Snowed In!

Like most of the Southeast we have been snowed in for the last 3 days!  We started getting rumors of snow, sleet, and ice on Sunday and watched to see what and how much we might get.  Monday when I picked Cohen up from school we were told that school was canceled for Tuesday already.  Being in the south we tend to be skeptical a lot when the word snow is mentioned but this time it seemed to be very accurate it was just waiting to see if it would be snow or ice!  Tuesday when we woke up it was snowing the biggest snowflakes!  Tuesday we didn't have a whole lot of accumulation but what we did have we got out and played in.  After breakfast we went out to play with Grace, Keyes, and Elliott.  This snow was a lot different from the little we had a couple of weeks ago and this time we could actually make a snowman, even if it did have a lot of grass in it!  Kate was quick to get cold, mainly her hands because she is bad to take her mittens off, so she was getting ready to go inside after a little while.  My mama decided to join us and get snowed in with us so she came over around lunch on Tuesday.  She kept Kate inside while Cohen and I stayed out to help finish the snowman.  After that we came in for the day.  The snow started to melt pretty quick in the afternoon but more was on its way!  Cohen and I made her Valentine's box for school, and we really loved how it turned out, unfortunately school would end up being canceled and she was heartbroken that she would be missing her Valentine's party :(

Cohen & Grace with our snowman/woman

Cohen's Valentine Box

Day 2:

Wednesday we woke up to more snow and it was snowing hard!  Did I mention that Kelly lives to see it snow and not only checks the weather constantly on his phone, or on the T.V., he also gets up in the night to see if its snowing outside and comes to tell me.  The man literally missed his call as a weather man, but to make up for it, he will call his mom to do his best Jim Cantore impression.  She gets into it as much as he does so it goes over really well!  Kelly had worked Tuesday so he was anxious to get out and play.  Westley had also made a great "sled" to play with!  We all get bundled up to go out...which takes longer than it ever should, and pretty much wears me out!  When we get out we all take turns getting rides from Westley.  IT was so much fun!  I even rode with Kate and she seemed to like it pretty well.  I can't decide how she feels about the snow.  She does get cold and that makes her ready to go in but she did have a fun ride on the hood/sled and our little green sled.  It started sleeting which was brutal on us!  The wind would blow it right in your face so when you looked a certain way it would be awful.  I tried to cover every inch of the girls which you can see from the pictures!  After our ride behind the 4-wheeler I took Kate inside with my mom.  She was much happier snuggling on the couch and playing inside.  Cohen wanted to ride with me on Westley's sled but she however did not enjoy it like Kate did.  I think she was afraid she was going to fall out even though she wasn't.  After a little more playing we decided to head back in.  Kelly got to pull people on the 4-wheeler which he loved!  The sleet was tough though and my feet were getting pretty cold!  He took Cohen back out that afternoon but we spent the rest of the day watching the Olympics, playing games, and doing some things around the house.  I really should have taken advantage of this inside time and made a list of things that I needed to do!  

Kate sledding 

Cohen...somewhere in all those clothes!

Westley pulling Kelly 

Guess who each one is??  Kate, Elliott, Cohen, & Keyes

Kate & I going for a ride!

Leslie took this picture of us all...a few of the Gillespie Estates gang!

Day 3:

Thursday we woke up to still a lot of snow on the ground but it wasn't long before the sun was out.  We knew it should melt a lot away today and I was getting pretty ready to see it go.  We ate breakfast and bundled up one last time.  We decided to drive to the ballfields which are just about 1/2 mile from our house and sled down the fun hills there.  This was a lot of fun but the snow was quickly turning to slush in places.  We all took turns sledding down the hills and Mama even got in on this fun.  She and I had a fun run down the hill!  After lunch Mama decided it was time for her to head back home.  We really enjoyed having her here though!  This afternoon cabin fever was starting to set in for me.  We went out to play with Grace, Keyes, and Elliott, and all of us built a snow fort.  Cohen really got into this and took her snow shoveling job seriously!  I got this picture of everyone in the fort:)  You can see how slushy things are getting, but the fort was pretty good!

