Spring Break

I am determined this week to catch up on my blog.  I realized Sunday that I hadn't even posted about Julianna's birthday...1.5 months ago.  Yikes!  So we made it through the McNeely Birthday season.  3 parties, tons of presents, balloons, cakes...done.  Until next year.  After all the craziness we were all looking forward to a nice relaxing spring break with the Decker's.  Well it was fun, not sure I would use the word relaxing!

Oh before I get there we had our first batch of stitches.  Jake walked behind a baseball bat.  Pretty sure he and JP will pay more attention in the future.  Unfortunately Brian and I were out of town at the time.  So poor Meegan had to take Jake to the ER.  I think she was more upset than Jake!  But all was well, he got 3 little stitches and is good as new.  He was kind of sad and then I told him Uncle Johnny did the exact same thing except it was a golf club.  He perked up and said "Really?  I am just like Uncle Johnny?"

As I was talking to the doctor on the phone he said he couldn't go in pools for 2 weeks!  I instantly thought how far away is spring break?!?  3 weeks...phew!  Because we were headed to Wilderness of the Smokies!  But first we celebrated Easter.  And managed to get a decent picture.  SOOO much easier to make them smile when you say "as soon as you smile we will go to the waterslides!"

So we arrive in Tennessee and we are off to the waterslides.  A little cold the first day, and it rained day 2 & 3.  But Wednseday and Thursday were beautiful!

Look how excited everyone was!  There was something for everyone.  There were big waterslides, wave pools, hot tubs, and lots for Grace's age too!  And she had a ball going down this slide over and over.

At night we went to the arcade and they also had a ropes course and rock wall.  Oh my gosh my kids are fearless!  Grace played in a tree house thing while Julianna and Jake did rock climbing.  Then they went to the ropes course.  I can't believe how high they were.  Jake was kind of scared at the beginning but pushed through and did the entire thing.  Julianna did the high stuff and then got a little scared and got down.

The next day Julianna was begging to do the rock wall again because she didn't climb to the top.  So I took her and actually climbed with her.  I don't really mind heights but geez it was a little scary to jump down!  And she went all the way to the top!  How amazing is she?

Then we had to do the ropes course again. And she was a pro.  Got a little scared at the end...I think because she didn't want to go down!  It was lots of fun!

Our final day was beautiful and we hit the outdoor waterslides.  There is one that has a tube Grace could go down so that was fun.  She gets in the raft and the instant you go through the tunnel she screams...the entire way down.  Bell took her down the slides and we knew when they were coming.  It was too funny.  Then she would get out and say "I do that one more time."  No one says no to Gracie-Grace!

Fun times with our BFF's!  We are hitting the beach with the Decker's in July, can't wait for another "relaxing" adventure!

Grace is 3!!!

Our baby is 3!  She would say "I'm not a baby I'm a BIG girl!"  And she's right.  She is a big girl with an even bigger personality.  She is always smiling and laughing and running.

Grace is in her very first year of preschool.  She goes to Mt. Zion UMC and has Ms. Emilie and Ms. Kay.  Most importantly she is in the same class as her BFF Cadence.  Yes, they call each other their BFF.  She is doing great at school, her teacher is always telling me how "capable" Grace is.  I noticed the other day she can swing.  All by herself.  I think it took Jake 6 years to figure it out.  Not Grace, she doesn't want to be left behind.  She wants to do everything her big brother and sister do!

Grace is finally turning that magic age.  3 is when everything starts.  You can do ballet, swimming, gymnastics.  Can't wait to sign her up!  But she already started karate!  Yes, watch out world she is armed with a wicked front kick!  I will post some videos, it's hilarious.

Grace loves to do puzzles too!  I bought her a 24 piece puzzle and a 48 piece one for Julianna.  I walked away to make lunch.  Next thing I know she is bringing me the 48 piece puzzle fully assembled.  Now she has to sleep with her puzzles and do each one before she closes her eyes.  At least she is really good at the puzzles and is super fast.

It's hard to say what Grace is like.  I try to write a little bit about who they are every time a birthday comes around.  Grace is just Grace.  She is fearless (yes she has had a dislocated elbow, broken foot, and most recently fell off the couch but was shockingly fine).  She is LOUD, everything she says is a yell.  I guess she needs to be heard, but geez I might go deaf!  She is always happy, for the most part. Not saying she doesn't have her moments but she can go all day and keep smiling until she falls asleep.  Basically she is just fun.  Look how much fun she had here at a store while I was trying stuff on.

Grace was adamant this year.  She wanted a Frozen Party with Elsa.  Yes the same party she had with Julianna last year.  But she wanted HER friends to be there.  So this year, Frozen party was all about Grace.  And she loved every minute!  They watched for Elsa from the windows and Grace practically attacked her when she came in.  But Elsa was wonderful and the girls (and 3 boys) had the best time!

She did face painting, dancing, singing, parachute play, magic and even made balloon animals.  Elsa is amazing.  And to see this huge smile made my day!  It doesn't get much better than that.

Such a fun day and Nana, Papa Chuck, Grandma and & Poppy were all there!  She had such a great time.  She is already talking about her Elsa party next year!

Happy Birthday Gracie Grace!  You are one in a million and we love you to pieces!

Julianna is 5!!!

Julianna is 5!  How times flies.  She is such a sweet and sensitive little girl.  Julianna is finishing up her final year of preschool.  Next year she will hop on the bus for Kindergarten!  Crazy!  

She is really into Legos right now.  Just like Jake so we basically have two rooms with Legos everywhere.  She has built quite a few sets and she doesn't even need much help.  I am amazed at how fast she can put together a 200 piece castle.  I mean look at this!  She is just 5 years old!

