Christmas 2019

Another Christmas is (almost) in the books! We are still going to my parent's house to celebrate with them in a few days. I will say I was quite proud of myself for getting all of the shopping and wrapping done about a week before the big day and didn't have to do any last minute running around. It was nice to just be able to relax and not worry about the craziness going on around town.

Our visit with Santa was a success! He's such a nice guy and brought the kids what they asked for.

Jim came up before Christmas to celebrate with us and Brittany, Michael and Joshua. They were going to be out of town over Christmas, so it was a good time for all of us to be together.

It was hard to keep it a secret, but Jim's big gift (among several other great gifts!) was annual passes to Disney World for the kids! We have already made plans to take them soon.

We went to MOSH to check out their space exhibit and toy train exhibit. I really like the traveling exhibits. There was a lot of fun and learning about being an astronaut. Some of it I already knew from our trips to Kennedy Space Center. Some of it was just fun like measuring your grip strength and trying to ride a bike in space. They had a launch simulator (below) and a capsule spinner which was like an enclosed teacup ride.

The boys loved the trains and kept trying to figure out which one was faster. There was definitely one that was made for speed!

I told the kids we would make Christmas cookies the first day of break and did we make cookies! There were plenty for everyone to decorate plus Matthew and I did several more after the kids got tired of doing it. I had every intention of sharing them with neighbors but, somehow, they're all still here!! Well, minus the ones we've eaten of course!

We continued our Christmas Eve tradition of going to the candlelight service at church. Last year we found out that most restaurants either close at 6 pm or there's a long wait to get in, so we just planned an easy spaghetti dinner when we got home. Before bedtime the kids chose the cookie they wanted to give to Santa and we sprinkled reindeer food outside. They could tell the reindeer food was just bird seed, but I told them reindeer eat it too, but we couldn't do it too early or the birds would eat it all!

Busted!

I love Christmas morning and hearing how excited the kids are to see the presents under the tree. Alex insisted that we leave the Christmas tree on all night so Santa could see it. I really thought I was going to hear one of them get up in the middle of the night, see the gifts, and want to wake everyone up right then to open them! Thankfully they stayed in their room until 6 before rushing out to see everything!

I don't take too many pictures, but I did get some of Robbie opening his present from Santa (a drone with a camera) and Catie with her new Frozen vanity. We found out that Santa also brought our neighbor the same vanity!

I think she likes it!

 The aftermath. All of the presents are unwrapped and the kids are playing with their new toys.

For the first time this year we went to the neighborhood known for its light display. Of course the pictures on my phone don't do it justice, but it's beautiful! We went once before Christmas and it was crazy the amount of people going to see it. We went again with Barbara after Christmas and it was much less busy! Almost everyone in the neighborhood participates in some way, even if it's just a few strands of lights. Other people get really into it. We saw several Christmas inflatables that we've never seen before, but my favorite house was the one with the Pokemon because it was so unique. We figure they're decorated exercise balls, but they did a great job on them!

Look who's 40!!

Ok, I really do think age is just a number, but 40 is a big one!! I really didn't want to make a big deal about it, but I did want to do something! I chose to go to Kan Ki for dinner (yay free birthday dinner!). The kids loved the show and the food. They were a little nervous for the "fire" part, but I told them to back up or duck down when it happened (the chef warned us) and it's only for 3 seconds. They were fine. Brittany, Michael and Joshua also joined us. I love having them in Jacksonville!!

Joshua enjoying the show

My dinner was delicious!

Family picture! 

Brittany and Michael have FSCJ Artist Series Season tickets which means they get early access to guest tickets. Back in July we bought our tickets to see Wicked. Unbeknownst to us then, Matthew would be traveling for work the week of the show. Luckily my friend Melodie stepped in to be my date! We were also supposed to go with Brittany and Michael, but Joshua caught RSV and ended up spending some time at Wolfson's Children's Hospital when he was having a hard time breathing. They did go to a different showing, but I missed them and am glad that Joshua has recovered!

I tried to get Lisa to come over to see Wicked with me, but she had to work. When we decided to go to Tallahassee for Thanksgiving I really wanted to do another breakout room. Then Jonathan, Chat, Nick, Robyn and their families decided to come to Tallahassee as well so we had a Siblings and Spouses Night Out. We crushed the breakout room!! Lisa suggested Backwoods Crossing for dinner and I'm so glad she did. Our dinners were delicious and Matthew already wants to go back! It really was that good.

I'm back!!

I've been thinking about updating this blog for a long time, but with 3 kids, work, volunteering and Facebook I just never got around to it. I do think I'll post more stuff on here than I do on Facebook, because I like this format more. For sure I won't post as much as I used to, but I'll (hopefully) do it more than I have these past 3 years!

Alex's first day of VPK

Three weeks after Robbie started kindergarten, Alex finally got to start VPK. Alex has been so excited about going to VPK because he gets to eat lunch at school.  He got to pick out an awesome R2D2 lunch box and we have used it a couple times before school started.  Alex has the same teacher that Robbie had last year, so Robbie gave him the full run-down of how Alex's day would go.  It was so cute hearing Robbie give Alex some big brother advice.

Alex had so many good pictures to choose from, so I'm posting a bunch.  Enjoy!

Kindergarten!!

Yes, plenty has happened since the kids started school last year.  I have thought about doing an update post filling in the last year, and I still might, but I also think I should just get started where we're at now.

