Jumping Good Time

Is she a little teenager or what?!? Kinsey and I enjoyed the basketball team's Championship Party at the inflatable warehouse this week. I do have quite the collection of burns and scrapes on my knees from out wild night! ;)

Arrr, ye scurvy dogs!

For Valentine's fun, we decided to take the kids to Blackbeards Island fun park for the day. What a cute little place and a great way to blow some energy (and some cash!) Kinsey and Max had a blast playing on the "Poop Deck" (a suspended bounce area/obstacle course above the room) and the inflatables while we all enjoyed a little skee ball and video games.

More seafood on Sullivan's and a quick tour of Papadad's beauty, "Lured Away", then Jack had to hit the road for his long drive home.

Tomorrow, we will sadly head back to our reality and wait until our next fun trip to the coast!

Thanks a bunch, Nanny and Papa!

Happy Valentine's Day

With love, The Patricks

BEACH SNOW!

So, I must admit, it was tough to hear and read all about the snow we were having back home while we were at the beach in the cold, dreary rain. Sure, the forecast for the Charleston area was for snow, too, but, really? Snow at the beach? What were the odds?

Well, it happened! The last snow in Charleston was in 1989, so we were here for the recordbooks. We went to bed Friday night to heavy snowfall and woke up the next morning to 2 beautiful inches of the white stuff. With temperatures on the way up, we hurried outside to play in the snow, made snow angels and a snow girl, then drove to the beach to check it out. Definitely not covered in snow, but still cool to see snow and sand together. Jack had braved the blizzard-y roads (or foolishly defied all odds) and driven through the night to join us, so it was a fun day for everyone.

After we played, we had a yummy shrimp lunch at Buddy Roes, did some Valentine's shopping, then hit Sullivan's for a late night seafood dinner. Kinsey was so whooped, she fell asleep sitting up at the table. Phew!

Children's Museum of the Lowcountry

For winterbreak, the kids and I hit the road a bit before Jack and headed down to Mt Pleasant/Charleston area for the long weekend. It has been a while since we've seen Nanny and Papadad and the first time we've seen Nanny or that she's traveled since her surgery a few weeks ago. Boy, was she a trooper. She didn't slow down one little bit.

Day one we decided to hit the CML for the morning. What a cute place. Max loved the golf ball room and paint-a-train while Kinsey loved the pirate ship and the craft room. She even custom designed a pair of pants for her soon-to-be new cousin, Davis. I can't WAIT to see them on him. They should be very easy to change his diaper, too, as the pants have no inseam at all. Cute! MY personal favorite was the medieval castle room with the secret passageways and the dress up clothes.







Fun, nautical-themed dinner on Shem Creek and then, guess what?!? Snow began falling for the first time in 21 YEARS!!!

Would it last???

Four Dozen Cupcakes Later...

Making cupcakes for Kinsey and Max's Valentine's parties.

Super(bowl) Friends

Our little Superbowl gathering.

Super Sunday

Kinsey with the gals


Kinsey, Daisy and Hairy Dawg


Mary Claire's birthday party


After a fun day yesterday, Sunday called for more to do. A super-early 14-mile run for me, then church and after lunch, Kinsey and I hit a UGA basketball game with some of my players then off to yet another birthday party.

Now, for some Superbowl fun...Go Colts!

Date Night

So, after the "big win" last night, Kinsey and Jack had special plans. They had their first Daddy/daughter Valentine's dance at her school. While the two of them were out cutting a rug to Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift, my Max and I decided to have a date of our own. We decided on Mexican and a movie. We rented a flick, but ended up just watching Polar Express (go figure) instead. All four of us went on a movie date today since we're so sick of this cold rainy weather. Max's first full-length movie! And now, Jack and I are getting ready for our date night out! Nicholas Sparks, here I come--guess this is probably my V-day date! ;)

We Are The Champions!

4 years in the making, our girls basketball team has finally brought home the prize! We have made it to the championship game 3 times (twice in my time with the team) and this third time was apparently the charm. What an exciting game and the girls did just fabulous! Way to go Lady Lightning! I am so proud of you all!

They're Playing Basketball

So, I didn't want to jinx it, but it's OFFICIAL! Our basketball team just completed it's first ever UNDEFEATED season! Kinsey has had a blast with these young ladies and we are going to be so sad to see the season end. Tournament begins Tuesday and we are three games away from our first ever league championship. Wish us luck!!!

Heros in a Half Shell

Teacher Power!


This week is Spirit Week at school and for Super Hero Day, this is what some of my favorite co-workers and I wore. The kids loved it!

