Keeping Busy

We have loved being back in a bigger town with lots to do that you don't have to drive 30 to 40 minutes to get there. Everything is within minutes of us. We have taken advantage of all the things Columbia has to offer for kids. Seeing the last time we lived here Katie was a baby when we left. Plus hanging out in our apartment all weekend we go a little stir crazy. :)

We went to Edventure a children's museum. It has lots to do and the girls loved it. 

This ones for Papaw

Doing a little grocery shopping. The cool thing is that when they scanned it actually showed up with prices and a description. Katie was all about being the cashier. :)

Look Mom we shrunk!!!

 Making some pizzas

 A glimpse at my future

 We played outside some put it was a little cold for all the water but they didn't seem to mind

 One of the other cool things is lots of singers stop in Columbia to perform. Shortly after we moved here we found out Taylor Swift was coming. We knew the girls would flip to see her, they love her songs. After a few weeks of looking for tickets (as it was already sold out), we found some up for sale. Thankfully they were cheapish. So we told them just two days before the concert and they were beyond excited. Katie actually cried....really wasn't excepting that but it made it worth every dollar.

I just love their complete joy that shows here.....look at those smiling faces.

 They had all of these set ups of her songs so we walked by several and they wanted their picture with this one.

 It was so VERY, VERY crowded but we braved the chaotic crowded at the t shirt tables to get some souvenirs.

 I love this photo...they were so patient waiting for the opening acts to finish and were waiting for Taylor to come on. Our seats where pretty high up. It has been a long time since Chris and I have been to this coliseum so we forgot how steep the upper part was. It was a little nerve racking especially climbing up and down the steps. So next one...we will buy lower seats. :) 

 We also hit the zoo a few times since the warmer weather has arrived. We got a membership for the year which allows the girls to do certain things for free. One is the pony rides.

 Getting up close with the Kangaroos

 Getting to feed some birdies. Katie was trying hard to get one to land on her arm.

 Daddy helping Breanna, she didn't want the bird on her because she saw one pee on someone else. :)

 Chris did a ropes course with Katie. I was very proud of her. It was 4 story's tall but she did the entire thing. I think Chris was more nervous about being that high up than she was.

We are definitely getting settled in to our new life here in SC. Enjoying the warmer weather and counting the days until we have a backyard to play in.

The House is Almost Done!

A previous post I had posted a picture of just our lot cleared out back in January and they were just getting ready to start building the house. Fast forward a few months and we are in the final stages. We have maybe about a month at the most before we close maybe only 3 weeks. But it is coming along and looking great. We are so excited to get moved in and be back in a house and out of the apartment. We go out to the house almost every Sunday after church. The girls have loved seeing all the changes that happen during the week and whats new....and so do I. It has been fun to watch it progress into an almost finished house So here are some pics over the past couple of months

I love the kitchen and they now have the tile black splash up and it looks even better.

Off of the kitchen we have a small office area. I am hoping our kitchen will quit being the dumping ground for all mail, junk and other things that keep it cluttered in our previous houses.

 And if you ask Chris he will say this is why we are building this house....a MUD ROOM!!! And yes, this was one main factor of why I loved this floor plan. If you are a momma....most of you can appreciate this. I get so tired of shoes, jackets and backpacks being everywhere....now there is a place for them. So yes I am very excited about this. :)

 A butlers pantry off of the kitchen. Katie asked me what this was called and when I told her she looked and me and she "we are going to have a butler...cool". I just laughed and said dream on. Kids!

 The view from our front door. Dining room is to the left and Chris' office is to the right, living room straight ahead and where Chris is at is the stairs to go up.

My other splurge was a jetted tub....which I think the girls will use more than me. They have already staked claim on who will be the first one to use it. I think I may have to pull rank though. 

I'll post some more updated pics soon, they have all the flooring done now, the tile and have painted. They are going to be landscaping hopefully this week as well. Not much longer....YAY!!!!!

Birthdays X 2

The last week of February is full of birthday fun as we celebrate both Katie and Bree's day they entered this world. :)


We kicked off all the birthday fun on Katie's birthday. She turned 8 years old. I still have a hard time thinking I have an 8 year old.

I got her birthday doughnuts from Dunkin Doughnuts. they were the only doughnut place around that would spell out Happy Birthday....but what I failed to understand was that the DD employees could actual spell. They spelled it Hapry Birthdiy...no joke.

 Bree wanted to wake Katie up and give her the present she got her. So she skipped into her room bright and early and screamed Happy Birthday!!!....and then jumped on to her bed and pushed her present straight up to her sleepy face. :)

 After she woke up she got to come out and see her misspelled doughnuts(that by the way were completely gross, I'll stick with Krispy Kreme from now on).

 She opened a few cards and one gift from us....it is always a special bday outfit for them to wear that day. I can't believe how grown up she look here.

 All dressed up and ready for school. She is so beautiful!

 After school we let her open the rest of her gifts. Out of everything she got this was what she was MOST excited to get. Not sure if you have see the commercials for Hot Buns. Every time this commercial is on she ask if she can have that and I always tell her that if I can find it in the stores I'll get it one day for her but I refuse to order it off TV. So the day I was out shopping for bday presents I happened to stroll through the as seen on TV isle in Walmart and there it was. I had to laugh and had to buy it for as I knew she would be very excited.....and I was right. It actually works really well and it makes her hair all curly when she takes it out.

