Snow Much Fun!

 We had the best few snow days recently!  On Friday morning (12/8) it started snowing a little bit.  Stonehaven called the day at noon, so I picked the girls up and we headed on home.  My car (and others) were already slipping some on the roads.  I couldn't even get all the way our driveway because of the ice.  The weather forecasters said there would be "a light dusting."  It soon became apparent they were wrong!  By late afternoon, there were a couple of inches of snow.  It seemed to be dying down, so we headed outside for the first of a few snowball fights.

 This was the really fun powder snow, so it was great to throw it in the air and watch it cascade down.

 Then back to more snowball fights!

 The neighbors had a great path for sledding down their big hill, but the girls found a new path on their sled down our small backyard hill.

 It was such a fun afternoon, and we assumed that was the end of it.  Little did we know what was to come.  It started snowing again in the evening and didn't let up.  By Saturday morning, we had over 8 inches of snow at our house!  It was beautiful!  Unfortunately, we had no power either.  Thankfully our fire was able to keep us pretty warm for awhile.

 Going back out to play!

 The girls were getting really good at sledding!  They would go down the hills sitting or standing.  At one point, they would go down our driveway and then turn to go down our big hill.  It was really fun to watch!  I even gave it a go down one of the smaller hills and it was great!

 All the forecasters came out and apologized for how off they were in their predictions.  That was okay with us; we had a great weekend!  Ryan and I were supposed to host the Stonehaven board Christmas party Saturday night for all the teachers and their spouses.  We had everything ready to go for it.  At noon, we decided to cancel the catering, and at four, since we still didn't have power, we cancelled the party altogether.  The girls had gone over to my parents house just after noon to stay warm and play at their house.  When we cancelled the party, Ryan and I headed over there too because we knew we'd be too cold at our house.  Thankfully the roads were in good condition to drive.  By 9:00 the power had come back on, so we headed back home to sleep in our own beds that night.  We were all warm and cozy and had more fun in the snow with neighbors on Sunday.  What a great weekend!  

I sure do love these people, and I like having adventures with them!

Mia's First Basketball Game

Mia is so excited to play Upward Basketball for the Lady Broncos this season!  This is her first go round at basketball, but she is such a great natural athlete that she is picking it up quickly.  She had a couple of really good passes to teammates in this game, and she played some good defense too.  Side note, she loves being number 2 since that's the same as Matt Ryan;  we reminded her that was a different sport, but that didn't really matter.  

I think she's going to get the hang of this really quickly.

A little more fall fun

A few miscellaneous November items...

Lily and I had a little time at the mall together recently, and we couldn't resist a slice of cookie cake, especially when we saw that the icing matched her braces!

 I made individual spaghetti pot pies one evening and made them look like little jack-o-lanterns.  We didn't get pumpkins to carve this year, so this was as close as we got to one.

The face you make when your parents tell you that Stonehaven is adding a high school that you can attend...woo hoo! 

 Sporting their new "Stoneheaven Class of" t-shirts.  It will be here before we know it!

 Lily took some sweet pictures of Decker playing in the leaves.

 Why yes, we did put our Christmas decorations up in mid-November this year.  We love the decorations and couldn't wait any longer!

Mia is 9!

How in the world is my baby girl 9 years old?!  I can't believe it.  Mia is the most precious child, and I love her more than I ever imagined was possible.

 We talked about several party ideas for Mia, but what she really wanted to do was have a few of her best friends over to watch Descendents.  She absolutely loves that Disney franchise right now, and she wants to share it with those she loves most.  So, on Friday the 17th, I picked Macey up from her house, and then we picked up Mia, Eliana, and Sophie from school (Lily and Camille came home too).  These girls were excited!  Everyone changed clothes and played for a little bit until it was time for an early dinner.  Chick-fil-a nuggets, chips and guacamole, and some apple slices for everyone.  I love that she wanted to keep things simple!  Then it was time to head down for the movie.  Mia loved the surprise banner we hung up.  We had everyone pose as their favorite character in front of it.

 Time to snuggle in for the movie.  Glow sticks made it even more fun.

 Between movies 1 and 2, the girls came up to sing happy birthday and enjoy some ice cream.  Since we had two gluten-free guests, we went with ice cream as our treat.  I think she made a big wish!

 Love these sweet girls!