Tonight we went out to eat with the Harbin's.  We were all pretty ready to venture out even if it was close by.  Turns out we saw several of our other neighbors too!  The Chitwood's came and joined us and we also saw the Shaver's even though Jason was just picking theirs up to go.  We gave him a big Happy Birthday though!  Today was Jason's birthday and it was also my Nanny's!  We couldn't get down to see her today but we will later for sure.  Now we will look forward to next's week winter break!  Even though we just had about a week off!  Next week we head to Orlando to Disney World so I'm really looking forward to the warmth!  And most of all...running next weekend's race with my girls!! 

Cohen's 6th Birthday Party

Cohen has been so excited about her 6th birthday party.  Being a winter baby its always hard to find a good place to have her party.  The one good thing about her getting older is she can tell me now what kind of party she wants to have.  This year she decided pretty quick that she wanted a Frozen party, and she also wanted to have it at Pump It Up in Athens.  I was excited because Pump It Up is so entertaining for kids and I knew they would have a lot of fun.  I thought it would be fairly easy to go with the Frozen theme too, but little did I know that a lot of other people may have had the same idea because Party City sold out of the supplies so fast.  Luckily we had started to plan early in January so I was able to get plates, napkins, and those types of things.  

Cohen was so excited that it was time for her party!  Friday night Josie came and spent the night with us.  The girls stayed up making bracelets with their names on them, but once they were finished they went to bed pretty easy.  

Making bracelets

I had told them we would have an early morning.  We got up and packed everything into the car and headed to Athens.  Everything went great!  The kids played and jumped in all the inflatables for a little over an hour.  Everyone seemed to have a blast, even the little ones.  I was very impressed with how organized everything was and the staff took care of everything.  We set our things down and then went to enjoy the party.  They set it all up, food and all, and even handled her opening presents.  She had decided she wanted to wear her Elsa dress when she opened her presents.  She even got to sit in the big inflatable throne.  I can't thank everyone enough for coming and celebrating with us.  Cohen had so much fun and it was really a special day for her.   And I can't say enough about how easy, organized, and great to work with Pump It Up was.  

Kate enjoyed the slides too!

Ella Grace, Cohen, & Josie...I think their faces say it all.  

Cohen & Kaylyn

 Cohen had decided that 2 things she really wanted was cupcakes and ice cream with sprinkles.  These were her cute cupcakes.

I could not get over how adorable these cake pops were.  Angie is absolutely the best!  It amazed me how these looked so much like Olaf.  And they were delicious too, as always!

Cohen & Rylie 

Josie, Brooke, and Cohen

My sweet birthday girl

Sweet friends!

Ready for presents

After we left we had some errands to run in Athens, then we ate lunch at Cohen's choice, Cook-Out.  The girls loved having a very big drink with 3 straws in it ;)

Kate of course found a mannequin while we were shopping and as always had to have her picture made with it.  This little habit is still going strong every time we are out!

Happy 6th Birthday Cohen!!

