Grab a cup of coffee. It's a long one!

We celebrated Mocha’s sixth birthday a couple weeks ago. 

Please excuse Miss Glowy Eyes.  The kids were more than willing to pose with their pup for a quick birthday snapshot. 

Mo is not very good at opening gifts herself.  Abby went in for the assist.

Abby likes playing tug-o-war with Mocha.  The 32 pound versus 75 pound battle is somewhat amusing. 

Gavin gave Mocha a new Frisbee toy.  When the weather improves we’ll be able to try it out. 

In other news our elves have been very mischievous. 

Gavin was less than pleased with his mustache. 

Sparkles and Shiny Armor were caught hanging from the chandelier.

They even nestled themselves into the Christmas tree.

At some point the two of them must have had a falling out because one morning we found Shiny Armor trapped in a glass.

Sparkles also built Shiny Armor into a Lego house.  Whatever it is that big brother elf did, little sister elf is not happy about it.

We did have a break from the trouble and the elves decided to be friendly and…sweet. 

Apparently paybacks come when least expected.

We made reindeer ornaments last week. 

Both of the kids enjoy doing crafts.

We went to visit Santa after craft time.  Abby was much more relaxed this year. 

Last year didn’t go quite as smoothly.

We had dinner with friends last week.  The kids built gingerbread houses.  I think most of the candy ended up in their bellies instead of on the houses.

Santa made a surprise visit to our friend’s house!

Both of the kids went right up to Santa for pictures.  We just saw Santa the day before at the mall and on this night when Santa asked Gavin what he wanted for Christmas Gavin replied, “Santa, you remember!”  Very funny!

Gavin had his Christmas party at school this week.  Technically they call it the winter party but I refuse to call it that.  I don’t particularly feel a need to be politically correct when it comes to certain things. 

Abby was checking out Mouse Machine, the class snake.  Yuck!

Abby and Mrs. Clark are buddies.  When Abby comes to school Mrs. Clark is always toting her around and involving her in everything.  It’s adorable!

How low can you go?

Treat time!

This week we bid goodbye to the Mitsubishi Galant.  We’ve made constant repairs to this vehicle this year.  The expense of maintenance outweighed the worth of the car itself. 

We now have a beautiful, black Honda CR-V.

We love it!  It fits in the garage better than the Mitsubishi but is much roomier inside the vehicle than the Mitsubishi.  Abby and Gavin now have room for their feet between the front and back rows. 

Finally, Dad is getting promoted and we get to attend his promotion ceremony this coming week.  We are all so excited for him and know that this is very well deserved.  Congratulations, Dad!

We seem to be finishing the year off in a fantastic way!  Let’s hope the New Year brings more good things!  Merry Christmas!

Sorrow

I have several pictures of the kids with Santa and some other recent goings on around our house.  As much as I’d like to put them up today and write a jolly holiday post, I can’t.  I’ve had the 20 precious children from Newton, CT on my mind since yesterday afternoon.  I’m sure that many of you have also been thinking about the victims and their families whose lives have been devastated just 11 days before Christmas. 

When Brandon told me about the shooting it was the first I’d heard of it.  I was stunned.  An elementary school?  Who would go in and shoot up an elementary school?  How many kids did he just say?  I had the gut wrenching feeling of illness.  I pictured the precious faces of all the kids in Gavin’s class.  I thought of my little boy walking out of school in a line like the kids in Newtown yesterday, children who were absolutely terrified.  Then I hoped that my little boy would be one of the lucky ones making that walk when I realized that the number of children who died yesterday would wipe out his entire class.  Sick.  Sick is what I felt.  And then I felt sorrow.  I thought about the parents, the ones who weren’t reunited with their children because their children were lying inside that school building.  I thought of how it’s Christmas in 11 days and just like my kids, those children were eagerly awaiting Santa’s arrival.  Their parents were probably in the midst of preparing for Christmas and never in their most horrific nightmares thought their child would be killed in school.  School shootings don’t happen at elementary schools.  They happen at colleges and high schools, but certainly not elementary school.  Right?  Wrong.  The events that took place yesterday at Sandy Hook Elementary are proof that no one and no place is immune to such tragedy.    

Everyone has the same questions.  What is the motive for a person to shoot innocent children?  How can we process such a tragedy?  How do I explain this to my child and explain to him that he has to be careful in school just as he does anywhere else in the world?  What are we going to change to keep this from happening?  While this wound is raw and on the mind of lawmakers and citizens, now is not the time to draw abrupt conclusions.  People are answering with emotion and until they can look at facts and think with a clear head, legislation and policy shouldn’t be tossed around or decided upon.

