February~ It's the birthday month!

February is the birthday month in our family. Layne's is the 7th, mine is the 20th and Elijah's is the 22nd.

Because their family went to Disney World on Layne's actual birthday, she did not have a party. So, when they returned from Disney, Layne came to spend the day with us and celebrate her special day, a little late.

We went to see the Lego Movie 2 and let her go to Target and pick out her birthday present.

We then had a birthday celebration for her.

 We had some special "cuddle" time...which I loved!

We made some crafts

and went out for Chinese food after church.

This oldest grandchild of mine is an amazing young lady. She's already reading simple words and doing simple math. She's soo very perceptive. She is quite sensitive, though and will get upset pretty easily. I love being around her and talking to her. She's such an old soul.

Next birthday was Elijah's....

For his birthday breakfast, he ordered ice cream with whip cream and chocolate syrup.

For his family celebration, he wanted a cookie cake.

The next Saturday, he had a bowling birthday party.

My baby boy is so very special. He is such a social butterfly. All of our nearby neighbors know him. When I want to know what's going on with someone in the neighborhood, all I have to do is ask Elijah. He gets on his bike everyday and makes his rounds. If any of the neighborhood kids are available, they assemble with him in the cut-de-sac and play, skate and ride bikes. A favorite game is "spy", which they use walkie talkies for. Elijah's theme is still cars. He can give you model numbers for most cars. Often I get upset with him, as he attempts to repurpose his toys. He will take them apart and use them somewhere else. I often find broken, dismembered toys lying around. Elijah is incredibly bright, and does pretty well in school, yet he certainly doesn't enjoy it! He's fiercely loyal to his family and when one of them is upset, he feels it deeply! I love this sensitive young man!

Next is your's truly's birthday.

We celebrated at home with my favorite kind of cake.

So the birthday train ran strong during the month of February!

It's the "yellow haze" time of year.

I love spring! But every year for a couple of weeks, every time we look outside, it looks like we're looking through yellow colored glasses. The tree pollen is the culprit. This year seems to be particularly bad. This picture was taken in a parking lot here in Raleigh.

I looked out of my side door and saw a huge ball of yellow haze that rolled down my cul de sac. I've never seen anything like it in my life!

In my opinion, looking at the world through yellow haze is a small price to pay for the warmer weather!

Valetine's Day scavenger hunt.

We did our traditional scavenger hunt. This year I was challenged to up my game and give some "hard" clues.. by the looks on their faces, I was successful. (I found out they do not know pig latin)

Birds as predators field trip-Feb. 13th

We went to a special presentation on Birds of Prey. This guy knows his stuff and seeing the birds up close was awesome.

 They had a drawing for a bird house kit and my lucky guy won!

Winter sunset at the pier, Jan. 28th

I rode down and took these pictures of the sunset at the Holden Beach Pier. The Pier is being torn down, so I wanted to get these pictures before it was gone forever!

Chinese New Year~ Jan. 26~ The year of the Pig

As has become a tradition, Abbey danced at the Chinese New Year Celebration at the Fairgrounds. This year, they had all of the girls repeat the dance from last year. So Abbey was a part of the "Flower Drum" Dance.

This year is the year of the Pig.

Abbey's cheering section...

and her biggest fans...