Blake is 14 - The Ultimate Teen

 Blake has turned 14! We had all the fun celebrations as we remember the best years of his life (so far...). As a mom, February 2nd is one of my favorite days of the whole year because this is the day that I became a mom for the first time. I always like to honor all of the many adventures we have been on together over the last 14 years... It has been a wild ride! 

But... Back to the present, we had our normal family birthday party on his actual birthday. We sat around the table enjoying stories of all things "Blake" 

At 14 Blake....

• Still loves the 49'ers
• Has a new found appreciation for UNC and the Utah Jazz.
• He loves gaming - all things XBox
• He had a fun sleepover with some of his closest friends. 
• He is in NJHS, Yearbook, etc at school and runs track. 
• He loves being a big brother and the greatest son
• He still has THE BIGGEST HEART and truly cares about everyone in his world 
• He has almost outgrown me in height. 

This upcoming year he will be graduating 8th grade and then he will come to MY school in August!! I am SO excited to see what all he does in this next year. Being a mom is my greatest adventure! 

Speaking of bdays and gaming and Blake.... "his dog" also turned 7 this week, and loves all things gaming just like Blake. Happy Bday Jasper!!! 

Snow, Snow, oh and more Snow

 We have NOT had a shortage of snow this year..... We had an ice storm... and then a mini snow blizzard. It has been enough winter weather to make us actually be ready for Spring. 

Thankfully we have a GREAT sledding hill close to our house, at Flaherty Park, and we have a ton of fun people in our neighborhood! It has made for so many fun memories during all of these snow days!!! 

I will say.... I am looking forward to warmer weather now. We checked the snow box! Time to keep it moving! 

By the way, Kinsley has become just as big of a dare devil as Blake. She LOVES to sled down the hill super fast.. and sometimes she likes to go with her eyes closed or backwards, too. Haha. 

We are grateful there were no injuries during all the winter adventures! Whew! 

Troll Hunting

The newest thing in Raleigh to see is the Trolls!!!  We kicked off the year with TROLL HUNTING!!! They are actually beautiful artwork done by an artist named Thomas Dambo. He has made sall natural (wood made) sculptures all across the United States. At Dix Park, in Raleigh, he made a little family of 4 trolls. You have to walk a little ways around the park to see all 4 of them. We had  a blast exploring Dix Park - we found all 4 trolls and other fun things! It was a great day of family exploration! 

Blake is Back

Each year Blake and his dad (and now Kristi) go to visit his Utah family. Usually it is during the summer break, but this year they wanted to go the week after Christmas. Blake had such a great time with his cousins in the last week of winter/Christmas break. 

We always support this trip, but man, our house SO misses him!! We were thrilled to pick him up from the airport on Saturday and squeeze in some last minute fun before school starts back. Kinsley even liked going to the airport and seeing the planes. She also thought SHE was going on a plane, so that caused a minor meltdown. But hey, in the end we were ALL together and my mom heart was all in one place again. 

2026 Back on Track

Oh hi, remember me? Just the keeper-upper of our "family yearbook/journal" and I am back in action! New Year, fresh start...and I promise I will keep up with all of the adventures this year! 

This year will be a big year for our family... 2026 will open a lot of doors for us and we are so excited.

2026 Milestones:

• Sarah turns 40! 
• Kinsley will graduate from Preschool and go to Kindergarten! 
• Blake will graduate from middle school and go to high school! 
• Joyner will keep being Joyner (hehe) 

Family Adventures/Goals for 2026:

• More frequent family game nights
• Regular family dinners at the table 
• More adventures and experiences as a family

Our 2026 keywords are CELEBRATE and POSITIVE!! 

And hopefully I will be able to catch ALL the things this year so that our book will be back on track! 

The Blur of 2024-2025

 Well... Let me just say that the remainder of 2024-2025 was a blur of fun, business, memories, and so much more. 

My worst nightmare happened in which SO much was going on that I was not able to keep up. BUT, I am proud to say that it is because we were making memories and doing lots of fun things! 

I will probably never forgive myself for not completing the 2025 book, but the show must go on and thus... we move into 2026!!! And all is well again. 

Life Lesson: Sometimes life happens, and that is ok. Keep moving forward! 

