New Year's Eve

Peter and I aren't big partiers so we didn't make any plans for New Years this year. My friend, Brenda, said they were going to throw a party and since they are just down the road from us it sounded like a good place to celebrate. We had a great time at the party and ate good food and played a couple games of Apples to Apples. Peter and our friend Andy played some songs on their guitars but they weren't very good about taking requests. I started not feeling very good so we left around 11 before bringing in the New Year so I could get to bed. I am very thankful for all our friends and family and I can't wait to see what God has in store for this coming year.

Mémère

I had recently gotten a couple letters from my grandmother, Mémère, asking that I come up to St. Augustine and visit her in her new place. I talked with my sister and my oldest brother and asked if they would be interested in joining me on the trip so we could all pay her a nice visit. Both Janell and Steve were up for the drive so today we met at my house where my mom was going to watch all the children and Janell drove us up from there to see Mémère. I had told Mémère we were coming up and I told my dad so he could remind her but when we got there she was really surprised to see us. It was lunch time so we took her out to Cracker Barrel and enjoyed a nice talk and meal. Mémère had a lot to say about pretty much everything so there were no pauses in the conversation. When we took Mémère back she showed us all around everywhere and told us all the things that they do for activities. After we had been there for a few hours we decided it was time to get going. We said good bye to Mémère but told her that we would be back to visit again. Her 90th birthday is this December so we know there will be a big party for that.

Fenced-In

Peter and I have wanted to fence in our yard for as long as we've lived here. Our main reason is that we want our children to be able to play outside without worrying about them wandering off or strangers coming into our yard but also because we don't want strangers to be able to see the children while they are playing. Our neighbor on the North side fenced in his yard years ago because they have a dog and also wanted their privacy, the neighbor behind us has a chain link fence in place but you can't actually see it through the brush that we have in the back of our yard. So, really we just needed the south side fenced and the two front sides done to complete the yard. Before Christmas I had scheduled about 8 different companies to come out and give us quotes and since Peter was the one who dealt with them he made the final decision. We didn't go with the cheapest but we did get the company we chose, Dave's Fences, to drop their price by a couple hundred dollars. They were scheduled to come out tomorrow but this morning I saw them pull up and then start to head to the backyard. We didn't mind them coming early and since we had planned on being home all day anyhow it worked out for us. Now that our fence is up we are looking at getting a nice wooden swing set so the children can go out and play regularly. We think this will be especially good for Javan because he is a boy and has a lot of energy to burn.

Merry Christmas!!

This morning started early (as expected) and when we couldn't ignore the children's loud voices any longer we gave up trying to sleep a little longer and got up. There were lots of presents under the tree and the girls couldn't wait to open them all. Of course, we made them eat breakfast before we sat down to see what Santa brought. I think they forgot to chew and just swallowed their breakfast whole because they were ready in no time. Daddy was in charge of passing out the presents and one by one the pile got smaller. The children were all excited about their new toys and cool things (except the socks and underwear) and Daddy and I saved the best for last. We had Javan open his big present from us which was a Thomas the Train wooden track set, complete with multiple buildings, at least one of each engine from the show, and dozens of tracks. He couldn't wait to get the bins I had put them in open so he could play with them. Then it was the girls turn to open their gift. The other night Bresa saw it wrapped up in my room and asked, "Mommy, have you wrapped my present yet?" I said, "yes, it's right next to you" she says, "but that says its for me and Abbi." Me-"I know, you have to share it." She was not at all happy about this idea but I encouraged her that when she found out what it was she be happy to share it and she would be happy she didn't have to share it with Javan. When the girls started opening their joint gift they found the top part of the box filled with sea shells, binoculars, travel shampoo and conditioner, sun screen lotion, and a Disney Cruise brochure. Of course they pulled the brochure out without even glancing at it and said they think they are going to spend the night at the beach. I told them they were wrong. Underneath those things the girls found two white pillowcases (one for each of them) filled with a couple new outfits, new jammies, flip-flops, swimsuit covers, disposable cameras, travel toothbrushes, their Disney pin lanyards (to which they said we were going to a "Disney Beach") and at the very bottom they each found a long postcard with a picture of the Disney Dream Cruise ship on it. At that point they figured out what we were doing. Peter then picked up the brochure they threw aside and said "See, that's what this book is all about." I am glad they finally know, we have been planning this trip for months now and it's been hard keeping it a secret because I am so excited about it.
After we cleaned up a little bit we watched Shrek 2 together and had some leftover Publix sub for lunch. After the movie we got ready to head to Grandma's house for dinner and a few more presents. We got to Grandma's around 3 and hung out with Steve and Heather until dinner was ready. The kids all played together nicely and then we ate a wonderful ham dinner prepared by Jim. My youngest brother, Brian, was there too which was nice because he works a lot. He did have to work today but he got off early enough to have dinner with us. After everyone had finished eating we got together to open more presents. Grandma and Papa had bought the grandchildren a few gifts and Steve passed them out. Javan got a cool motorized train and tracks to keep at Grandma's house. I helped him put it together and had as much fun playing with it as he did. The older kids got these zhuzhu pet things with accessories so they went crazy playing with that in the kitchen on the tile floor. Today is also Jim's birthday so my mom had made him a special birthday cake for dessert which we all partook in after the gifts were opened. It wasn't real late but Peter and I were really tired from only getting a few hours of sleep last night so we decided to pack up the kids and go home. We had a great time with my family and the kids enjoyed a very nice Christmas. I hope everyone else had a wonderful day too!!

