Christmas gifts

We had the best Christmas ever. The kids enjoyed each and every present. After every present that Ryan opened, he shouted "Open it!" and every present that Rebecca opened, she shouted, "Where's another present for me?" Ryan really needed some dressup clothes of his own. (The princess dresses were slowing him down.) Thank-you to Aunt Deb and Grandmommy for animal and pirate costumes. It's hard to say which presents were Rebecca's favorites, but the roller skates and accessories from Nancy and O were a BIG hit. She spent most of Christmas at their house in the roller skates and has skated around the pool dozens of times in the last few days. She feels very grownup in them. Grandmommy brought her a beautful hat from Russia that she has deemed her "princess hat." The Littlest Pet Shop set from Grandpa is one that she has been coveting forever, and has played with a lot in the last few days. She named most of the animals and created a whole back story for each of them. We gave her a pretend school set, which she has really enjoyed as well. Grandmommy was a very good pupil on the first day of class. Ryan is not so much, as he doesn't know his letters yet, but Rebecca is trying her best to teach him.

Beccas favorite gifts

Ryan's costumes

Grandmommy

Here are some pictures I took of Grandmommy with the kids. The kids loved having her here and the second we dropped her off at the airport asked when we were going to see her again.

Christmas Crafts

Here are a selection of pictures of all the Christmas Crafts we did this year. We started with a gingerbread house in early December. I thought it might be a fun activitiy and a cute decoration. Ryan thought it might be a good snack...all throughout the month. Yuck. I am not very smart. Grandma Sara sent us a bell activity which involved glue (which Ryan loves) and glitter (which Becca loves.) After we had made them all, we hung them on the childrens tree. Grandmommy sent two crafts. One was a bag of pinecones to be decorated. She suggested glue and glitter, but Becca made the creative decision to use paint and glitter instead. Ryan also chose paint...although he only wanted to use brown paint, so his pinecone is not as colorful as Becca's. Lastly, Grandmommy sent the crafts along with some other gifts in a Lands End box that the kids could color. Very fun!

Merry Christmas

Christmas Pageant

The kids both particpated in their school Christmas Pageant this week. It was the best performance we have ever seen at the school! Ryan's class began the show with a rousing rendition of Jingle Bells. Ryan did a great job shaking the jingle bells and singing loudly. Rebecca was the star of the show. She had the starring role of Head Angel. She practiced very hard and impressed everyone with how well she performed her role. Additionally, the school director selected her to be the child to present flowers to the teacher who had directed the show. Rebecca's best friend, Kaitlyn (below) was also an angel with her, and the girls were thrilled to be next to each other throughout the show. At the end of the show, we heard a knocking at the door. To everyone's surprise, Father Christmas had arrived to give the children treats and to listen to their Christmas wish lists. Although Ryan wanted nothing to do with him, he has talked about Father Christmas repeatedly since the show. Rebecca reluctantly allowed me to take her picture with Father Christmas. The funny thing is that the part of Father Christmas was played by someone the kids know and love, but neither kid suspected it, and Rebecca asserted to me later that he was the "real" Father Christmas, unlike the Santa Claus "helpers" we've seen around town. Can YOU guess who Father Christmas is?

Daddy time

Art has recently been taking walks around the pool for exerceise. The kids decided to join him and of course they needed to bring their purses for long journey.

Christmas Tree hunting

Hardly seems like winter here in Gainesville. It's been in the 80's every day this week. We headed out to pic our Christmas tree yesterday. The kids had the most fun playing hide and seek amongst the forest of Christmas trees. Now- off to decorate!

Just a few pics

No exciting news this month. Here are a few pictures of the kids and I hanging out and having fun. The picture of me was taken by Rebecca at Silver Springs theme park where we visited an exhibit of huge animatronic bugs. Ryan was very concerned the bug was going to eat me.

Happy Halloween

Trick or Treat

Ryan and Becca both chose costumes that I didn't have to purchase this year. Yea! Ryan chose to be a ladybug which we already had the wings for. I did my best to make him look like a boy ladybug. How did I do? Becca was a unicorn. She decided this was going to be her costume this summer, and never wavered. Luckily, we attended a unicorn birthday party this month where she received the headband with the ears and yarn. I only had to attach the horn and borrow some yarn for the tail. She received many compliments on her costume and of course enjoyed the attention that brought...

