Snow Day 2K11

Wow.... TONS of snow at our place! We woke up this morning to around 7 inches of snow! That has got to be some sort of record around here! Needless to say, we didn't have school today. So Sam and I both got to stay home. It's supposed to be my week to work and I got today off and we're getting tomorrow off too! I always welcome the opportunity to stay at home with Michael, but it's even better when Sam gets to stay home with us!

We hopped in our 4-wheel-drive vehicle and drove to our friend's house (only 2 miles away) and played in the snow with their family.

Michael and Kaylin are best friends and they enjoyed throwing snowballs and riding on our makeshift "sled". The snow was so powdery that you couldn't form a ball, much less a snowman. So, we decided sledding was the best idea! Nobody owns sleds here in Georgia. We use trash can lids and laundry baskets... But, my friend Robin had the idea of using this baby play thing-a-ma-jig as a sled and it was awesome! Sam even rode on it a bit...

Our family could only take the cold weather for a little bit before we had to head in and warm up by the fire. Side note: We are known to go snowboarding for hours, but when it comes to playing in the snow, we're wimps! Go figure...

We spent the rest of the afternoon at home in our nice warm house by our electric fireplace. We made rice krispy treats and snowcream. (I'm not a fan of the snowcream... I'd rather have a Chick-fil-a icedream instead.) I'm so excited to have another day at home tomorrow. Maybe the snow will stick enough for us to make a snowman this time!

As of this afternoon, we are officially iced in our house. We watched out our window this afternoon as a man was trying to drive up our street. He was going really fast trying to make it up the hill and would spin like crazy. He reversed and tried again several times before getting stuck in a ditch. Sam helped him out by shoveling snow... After half an hour, he was unstuck. Doesn't look like we're going anywhere tomorrow... maybe even the next day too?!

The Name...

"A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold."

Proverbs 22:1

We have decided on a name for our baby boy.

His name is

Isaac Scott

The story leading up to his name is such a God story. Isaac was always the name we had in mind for our second boy. Sam loved the name so much and I just simply agreed to give that name to our boy. However, when the time came to choose names for a *possible* boy and girl, I threw Isaac out the window. One of my friends from college chose the exact same first/middle name combination and I wanted to be different. I was never super crazy about it and I talked Sam into choosing another name.

We knew Scott was going to be the middle name because that's Sam's father's name. It's important to us to incorporate family names in our boys (Michael is my father's name). We also knew we wanted a biblical first name. So, I wrote out probably 10 names that I liked and Sam didn't like ANY...back to the drawing board.

We compromised on the name David... David Scott. We even told our families the name like it was official. We thought it was official. I acted happy about it, but I really never felt a peace about it. I never felt like that was our boy's name, but I never told Sam.

Two nights ago, I was feeling really uneasy about Baby Boy's name. I just knew that God had not chosen the name "David" for him. I prayed about it and asked God to show me a different name for our boy. I actually gave God a deadline....ha! I prayed that he would show me the name THAT NIGHT so that I could talk to Sam about it. I know God doesn't work with deadlines, but I was praying for an answer soon because we had already told people a different name. PHEW! Why is naming your child such a stressful event?

Anywho... That night I dreamt our child's name was Isaac. The name I didn't choose. The name I made my husband forget. The name our best friends chose for their *possible* little boy. I woke up at 6:00 wide awake - very unusual for me - because I had gotten confirmation from God just like I had prayed. I took the next hour and a half and prayed over my family. God is so good in answering prayers.

I dreaded telling Sam that my pregnant brain had changed her mind. However, he was so receptive and LOVED that God had told me a name....especially the name God had given him years ago. I have no doubt that God named our child!

So, Isaac Scott he will be. It's official. I'm going to monogram some onesies this week!

Isaac means "laughter". God made Sarah laugh when she became pregnant in her old age with her long awaited son and he has made me laugh by being so faithful. Why did I ever think anything different?

Happy New Year!

I love the feeling of starting fresh. I get that feeling every January 1st and throughout the year it just wears off and then comes back full force the next January 1st. It's a time for me to start new healthier habits, take better care of my family and my household... I'm just so motivated.

I've made a few resolutions in my head, but they're all random (like washing my face every night before going to bed - don't do that often...ha).

We celebrated last night with our good friends, Jacob & Robin. They brought their kids, of course. We put them to bed so they didn't ring in the new year at midnight. It won't be long before they're asking to stay up late... We'll take advantage of early bedtimes while we can!

I think this is our 7th year (?) celebrating New Years' Eve with them. Crazy! It's fun to see how our lives have changed since we've become great friends. I wish I could find a picture from 7 years ago, but that might be a daunting task that I'm not willing to do. Here's our picture from last night... there will be 2 more babies next year. Robin is expecting too!

Happy 2011 to you!

Ice Day = Making Playdough

A couple of weeks ago, we had an ice day here in Georgia. No snow, but the roads were icy so school was cancelled. I had the week off anyway, but it was nice to have Sam get the opportunity to spend the day with us!

