From 1 to 100

Counting from 1 to 100… 

(1)

Sarah's First Movie in the Theatre

(2) 

Max's Second Viewing of Frozen

(90) 

Grandma Beau's 90th Birthday

(96) 

Grandpa Beau's 96th Birthday 

(100)

100th Day of School

His shirt with 100 band-aids

1 to 100 in January!

Frozen Stuff from the Sky

The South prepared for snow in the usual way - by calling off school before a single snowflake had fallen. Max's was delighted to have early dismissal, however this was the second time to miss school for weather-related nothingness (the first was due to "extreme cold"). I was beginning to fear for a generation of children who do not understand what the term "snow day" actually means. Lo and behold, a few flakes began to fall that evening. Like any good Southern boy unaccustomed to precipitation in frozen form, Max immediately put on his raincoat and rain boots! Makes sense.

What is this white stuff covering our playset?

It sure is fun!

Daddy brought out the brand new sled (from 3 years ago) for a quick spin before bedtime. It did not come with a rope, so we improvised with Sarah's jump rope!

Doing doughnuts in the snow!

Sarah is more of an "inside" girl!

The first snowfall of 2014 taught some important lessons about preparedness (just ask Atlanta). For us, it illustrated how utterly lacking my family was in winter clothing. Sarah has many coats, but none that are appropriate for snow, so layering was crucial for providing warmth After our last ice storm, I bought some ski clothes for the following year. Not very helpful since that was 3 years ago. Max actually still fit into the 4t ski bib…until he sat down and you could see exactly how short the pants were!

Although the ski bib is warm, it seemed a little unnecessary for the slight dusting of snow we received.

Frank was as interested in the wet stuff as the kids!

Pulling Big Brother

Trying to make snow angels!

A noble effort

Their favorite part of the snow? 

Wiping it off our cars 

to throw at each other!

"Wow, that is awesome!"

Forest of Friends

Any reason is a good reason for a roomie reunion, but gathering to shower Lala and Baby Wyatt makes a reunion even sweeter!

Ready to celebrate our SIXTH roomie child!

Contrary to the math provided by the one who majored in Computer Science (I'm not naming names), the four of us have been stuck together for over 16 years. And we still look like college coeds…except for the baby bump!

Laura loves natural elements, like using a branch as a curtain rod in college, and all sorts of creatures, so decorating for her is easy! A family friend in Knoxville offered her beautiful home for the shower. The owl print will hang in Wyatt's nursery, and the small frames contain baby pictures of Laura and Zach.

Bobcat was happy to provide the tree stumps, but Sarah was very concerned about her books and stuffed animals leaving the house to be used as decorations. "Will Tweet-tweet come back? Where he go?"

And of course, lots of raccoons! "The Kissing Hand" was used as the guest book and a present for Wyatt!

The Simms Family Ladies

The beautiful Mama-to-Be

Aunt Christina relaxing on the job!

No one is quite sure if Laura is having a human baby or a baby animal.

 She will do well with either.

Fox/Bunny

The perfect card: Raccoon in blue!

Handmade quilt from Tiffany

Wyatt wasn't the only baby to receive attention over the weekend. Sally's newest little man, Thomas, made his roomie debut! Baby Thomas helped a lot with the shower. He slept. He cooed. He went with the flow.

Best. Baby. Ever.

He is setting the bar really high for Wyatt!

The shower was fun, but as is typical with us, the best part of the weekend was lounging around the Simms' house, laughing and talking about everything and absolutely nothing at all.  Can't wait to induct Wyatt into the tribe!