Our Very Merry Christmas Season

I love Christmas and celebrating Jesus's Birthday. This year has been no exception, though it has been a little more difficult and tiring in my present super-duper-very-uncomfortable-waddling-pregnant condition! And while going to the store (ANY store) required extra time due to potty and sitting breaks, and much less patience with rude people who have forgotten what Christmas is truly about, I will say that I enjoyed sitting and directing everyone on the home decoration process - and what an amazing husband I have to man-handle these little wild things we have who wanted to help with EVERY STEP OF THE DECORATING PROCESS! I'm happy to say that not one thing got broken and our home looked quite festive this year!

We put up the tree about mid-December (yeah, that was due to my lack of energy, usually its up a lot earlier!) and the boys loved it! Of course, each ornament that came out had a story and I loved elaborating on each one. Jace soooo takes after me on that as he seemed to want to add his own little stories to each ornament as well :)

Here's the boys the night the tree went up and they enjoyed hot mugs of cocoa.

And of course, with every Christmas season comes parties, programs and visitors! The boys each had their school parties and probably ate way too many Christmas cookies, and Nonie and Dudad came to town a few days before Christmas. 

We had a whole lot of giggles and even a couple robust game nights of Uno - there is a lot of competitiveness in this family!

And we spent an amazing evening of worship and encouragement at our church's Christmas Eve service. Jace performed during the service in one of the songs (and that song is STILL going through my head... "dudududududu, dududududu, it's Christmas tiiiiiiiime!")

And Samuel... well, he was dreaming about sugar plums I guess :)

But it was an amazing night and since we all got all fancy dressed up Mama/Nonie insisted on pictures, and even with a less-than-cooperative bunch of boys, they still came out pretty nice :)

The large bump!

Christmas morning was filled with loads of goodies and fun! The boys immediately discovered that Santa had indeed come and brought them some pretty cool items - a real bow/arrows for Jace and a 4-wheeler for Samuel. Then Jace shared the Christmas story (as he's done the past couple years - this is going to be a tradition I think!). I'm so impressed with how much Jace loves the Lord and how much of the Bible he has soaked up and knows - it warms my heart knowing my children are lovers and believers of our Father!

Jace telling the Christmas story :)

And presents! Samuel and Jace got some really cool e-readers from Nonie and Dudad. 

The Innotab for Samuel...

...and the Nook for Jace.

And Dave and Sunami dropped off a huge gift earlier in the week, which turned out to be a  foosball table! It took Brian nearly an hour to put it together... hehe.

But oh what fun it was once it was together!

And of course, the boys had to check out their outdoor toys. I wish I'd gotten a good picture of Samuel riding his 4-wheeler, but he was OFF like a shot around the neighborhood with it :) But check out the stance of this future hunter - first time picking up a bow! 

And a Christmas dinner of clams, sea bass, and steak finished it off. With a birthday cake for Baby Jesus of course! 

Happy Birthday Jesus!

The Deep Depths

I "maaaaaay" have had more fun with Jace's latest school project than he did...

Last weekend, Jace excitedly bounded out of his classroom at car pickup and started talking before the door was even open (oh wait - that's every day at pickup!). His class had been given a science project that was due in a week and he wanted to start on it RIGHT AWAY! 

They were to create a shoe box habitat of their choice. Remember those!?!?! I LOVED making those in grade school - and even had to make one my freshman year of college. Jace already knew what he wanted to do as well, the Ocean. He chatted non-stop the entire way home about all the possibilities he could do to create the underwater habitat. I have to admit, my creative juices were going too :)

Over the weekend Jace and I headed out to collect the necessary supplies. Our first priority was getting the sea creatures, so we checked out the dollar store but only found some cheesy-looking fish. We did find some blue, glass stones that Jace grabbed and we decided they looked like water. A few stores later with no luck I knew we'd have to pull out the big guns and off to Michael's we went, which, of course, had the PERFECT tube of little sea creatures. 

