Surprise!

Hey, look!  A new blog post!  Can you believe it?!

If you couldn't guess from the unplanned hiatus I took from here, we have been BUSY.  December was good, but almost more than we could handle this year.  Since I last wrote (on Thanksgiving day?), we have hosted friends and family overnight, thrown a family birthday party, hosted our Sunday school class's Christmas party, attended parties with friends, attended Snowy Nights at the Botanic Gardens, driven around to look at lights, spent a weekend in Indiana, delivered gifts to our adopted family, decorated and undecorated our house (and helped at the church for both), cried at the sight of Santa Claus (the kids, not us), celebrated the birth of Jesus at church and with family, rang in the new year, recovered from colds, and cranked out two projects in the wood shop.  As if our home life wasn't jam-packed enough, I have also been the busiest I've been at work since I switched to part time, to the point of taking home work on both the Christmas and New Year's weekends.  On my days "off" from my "real" job, I've sat for hours at a time at the embroidery machine making sure everyone got their orders in time for Christmas.  I think we made as much money in November and December as we did the whole rest of the year!  Oh, and Matt ran 26.2 miles - in one day.

On top of ALL of that, we are finally (hopefully? maybe? pretty please?) coming off of Thomas's worst sleep regression to date, where not only did he not sleep, but he also screamed at the top of his lungs nonstop.  Only when it was bedtime or during the wee hours of the morning, of course.  We were so sleep deprived and running on so few fumes that it all came to a head one day and I nearly lost it.  It was a Monday.  I drove myself to work but could not pull myself enough to get out of the car; all I could do was cry.  So I texted my boss that I was taking a sick day, made a quick trip to Walmart that was on my neverending to-do list, and went home to sleep the day away.  My parents graciously kept Thomas two nights for us that week so we could catch up on our sleep.  As I type right now, he is sound asleep in his bed and I'm crossing my fingers that he'll stay quite for at least a few hours.  He is still not an amazing sleeper, but we've turned a major corner so I'll try not to complain.

Now you see why I haven't blogged?  There just has not been any extra time at all.  But I'm vowing to make January my catch-up month.  And we're going all the way back to November's phone pics and starting there.  Then I've got Matt's marathon to tell you about, our Christmas festivities, December's phone pics, the aforementioned shop projects, and some house updates that I'm majorly behind on posting!  

Since I can't have a post without pictures, here's the one we ended up using for our Christmas card from our family photo shoot.  The big kids were such troopers while the little kids had their fits and didn't cooperate.  This isn't necessarily the best picture of either of them, but their faces are visible and there are no tears, so it's a winner!

Be expecting more posts soon!  And if not, feel free to send me a text to remind me (ahem, Jenny).  

Go Ape!

I couldn't think of a good material gift for my Dad or Matt for Father's Day last June, so I decided to give them an adventure instead.  And they can't go on adventure without me and Mom tagging along, right?!  For their gift, I gave them each a gift certificate to Go Ape! that was enough to cover two tickets - one for each of them and one for their spouse.  :)

Go Ape!, for those of you that are unaware, is a zip-line and treetop adventure.  And, lucky for us, a new course opened up fairly close to us within the last year.  (Visit that link to watch a video of the course highlights!)  I think both Dad and Matt were excited after I showed them the video of what we would be doing!

Due to summer vacations and the extreme heat, we put our adventure off for a few months.  I finally made us reservations in October and we ended up having the perfect weather for it!  It was nice and cool under the trees which was good because I think we all broke a good sweat along the course.  Our adventure took place on a Friday afternoon so that A) it would be less crowded than a weekend and B) our kids would be at daycare.  We had the 2:00 slot in the afternoon and, since the 3:00 group was a no-show, were the last group going through the course.  That meant we had no one behind us to make us feel rushed.  It was so much fun!

Happy Father's Day, boys!

Before we started, wondering if we would survive.

Before you are turned loose on the course (that's right, no guide stays with you!), your appointed instructor goes through all the safety procedures with you and how to clip in and out of all the obstacles.  There is a small, low-to-the-ground course that you do with the instructor to make sure you've got it all down pat.  I won't tell you which one of us got injured on the safety course.  (Ahem, Dad.)

Ready to head off on our own!

This particular Go Ape! course is divided up into six different sessions, the first of which is the training course.  Each course ends with a zipline to the ground so that's how you come down from the trees.  Each course starts with a ladder that you have to climb up.  If I'm being honest, I think that was the hardest part!  The pulley that you're clipped into pulls against you so you really have to pull yourself up each rung of the rope ladder.  (Mom is climbing up said ladder in the photo below.)

