Christmas Rewind Part 1

After spending 10 days on the road for Christmas, it feels good to be back home! We loved seeing family and friends- most we hadn't seen since we moved back in June.

We took off in the family SUV after school let out on the 16th. The kids had an early release day so we got out of town around noon. I told them to lay out what toys they wanted to bring with them, and this is what I got: Can you guess which one is Caroline's? :)



We pulled in my parent's drive in Noblesville a little after 1 in the morning. The next day, they were frantic to see their cousins, so we all got together at my sister's house for the kids to play. Then we took them bowling and out for Mexican food, followed by sleepovers-- the girls at one house and the boys at the other.

Sunday we all got together at my parent's for our Christmas dinner and exchange. Caroline with her nesting dolls......


Alex with his rocket....


All of the cousins.... Alex (10) Caroline (7) Taylor (9) Mya (almost 9) James (3) Lauren (7) and Jackson (12)

The brothers- in -law enjoyed hanging with each other......


Jason modeling Caroline's pink slap watch....


After 4 days in Noblesville with my family, we headed north to the lake to stay with Jason's parents. Caroline's first stop was to see her BFF Zoe... they have been friends since preschool and she misses Zoe so much! Thanks, Shannon, for having Caroline over to play!


We also stopped by the Hartman house to see Gracie and Graham. Grace wasn't in the mood to have her picture taken, but Alex and Graham had fun hanging out.

We also got to see our friends Brooks and Shelby! Caroline and Shelby are also BFF's -- they were wishing for some snow to play in, but unfortunately it didn't snow until we left!


Alex and Brooks on the computer....


It was so good to connect with our Indiana friends and family. We miss you!

Part 2 coming soon!

Christmas Performances

It's that time of year-- Christmas performances all weekend! The first was last Saturday.... we had two piano recitals in a row. The first was the "official" recital where each student performed several Christmas pieces. Alex played a jazzy version of "Let it Snow." He really got into his performance... he is such a little ham! Caroline played "O Christmas Tree", "Silent Night" and "We Wish you a Merry Christmas". They both did very well. So proud of their hard work.

The second performance took place at a retirement community in Sandestin. I don't have any pictures, but the residents really enjoyed listening. I love that the kids can share their gift of music with others.

On Sunday, the children at church put on a play and musical. Alex had a singing solo with his group.




And Caroline was an angel and sang with her little group of girls.


Finally, Santa made an early stop at our house last weekend as well, since we will be away from home on Christmas morning. Alex's main gift was an electric scooter--he was beyond thrilled. And here is sis with her beloved American Girl doll, also know as "Sissy".

It was a small, but fun celebration at our house. Teaching the children about the joy of giving to others because of the most precious gift given to us at Christmas-- Jesus our Savior-is our heart's desire as parents. It is so easy to get caught up in the craziness of decorating and parties and buying everyone the "perfect" gift. Since we have downsized and simplified, it has been much easier to focus on advent and preparing our hearts for the birth of the Lord.

We are getting ready to celebrate Christmas with our families in Indiana, so stay tuned for pictures of the crazy fun we will have!

Our Special Visitor

My close friend Shannon flew in for a few days last weekend. I was so excited to see her! The two of us became friends at church and got involved in ministry together. We shared our love of walking, cooking, reading, and blogging. Her husband Shane and Jason are good friends as well. We miss them bunches! So it was so good to spend time with her.



We took walks on the beach... it was a gorgeous weekend. The kids were so excited to hang out with her, too. We took her to one of our favorite places, Hurricane Oyster Bar.




Saturday we all got our bikes out and headed to Seaside for the afternoon.








Of course we did some shopping, indulged in some Starbucks salted mocha drink that she got me hooked on, and ate lots of good food.


This little beach kitty said hi on one of our walks....

Sunday we went to church and brunch at Another Broken Egg Cafe... the kids were fascinated with these giant Nutcrackers out front. It was a fun, relaxing 4 days. Thank you, friend, for leaving your little family and visiting us at the beach!

Thanksgiving Break Part 2

It was my intention to get part 2 done right after part 1, but you know how that goes! One of my dearest friends came into town on Thursday, and my computer barely was opened all weekend!

Okay, back to Thanksgiving break: We went to the beach to walk off a few calories and take in some fresh air on Thanksgiving Day. You could totally tell we are locals now; while others were wearing shorts and bathing suits, there's me in my sweater and jeans. It was in the 60's!



A little beach soccer.... My son is like a little oven. As soon as he gets a little hot, off comes the shirt!


A nice late November sunset....


We were a bit excited about the thought of putting lights on our palm trees. I think the novelty of the idea wore off during the actual event of doing it. Not easy... but it turned out pretty!


Our little fir tree... it smells so good!

Not many other decorations this year... I got rid of most of them when we moved, and I am slowly acquiring new ones. I bought a very cute wooden angel made by a local folk artist. And a little Jesse tree for the kids to put ornaments on as we do our advent devotions.