Our next dilemma was that we actually didn't have a shoe box. I've been very diligent about throwing out boxes lately so we had nothing that would do. We had planned to stop at the shoe store in hopes they had some extras, but inspiration struck in Michael's and we found a large, round box with a lid - perfect for a little aquarium! With our excitement peaked we headed home and got to work - this was definitely the most excited Jace has EVER been about "homework"!

We've worked on it all week, and finished up tonight - here is Jace's Ocean Habitat!

The lid serves as the surface of the water - Jace wanted a dolphin to be "jumping" out of the surface (it goes through, his tail can be seen on the bottom). 

We did cut a window out of the side to peek thorough, but realized that it was really dark inside (much like the ocean depths!), but some holes cut in the top and added a little bit of this... 

and voila! Let's see what kind of creatures live down here shall we? :)

Oh, how sweet - a little octopus. But why is he spewing out his black ink (which is his defense mechanism)? And wait... what is that in the background??

SHARK!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's a gentle creature, a humpback whale out for a lazy swim. 

Oh, these must me his friends over on the other side. 

And look, hiding under some rocks is a moray eel. Jeez, that octopus can't get a break, it looks like the eel has his eye on dinner. 

Hopefully this sting ray can hid from all the predators in the ocean - he seems to be pretty content in the sandy bottom. 

 Oh look, another shark, a hammerhead - wonder if he likes octopus?

And the finished product!

A 56th Birthday Party!

Eight years ago October 7, Brian and I welcomed Mr. Jace into the world. I'll never forget how MAD he sounded when he took his first breath and SCREEEEAAAAMED at everyone, hehe! Our little chunk was born at 38 weeks and still weighed in at a whopping 10 lbs., 2.4 oz. To say he was big is an understatement! 

Everything about our boy was big, including his compassionate heart. For his 8th Birthday we suggested Jace have a party to bring in items to donate to our local animal shelter. Well, he loved the idea and Jace's Dog Rescue Party began to take shape! 

We kept it simple and invited the neighborhood kids and some of our out-of-neighborhood good friends. Pigs-in-a-blanket, pretzel sticks, carrots, and chips were on the menu, along with cake and ice cream of course :)

Entertainment was simple too - great conversations (and catching up with friends!), lots of jumping on the trampoline and wild running around the yard, and some flight lessons. Brian had the BRILLIANT idea to get each child a plane kit, and with the slight breeze that day it was perfect! Not only did the planes satisfy the wide range of ages (2-10), they played with the planes for a LONG time!

We took a break from the planes for some fuel - aka, cake and ice cream!

And yes, we served the cake and ice scream in dog bowls (which will go to the shelter too). The kids loved it!

The kids were fabulous and brought in  a bunch of GREAT STUFF for the dogs and cats at Safe Harbor Animal Shelter. We're heading over there tomorrow to drop everything off! :)

And HUGE THANK YOUS(!) to my wonderful friend Ann who grabbed my camera and captured all the amazing images of the day!!!!! I always forget to shoot photos during things like this and it was so nice to sit and enjoy and still have the images of the day to remember it. Thank you Ann!

Happy Birthday Jace - We love you!!!!!!!!!

P.S. Did you figure out the 56 yet? Jace is 56 in dog years! :)

A Game of Amusment

 The weather here has been cooling down somewhat in the past few days, so we took up a short game of Frisbee the other day. Jace actually has a pretty good arm even if his aim could use some work ;), while Samuel... let's just say he has a very unique way of throwing (or just plain running around with) the disk!  

We were having a great time, and then (I was totally expecting this with some of the WILD throws going on), it must have been the wind that blew the frisbee up on the roof! See it?!

Of course, our hero was right there to rescue the disk-in-distress - haha, he was even dressed for it!

It was right back to wildly running and chasing the frisbee after that, even some wild throws into those fantastic telephone poles that are so wonderfully placed in our front yard...

...until one well-placed hit with the pole gave us not one, but TWO frisbees!

Oh well, it was fun while it lasted :)

Summer Summery!

