and then 30 minutes in a room.  Drinks and paper goods are included.  We added on the pizza and got to bring in cup cakes.  Then the kids each get 4 tokens for the game area.  My amazing almost 5 year old agreed to again do no presents, just SPCA donations.  I am so proud!  They both get so much stuff from relatives, that less stuff coming in is nice.  I probably went a bit overboard inviting, we ended up with 15 kids and at least 15 adults.  But Samantha had a great time, and that is the most important thing.  Maybe I will be more restrained next year.

We hung out waiting for guests and Sam really wanted to play this game, so I bought a few tokens.

Time for Funtasia!  Both girls in the big ball pit.

Sam with her birthday girl pin from Nana.

With a friend from last year at school.

Ball pit again.

This is the toddler area.  Zoey had a ball "falling" down.

Just after she blew out her candle.

Zoey playing the popcorn game.

Nick even got to play some since my parents were watching the girls while I handed out goody bags, which were really stuffed dogs and cats to adopt.

The whole party was great, but it was such a blur to me.  But every time I saw this smiling face, I felt such joy.  Hope you like my artistic rendition :)

January fun

Despite some runny noses and coughs, we have been super busy as usual.  

The last if the Christmas gifts arrived from Uncle Terence.  Zoey got a hello kitty purse.

She likes to pick her own clothes.  Uncle Terence gave this shirt to Sam when she turned 2.  Zoey also knows Spiderman.  She can almost say it, but it is a bit off.  She ended up with this crazy sock, skirt, t-shirt combo all on her own.

Sam got a wonder woman outfit from Uncle Terence.  She loves it.  We had to watch a clip for her to see how to act.

 Sam got this school set from some friends in Texas.  She loves trying to teach Zoey, but Zoey still counts 3-4-5-6-8-9-12-13.

After her bath, she had such silly hair.

And the next day a piece stuck up like Cindy Lou Who.

 We went to a park and she face planted in the mud off the slide.  I did not see it happen because I was on the going up side and she came over saying "Mama, fell down".  Such a tough cookie.  I, of course, snapped a picture on my phone before cleaning her up.

My parents and we Southern Kellings went to the bay to see the manatees.  We did not get great view for pictures, but you can see a little bit here.  A nose and then part of a back.

Sam liked taking pictures with the statues.

And on a bench.

They both sat down, but Zoey was not still long.

A manatee named Elsie.

The girls as manatees.

Zoey and her silly walk.

After the manatees we stopped at the mall to eat at the food court, ride the carousel and run in a few stores.  I got a few pictures with my phone.

And Nick got a few from the ground with the camera.

We made fluffy stuff, which is 2 boxes corn starch and 1 can shaving cream.  It is similar to cloud dough.  The girls loved it.

I took Zoey's clothes off, so Sam wanted to strip down too.

Zoey was hesitant at first about getting dirty, but finally dove in.

And we met some friends at a park for a picnic recently.  Such fun.

Next up with be Sam's birthday party and tomorrow my baby turns 5.  Yikes!  How time flies.

Phone pictures

I tend to have my camera with me when I want to take pictures, but every now and then I just snap one with my phone.  I am not too good about downloading those, so here are a few to share.

This one of Zoey is actually from July, but I wanted to share one of her favorite things to do at my parents house.  A whole weebles town from my childhood.  In fact, on Christmas Eve she got tired of presents and went to play with the town.

On Thanksgiving break, we went to a local park.  My dad and Sam climbed this plastic rock climbing wall.

And on Christmas Eve, we went to a local chain restaurant called Gator's Dockside.  My dad wanted to try gator.  The girls loved it.  Zoey kept saying "More, more."

Sam liked it too.

 I thought it was not great, but this commemorates my first gator eating experience too.

Off with a bang

Wow, 9 days into 2013 and I have only taken 4 pictures.  I had to recover from my cold and then get my wisdom teeth out on the 3rd, so we pretty much stayed inside and played with Christmas gifts.  The surgery recovery was rough.  Not too much pain, luckily, but lots of weakness and I can still barely chew.  So I have spent way more of 2013 in bed than ideal.  The swelling is finally down so that I can chew very soft things.  Really makes you notice things you normally take for granted, like being able to eat when you are hungry.  And really makes me thankful for my wonderful husband who took care of me, my parents who took care of the girls, and thankful for all I can normally do in a week to keep the house running.

Classes started this week for USF at Lakeland.  So Nick has been back to work on Monday and will go again tongight.  I only have 1 in person class on Thursdays and one online for USF at Lakeland.  My online for Marshall starts next week.  I have a feeling it will be a busy semester.  Samantha started back Tuesday.

Nick needed to run by the library yesterday, so we took the opportunity to feed the swans and other birds.  I asked him to take us to the other side of the lake.  That was a mistake.  The swans on that side were much more aggressive and they fought each other and would snap at us.  They did get really close.

I got one shot of Sam, but I was in protection mode so much I could not get many.  And NIck had to hold Zoey so she did not get bitten.

We went after Zoey napped and Sam rested.  Sam was obviously tired since she fell asleep on the ride home.  She had been holding a cup (that evidently leaked on her pants) and when I took it away her hands stayed in the holding position.  Of course, I snapped a picture.  Hard to believe she is weeks away from being 5!

Goodbye 2012!

My official last post of 2012, I am slightly ahead of the midnight deadline.  At least I am better than the US congress.  This has been a busy year, but less eventful than many, no moves (yippee!) and no other big life changing events.  It was not a year of health for me.  I had a stomach bug at least 3 times (anniversary trip :(, right before thanksgiving and right before Christmas), a month long cough that required antibiotics, and I currently am fighting a cold hoping to still get my wisdom teeth out Thursday.  I am hoping for better health in 2013.  We did sell our Atlanta house in 2012, which is a huge relief.  So we are hoping  for an even bigger and better new year for us and all of you!

We had one more gift that we saved.  We used some of the money from Grammy and Poppi to buy Zoey her own roller coaster.  Sam had loved the one at the inflatable place in WV and this was at Sam's club for a good deal!

The girls loved it.

 Zoey wanted to go slow at first but soon she was pushing herself off and jumping off at the end to demand another turn.

This is not a great picture of Zoey, but she was having fun and it shows her hair flying in the wind.  

Here is some coaster video.

We got to meet up with my good friend from high school when they passed through Orlando.  Unfortunately, it was a bit chaotic and we did not get any good pictures of all 4 kids, but here is a good capture of how the night was.  Lots of crazy!

And we sent 2012 out with a bang, a wee bit early.  

Our annual fireworks captured with my new camera and its fireworks setting.  Sam is the blurry object holding the sparkler.

An actual firework.

Zoey ended the night unhappy.  Nana had been sick and so we thought it was better for her not to hold her and she hates noise, so the fireworks were not her favorite.  But she loved her bath and went to bed fine.  And tomorrow will bring a new day, a new month, and a New Year!

Happy 2013!  Hopefully it will be full of smiles for everyone!