Catching Up On December

December always seems to fly by and be extremely busy.  This year I thought I had kept things simple enough to not be as busy.  Turns out I hadn't.  We had stuff going on every weekend, school parties, baking, shopping, and the usual business of cleaning and laundry and keeping my children alive.  It's not a bad busy, but it makes everything go by so quickly.

Every year since we moved here to Georgia in 2005, we have gone to Lights of the South.  It's a huge light display that you take a hayride through to see.  It is beautiful and amazing and we love it.  The kids get to sit on Santa's lap and play on a playground and we stand by the fire to stay warm.  It's a magical place.

Brody and Bridger each told Santa what they wanted for Christmas, although by then they had changed their minds multiple times and after this they changed their minds a few more times.  I don't think Santa ever figured out what they wanted.

This is what happens when you try to bring Penny near Santa.  She's a little dramatic, it's true.

Aaaaand back to happy.

 

We also built and decorated a gingerbread house together.  The boys did all the decorating themselves.  I love to watch their creative minds working together.  The first year we did it I was anal and wanted the house to look perfect.  I'm glad I let that go.  

Penny contributed too.  Any candy that fell off of the house or was left unattended for more than 1.5 seconds quickly got stuffed into her mouth.  Side note- I'm sure most kids like candy, but I've never seen anyone like her before.  She will do ANYTHING for candy.  Even if it includes pain.  She'll eat food that she hates. And if she sees candy and doesn't get to eat it, watch out.  She will cut you.

More December catch up to come....

Better Late Than Never..... Merry Christmas!

This year I was too lazy to do Christmas cards.  During the week of Christmas, I slept in, took naps, and lazied around all day with the family.  We did get up and get dressed for church on Christmas and here are some pictures of my good-looking offspring.

We had a good Christmas and a good Christmas season.  We love to see our children as their understanding of Christ grows and they begin to understand the true meaning of Christmas.  We are grateful for our family, our friends, and our Savior. 

We hope you all had a good Christmas and that you felt loved and blessed!

Brody's Piano Recital

Brody started taking piano lessons in September.  It was a rough start.  He kept saying he didn't want to keep taking the lessons but when he went to them, he would come home happy and excited.  I think it was just overwhelming for him to spend all day at school and then have to keep using his brain when he got home.  Eventually he started getting used to it and now he loves it.

His first recital was last Saturday and he played Jingle Bells.  His teacher asked him if he wanted to play a duet with me and he said yes so we played together.  He practiced a lot and did a great job!  When we got to his teacher's house, he said he was feeling nervous and his face was red when he was done but he did awesome.  I'm so proud of him.  

 Here he is with Sister Jenkins and all of her other students.

We Are Thankful

We didn't take any pictures on Thanksgiving Day.  I'm not sure why.  Probably because we were busy cooking, eating, talking, socializing, and being thankful.  Obviously.  We had a good day.  We have such good friends.  They are more like family.  We had the Winns, Rhodeses, Calls, and 3 service members who are in training on Fort Gordon.

For Family Home Evening the Monday before Thanksgiving, we talked about all the blessings that we have and made a thankful tree.  Everyone wrote a few things they were thankful for.  Some included family, friends, chocolate, Halloween, clothes, Jesus Christ, humor, and binky (thanks for your contribution, Penny).  We have so many things to be grateful for and we hope to try harder to be thankful every day of the year.

October

Not a ton happened in October.  It was Adam's birthday but he kind of had a lame day.  He worked the night before and the night of his birthday so he just slept all day.  He had picked out his gift earlier in the month so he didn't have any gifts to open from us.  Oh well- they can't all be amazing right?

 

 This year Halloween was pretty low key as far as costumes are concerned.  We went to the ward trunk or treat on Friday and it was over in like 17 minutes.  Kids move fast when they are working for candy.  Also, no more costumes that require masks.  My boys refused to wear them so it just looked like they had oversize leotards with pants on.

 

 Our good friends the Glovers moved to Texas so we had a little barbeque to say goodbye.  Trying to get 12 people to smile at the same time is ridiculous. 

 This is Jaren Glover.  They don't have kids of their own yet and so they love helping us with ours.  Penny stayed in nursery for the first time ever the week Jaren took her to class and stayed with her for a little while.  Our kids call Jaren "tickle monster" and only recently realized he actually has a first name. With Adam in the bishopric at church and me playing the organ, the Glovers have been so helpful sitting with the kids while we were both on the stand.  We're going to miss them...and not just because they babysit for free.  They're pretty cool.

Jaren and Emily with the kids who LOVE them!

For drug awareness week, the boys' school had a different fun day every day.  One day they wore their shirts backwards, one day they wore their hats and sunglasses.  One day was crazy sock day so we got some fun socks at Target and decorated them with buttons and pom poms.  I promise- Bridger was thrilled.  I don't remember what he was whining about but it was most likely something really stupid.

Summer gone again

Here in Georgia it has cooled down quite a bit and we are moving into one of the nice months of the year when we don't have to run AC or the heater. Before we say hello to nice cool weather though, lets say goodbye to the scorching heat of summer.
Looking back on the pictures from this last month it doesn't appear that a whole lot happened to us, but I'm sure that is not the case. 

I went on a temple trip with some friends. We packed a car full and made the trip to Columbia, SC.  It was so fun!  Lots of good conversation, a nice temple session, and then Frosties from Wendy's on the way home.

Bridger started school at the beginning of September.  He is in the Georgia lottery funded Pre-K at Brody's school.  His teacher is so sweet and he loves it!  He was more excited about riding the bus with Brody than actually being in school. I was a little worried about how he'd act in class (he is really active and has a lot of energy), but he has been great.

Getting on the bus for the first time!

Have you ever seen a happier face? I love this picture.