Well, enough time has gone by without any updates. Time to get back on the ball around here!

Our summer was fun – though it did not go quite as I expected. I had such big plans for our little family - water days, learning days, outdoor days, do-something-we-haven’t-done-before days – we did some of those days, just not as many as I wanted too! The main culprit was the yucky morning sickness that has tagged itself to each of our pregnancies… thank goodness for the second trimester!!!

So… we had so many special visitors over the summer! Right at the beginning my wonderful childhood friend Keri and her family dropped by for an afternoon of reminiscing and horseplay (not Keri and I, but our collective boys!). It was awesome catching up with her and heading back in time for a bit. J And we’re pretty sure the four rascal boys had a fantastic time too, making fast friends and running through the house and neighborhood like wild banshees… sort of like Keri and I used to do!

Another awesome little family spent a few days with us, bringing along the sweetest little chunk of love! Of course I’m talking about our enchanting niece Virginia – and Katie and Michael too! It was SO MUCH FUN watching the boys interact with Virginia, she would be mesmerized by their wild antics, and they would have these little momentary breaks and come over to love on her. It was precious watching all three together, and it was delightful to have a long visit with Michael and Katie!

To round out the summer, we finally did something that I have dreamed about for the past 10 years… we had my nephew and nieces for a visit!! I was thrilled that it worked out and so thankful to my parents for bringing them down! Since Chris was born I had imagined summer visits with us, and being the “cool” Aunt Kryssy! Of course I think Brian and I were somewhat crazy for suddenly finding ourselves with five kids in our care (oh, and me pregnant!), but it was a fun, feisty, and fabulous two weeks! We even managed to take an overnight trip to Orlando and visit SeaWorld (see, CRAZY!), not to mention beach trips and just plain old fun and getting to know each other. It was an excellent time (even though the ending was a bit crazy… but on to that later!), and one I hope we can continue in the future – well, maybe with one kiddo at a time though! Hey, five kids at once was TOUGH!

Some of our other little adventures included some much-needed family days. It is amazing how hectic we sometimes find our lives in, with work and school and just STUFF going on. One particular fun day included actual learning (EGADS! Learning over the SUMMER!) when we checked out a Children’s Science Museum one rainy Sunday afternoon (note to self – don’t go on a rainy, Sunday afternoon again since that seems to be a popular destination for half of south Florida in those conditions!). Despite the crowds, it was very entertaining and we all had a great time. The boys were especially interested in the section on the airplanes, as well as the GINORMOUS, three-story pendulum clock that filled the courtyard. Brian and I thought it was pretty darn cool too. Definitely a go-back-to kind of place, just not on a rainy Sunday afternoon!

 Of course, we also participated in the familiar family escapades around housing, including sparklers on the Fourth…

… and Coast Guard picnic on the beach in August. Somehow Brian was designated chef of the hot dogs and hamburgers, and he performed his duties scrumptiously! The boys also wore themselves out on the crazy huge slide the station provides each year. Jace must have gone up and down that slide a hundred times that day!

And now we find ourselves back in the swing of school and Cub Scouts and doctor appointments, and homework. Jace is turning into a little man right before our eyes, starting 2^nd grade this year! I’m so proud of who he is becoming, and most especially proud of the Godly person he is. He was just telling me today that the best thing that has ever happened in his life is that he took God into his heart. I LOVE that child!

Since summer Samuel has been staying home from preK as well, though he is going to start back up on a part-time basis in a couple weeks. That little independent cutie-patutie is constantly getting into mischief, and then working those big blue eyes to get out of trouble! His favorite game lately has been to hide from me. When I realize he is gone - and can’t find him – commence heart attack. He is quite the little stowaway, and can stay hidden and quiet for a very long time. But don’t worry, he uses all that pent up energy to do something crazy… like jump on the couch – or off it in some cases!

So that’s the summarized version… I’ll try not to be so delinquent in future postings, because gosh I know that it took you forever to read through all that – and it took me forever to write it!!