GG's Birthday Weekend

This past weekend we headed back to Woolwine for GG's birthday. I decided to take Friday off too so Matt and I could get our taxes done and also check out some preschools in the Roanoke area. FYI - anyone who has recommendations on Roanoke schools...please send them my way. We were quite impressed with the school we toured, but would like to tour at least 3 places before making a final decision.

Friday brought CRAZY weather to southwestern Virginia. In the early morning it was extremely warm. As the day progressed a cold front, rain, hail, and extreme winds moved into the area. Before the cold front moved through we got Katie outside as much as possible.....to include a trip to the creek. She threw about 1000 rocks into the water and asked me to catch her some "creek crabs" (aka - crawdads).

On Saturday, my Dad's brother Troy was honored with a Pioneer of Blue Grass music award. We went to the Music Festival and got to spend a little time listening to him play the banjo. Katie LOVED the music and had a great time dancing.

Finally on Sunday it was time for the birthday fun. Nana, Papa, Katie, me, and Gigi met up with the rest of the family. We had a nice meal, did gifts, and of course....all the great-grandkids enjoyed helping GIGI blow out her candles. It was so nice to have the family together - and I think GIGI really enjoyed it too. We all love you very much GIGI!!!

Frosty The Snowman

We told Katie on Sunday there was a chance of snow later in the day. She got a little over zealous and decided to sing "Frosty the Snowman" to her entire classroom at church in honor of the approaching snow storm. Yeah - that's right....not once, but 3 times. When we picked her up her teachers said, "I think she is a little excited about the snow" and laughed a bit. For good measure, she sang it to Matt and I twice on the way home (since we missed out on her earlier efforts).

The snow started falling about mid-day but didn't really accumulate until it turned dark....too late for us to play in it on Sunday.

As soon as Katie woke up Monday we got dressed and went outside to play. I'm sure our neighbors loved the screaming noise outside at 7:30 in the morning. In total, we got 4 inches of snow....but with temperatures in the 40's it was melting fast today. We made the most of the snow with 3 trips outside to play in the snow today. Of course, there were breaks in between for warming up, drinking hot chocolate, and eating lunch. Katie loved making her 2 Frosty's and one small house (didn't quite have enough snow to finish the house).

Most adults loathe the snow - seeing it as just an inconvenience. Matt and I - I suppose - are still kids at heart because we LOVE it. Both of us look forward to any and all snow storms. Maybe our excitement has rubbed off on Katie, because she does seem to love the snow.

Hope you all had as much fun on this snow day as we did!!! :-)

Happy Valentine's Day

Wishing you all a Happy Valentine's Day!

From out little Valentine! :-)

Oh Baby, Its Cold Outside

After a January full of mild weather, old man winter decided to make an appearance. Yesterday I was out picking up a few things for the house when I heard extremely loud thunder from inside the store. When I looked out the window, snow was falling fast and furious.

I immediately called Matt and asked him to take Katie over to the window to see the snow. I have a feeling it might be the only glimpse of snow she will get all winter. Sadly, the snow only lasted about 30 minutes and we barely got enough to cover the ground (if that).

Despite the limited snowfall, Katie had a great time playing in the front yard - throwing snow balls and making snow angels. After about 30 minutes of playing in the white stuff - I was able to coax her back inside with the promise of hot chocolate and a "fun project" - AKA - Valentine's Day cupcakes.

Half Birthdays

When I went to college, I was amazed at how many friends celebrated their "half birthdays" with their family. My first question to them was - "what's a half birthday?" To which they quickly responded its exactly 6 months between your last birthday and your next. Their families would do cake and sometimes even a small present. In my house - that's what you got on your ACTUAL birthday - ha!

We still don't recognize half birthdays. At least not with cake and presents. I do try to mark the milestones of what Katie is doing at specific ages....just to keep track of her developments. Monday February the 6th was Katie's half birthday. And here are her latest accomplishments....and stuff we still need to work on.

1) Can count to 15 and recognizes numbers 1-10. By recognize I mean when we check out at the grocery store she will say, "Hey mommy, look. That's a number 7 up there." Pretty funny actually.

2) Can recognize almost all of the letters of the alphabet in capital letters and tell you a word that begins with that letter. She will that "That's a T mommy. T for Turtle. I like green turtles." There are a few she mixes up (like B, P, and D), but Nana says that's normal.

3) Talks constantly and has developed quite the imagination. I went to pick her up the other day from school and her teacher said - "Did you know you were bringing pumpkin pies in for the entire class tomorrow?" I said, I am? She said, "Katie told us today that her mommy was going to pick her up from school. Once home, you were going to bake pumpkin pies and bring them into school tomorrow for everyone to eat."

4) Fakes being sick. She told her teacher last week that she was cold and wasn't feeling good. She then told them that they needed to take her temperature because she might have a fever. They did take her temperature. It was 98.6....nothing wrong with her at all. :-)

5) Is potty trained except at nighttime. We officially started potty training at Thanksgiving and by Christmas she had mastered daytime pottying. Just within the last month, she has also started going to the potty by herself. Sometimes she won't even let me come in the bathroom with her.

6) "Reads" books to herself. She asks to take her books to bed with her and then we can hear her on the monitor "reading" to her animals in bed. It is so very cute!!!

Below is a video of us working on our numbers and letters at bathtime.

Results

Well, the results are in. Matt has gotten into PA school!! We found out approximately 2 weeks ago that he has been accepted into Jefferson College of Health Sciences - Masters of Physician Assistant program. Some of you may have noticed my extreme neglect of our family blog recently (if you check the site regularly). Since he made the decision to go back to school, our household has been thrown into total chaos.

The school is in Roanoke, VA. So, we don't know if Katie and I will stay in Richmond - or if we will be able to move with him. Either way - we have decided to put our house up for sale. Pretty safe to say we cannot afford our current home, on one income, plus hefty tuition bills. At least not without going into MAJOR debt (which we would like to avoid).

We went through the home sale process in Philly, when we moved back to Virginia. I remember cleaning like a mad women. Just picture me in the kitchen, scrubbing with a toothbrush in the corners of the room. And I did this every single time we had a showing.

This time around it is going to be SO very hard to prepare a house for sale with a 2-year old and a mountain of toys in it. The market for selling is far from ideal so this could be a lengthy/painful process. The next couple months are going to be interesting....that's for sure.

On a completely separate note....Katie has learned a new version of the Good Ole Song. It is supposed to be a UVA song, but I taught her to alter the words a bit. Matt is not to pleased with me right now.

2012

What will 2012 bring for the Barnes Family??? Matt and I have asked for two things in 2012. First - and always at the top of our list - is good health for Katie. At one point I took good health for granted....no longer.


Second on our list is a decision about whether or not Matt will be attending Physician Assistant school this year. He has applied to a few schools (as many as he had prerequisities for). From those applications he has had one interview at George Washington University and has another interview at Jefferson College of Heath Sciences in mid-January. Hopefully by Valentine's Day we will know if/where he has gotten in.....and a decision can be made.


In 2011 we didn't move, didn't change jobs, didn't have another child....none of life's major milestones. Yet 2011 felt rather busy. Maybe that was because things are ALWAYS changing with a little one...or maybe it was because Matt's full work and school schedule. Whatever the case, we are happy to put 2011 behind us and move forward to 2012. Katie will turn 3 this year....crazy how quickly it goes by.