Becca's New Haircut

Becca had been begging to grow her hair long, and had finally done so. However, she didn't like washing it; hated brushing it; and refused to pull it back. So, we talked about other options. She decided to get it cut. She smield from ear to ear in the hair salon, and was absolutely thrilled with the final result. She's gotten tons of compliments on it, and the best part is that she can take care of it all by herself. YEA!

Christmas 2009

Here's a mishmash of pictures from Christmas. The kids as per usual had a hard time sleeping on Christmas Eve. Ryan didn't fall asleep until after 9PM, thus delaying Santa's arrival. Becca woke up for the FIRST time at 9:30 PM, just after Santa had arrived. She later woke up at 1:30AM and 3:30 AM...and both kids were up for the day at 5:30 AM. There was no getting them back in bed. By the time I raised my sleepy body to greet them, they had opened their stockings and were literally jumping up and down with excitement. Happily, we were able to convince them to lay down and take a mid morning nap, which was EXCELLENT! All 4 of lay down and slept for about 45 minutes, and as a result, we all had a lovely day. No meltdowns or temper tantrums from anyone. THAT was the best Christmas present for me as far as I'm concerned.


Here is the roast that Art cooked for Christmas Dinner. Isn't it gorgeous?


Becca has been wanting glasses forever (several of her friends recently got them.) However, the eye doctor said she didn't need them Santa brought her a pair with plain lenses, and she was thrilled!

Aunt Deb selected this outfit for Becca and she wore it every day over Christmas Break. Since then, she has worn it every week, at least once.

Nancy and two of her sisters, Shirley and Barbara

Santa brought an air hockey table which has gotten much play.

Becca got a stand up microphone from my mom, and Ryan got a guitar from Nancy and O. These were probably the most played with toys on Christmas Day.

Nancy and O

Grandmommy singing requests from the crowd.

Grandmommy and the kids, both pretending to be asleep. I don't know why.

Crazy Ryan

Cute Christmas Pics

some of the pictures are nice pictures, and some just make me laugh because they really capture the kids personalities...

Ryan's Holiday songs

Make sure you turn the volume WAY up! These are the 5 songs that Ryan sang in his school holiday presentation. From where I was sitting, I couldn't see him, so I have no video of him in action.

Thanksgiving

Isn't this the MOST GORGEOUS turkey you've ever seen???? and this one was just for decoration. Turkey was yummy as usual. O made many of us tear up with his Thanksgiving toast to Nancy sharing with us how thankful he felt to be included in her large wonderful family. I feel exactly the same way. I love being part of Nancy and O's large extended family, and I love that the kids have so many cousins to play with too.

Here's a cute pic of me and Ryan that I took on Thanksgiving Day.

Thanksgiving at Nancy and O's is always a festive experience. Lots of family gathers, and we spend most of the day gabbing, eating, and laughing. Here is part of the table assembled to eat dinner. See our festive hats?

Nancy always decorates the outside for every holiday. Love the scarecrow.

My poor attempt at a fancy angle picture of the table...

O's sisters had this neat idea for a table decoration. They brought lots of beautifully colored leaves, and all of us picked a leaf and wrote what we were thankful for on it. Then, the table was decorated with all of our thanks! (Mine was my old standy- modern medicine.)

Ryan's field trip to Publix

Ryan's preschool class took a field trip to the local grocery store in November. It was soooooo cute. First, the kids were all given their mesh hats so they could look just like the employees. Here they are watching someone chop up a pineapple. That was hard work, so they all received a banana to eat while watching.


This was a favorite station - watching this woman decorate a cake. It was pretty neat to watch her put dozens of icing roses on this cake in a matter of seconds.

The other favorite station was getting to pet a lobster. Ryan was NOT interested in doing that, and quickly retreated to the outside of the group.

Becca at the Art Fair

Becca loves all things involving using her creative imagination. Every year, Gainesville sponsors a Downtown Art Festival. There is a special FREE area set up just for kids that is staffed by the UF art students. There are about a dozen tables set up, each with their own craft project. I took Becca and her best friend, Kaitlyn, while Kaitlyn's grandmother watched Ryan and Kaitlyn's brother Jeffery.

In addition to the craft projects, there is also a little theater area where various performers put on their childrens shows throughout the day. Here is Becca actingt he part of the flamingo in the puppet theatre performance.


And here she is writing a book. Notice the fancy headpiece she had just created at the previous table. She sat at this table for a loooong time, writing her story and drawing the pictures to go with it. It was a fairy tale involving a princess and some animals.