SnowJam 2014!!!

Tuesday, January 28th, was the official beginning of SNOWJAM'14. While snow-days are always exciting, this one actually began as a full-blown NIGHTMARE!! Schools had to make an emergency early release around 1:30 pm, but by then, it was already too late. I was fortunate enough to leave school before 1:00, but my 20-minute drive home took me 3+ hours which was, without a doubt, the scariest ride of my life!!! I-20 was gridlocked, and there were cars sliding and crashing everywhere. Nora and I cried and prayed the entire way home....

Nevertheless, I was one of the extremely lucky ones. Throughout our school system and other metro counties, students, teachers, administrators, and staff winded up SPENDING THE NIGHT at their schools!! Other school buses and local commuters were stuck in their cars for 18+ hours, and others were forced to leave their cars and walk for miles in the bitter cold. Truly heartbreaking. Needless to say, I was EXTREMELYYYYY happy to make it home and see my family: (and yes, I was clearly channeling my inner Sammy Hagar in this picture......don't care. I was SOOOO grateful to be home and safe!!)

After praising God, kissing my dirty floors, and drinking a tall one, I was ready to celebrate in the snow..... 

We partied hard on Mammie's sleds.....those things were the BOMB!!

 (note the cars at the bottom......While Jesus helped us get home, even He couldn't get us up our driveway!! Still, we have one of the BEST driveways for sledding!!) :) 

 Claira truly loved her first sledding experience!!!

  Here's a little video of her very first sledding adventure:

All smiles!!!!

 (one of my favorite pictures. EVER.) 

After sledding, we put Clairy to work shoveling snow....

But that didn't last too long....

 So, we spent the rest of the time playing!!

 Catching snowflakes.... 

 Snow angels!!!!!

  (note the idiot cat in the background.....he HATED the snow. It was quite hilarious!!) 

Stupid cat...

"El Gato" just could not handle it.....he is the biggest bum I have ever seen!!!

Like Gato, we'd have to come in and warm up by the fire a bit...

 We also watched a lot of movies and ate popcorn w/ peanut m&m's.....our favorite snack in the whole wide world!!! (ps - have you EVER seen a head of hair that awesome??)

But before long, we'd have to bundle back up and head back out!!

I'll leave you with our masterpiece, Snowman Stan!!! Equipped with a real carrot nose!!

We are now on day 3 of no-school, so while this fiasco began as a disaster, it winded up being a beautiful thing!!! So grateful for snow and safety, and many prayers to those TRULY impacted by this icing of the south!!

Cheers to SNOWJAM '14!!!!!

Disney Surprises! ~ Past & Present

For Valentine's Day this year, we are heading down to DisneyWorld, the most magical place on Earth!! We asked the girls to create a "bucket list" for 2014 on New Year's Day, and Disney was at the top of the list! So Saturday, we traveled over to Perimeter Mall to buy our tickets for our vacation......we are all sooooo excited!!! We've been to Disney twice, and have been itching to go back.

Our first trip to Disney took place in September of 2009 (Nora was 2, and Ella was 5 months). The park was decorated for Halloween!!

September 2009

Look at our nugget.....so bald and beautiful!!

Daddy was chosen to participate in a "Daddy Gameshow!" It made my trip!! :)

Love the park statues!!

Daddy with the real Herbie!!! :)

Disney is definitely not a RELAXING trip....you gotta rest whenever you can. :)

Dino World!!

Safari!!!

The main MOUSE!!!

Some of our other favs.....

(we had to take frequent pool breaks....still HOT in Orlando is September!)

Darth Vader.....Josh was a bit too excited....

Fun after Hollywood Studios!!

This picture was taken right after Nora slapped a poor Asian lady IN.THE.FACE for touching her hair repeatedly in the bathroom. While I was mortified, I can't say that I blame my kid. Look how mad she was.....hilarious!!

Having so much fun is tiring.....Daddy and I wished we had our own stroller, too!!!

July 2010

The following year, I had to attend a conference for my doctorate program, and as luck would have it, the conference was held at DisneyWorld!! We brought Grandmama and Lea along this time. Great times!!!

"A" for Andrea, "L" for Lea

(or "A" for Awesome, "L" for Loo-sahhhh.....either way works) :)

Heading to DownTown Disney!!

Character lunch with Little Einsteins and Handy Manny!!

My sweet, juicy girl....she still loves her "poppies." :)

Lea and Josh with "Jenny"....the original boat from Forrest Gump. :)

Fun times at Epcot!!

We were going a little fast on the teacups......

NEMO!!

Eating in "Mexico"......YUMMMMMMMMM.......

I'm so thankful for these special memories with my most favorite people (minus Clairy.....who hadn't arrived yet). :)

NOW!!!!!!

Now, we are ready to head back!!!! We decided to take the girls to Perimeter Mall this weekend and go ahead and buy our tickets to "surprise" them. Of course, we spotted a Cheesecake Factory, so that had to happen FIRST. :)

We had to wait for about 30 minutes to be seated....so Ella did what any big sis would do.....steal the stroller to relax. :)

I told Josh to pose like a stud, and this is what he gave me.....we'll work on that!!

CHEESECAKE!!!!

When we were seated, Clairy grabbed a lemon. That went well.

Nora decided to show Claira "how to do it." Epic fail.

Finally, we made it over to the Disney Store (which is AWESOME, by the way) to buy our tickets!! We also bought some shirts for our trip. I don't know who's more excited....the adults or the kids!!!

I'll leave you with this little gem. Each time we visit Disney, I plan to get a shot like this. Clearly, Josh thinks "he's a god." He kinda is. :)

Cheers to Disney memories of the past and future!!!

The most magical place on Earth!! :)