a new bike!

Deacon's actual birthday fell on a Saturday this year and since we had his birthday party the week before, we were able to spend his special day together as a family.  It was so much fun!

The day was absolutely beautiful, with crisp fall temps in the morning and sunshine-y skies.  We started out with a "birthday biscuit" -- Daddy brought home breakfast for us!

Then we had a "birthday bath" -- okay, maybe it was just a regular bath.  But it was on his birthday so...

Then we gave Deacon his birthday present from us -- a balance bike!  It's a bike with no pedals, and the intention is to teach them to learn balance before having to deal with pedals.  He got a tricycle for Christmas from my grandparents, and he likes it, but he still hasn't gotten the concept of pushing one foot and then the other to make it go.  He'll get it, I know, but in the meantime, we thought the balance bike would be something he would enjoy.

Score one for Mommy & Daddy -- we were right!

ridin' bikes.

Wasn't one of your favorite past times growing up riding bikes until it got too dark (or until the mosquitos had sucked every ounce of blood out of you)?

These cute kiddos enjoyed that past time when they were together for Father's day weekend.  We're grateful for Grandpa & Grammy's looooong drive way...

 

[readin' while ridin'...even better!]

[can't get enough of these beautiful blue-eyed boys!] 

 

[I hope they'll always be good friends.]

On the 4th day of Christmas...

...we were in Lexington, NC!

 

We got together with my family in Lexington the weekend after we got back from IL, so we celebrated Christmas with them -- there were 11 of us -- on Jan 4.

 

We did actually eat breakfast first, which doesn't usually happen (we usually tear into those gifts as soon as we can get everyone gathered :). But my mom made a scrumptious meal and we enjoyed sitting around the table eating good food and catching up.

 

Next came the gifts.  We've always done stockings in my family until this year.  The young kids -- Cora Beth, Bear and Deacon -- still had them but the adults didn't.  Kind of a bummer but it was fun to watch the kids open theirs, and because we didn't have any to open, we were able to see their reactions to a lot of the stuff they found in their stocking.  They did pretty well finding everything and figuring out what it all was, but things began to get mixed up due to the "one-for-each-of-them" thing + everything ending up on the floor instead of back in the bag -- er, I mean, stocking.  (I can't even tell you the last time we had an actual stocking w/gifts in it -- those just don't hold much.)

 

Anyway, we got everything sorted out with some "hey, is that yours, buddy, or does that belong to Bear?" and that was that.  And with the exception of a very cranky ready-but-not-ready-to-take-a-nap-Deacon (who got put down for a nap shortly thereafter), we had a nice time opening the regular gifts, seeing what everyone got.  That's how we roll in the McAfee house -- we usually go around and everyone opens their gifts one at a time, so we can see what they get, their reaction, etc.  It takes us a while, but it's fun.

 

I live fairly close to my family, considering how far Jeff is from him, so we do get to see them much more.  However, everyone is so busy with their own lives that we really don't get to see as much of each other as you would think, given the 4 hour distance that separates us.  So time with my family is precious when we're able to gather for a special occasion, not the least of which is Jesus' birthday.  :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

...from Gram & Buppa (Deacon's great-grandparents)... 

 

 

...Bear & Deacon both got one!

[Bear, 23 mos  |  Deacon, 26 mos]

 

...so precious -- I missed Deacon's hug for Gram, but captured this tender-hearted moment of thanks for Gram from Bear...

 

 

Whew!  So yeah, 4 days of Christmas celebrating, over the span of 2 weeks.  We so enjoyed being able to spend time with both of our families this year.  I hope y'all had an equally wonderful Christmas season.  Here's to a new year in 2013 -- be blessed!

another visit from Grandma Sherry...

Okay, so I'm late with this post (and about 2 or 3 others) but we've been a bit busy around here, celebrating a certain little someone's 2nd birthday (and a certain larger someone's 37th birthday :).  Fall has always been my favorite season because of the sights and scents, and just the feel of everything winding down at the end of another year, but back in 1994 I added another reason to enjoy fall when I found out my (soon-to-be) husband's birthday was on Halloween.  And then again in 2010, I added yet another reason to enjoy fall -- my first child's birthday!

 

But I'll get to all that.

 

Today I want to post about Deacon's time with his Grandma Sherry about a month ago.  Sherry began asking me early on if I was going to my annual scrapbook retreat in October this year, and if so, she wanted to come down to visit Deacon like she had done last year.  I told her I was (most definitely) planning on it and when I found out the dates, we made plans for her to come.

 

She arrived the Wednesday before I left on Friday for the retreat in OIB and then headed back to IL the following Wednesday.  They, of course, had a great time together.  And it was nice for us to have her here, too.  She lives so far; I know she cherishes these times with Deacon.

 

One thing they both enjoyed a lot while she was here was walks around the neighborhood.  Our neighbors loaned us a little tricycle that also has a handle that enables an adult to push it around, which is great since our little guy can't reach pedals yet.  :)

 

Jeff got some pretty good shots of one of their outings...

 

Deacon became interested in these water grates that sometimes had "stinky water" -- it's so CUTE how he says "tinky wateh".

a visit from Grandma Sherry...

At the end of September, beginning of October, Jeff's mom, Deacon's Grandma Sherry, came to visit.  Most of Jeff's family lives up in IL (where he's originally from) so Grandpa Duane & Grandma Sherry don't get to see Deacon near as much as they'd like to.  While Grandpa Duane had to stay back and work, Grandma Sherry booked a flight and came to visit for about a week.

(I think she secretly enjoyed having Deacon all to herself. :)

I went to a scrapbook retreat in Ocean Isle Beach Sep 30-Oct 3, and Sherry arrived in Wilmington on Sep 29, staying through Oct 6.  I gave Jeff a hard time about planning when she would come, saying he was a "chicken" about being with Deacon by himself for 3 days but truthfully, it was the perfect time for her to come (and I knew Jeff would be just fine with Deacon by himself :).  I was in OIB and Jeff began a new job of sorts that Monday I was gone (working from home all the time now) so Jeff's mom was able to take care of Deacon for us (saving money on childcare is always a good thing :), which gave her some really good quality time with him.

I know she enjoyed every minute!

They took walks and bike rides together (on our new bikes!), played on the floor with Deacon's toys, sat outside and blew bubbles, enjoying the beautiful weather we had while she was here.  We had lots of sunshine and comfy temperatures while she was here and I know she was so thankful to be able to get out and enjoy it with Deacon.

She always asks us if there's anything we'd like her to make when she's visiting (or we're visiting them) so we got to munch on some of her famous apple crisp, beef stew and yummy banana bread.  We enjoyed having her just as much as Deacon did!  :)  Love you, Grandma Sherry!

1st bike ride...

For my birthday this year, Jeff got us bicycles.  A few months ago, he had suggested saving for bikes that we could get out and ride as a family once it got cooler.  I thought that was a great idea so we did start saving.  Little did I know that was just a ruse -- he had planned to get them for my birthday!

So we're actually saving for a fence.

But getting back to my story,  my birthday fell on a Wednesday and Jeff brought the bikes home from Jacksonville that Friday afterward.   His mom happened to be here during that time (another post about that coming soon) so she was able to get some photos for us of Deacon's first time riding (on the back of) a bicycle.  It was a beautiful day to ride!

The bikes are really nice -- Jeff did a good job picking them out.  They're an easy ride, cruiser style with a few gear shifts.  The seat for Deacon switches between the 2 bikes fairly easily so either one of us can carry him when we ride.  He loves being outside so we think he likes riding pretty good.  The helmet, not so much, but he doesn't whine about it.