Outside and Easter Fun

Spring Break arrived last weekend, and Corey and I took a nice trip down to Knoxville to visit Scott and Danielle Taylor. One of the highlights was getting to watch the Mountaineers defeat Kentucky! We were the gold and blue in a sea of Orange, but I think a lot of the other people were rooting for us too!

Once we got home, the weather was too wonderful to keep the kiddos inside. They love the great outdoors, and we have enjoyed letting them run and dig and play. Joe is fast. He runs and runs until he is exhausted. Libby likes to draw with sidewalk chalk and collect sticks. She is more deliberate with her energy.

Easter was also a lot of fun this year. Claire hid eggs for the kids to find after dinner, so we all watched as they wandered around. Two of my friends from school came to dinner too--they helped the kiddos find the eggs and tried to keep Joe reined in. It was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon!

Brittany , Joe and Lindsey celebrating finding an egg

Grandma and Libby having a nice hug (Libby is wearing her new PJs with a tutu)

Libby loved hunting for eggs-this is her and Lindsey with her loot

Joe found an egg "all on his own"

All in all the kids are great-we are great-school is stressful and so is work. But only a few weeks until my first year is over and I am so looking forward to summer!

An actual nice hug between the siblings

This is what most hugs look like-Libby tackling Joe or vice versa

Oh so verbal...

Libby has always been very verbal, but Joe is joining the conversation now. He can say all sorts of things, and it is fun to hear his voice. Surprisingly he is extremely soft spoken and quiet. He has his moments of LOUD, but generally he talks softly. He can say "Neigh" and "Moo" and "Dada" "Mama" "MeMe" "Bibby" for Libby "fish" "waffle" and more. He is good with names -- one of his favorite people is our friend Stu-"Du" to Joe.

Besides the talking, the kids are growing. Libby has become quite the little girl. She loves all things princess! Everything she does now is so grown up. Her vocabulary is great and so is her sense of humor. She is just like her Daddy. Libby loves to help-cook, clean, discipline Joe (she is not allowed to do this, but occassionally she puts him in Time Out). The other day, she wanted to help our friend Becki with her baby Ella. So Libby held her. It was super cute! Ella was not very amused when Libby was trying to give her a kiss

Apologies for the hiatus

I know that it has been awhile since we posted. January has been a busy month. I am getting back into the swing of school, and unfortunately our family has also been plagued with viruses. Two weeks ago, we all (minus Corey) got a stomach virus that knocked us pretty hard. Libby had to go to the hospital to get fluids and medicine because she just could not stop throwing up. Then this week everyone decided to get colds. So Libby and Joe are both coughing and snotty.

Despite the illness, the recent snow was too good to pass up. This morning we bundled them up and let them loose. Libby made a snow angel and Joe "shoveled" with daddy. Once inside, Libby had some hot cocoa and then passed out. She wore herself out!

family cookie making-Libby is quite the helper and Joe is quite the eater!

Kids having a movie night with Daddy. Libby is finally able to sit through a full length film, her favorite is Tinkerbell (thus the costume). Joe likes the popcorn!

Christmas 2009

We started our Christmas Journey at the Bozics house December 23. We let the kids open their gifts and the fighting commenced. Libby got a piano and Joe could not understand her reluctance to share. The result was the Libby and the piano went in one room and crying Joe went in another.
Christmas Eve morning the kiddos woke up to their surprise from us: a tent-complete with sleeping bags and flashlights. Libby loved it. Joe just wanted Goldfish crackers. Later that day we went to my parents house. We had a relaxing afternoon before the chaos began. Everyone arrived for dinner and presents. I ducked out early to hear Corey play drums at church and then tucked the kids in bed after a long day.

Mom and Sami cuddling

Christmas Day, Corey had to work so I took the kids back to my parents' to play with Sami and Claire. It was great to spend an entire day in PJ's! When Corey got off work, we packed the kids in the car and went to Webster Springs. The dual DVD monitors from Gramma and PawPaw made the trip easy as pie (both ways).

Webster was relaxing. The kids had plenty of playmates and new toys to keep them entertained, and the rest of us took turns taking naps. Libby got fun toys-her favorite being her hopscotch rug. She loves to throw the "stones" and jump up and back! Joe got a drum set so he can be just like his daddy. It is the most adorable thing. He loves it. So does Libby!

We got home and quickly prepared ourselves for a "Very Merry After-Christmas" with our best friends, the Taylors and Jabbours. It was great to hang out with everyone. We did brunch with 6 adults and 5 kids ranging from 5 months to 3.5 years. Later on, we went to the Mountaineer basketball game - which was awesome. The Taylors returned with us for late-night gaming and fun.Adults relaxing while kiddos take naps
Ainsley making a silly face

Now we are picking up the house and figuring out where all the new toys belong. I still have a week and a half off so I'm trying to be a bit lazy!

6 Years Later

I can't believe that Corey and I have been married for 6 years. And we have done a lot in that time. We have finished 9 semesters of college; obtained 3 degrees (working on the fourth); had 2 children; 4 surgeries (2 for me and 2 for Libby); 1 apartment and 2 houses. We have made wonderful memories.

In other news, I have finished a semester of law school. After 2 weeks of the most intense finals I have ever taken, I am so excited to spend time at home with the hubby and kids. I will hopefully be able to update the blog more!

Joe and Libby are still great. Joe is into everything-his favorite thing is Corey's drums which he is absolutely not allowed to play with. But every opportunity he gets, he runs into the drum room. Libby always lets us know when he is in there. She is quite the informant. Everyone has been enjoying Christmasy things. The kids love the tree and Libby adores Christmas lights. Promise more later!

Thanksgiving 2009

I've been on break all week-but it is a working break. I have used the extra time to get myself ready for finals. But I have also spent a lot of time with the kids! Libby and I decorated MeMe and Pappy's Christmas Tree. She loved it! She put all the decorations in one spot. Joe was really good too, he didn't touch the tree (except with the fishing pole Deb and John got for him). Thanksgiving was spent with the Bozics! Libby and Joe were great. They loved the people and the chaos-and they slept through the entire meal which was nice for Corey and I. Here are some pics from the day.

Happy Halloween Weekend!

Another post-I know you all are surprised. I can't write much, but I'll share pics from our weekend. On Saturday, Libby went on her first Trick-or-Treating adventure with her best friend Elliott. She dressed up like a butterfly and had SO much fun. I'll save the whole story for Corey-who actually took her. Suffice it to say that she had an AMAZING time!

Sunday was pretty so we took the kids to the park and got some super cute shots of them playing. Enjoy!

Libby, Elliott and Aidan in their "costume suits" as Libby put it

Libby and Elliott running down the street
Joe loves to put wood chips on everything-swings, slides, his mouth.
Joe on the slide
Libby balancing on the beam
Libby discovering a spider on the beam-she talked to it for a good minute
Most of the pics are of Joe running away-he loves to run!
Libby on the top of the jungle gym