Hope you had fun decorating your house for Christmas!

Thanksgiving Break!

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving Break. The kids got an entire week off from school, so it gave us lots of time to spend with Jason's parents while they were here. We took off early Saturday morning for Orlando to spend a few days before Thanksgiving.

The kids with Ema on the way into LegoLand!


LegoLand was really cool-- perfect for kids preschool age up through elementary age. They not only had amazing Lego sculptures and cities, but tons of rides. The kids got to ride at least 4 roller coasters and lots of other fun rides.



Our next Pizza by the Sea employee....;)


We also spend two days at Sea World. Jason and his parents had never been there, and I was 14 the last time I was there, so we all really enjoyed it, especially the shows. The dolphin and whale show were amazing and the kids loved the dog and cat show. I kept thinking, "how did they train a cat to do that? Our cat looks at us in total disgust when we try to get him to even move!"





The boys after riding The Manta ( a major roller coaster). Alex didn't want to ride it the first day, but I was so proud of him for doing it the second day. He loved it except for the upside down part. He said, " It felt like all of the air was being sucked out of me!"

Alex feeding the stingrays. Caroline wasn't too sure about sticking her hand down to have the critters suck a fish out of her fingers. I don't blame her...

We headed back late Monday to get ready for all of the craziness at the restaurant. It was very busy Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. Lots of people came down to spend the holiday at the beach, and everyone wanted some pizza after eating turkey Thursday!

More pics from our holiday coming soon. Hope you had a relaxing Thanksgiving day!

Can I Get in my Jammies at 5 p.m.?

Okay, this title really doesn't have much to do with the pictures below, but it has been a bit of a challenging week with the time change. The sun comes up around 5:30a.m. and so do my people. Especially Caroline.....she shuffles into the bathroom with her Hello Kitty slippers and wakes up the entire household. Then the sun sets around 5 p.m., and that means Mom is ready for bed about 8. It is funny how all of our bodies react to the sunlight or lack thereof. When the sun goes down, and it gets a bit chilly, I am ready for bed! Anyway, here are some pics from our fun day off Friday.

The kids had Veterans Day off and they wanted to go to the beach in the afternoon after it warmed up. (It has been in the 40's at night and the 60's during the day).





Can you see the sailboat?

And the stinky, dead jellyfish.... I got my shoes all wet trying to get a picture of this thing.

I love the color of the sky......


Alex and Jason punting the soccer ball.....



Horsing around.....

The view was nice!

A few trees are starting to change color in our neighborhood.....





Our grapefruit starting to ripen! Should have some in a month or so....


We finally got a top bunk for Alex's bed, so they were thrilled to have a sleepover Friday night in his room.

The cat thought it was pretty exciting too......After the kids came in and disturbed him, he stayed there for about 2.3 seconds.


Now I have to go put my jammies on, for real. It's 8:02. :)

Welcome November!

I cannot believe that November is here-- partially because I am not used to wearing shorts in November-- up North, November is usually pretty damp and chilly. So it still feels like September here in northwest Florida. Celebrating Thanksgiving here I am sure will feel a bit strange as well. But we are excited because Ema and Papa are coming for the week and we have some fun stuff planned. Anyhow, here is our week!

Monday-- Halloween in Seaside. Next year, I am definitely cutting back on the number of festivities we attend. There are so many festivals here that one can celebrate and dress up for weeks! So we got a bit burned out. But Seaside was so much fun. The kids dressed up, went around to all of the local businesses, and then got to run around in grass with their friends! It was chaos! Then the sugar high wore off, the sun went down, and we went home to bed!


The rest of the week was pretty uneventful.... usual activities of piano, soccer practice (last one!), and ballet. We decided to have a pretty laid back weekend since we have been so busy, and it was nice to just do stuff around here.

We did get out a few times-- Alex's last soccer game was Saturday, and they won their last game of the season (after losing the first 7, bless their hearts). I was so proud of the team and how they improved over the season. They won 3-0, and Alex got a goal on a penalty kick. I tell you, the boy can kick that ball! When he plays goalie (which is his favorite), he punts that ball over the players heads almost down to the other end of the field. He says he definitely wants to play again in the Spring.

Here's Miss Sis getting ready for the big game.



Last night we decided to head to Destin and try a Thai restaurant we had heard about. It was very good --Pad Thai for me, some kind of beef for Jason, and Sweet and Sour pork for the kids.
Afterwards, we stopped at 32 degrees, which is a yogurt bar. I have been wanting to try it-- you get a bowl, serve yourself whatever frozen yogurt and toppings you want, then they weigh it and you pay by the ounce. The kids had fun with their creations, although the stuff the piled on top-not appetizing to me. Here's a pic of their final products.....

A little closer look at Caroline's---gummy worms anyone?


Today we had a quiet day at home-- did devotions as a family, cleaned out my closet, made meatballs, and lounged. Hope you all had a great weekend!