We stayed close to home for Spring Break, but we did make a day trip to Atlanta to visit the Legoland Discovery Center. This was the first time we'd ever been there, and it was a fun little outing for everyone.
A Tribute to Tom
In July of 2005, Matt surprised me with a Golden Retriever puppy whom we named Lola. By the next summer, we decided that Lola needed a friend. This time, we decided to adopt a dog from the Golden Retriever Rescue. They thought they had a dog that matched our wish list, and a volunteer from the organization scheduled a "trial visit" one weekend. When she first arrived with Tom, he was a bit skittish. However, once we let him into the backyard with Lola, they quickly started playing ball together. In fact, Tom was the first dog that Lola had ever played with who could get to the tennis ball faster...and, surprisingly, she didn't seem to mind. We kept him for the weekend and fell in love with him. He was about 10 months old at the time, and he was nearly full grown and close to 70 pounds. Yet, he seemed to think of himself as more of a lap dog and always wanted to snuggle up with someone. He was also accustomed to sleeping in the bed, right up by someone's head...and that is how he slept for quite a while. We finally trained him to sleep down between our legs rather than halfway on top of our heads.
By the next year, we were ready to expand our family again, this time with a baby. Once we brought Griffin home, Tom quickly learned that he had lost his spot in the bed and had moved down a notch on the family totem pole. However, he didn't seem to mind and turned out to be a great "big brother." As Griffin became more mobile and more interactive with his environment, Tom regularly got stepped on or crawled over. He had his fur pulled, eyes poked, and everything else you can imagine. However, he never snapped or growled at Griffin--he was just happy to be getting some sort of attention. A few years later when two more little people came along, he continued to be just as tolerant.
In February, while we were out of school for winter weather, Tom became very sick. He wasn't eating and wasn't responding to any of the medications. On February 27, we sadly had to say goodbye to our dear friend.
I began this post several months ago, but didn't publish it right away because I wanted to find more pictures to add. However, I haven't blogged at all since that time so I am just now revisiting this post. Even though more than 5 months have passed since we lost our four-legged friend, the boys still talk about Tom regularly and remember how much he loved to play with them. He is definitely still missed by us all.
In February, while we were out of school for winter weather, Tom became very sick. He wasn't eating and wasn't responding to any of the medications. On February 27, we sadly had to say goodbye to our dear friend.
I began this post several months ago, but didn't publish it right away because I wanted to find more pictures to add. However, I haven't blogged at all since that time so I am just now revisiting this post. Even though more than 5 months have passed since we lost our four-legged friend, the boys still talk about Tom regularly and remember how much he loved to play with them. He is definitely still missed by us all.
Snowcation!
By the end of January, we had only seen a few sporadic snowflakes floating around on a couple of days, and I was giving up hope that we would get any snow days. The boys all had their Valentine's Day parties at school on February 13. Little did we know that they wouldn't go back to school until March!
On Monday, February 16 (an in-service day for me and President's Day holiday for the kids), an ice storm came through Knoxville that canceled school for the first part of the week. Then we got another wintry mix later in the week that canceled school for a couple more days. Then the next week we got some snow (much more fun than ice!) and got a couple more days off from school. We'd spent the first week cooped up inside most of the time so we were glad to be able to get out and play...finally!
And then when we thought we'd finally be going back to school, we got the biggest snow of the season--about 5-6 inches! This one wasn't as good for sledding, but it was great for making snowballs, snowmen, and igloos!
On Monday, February 16 (an in-service day for me and President's Day holiday for the kids), an ice storm came through Knoxville that canceled school for the first part of the week. Then we got another wintry mix later in the week that canceled school for a couple more days. Then the next week we got some snow (much more fun than ice!) and got a couple more days off from school. We'd spent the first week cooped up inside most of the time so we were glad to be able to get out and play...finally!
Once we left Hudson and Hollins (the two "wild ones") alone in the igloo, it didn't last long!
They had fun knocking each other into the walls and flipping over the tops of the walls.
To his credit, when Griffin and Harper got upset about them tearing down the igloo, Hudson did try to fix it (but that didn't last long, either).
A Look Back at 2014
Since I didn't manage to post a single thing all year, I'm just going to hit the highlights of 2014 in this one. (And make a resolution to do better in 2015!)
Springtime is baseball time at our house. Griffin was on the A's (again) this spring. Since they just barely made the age cut-off, we decided to hold out one more year before signing the twins up for t-ball. Even though they weren't on teams themselves, they still insisted on dressing the part for all of Griffin's games--Hudson always dressed as an Oriole and Baylor was either a Dodger or an A.
On April 12th, we celebrated Baylor & Hudson's 3rd birthday with a Dr. Seuss party. I had decided on the theme a long time before their birthday because I wanted to say "Thing 1 and Thing 2 are turning 3!" I had so much fun planning the party and themed food, games, etc. Griffin go into it, too, and he and I read all the Dr. Seuss books we could get our hands on in the months leading up to the party. For activities, we had Ring the Gack, One Fish Two Fish fishing game, a hunt for green eggs, Hop on Pop where they jumped on bubble wrap, Pin the Hat on the Cat, and more.
