Taking a little break with lots of family time

Dwight has been off for a few days for the holidays and we have been able to do a lot of fun things with the kids that we haven't done in a while.  Dwight hasn't been off this long in 6 months, so it has been a very welcome break. 

Obviously we had Christmas...

The next day we hit the varsity...

...and went to the aquarium, along with 1/2 of the Metro Atlanta population.

We still have a couple of fun things left on the list to do before the new year.  I may not post anything else before then, so if I don't...

He's on the way

The kids are tracking Santa.  Noah is following the Norad tracker and then they find the location on the globe. 

It won't be long before they have to get to bed, if they are going to get to sleep in time. 

Enjoy your Christmas Eve!

Noah gave me the greatest gift

Yesterday, while out running errands, Noah says in the kindest voice and completly out of no where, "Mom, thanks for signing me up for homeschool." After catching my breath, I said, "You're welcome, Sweetie" and before I could say anything else, he said, "I really love it."

No words...no words...just a feeling of joy that still hasn't gone away.   Thank YOU, Noah.  I love that kid!

12 Days of Christmas

This video of the a cappella group Straight No Chaser was one of my favorites last year, so I had to dig it back up.

The Christmas program

Last night was Cooper's Christmas program and it was really cute. It was the nativity story with the Kindergartners playing the big roles and the other ages each representing another part of the story.  The four year olds were the twinkling stars. 

Here is my little star in the making. 

I took a video, but it was really hard to see from where we were sitting  (C is in the middle near the microphone, waving after the first little song).  Sorry it is such terrible camera work, but I was trying to film one son and do camera tech support for the other at the same time.  It does get better in the second half.  Also, pay close attention to Cooper  around the 2:50 mark, when he realizes the mic is in front of him and really starts singing his heart out.  :)

Our Weekend visit with The Man in Red

We went to see Santa Saturday and the boys were ready to tell exactly what they want.  This was actually Cooper's second visit with Santa, since he made an appearance at school a couple of weeks ago, but Noah was excited to finally get to give Santa his list.  BTW, Cooper asked BOTH TIMES for a live rabbit...ugh, sorry baby, NOT gonna happen.  Santa doesn't bring LIVE animals, LOL. 

Finally, a musical treat from Beaker the Muppet. 

Why you should always check your kids homework

This child's mother works for Home Depot.  She is selling a shovel.  The teacher thought she was a pole dancer. :)

Still sick....:(

Haven't had much to post this week as I am still trying to get over a case of bronchitis.  Maybe next week will be better.

Gobble, Gobble...

             Happy Thanksgiving!

Roomba driver

My mom has a Roomba.  I wonder if her cats have ever thought of hitching a ride, LOL. 

Thanksgiving Feast at preschool

Cooper had his T-giving feast at school today and it was adorable.  Got a couple of cell photos (was running late and totally forgot to bring the 'real' camera). 

 

They sang a really cute little Indian song while wearing their Native American outfits that they had stamped.  Each child had their native name that they had chosen (somehow...still not sure on how) written in words and symbols  on their headdresses.  Cooper's name was Swift Gecko. The gift he had made me was the cutest little Indian Corn pin. 

It was a really fun lunch.  I just love seeing how happy it makes him when I get to come see him at school. :)

SNL this weekend

was HILARIOUS!  The two funniest skits both featured Justin Timberlake.  He never fails to crack me up!  One of them is being deleted all over youtube for copyright from NBC, but this one is on their official site.  Hopefully they will add the other one later.

LOST

starts back January 21.  That is back to WEDNESDAY nights at 9!!!  YAY!

Been a really busy couple of weeks here

We have had family here two different times with the Halloween events in the middle, so there hasn't been a lot of time to post anything here but I am here now. 

During all of that time, we did manage to catch a play at the Center for Puppetry Arts.  We saw Brer Rabbit & Friends and it was so fun.  Noah had read several Brer Rabbit stories in his Literature book this year, so it was fun for him to get to see the play with more of the trickster's stories. 

Afterwards we checked out the Jim Henson exhibit there.  A lot of the characters were out of the center for another exhibit they were being featured in across town, but we did get to see Big Bird, a lot of the Muppets, and a Sid the Science Kid exhibit, which is Noah and Cooper's favorite show to watch together in the afternoon.

The funny part of the story is that, while I was completely aware that I shouldn't take any pictures of the theater and the performance, it never occurred to me that I couldn't take any pictures in the Jim Henson exhibit.  Seriously, there were these  tiny, little signs everywhere, but I didn't see them until AFTER the lady came over and told me there were no photos allowed....OOOOOOOPS. 

So I now have an illegal photo of my kids in front of Big Bird.  I'm sorry, I know I probably should delete it, but it's BIG BIRD...nope, not deleting it.  Turn your screen off now if you don't want to be an accomplice to my crime!!!

As for scrapping, I am in a big dry spell, probably due to lack of time lately, but here are the most recent LO's I have done.

Halloween fun with friends

We spent the evening trick or treating with our best friends for the first time since the older boys were only children, five years ago.  I think that once they started school and suddenly Halloween was a school night that it just became easier to hang around our own neighborhoods instead of getting together, but since Halloween was on the weekend this year we got together and boy did we have a great evening. 

 

Hope you had a spooktacular night!

Decided the place needed a new look

The brown was bringing me d...o...w...n...

Hitting the "talking points"

hmmm....maybe we only needed one debate instead of three, lol.

LOL...sometimes love can't last forever...

Trick or Treating on Main St.

Our town has a T or T thing for the local kids each fall...gives the kids a chance to wear their costumes an extra time so we always go.  Here are some pictures from this weekend.

WOO HOO...Over half way there!!

but seeing this makes it feel like it will never get here!!

Had a lazy weekend

but we did start it out by going to the pumpkin patch with the kids.  We had a lot of fun and the kids really enjoyed spending the time running around and playing with everything.  We already have our big jack-o-lantern carving pumpkin, so this was just a chance to get out and have fun together and let the boys pick a small pumpkin each.

We ended up going on Thursday, which meant that we missed being able to go to the corn maze (they only have it during the weekend), but since Dwight was able to come home early on Thursday, it made more sense to go that evening rather than on Friday, when it was scheduled to rain.  Since it actually did rain a lot that day, it turned out to be the right call for sure.

Here are a few photos from the fun:

Good grief...sick of photos yet?