I had read THIS blog and had been wanting to try out some homemade playdough. I remember making it as a child and thinking it was so amazing that you could make something rather than buy it in the store!

Right when Michael woke up, we started on our playdough making. He got to help pour all the ingredients in (before the stove was turned on), and then I helped once heat was involved. It was surprisingly easy to make and it didn't take long at all!

Here's the recipe that we used. It makes the squishiest playdough and it's 2-year-old tested and approved... 2 thumbs up!

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup water

1/4 cup salt

2 tsp. cream of tarter

1 Tbls. vegetable oil

food coloring - I used 5 drops or so...

Dump all the ingredients in your pot and give them a good stir. Michael was able to help with this part. He especially loved the part when you put the food coloring in and it makes the dough change colors!

Put the pot on the stove over medium heat. Continue stirring until it forms a ball.

Dump the ball out onto some wax paper and let it cool. Then knead the dough until it's well blended. It only took about 10 minutes or so to let it cool down enough to play with it.

Then, make fun playdough creations! Michael wanted to make a Mickey Mouse clubhouse!

We bought some of those little Ziploc containers to store the playdough...they work perfectly!

Let me know if you make this and how you like it! Happy playdough making!! :)

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

We hung out at Sam's parents house for a couple of days while the whole family was there! We ate dinner Christmas night (when the power went out), and we continued to have fun the next day!

Like I mentioned before, it was our first white Christmas since I've been alive, so we took advantage of the once-in-a-lifetime chance and played in the snow! However, we were only out there for about 27 seconds before the wind froze us to death! I know all our family and friends up north would make fun of us, but this Georgia girl is a wimp when it comes to cold weather! Michael loved playing with his daddy and making snowballs and a "snowman"...more like a snow elf! The snow was so soft that it wouldn't stick together!

Michael and his cousin Maylin got to watch their new Veggie Tales movies...

...played in Maylin's new kitchen - we were served a lot of play mac-n-cheese, hotdogs, and tea!

We played some family games - FastTrack and Axies and Allies (which takes 11 hours to play - not my kind of game!)

Ate some sugar cookies - Sam's Grandma's famous recipe...

We miss spending time with our family already! I will leave you with this adorable picture of Michael and his Great-Grandpa! :)

Christmas Festivities

Our family has been celebrating Christmas for a few days since we have a lot of family to visit and we want to spend time with everyone.

We started out our Christmas festivities at my mom's house. Michael loved spending time with his cousin Kennedy and playing with their new toys! Michael also enjoyed a new train table that my mom got to keep at her house. He was in Heaven!

We watched the classic Rudolph movie the night we were there. They loved it!

We started out Christmas morning at our house. Michael slept until around 9:00 - I know...so blessed - and then he opened gifts from Mommy and Daddy. We got him a Lego table, some matchbox cars, and a Mickey plate set! I love watching the joyful expressions on his face as he opens each gift!

I have to say that this Christmas was extra special with Michael. He is at a perfect age to enjoy spending time with people and of course opening presents! He also learned the story of Jesus' birth this year. His Grandma and Grandpa (my in-laws) gave him a Little People Nativity set and it's been so sweet to watch him call the people by name and play with Baby Jesus.

Since Michael learned the meaning of Christmas this year, we started a new tradition! We made a birthday cake for Jesus and sang to Him! Michael loves birthday parties, so he was all about singing to Jesus. He wanted to sing "Happy Birthday" all day!

Yesterday - Christmas Day - was the first white Christmas in Georgia in over 100 years (I'm relying on weatherman stats, so don't hold me accountable for that). It was so fun to have snow on the ground on Christmas day! Michael and Sam watched the snow build up in our yard all morning. By the time the afternoon rolled around, we officially were covered in WHITE!

Christmas afternoon we celebrated with my Dad. We met at my brother's house, so we got to see my niece Kennedy again. It's so funny when the two of them are together because she always wants Michael to join her in playing Princess or Fashion Show! They enjoyed Kennedy's new Christmas presents until Michael got to open some gifts of his own. He got his very own tent! He was so excited that he wanted to go ahead and sleep in it... the sign of many campouts to come...

Christmas night was spent at my in-laws house! We enjoyed our traditional Christmas dinner - complete with Swedish Meatballs - but right as we were finished eating and getting ready to play a couple of games, the power went out! We lit some candles, but I didn't take a single picture! The power came back on in the middle of gift-time, but I still didn't take any pictures that night... I made up for it today (those pictures coming soon...)

We are enjoying time at Sam's family's house over the next couple of days with his brother and sister-in-law visiting from California and his Grandpa visiting from Des Moines. His sister and brother-in-law live 5 hours away, so it's obviously a rare occasion that we are all together!

Time with family is good. Thank you Lord!

And thank you, Lord, for sending Jesus to us as a baby boy...the greatest Christmas present ever!

"For God so loved the world....."

Merry Christmas!

We are celebrating our Savior's birth today with our family!

We wish you and your family love, joy, and peace this Christmas season!!

I will blog about all of our festivities soon... we've had a lot of fun recently!