Baby Chicks

We were so excited to be asked by a friend to watch the baby chicks they got their kids for Christmas.  They wanted to surprise their kids, but needed to buy the chicks ahead of time.  We were more than happy to help out.=)  It was a few days of chick heaven for my four kids.

Things we'll never forget.....when they learned to hop/fly out of the box...the crazy one who wouldn't sleep at night unless he was being cuddled by one of the girls, and when they put him down he ran in circles chirping loudly....being pooped on...the constant "cheep cheep"...how soft they were... the one who liked to sit on Adam's shoulder.  Names:  Noir, Cutie Patootie, Star, Calm Calm, Bright and  Jumper.  Six cute chicks.

Nick Turns 6

Our littlest guys is not so little any more.  Well, actually he is little...he still wears toddler sized clothes...but he's actually 6 now!  He really has grown up a lot... he reads at a third grade level, he plays computer games with boys twice his age, he helps out with chores around the house, and can even control his temper!...Sometimes ;)

Nick (I hardly ever call him Nikki anymore) LOVES angry birds!  His favorite is the big black one.  So Elisabeth made these angry bird cupcakes on his B-day.  I found the idea online and she just flew with it.  Wait 'till you see the ones she made for his party with friends!

He chose, for his birthday dinner, Sloppy Joe and cheetos.  I love how the camera angle makes his plate of food look GINORMOUS!  Those cheetos are as big as his forearm.  I laugh every time I look at it! =)

He was soo happy when we received  a package in the mail right on his birthday!  He loved the dragon he found inside.  Thanks Pyper Family!

Here's his haul from Mom and Dad...that's a bionicle mixed in with the angry birds stuff.

Oh yeah...one more  BIG thing. =)

Then he got a very special gift which was handmade by Elisabeth.  She did an awesome job on that hat!

Then a few days later it was time for his friend party!    We had a lot to do to get prepared, and I never would have made it without all the kids helping out.

These are the awesome Cup Cakes that Elisabeth made.  Sarah helped some too.

Nick's presents made some great decorations!  The cups and puff balls on the right are the angry birds game that all the guest got to make and take home along with a real slingshot!  I hope their parents don't hate me for sending their kids home with a sling shot.=)  We did have a safety talk...or two.

Making these balloon decorations brought to light the fact that the little ones have never done much cutting with scissors.  Nick had fun trying though...and Sarah got quite good at it.

One of the games involved shooting these plastic ball balls at some balloon pigs, also they shot them at a tower of cardboard boxes outside.  I'm happy to report there were no sling shot injuries. =)

Nick loved the cupcakes!  And his all time favorite...Juice Boxes! 

 And mostly he loves having friends over to celebrate with him.  He was one happy guy. 

Lego Land

On Dec 9th we were able to get extremely discounted tickets to the brand new Lego Land Florida.  We went as school group with the Umbrella School we belong to.  Each ticket was only $5 instead of $45.  NICE!

We had to wake up Very early to drive the 3 hours and we were among the first in line at the gate to the parking lot. =)  We ran into some of our friends from our homeschool group.  And had a blast.  All 4 of our kids LOVE  roller coasters, so that was what they were most interested in.

Then we visited the area where they have whole cities made of lego's.  It was amazing.  We felt like world travelers by the time we got out of there.

Look!  Elisabeth is on Broadway!

And look what's playing!  We will be going to see 'Wicked' in March so we thought that was cool.

Even though we live in Florida we've never actually been to Cape Canaveral....till now ;)

Here's another place we've never been.

All through the park there were amazing lego creations like this one.  There was even a full sized SUV and a huge Christmas tree.

On our way out of the park we got to see NYC lit up for the night.  It was really neat!

There were soo many great pictures!  So I made this slide show if you'd like to see more.  =)  I think you can click to go to picassa and see it full screen.

Family Pictures

Once the big Christmas show was over we were...exhausted!  So we needed some downtime...just doing school, cleaning and decorating the house, not going much of anywhere.

We did have to actually make our selves get up early one morning  and try to look decent for a family picture before Jon took off to work. It was fast and furious, but we got a few nice shots. We just barely got this done in time to send out cards...most of the cards still went out late...if at all.


Here are a few more fun shots.

HS Christmas Show

On December 4th one of our home school groups had their big Christmas show.   I choreographed a few Tap routines.  There was also a lot of Ballroom, and singing, and ASL, guitar playing, and other fun numbers.



BFF's Back Stage

Daddy Tuning the Guitar for Libby

Adam Waits Patiently. =)

Drummer Boys

Sarah's Solo

Elisabeth's Solo

Look at Libby Spin!

Even the Daddy's Danced.

Time to Tap

Doesn't Nick Look Excited! ( In his defense...the show was 3 hours long.)

Tapping Moms. =)

More November

So...the Edwina performance was how we began November, and the month went racing along right after that.  There was a Nursing Home performance with one of our home school groups.

This was Elisabeth's first performance on the guitar.  She played and sang Silent night.

Elisabeth sang Oh Holy Night.

We managed to fit in some hair cuts.  Adam looks so handsome.

 Elisabeth had been growing her hair out extra long so she could donate to locks 'Locks of Love'.  You have to cut at least 10 inches to donate.

Then it was time for some R & R.  Our annual trip to Marco Island for Jon's work conference was a much needed break from school, rehearsals, performances and all the other activities that keep us running.

Adam Loves having his friends there with him.  How great that his best friend's dad works with Jon.

The kids found all sorts of great new creatures at the beach.  There was an amazing sand bar and tide pool just full of life.  We saw things we've never seen before....even a baby puffer fish!  I have no idea what Nick is holding in this pic.

All of those buckets are full of crazy little living things.

Finally, for Thanksgiving we went out to West Palm to be with Jon's Brother Ryan and his family.   We were there for 4 days I think.  And we had a great time just hanging out...mostly in pj's...playing games and watching movies and visiting.  Somehow we never did manage to take any pictures.  Crazy I know!   We also did some black Friday shopping.  Because of that shopping Emily and Elisabeth ended up with identical cell phones for Christmas. =)   Little did we know this would be one of our last times to see them before they moved to the opposite corner of the country.