May 11th was Mother's Day. We celebrated at home, and Mimi & Al, Holly and family, and Weezy all came over for a cookout. I didn't take many pictures, but I love this one of Baylor eating his watermelon and this one of Hudson in his baseball helmet.
(The helmet is what he wanted to buy with his birthday money from Aunt Patricia--this boy LOVES sports. He even chose batting gloves for his potty-training present!)
For Griffin's real birthday on June 9th, we had a pizza picnic in the floor and he made another birthday wish on the tiki cake before we cut into him.
After Griffin's birthday, we went to Gatlinburg for a couple of days. We spent a day at Dollywood where we did some of the water rides since it was good weather for them. Griffin really liked the River Rampage, but Baylor & Hudson weren't as big of fans.
We also visited the Ripley's Aquarium and hiked to Laurel Falls (no Baby Bjorns or double stroller this time!).
We spent the week of July 5-12 in Isle of Palms, SC with Pop, Chaz, Katie, and Lacy. The boys all loved the beach and the pool this year so it was so much fun!
We took all of the boys' bikes and Matt's bike with us, and I rented a bike with a trailer. Unfortunately, the twins' bikes were too little to go in the sand with the training wheels. Hudson would pedal and pedal as hard as he could, but his wheels would just spin in place. Maybe next year!
Pop gave the boys diving lessons, but Griffin preferred to do cannonballs and Baylor preferred to do his "Buddha Baby" jump. They all liked to stand on top of the boogie boards and "surf" in the pool.
With the exception of Molly's husband Kyle, everyone's patience for watching baseball started to wain so we found the kids' area where they could get some energy out running bases. After the game, we stopped for some silly pictures next to the giant baseball.
This fall, Baylor & Hudson joined their first sports team. They played Upward soccer on the Young Wolves team. Their friend Riggs' dad was the head coach and Matt helped out. Sometimes they were very into the game and showed their competitive spirit...and sometimes they quickly volunteered to "sit the bench" (which really meant they could come sit with me or run around with Griffin on the sidelines). In the picture below, that's Baylor on the far right. The little blond boy on the left looked so much like Baylor you would have thought those two were twins instead of Hudson being his twin!
The day after Thanksgiving, we went to Mayo to pick out our Christmas tree. I spent that day and the next getting the tree and house decorated. On November 30th, the boys decorated their gingerbread houses. Last year, Matt and I did most of Baylor & Hudson's decorating, but this year they were able to do it themselves.
On December 12th, Baylor & Hudson performed in their school nativity program. They both did well singing, waving their stars and angels for "Mighty Day" (or "Mizy Day" as Baylor liked to say), and clicking their sticks together for "Clippity Clop."
We let Griffin lay out of school so that he could see his brothers performance. Then we went to lunch and started wrapping Christmas presents.
On January 2nd, we switched the twins out of their toddler beds and into "big boy" beds. 
On January 29th, we enjoyed a fun snow day. Thanks to the Polar Vortex, we had another snow day on February 13th. We actually used every single Knox County snow day this year!
We spent March 20-21 (part of our Spring Break) in the mountains with Holly, Jason, Harper and Hollins. The kids loved playing in the pool at the Park Vista and playing putt-putt.
We had a late birthday celebration for Mimi on April 5th at The Cove at Concord.
The kids had fun feeding the ducks before we had our picnic.
During the games, they could usually be found behind the bleachers playing with their plastic bat and ball. Hudson can actually swing a metal bat and hit a pitched baseball, so he was thrilled when Matt let him have a chance to bat during a scrimmage one afternoon.
And yes, he did get a hit!
And yes, he did get a hit!
On April 12th, we celebrated Baylor & Hudson's 3rd birthday with a Dr. Seuss party. I had decided on the theme a long time before their birthday because I wanted to say "Thing 1 and Thing 2 are turning 3!" I had so much fun planning the party and themed food, games, etc. Griffin go into it, too, and he and I read all the Dr. Seuss books we could get our hands on in the months leading up to the party. For activities, we had Ring the Gack, One Fish Two Fish fishing game, a hunt for green eggs, Hop on Pop where they jumped on bubble wrap, Pin the Hat on the Cat, and more.
For Baylor & Hudson's real birthday on April 14th, we went to dinner at Uncle Maddio's pizza. Mimi and Papaw Al joined us for dinner, and then we went back home for cake and presents. They don't show up very well in these pictures, but the boys wore their big "3" scribble t-shirts (a cute idea I found on Pinterest, of course!).
Easter was on April 20th. In order to get Baylor & Hudson to wear the saddle-oxfords that were a must with their little jon-jons, I had to tell them they were golf shoes (which led to Baylor asking for golf clubs for his potty-training present).
On April 25th, Baylor & Hudson participated in their spring musical, The Perfect Nest.
