Thanks Colleen

One of our neighbors gave the kids bathtub crayons for Christmas. One thing is for sure, they don't argue about taking a bath. Another bonus is they do a great job wiping off the walls when they are done, so clean up is very easy. Thanks again Colleen.

Santa Visited our House while we were away!

We arrived back home at around 8:30PM on Sunday and discovered that Santa had managed to visit our house while we were gone. So after we changed them into PJs we sat down to open the gifts. They got a couple of games and some books. Santa helped out a little with the Disney trip too! That is a pretty generous Santa. This year we also had Jason and Emily exchange gifts with each other. The expression on her face was priceless!

This was the Thank You hug!!

Visiting My Parents

The kids had a lot of fun at my parents' house at Christmas. They made out like bandits there too. :) We were able to spend some time with both of my sisters and their husbands. We were also able to spend a little time with my neice and nephews. The grandkids range from 20 months to almost 7 years, so it was pretty fun watching them all play together. Emily and Jason were able to help Aunt Mary make homemade biscuits one morning and they finished off the visit with a little "Ants in the Pants." We had a great time, thanks for everything Mom and Dad!

Visiting Debbie's Family

The last leg of our trip was to visit with my family. I will post the pictures soon, I still have to upload them onto the computer. We had a lot of fun catching up with my sisters and watching the kids play together. A very busy 10 day trip had come to an end.

Visiting Kirt's family for Christmas

After we were done at Disney, we went over to Kirt's parents' house for a few days. The kids have fun riding on the tractor, go cart, and Mule when we go up there.

This time they set up a small fire pit and we roasted marshmallows and made smores. YUMMY!!

Then it was time to open their Christmas gifts. They made out like bandits, as usual.

We had a great time. Thanks again for everything!

Disney trip

We decided to do something a little different this year for Christmas. Instead of going overboard with toys and "stuff" for the kids and ourselves for that matter we took a trip. We had heard that Disney at Christmastime was beautiful. So... we looked into getting a room at a hotel on Disney property that is exclusively for those in the military, Shades of Green. Boy am I glad that we decided to do this. In the past, since family is so close to the park we would go for a day here and there. But, with the kids it sometimes became difficult to push through without a chance for a rest time. Staying on the property gave us that choice and it was wonderful. The only thing we said we might do differently is stay the night there on our last day and travel rested rather than ending the day at the park so early.

We were able to spend some time at all 4 parks in 3 days. The kids were real troopers on Saturday while we visited 3 parks in the same day. That day started at around 7:30AM and we returned to the hotel at around 10:15 PM, a long day for all of us for sure.

Emily will tell you that her favorite part was being able to participate in one of the shows at Animal Kingdom. Jason was not real sure about the characters so he didn't want to get his picture taken with them.

Gingerbread House

Emily was able to make a gingerbread house at school right before the break. She had a lot of fun assembling it. I didn't get a completed photo, but it was pretty cute. They even sprinkled coconut flakes on top to make it look like it snowed on the house.

Making Gingerbread Men

I found this kit at the store and thought that the kids might have fun decorating the cookies. Turns out that all they want to do is eat the candy that we put on them and they really don't care too much for the gingerbread cookie itself. It was still a lot of fun to see them get into the decorating.

T-Ball

We signed Emily up for T-Ball this morning. We will see how that goes. The season doesn't start until February, so we can get some practice in between now and then... Jason was a little sad that he didn't get a helmet when we signed her up, so off we went to Walmart so they both have one. We also got a Tee and wiffle balls to practice. He probably has the skills now to play, he is just too young for this particular league.

Christmas Party

The squadron Christmas party was a lot of fun. We were able to have some laughs with some good friends and spend a little time together without worring about the kids.

Jason's New Bed

After a couple of weeks of waiting, Jason's bed has arrived. He was very excited to see his "big bed". He is getting to be such a big boy.

Raking leaves

The tree in our front yard has finally shed its leaves and the kids decided to "help" rake them. This is the result...

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Kirt's brother and sister-in-law came up to visit on Thanksgiving. We had a really good time visiting with them. As always, we made too much food (but it was good, if I do say so myself). After our feast, we decide to get some fresh air and enjoy some of the Emerald coast. Off we went to one of the local beaches, it was Chris' first time on a panhandle beach. We walked for a little while and then let the kids play of the playground that was there. We definately have a lot to be thankful for this year.

Lets Go Fly A Kite!

Way back when school started, I found these kites on sale for a dollar and set them aside. As usual, the kids found them and were bugging me to take them out to fly them. Kirt was able to take off a couple of days before Thanksgiving, since the kids were out of school all week, and we found some open fields to fly the kites! The kids had a blast. Of course, Kirt had fun too I think... He was trying to ram into Emily's kite which made for good times all around.

Thanksgiving Lucheon

Jason's preschool hosted a lovely Thanksgiving luncheon on their last day before the break. The kids did a little performance and then we all had a wonderful feast! There were about 200 people there according to the staff, so all in all it went pretty well. Daddy was even able to make it! :)

Evening at Mike and Carrie's

We went to a good friend's house this weekend to help celebrate their son's birthday. We had a mini reunion with 6 guys from the class and nearly all of their spouses, hope you feel better soon Ali. We had a great time. Brought back some memories for sure.

Ring around the Rosie

Some really good friends are in town and we got together the other night for dinner. It was nice catching up with them. The kids had a great time playing together.

More photos from the weekend!

While my parents were in town we went walking and looked up along trail and saw this--

It is harmless, but they are still pretty good sized spiders that I don't want to come across on a bike ride. Neither does Kirt again :)

We also have proof that you don't have to go too far north to see some fall colors

I just like this one, the water was so calm in that spot that the reflection was wonderful

My Parents visit last weekend

We are very fortunate that we have moved so close to both of our parents. This past weekend my parents were able to make it up for an extended visit (with Tuesday being Veteran's day it was a little easier). We went to several area parks for walks and the kids had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa. For some reason we didn't get any photos of the grandparents during the trip, but we will see them again next month :)Jason was pretending to be Diego again and found these racoon tracks. Never saw the racoon, thank goodness.