Our New Pony!

Here we are at the horse farm ready to ride "Buttercup" before she leaves for the glue factory. Her name was really Tootsie, but Stiv kept calling her Buttercup so it kind of stuck.  The kids took turns brushing the pony's hair, putting on her harness, and leading her to the ring to ride.

 

I guess this beast isn't so scary after all.

Let's get going, I want to ride!!!

Catie loves her new pony. She just loved being around Buttercup and the other horses.

"Buttercup, I have an older brother, you are no match for me..."

Hey, I am going the wrong way!!!!

I can ride "Buttercup" too... The kids had a blast and can't wait to go back.

Five Snow Days and More B-Ball

The great blizzard of 2011 came and stayed! The kids ended up having 5 snow days!!! As you can see, Arbor Springs was left with several inches of ice that made for a fast but treacherous sledding run. We had several injuries, mostly the adults...

Go Jackie Go...

The roads were so icy that the Dekalb County Police closed our street with crime scene tape!!! Neighbors Bob and Marc may be smiling, but everyone really just wanted to get to work.

Jackson had his second basketball game of the year and showed great improvement. He plays defense with exceptional aggression. He says "I am a stone wall on defense."

"Jacko" even got a few shots off in the game. Baseline jumper...

The "stone wall" in action.

Hmm, maybe I will be a point guard...

 

The shot goes up...

...it's good!!!

Coach Jimmy is preparing the White Tigers before the game. Whatever he said worked, because you could see improvement in most the players over the first game.

Catie Cooper was much improved in her second game. She was much more aggressive and actually took a shot!

Look at our girl ripping the ball away from her opponent. She must be listening when coach Jimmy says "defense wins championships!"

Catie Cooper starting the fast break...

Oops, my man got by...rats.

Happy Birthday Catie Cooper!

If we know it only took $6 to make Catie this happy,  we would have canceled the birthday party and gifts!

We all celebrated Catie's sixth birthday at the "lazy river" aquatic center with her 18 closest friends. Our theme for this party was princess cake, Christmas napkins, and miscellaneous plates from past events. I think the other parents thought we were having financial difficulties, but the kids never noticed!

Catie was really excited about her princess cake and Abby helped her blow out the candles.

Ahh Ann, the party was supposed to be for the kids...

Catie had her first basketball game just before her birthday party. She did a great job staying in position and playing defense. She even tried dribbling the ball up the court one time. The best part was how cute she looked in her uniform.

Catie is off like a flash after the ball!

Jackson had his first basketball game too, but we did not get any pictures because of another car key incident by Stiv...

 

The Blizzard of 2011!  Atlanta got about 6 inches of snow on Sunday night and the whole city is shut down.  It looks like two snow days for the kids and a family cooped up inside the house going stir crazy! Jackson was so excited to use his new snow shovel that Grandpa gave him for Christmas. We offered to pay him $5 dollars to shovel the driveway... he finished only 15% of it and managed to negotiate $3 out of us for his efforts.

  

Notice the swimming jackets! They finally made it out of the closet!