They don't encourage carrying much with you on the course, but Matt and I both had zippered pockets so we could carry our phones for pictures and videos.  

There is a three person maximum on each of the platforms between obstacles, so we had to stay a little spread out.  The second obstacle of the first real section is a tarzan swing - they don't waste any time making you face your fears!  We took videos here so I don't have good pictures of it, but can you see me standing on the platform holding on to a rope?  Yep, I was trying to work up the courage to just step off the platform.  After you do, you swing into a rope net that you have to catch and then climb up to the next platform.  Mom was making fun of me until it was her turn to go - she pretty much had to sit down and slide off!

After the tarzan, this next upward climb felt easy!

Well, maybe it wasn't easy for everyone...

(Actually I think that's how my Dad feels about me always taking pictures.)

Matt was the first to zip off at our first zip line!  Each of the five big zip lines take you over water and it was actually really peaceful being out over it by yourself...you know, for about 28 seconds.

Of course, the worst part about finishing the zip line is that then you have to climb up that dang rope ladder again!

Here are pictures from the next section on the course.

Halfway through and still upright!

On the third section, after we made it over to one tree platform, we had to climb up a tree ladder to get to an even higher platform.  Matt and I went up first with no problems.  My mom was behind me (with Dad behind her) and could not get past the first couple of rungs.  She kept saying the pulley was stuck and that it wouldn't let her climb up.  I think my Dad loved being the one to point out to her that instead of clipping herself into the pulley, she had attached herself to the bottom rung of the ladder.  No wonder she couldn't move!  :)

Each course section was a little bit more difficult than the prior one.  The last three sections all split into two different routes - an easier route and a harder one.  Matt and I both opted for the harder route while Mom took the easier one.  The first section of the harder course had rope nets hanging that you had to climb across and transfer back and forth between.  It was not as easy as Matt's making it look in the picture below!

And then, even after watching both of us break a sweat, Dad chose the harder route too.  Y'all, I nearly lost it I was laughing so hard.  I'm not sure how long Dad hung out on the first rope net just swinging back and forth trying to regain his balance, but it was a lot longer than either of us!  I took a video but am having a hard time loading it, so enjoy this gallery of photos of Dad making his way across.  (Click the arrows to change the pictures!)

Mom had no problem laughing at him from her easy route.

The next section of the harder route was dangling rings that we had to use as steps.  We gave Dad some pointers to make it an easier crossing for him.  :)

After that, the two routes came back together so we could finish the section on the same obstacles.  Matt was able to let go of the cables for a picture - something that's harder than you'd think while swinging up in the air!

One thing we decided to do before we even started was to take turns being the leader.  That meant that no one was always bringing up the rear and no one was always having to be the guinea pig for each obstacle.  It was Mom's turn to go first through this net tunnel and she went on her hands and knees.  Dad went next and slid through on his back.  Matt and I followed Dad's lead but, oddly enough, I thought this was kind of a hard one!  The net did not stay taut with your body weight in it.

The fifth section started out with a twisted ladder, which you can see Mom completing in the picture below on the left.  Then we had to do a little tight rope walking.  

This section of the course split into hard and easy routes too.  These were our options:

I was leading and chose the hard route on the right.  It was definitely the hardest part for me!  Matt didn't think it was that hard.  I think my problem was my shoes - the soles were very flexible so they wrapped around those little poles of wood instead of giving me a good base to stand on, if that makes sense.  I really had to use my arms to hold myself up!

The section ended with a swinging log to walk across and a crash landing off the zip line by Dad.

I didn't take many pictures on the last section because we were trying to finish up.  It was nearing 5:00 and we had to get back to pick up our babies!  (It took us over 2 hours to complete the course, but it could be done faster.)

One of the very last obstacles was the big Tarzan swing and it was the most terrifying and most exhilarating part of the whole thing!  I was terrified doing it but now that I've done it once, I can't wait to do it again.  Mom and Dad didn't do it so they watched me and Matt from the safety of their platform.   

See Matt standing up high in the tree?  He just has to step off.  And then there's a good five second free fall before the tension in your cable catches you.  So scary!  So fun!  I think a profanity may have slipped out of my mouth.  You eventually bounce into a big net that you have to climb up.  Oh man, it was so cool.

That's where I stopped taking pictures.  From there we had one more zip line across the lake before we had successfully completed the course.  And surprisingly, we were all able to walk correctly once our feet hit the ground!  None of us were as sore the next day as we anticipated being.  I can't wait for us to do it again - this might just become every Father's Day gift from here on out.  :)  I hope all of you locals give it a try - it would be such a fun day date without kids!  (Children over 10 can participate.) Let me know if you have questions about it - I tried to be pretty thorough!

