Grace is 2!

Ah!  Grace is 2!  It's just unbelievable to me.  She was just an itty bitty (ok, maybe not itty bitty at 8 pounds 10 ounces) baby a minute ago and now she is a walking (mostly running), talking (mostly yelling) big girl!  She will smile and say "I love you too" and your heart just melts.  And she can give some hugs!  She just squeezes your neck and its so sweet!

She actually turned 2 on Sunday the day we left for Disney World.  We were up super early opening presents and loading up the car.  She has been telling people for weeks she was two (and she only holds up one finger...it's funny to me).  Grace has definitely grown a personality.  She is loud and LOVES to sing and dance.  I find her on the fireplace singing Let It Go, which comes out Et It Oh...and all of this at the top of her lungs.  

The dancing though is funny.  I take her to the YMCA play center and we pass a Zumba class.  Every time she stops and starts trying to copy the moves.  It is so cute and of course people in the class see her and know she is the most adorable thing ever!  She loves music and loves jumping and dancing.  Maybe she will like ballet a little more than her sister!  

So Happy 2nd Birthday sweet Grace!  We are blessed to have you in our family!  We love you!

Julianna is 4!

Now just 8 days after Jake turned 6 it's Julianna's big day.  She is 4 years old today.  She woke up with a smile on her face because it was finally her day for balloons and presents.  And I got to go into her class with a sweet treat.  She was very excited!  But here is Julianna's trip down memory lane...

And now she is 4.  It's amazing.  She is so tall!  I know I shouldn't be surprised but she grew 3 inches this year!  Now she is 43.75 inches.  I feel like it should hurt to grow that fast!

Julianna is quite the little artist these days.  Santa brought her an art desk for her room and not a day goes by she doesn't sit down to color.  She makes pictures for her friends and teachers or if someone if coming to her house.  I thought her markers were wearing out because she was leaving the tops off.  Not the case!  She is just coloring that much!  She says her art is very important to her.  So maybe we need to find some art classes so she can get messy with paint...somewhere else!

Since she missed the soccer cut of by 3 days (seriously?), she wanted to do swimming.  So she has been taking lessons at the Y.  She swims with lots of joy is all I have to say.  Not a lot of swimming going on but there is splashing.  I need to take a video of her jumping in.  It's hysterical!  She just jumps straight up with arms and legs spread out.  It's so fun to watch.  So we have a couple months until the pool opens...hopefully she can get it going for pool season.

Julianna is currently in the chimp class at her preschool.  Next year she will be a Panda and will go every day.  And she is ready!  She loves the days she goes to school.  She is so sad when its Tuesday and Thursday and she has to stay home with Mommy and Grace.  No fun!

We are having a joint birthday party with Grace in a couple weeks.  It's a Frozen theme.  She has seen Disney's new Frozen movie twice and LOVES it.  The sound track plays constantly in the car.  Even Grace sings "EEGGO" which is Let It Go!  Both girls love to sing and dance.  Speaking of dance Julianna is still taking ballet and very much looking forward to getting her costume for the recital in May...not so much the recital, just the costume!  But what girl wouldn't want a beautiful tutu to dance in?

Julianna is such a loving little girl, she loves to gives hugs and cuddle.  She brightens our lives every single day with her smiles and laughter.  We are so very blessed to have her as our daughter.  We love you Julianna!

Jake is 6!!!

Every year around this time I write how fast time is going by...and it is!  Just flying!  But on Sunday Jake turned 6 years old.  He is such a wonderful little boy and we are so proud of him.  Here is a little trip down memory lane...

And now he is 6 and getting older by the minute!  He is a growing boy!  He measures 44.75 inches tall which is a 2 inch growth from last year!

So this year for his birthday, we asked him if he wanted a party or to go see the Harlem Globetrotters with his basketball buddies.  Of course he chose the Globetrotters, which is fine by me!  So in a couple weeks we will do that.  Jake just finished up his first basketball season.  He played with his two neighborhood friends and Brian was a coach.  A true test of patience for Brian and he did great!  Now he will start coach pitch baseball on Saturday.  No Brian is not coaching baseball, I can't imagine anyone having the patience to throw a ball to 6 years olds over and over, willing them to hit it.

He is doing great in Kindergarten.  He gets report cards now and they have been stellar.  Reading is his best subject.  He flies through the words and now asks if he can just read silently to himself.  But that might just be a way of getting out of doing his homework!  He can be sneaky!

Avengers (Captain America especially) are his favorite thing these days.  He is really starting to get into Legos...which frustrate him but he keeps trying.  They are hard!  The family got a Wii for Christmas so he likes the racing games and Mario Bros.  He is definitely looking forward to some warm weather so he can get outside with some of his birthday and Christmas presents.   He got some planes that loop around in the air and they have fascinated him lately.

Jake has been such a blessing to us.  He is funny, smart, kind, competitive, sweet and even loves his sisters!  Yes, he gladly kisses and hugs Grace every night!  We love you Jake!  Happy Birthday Buddy!

Snowmageddon

So guess what 2.5 inches of snow can shut down and entire city!  I have now seen it happen!  Completely baffling to someone who grew up with snow but you had to be here to understand.  There have been so many wonderful and heartbreaking stories to come out of Atlanta the past few days.  Here is ours.

