Music City

I love to travel to new places.
In November we took a trip to Orlando (which is not a new place . . . more like a second home) for my aunt's birthday.
You can read about that trip here.
While we were on that trip we decided to try to do more girl trips with the ladies in the family.
Although we don't live that far away, we don't get to see nearly enough of each other.
The next trip was planned for March in the city of Nashville.
This one was a celebration trip for my mom's birthday.
I have been told that I have been to Nashville before, but I didn't remember.
I was pumped to see Music city.
We left early (as in 6 am) on Thursday morning and flew into Chatanooga.
It was a 2 hour drive from there to the hotel, but we enjoyed the ride (trying not to fall asleep after getting up so early).
We stayed at the Sheraton Music City Hotel, and it was really nice.
The first day we pretty much just explored a little bit and ate a lot.
Rosie, one of my aunts, met us there later that night, and we ate a late dinner with her at The Tavern.

Best. Sweet. Potato. Fries. Ever.

On Friday we got up and had brunch at Pancake Pantry.

I thought is was delicious, but the rest of the group didn't feel the same.

After our brunch we drove to the city of Franklin and walked around the downtown area.

It was really cute.

We had frozen yogurt in a really cute little shop.

We had tickets to the Grand Ole Opry that night, so we grabbed a quick dinner at a Mexican restuarant called Chuy's.

It was not my favorite.

Then we were off to the Opry.

It was a really fun show.

They play it live on the radio, so the commercials run in between the performers.

The highlights of the night were the two sisters from the show Nashville, Scotty McCreery, Pam Tillis, and Lorrie Morgan.

After the show we tried to get into The Bluebird Cafe, which is famous from the show Nashville.

It was full, so we couldn't get in.

But it was fun to see.

It is literally the smallest, hole in the wall bar ever.

And we found out later that they use a set in the show anyway.

On Saturday we didn't get up very early again, so we did an early lunch at Jack's BBQ.

It was pretty good.

Then we decided to do the trolley ride around the city.

It ended up being more of a bus tour, but it was interesting to hear a little history behind the city.

 We had dinner reservations at 7:30, so we decided to go get a little snack beforehand.

We ended up at this little cupcake shop.

It was literally the most delicious thing I have ever eaten in my life.

Please, do yourself a favor, and go here if you ever find yourself in Music City.

We ate dinner that night at a place called Capitol Grille (not the chain that we have one of at International Mall).

It was inside a nice, old hotel.

It was delicious.

And very expensive.

But it was a birthday celebration and well worth it.

After we left the restaurant we had to drive back to Chatanooga to catch our entirely too early flight the next morning.

Rosie was flying out of Nashville, so we dropped her off to meet some friends who were in the city too.

She sent us this picture shorty after.

And we about died.

This is Will from the TV show Nashville.

We just missed him.

Dang it.

All in all it was a great trip.

Filled with lots of fun and even more food (it always is with us).

I love that I get to have these times with the women in my family.

It is such a treat to have true girl time with my favorite girls.

And an extra special "happy birthday" to my mama.

She doesn't look a day over 29.  Literally.  It isn't fair.  I hope I inherit those genes.

Work Hard, Play Hard

At the end of February we got to take a 10 day work trip with Tim.

He had to be in the Fort Lauderdale area to visit schools and exhibit at a conference at a church down there. Taking these trips is definitely one of the very sweet parts of homeschooling. I can take the classroom wherever we go. We stayed at Tim's parents house the entire time we were down there. They watched the kids for us the first few days, so I could attend the conference with Tim. It was called Liberate, and it is held every year at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church. I would highly, highly, highly recommend it to anyone and everyone who already loves Jesus or is searching for Jesus.

Matt Chandler was one of the speakers.

He is my pastor crush (as in I love his pastoring, not him).

If you haven't listened to him, you should.

We also got to spend some time with good friends that we haven't seen in a while.

And we both were kidless, which is a rare treat.

Tim and I also got to share a date lunch at a sushi place he found last time he was there.

After the weekend conference was over Tim spent the next week visiting schools in the area, while I schooled George and enjoyed cable at Mima and Pipa's house.

We did a couple dinners out.

A couple dinners in

We got to have dinner with my aunt and cousins, since they only live about 20 minutes away.

