Mattress Jumping on a Snowy Day

Atlanta is in the middle of a major snow and ice storm. Schools are closed so we are stuck in the house with a stir-crazy 4 year old. What to do?

Well, recently, we upgraded Zach's bed to a twin mattress but still had the old crib mattress that we had for it. So, we improvised and turned the front room into a "jumpie house" of sorts. It allows him to burn off steam and it lets the old mattress be re-purposed.

Update on Zachary's doings

Zachary continues to be a busy little guy. As of late, he performed in our church's children's choir Christmas program (see 2 videos below):






He has also been working on perfecting his handstand technique in his gymnastics class:



And he is preparing to test for his Orange belt in Tae Kwon Do very soon:

Zachary's Pre-K Thanksgiving Program and Meeting Santa!!!

This is a snippet from Zachary's Pre-K Thanksgiving program. We hope to have the entire program up soon.



We took Zachary yesterday evening for the annual encounter and pictures with Santa at the Mall of Georgia. They had a different Santa this year.

Ice Cream Truck

All summer long we heard the music play across the neighborhood that indicated the ice cream truck was near! Unfortunately we either didn't have cash or the truck never made it by our home. UNTIL, one evening late August we were eating dinner with the back door open and we all heard the cheerful music playing through the woods & the truck was nearby!! We rushed through dinner to make it outside in hopes that tonight would be the night. Roughly 45 minutes later, we were sitting in the driveway singing songs, and OMG we all jumped for joy... the ice cream truck was heading our way, FINALLY!! Zachary was so excited! He ended up choosing a spiderman icecream and it said it was the most delicious ice cream he had ever had!

It's Fall Y'all!

Time for our annual fall extravaganza with Poppi! Our day began with a trip to a nearby pumpkin patch. Zachary LOVES to ride in the little green wagon while Poppi pulls it carefully down the hill. First stop is the nearest patch of LARGE pumpkins! Zachary has the best time walking among the pumpkins carefully choosing his favorite pumpkins. Of course Poppi spoiled him and Zachary walked away with 2 LARGE pumpkins (perfect for carving) and 3 smaller pumpkins for decorating the yard with.

OMG, Yes, Zachary is running through the small baby pumpkins as if it's a pumpkin landmine. A bit dangerous and had I not been looking through the camera lense I woulda' understood the danger and yelled for him to STOP. But, atleast I got a great picture right before he fell ontop of a small grouping. No damage to boy or pumpkin, PTL.

Here we are trying to coax Zachary to stand for our family picture. He was ready to move onto the next event... the county fair!!

I LOVE to take pictures like this, catching a sweet moment between Grandfather & Grandson walking into the fair. Our first stop, the petting zoo!! There was the cutest little bitty piglet & a potbellied goat that Dianne and I thought was pregnant but come to find out it was a male! LOL, funny memory!

 Since our Disney trip back in April, Zachary enjoys riding elephant rides that look similar to Dumbo. I had told him (at Disney) that Dumbo was my favorite ride. And, since then we have been to 3 fairs and each one has had a Dumbo style ride! I think it is sweet that he remembers Mommy's favorite ride!

 Each trip to the Fair always includes a hot Funnel Cake for Poppi, his favorite fair food. Anyone ever heard of "Fried Kool Aid"? This was our first taste of the oh so yummy treat! One of Dianne's friends told her to be on the look out for "Fried Kool Aid" & after a little searching we found some!! And, OMG, my taste buds are still dancing from the flavor! A must try if you ever have the chance.

 On the left is the fried kool aid, on the right is a basket full of fried oreos! Yum Yum!

Every year we look forward to our fall-fun day with Poppi & Dianne. And, every year we create more and more happy memories! Thank you Poppi & Dianne for a great time!

Happy Fall Y'all!

A Slice of Life

This post is just to give an update in videos of some of the goings-on in Zach's life as of late. As you can see, he has been a busy little guy.

Zachary The Break-Dancer:


Zachary In His Swim Class:


Zachary Practicing With Chopsticks:


And finally, in preparation for Halloween, Zachary the Knight battles the Black Knight:

Zachary's First Day of Pre-K: 09/03/2013

Today is Zach's first day of Pre-K. The first video is a short interview with him conducted on our back deck. The second video is him leaving our car to be walked to his classroom.

Zachary Helps Mama Water Plants

This made us laugh...

Zachary The Puddle Jumper

Today is our Zachary's 4th birthday. Hard to believe how the time flies. In honor of that, allow us to present Zach The Puddle Jumper:

Zach's first trip to Disney

Where does time go?! Seems like just yesterday we were in Orlando celebrating Julia's birthday and Zach's first trip to Disney. However, we actually went in April - 3 months ago!! And, reviewing our past blog posts I realized we never shared anything from our trip. Better late than never, lol (my new motto). Here are a few of our favorite pictures from our week long trip. We visited 3 parks (Magic Kingdom, Holly Wood Studios & Lego Land) with pool day breaks in between. Between the 3 parks we walked 21 miles...including Zachary. Because even though we brought his stroller he refused to sit in it unless he was forced to. Julia's favorite park was the Magic Kingdom. Matt's favorite was Hollywood Studios and Zachary just couldn't choose a favorite! We look forward to going back and making more magical memories!

Every one needs to try the chocolate mouse ice cream bar atleast once in your life. This one melted faster than Zach could eat it. He cried when I had to throw away the melted mess.

We all enjoyed the Pluto photo opp... Pluto is Matt & Zachary's favorite Classic Character. 

Matt's favorite ride was the Rockn Roller Coaster, he rode it by himself while Zachary and Mommy picked out Disney tattoos

Matt's favorite Star Wars Character at Lego Land, He continues to hold strong to his feelings that Darth Maul died too quickly in the movie.

Hollywood Studios  group picture . It was a wonderful trip, we had a great time!!

Zachary Taekwondo Yellow Belt Test

As many of you know, for the last few months (since February), Zachary has been taking Tae Kwon Do classes. This past Saturday (7/20/2013), he took his promotion test to move from white belt (entry level) to yellow belt (second level). He was in there testing with 3 other white belts who were all a good bit older than he was and who he did not know, but it didn't seem to phase him in the slightest. Below are some pictures and some video from the test itself and then from the awarding of the belt, which happened Monday afternoon. Needless to say, we are very proud of Zach and his accomplishments!

Test Part 1: Striking:
Test Part 2: Kicking:
Test Part 3: Board Breaking:
Belt Presentation Ceremony:
Zachary with his primary instructor, Julian Best: