the weekend

allen's birthday was this week and we spent the weekend at his dads in georgia. you've read the posts about the farm and all the fun we have. if not, check out all our fun times...here or here. this time was no exception - we had a great time.

in the past, all of my pictures have consisted of fishing, horses and the gator rides. i thought about that while we were there and thought i would shake things up a bit.

addison was able to do a lot more, and even though she was too small to fish, she tried. she wanted to walk and explore more than stand by the water (and not go in). avery spent a lot of time - and by a lot of time i mean all day saturday - outside with either the fish, the turkeys, the dogs or the horses. she's an animal lover. addison likes to look from a distance.

we did go on a turkey chase, as they live on hundreds of acres, and we saw tons. the girls loved going "super fast" in the gator as we tried to chase them down. fun times were had by all.

we also tried out the wii fit. for 2.5 hours straight. i'm addicted. it was so much fun and i found out a few things about myself. 1) i have awesome balance, 2) i should have been a downhill ski jumper or a yoga instructor, 3) i'm not in the best shape, 4) running is for the birds....or animals that run. :) you'll see pictures below. the one picture you won't see is me holding a yoga pose and falling flat (and i do mean flat) on my back from a standing, posed position. it hurt but i got back up and tried again. check the top scores...you'll see my name in the #1 spot across the board (except in the running)

avery fishing

addison trying to fish...she's a little far backavery's fishaddison's rock huntrunning to show daddythe turkeys
right after we went "super fast"
here's where it gets good - allen and tommy did the two man race on the wii. allen won, as you can see him sucking wind. tommy is in hot pursuit, though. it was hysterical.
though not as funny as allen's lack of flexibility and balance

just a sweet picture of sweet addison - she looked really old in this picture to me

"the snow"

i'm finally posting snow pictures. allen, among others, have been nipping at my heels to get the pictures up, update the blog, tell people about what's going on. and i haven't. it's not because i haven't wanted to or because i want to keep all of you hanging by a thread to see what my children will do next (all 5 of you). i just haven't. no rhyme, no reason. but i have a sneaking suspicion that at the root of it is what i learned during the fast. i've spent countless hours with my girls and with allen and i've enjoyed not being nailed to my computer, as i felt like i was for so many months.

it could also have something to do with the fact that i dropped my phone in the toilet (at mcdonalds) so as a reward (???) allen got me a phone that allows me to do my computer 'busy' stuff on the go. i should have dropped it months ago. if you're wondering if i actually went in for the phone, that my friends, is another post in itself.

whatever the reason, i do plan to blog more...lots of exciting things going on in the Drew family.

the snow day was unexpected (despite forcasters) and i was pessimistic about the whole prospect of snow. wanted it to happen, hoped it would, but not building myself, or avery, up for disappointment. after all, it was 60 degrees the day before....

needless to say i was truly surprised and excited when we woke up sunday to a beautiful blanket of white. avery was ecstatic and addison had no clue what was going on.

we bundled up and headed (walked - allen's idea) to our great neighbors house, luke and ali. they have mae, who is a few months older than addison. as our perfectly good and running car sat in the driveway, we headed into the wind and walked. addison walked for about 100 feet and said "hold you." holding you is fun and normally easy when you're not wearing clothes for snow.

we built snowmen, had snowball fights, drank cocoa, warmed by the fire and took GREAT naps. when they woke up the snow was gone, so it was almost like it was a dream. i love avery's attitude in that she was thankful that she got to play in it, if only for a little while. not one complaint about it being gone, just joy that it was there to begin with. i love her heart.

starting the walk...(see the house in the background)

three girls ready to play

addison is cold...but thought the snowball tasted greatavery and frosty (you can't see his eyes or mouth and this was before he had arms)seriously, who wouldn't want to buy this house???

sweet addison

long overdue, but here we go.

addisons 2nd birthday came and went much too quickly. we have had so much fun with her personality, spunk and attempt at humor. think a 2 year old can't be funny??? then you must not have one :)

it feels like she's grown up a faster than avery did at that age. the dr says she's really tall, so maybe that's why. he also said she's talking much more and more clearly than a lot of children her age ~ but as he also said, avery is such a talker, addison was bound to catch on. seriously, avery never stops talking and if you've heard her at nap or bedtime, you know. addison also moved up a class at church and that made me pretty sad. she's pretty much the smallest one in her class and i don't love that. i'm confident, though, that she can hold her own. she's a survivor (cue beyonce). but i don't like that she looks at us when she goes in as if to say "really? you want me to go in here?" this class also does not permit diaper bags, another sign she's no longer a baby :(

need more proof that she's growing up? she's started holding up her clothes and calling them "cute." she regularly asks for my coffee and she knows how to cut her eyes to see if you're watching her.

needless to say, the baby days are gone, but i'm keeping her in footie pj's as long as i can....until she's potty trained anyway. here are a few pictures from her birthday party. we had a great time with all of her/our friends....and missed a few of them as well.

she loved the happy birthday song

and she blew out both the candles, all by herselfher doll was her favorite gift and once she opened that, she didn't really want to open anything else! happy birthday addison!

is this the way i want to return??

so i was tagged by lori to "honestly scrap" about myself - and i'm not really sure what that even means. i'll be honest - i hate the 'tagging' but i feel as if i'm somewhat responsible after the '10 things i'm not afraid to admit' list..even though i didn't tag, i just 'encouraged' you to play along. regardless, i'm not above making a list, and apparently there are rules to this - they are: 1)First list 10 honest things about yourself - and make it interesting, even if you have to dig deep! 2) Pass the award on to 7 bloggers that you feel embody the spirit of the Honest Scrap. i feel like this is 10 things i'm not afraid to admit, but hey, i'm game. i'm sure my list can be expanded.

