Roxie - Puppy Girl

I’m sad to share that Roxie started experiencing some pretty serious and tough “old dog” issues recently and she passed away. 

I adopted Roxie from the Watauga Humane Society when I was 21 and at ASU. She has been by my side during the highs, lows, and major milestones in my life. She also lived a very pampered life on lots of land- she even had her own personal swimming pond and sleeping couch. 

She loved us fiercely and we loved her back more. You’ll always be my “puppy girl” and we miss you so much already. 

A Very Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!!!!

We had such a great Christmas! And Blake was spoiled this year!

Some of his favorite gifts...

• Osmo - learning games
• Nintendo Switch - Lego SuperVillans
• Legos
• Guitar
• Smart Watch
• Rad Robot
• ...and more! 

Pilot Mtn Christmas Tribute

Every year for the 23rd of December we would always go to Pilot Mountain. This was Granny and Papa's anniversary. We would celebrate them and also do our Christmas with my mom's side of the family.

When granny passed away, Papa was determined to still carry on the tradition. He missed Granny so much and he wanted to still celebrate the anniversary and tradition with family. Before he passed away this year he was still trying to make sure everyone came up this year for Christmas - and that was back in April! :)

This is our first Christmas without the both of them and we thought that the best way to honor them would be to carry on the traditional Christmas, just like they had every year. We did it! It was so nice and I know that Granny and Papa were celebrating in Heaven and smiling down on us!

Grinch Days

Last year at school the Kindergarten team celebrated Christmas with the Polar Express. This year the first graders had Grinch Days! Blake and his peers all wore green!

First they shared a Christmas Chorus Concert with the 5th graders. Blake is so wild at home but its interesting to see how shy he gets in front of large crowds. He did a great job!

That afternoon I was able to volunteer in his class with their Grinch centers. They had so much fun getting ready for Christmas Break!

Santa's Nice List

Santa double checked his Nice List and confirmed that Blake is on it! Blake was eager to share everything on his Christmas List with Santa this year!

Oh, and did I mention that Blake also had his first ear infection during all of this!??! Oh man! He is a trooper and he didn't skip a beat still celebrating our Christmas fun!

Rudy also helped keep all of our spirits up! He is so silly!

White Christmas?!

We almost had a White Christmas... shockingly it just came a few weeks early! Rolesville, NC has NEVER seen a snow this big and this early in December - at least not in the past 50ish years! WOW! Yesterday morning we woke up to 6 inches of snow! It was amazing and everything was white. It was so magical to have these views as we ate our breakfast in bed!

We jumped outside to play in it first thing in the morning. Blake was all about the snowball fights this year. He wanted to build a fort for protection and then throw the snowballs at each other. Haha. We did a pretty good job! We also broke out the sleds for a little bit of speedy fun down the driveway!

The fluffy snow didn't last long. As the day went on the temps got warmer and the snow turned to rain/sleet. This messed up the pretty snow a little but it was still nice to relax inside and play and watch movies!

Today is Monday and of course school was cancelled. Blake and I sat down to color in his Christmas coloring book, and we look outside to see it starting to snow AGAIN! My Memommy always said that Mother Nature brought the right weather when people needed to slow down and relax. I agree! This time of year gets busy for everyone and I think sometimes we just need to stop and slow down and enjoy the little things. This morning we are enjoying time together laughing, breakfast in bed, Christmas crafts, and movies. Just what we need in the middle of the month of December! (Now... who knows when we will go back to school but that is a different story... )

Oh Christmas Tree

I love REAL Christmas Trees! Maybe it is the smell? Or the fact that they aren't always the perfect triangle shape?! Either way, we have to go pick out a real Christmas Tree and it is usually the first thing we do in December. I am a little late on my postings, but we picked out our Christmas tree on December 3rd this year!

We always go to a place called Booger Mountain. I guess that is where they get their trees from, but Blake just thinks it is awesome because it has the word Booger in it. Of course, typical boy! My dad always takes us there because he has the truck and we look at all the amazing trees... and the smell, oh my goodness it smells so good!

This year prices for trees were a little much because of the hurricanes and extreme weather we have had this year, but we still found the perfect tree!

Once we got the tree into the house we were able to spend the evening decorating! We always put Christmas music on and the fireplace (the fake one) and we set the mood for our house. One of my favorite parts is looking at all of our ornaments. Some people like to have a perfectly matched or decorated tree. NOT US! We have mismatched ornaments from years in the past. Some ornaments are home made, some are from vacations we have been on, and some are from our interests and collections. We love reminiscing on all of them as we unpack them. Sometimes it is hard because Blake just wants to play with all the ornaments, but eventually they all get on the tree! :)

Rudy even gives Blake a new ornament every year. This year he got Kylo Ren from Star Wars!

The tree is one of my favorite parts of Christmas...and you will find me snuggled on the couch in from of it for most of the month! 

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

It's December!!!! The most WONDERFUL time of the year!!

Yes, I am THAT quirky mom who gets SO excited about Christmas and all of our December traditions. Blake is old enough now that he is starting to remember the traditions and we are having such a good time. I also have a rather fun and amazing month planned ahead for us! I truly believe that Christmas is a magical and wonderful time and I seriously adore that feeling in my home and family.

First of all, Rudy our Elf is back! I think this is the tradition that Blake is most excited about. Each year Rudy shows up around December 1st and he stays until Christmas Eve. Each night Rudy moves and either does something silly or he brings Blake a little surprise. This year Rudy showed up with a gift! He brought Blake a LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar. So, each day we can put together a little Star Wars mini LEGO figure.

