Christmas fever

It's official...our family has Christmas fever. The Christian radio station we listen to always starts playing Christmas music 24/7 starting the day after Thanksgiving. A lot of people get tired of it, but I never do. Anyway, we started the process of putting up the tree and the outdoor lights. Kevin actually got the lights outside done, but our poor tree remains half naked. We decided to go with colored lights this year instead of the white that we usually do. However, we ended up one string short. So our tree must wait until tomorrow to be fully lit and adorned.

Jessa and her daddy decided to make a Christmas scene to share with all of our neighbors.

Nathan funny

Nathan: "I wish my friend could come live with us."
Kevin: "Why is that?"
Nathan: "Because both of his parents smoke around him all the time, and it makes it hard for him to breath because he has algebra."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

Okay, so I'm 5 days late in posting this, but I really did call my dad on his birthday. So it's not all bad. Thanks, dad, for being such a loving dad to me and grandpa to my kids. You're definitely one of a kind, and I think we'll keep you. :)

My baby's growing up

So today I finally got my act together and did some preschool activities with Jessa. She'll be 4 in February, so it's time we get started. I did preschool at home with Hannah when we first moved here because preschool prices are RIDICULOUS! It ended up being a great experience for both of us, so I'm excited to do it again this time around with Jessa. Anyway, today was our first day, and it went great! We've already been working a little on different letters and their sounds, so I guess we have a little bit of a head start. She had so much fun and was so excited when I told her we were going to do preschool. And to her credit, she understands way more than I thought...I was really impressed. It's so much fun watching them learn...they really are little sponges.

She was so proud of herself.

She's been working on her name for a while, but I had to get a picture of this.

J&J Playdough Creations...coming soon to a store near you

My kids favorite kind of playdough is homemade playdough. So every few months we make some new colors. This time Jessa got to pick the colors, so she was extra excited to play with it when it was finished. And truth be told...I kind of like playing with playdough too. :) We had a lot of fun making all sorts of creations.


One of her favorite things to do with playdough is bury toys in it.

The next Napoleon Dynamite

I'm so proud. :)

Bowling

We were able to go bowling the other night with our friends, Bryan, Cori and their three girls. This was a fairly new bowling alley right next to Downtown Disney and was very fancy to say the least. We really had a lot of fun until.......the clock struck 9:00 and the videos turned to mush. There were huge TV screens at the end of every lane that played music videos the whole time. When we first got there, the videos were fine. But after 9:00 I guess they cater to a whole different crowd. So even though we had a couple more rounds to go, we opted to leave early. It still ended up being a really fun night with our friends, and we came away with a lot of great pictures! Thanks Bryan and Cori!

Nathan, Jessa, Kylie, Ashley, Hannah and Hailey

So proud!


Nice form buddy!

No, he didn't wet his pants...he spilled his water.

Jessa's bowls were painfully slow...

...but so worth it to see her reaction when she was done.

Kevin and Hailey

Break time for Nathan and Ashley.

Friends and ponies and goats...Oh my!

Hannah and Jessa went to a birthday party yesterday for one of their friends. It was at an equestrian center, and they had a special area just for pony rides and a petting zoo full of goats. They had so much fun riding on the ponies. These ponies would actually trot a little bit instead of just walking, which the girls loved. After the pony rides, they went over to pet and feed the goats. I almost think they liked that part the best because it wasn't easy to get them to leave. All in all it was a fun time, and Jessa informed me that she wants to go there for her birthday too.

Ashley(the birthday girl), Jessa, Kylie(Ashley's sister) and Hannah.

Halloween fun

We really had a fun evening with the kiddos. We started out by taking them to a few people around our apartment complex that we know so they could do some actual trick-or-treating. Then we went to the "Pumpkin Party" at Rose Drive Friends Church. They really go all out there. Inside their gym they have tons of game booths for the kids to play, and of course they get a handful of candy at every one. They also have game booths outside as well as jumper houses, a small-scale bungee jump, a rock wall and a ferris wheel. To top it all off, everything there was free! Needless to say, the kids had a great time, and now our candy bowl is literally overflowing.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASHLEY!!