January Week 4

Thumbs Up:

• Jackson is growing up way too quickly and as much as I don't want him to grow up too fast, I love relating to him as a 'kid' now versus toddler. Here are some of the funny exchanges we've had recently:
• Jackson was eating Scrabble Cheez-Its and he was telling me the letter, the sound and a word that begins with that sound. I was going for simple words, so when he had letter A I said, oh like April and he said yeah and Antarctica! Wow that was not a word I expected him to throw out there!
• If you all are on Facebook, you saw my post on Sunday. Jackson asked me to sing the Lasagna song and when I said I didn't know it, he said yes you do...Lasagna, Lasagna in the highest!
• Today I bought Jackson a little prize, a Cars t-shirt, and when I put him down for his nap he said, "Mommy I really appreciate you getting me that Cars shirt!" He's such a sweetie!
• Mike kicked it into overdrive this weekend and got super productive! He put up a stone edge on our flower beds, mowed down a bunch of weeds, edged our yard, put up a border around the mailbox, and filled the flower beds with more bark. It was impressive. Especially 'cause he was outside doing most of this when the windchill was like 20! Yep my hubby is a rockstar!
• Monday was a picture perfect 65 degree weather day. The kids and I stayed outside and played all afternoon. It makes me look forward to the warmer weather to come with a nice big fenced in yard! Right now we're bracing for up to 6" snow and schools was cancelled today and tomorrow.  

Thumbs Down:

• I have been having a lot of trouble sleeping recently.  I don't drink caffeine, aside from my morning coffee, so that's not the problem. It seems like right when I get into deep sleep something always wakes me up and I never get back to good sleep before morning. Hopefully it's just a phase and I start sleeping better soon.
• Our two boxes of Thin Mints did not last very long at all. No self control with those things - NONE!

Pics from the week:

What a good big brother playing tea party with sissy!

She needs 3 different purses to go shopping!

College already!

Painting fun!

Waffle House Champ - over half a big waffle and two pieces of 'macon'!

Jackson loved watching them make all the waffles!

Isn't she beautiful! I didn't have a matching bow or ribbons, so we experimented with hair for church.

Helping Mommy make laundry soap!

Fashion show!

Blowing kisses!

So much fun!

Favorite Things: Breakfast Nook

January Week 3

Thumbs Up:

• We finally got our fence installed this week! They came at the end of November for the estimate and it took until now to get it in. We can actually let the kids roam free and not worry about all the cars/trucks passing by. Jackson loves using the gutters as starting blocks and running around the perimeter of the fence. 
• I love three day weekends! They go by so quickly though. We enjoyed a movie on Saturday, football with friends on Sunday, and played outside as much as possible on Monday. The weather has been great here the past couple of days (snow rolls in tonight though). We also bought all our supplies for our Spring garden. The kids got gardening gloves and can't wait to help out.

Jackson looks pretty good in my cowboy boots, may have to get him his own pair soon!

Apparently purple dry erase crayons can also double as lipstick!

My little girl is growing up too quickly - this is her first real pony tail!

Always so happy!

Mike and I had to wake this kids up to go on our date Saturday, but this is how we found them. Little sleeping beauties!

Thumbs Down:

• Honestly can't think of anything worthy of 'Thumbs Down' this week. I'm sure if I really dwelled on it, I could come up with something. 

Favorite Things:

With the fence being installed this week I thought I'd show the outside of the house. We live on an interior corner lot that's .38 acres. The house itself is 2532 square feet, 4 bedroom 2.5 bathroom. We really would have loved to put in a privacy fence, but our HOA has a restriction and only 4 ft. black chain link fences are allowed. 

This is our screened in porch in the back of the house. Can't wait 'til the summer when I can enjoy my coffee out here in the morning!