This is when he got off the bus in the afternoon.  I think I was more excited to see him than he was to see me. I asked him about his day and asked him to give me every detail and he said, "I don't remember."  So I'm just assuming that he had a good day.

Adam took Penny to Indiana to see his little brother and it was my turn for our babysitting co-op.  1 adult, 8 kids, 1 movie, lots of quesadilla = a really fun night!  It was so easy- we have such good, obedient, and happy kids in our group.  Love them.  They watched Rio and went to bed like champs.

We took a quick trip to the beach with my friend Alexis and her 3 kids.  Hilton Head was beautiful and all the kids had a great time.

 

I found these boots for Penny and decided it didn't matter how much they cost, they had to be on her feet.  Good call, right?  I love them- and she loves them too.  I could eat her she's so delicious.

My dad came for a few days last weekend to ordain Adam a high priest.  It was a last minute trip and we were so grateful that he could be here.  My kids love him (Penny loves the Mike n Ike's he always seems to have with him) and they got to go for a day at the park while I had a baby shower here at the house.  I love this picture- Penny's little hand resting on Grandpa's lap.  She doesn't take to strangers too kindly but she always warms up to my dad so quickly.

I love this- his little bulky body and his happy face.  He reminds me so much of my brother Mikey.

If you saw the progression of photos for this one, you would see that Penny ended up looking like an angry elf.  We are posting just the happy one for your benefit.

July is gone already!

July in Augusta, Georgia can be summed up in a single word: supasweatyhot. Of course we spent some time at the neighborhood pool with friends, but sometimes the water there was simply unrefreshing. We enjoyed turning the hose on and chasing each other around the backyard a bit as well. There is nothing quite like the thrill of chasing down a small defenseless child and spraying them down menacingly with cold water. Ahhhh, the good life!

We also took some time out to see the firework show they had on base to celebrate the 4th of July. Brody and Bridger were actually able to stay awake for the whole show, which was excellent, but about 30 seconds into the ride home the were out for good. I wish I got a picture of the inhuman angles of their necks as they slept like rocks in their seats. How do kids do that? Seriously, the bent neck and the fountain of drool - its amazing.






Grandma and Grandpa Parry were able to stop by and see us this month as well! The boys had a blast hanging out with them and even got to go see the new Smurfs movie with them. Here is a nice shot of Brody "helping" Grandma with a game on her phone. It was very intense.












 Jessica loves her mama and papa. They got to sit and chat it up more than they have in a very long time and loved every bit of it. It was sad to see them go as is always the case. Thanks for coming out to see us!


While Grandma was still here we made the drive out to Hilton Head to check out the beach. When we arrived we saw so many people out riding bikes that we thought the air must feel so cool and there must have been a fantastic breeze. Boy, did they have us fooled. When we first opened the van door it was a wave of hot muggy air - worse than Augusta! The hotel where we stayed was great though and gives an awesome military discount. We played in the pools, and of course, on the beach.


It was Penny's first time to the beach. We thought she might be a little hesitant to go near the water, but she loved it. She ran around excitedly pointing at the birds and the dogs and trying to chase them down. She wasn't a huge fan of the water, but the rest of us enjoyed swimming around in the waves and walking in the cool sand.






The boys loved digging and playing in the sand. They kept trying to dig a huge hole, only to have the tide come up and wash it away. They were much more fearless in the water this time than the last time we made it to the beach. At night while the kids slept and Grandma Parry stood guard, Jessica and I took a long walk along the beach as the sun set. It was really nice and made us wish we could live a bit closer to a beach like that.





















Oh, and I forgot a swim diaper for myself. What a mess I made!

Last week marked the start of first grade for Brody. He was super excited. We went the week before and met his new teacher at the brand new school he is zoned for. Everything looks terrific and we think he will have a blast despite his dismal daily reports. "I had a bad day", Brody will say. "Why Brody?" "Because Joey wouldn't let me sit by the window on the way home from school." ".... Uh...was that the only thing bad?" "Yes." "Okay, well you don't know what a bad day is. Be happy." He is a bit of a pessimist. He does enjoy learning though. We only hope he doesn't get bored and start being the naughty kid in class. First grade is all about learning to read and do math, but Brody already reads at like a 5th grade level and does multiplication. Soooo....maybe we'll have him in college next year. Or hire him as an accountant. Is that legal? Probably, this is Georgia after all.





We found out that Bridger got the spot to get into the Pre-K program at Brody's school, so starting next month they will get to ride the bus together. Honestly, I don't know how good I feel about having Bridger gone all day long five days a week, but I guess I better get used to it. Like I remind Brody just about every day: "You better get used to it, you'll be doing this every year for the next 15 or so." Bridger is also very excited to go to school and to ride the bus with Brody.





So Penny feeds herself now! Yay! Changing her clothes after every meal gets ridiculous though. That girl can eat. She can pack down cereal, or a hot dog, or some fruit like nobody's business, and as soon as she's done she makes a b line for the pantry asking for a snack. But look at that face - would you, could you say "no"? Don't be a sissy! We do. Take that, cute face!

What Would You Do For Free Food?

Yesterday we went to see Cars 2 with the boys.  Our good friend Shalynn watched Penny so we could all enjoy the movie without chasing her.  The movie was really cute and the boys were laughing hysterically during a lot of it.  Right after the movie, thanks to a reminder text from Hannah, we rushed home to get ready for Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-a.  We had about 20 minutes to dress like cows (or a dalmation in Penny's case, but close enough) and then we headed to Chick-fil-a for dinner.  It wasn't as crowded as I though it would be and our $28 meal was on them.  We looked ridiculous but so did everyone else there.  We ran to Target afterwards and looked more ridiculous, since no one else there was dressed like us.  All in all, a good day.  Fun movie, free food, and Target. What more could a mom want?