Tie Challenge 2015

Do any of you guys remember the Turtleneck Challenge of 2010?  When I made it 29 days in a row wearing nothing but turtlenecks?  (And my coworkers didn't even catch on!)  Well, 5 years later, it's time for another challenge!

Except this time, it's Matt's wardrobe that's being tested! :)

This challenge came about oh, six-ish weeks ago when his revolving necktie holder gave up and crashed to the floor.  All of his ties landed in a heap and our kids swarmed to them like it was a big pile of leaves to jump in.  By the time we drug them out of there, it was like a colorful tie explosion inside our closet.

So we got to thinking, just how many ties are there?  (And how long is it going to take us to hang them all back up?!)  What better way to answer that question than by wearing one a day until they ran out?  Matt was up for the challenge.  :)

Day One of Tie Challenge 2015

Now, if you're sitting there thinking, "Who wears ties anymore?" let me tell you that Matt does!  And so do all of his coworkers.  At his place of business, they have a business dress code so it's full suit and tie for all the men.  He won't be the weirdo hanging out in a tie while everyone else is in a t-shirt or polo.

Here are his rules:
1.  One tie per work day.  (Unlike with my turtleneck challenge, he doesn't have to wear a tie every single day of the week because that would be weird.  Just the days he's in the office and has to wear a tie anyway.)
2.  ALL ties that are in the closet must be worn - even the big fat bright yellow one, the two bow ties, and the pastel one that screams Easter egg.

When we were first talking about this, I asked him, "What about your Christmas tie?  It's gonna look stupid if you're wearing it in mid-November."  His response?  "I plan on wearing it on Christmas Eve just like every other year."

So he thinks he'll make it past Christmas Eve.  What do you think!?

Just like with the Turtleneck Challenge of 2010, we'll have daily photographic evidence of all the different ties.  And we'll have a prize for whoever guesses closest to the correct number of ties he owns!  (No, it won't be a necktie.)

Before you leave your guess in the comments, here are a few hints to help you out (and no, we have no idea what the answer is yet - we have not pre-counted the ties).  

1. We are already over 20 days in on taking pictures so your guess should definitely be over that!
2. All of his ties fit on one revolving tie rack, similar to this one on Amazon.  I will not say how full or empty it is.
3.  Like I mentioned earlier, Matt thinks he's gonna have no problem making it to Christmas Eve.

Don't forget that he only has to wear them on business days so you can't just count down the days til Christmas!  Leave your guess in the comments section of this post (one guess per person!).  And if you want, feel free to leave a [reasonable] suggestion for the prize too.  :)

Top 13 in 2013

I know we're already a few days into the new year, but I thought, like last year, I'd recap some of the best moments from this past year.  And since it was 2013, 13 top moments sounds good.  :)

Oh, and these are not ranked.  Instead, they are in somewhat chronological order.  Here we go!

1.  2013 was the year I turned 30, and Matt wanted to make sure it was a birthday to remember.  I don't think I'll be able to forget our trip to Puerto Rico and ringing in a new decade on this beautiful beach!

2.  I also celebrated my 30th birthday with 30 Random Acts of Kindness.  It took some time to get all 30 done, but it was definitely well worth the effort!

3.  For Mother's Day and Father's Day, Matt and I treated ourselves to some nice new bikes.  We enjoyed riding them all throughout our neighborhood over the summer, especially since we were able to pull Katie Wynn along with us.

4.  At the end of May, we had a nice long weekend vacation at our beach house with my parents.  It was this weekend that Katie Wynn had her first real dip in a pool and was quite the little fish in the water!  However, she still hated the sandy beach and loud ocean.

5.  I wasn't the only one with a big birthday this year; 2013 was also the year Matt turned 40!  In an effort to catch him off guard, we surprised him with a big party on his half birthday instead of the real deal.  We had so much fun "halfway" celebrating with our friends that night!

6.  We were back at the beach house in June, but this time for a week-long vacation with friends!  We enjoyed having a house full of fun people to do things with, and I think one of the highlights from this trip was definitely the splash pad!  

7.  One of the highlights of this past year was definitely getting to watch Katie Wynn hit so many milestones!  From starting real food, to sitting up, crawling, and eventually walking, the little baby we started the year with morphed into a busy bee toddler before 2013 came to a close.

8.  While it wasn't necessarily something good that happened, I can't wrap up 2013 without mentioning the disaster that was our rental house.  From the call that we received one Saturday notifying us the first floor ceiling had caved in due to a busted pipe, to the long awaited for day when the last bit of remodeling was installed and done, it was a LONG three months.  It definitely wasn't something we ever wished to have happen, but we ended up with a nearly brand new house when it was all said and done.  We are just grateful we weren't living there and that we had a wonderful contractor who did great work and excellent insurance that paid for it all! 