 After presents, we packed up the car and we headed up to my parents for the weekend. Since we just recently moved we didn't have much time to plan parties here so we decided to have bday celebration at my parents with all our family. Except for Katie's 1st birthday we haven't all been able to celebrate their together since.

I got the girls some birthday swag to wear out and about on Saturday

 We headed over to Leapin' Lizzards for them to play for awhile, but it was super crowded so after about 2 hours the girls were ready to leave. We all headed over to Uncle Kevin and Aunt Brandy's house to hang out. Aunt Brandy showing the girls how to play mouse trap.

 We let Katie pick dinner since we didn't get to go out on her actual birthday. She picked Mellow Mushroom....Yum, Yum!!! While we waited we snapped a few family photos with the birthday girls.

 As we were leaving Katie asked me to take her picture with the life size transformer Optimus Prime. She cracks me up on these ideas she gets in her head. Never a dull moment with her. :)

 Back at Nana and Papaws house we had cake and presents. The girls were actually at mom and dad's the weekend before (the perk of now living closer) so Mom took them over to the bakery to let them pick out the cake they wanted.

Katie has been big into wanting to ride horses lately so I guess this is why she picked hers.

 Bree went with the Barbie cake.

 Had to get one family photo of us. :)

 Time to blow out candles and make a wish

 The girls are very blessed to have so many who love them and want to give them gifts on their birthdays. They definitely will never want for anything. They both did well taking turns opening gifts. After each one Bree would run up to the person who gave her the gifts and hug them and say thank you. :)

 Even though they got great gifts I believe this one took the cake. Papaw made both the girls baby doll beds for their dolls they got for Christmas. The beds are awesome and my mom made the bedding for them. The girls LOVE them.

 Even with all the excitement of celebrating birthdays that weekend we still had one more day to party. Breanna's actual birthday was on Tuesday so we had to still make it special, because you only turn 6 once!

Katie did the same thing to Bree on her birthday. She went in to her room first thing and screamed Happy Birthday and then gave her the present she got for her. She picked out Lamby and Stuffy from Doc McStuffins, one of Bree's favorites.

 This time around we did birthday doughnuts from Krispy Kreme....much better, even though they didn't spell happy birthday. My cutie little 6 year old. She was so dang excited to be turning 6 that she kept skipping and singing "I am 6 years old, I am 6 years old"

 Bree opened her cards and one present from us, which was also her birthday outfit. She wanted a pink jean jacket and she looks darn cute in it too. :)

 After school we let her open the gifts from us. She wanted all baby stuff. She is obsessed with playing with babies.

 Then we let her pick her place to eat for dinner and CEC was the pick. Since it was a Tuesday night we practically had the place to ourselves which is how I like it. :)

Beautiful Birthday Girl!!!

 Me and my birthday girl!

 Daddy with his girls!

Whew!!!! I am tired again writing this all out. This week every year is always so busy trying to make their day just a little more special than the others. Even thought it can wear ya out, I wouldn't change it. I love these two little girls more than anything else. I am grateful and thankful that God chose me and granted me the privilege of being their Momma. My prayer to Him is always that I am raising them and encouraging them to become who He wants them to be and not who Chris and I think they should be. I see more of Him in their lives each year and how they are becoming two girls who love God and Jesus with all their hearts. I am look forward to many more years of being their Mom and watching them grow.

Our Temparoray Pad

While are house is being built we are living at an apartment. We were able to find a 3 bedroom partially furnished apartment, which was wonderful as we didn't want to have to move furniture. We only had to bring some of the basics, towels, bedding, kitchen stuff and toys.  So I thought I share are lovely living space for the next 5 months. :)

The apartment is almost 1500 square feet which is pretty big for an apartment, at least I think so. Most of the temporary ones we have been given during our moves are much smaller so we are thankful that they we were able to find one with a little more room.

Here is Katie's room 

 Bree's room

 Our eat in kitchen...I actually love the island, more space when cooking.

 Our room

 Living room and sun room(aka my office and Samson's room)

The girls have done really well in the apartment, they think it is great living her. More of an adventure for them, but hopefully they will appreciate our house even more when we move in there. :) We are on the 2nd floor so we have people above us. I call them Stomper 1 and Stomper 2, the lady LOVES to where heals and you can hear them and the guy sounds like a heard of elephants when he walks, but in the grand scheme of thinks it is not that bad. It doesn't really disturb us and in all honestly...I hate to think of what our neighbors below think of my two stompers. I am all the telling Katie and Bree stop running or hopping.


And our last family member has also adjusted well. The first week was a little rough will all the new sounds going on and he couldn't look at the door or windows very easily. He kept walking around whining, so I finally pulled up the blinds in a couple of the rooms and he could hop up and look out, that seemed to make him much happier. He also lays on our bed most of the day and can look at the window. I know one thing for sure....I will be glad to have a fenced yard to let him out to potty. Walking him every time he has to do his business is not fun, especially when it is cold or raining and when he takes FOREVER to find a place to poop. But we love him just the same :)