Christmas Eve

Today was a nice relaxing day with not too much to do. Peter needed to finish up a couple gifts so we all went to the store together and then stopped at Chick-fil-a for lunch. At home I tried to clean up a bit so things would be nice and orderly for tomorrow. I like a clean house and I knew I would not want to deal with a mess on Christmas Day. The kids made sure their rooms were spotless because they knew that Santa doesn't visit homes with messy rooms. I had made cookies with my sister-in-law, Heather, yesterday so we would have something to leave Santa when he stopped by. Peter had to go to church around 3:30 for practice for this evenings church services. I started getting the girls all prettied up with their hair and beautiful Christmas dresses that Grandma had bought for them. Around 5 Steve, Heather, Tyler, Mom and Jim came over. Our church was having services at 5, 7, and 11 tonight and we were going to the 7:00 one. Around 6:15 we left for the church to ensure we got a good seat and parking spot. There was really no one there just yet which was nice and it gave me time to find Peter and see him a little bit before the service started. The 5 and 7 services were Kid Interactive and each child got a box full of goodies to use during the service as well as some fun stuff to do at home. There were bells for the songs and a shiny silver paper that the kids had to write a wish on and crumple up. The paper was collected and then taken to the front to make a huge star that was later raised over the alter. It was really cool. There were also some paper crafts and a glow stick to wave during Silent Night. After the service Peter was able to come home for a couple hours before heading back to church. I had ordered a large ring sub from Publix and Mom picked it up on the way over and brought dip, chips, and potato salad. We were all starving and happy to have such good food to eat. We took a few pictures and looked up Santa's flight track online so we had an idea of what time he would be coming. Eventually everyone headed back to mom's and my kids got ready to go to bed. I had wanted to go to the midnight service but the kids were tired and I didn't want Javan to be loud and cranky during the service at all. The girls got things together to put out the plate for Santa and the reindeer and when everything seemed just right they headed to bed. Peter had to be back at church at 10:15 so he left and I watched a movie while I waited for him to return. I was really sleepy and he didn't make it home until after 1:00am. I was pretty much asleep when he walked in. I was excited for tomorrow but I knew the kids would be up early and I really wanted some sleep.

Life Group Christmas Party

Tonight was our annual Life Group Christmas party. We all bring a dish and a gift or two for the White Elephant game and meet at someone's house (not ours because we host the weekly meetings so for our socials we always get a break). This year we got together at Kelli and Woody's home and filled it up quickly. Once everyone had arrived we blessed the food and then piled our plates high with all the different delicious dishes. I don't think we have one bad cook in the whole group and we always wish we had more room in our bellies so we could eat more of everything that is brought. We talked over dinner and then some more while we digested enough to be able to move again. When the game was all set up we started the rounds. We had a $10 limit on the gifts we brought so there were some people who really found a good bargain and then some how really didn't try or maybe tried to find a really bad deal. The variety of the gifts makes it fun though because you aren't sure if you want to chance opening a new gift or steal one from someone after they have already opened one and know what it is. Of course if you open a really good gift you know it will get stolen from you at some point. We had a great time with the gift exchange, there are always a bunch of laughs and probably a couple disappointed people but in the end we all have fun. After some more relaxing and talking it was time to pack up and head home. We are so blessed with such a wonderful life group and Peter and I are honored to lead such a wonderful group of people.