9.  In August, after several months of brainstorming new ideas and working with my friend Matt, we finally launched a new look and new name for this blog.  It involved switching platforms which meant lots of learning for me, but I have definitely started getting the hang of it and really love the new space!

10.  In September, Katie Wynn turned one.  While I suppose that counts as one of her milestones and could be included in number 7, it was her actual birthday party that was a top moment of the year for me.  I stressed about the weather since we'd had rain all week, but the sun came out and it was perfect.  All of our friends were there, the animals were a huge hit, and since I hired a photographer, it was really nice and fun to actually get to enjoy the party with everyone else.  Definitely one of the best days of the year; I didn't want it to end!

11.  On October 1st, shortly after Katie Wynn turned one, we learned that she's going to be a BIG sister!  (And no, it's no joke this time.)  We were thrilled to find out and know that it means 2014 is bound to be an exciting year as well.

12.  Later in October, I had some of my college friends in town for the weekend.  I always look forward to our get-togethers and getting to spend a lazy weekend in pjs hanging out with them.  This year, we added something new to our agenda: a Color Run.  Only four of us participated, but it was lots of fun!

13.  And last, but certainly not least, I have to mention the home improvement projects we managed to crank out this year.  We're definitely learning that it's harder and takes much longer to get things done when you have a toddler underfoot, but we still completed three fairly big upgrades that we get to enjoy every single day!  The shoe cubbies have totally transformed the functionality of our closet, the pallet wall in the half bath added some great texture and design to an otherwise blah space, and our mudroom upgrade (which I still owe you final pictures of) has been a huge help of corralling coats this winter.

There are SO many more things that I could have added.  Looking back through blog posts, it looks like we had a really, really good year.  I can only imagine that this coming one will be just as great, if not better!  

Now tell me, what were your top moments from 2013?

Trans Siberian Orchestra

This year, for the big kids' birthdays (that both fall in December), we decided to give the gift of "experiences" instead of more stuff that they don't really need.  Wyatt's birthday has already passed and he opened tickets to a Titans game.  Matt will take him for a boys' weekend at the end of the month, and I think they're both looking forward to it.  Although Anna's birthday is still 4 days away (Christmas day!), she got to go ahead and open her gift since it was tickets to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra on December 6th.

We made reservations at a nice restaurant - Itta Bena - for before the show and though we spent most of the afternoon stressing over whether we'd actually make it there or not thanks to a day's worth of ice that had arrived and covered the roads, we had a delicious dinner just the three of us before the show.

Itta Bena is located above BB Kings on Beale Street and we couldn't leave without a selfie in front of the big BB Kings sign.

Since it's somewhat of a big birthday for Anna - 13! teenager! - we splurged on really good seats.  As in, four rows back from the stage.  We took this picture before the concert started to try to show just how close we were.  That's the stage right behind us!

Once the lights dimmed, it was almost three straight hours of rockin' Christmas songs.  Have any of you ever seen the Trans Siberian Orchestra?  There is a lot of head banging and swaying and hair tossing involved.  We joked a lot about what happens if any of the singers show up for work one day and have had their hair cut off.  Do they get fired?  There was only one person (a male) that didn't have long flowy locks and he only got to sing two-ish songs.  We guessed that he probably used to be the lead singer but was demoted after the scissors got to his hair.

In addition to all the long hair, there is also lots of cool effects.  It is much more than just a concert.  The first two-thirds of it was a story (The Lost Christmas Eve), complete with lasers and lights and fire shooting out everywhere.  We were so close that every time the fire shot out, it warmed our faces.

Oh, we even got snowed on!  For one full song (and these are not short songs), we sat under a steady snowfall of fake (soapy?) flakes.  You can see them accumulating in Anna's hair below.

Here are a bunch of snapshots I took throughout the show.  You can tell just by glancing at them that the lights and effects were constantly changing...it was all so colorful!

I won't lie, I got a little bit nervous every time they climbed onto these things and panned out over the audience.  Not for them...but for me!  They passed straight over our heads multiple times.

The show was really, really good, but if I'm being completely honest, it may have been a tad long for us.  Three hours is a long time to listen to electric guitars and violins, especially when they don't start until after 8pm.  This mama can't stay up that late!  Needless to say, we weren't sad to see these final bows.

I do recommend going to see the show if you ever get the chance.  It was definitely worth the trip.  But the best part for us was definitely getting some quality time with just our oldest not-so-little-anymore girl.  Happy birthday, Anna!