Robbie started school August 15th.  For the first week parents were allowed to walk the kids into the school, which we took full advantage of.  Robbie was nervous about getting dropped of in car line the next week, so I walked him through the route the Friday before and told him to ask a teacher or patrol if he got lost.  It was so sad dropping him off that Monday morning because he looked so unsure of what to do.  He ended up asking a patrol to walk him in and has been fine ever since (though he has pointed out that a classmate's mom is still walking her in).

Last week Robbie came home with the news that they were adding a new kindergarten class and taking a few students from each of the existing classes to make the new one.  He was so upset and afraid that he would get moved.  I don't blame him.  He started school not knowing anyone (though we did have a play date with someone from Mom to Mom) and had made a couple of friends.  Plus he really likes his teacher.  Thankfully we found out that he gets to stay in his class and neither of his friends were moved.

Now we are at the end of the first "month" of school.  Robbie loves it and says that he's learning a lot.   What more could we ask for? :)

Robbie's first day!

Alex getting in another hug before leaving his brother for the day.

First Day(s) of School!

Robbie and Alex have been looking forward to going back to school since school ended in May.

Robbie started VPK this year.  I am sad that his classmates from the previous 2 years weren't going to be in his class this year (Gavin and Giana are going to a different school and Niko is in a different class).  Robbie was excited to see that Ben is in his class.  Robbie and Ben are in the same Sunday school class.  I'm glad that he knows someone, but I do worry that the two of them are going to get a bit rowdy at times.

One big difference this year is that Robbie gets to take lunch to school Monday - Thursday.  Friday is early release, so he gets to come home and eat lunch.  Robbie has been great telling me what type of sandwich he wants and picking out snacks and a drink.

Robbie's car line gets the kids in and out the passenger side of the car.  Since Catie's car seat is on the passenger side and she's still rear-facing, Robbie gets to come to the front seat and get in and out.  I'm still "training" the helpers who get him to let him in the front seat. :)  It's so helpful that Robbie can get himself buckled and unbuckled.  He's so good about waiting until I tell him he's allowed to come up front, too.  I don't want him thinking he can come up front any time he wants!

Robbie has had a great first month of school!

First day of school pictures:

Waiting to be picked up:

Alex has been wanting to go to Mrs. King's class since before his school was out.  I did talk to him over the summer about the possibility of him not getting into her class (I did request her), so I was relieved when we got the letter saying that he was in her class.  Of course, Alex knew all along that he was going to be in her class, so he wasn't surprised at all. We all went to Meet the Teacher for Alex (and Robbie, too) and Mrs. King loved seeing Robbie again.

Alex knew the drop off routine after watching Robbie do it last year.  It's funny because last year after I unbuckled Robbie in car line (the helpers don't unbuckle the kids) and he would come sit in the front seat until he had to get in the back to get out (Alex's car line gets in and out of the driver's side).  Of course, as soon as I unbuckled Alex his first day he asked if he could come sit in the front seat.  When I tell him he has to go back in his seat so the helper can get him out of the car he's ready to jump out.  I do have to tell him sometimes to wait to open the door if there's no one there to get him.

I love picking up Alex at the end of his school day.  He's so excited to tell me about his day.  He's learning his friends' names and loves being in Mrs. King's class.  Plus, she gives stickers to kids who have been good and he loves showing me which one he got.  Alex is not happy about not getting to eat at school, but that day will come....and last for a long time!!

First day of school:

Walking to the car at the end of the day:

The boys got to wear their new school shirts on the first Friday of school.  I had to get a picture of them, though they had had their limit of pictures by the end:

I'm so glad the boys like going to school!

Christmas in July

It did not go unnoticed that I did not post anything about our Christmas this year.  Everyone knows that the holidays are a busy time and sitting down and blogging is not something I made time for...until now! :)

I found cute snowflake glass jars at Target and grabbed a few for teacher gifts.  My friend Amber has a homemade hot chocolate recipe and I have had it before and know it's good.  When I asked her for the recipe she said it made so much we should go together on the ingredients and make them for all of the boys' teachers.  She wasn't kidding when she said it made a lot!  After we filled up our jars, she let Xavier like the pan.  I'm glad I wasn't the one who had to give him a bath, and I don't think the pictures truly show how covered he was.

Alex had a Christmas party at school and they made him into the cutest angel!  Unfortunately it didn't last long.

I was able to help out at Robbie's class party.  They made donut snowmen.  I'm sure the whole idea is lost on the kids who just want to eat it all!

Robbie's snowman

"You mean I have to wait to eat it??"

At Robbie's school they "fed" reindeer.  They each took of their shoes (or maybe just one), left it outside of the classroom with a sugar cube in it.  They went back into the room and read a story and when they went back out later, the sugar cube was gone and the reindeer left them a treat!  Robbie loved it!  They also made bags of reindeer food to leave out for the reindeer on Christmas Eve.  The boys loved tossing it all over the yard.



We took the kids to the live nativity.  Luckily we didn't have too long of a wait to go through this year, but Catie was a little cranky.  Our shepherd guide held her for a while and she thoroughly enjoyed that.  After we went through and heard the story of Jesus' birth there's a petting zoo area and the kids loved petting the animals.  They also liked the free cookies!

I heard a few times "Mom, come see what Catie is doing!"  It's amazing to see how much she has changed since Christmas when pulling up was a big deal.

We didn't do "big" gifts this year like the cars we gave them last year, but they didn't seem to mind.  All of the kids get spoiled enough by "Santa" and his special elves (aka family).