Jamie's Birthday and Snow

The second week of January started and the kids had an early release.  One week of delays and then an early dismissal.  Not too bad a way to start back to school.  I'm sure the teachers hated it!

On Martin Luther King Jr. day, I took the kids to see the Greatest Showman at the movie theatre.  We met up with Katie, Micah and Claire at the movies.  We enjoyed it, especially the music.  We enjoy any day off of school and work!

The kids had school on Tuesday, January 16th and then were out of school for the rest of the week.  A small accumulation forecast turned into a few inches of snow and days off of school.

That means I got to spend my birthday working from home, snowed in with two kids!  Exactly like I dreamed it!  ha!  Exactly how I imagined 41 would start.  We did venture out for dinner that night to the 66 Pizzeria.  We had a tasty dinner and went home for cake.  Drew made me my favorite cake, chocolate cake with rainbow chip frosting.

Friday the kids had to come to work with me for awhile and then we went out to eat with Ed, Jamie and Ellie.  Jamie had a haircut in town so Ed and Ellie came to hang out and then we all went to dinner.

Saturday my parents came over to visit and to help us out with a Santa gift.  Lindy received a robot for Xmas and Max had yet to be put together.  I thought it something right up Papa's alley so they came over on Saturday afternoon.  Four hours later, Max was put together.  Papa worked so hard to get it together.  It was in a million pieces and it would have been months before Drew and I would have sat down and done it!  We were super super thankful for Papa!  Mom and I went out to run some errands while Papa was working.  We went out to an Italian restaurant for dinner.  We celebrated my birthday and my dad's birthday, which was January 27th. 

The little snowstorm

 Snow cream!

 Happy birthday to ME!

 Papa working on Max

 The birthday kids!

New Year's Eve and Birthday Celebrations

We had a raging New Year's Eve at home.   I think Drew may have stayed awake this year.  A New Year's Eve miracle!

The kids didn't have school on Jan. 2nd so they spent the night with Lynn on the 1st and got to sleep in.  We had a crazy cold snap at the beginning of the year and it was really cold so it was nice to not have to drag them out that morning.

It was Drew's birthday though!  The old man turned 42 on January 2nd.  Drew and I both worked that day but we went out to eat with Lynn, Ed, Jamie and Ellie for his birthday.  42.  Man, that guy is getting old.

The kids started 2018 with a week of two hour delays because of the extremely cold temperatures.  If you have to go back after Christmas break, then two hour delays help!

On Saturday, January 6th, Drew and I had a joint birthday celebration with our family and friends.  For Xmas we got Ed and Jamie and Anna and Brian all tickets to an escape room.  We asked Katie and Kris to join us for some birthday fun.  We headed to the escape room at 5pm and we had so much fun!  None of us had ever done one before so it took a little while to figure out what we were doing.  Well it actually took 15 minutes and we had to ask for a clue because we couldn't figure out what we were doing.  Once we got that first clue we were off.  We did have to ask for a few more clues but we did break out of the room in 53 minutes and 42 seconds.  All thanks to the clues.  We would have never gotten out without them!  We did the medium room and it was definitely hard but it was a ton of fun!  It was a little cramped for 8 adults but it was okay for one hour. 

We headed out to dinner after our escape room.  We had called and made dinner reservations at J. Peppers and when we got there, they didn't have them??   We waited but then they ended up giving us the private room so it was okay.  It was a fun birthday celebration!

We had a babysitter at our house and Micah and Claire came over so the kids had fun at home as well.

Our New Year's Eve!

 Dinner out on Drew's birthday

 Celebrating with brownies!

 Our fun night out at Psycho 60 Escape Rooms

 Dinner afterwards

 Lindy and I trying to stay warm in our winter flannels!

2017 Wake Forest Belk Bowl

To cap off a good Wake Forest football season, they were invited to the 2017 Belk Bowl in Charlotte at Bank of America stadium.  Our family of four and Grandbob were the only ones able to go but we weren't going to miss it!  The Deacs had played - and won - in the Belk Bowl in 2007, the year the kids were born.  I remember my parents were in town and Dad went with Drew and Bob to the game and mom and I stayed home with the babies.

10 years later, on Friday, December 29, 2017, they went back to the Belk Bowl and won again!  They played Texas A&M on a crazy cold day in Charlotte.  What might not have been so bad if you were in the sun, was a very, very cold day because we were in the shade the entire game!

Wake came out asleep at first and was down 14-0 in the first quarter.  Things turned around and the Deacs were on fire on their next 5 possessions, taking a 31-28 lead into halftime.  In true WF fashion, they gave up the lead in the end of the third quarter.  The Deacs stuck in there and battled to end it with a win and a final score of 55-52.  Whew!  What a game!! 

Will had started in with a cold a day earlier than the game and he ended up not feeling too great during the game.  I also think he was extremely cold.  The boy has not one ounce of fat on his body to keep him warm.  Hand warmers in his shoes and gloves seemed to help and he rallied a bit in the fourth quarter so we could all stay and watch the game.

Lindy spent most of the game reading a book.  I'm not sure if she knew she was at a football game and she never once got cold out there.

We spent the night with Grandbob and it took us all evening to warm up!   GrandBob got Drew a little cake so we could have an early birthday celebration.   It was a fun day!

2017 Crozier Family Christmas

We let the kids play with some of their toys and then packed up and headed to my parents' house for Christmas and a few days with my sister and family.

First up was Christmas with the Croziers and Beavers.  We take our time and let the kids open presents first.  Then we go around and let each adult open a present.   We enjoying seeing what everyone thought to buy each other.

I took the prize for best present this year.  I got my dad a sign for his shed and he loved it so much he shed a tear.  I made my dad cry over a present.  Either he's getting a little sentimental in his old age or I just did a really fantastic job at shopping this year.  I think it was a little bit of both!  It's usually my sister with the good presents so I'm going to be talking about "the Christmas of 2017 where my present was so good I made dad cry" for a long, long time.  he he!

Now that I think about it, I had a couple other really good gifts for others, too.  Hayley almost cried tears of joy from the socks I had made for her.  Socks with her dog, Bella, all over them.  I also practically made my sister cry happy tears when she opened up a Donny Osmond calendar.   Hayley loves Bella like Amy loves Donny.

I think I reached my peak for gifts this year.  Family - it's all downhill from here!  ha!

Southerns before the Christmas present opening commenced

In their usual couch positions, Uncle Drew and Rylee

 Christmas gifts make for funny expressions! 

 Hayley opening her pup socks.  Bella faces all over them!

 THE sign.  He built a garage last year that he calls the Hut and he turns wood in the Hut ALL DAY Long.  The sign says "The Hut.  Eat.  Sleep.  Turn Wood"

 Hard to catch the tear - but it was there.

 Amy loves Donnny!

 Lee was so excited she got a Donny calendar!

Prime rib Christmas dinner on Christmas night

 Who let that Beaver in for dinner?!

We spent the next couple days enjoying time with cousins and sisters.  Since my sister had arrived a few days before Christmas, they left earlier after Xmas.  It felt like a short stay.  The kids always have fun playing together, especially with new toys.  We also went bowling because the year before not everyone got to go because a few people were sick.  This year everyone got to go enjoy the fun.