They predicted snow but let me tell you most people don't pay attention to the weatherman.  It NEVER snows when they say it will.  This time it was true.  I was running errands and the flurries started.  I got a text saying school was letting out 2 hours early.  I remember rolling my eyes.  Then I waited at the bus stop for an hour for Jake and his buddies to get home.  Poor boys had been stuck on the bus for almost 2 hours.  Brian had called and said he was heading home.  Evidently so was everyone else in Atlanta...literally. 

The snow kept pouring down and we had 2 inches in a couple hours.  All of our neighbors were texting in.  I know being stuck in cars for hours and hours is stressful but so is sitting at home helpless and worried...with a bunch of snow crazy kids.  Not a day I would like to live over.  Brian spent about 5 hours in his car and was at a stand still the last hour or two.  Finally he parked his car on a side street and started to walk.  Of course Brian didn't have a real coat, or a hat or gloves.  Not really prepared for a 6 miles hike (uphill) in 20 degree weather.  At least one nice person was walking with Brian.  He was almost home so he offered Brian his coat, hat, anything he had on.  Brian took the hat and was thankful for it!

A couple hours later a very cold and hungry Brian arrived home.  He went straight to defrost in the shower and I heated up dinner.  But the night was still young.  Ours friends Heather and Troy across the street were stranded far from home and their kids were still at school.  Brian and Andy (another friend down the street) hopped in his truck to rescue their kids.  So about 10:30 Brian was in for the night.  Our other friends and neighbors trickled in throughout the night but Heather across the street gave up and was offered a cot at a hotel.  Which she gladly took.

So the next day the sun was shining.  We were told not to go anywhere.  Like we were going anywhere...we had snow to play in!  Brian and a couple guys spent the afternoon picking up everyone's abandoned cars.  But the morning we spent sledding and making snow angels!

We tried sledding down our front hill with a few different makeshift sleds.  But the Decker's saved the day with a pool raft.  Those kids were flying down the hill.  And let me tell you the one who had the most fun was GRACE!  Once she got that first run down the hill she was hooked.  She toppled out of the raft and started up the hill, holding her little hand out for help.  After she got up there she got herself in the raft to go again.  She was not waiting her turn, I think she even pushed a few kids out of her way.  It was hilarious!

I'll post a really short video on my YouTube site of her sledding.  You can hear her say "weeeee."  She is awesome.

So to recap.  The snow fell Tuesday afternoon and school was dismissed early.  Obviously no school on Wednesday.  It was still pretty icy and cold Wednesday night, so no school on Thursday.  And to just make sure all the parents went completely insane they cancelled school on Friday too.  Again, we are talking about 2.5 inches of snow...I measured.

However, the kids playing in that snow, and the smiles and laughter was priceless!

Christmas

What a Christmas we had this year!  It was full of fun, laughter, visitors, gifts, and some sickness.  But it was another great Christmas in the McNeely house!  Christmas Eve started with the children's church service.  The 35 minute service is just the right amount of time for us.  Then its home to eat a yummy Christmas Eve dinner that Daddy made (this year it was lasagna).  After dinner it was time to put the cookies out for Santa.  Jake and Julianna had some set backs...Grace kept eating the cookies.

Once the plate was full (and I mean full!) they checked on Santa to make sure he was in route.  Yes, you can see where he is on some website Brian found.  Then it was off to bed so Mommy get wrapping!  The kids woke up early, around 6:30 and were super disappointed to hear they had to wait for Grace to wake up.  Finally around 7:00 she was ready to go!

Santa brought Jake a new basketball hoop, basketball and lots of stocking stuffers. Julianna got an art desk for her room with all the supplies.  Grace got a Minnie Mouse big wheel.  No, her feet don't reach the pedals but she grows like a weed so maybe by the spring she can ride it.  AND the whole family got a WiiU, which required a new TV.  So we are all set for some fun games!

We had lots of fun opening presents.  Each kid gets to pick a toy for their brother/sister.  It's funny how they talk about it.  Julianna was very specific and told Jake to buy her the Brave bow and arrow (which of course he did).  Grace gave her a Sophia the First amulet.  Julianna gave Grace a drum and Jake got Grace a Minnie Mouse doll.  Julianna picked out the Hulk smashing fists for Jake and decided Grace would give him the mask.  Turns out Grace was really more into being the Hulk.

We spent most of Christmas day putting toys together and setting up the Wii.  Brian was in bed sick so I figured it out.  The basketball hoop took a few days but that is up as well.  A few days after Christmas Jake came down with pneumonia.  But that didn't slow him down, he just got to rest and watch some TV in the afternoon.

Friday Brian's side of the family came for a visit.  The cousins all had a great time playing together and opening presents.  Saturday night the adults went to dinner.  Yeah, I found a babysitter for 7 kids...yikes!

After the McNeely's left, Grandma and Poppy came for a couple days.  They brought even more presents to open.  Grace got a Minnie Mouse apron and was put to work the very first day.  Grandma always makes cookies with us!  Although Poppy was sick, I think everyone managed to have a fun time.  We rang in the New Year together (sans Poppy and Grace who were sleeping).

Now I am trying to get back to normal after a very eventful Christmas vacation.  Wouldn't you know they cancel school the first day back because its cold.  What's one more day of fun, right?  I hope everyone had a great Holiday season and 2014 brings you lots of wonderful memories!