Bedtime

Bedtime is always a source of stress for me. Getting the boys bathed, dressed, read to, and calmed down is quite a chore. Now with the sun staying out longer it is even harder to drag them inside for bedtime.

We made a decision to have the boys share a bedroom. We bought bunk beds that are two double beds so they have plenty of room to grow into their beds. Do they use all of this room? Well, yes and no. Both boys either sleep in the bottom bunk or the top bunk...together. After tucking them in I turn off the light and walk down the hallway. I can hear little giggles and lots of shuffling. They are changing beds. This happens several times each night. The boys will start off in the bottom bunk then shift to the top bunk. One of them will have to go potty so then they will move on down to the bottom bunk. It goes on like this for a while. We also hear lots of "Stop it's! and Get off me's!, but mostly it is giggling.

Some nights it is frustrating to get them to settle down with several trips to their room to quiet them down. I keep reminding myself that these noises are good. They like each other. They are sharing with each other. They want to spend time together. I just need to remind myself of this at 10pm when they are still awake giggling!!!

Wilson Creek

Over the weekend we went to my parents house to celebrate my Mother's birthday. We had a wonderful weekend. Tod actually broke the son-in-law rule and beat my Dad at golf. Big no-no! After all was forgiven we continued to celebrate with a juicy steak and great wine.

On Sunday we headed up into the mountains to a place called Wilson Creek. On the way up we actually saw a beat up pickup truck with a bumper sticker that said, "I'd Rather Be At Wilson Creek!" Hmmm..must be an interesting place! Well, it was an amazing place. As we headed off the paved road and creeped along the creekside dirt road the scenery changed. A wild area of rapids, waterfalls, and big boulders jutting out over the creek. A perfect place for little boys to climb and mothers to worry!

Jacob and Brady loved climbing on the rocks and throwing sticks into the creek. My Dad took lots of pictures.

A group of four kayakers unloaded their gear and launched into the creek from where we were sitting. My Mom chatted with them and found out they were from Canada and just came down to kayak down Wilson Creek! The boys were fascinated. One man allowed Jacob and Brady to sit in his boat. As you can tell by the look on their faces...they loved it.

The kayakers went down the first little waterfall and chatted with the boys. Made them feel like a part of their adventure.

And...drumroll please... here is a very rare family photo!! Brady wasn't too happy because he wasn't quite finished with his sandwich and it was starting to rain.

Snow Bunnies!

Well, it's been about eight years since I have been skiing. It's about time! My very dear friend, Tracy and I decided to take a trip into the North Carolina mountains and see if we could conquer the slopes. Neither of us had skied in a very long time so there were no expectations of "swooshing" down the mountain.

Tracy failed to inform me that she is a MUCH better skier than me! The first run was pretty easy. We stayed on the easiest slope for a while. Then we ventured to the midway point. I tumbled down the mountain until we reached the easy slope. Then it was smooth sailing.

Here we are on the ski lift.


You can't tell, but it was really crowded. What a beautiful day!



After about two hours of skiing we were so hot! We went back to our locker and took off most of our layers. On the way out we passed the bar and had to have a little liquid courage to go to the top of the mountain!!



We skied for the rest of the afternoon and had such a good time. Tracy gracefully skiing down the mountain and me creating the snowball effect behind her! It has been three days since our trip and I am still sore with a huge bruise on my knee. Whenever I feel the soreness I just remember how much fun it was to spend the day with my friend!