May 11th was Mother's Day. We celebrated at home, and Mimi & Al, Holly and family, and Weezy all came over for a cookout. I didn't take many pictures, but I love this one of Baylor eating his watermelon and this one of Hudson in his baseball helmet. (The helmet is what he wanted to buy with his birthday money from Aunt Patricia--this boy LOVES sports. He even chose batting gloves for his potty-training present!)
On June 8th, we celebrated Griffin's 7th birthday with a luau-themed pool party at the Knoxville Racquet Club. It was a really windy day so I didn't even get to use most of my decorations, but the kids all really liked the tiki-man cake I made and the real goldfish that we used as a centerpiece.
(The goldfish had a very short lifespan, but he served his purpose that day! He was replaced with a blue beta fish that is still alive and well, I am happy to report.)
For Griffin's real birthday on June 9th, we had a pizza picnic in the floor and he made another birthday wish on the tiki cake before we cut into him.
After Griffin's birthday, we went to Gatlinburg for a couple of days. We spent a day at Dollywood where we did some of the water rides since it was good weather for them. Griffin really liked the River Rampage, but Baylor & Hudson weren't as big of fans.
They liked moving the rocks and playing in the river at Cherokee, NC better.
We also visited the Ripley's Aquarium and hiked to Laurel Falls (no Baby Bjorns or double stroller this time!).We spent the week of July 5-12 in Isle of Palms, SC with Pop, Chaz, Katie, and Lacy. The boys all loved the beach and the pool this year so it was so much fun! We took all of the boys' bikes and Matt's bike with us, and I rented a bike with a trailer. Unfortunately, the twins' bikes were too little to go in the sand with the training wheels. Hudson would pedal and pedal as hard as he could, but his wheels would just spin in place. Maybe next year!Pop gave the boys diving lessons, but Griffin preferred to do cannonballs and Baylor preferred to do his "Buddha Baby" jump. They all liked to stand on top of the boogie boards and "surf" in the pool.
For Labor Day weekend, I took the boys to Atlanta to meet up with my college roommate, Molly, and her three kids. She has Malloy, a 7-year old girl (just one month older than Griffin) and Gardner & Maisey, 3-year old boy/girl twins (just 3 months older than our twins). They live in Shreveport, LA so this was the first time we'd been able to get all of the kids together. They got to know each other with lunch at The Varsity and a swim at the hotel pool. By the time we went to the Braves game, Griffin and Malloy were walking around hand-in-hand.
With the exception of Molly's husband Kyle, everyone's patience for watching baseball started to wain so we found the kids' area where they could get some energy out running bases. After the game, we stopped for some silly pictures next to the giant baseball.This fall, Baylor & Hudson joined their first sports team. They played Upward soccer on the Young Wolves team. Their friend Riggs' dad was the head coach and Matt helped out. Sometimes they were very into the game and showed their competitive spirit...and sometimes they quickly volunteered to "sit the bench" (which really meant they could come sit with me or run around with Griffin on the sidelines). In the picture below, that's Baylor on the far right. The little blond boy on the left looked so much like Baylor you would have thought those two were twins instead of Hudson being his twin!
For Halloween, Griffin wanted to be Emmet from the Lego Movie. I was going to make Baylor and Hudson Lego brick costumes like I'd seen on Pinterest. They just consisted of a rectangular box with the ends of solo cups stuck on to look like a Lego. Simple enough! BUT...Baylor and Hudson didn't like that Griffin was going to get a Lego head and they weren't. So the plan changed. Baylor & Hudson have Superman and Batman pajamas that they love so we combined that with the Lego idea. So I used most of my October evenings and many cardboard boxes, cheese puff containers, rolls of duct tape, and more to create Emmet, Lego Superman, and Lego Batman.
We went to Holly & Jason's house for Thanksgiving brunch. These cousins are used to posing for pictures, but they wanted to do a silly one after the serious one.
The day after Thanksgiving, we went to Mayo to pick out our Christmas tree. I spent that day and the next getting the tree and house decorated. On November 30th, the boys decorated their gingerbread houses. Last year, Matt and I did most of Baylor & Hudson's decorating, but this year they were able to do it themselves.
On Friday, Dec. 6th, we attended the first Rocky Hill Christmas parade. We were really rushed getting there because Griffin had a late afternoon basketball game. Next year, we'll go early to find a great spot and hang out with some hot chocolate and treats while we wait!
We let Griffin lay out of school so that he could see his brothers performance. Then we went to lunch and started wrapping Christmas presents.
That afternoon, we went to see Santa. Griffin asked for lots of Legos. Baylor asked for a Batman computer and Hudson asked for a Superman iPad. Good luck with that, Santa!
As requested, Griffin got LOTS of Legos for Christmas. Santa brought him the Lego City remote control passenger train and Lego City fire station. He also got Lego sets from Mimi, Lacy, Pop & Chaz, and Richard & Karen. Baylor & Hudson didn't get the superhero iPads and computers they'd asked for but they didn't seem to mind.
It's hard to believe that another year has gone by! Lately, I've been telling the boys that they are growing up too fast. Hudson tells me that he wants to stay 3 (which I would love!), but Baylor definitely wants to turn 4...and I know it will be here before I know it!
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