 We opened presents from friends and then finished up the second movie and then Eliana and Sophie's dads came to pick them up.  Macey stayed the whole night with us.  Unfortunately, she got so sick during the night; we all felt so badly for her.

The next morning was Mia's actual birthday.  After Macey and Camille left, we let Mia open her other presents from her family.  We had to tell her that the present from Daddy and me wasn't there.  We needed her help instead to go pick out her new bike!  She was so excited!  She has been desperately needing and wanting one for awhile now, so we drove out to Roswell Bicycles and found her the perfect one.  She was elated.  When we got home, she and Lily had a great time riding while I made her a cake; she really wanted to have a cake today since she couldn't with her friends.  I let her do all the icing because she really wanted to make it these three colors.  We all enjoyed a slice after dinner. 

 On Sunday afternoon, Mia and I headed to the Marriott Marquios to have some mommy-daughter time.  We immediately changed into swimsuits and headed to the pool.  They have a great one there!  We spent a couple of hours in there having so much fun together.  There weren't many other guests too which made it even better.  We finally decided to head on back up to order room service, and we were very pleasantly surprised when they also delivered four complimentary cupcakes to wish Mia a happy birthday.  Thank you Marriott!  We had a great evening filled with laughs and yummy food.  I'm so glad we had this time together.

 I normally put in information on the annual doctor's visit here too, but her appointment isn't for a few more weeks.  I did however ask her a whole bunch of questions to see what her favorites are right now.  So, here's where Mia is at 9.

Favorite color - Royal Blue

Favorite Movie - Descendants 2

Favorite tv show - Vamparina

Favorite book - Emily Windsnap series

Favorite drink - Hi C fruit punch

Favorite memory from last year - Going to Alaska

Wants to be when she grows up - a builder (not an architect, but the individual who actually builds)

Best friend - Sophie Mausz

Favorite Bible verse - Psalm 19:1-5

Favorite school subject - Latin

Favorite food - Bob Evans mashed potatoes with butter and cheese

Favorite activity - Biking

Favorite place - Alabama to go see Bama

Favorite game - Basketball (she starts Upward Basketball in a few weeks)

Favorite Restaurant - Miyako and Uncle Maddios

Favorite Animal - Wolf

Most Thankful for - Family

Goal for the year - Try as many sports as possible

Mia went for her annual check-up a few weeks after her birthday, and the doctor said she is doing great.  She is currently 76 pounds and is 51.5 inches tall.  She's a healthy, growing girl which is wonderful news to hear.

Ryan and I are so incredibly thankful for our sweet Mia.  Our lives simply wouldn't be complete without her.  She brings joy to everyone around her.  She is so smart and funny.  She is truly the most generous person I have ever met.  She wants to help others.  She is fiercely loyal.  She loves to read, and she is really enjoying the Emily Windsnap and Whatever After series right now.  She gives her best efforts when she tries something new, and she's always so brave to try new things.  If it doesn't go as expected, she picks herself back up and tries again.  She amazes me every single day.  We are both so very proud to call Mia our daughter.

500th Reformation Celebration and Halloween

How cool that we get to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation?  At least, it's the 500th year since Martin Luther nailed his 95 thesis to the door of the Whittenburg Church.  We learned a lot about Luther and other individuals that led to the reforming of the Catholic church.  Fascinating for sure.  At Stonehaven, they celebrate this occasion every year, and the kids dress up as Biblical characters or as historical figures from that time.  This year, Lily went as a peasant village girl while Mia went as a fair maiden of the court.

 Ryan went up to help with the fair that afternoon at the school, and I'm so glad Elizabeth was on hand to catch these pictures.  I love these people!

 Lily's class all dressed up!

 We were looking forward to celebrating Halloween with our neighbors that evening.  Lily and Ryan tried to get Decker in the mood by dressing up as Matt Ryan; that lasted for about as long as it took to take this picture.  He wasn't having it!

 Mia changed in to her Descendents' Mal costume and was ready to trick or treat!  Lily was unfortunately not feeling well, so she stayed home.  We actually had her tested for strep the next morning; thankfully it came back negative.

 All the kids, ready to go!

What a fun evening!

Annual Family Pictures

At the end of Fall Break, we met the wonderful Allison Mauer in Downtown Smyrna for our annual family pictures.  I always look forward to this!  She does such a great job capturing our beautiful girls, and we are so thankful for her talents.