Christmas Fun

We have made two gingerbread houses here. Bob bought a kit not knowing I had already bought one. The boys of course love anything having to do with candy. Here's the better looking one:

Glenn was hiding on purpose.

Glenn also made a gingerbread house in school. I wasn't able to go to school to help because I didn't have anyone to watch Alexander. So, apparently he was given free reign with the frosting. It's so cute (and he says it's tasty).


Our community had a craft fair this weekend and also had a Santa. We've never taken the kids to see Santa because Glenn has always been very opposed to going. But Alexander said he wanted to see "Tuta" (as he calls him) and had prepared what he was going to tell him he wanted for Christmas. When we got there, I don't think he realized it was going to be a real person, not like all the lawn decorations we've seen. He was frozen. He did kind of talk to Santa, but would not go near his lap. He did sit on my knee next to Santa for a picture and gave Santa five.



Glenn, as expected, wouldn't even go near Santa. He was too nervous. We didn't push him. There is a website that allows you to put in info about your child, like how old and what they want for Christmas. And then Santa makes a video for them talking to them. Both boys love it. Alexander saw Glenn's video first, and thought it was neat. But he was in awe when Santa said his name in his video. It's cute. Alexander asks to see Tuta every time he sees me on the computer.

Christmas 2010

Elegant Lace Snowflakes Christmas Card

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Thanksgiving Cruise

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We did! We went on a cruise for our 10th Anniversary. We had a great time. Bob's parents also came along. It was great to have Bob's mom stay with the boys in the evening so that we could go out. It was like having 5 date nights in a row! Click on the link below to see the photos from our cruise.
Thanksgiving Cruise

We also have some sad news. The day before we were to leave on our cruise, our little chihuahua, Daisy, disappeared. We put up signs and our neighbor also passed out more signs. She was spotted on a street nearby on the day she disappeared, but no one has seen her since. It was a bit sad leaving on our trip not knowing where she was. And even more sad to come home and not have her hear. I put up more signs, but I'm not very hopeful since it's been a week. I just hope she's with a nice family.

Happy Halloween

We had fun going trick-or-treating with a couple of friends. We didn't quite make it the length of our street. The kids were getting tired. Then we hung outside with our neighbors (after I put Alexander to bed) and handed out the rest of our family.

Here are the boys. Just in case you can't tell, Glenn is a fireman and Alexander is a frog. They were so cute!

Glenn had his storybook parade at school today. He was the cat from "If You Give a Cat a Cupcake." He was so cute with his pink nose:


We had his friend over after school today (they had an early dismissal day) for lunch. She was a mouse in the parade, and of course Alexander had to get in the picture, too:


Then we had a couple more friends come over to jump the sugar out in the bounce house. They eventually wore out!

Fall that Wasn't

It has felt like summer this week. It doesn't really feel like fall because it's been about 90 every day this week and humid. It's supposed to be a high in the 70's and a lot of rain. We have only had a quick shower yesterday all month. Even our jack-o-lanterns have suffered. We carved them just two days ago and I went outside this morning and noticed they were already rotten and deflated. Here's what they used to look like:




This morning, I caught a shot of Alexander perusing the Toys R Us ad during breakfast:


We bought the boys a bounce house for Christmas, but there's no way we could wait two months to give it to them. I need it to wear them out. :) So, we gave inflated it today. They absolutely love it. We're going to have a lot of fun.


The slide is fast


Alexander likes to jump off of or slide down the climbing wall

Alexander can ride his bike

Alexander has been riding his big boy bike very well for the past few week. Not only can he pedal, but he also understands how to steer. He looks so funny riding it because he's so tiny.

Our Day on Amelia Island

We went to Amelia Island today, which is north of Jacksonville, but still in FL. It's a little over an hour from our house. On the island is a state park called Fort Clinch State Park, because, yes, it has a fort named Clinch. But first, we went on a guided nature walk. It was over an hour, and the kids did so well. They were actually listening to our guide most of the time. We learned about the plants and wildlife. It was very interesting and fun. We even got to see an alligator, although it was only the very top of his head and eyes poking out of the water, and about 20 feet away. We went with our good friends who have two little girls. One is a year older than Glenn and the other is a year younger than Glenn. So, he gets along great with both of them. Here are some pictures of our nature walk:

Glenn with our friend


Monkeys on a tree



This speaks for itself


After our nature walk, we had a picnic lunch, which conveniently was right next to a playground. So, the kids could play while we relaxed a bit. We then went to Fort Clinch. It is by far the best fort I've been to. They had so many artifacts on display. And there were volunteers dressed in Union garb (next weekend they will be wearing Confederate garb). The volunteers were very knowledgeable and engaging. They shot off a cannon and the kids didn't like that very much. Glenn and his friend stayed far away with me because they were scared of the noise it was going to make. Alexander, Bob and our friends were up closer to the cannon. Poor Alexander clung to his Daddy and cried until he could get to me. Then he wouldn't let me put him down for quite some time after that. We got some great pictures at the fort:

"We need to unlock this door!"