January Week 2

Thumbs Up:

• Jackson absolutely LOVES his new school. I can hardly tear him away from it at the end of the day. It's amazing how much knowledge that little sponge of a mind can soak up in just a few short hours each day. 
• It's really been a win win situation having Jackson at school because it gives me some one on one time with Kennedy. She is so much fun to be around and quite entertaining. This week she has decided to call me Mom. Up until now she and Jackson have called me Momma or Mommy. The even funnier thing is that she literally says it at then end of every phrase..."what's this Mom," look at this Mom,"...I've heard my name more than I can count this week. How can I be annoyed by that super sweet little voice though!
• Mike managed to fix our trampoline despite the damage sustained during the storm after Christmas. The kids are back in heaven again and I have to say it's a pretty good workout for these old bones too!
• I actually read a book this week, didn't take me long either. Mike's been begging me to read Lone Survivor now that the movie is out so that we could go see the movie soon. I read it in no time at all because it was too intense to put down. The amazing strength this guy and his team had is insane. I can't wait to see the movie and I highly recommend anyone that hasn't read the book to buy it and read it today! I fully expect to need a box of Kleenex during the movie like I needed during the book.

Thumbs Down:

• Jackson has pink eye and had to stay home from school today. Guess that's what happens when you assimilate back with kids again! The worst part is giving him his eye drops. I have to pin him down and force his eye open while he screams and kicks, the whole bit. It's miserable! I've never seen him throw such awful tantrums. He must really hate having stuff put in his eyes.
• Our deep freeze, which is only two years old, decided to quit this week. We literally threw out more money in food than the freezer cost. Mike had just stocked it with a huge brisket, lamb, pork tenderloin, all now in the trash! 

Favorite Things: Kennedy's Room

Kennedy has become such a big girl and has a big girl room to match!

We switched out the red for pink, purple and turquoise, but kept the black from her old room. She loves her new big girl bed!

This is her little dress up corner. So happy she gets to play with my great grandmother (Nana's) old hats just like Carey and I did growing up.

Mike added an extra bar in her closet just for dress up clothes. She and Jackson both love playing with all the costumes. 

Here's the crib that Carey and I used as babies and also used for our babies. Now Kennedy can use it for her Cabbage Patch babies!

This is super special to me. My mom cross stitched this back in 1988 I think and I put it a new frame to update it a little; it fits right into K's room!

Yep, she's right at home!

Playing dress up!

Kennedy likes to mix it up a little!

Too cute in her outfit Aunt Carey gave her!

Had to throw in a picture of my handsome boy too!

Happy 2014!

Happy New Year from the Hefferly Family! I actually stayed up until midnight which may be my first time since having kids! I did drink my champagne at 8pm though in case I didn't make it :)

We had a great week with my parents in town. The kids finally got to open the last presents under the tree, a high priority on their list!  Mike started back to work and Jackson started his new school on the 2nd while I went back to the gym to try to undo the damage from the holidays! Mom and Dad's visit was short and the weather wasn't ideal, but we had a great time. The kids had to show them around every room in the house and took advantage of new company to play with. We did manage to squeeze in time for outlet shopping and an evening in Wilmington, NC. Dad helped us out with some handy work and taking down Christmas decorations. It's amazing how much holiday 'stuff' we've acquired in just 7 short years of marriage! On Sunday we celebrated Mike's 33rd birthday and took my parents back to the airport. They had a rough day/night flying back home, but thankfully made it home safely and just in time before bad weather hit. Here are the pics from the week:

Jackson slept in his new tent from MiMi & PaPa the whole time they were there.

Trying our their new scooters!

First day of school - Jackson loves the silly pig outside the school.

Yea for Harry & David's Christmas clearance section!

Nothing says Happy Birthday like a donut!

Enjoying the view in Wilmington.

Aren't they cute!

Mom loved all the old architecture!

Favorite Things: Master Bedroom
It has been so nice to have a space to call our own. Our last house, believe it or not, didn't have a master bathroom, so we all shared. Not to mention that our room was right next to the other two rooms and we could hardly watch TV without waking the kids up. In this house, our room is downstairs and has a huge master bathroom. We have a 'his & hers' closet and vanities, a shower, toilet closet, and jetted tub - it's seriously heaven!

The kids love the new bathtub too!