Here are a few pics of “the blur”… and I promise to get it together for 2026! 

We got to see a little snow.... tubing at Flaherty Park was a blast. 

Blake turned 13.... how did that happen?! Officially a teenager!!! 

We got a little more snow... it was a good year for snow days! 

Sweet Little K got tubes in her ears and thankfully they dramatically helped her constant ear infections. 

We were frequent fliers at the Wake Forest Farmers Market! 

I got to play with baby goats for my birthday! Such a fun day! 

Kinsley remains Blake's biggest fan. He did track for the first time this year for the middle school. 

We cheered on our favorite Durham Bulls! 

Kinsley turned 4 and had a Bluey birthday party. 

We went to the beach...a lot! My dad got his place right on the water!!! 

We officially are introducing Kristi to our Dysfunctional Family Crew! 

We actually got family pictures done this year!!! We need to do that more! 

More beach time... epic beach year. 

We actually went to the 4th of July Fireworks this year! 

Fall is still MY favorite season..... 

Christmas is still the popular favorite for the kiddos....

And that wraps up the blur of 2025!!! 

Happy Easter

 Happy Easter! Kinsley's PreSchool had an Easter celebration that included an Easter Egg Hunt. Let me just tell you... Blake prepared Kinsley well! They practiced about a week in advance and Kinsley knew exactly what to do! I think she got 50+ eggs in that Easter Egg Hunt! HAHAH! It was hilarious. We had such a good time and we love all of the Spring fun ahead! 

Lucky

 I can't say enough how LUCKY I am to have these little gems in my life! They make my world so happy and they truly complete my life. I hope they will always know how much they mean to me! Being their mom is my greatest adventure! HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY! 

(Also, Kinsley's little hand on Blake is probably the most precious thing ever. I hope they are always this close as they get older. Siblings are forever friends in life!)

Blake First & Fitness

 Blake is in 6th grade this year at Wake Forest Middle School. They do not let 6th graders join any team sports, but they do allow them to have a 6th grade First and Fitness Team! This team does competes once a year in track and field events - they compete against other Wake County Schools. Blake was selected to be a part of the relay team! They did a great job. I also might be biased, but Blake had a great cheering section!!! 

Blake has really shown interested in running and track. This was a great glimpse of what our future might hold with watching Blake do school sports! I am so proud of him!! 

Sarah Bday

 38....I. Am. Old!!!! Oh man, I can't believe that I am in my late 30's! I remember being a teen and thinking 38 was old as dirt... and here I am! Truly, I have started to feel my age. I am feeling exhausted, the aches and pains, and my body is just NOT the same. I can't believe I am to THAT point. However, I am also a big believer that you have to put in the work to stay young. I keep telling Joyner that WE have to start working to keep out bodies in shape and feeling good, otherwise our bodies are old enough that they will just go downhill. What we do for ourselves in our late 30's-40's will set up how we age for the rest of our lives. We need to make that a GOOD thing and not a bad one. I want to live a long and active life with my family!!! Nothing is taking me out early! Ok, now that I am off that soap box...HAHA!

I love birthdays and I love celebrating it with my little family. I truly loved how special they made me feel today. It was so nice! My favorite part is of course the birthday cake! 

Speaking of birthday cake... a little tradition that I have come to love is when the kids help my blow out the candles on my cake. For a long time it was just me and Blake, but now my little crew includes Kinsley! I can't wait to add many more pics to this collection over the years! 

Also, later that weekend Joyner took me on a birthday date night to Dos Taquitos! Two words - GUACAMOLE TRAIN! It was amazing!!! 

B & UNC Game

 My Dad (GG) got Blake a super awesome Christmas gift this year... UNC Basketball tickets! They got to go to a game today and they had a blast. Blake is at the perfect age where he is truly appreciating the game and players and all the sports fun! 

He loved the atmosphere at the Dean Dome as the players ran out in the beginning. He loved seeing some of his favorite players. And I think GG loved it all more than Blake! I remember when my dad would take me to games and events like this and I am so glad that he has the opportunity to take Blake to these things as well. They are making amazing memories together!!! 

Most importantly... I think we have officially made a UNC Tarheel fan out of Blake!!! YAY! :)