Annual Quail Hunt

Photo 1: Papa Truelove takes Scott quail hunting

Photo 2: Eric's on the hunt

Photo 3: Scott enjoys the hunt

Photo 4: Scott & Hunter enjoy seeing each other each year on their Grandfather-Father-Son Quail Hunting trip. The guys really look forward to spending time outdoors together each year during quail season.

TRUE LOVE

Valentine's Day is a day to celebrate in the Truelove household. The kids had their cousins Kalea & Mia spend the night, so we woke up and made heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast. After their cousins left, we took the family iceskating. It was Mackenzie's 1st time on the ice. She wanted Eric & I to hold her hands, so we managed not to fall on her the entire time on the ice... quite a feat considering it's Cherre's 3rd time on the ice EVER and Eric's first time since we've been married. It was a fun time. The kids had their faces painted. We've also included a picture of the kids Valentine surprises that we set out for them today to remind them how much we LOVE them. I also included a picture of Caroline's Valentine box that I helped her paint/decorate as well as a picture of Mackenzie before she ate a Valentine cupcake from her PaPa. The kids were really excited about taking in their valentine cards/candies yesterday. Mackenzie even had a fun little party with some church friends where they decorated sugar cookies and exchanged valentines. It's a great time to celebrate the love we share. If you're reading this, know that you are one of the ones that we love & care about. I'm SO grateful "I Love You" is a common phrase that's shared many times a day in our home. It's always nice to hear.

DONE!

I'm SO excited about our (mainly Eric's) latest project: organizing the garage. Walking through the garage was becoming a health hazard, so we put this project at the top of our list for 2009. No, we still can't park in the garage, but that was never the goal. I'd rather have bikes, scooters & toys in the garage than a car any day... I just enjoy the kid stuff so much. I guess I know that one day the kids and their bikes will be gone, so I LOVE seeing their belongings around, even in the garage. Eric doesn't have this same view, so he had me purge some of the older toys. I hated to part with Scott's 1st hot wheels, so it's now in Grandmother Simpson's garage for the grandchildren to enjoy. Anyhow, we're enjoying our organized garage. Sometimes I just stand there and stare when bringing in groceries or something. I'm definitely impressed. I have to pat Eric on the back for the planning and follow-through on this project. Yea for him! Now, if we can only maintain order in the garage.

Firecracker!

Eric calls Caroline his good luck charm. She LOVES it! I call her my little firecracker, as she's a bundle of energy and personality... a beautiful combination. We really enjoy the spark Caroline adds to our family. Here's a few of the pictures I snapped of her while at Marbles: Caroline had a blast! She loves the camera (and the TV, as evidenced in her weather forecast episode while at Marbles: see last picture).

Out on a Limb

More pictures from Marbles...

The kids had fun inside the cages, though Mackenzie was too scared to go inside after another kid said, "Stop jumping or you'll fall." Yikes! Being on the 2nd floor mid-air made that a risk not worth taking for our 4 1/2 year old. Anyhow, another highlight of our visit was the pirate ship. Scott spent a lot of time at the marble wall. He also built a solar car. Eric & I were excited to see a section of the Berlin Wall while learning about Germany. The museum really has something for all ages. It's a great place to spend some quality time with your children.

Losing My Marbles

We had a GREAT trip to Marbles over track-out. Can't believe it's taken us so long to make a day of it. We had SO much fun together... something for everyone! I was able to play a game of chess with Scott, a game of connect 4 with Caroline, build block towers with the kids, the list goes on. Eric helped Mackenzie build a race car and her car was the fastest one. The kids had fun with the fishing hole set-up in Alaska. They stamped their passport and everything. If you haven't been to Marbles, it's worth putting on your calendar... just make sure dad comes along as you'll need the helping hands!

Craft Corner

The girls did plenty of crafts over track-out, especially the week Scott was gone. Here, the girls made a mirror, picture frame, folder and sand art. The Hannah Montanna craft kid was a Christmas gift from Great G-ma & G-daddy Gabriel. It's so funny to hear Mackenzie, who's still taking speech classes say Hannah Montanna. Anyhow, Caroline headed up both these crafts while I did some reading. She is a great big sister. I also had to include the picture of Caroline and I at Marbles: these are the outfits we designed by cutting out fabric and glueing onto paper. It was SO nice having some 1-on-1 time with Caroline. We had fun and I was amazed with her creativity: she chose buttons for the shoes, which added some dimension and style. The fabric she chose was classy, paired with a casual design and spunky orange hair... I was impressed! Crafts are a good way to spend some much-needed down time together.

From the East Coast to the West

Over track-out, Scott joined PaPa Truelove on a 4-day trip where they went hunting in eastern NC and ended up in the mountains of NC for a few days of hiking and enjoying the great outdoors. Scott was good about calling home as he was greatly missed. He missed out on mother's homemade bread while on his trip, though we saved him a piece as requested. PaPa ended up buying a bread machine to help ease any homesickness on future trips.

Walking on Water

So... the boys had a weekend trip to the Great Wolf Lodge in Virginia. On the way home, Uncle Cletus found a pond that was frozen over for the boys to walk on. Scott had a blast with his cousin, Hayden James. Aunt Alice said she wants to bring Scott on all their family vacations, as they got along SO well. Isn't it great that one day you can be swimming at an indoor waterpark and the next day you can be walking on a frozen-over pond? What a great way to end track-out!