Prayer Request

Prayers have been working! Sunday night, my mom had a big scare and went to the ER for severe abdominal pains. Turns out she had a perforated appendix and had an emergency appedectomy in the middle of the night. As of right now, she is in still in the hospital recovering and will hopefully be going home in the next couple of days. Thanks to all for you thoughts and prayers! God is good!

Nifty Nemo

Kinsey was the "Big Fish" as school again this week and as her reward, she got to bring home one of the Nifty Nemo brothers. Nemo enjoyed lots of basketball, meals at IHOP and Shoki, and lots of Patrick fun this weekend!

100 and bats--thank goodness not 100 bats!

Today was the hundredth day of school and the elementary kids always do something fun to mark the occasion. Kinsey and I decided to make brownies with 100 marshmallows on top last night. She also decided she wanted to pull out her 100-day hat from last year and wear it to school.

So, after baking and baths last night, we were putting the kids to bed. As I walked out of Max's room into the hall, closing the door behind me, I saw something flying up and down the hallway. Instinctively, I hit the floor, curled up and screamed like a little girl! Jack tells Kinsey to go in our room and shut the door and he heads upstairs to help out. All the while, Max is in his room yelling "What goin on out der?" So Jack says he thinks he saw the nasty little thing fly into Kinsey's room. We muster up some bravery and go in with a broom trying to find it. Nothing. We shake the blinds, check the closet and poke at the bed. We call for back up. Enter two (useless) Jack Russells. Nothing. We spent about 30 minutes checking the whole upstairs to find nothing. We had decided that it must've escaped out the tiny crack that leads up to the attic. So, we move on. I go back in her room, reach high up on her shelf to get the 100-day hat for her to wear when I hear this evil growling/clicking noise. Again, run out of the room screaming like a little girl! Long story short, Jack "man's up", goes in ther with gloves, a broom and a box and knocks the bad boy down, traps him and releases him outside (much to Kinsey's dissapointment as she suggested a new pet.) The funniest part of the night was after all was said and done and the bat had flown away, we were getting ready to start the bedtime process over again when I stepped in a big pile of dog poo (barefooted) that the said JR's had left behind. Kinsey, howling, says "This is the best night EVER!"

When left unattended...

Jack is going to kill me for posting this (and Max one day, too) but I just can't quit laughing. For our holiday today, we decided to just lazy-around. The kids and I have played Chutes and Ladders, put puzzles together and played stickers. While I finished putting the last of the laundry away, apparently they got into Kinsey's dress-up box and this was the result. His daddy says he and Max are going on a boys' hunting weekend very, VERY soon! ;)

Slumber fun

What a busy week it has been getting back into the old work routine. I had three basketball games (still undefeated) as we are getting close to entering tournament time. Just two weeks left! After Friday's game, we deciced to join some friends and take the kids to the local production of GREASE at the civic center. What an amazing job the cast did! Max and Kinsey both really enjoyed the play although Kinsey fell asleep during the last 10 minutes.

Saturday Kinsey invited one of her school friends for a sleepover. We took the kids to a brand new restaraunt in town that is going to be a big hit. Then we went out for ice cream and rented a Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs--cute! The girls did great getting to bed and Max didn't drive them TOO crazy and then we headed out to church the next morning (we WERE late though!) Sunday night, Jack and I had a date night with another couple and saw THE BOOK OF ELI. Pretty good movie with a great message.

Monday is MLK Day and I'm hopeful for a lay-around kinda day! ;)

Girl Power

Today, UGA sponsored a Girl Scout event before the women's basketball game. Kinsey and her Daisy troopmates enjoyed listening to several student athlete speakers, eating pizza and cheering the Dawgs on against the Gators!

Birthday Bash

A cute pic from my birthday dinner at Inoko.

Birthday Blessings

As I was on the road for most of my birthday yesterday, I has a lot of time to think and reflect on things. Jack was home sick with food poisoning we think and my day started very early in order to get everything done and everyone ready. So, needless to say, I was tired and definitely had my moments of frustration. But in the end, this is the revelation that I had...

While I was frustrated that Jack was home sick, I felt blessed to be a family with two parents...

When I got angry that I was still in a rental car a month after my wreck, I was thankful that I was not injured and that the kids were not with me...

When I was tired of driving, I counted my blessing for having a close family that celebrates big events together...

When my kids were arguing and fussing with each other, I was reminded that God blessed us with two very healthy, beautiful children with no complications...

When I was over the bitter cold weather, I felt so lucky to have a warm home to go home to and appropriate clothes the protect me...

And when I was lonely going to my birthday dinner stag, I was soo grateful to have wonderful friends to help make my night so wonderful.

Thank you everyone for making yesterday a great and memorable birthday!