Julianna is also quite the artist.  All she wanted was a painting party for her birthday.  So I found this cute little place called Farmhouse in the City and they have a petting zoo, face painting, dress up and painting.  It was perfect.  They made her feel so special.  We all had the best time!  This is her version of Elsa. 

She is also quite an athlete.  Her second soccer season she opened up and she scored 4 goals.  The second game so many people were there to watch her she said she was going to score 5!  And she did...plus two!  So glad Nana, Papa Chuck, Grandma and Poppy were there to see it!  

Julianna is also still taking ballet, her recital is at the end of May.  Their costumes are adorable.  They are fairy princesses with magic wands...could that be more perfect?  She is also still taking karate a couple times a week.  I need to get her into gymnastics too...she is cartwheeling everywhere!  

Julianna loves to play with friends.  Her teachers say she is so sweet to her classmates.  We are so fortunate to live on our street with 5 little girls for her to play with!  She is never bored...and also never far from her BFF Lily!  Yes, BFF's love to match!

Julianna is an amazingly talented, kind, fearless, and loving little girl and we couldn't be more proud of her.  Happy 5th Birthday Julianna!  We all love you!  

Jake is 7!

Jake is 7! 

Look how grown up he is!  He just lost that front tooth last week.  And he has two more that are about to fall out.  Poor kid is going to have a hard time eating!  Jake is such a great kid.  Right now he is totally into Legos, which are everywhere in his room.  It's like walking a mine field to get to the bed.  But he loves to put things together so who cares about a little mess?

Jake loves sports too.  He played flag football in the fall, basketball in the winter and will start baseball in the next few weeks.  Not sure he has found his sport yet but he is giving them all a chance.  He also still goes to karate class 3-4 times a week.  He is definitely getting more into it.  Let's see he has been taking swimming lessons and doing well.

School is going great.  He is excellent in Math and Reading.  His teacher says he is a joy to have in class.  Best part he is once again in his best friend, JP's class.  They have a great time together.  Pretty much every weekend Jake and JP are playing Wii, XBox, basketball or legos.  We are so lucky for our neighbors!  I know I say it a lot but its true!  We have made the best of friends here.

This year for Jake's birthday party he wanted a Game Truck.  What's a game truck you say?  It's a trailer full of TV's on which the kids can play any kind of video game imaginable.

Jake and a bunch of his classmates and friends spent 2 hours glued to the screen.  We decided halfway was when we would do pizza and cake.  So they came in at 1:00 and inhaled pizza, sang to Jake and then scarfed down the cake. 9 minutes later they were running back to the truck (I timed it).  They had such a great time!

Happy Birthday Jake!  I can't tell you how much we love you!  You are the greatest big brother to Julianna and Grace.  We couldn't be more proud of you!  We love you buddy!

February

,What a month!  After we got back from New Orleans it has been one thing after another!  Such a busy month!  Jake finished up his basketball season.  His team was not stellar but he had a great time with his friends. He is really good at defense.  He follows his man around and always has his hands up trying to get a steal.  I think he learned a lot and with some practice in the off season hopefully he will win a game!

The week after Valentine's Day we had two "snow" days.  Meaning they cancelled school Saturday night for Monday in anticipation of a nasty snow storm.  Well needless to say nothing happened Monday BUT it was so cold and rain was coming they thought kids should be out Tuesday as well.  I guess at least it did rain.  However, rain in 45 degree weather does NOT make ice.  Just saying.  But it did give me time to get ready to go to Orlando!

My sister turned 30 this year!  And she is an avid runner.  She wanted us to have a sister weekend for her birthday and it turned into Orlando and both of us running in the Princess Half Marathon.  Yes I have been training for months so I could at least finish the 13.1 miles.  I was also pretty excited about a weekend to explore Harry Potter world at Universal Studios!  Not going to lie, I love Harry Potter!

It was so fun walking thru the town and seeing all the shops.  They had rides and trains.  Even sold Butterbeer and magic wands.  The butterbeer was delicious!  But most fun was hanging with my mom and sister.  However that fun was over Saturday night when we had to go to bed at 9pm to get up at 3am!  Yes!  We had to be at the race by 4:30am!  I guess I was excited because I didn't really mind.  I was in the last corral so I started WAY behind Lyndsay (whose bib number was 86...meaning 85 people turned in a faster time.  24,000 people ran in this race).  Unbelievable!  Anyway. I was not number 86.  I was 16,281.  So slightly slower.  I finally started my run about an hour after she did.  Which was great because she came and met me at mile 11 and I was struggling.  But I persevered and made it to the finish and claimed my pretty medal!

And drank my delicious beer (thanks mom!)

Gotta say thanks to my sister for making me do this.  I actually found that I really like running.  So now I am looking for my next race.  Hopefully I can come back to the Princess 1/2 next year because I would really like another fun Princess medal!

Only bad part about my Orlando trip was it fell on Brian's birthday.  But he was a trooped and his Mom and Chuck came up to help him with the kiddos.  They were excited to have his presents hidden in theirs closets for him.  I have to tell you Julianna was with me at Target in the chip aisle and said "I want to get Daddy wood chips so we can eat the together."  Julianna calls pork rinds wood chips.  No idea why but she does.  And she wrapped them up for Brian for his birthday.  So silly!

I flew back in Sunday in time for Jake's birthday on Monday.  Wouldn't you know it snowed Tuesday morning and we had a snow day, it started as a delay so a couple kids were at my house waiting for the bus. Then they called school off and it was time to make snowballs!

Such fun playing in the snow.  Then it cleared up but it was cold and supposed to snow again...so naturally they called off school Wednesday and then again on Thursday!  At least the kids got to sled this time!

Just wanted to thank everyone again who supported me the past few months in training.  It really was a wonderful feeling of accomplishment and I am so glad I did it!  And I got to go to Disney World...Disney is always a good idea!