We attended the Boo at the Zoo event at the local college teaching zoo as we do every year. This remains my kids favorite Halloween event by far. Every year, the students dress up in costumes and decorate the zoo in imaginative and entertaining ways. Every year it's different. Ryan wasn't quite sure what to make of the monsters dancing to to Thriller. He stared and stared and was very quiet. When Art asked him if he was scared of them, he quietly answered, "No." But didn't say anything else. He just tiptoed past them, keeping a close eye on them and keeping his distance. Becca loved meeting all the Disney Princesses this year.

One of the funniest moments was when we walked by some students dressed in camping gear who were "stuck" in a waterfall. They were yelling to us for help and asking if we could get them out. Becca very politely said, "Yes. I will help you." What she did next cracked me up. She didn't reach her hand out, instead she bowed down, and pointed her unicorn horn at them. You see, she was sending "magic" from her horn to help them. They were quite impressed and assured us that her magic would indeed help them get rescued, and thanked her profusely. Becca smiled and politely answered, "You're welcome!"

Ryan skipped his nap to go to Boo at the Zoo, and was toast when we got hom. He crashed right after dinner. Becca and I went trick or treating around the neighborhood for a little bit, but she got tired pretty quickly, and was all done before the sun had even set. When we came back home, she decided to sit on the front porch with me and hand out candy. She LOVED that even more than trick or treating herself. She complimented everyone on their costumes, and did a great job of putting candy in each child's sack. All in all it was a great Halloween.

Halloween Fun

Ryan and I attended a Halloween party with the MOMS club last week. He chose to wear the same pumpkin costume he wore last year for trick or treating. Ryan has a huge sweet tooth and LOVES candy. He can shovel it in his mouth faster than wrappers can be opened up. He loved the party and seeing the other kids dressed in all their costumes. One of my good friends, Kris, has two daughters aged 4 and almost 6. The older one, Rosalyn adores Ryan and considers him to be her younger brother. Ryan loves Ros and the two of them always have so much fun together.

Circus

Nancy and O joined us for an afternoon at the circus under the big top! The kids both got their faces painted before the show and throroughly the entire experience. We had great seats in the second row and got a great view of all the acts. Ryan sat through the entire show with his eyes wide open just mesmerized by what he was watching. The first act was the Moto Thunderdome, where 1, 2 and 3 motorcycles ride in a metal globe thing. Becca had the strangest look on her face a few minutes into the act, and I asked her what she thought. She said with a puzzled look on her face, "Mommy. That is very very dangerous." She had the same reaction for the acrobats, the trapeze artists, and other performers. She just didn't understand why anyone would do something so dangerous. Still, she enjoyed it very much. The elephant act was probably her favorite. (Ryan's was the motorcycles.)

Circus

Corn Maze

October in Gainesville is filled with so many family events we can never run out of things to do. The kids and I visited a local farm yesterday that had a corn maze, a hay ride, a trampoline made out of hay, a tractor train made out of barrels, and the kids favorite, a corn box. They spent 75% of their time in the corn box. Also, there were several areas specifically designed for picture taking. Unfortunately my kids are getting a little annoyed at how often I ask to take their picture these days, and were not up to posing. These were the best pics I got from the day.

Character Breakfast

For our Disney getaway trip we spent the night at Nickelodeon Family Suites. The kids have really been into Dora and Diego recently and were very excited to see the walls of our hotel room painted with their favorite characters. The next morning, we ate breakfast with some of the Nickelodeon characters. The hotel was really slow, and we were one of only 3 families in the restaurant at the time, so we got to spend lots of quality time with each character. Ryan was a little confused about the wholoe thing and he kept asking me, "Why Dora not talking?"

Disney getaway

The kids and I got away for a day and a half to Disney this week. We all had a great time this time. Among the highlights of the day was riding the Indianapolis 500 ride. When we got settled into the car, the Disney employee tied a "magic towel" onto our car, so that after we had finished the race, the kids could switch places and tkae turns driving the car without having to get back in line. So cool! Ryan was absolutely ecstatic that he got to drive the car as we has been driving to drive mine every day for months now. He's very upset with me that I won't let him be the driver of the Tahoe. Another great moment was waiting for the parade to start. In order to get a good seat, or any seat at all, you must find a spot about 30-40 minutes before the parade, even on the slowest of days. On this occasion, Disney cast members filled the streets with hula hoops and giant bouncing balls for the kids to play with in the street until the parade began. So cool! Becca did great moving her hips and making the hula hoop go around. Ryan not so much. He sttod perfectly still with his hands in the air, while I whipped the hoop around him and he giggled and told everybody watching "I did it!"