One of MY favorite traditions is the Rolesville Christmas Parade. We, the Wiggins Family, always gather at Memommy's house and we sit our chairs out on the front lawn and watch the parade pass. It isn't the most exciting parade, but it is always a lot of fun. This year the "life of the party" was the person who dressed as Cousin Eddie from Christmas Vacation. We couldn't stop laughing!

It is going to be such a fun month... we can't wait to share all of the adventures! 

Grateful Hearts

Happy Thanksgiving! I love this time of year because it kicks off my favorite holiday moments. I love the feeling that it brings about in myself and people... and the moments I get with Blake.

This year I am particularly thankful for the many blessings in my life. This year has been a time in which I have been happy and enjoying life!We are so lucky to live in an amazing (old) house on our family land. We have amazing friends and family. And we have each other! Sometimes I am in my own little routine that I don't stop to realize how good I have it. And to be honest... I am proud that I have been able to provide this life for Blake. I think he is such a happy and amazing kid. :)

Speaking of gratitude...
I am grateful for Blake's spunky and energetic side.  He is in a phase where I feel like he tests me. He challenges me with his behavior and jokes and sass. However, he also has one of the kindest personalities I know. Sometimes I have to yell at him to do something a million times and not act like a spoiled kid... while other times he impresses me so much with his sweet and caring little comments. Our lives get so busy with sports and fart jokes, and friends, and crazy routines.... I just hope that I can also raise him to be respectful, and a hard worker, a family man, and a gentleman. That i a tough job... and I just hope that I can do it right!  Fighting the good fight!

Basketball Star

Baseball has ended and basketball has officially started! The Wiggins side of the family LOVES some basketball and I think Blake likes it too! Last year was his first year playing and he had a hard time figuring out all the skills. He had fun, but dribbling and shooting was kind of a challenge. This year he was a little nervous going back into it, but he learned that now he is one of the older ones in this age group and he has gotten the dribbling and shooting skill figured out! It is cute to see how some of those basic things just come with age. He was so surprised when he made his first basket on the first try at practice! I love seeing his face when he feels confident in a sport! It was also nice to see that Blake knew some kids on this team. I love seeing him make friends just as much as I love seeing him play. We are the Bulls this year and I look forward to seeing him have a great season!

Go Ape Adventure

One of our favorite adventures is Go Ape! It is the treetop ropes courses and ziplines! We do the junior course where it's not TOO high and you have to go through 4-5 ropes courses before  ziplining back to the ground.

Blake LOVES the adventure. He has such a little daredevil spirit. His mom on the other hand is super cautious and slightly nervous around heights!  We are a great team, right?! Haha.

One of the things I loved watching was Blake interacting with the staff. They are super awesome people and he jumps right in with them. Within our hour there several of them knew Blake's name and would cheer him on and joke with him. One even said she thought he was a "Glass half full kind of guy",  I love it!

I have a feeling im going to have to find some more courage if I want to keep up with this kiddo! :) I love days like this where Blake and I can bond and spend some amazing time together. Go Ape!

Trick or Treat

Trick or Treat! We had so much fun this year with our Halloween festivities!

We decorated and carved our pumpkins with a Star Wars theme! We painted one with a little "kit" to make it into Darth Vader and then we carved the other one to be BB-8. Blake had SO much fun cleaning out the pumpkins. I thought he would be a little grossed out but he was up to his elbows in pumpkin gunk and seeds and loved it! Haha.

We also went on our traditional trick or treat night with the "dream team"! We love spending the night with our favorite friends and family. :) Blake was Ben 10! It is a cartoon character that he has recently become obsessed. I think he pulled it off great! And he has enough candy for a lifetime.

Baseball & Besties

Blake started off struggling with coach pitch baseball and hitting. He would try so hard and each time he would strike out..... until.... he played his best friend, Hunter's team. All of a sudden Blake went up to bat and just started nailing the pitches! In one game he hit the ball 3 times. Where did that come from!?!?! Personally... I think it was because he was feeling super motivated by playing his best friend. He had his fan club cheering him on, and he was just enjoying the fun. He even got the game ball from his coaches for having such an amazing game! I am so proud of him!

Since then,  he has played about 3 more games and he has hit the ball every time and gotten on base. What a great way to finish off Fall baseball!

Hillridge Pumpkin Picking

Thank goodness we live in a world with Octobers! It is my favorite month and it kicks off the Holiday Season (at least in my mind it does). I am a person who LOVES tradition and starting in October we have months full of tradition for the next 3 months. Pure Happiness!

I was telling Blake yesterday that we have gone to Hillridge Farms to pick pumpkins every year since he was born. He was amazed. Haha. This year we picked pumpkins with cousins (Tristan and Cam - and Aunt Tiff). Those boys are growing so quickly.

Blake also picked some really good pumpkins for us... but made me carry them. HAHA! My favorite part is the hayride. It just feels very Fall.  Now we just have to think of some great ways to carve them!

Bike Riding

Blake and I recently pulled my bike out of the shed and we thought that going on bike rides together might be really fun...and it did not disappoint!

This Saturday we went to Horseshoe Farm Trail and we rode bikes. It was a beautiful day and Blake really kept up. we rode about 2 miles. We had so much fun!

Blake also wore his tank top, which he things is his muscle shirt... hence flaunting his muscles inthe pictures.. HAHA!

Hopefully soon we can take Blake's training wheel off!

Hurricane Florence

Just as we were settling into our back-to-school routines, Hurricane Florence came in and messed everything up! We have had baseball game rescheduled, school cancelled, and so much more. Our NC coastline was pounded by this monster of Hurricane Florence. We, however, were the lucky ones. We maintained power and our trees weren't effected. Blake and I took these few days off to simply relax and enjoy our Hurricane Hide Out in the living room! Never a dull moment around here! Hopefully we will be back into our grind soon.