Stephanie's Scrap (again, not sure about the title)
1) honestly ~ i'm not a big fan of kids, other than my own and a few others that feel like my own
2) honestly ~ i'm not afraid of confrontation
3) honestly ~ i'll steal one from lori ~ when i speak of 'home' i might be referring to my parents house or my actual home with my actual grown up family
4) honestly ~ i'm great at memorizing scripture, not always the best at applying it
5) honestly ~ i think everyone with kids needs to go through a growing kids course
6) honestly ~ i have apparently become a bandwagon fan, says allen. i loathe the bandwagon person. that's okay, at least i don't buy the tshirt at the concert and wear it there.
7) honestly ~ i think addison looks a lot like my baby pictures and no one will admit it but me
8) honestly ~ i like winter and cold when i'm participating in a 'winter' and 'cold' activity, like skiing. but i don't like to be cold just because it's cold
9) honestly ~ i love that allen thinks to get me egg drop soup on wednesday nights all on his own
10) honestly ~ i hate starbucks and think most other people do too - they just like to say they drink it. it's a fad. come on people, BE the trend, don't follow it.

my seven
jennifer, abby, kaitlin, gina, beth, maegan, michelle

8.46 am

It's hard to believe that two years ago today, at 8.46 am, sweet Addison was born. Allen and I sat last night and walked through what we did that night before she was born ~ it was a busy night and Addison's arrival was not expected!!! But she came into this world perfect and we wouldn't have it any other way. So today, we're celebrating Addison. If you've met her, you know she can capture your heart with her sweet smile. She's a snuggler and she loves her big sister. Her first word was "more" and she took her first steps when she was 17 months old. She eats more than most adults but never seems to gain weight. She's our adventurer and she only has one volume - loud. Rules don't apply to her, so she thinks, and she uses her smile and her sweet little arms held out for hugs to get her out of trouble. She loves baby dolls and loves to jump and bounce. She carries KiKi wherever she goes. She's our Addison and she is two years old today!

until then...

it's such an exciting time of year for our church as we head into 21 days of prayer and fasting. i think it's a great way for us, both corporately and individually, to grow in our relationship with the Lord. allen and i are praying and believing for some very specific things and we want to start this year by giving Him our best ~ our complete focus on Him. i know it will be an amazing journey, so i'm asking that you pray for us as we travel through it. while our decision to fast and what we are fasting is a personal decision, i wanted to share why i wouldn't be around much for the next few weeks. the internet...facebook, blogs, shopping...takes up a lot of my time each day. time that could be spent with the Lord, better focused on my children and preparing to be the wife my husband needs me to be. so i'm am going to 'log off' of the internet and refocus my priorities. (disclaimer: i will, however, be checking email because i work from home...and if they don't hear from me for 21 days i will lose my job!:)

i will leave you with the two sweetest girls in my world...and we'll see you soon! love you!

with all this rain, they've been excited to try out their new rain coats

addison, not really sure what to thinkavery, trying to catch it on her tonguering around the rosies with daddy

**if you're interested in fasting you can read more about it here

new years rockin' eve

so, times have definitely changed. i can think back pre-kids, pre-marriage, to all of the new years eves spent out very late. this year we didn't even make it to midnight CST. we did watch the ball drop in new york and we did watch robbie maddison jump to the top of the arc de triomphe replica in las vegas. normally when we watch these stunts you realize that while they are dangerous, they aren't always life threatening. but this had the potential to go very wrong. he jumped 100ft vertical, not at an angle, had to stop himself on a 35 ft roof and then freefall down 5 stories, land on the ramp and coast the rest of the way. if you didn't watch it, it's amazing (crazy)...and here it is for your viewing pleasure. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL0CJgu6Q0g (note - there is a bit of language used at the end...it was on espn too and i bet the guy didn't know he was live, or maybe he did and just didn't care. both are realistic options.)

BUT, before we settled in for ryan seacrest and robbie maddison we had a fun night out with some of our favorite friends. we went bowling. riveting, i know...but it was so fun and the kids loved it. we were there with every other young family that wanted to be back home by 10pm. :)

allen, because everything is a competition

avery's first try - notice the helpsecond try, with guidance but no helpthird times a charmaddison - eating - but with stylei think they were strategizing how to beat elliegirl talkdon't they look so big??addison wanted a turnshe did it!the whole grouphappy new year!