Snow Day (and a "belated" Christmas for Rex)

Lyla's Winter Break was supposed to end January 5th (Sunday), but we got snow on the 3rd (Friday) and they were out through the 8th!

 Love that pretty smile

 Lyla loves making snow angels--she always has

 Ta da!

 She drew this picture of the two of us.

 Rex and I stayed inside and played--it was really cold!

Lyla never even left the deck and had a great time!

As I was (finally) taking down the Christmas decorations, Lyla asked why there were still gifts under the tree. We had explained to Lyla weeks earlier that Rex would be getting plenty of new toys from family and from Santa so we (Mom and Dad) would not be buying Rex anything new. Instead, we were going to wrap up her old toys for him to open. She wasn't sure about this idea at first, but then said, "so they're kinda from me, too, right?" That idea got her excited about sharing her old toys with Rex. Just as we suspected he would, Rex got lots of new toys for Christmas...which explains why we hadn't felt the need to let him open his gifts from us yet. January 3rd (the day the tree came down) was apparently the perfect day for it!

Rex is loving all of his new (to him) toys and Lyla's having fun with them again, too!

Flashback Friday: Wrapping up October 2013

Lyla's Daisy Girl Scout Troop had plans to visit a local pumpkin patch on what just happened to be a cold and rainy Saturday morning. Several of us toughed it out, though, and she earned her first patch!

 Proud of her Daisy shirt.

I happened to mention at my book club that Lyla is a Daisy and a fellow member gave me a bunch of stuff that belonged to her daughter! Score!

 "Jazz Hands!"

(that's just the caption that came to mind)

  Daisies and Brownies!

 Learning how to milk a cow

 Patty, our troop leader, held the bunny for all to pet. It bit her arm.

 A wet hayride to the pumpkin patch!

I joked with Lyla that we may not have had a ton of fun...but we made memories with our new friends!

Proud of her well-earned patch!

Lyla and Aiden painting pumpkins together at Aiden's house

This was the first costume I tried on Rex

He's the cutest puppy ever

But it was a little short on him...and he wanted it off

Lyla wanted to carve her own pumpkin this year

She drew her design on paper then on the pumpkin

Then she carved it!

Not bad, huh?

Very much like her design!

Halloween 2013

Halloween 2012

FIRST Halloween onesie becomes...

...a one-of-a-kind 2ND Halloween onesie! Ta-da!

Lyla got to wear her costume to school

Rex loves his sister so much

  This one's my favorite

The only photo of Lyla wearing her mask

Dracula blocking the two girls in a group of boys

Finally got everyone looking straight ahead

Rex didn't know what to think about all the costumes

Lyla and Karley (a friend from Daisy Girl Scouts)

My two Super Kids!

2013 Recap

 

The Martins' last picture of 2013 just before we counted down then went to bed.

I have to say that 2013 was a pretty good year. I started the year off with a trip to the ER (okay, that doesn't sounds good, but bear with me) which caused me to assess how I took care of (or didn't take care of) my body. I changed the way I eat, dropped 10 pounds and have kept it off. I feel good...and feel better about myself. My lack of motivation to exercise did NOT change, however, so maybe in 2014?

Anyway, back to the good stuff in 2013 (just some of the things that come to mind):

• Lyla...lost 3 teeth, tried her hand at gymnastics, saw The Biltmore, went to the Louisville Zoo, Georgia Aquarium, and The Coca Cola Museum, turned 6, started 1st grade, became a Daisy Girl Scout, completed her 1st 5K, rode Atlanta's giant ferris wheel, and climbed to the top of Stone Mountain. Lyla is also rocking 1st Grade and is quite the reader! She had some issues with "talking" (yes, I know this is funny because she is MINE), but she is getting much better.

• Rex...turned 1, got TOO many teeth to count, added occupational (February) and speech (November) to physical therapy (which started in 2012), started crawling, started eating solid foods which ended up solving his weight gaining problem (woohoo!), had only TWO cardiology appointments (which both ended with good reports), and finally said good-bye to his hip brace after 15 months

When I read those highlights, I am reminded how blessed I am...we are. I am thankful for a loving God who continues to provide for us, who continues to bless us, and continues to hear our prayers and answer them. I hope you can look back at last year and see the blessing in the midst of the trials. The blessings are there if you look for them.

I want to keep writing. Or start again, as the case may be. I miss it. It's therapeutic for me, I think. This past year has gotten away from me and when I think about "catching up" this blog, I feel overwhelmed. So, here's the plan: I am going to start fresh with 2014 and have what I will call FLASHBACK FRIDAY* where I will go back in time and finish out 2013. So, maybe by February or March, I'll be caught up. Sounds like a perfect plan. Right? We'll see how it goes. It's worth a shot. *There may not be a flashback EVERY Friday, but at least I have a goal.