lately

I'm a little behind on blogging, but we've mostly been just hanging around the house. A lot of hot chocolate has been consumed.

Daddy bought flowers for Kylah on Valentine's Day. She was elated and felt so special.

Joey has been helping Joe cook on the Green Egg.

He even got to season the steaks all by himself!

The kids have been loving to dance to a wedding CD that Kylah found (we actually used some of these songs in our wedding over 10 years ago!)

Daddy even gets to sneak in some dances with his girls while the music is on. :)

Sweet Grammy

 Our precious Grammy went to be with the Lord last night. It was very unexpected and sudden, and our hearts are very heavy. Grammy loved the Lord, so we know she is in a great place. But she will be so very missed here. I know she wasn't my grandma by birth, but she may as well have been because I loved her like she was!

When we told the kids that Grammy had gone to heaven, they were excited that she was with Jesus and said that she was probably running and doing cartwheels in heaven. I do believe she probably is. :)

 I've heard others describe Grammy over the past few days and a few of the words I've heard are gracious, kind, down to earth, genuine, funny, and "grandma-ish." She really was the epitome of a grandmother...so loving and selfless.

A few other things I've heard from other people about Grammy were that she was a prayer warrior, she had a sweet smile, bright eyes, and that she treated even those she didn't know well with such warmth. She was our beloved Grammy Whammy! :)

Grammy loved our kids so much, and they loved her wholeheartedly right back. Kylah was especially gentle with Grammy and was always quick to love and hug her. I will always remember this picture below that I took before Thanksgiving when Grammy was telling the kids a story before bed. They loved it, and she loved making up stories!

Grammy was one of a kind, and we will always remember the impact she had on our lives. She has left quite the legacy!

Ice cream makes everything better

The only thing that could make saying goodbye to Gramma less sad was stopping for shakes after dropping her off at the airport.

That's better! :)

Happy 2nd Birthday Norah!

 Gramma came to visit us this weekend. She brought some fun things with her, one of them being a new June B. Jones Valentine's book. The kids loved cuddling up and reading.

 Saturday was Norah's birthday. First things first: we put the birthday girl to work washing dishes.

I love asking her how old she is now.

Norah is 2 from Michelle Manthe on Vimeo.

 

 The sweet birthday girl and Gramma.

We had a small little party for her. It was so nice to keep it small and not stress much about it. It was perfect for her, and she had such a fun time. Minnie Mouse was the theme!

Here was the cake I made.  I had fun with this one! :)

The party table. We just had pizza, juice, cake and candy. So nice. :)

This birthday girl looks a little sassy with those hands on her hips. :) By the way, now that she's two, we're thinking we need to start easing her off the pacifier and only let her have it in her crib. I'm not ready yet! :)

Our family just before the party. (You'll notice the pink streamers in the background. I gave Joey and Kylah creative control of the pink streamers. It was really cute to see how they decorated...even if it wasn't exactly how I would have done it.) :)

Besides my mom we just had the Adair's and Matchell's here. Matthew was the only actual age-appropriate guest. Since Norah thinks Matthew hung the moon, she was perfectly happy to have just him.  (And she has no clue the older kids are not actually her best friends too...)

How precious!

Norah loved eating pizza in the playroom with the big kids!

At one point we found Matty and Norah hidden in the corner of the kitchen eating Twizzlers that they had swiped off the table. :)

We played pin the bow on Minnie. We blindfolded the older kids, but we let the birthday girl do it with her eyes open. :)

Waiting patiently for another turn.

The finished product. Norah's is the closest, but other than that, I think Jakin's green bow was pretty close!

It was so fun to see Norah watch everyone sing Happy Birthday to her. Matty jumped the gun a little on blowing out the candle, but we relit it again for Norah! :)

Norah 2nd bday from Michelle Manthe on Vimeo.

She loved her Minnie cake!

This was the first time Norah really knew how to open her gifts by herself and really enjoyed them.

This was her reaction when she opened a lot of them. So cute!

Matthew was kind enough to give her a ride on her new scooter!

Happy Birthday sweet Norah! We love you!!

gymnastics

Last weekend, Meredith and I took Audrey and Kylah to the Arkansas gymnastics meet. Both Kylah and Audrey are in gymnastics now, so they really enjoyed this. I think Kylah was amazed at what the big girls actually do during gymnastics!

 Of course, cotton candy was a must.

 I think if you asked Kylah, the cotton candy and watching the bars were her favorite parts. (She's still so afraid of mascots, so seeing the mascots was not her favorite part!)

Andrew tagged along with us girls. He did great, and he's so cute! :)

Such a fun night with our girls!

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I came home from work today with Strep throat. I don't think I've had strep since Jr. High, and it has not been fun! These body aches and this sore throat are horrible! I usually don't get what my patients have, but this time it got me. I'm hoping I'll feel much better in the morning...