Checking out the cannon


The kids loved going through the tunnels


Glenn and his friend leaned out that window for quite some time just chatting


Exploring


It was very windy at the top of the fort (look at Alexander's hair)


Now we know where my little monkey gets his monkey genes


Leaving the fort over the draw bridge

The Tiny Terror Strikes Again

Instead of napping, Alexander decided to pull out the drawers of his dresser, climb to the top, dump out the basket of things I didn't want him to get into that was on top of the dresser, which included a tube of Butt Paste. He is now waterproof, and so is some of the carpet!

Glenn is loving school, although he's not as excited about going to school in the mornings as he was last year. Kindergarten is hard work! We love his teacher, and he's doing very well.

Here's some pictures from the end of August:
Alexander likes to play with his trains or cars on the couch. He'll just move them back and forth for a long time.


I found the folded clothes dumped out and the boys sitting in the basket watching tv together.


Alexander watching Big Bird, kicking his legs


Bob gave Glenn his old iPod. Here he's chilling, listening to kid music.

We went to CT this past weekend for my brother's wedding. We first went to the Connecticut Science Center, which is a really nice museum. We went with my parents and my sister, Lisa.










The wedding was held at Julie's parents' house on a pond. The weather was really perfect. We had a great time, and the bride and groom were beaming!




Green Acres Pose


Daddy eats worms


Lisa and Alexander examining a worm

First Day of Kindergarten

Today was Glenn's first day of kindergarten, and as promised, I have pictures below. He was a little nervous last night, and went between excited and nervous this morning. But when we got to school, he said in his most excited voice, "I'm going to have so much fun today!" He had a wonderful day. I got a lot of stories from him about his day, which is more than I got all year last year. He's really progressed with his speech. He told me how they went to the cafeteria to pretend to eat lunch. I don't think they wanted to overwhelm them on the first day, so they just practiced, then ate in their classroom. They had half go today, and the other half go tomorrow, so he'll go back on Wednesday. He can't wait to go back. Tomorrow, we're going to get some stuff to dip in chocolate; probably strawberries and pretzels. He'll enjoy doing that.

A Wonderful Summer

We really had a wonderful summer. We went to the beach almost once a week. We had Bob's parents and three of our nephews visit for a week. We went to the beach with them. Bob took them to see his office near St. Petersburg and they visited with family out there. We really enjoyed their visit. We went to the FL Museum of Natural History and really enjoyed the Butterfly Garden. I started teaching a public health class for Kaplan University. It's been a lot of work, but I'm enjoying it. It just doesn't leave me much time for myself because I'm working when I normally would have time to do whatever I want to do (when the boys are in bed).

We went to Nebraska to visit my grandmother and uncles. My Uncle Gale, who lives in WA, flew out to meet us there and my other Uncle Byron lives in NE just down the road from my grandmother. We always enjoy the visit. Bob couldn't go because he's busy with work, but my parents traveled with the boys and I. I got my grandmother's famous recipe for Danish pastry. I tried making some this weekend. It was fun and tasty. I enjoyed discussing how to make it with my grandmother. She enjoyed it, too.

While in NE, we went to Cody park, which has a diesel engine and steam engine and cars. I got some great photos on the trains.














This was at Cody park.


There's shack behind my grandmother's house. I got some cute pics of the boys on the steps. They are holding some dandelions.








We also went walking around the farm and found some sunflowers. We picked some for Grammy (what the boys call my grandmother).






And now we are back home. We went to the pool a couple times this week and Glenn is finally starting to swim underwater by himself. Next year we'll put him back in swim lessons. Alexander will, too. He loves the water. We did all our school shopping and Glenn got to meet his teacher and see his new classroom on Friday. He didn't want to leave the classroom. I finally convinced him to leave by saying he'll get to spend all day there on Monday. I'll have more pictures of that this week. And the other news is Alexander is very interested in potty training. I'm not ready, but he is, so wish us luck.