We tried to go to the community pool in my in-laws' neighborhood, but it was closed:(

We played at the park and went to Target too.

We basically did what we do here.

But it is always fun to do "nothing" in a new place.

On our way home Tim had to stop at the old school he worked in while in Fort Myers.

It was a bittersweet stop for me.

We got to spend a little time with dear friends, but at the same time that year was such a blur that I almost hate bringing back some of the memories.

If that even makes sense.

Sometimes I can convince myself we were never there, but I know God had a purpose in it all.

I choose to live in that place (most of the time).

All in all it was a great time spent together as a family, and I am thankful for this time.

It may not always look like this, so I want to always enjoy and savor each moment of our beautiful lives.

Valentine's Day 2014 - Bettelli Style

Tim and I aren't huge Valentine's Day fans.
At least not in the sappy "let's go on a romantic date alone" kind of way.
I do, however, love the excitement we get from our kids.
This holiday has completely transitioned into a kid holiday (like everything else in our lives), but I'm totally ok with that.
The first thing we do to celebrate is bring out the Valentine's mailboxes I made a few years ago.
Starting on February 1st we (Tim and I) fill the boxes with little love notes and a special candy treat each day until Valentine's Day.

Another special treat for me this year was to celebrate the holiday with Ethan's preschool class.

There is just something so special about a preschool party.

No one knows how to party like 15 three year olds.

For our family celebration we gave the kids a few small gifts and cooked a lobster and steak dinner fit for a king.

George helped me decorate the table to surprise Daddy when he came home.

He also made each person in the family homemade cards.

And although we don't have the circumstances to go on a date alone on the day of love, I am so thankful for this man and his sweet, sweet love for me and his children.

Sidenote: Both Tim and I commented on how old we are getting after looking at this picture.  

Life really takes its toll, and it is extra obvious in pictures.

It's been a while

So I realize it has been a while.
But no excuses here.
I am a busy mom with a busy life, and although I really enjoy blogging, it just isn't at the top of my priority list.
The last time I posted was the beginning of January, and a lot has happened in the Bettelli household since then.
Nothing major like selling a house (unfortunately still waiting on that one), but some really fun things all the same.

Two big things happened on January 6th.

First, Ethan started preschool.

It was a big day, and he is doing great.

I was on the fence on whether or not to start him with so many unknowns.

We could sell the house and move in the middle of the semester . . . 

But it was just getting too difficult to try to teach him preschool type lessons while teaching George and trying to keep Lexi occupied as well.

When Lexi dropped her morning nap it became almost impossible, so we made the decision to send him to the cute school George went to when he was little.

He has the same teacher George had, and we have really enjoyed having him there.

I didn't know how it would go because he is a very young 3 in the class with the last birthday of August 24th.

But the teachers assure me he is just fine and really fitting in well.

He goes Monday through Wednesday from 9-noon.

The second exciting event was the Noles in and winning the National Championship.

We watched the game at my brother's house.

It was touch and go for a while, but I am all about an intense game as long as we win.

Love my Noles!

Lexi has had a bit of a rough few weeks.

We found out she is not only allergic to eggs but peanuts, as well, as evidenced by the picture.

After she had this reaction our pediatrician did the blood test, and she is also allergic to shrimp.

She had also been holding on to cold symptoms for over a month.

She was diagnosed with the flu and respiratory problems, so she had to do these breathing treatments every four hours for a week or so.

She was so good about it.

We just sat her in the highchair and put her in from of Elmo on the tv.

In the last few weeks we have also had quite a few game nights and play dates.

George is obsessed with the game Headbandz.

It is a really fun family game that adults enjoy as much as the kids.

February 3rd was my birthday, and I got quite a few celebrations this year.

This picture is from my night out with my BFF and sister.

They took me to this swanky restaurant called Fly Bar.

The food and the company were impeccable.

Lastly, George started flag football.

Tim is coaching again, and it is looking like another fun season is in store.

We really love Upward sports and feel so blessed to be participating again.

The first game is this weekend, and I am signed up to bring the snack.

I keep having nightmares about forgetting and the kids mauling me.

Let's all pray that doesn't happen, and George isn't known as the kid with the absent-minded mother.

Although that would be a true statement.