The parties continue

Tonight we had a party at Christina and Noah's house. I had to work during the day so when I got off I changed real quick at home and then we took off. Rena, TJ, and Reba were already there when we got there. After we came in and got comfortable the kids got to open some gifts that were under the tree. Javan got a cool firetruck, his favorite and the girls each got really cool princess books that have them as part of the story and a few of their friends too; they are really cool. After the kids opened the gifts we all had dinner. Tina and Reba had really good stuffed shells which we had with salad and garlic bread. Everything was delicious. When everyone was full we did our little White Elephant gift exchange and had some fun stealing gifts and open others. After we talked and just hung out for a while Tina got stuff out to decorate cookies for dessert. The girls really enjoyed this, they spent a long time making their cookies just perfect and then only a few second eating them up. Us girls decorated the rest of the cookies until they were all pretty. It was getting kind of late so we decided it was time to head out. I have tomorrow off but Peter still has a lot of work to get done and we have another Christmas party tomorrow night.

All I want for Christmas...

Abbi lost her first top tooth when we were eating dinner tonight. I didn't know she could get cuter.

Christmas Cards 2011

St. Nick's Night

St. Nick's Night is supposed to be on December 6th but I was not prepared. I always buy ornaments to put in the girl's shoes but I just couldn't seem to find any that I liked well enough this year. I went several places and pretty soon the 6th turned into the 9th turned into tonight. I knew I was running out of time so I went to Macy's to give it a look. I found a couple that I was satisfied with but still not in love with. I was really running out of time so I just had to compromise and make a choice. Javan is at Grandma's house so I had to put his shoe out for him but the girls both grabbed theirs and put it on the porch. They are both very excited to see what St. Nick leaves for them. Thankfully they are both young enough not to be too concerned that St. Nick's Night seems to skip all over the calendar. :)

Busy Busy

This morning I took the girls with me to volunteer at our church's Giving Joy. People from the church donate new and slightly used toys for months leading up to December and then we let people from the community come and choose up to 3 gifts per child to have wrapped so they have presents for Christmas. It's always really fun for us volunteers and to see how excited the parents get to be able to give their children something is priceless. The children all donated toys from their rooms and we bought a couple new things too and it was cool for the girls to be able to see their toys that were going to go to a new child. After we were through with our shift we headed home and grabbed some quick lunch and then headed to the Orlando Science Center where we met up with our friend Angella. Peter had taught a quick class at the OSC over the summer and we got free tickets for admission for it. The kids had a great time touching and playing with everything. I hadn't been there in a long time so it was fun to see all the new exhibits. They still had the guitar exhibit up so we took the kids through it to see for the first time. I had to practically pull Peter out of there so we could see something else, even though he had seen it before. There was a cool bug exhibit and we got to see roach races (gross). They also had some chef there making things to eat from bugs (no thanks). There were some cool interactive things that the girls had fun with and Javan played in the fish tank part. We went in the room next door that was electronics and physics types of exhibits and there was so much to do. The kids had a great time going from one thing to the next and playing with it all. We were up there for a long time but headed down to the center area to see the alligator feeding. That was really neat and the guy who fed them answered questions from everyone as he dished out the food. The gators were pretty crazy about their feeding time and we got to see a few fights happen. After the gators were all fed we went into Kid Town and the kids ran around for a bit climbing the tree, gathering oranges, and playing with gears (wheels if you ask Javan). I got to sit for a bit which was enjoyable and after the kids had touched it all we went to grab a quick snack at the Cafe. Just next door is the REP Theatre where we have been to see some plays in the past and this year we got another subscription for the shows. Today we were going to see A Nutcracker's Christmas. We said good bye to Angella and then walked to the theatre. I really enjoyed the play and I thought it was really cute but Peter said it was his least favorite play we had been to. Javan was pretty good since it was a musical it kept his attention pretty well. The girls were mesmerized the entire time. We had planned to go home for a nice quiet evening but we got a call from Jana and Joe asking us over for dinner (authentic Thai Food) with a few other Life Group Leaders. We quickly found some
childcare, fed the kids on the way home, dropped them off and headed over to Jana and Joe's. Dinner was delicious and the fellowship and conversation was great too. Today was very packed but I had a lot of fun and was reminded of how much I have to be thankful for.

