Happy Birthday to Gaga & Uncle Mark...

Today is a special day in the Yuhas-Blevins household because my mom, Gaga, and Dave's brother, Uncle Mark, share the same birthday. So...Happy Birthday to these two very special people! We are so lucky to have Uncle Mark around whenever we are in Fairport to play referee and playmate to the boys. He's always good for getting the party started and keeping it going. I'm not sure that I can really put into words what my mom means to me. I'm so thankful for the love and support that she gives to me and all of our family. She loves unconditionally all the time!

Gaga with her boys

On another note, we had some snow and some snow days this week. As I write this, we are on the eve of our 5th day off, and we won't be back at work until next Tuesday b/c of the MLK holiday on Monday. Ok, so what really happened for you northerners who are wondering why we can't go anywhere after 5 inches of snow fell...well, the problem in Atlanta is that we have VERY limited equipment to deal with the snow not to mention we had a layer of ice form over the snow. That ice decided to hang around for a few days making it impossible to get around anywhere.

Dave just went back to work today, and he worked limited hours. I ventured out today with the boys to Walmart just for a change of scenery. It was a BIG outing. Thanks to our awesome neighbors we survived. We alternated playing inside and sledding down "Horel hill" as we named it. The kids had the time of their lives, and some nights, we all got together at someone's house to change things up a bit. I barely got cabin fever at all. My advice if you're buying a house anytime soon...FIND A GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD/STREET that has fun people on it. It will save your life! (or make you crazy...in a good way.)

Some of the kids sledding on our makeshift BIG sled compliments of Mr. Brian H. (a huge piece of masonite board)

We could fit 8-10 kids on it at a time, and they would FLY!

Drew suggested that we have a picnic one night, so we did. It actually turned out to be a great distraction. It wasn't a true "sit on the blanket picnic", but we busted out the Christmas tablecloth which was actually ready to be put away in the attic and used the plasticware from our picnic basket. Not bad...

 

All in all, it's been a fun week. It was really helpful to have Dave around to take Drew out sledding because it was just too cold for Grady sometimes. I'm not saying I want another storm this winter, but I could handle a 5 year cycle of this for sure. Watching the kids having so much fun in the snow is so worth it.

Sledding in NY...

Well, we had some serious snow in Rochester, so the boys spent some time sledding with Papa, Daddy, and Carlos. The girls went along for the ride to check things out, but we didn't really get into the action like the boys (big & small).

A little pre-sled dancing by the boys in their snow bibs

Drew & Papa

The BIG hill...only Papa & Dave tackled this one, but the little boys went down an impressive one too. I was scared going down it, but I'm probably not the best judge since I'm a wimp.

And sweet Grady...no sledding for him yet. It was too cold for this little guy. He's having fun playing in the house though. He's looking pretty serious in this picture. Probably just woke up...

Merry Christmas...

Well, we've decided to go the cheap (I'll call it practical) route and not send out a Christmas card this year, so here you go. We've started celebrating with my family on Christmas Eve, and we'll head to Dave's parents' house tomorrow afternoon to spend the week with his family. We hope this post finds you all enjoying time with friends and family. We are awaiting the telling of the Christmas story via Drewman Hoss...I'll tape it and post it for you later. Be safe! Merry Christmas! 

Drew & Grady at our house

Grady, Hudson, & Drew - We tried to get a serious shot, but who were we kidding?!

Merry Christmas!

Happy 4th Birthday to Drewman...

It's so hard to imagine that the sweet little one year old (in the pics below) has turned into a big, crazy (and still sweet) 4 year old. Drewman - You give us such entertainment on a daily basis. You are constantly talking to us (can't imagine where you would have gotten that trait), and you can be one stubborn little man (I'm throwing Dave under the bus on that one). You make us laugh all the time with the funny things you say and do. We love you very much.

Things you don't love as a 4 year old: going to bed, eating dinner, being left alone at the dinner table b/c you're a bit of a slow eater, saying a "long" prayer on the way to school, pants with a snap, sometimes sharing toys with your little brother...

Things you love as a 4 year old: magic shows, Spiderman, Black Spiderman, Batman, praying before dinner, candy, blue go-gurts, watching a show in mommy and daddy's bed, green ice cream, jumping on the bed, jumping on/off pretty much anything, playing with your friends, playing with Grady, running around the house with no clothes on, "shaking your booty", playing tricks on people, football, soccer, baseball, basketball, candy, cupcakes, your teachers at school, writing your name, dinosaurs, taking a shower with your swim goggles on, all of your grandparents, your big boy carseat, reading books on your own or with us, Christmas, playing in the cul-de-sac with your new friends...

Here are a few pics of our Drewman - (from a cute one year old to a cute big boy now...)

More Halloween...

Ok, so I've been a total blogging slacker these days, but we've been busy just hanging out. Yes, we have newer pictures, but I just haven't had time or energy to get them up here. So, here are some fun ones left over from Halloween. We took a trip to Boo at the Zoo with our friends - the Parkers and the Burks.

Avery & Drewman - I went to high school with Avery's dad (Paul), and his wife, Mandy, is one of my closest friends. We love the Parkers!

Finley Parker (or Fin-uh-ley as Drew likes to call her) - This is Avery's little sister. She is such a cutie. (and yes, that's me texting at the zoo...we lost the Burks, so I was trying to touch base with them...I look like such a loser.)

Gradymeister rocking his Gator gear for our trip to the zoo
We decided not to do the whole Alvin & the chipmunks crew for this day.

Hudson Blevins dressed as the cutest skeleton pumpkin?!?! He is such a happy baby, and I love seeing him at the boys' school every morning when I drop of the boys.

We spent Thanksgiving in Atlanta, and my parents hosted us at their house. My dad cooked a 27 lb turkey...seriously! It was awesome. We have about 3 weeks until we head to RochVegas for Christmas with the Yuhas family. We will head out on Christmas day to what we hope will be a white Christmas. In the meantime, we're waiting patiently for Drew's 4th birthday to come in a couple of days. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving & are gearing up for the holidays too...

Alvin, Simon, Theodore, and of course, Dave...

Happy Halloween!

It was Drew's idea for us to go dressed as the entire chipmunk crew, so I think you get the gist here. We went to a great Halloween party before trick or treating in our neighborhood. It was so much fun, and we were home by 7:30, so Drew got to answer the door for the big kids who stayed out later. He loved that! (Check out below to find out who answered our door while we were out.)

Yep! Gaga & Pops dressed up for Halloween too. I love it that they got into the spirit of it all. Drew thought it was awesome and so did the kids in the neighborhood. We may have started a tradition here...

We were lucky enought to have Jay, Chels, and Hudson with us too. (Thanks to Chels for these pics, so that I could get this on the blog so quickly.)

PS= Happy Birthday to Papa - Dave's dad celebrated on Halloween!