long time no post...

Long time no post. Too much to say so here are some pictures. Things are going really well with all of us and Hannah and I are both looking forward to our summer together - no school! :-) I'm really looking forward to just being able to relax with Nate in the evenings instead of having to grade papers. Hopefully my culinary skills will incrase as well

When it snowed we had fun building a snow family. Nate had to go to work but Hannah and I had the day off. Nate's snowman lasted the longest but none of them even made it a full day.

Getting Hannah ready to go horseback riding

So far she really loves horseback riding. Her horses name is Flash, but I don't think he knows that. She missed the last two sessions because of soccer but she will go again on Saturday and then ride into the summer. They take a break when it gets really hot and then again in late fall. As long as she continues to enjoy it she will ride almost all year (they ride in 5 week sessions with two weeks off in between each session). She has picked it up quickly and they said she would be capable of riding on her own in a few short months. I say capable because I'm not so sure I want her all by herself quite yet.

Nana and Papa came for a visit to see her ride her horse and her new big girl bike. She has had a couple spills but she is quickly improving. The bike is called rosebud and has roses all over it. What a girly girl!

Nate had a great idea that we should take Hannah rock climbing at a local gym. We weren't sure if she would like it or not but thought we should give it a try. Turns out she absolutely loves it! It's a great workout for her and also fun family bonding time. She really loved watching Nate climb - it is also great bonding time because Nate takes her much more than I do.

She's a cautious kid and had to check out the rope.

She was a little cautious at first but as you can see she quickly got the hang of it. We started out having her just boulder on the wall and on this our second trip to the gym she wanted to go up higher.
I was really impressed at her determination and endurance. She just kept wanting to go back up over and over again. She loves it so we intend to take her back on a regular basis- too bad it's half an hour away.

Time for a water break.

And then she was back at it

Her new thing now is posing. Whenever I ask her to smile this is what I get (or some other pose) I don't think she practices these at home but I would not be surprised.

Hannah and I were able to meet up with Elise and her two kids (Eli and Ella Grace). It has been much too long since we've last seen each other but somehow we still dressed the same. Some bonds never break :-)

The day before Easter we went out to Heritage Park in Simpsonville for a huge Easter egg hunt. It was crazy but Hannah had fun and she was able to "drive" this fire truck for a bit. We also saw a guy with a great mullet so that was a highlight.

Hannah is also playing soccer now and I am her coach. It is quite the experience - FYI if you mark that you are willing to coach if there aren't enough, that means you are signing up to be a coach because they never have enough coaches. Hannah spent most of her first game with her hands in her pockets or blowing kisses to her Dad and G-ma on the sidelines. She ran around a lot more the second game. I come close to losing my voice after each game. My most common phrases include: "turn around", "look at the ball", "u-turn", "no hands", "spread out", and of course "great job". Nobody is keeping score or anything but I'm pretty sure we won 4-0 last week. But winning doesn't matter ;-)

Today was Hannah's 5th birthday! It's hard to believe she's already so big. Last night we made birthday cupcakes for her to bring to school. Yes we made those. The "presents" are starbursts with icing on them for the bows. After I put her to bed I cleaned out the fridge and mopped the floors. I don't even recognize myself in the mirror anymore. :-)