Vacations/Trips:
In January we went to Pigeon Forge to stay at a hotel with a water park. We also went to the Aquarium.
Sam, Henry and I went to a monster truck show in Greenville where we saw Grave Digger and Monster Mutt. This was pretty cool!
We went on our annual Fripp Trip with all of my family. This year was extra special because there was a wedding. Tim and Katy got married!
Sam and I went on a get-a-way to Nashville sans kiddos. It was really fun. Nashville is a neat town. We stayed in a nice hotel, walking distance to Broadway, with a roof "pool." We ate good food, did a tour of the whole town, but I personally liked it because I could listen to music whenever and be home by 8 to go to bed. This was the first time we had left the boys for that long.
We also ventured to Pennsylvania to visit my brother Tim and his family. We stopped in Haper's Ferry for the night on the way up. While we were up there we went to Dutch Wonderland, a little amusement park for younger kiddos, saw fairy houses and the boys had some good cousin time.
In November, we took a trip to Pigeon Forge with Sam's parents to stay at the Christmas Inn. The boys had fun. Santa made an appearance a few time, we ate cookies, drank cider and looked at Christmas decorations and lights. We also went to see animals of the Rain Forest, and the Island, and the Aquarium. It was a busy trip.
Things we did:
-2 sessions of Music Together class- the boys enjoyed it!
-Various parks
-One of mine and the boys' favorite things to do was go to Lake Junaluska and get a breakfast snack, run around the labyrinth, and go to the playground.
-Sam and I went to see Modest Mouse. Music definitely doesn't sound the same as it used to. It was just noise. I will take an early bed and listen to the CD from the comforts of my own home next time!
-Hands on Museum
-Water play in the yard and made s'mores
-Toured Lake Junaluska by boat
-Got Cats- which I have mixed feelings about....
-Sunflower corn maze
-Elida Corn Maze
-Sam and I ran the Power of Pink Race through Frog Level
Holidays:
-Valentine's Day: Heart-shaped food
-Easter at our house- We had everyone over this year. The boys looked so daper.
-Father's Day and Celebrating my Dad's birthday in Hot Springs with my brother
-4th of July Parade at the lake and then Henry's first fireworks in Maggie Valley
-Halloween: We were various characters from Peter Pan this year: TicToc Croc, Captain Hook, Peter Pan, and Tinkerbell. We went to a friend's house and trick or treated around their neighborhood and to the trunk or treat at our church.
Henry:
Henry turned 4 this year. He is super smart, super silly, super funny, and just all around super. He is our cerebral one; he learns by observing and is very sensitive. He aims to please and always wants things done a certain way- he does not like to fail. He does have his dark moments but those are few and far between and short lived. He goes to preschool 5 days a week this year (by his choice), and while he seems to enjoy it, I miss him! The latter half of this year, he has begun to try to kick his nap habit. There is usually 1-2 days a week he doesn't nap. He is now out of pull-ups at night and dresses himself- both milestones that were self-initiated. He continues to say cute things like "inja" for ninja and "incited" for excited. He is mostly agreeable, but can be pretty tough when he is in a snit. He has become quite the builder with legos this year and has a great imagination. His play interest is pretty diverse and ranges anywhere from GI Joe and dress up to cooking in the kitchen and being outside. He also loves books and is getting into coloring and crafts. He loves his little brother, but is definitely beginning to do things to aggravate him on purpose. He is very affectionate toward Charlie, but Charlie meets his affections with skepticism usually, and they are not returned unless he is guilted into it. Henry also has a love/fear relationship with the cats. He likes the idea of them and will pet them when they are calm, but goes into freak out mode when they are "too crazy."
Charlie:
Charlie is just a straight up mess. But a good one most the time. He turned 2 this year. I can not believe it! He is our happy-go-lucky, knows no danger, mischievous one. There have been very few weeks this year where he has not had some kind of face injury- a scraped nose, bruised forehead, black eye. He is one that will just silently wonder up the stairs leaving no trace. But like I said, he is tons of fun. He has no fear of failure, which will lead to successes and discoveries for him; he learns by doing. He likes to fun and try anything that Henry does. He started sleeping through the nigh at 15 months and is a beautiful sleeper. He weaned from nursing at 21 months. He loves his paci- which he calls "Ah-ee". At this time, he is strings 3-4 words together and is a chatter box. He refers to himself as "Chagie." He can count to "14" and say his ABC's and sing a variety of songs, including "Trot Old Joe" and "Happy Birthday" (Happy to you, happy cake). Most of the time his front sounds (t, d, l) come out as back sounds (k, g), probably because his pacifier has kept his tongue in the floor of his mouth. But he is starting to kick that habit, and we hope to have him weaned by 2.5. He has something to say about everything. He loves to play ice cream shop, train, and ride things- his riding toys outside, the Gator, lawnmower, whatever he can find. His attention span for books is becoming longer. He has his book preferences but will sit a good 15-20 minutes to read. He also LOVES the song "Baby Shark." He loves the cats, but loves to torture them, pulling tails, grabbing fur, picking up with no remorse. He's so sweet and so stinkin' cute, you can't stay mad at him, though.
Me:
I turned 33 this year. I can still do a cart wheel. I just basically chase kids around all the time and pick up a revolving mess at the house. I also work part time. For the first part of the year I worked 2 days a week with infant-toddler age kiddos, but then in August I began working 3 days a week with school-age kiddos at Shining Rock. I enjoy it there. All my stuff is in one place and I don't have to travel or worry about cancellations. I can sit at a table instead of crawling around on the floor which is what I do at home anyways. It has been a fun, action packed year for our family. I have enjoyed my time with the boys so much- just getting to wake up some mornings and not have anywhere to go- watching them develop a relationship and become more independent, yet dependent on each other- watching their play skills develop- watching how their minds and thought processes and understanding of emotions and all the feels develop. They are truly so awesome! The following pictures sum up the most important parts of my days: 
Sam:
Get up. Go to work. Come home. Listen to "Song 2" by Blur and "Blitzkrieg Bop" by the Ramones and run around the house again and again. Sing "Trot Old Joe" to Charlie. Over and over and over. Wrestle with Henry. Rise and repeat. Love it.
That's all folks! Hope you have a fantabulous holiday season and hope to catch you more in the new year!