BounceU

A long time ago I went to a place that had rooms filled with different bounce houses. You pay a flat fee for an hour or so and then you just bounce away. Recently a friend told me about that same sort of place that was closer and had preschool play time. You pay $8 and then bounce away for an hour and a half and then have a little snack and drink. This sounded like something Javan would really enjoy and be able to get some energy out and get him out of the house. I asked my friend Rebecca if she would be interested in joining me since she has little ones at home too. I was excited to try this out especially since Peter and I were having our friends Joe and Jana over later and we like to put the kids to bed early. I got there just after they started the preschool bounce and there was only one other mom there with her two boys. All the children must be 5 and under so it was nice that there weren't any big kids that I had to be cautious of. The boys played really well together, rough and rowdy of course. Rebecca arrived a short while later with her two children and her mom, and good friend of mine, Valleta. There were some really cool bounce houses, some just for bouncing, some with HUGE slides, some for boxing (complete with big gloves) some for shooting, throwing balls, obstacles, and so on. Javan and I had a good time shooting each other in the one house that had air compressed guns that you load with small foam balls. I think my favorite was the huge slide though, it really took your breath away. When it was time we moved into the next room with even more bounce houses. There was one that was a big obstacle course where you had to climb, crawl, squeeze, and then climb some more to get to the end which was a big slide. That one was really fun but it sure was exhausting. I said to Beck and Valleta that the idea was for the kids to get worn out not us. I was so tired by the end of it all. Finally we went in for the little kid snack which they all ate quickly. We had a lot of fun and we plan to go back again after the holidays, maybe with more friends too. Once we left there we went over to the Wing House for some real food before heading back into town. Bresa had an appointment with a new doctor and we had to take her out of school early. Then we had dinner before having Jana and Joe over for some adult conversations and coffee.

Playing Hooky

This morning when the kids got up and started eating breakfast I said, "how about we don't go to school today and instead go to Disney World?" Of course, I got no objections from that and pretty soon we were on our way to pick up Grandma to join in on our day of fun. We parked at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and took the bus over to the Animal Kingdom park where mom's neighbor was getting us in. We walked around the park for a little bit and then took the bus over to the Magic Kingdom. The park was a lot more crowded than I had expected. My friends had gone last week and said there was no wait for anything. That was not the case today. Even though the park was more crowded than I prefer we did manage to have some pretty good timing on many things. When we first walked into the Magic Kingdom there was a short parade coming through and right as we reached the center of Main Street we grabbed the perfect spot right in front with all of Main Street ahead of us. We watched the parade and then headed to grab some lunch. After lunch we walked through Fantasyland but every line was so long so we ended up only riding Cinderella's Carousel about three times. Javan loved it and couldn't get enough. We walked through a few shops and kept checking the lines to see if there were any short ones but even Small World was a 40 minute wait, no thank you. We walked to our favorite Pin Trading Store and looked at all the cool new pins and the kids traded a few with the cast members too. When we had touched everything we went out just in time to see the 3:00 parade come through. The kids loved seeing all the characters and they waved at them all and pointed out their favorite ones to Mom and I. The next stop we made was at Aladdin's Flying Carpet Ride. I waited in line with the kids while Mom wandered around. When it was finally our turn the girls took the front seat and Javan and I rode in the back. The girls enjoyed controlling the height of the carpet and Javan had a blast just riding along. About half way through he started screaming, "That's what I'm talking about!" over and over again. It was pretty funny. After we excited the carpet we got a nice cold ice cream treat next door. We all enjoyed a our little rest and then went into the Tiki Bird Show. That use to be my favorite thing to do when I was a kid and Abbi says it's her favorite thing now. They changed the show from the last time we went and took out Zazu and the annoying bird from Aladdin. It's much better now and not near as annoying. When we came out of that we went over to Pirate's of the Caribbean. No trip to Disney is complete without Pirates. After some more shopping and pin trading we sat down to get our glow in the dark things out. Once we were all lit up we got on the train and rode it around the park. We took it back to the main entrance just in time to grab a spot of the electric parade. That parade was really cool but it seemed like it was 2 hours long. By the end all of us were ready to go. Before we left the park for the night we stopped in a couple more stores with the last one being the Emporium, the big Disney Store on Main Street. I had a couple things I was looking for but didn't find anything. Oh well. It was really late by the time we left and the girls have school in the morning and I have to be up at 5 for work. We dropped mom off and then headed home then we all crashed into our beds.

Another Thermometer

Well since Abbi is now in the gifted course and has the same teacher that Bresa had we are seeing a lot of project requests that we have seen before. Abbi was all excited to tell me that she had to make a thermometer and I remembered just two years ago Bresa was one making it. So here we are again, same project and all but this time we have a different student. It took me a few days to get everything we needed but only a few minutes for Abbi to put it all together in working order.

One part each: rubbing alcohol and water, couple drops of red food die, one clear straw (that doesn't touch the bottom) and some molding clay to hold the straw and seal the top. Tada, one working thermometer!! I really wish all the projects were this easy and quick.