Today was Cohen's 6th birthday!!  6 on the 6th!  I started the day by getting up early to make Cohen a special birthday breakfast, stuffed french toast.  Funny story...Cohen brought me a bottle of spray glitter and asked me if we were ever going to use that again and so I sprayed a little bit in her hair for a little bit of sparkle.  She then left the room and told me she was going to put on her Cinderella perfume!  I'm thinking "wow, is this 6 or 16?"  She had been quiet for a long time and then she walked back into the room and asked, "Do I not look good?"  I told her I thought she looked great and she said..."Is it too much sparkle?"  She pointed to her hair and as I got closer I saw that she had been putting more glitter in her hair while she was in the bathroom and it was a shiny wet glob in the front of her hair, and boy did it sparkle.  It was so cute and funny the way she asked me.  I took her back to the bathroom, took down her hair, and started to brush out the glob.  It was pretty easy to fix thank goodness and she was excited at how good it smelled.  She tried to convince Keyes to smell how good it was but he passed:).  I love it!  She is so funny sometimes.
Later this afternoon Kate and I took snack to Cohen's class for her birthday.  Everyone sang Happy Birthday.  After snack she got extra playtime on the playground because she was getting to stay after school for a special movie day.  She really wanted Kate to come out too so we went out with her class for a few minutes.  Its always fun to get a peek inside her life at school.
Tonight, we took Cohen to eat for her birthday with our families.  She wanted pizza, her favorite, so we went to Pizza Hut.  She had a lot of fun with everybody and after we ate we all came back to our house for cake and presents.  Sug had made a yummy cake for Cohen!  When we sang to her she just smiled so big.  She's come a long way from her 3rd birthday when she busted out crying when everyone sang to her.  I will never forget that!  She then had fun opening presents from her family!  She got 2 new Lego sets...Cinderella's castle and the Lego Friends barn.  She also got some cute outfits, the Kidz Bop cd she was wanting so bad, money, and Savannah gave her a Frozen necklace.  Kate gave her a new movie and we also gave her some things for her Build a Bear kitty and an Elsa dress from Frozen.  We are going to Disney World next weekend which is her big present and she can wear her dress down there.  She is also having a Frozen birthday party Saturday at Pump It Up.  We are excited about that!  She really enjoyed her birthday and I can't  thank everyone enough who made it special for her and for everyone who sent her birthday wishes!  I read each one to her and let her read some too.  She was all about reading her cards this year because she can read.  What a difference a year makes!  My baby is just growing up so fast!  Here are a few facts about Cohen on her 6th birthday:

• She is very smart, and I'm not just being the proud Mama.  She loves learning and has really started reading so good. 
• She loves to read, color, build with her Legos, play games, and do puzzles.  She is really a thinker.  
• She twirls baton and will actually be competing this year for the first time.  
• Loves to sing and dance whether it be here at home, in the car, or at choir at church.  
• She is still my little "oven" and often has to warm up to new situations.  Sometimes things start out rough but she always "warms up" and loves whatever she does.  
• She has now lost 4 teeth!
• Wears a size 5 in clothes and shoe size is 11. 

I couldn't be more proud of Cohen and the little girl she has become.  I can't wait to see what 6 has in store for her!!  Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!  

Singing to the birthday girl

I think she loved it!

Sweet Cousins ready for cake!

Opening gifts and cards.  

My one picture from dinner...Cohen, Savannah, and Chance.  She loves him!!

The Last Day of Being 5...Definitely a Teeth Day

Wednesday was February 5th which Cohen called her last day of being 5.  Sentimental me has a hard time with the word "last".  I knew it might be a difficult day for Cohen because she was getting her cavity fixed and Cohen is always so anxious about things.  She also had a front tooth pretty much hanging by a thread.  After lunch when I went to pick her up I noticed right away that the tooth was gone!  She would not let us touch it but she told me she let Mrs. Dove pull it that morning and was all smiles.  I was so glad because I was planning to have the dentist do it if it had not come out.  She was so excited to think the tooth fairy would be coming to see her on her birthday since it would be while she was asleep and that is technically the next day.  I was glad it managed to take her mind off of her appointment.  We made a quick stop before heading over to the dentist's office.  Cohen really did so good!  I almost cried seeing her laying there with laughing gas but I wouldn't dare let her see that.  She was such a trooper too.  They put her tooth crown on and she was ready to go.  She got right up and came right to me.  I think she was a little upset and she did cry in the car but I think a lot of it had to do with her being so tired and her lip was numb.  She was asleep in less than 10 minutes and had a great nap.  She was so much better after she woke up so that was great!  That night before bed she made a special note for the tooth fairy and we took one last picture of us while she was 5:).   I can't believe how fast my baby girl is growing.  It seems like yesterday she was born and I remember the night before so well too.  Time flies when your having fun!

With her "bunny nose" on ...she's also watching Madagascar

Cohen's note to the tooth fairy

Last picture with my 5 year old

 Just last Saturday this is where I found Cohen....curled up in our bassinet!  How crazy to see my big girl in this bassinet.  Seems like yesterday she could fit in it...comfortably!