The brutal truth in this world is that no one is completely safe anywhere.  Not at home, church, school, the movies, the mall, and the list goes on.  We can’t control everything in an attempt to protect our children, as much as we’d like to.  There are too many variables and unknowns for complete control over safety to be possible.  But, we can inform our children about how to stay safe.  We can examine our school safety plans and make suggestions.  We can ask questions and seek out help for those we know need it before they reach the point of disaster.          

This weekend is a sad one.  Across the country people are heartbroken.  Keep the families in your prayers, especially at this time of year when they should be joyful and infected with their children’s laughter, not devastated and empty.  

O Christmas Tree

They’re baaaack!!!

Yes, “they!”  Shiny Armor, our elf on the shelf, brought his sister this year.  They brought a scroll that informed us that Gavin and Abby were a bit much for just one elf to keep an eye on last year so this year Shiny Armor brought his sister, Sparkles, with him.  Abby picked out the name for our little girl elf.

The elves have been making their way around the house. 

I’m a little concerned because I know how the two siblings that live in this house behave and I sure hope those elves don’t get into trouble!

We put up our Christmas decorations this week.  Gavin helped me fluff the branches on the tree on Thursday. 

Abby and Gavin were “helping” with placement of the ornaments.  By helping I am referring to Abby and Gavin placing all of their ornaments in the same favorite spots they picked out.

Gavin’s 2012 ornament is a Lego Storm Trooper from Star Wars.

Abby’s ornament is Merida from the movie Brave.

Don’t mind the wet spots on her shirt.  Those are from the tantrum that she threw right before putting her ornament on the tree.  I can’t recall what the tantrum was for but I know she was mad.

We finally finished with the ornaments!  It takes forever to get them all out of their boxes. 

We’re off to a great start this holiday season!

Happy Thanksgiving!

What are we thankful for this year? 

The past two weeks have been…exhausting.  We’ve dealt with Brandon’s outpatient procedure, sinus infections, respiratory infections, ear infections, pink eye for three of the four of us, croup, and one trip to the emergency room for horrible chest pain that turned out to be an esophageal spasm.  Did I mention that all took place within the last two weeks?  This year we are simply grateful to be alive and have each other.    

      

Gavin’s kindergarten class has been focused on Thanksgiving and Tuesday they had their fall feast.  I went to school to help with the festivities.

The kids made their Indian costumes and got together for a class photo.

Their teacher also had Pilgrim costumes.  The kids got to choose if they wanted to be a Pilgrim or an Indian for the feast. 

Gavin and his buddy Jacksen were hamming it up.  I get the feeling they do this frequently.

Before the feast Mrs. Clark asked each of them what they were thankful for and what they were going to do for Thanksgiving.  What was Gavin thankful for?  Rest.  Our five year old said he was thankful for rest.  Son, you have no idea.

What do you think Gavin said his plans are for Thanksgiving?  Hunting for a turkey.  Yes, hunting.  And no we have never hunted for our own turkey let alone hunted at all.

Feast time!

Say “Turkey!”

We wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!  I’ll leave you with this:

All things Halloween

On a very cold October Saturday we made our annual visit to the pumpkin farm.

The kids were much more cooperative this year with photos.

Of course we needed the annual “How tall this Fall?” photo.

We all picked a pumpkin.

Little Miss was trying to push our cart full of pumpkins.  She certainly put the effort in!

Big brother came in for the assist.

The donkey was trying to push the miniature horse out of the way to get the corn.  What an….oh wait.  That’s not very nice is it?

Abby loved feeding the animals.

We took our annual hayride photo.  There were only seven of us on the two wagons. 

Despite the cold and breeze, the kids had a great time picking pumpkins!

***

We had another cold day for Trick or Treat a couple weeks ago.  Despite the cold and rain Tinkerbell and Luke Skywalker couldn’t wait to go get Halloween candy.

It was completely dark by the time we went out for Trick or Treat.  At seven o’clock it felt like eleven!

We were out for twenty minutes before we got back to our house.  The kids were freezing.  They said they wanted to go back out with Aunt J and Uncle Jay but they returned just a short time later. 

We didn’t get to take our usual front steps pictures outside this year because it was so dark.  We tried to get the troops to settle down enough to take a couple pictures in the living room.

Another great fall holiday in the books!

Have a wonderful weekend!