The end of our Christmas experiment...

Here are the last few pictures of vacation. I got sick on Wednesday and was flat out for the rest of the week.. Yes, I'm still really mad about that.

Aunt Gay and Uncle Dave really made the week for us. They just waited on everyone hand and foot and were awesome tour guides! Uncle David made us fruit smoothies and Aunt Gay cooked more food in a week than I've cooked in the last six months.. Aunt Gay also made these beautiful dresses for the girls and bowties for the boys then dressed everyone out in red and white. We took some great pictures at Magic Kingdom on New Years Eve.

Here is Aunt Gay and Jake and Julie waiting for the fireworks to start in Venice. Julia crashed right before they started and slept through them entirely, so did Jo.

These are the boys and girls outfits.

This one if for Aunt Gay! She had ears for the girls, hand made bracelets, ruffled socks and pantaloons and the whole thing. The dresses are just beautiful. Julie and Jo wore theirs to church this last Sunday and we got compliments right and left.

Here is Jacob and Julia getting on the Triceratops ride in Animal Kingdom.

A last couple of shots......Julia with Mickey.

Aunt Gay "babysitting" Adam, Mark and Jake while they read Calvin and Hobbes in their room at the condo. Yes, they are wearing their matching mickey pj's Aunt Gay made for all the kids.

Julia and the Castle.

Uncle Dave holding Jora while we all watch the show at the castle. You can just see Jason in front of Joey.

The family at Cinderella's Castle. Until next time.....................

Merry Christmas to all!

More fun at Christmas

Here are a couple more pictures from Daytona. You guessed it, on the beach again. Jake and Julie have never seen Hitchcock's "The Birds" and enjoyed tormenting seagulls for a bit. The night before, Allen took the kids to play a round of mini golf......after dark. It was probably the highlight of the entire trip for Jake and Julie.

We left Daytona around 1pm and headed for Orlando. It was Julia's birthday and that night at the condo we celebrated! Julia got to pick her cake this year too. She received a princess cash register (no cash included) and a princess tea set.

We met up with David and Gay and Spencer and Linda and their kids. Jacob was so excited to spend some time with his cousins. Here are the kids at one end of the condo's pool complex. Julie and Al, Jacob with Adam and Mark and Allen and the girls with Adam and Mark goofing in the background.

Here we are at Epcot.... it was Jacob's first ride in an amusement park (the ride inside the big golf ball). He sat with Aunt Gay and had a blast, Jacob did too. From there it was Finding Nemo and Julia's favorite, Soarin' the glider ride. (Uncle David's favorite too, too bad I don't have any pictures of it)

Above you see us in line for the Finding Nemo ride, below, still in line and under that we have after Nemo, Julia in the shark mouth after she got in line with Jacob, he got sidetracked and she cut in front of about 10 people, hence the self-satisfied smirk.

The really fun part of our Christmas.

Our plan was for this to be a Christmas to remember......It was and we still managed a TON of fun anyway! Our first night we spent at Hilton Head, SC. I have been there once before when I was a nanny. It isn't as cold as it looks, about 60 degrees and very foggy and misty. This was about 10:00 in the morning. Then the kids had to wash off their feet and put shoes and socks back on with Allen's help.

We arrived late the evening before and, in the morning, discovered we had an additional occupant in our room.....luckily they didn't charge us extra for him. Jacob was equal parts horrified and fascinated when he realized it had been in the room with us all night and that it changed color once it got off the wall and down on the floor. Then he grabbed the camera and we have a well documented gecko. Here is one of his captures.

We stayed at the Park Lane (we would highly recommend it), it was our favorite hotel that we stayed in. VERY nice. Here are the kids standing by the balcony and then outside checking out the moss covered trees. They hadn't seen anything like that before and Jake wondered why it "looked crreeepy". The mist and fog might have contributed to that.

We headed back on the road and hit the beach again at DAYTONA, FL. It was amazing to me how you come out of overcast and smelly Georgia and just a few miles into Florida you are pulling out the sunglasses and rolling down the windows wishing you had a convertable or at least a sunroof! Here is the view from our hotel in Daytona, the Acapulco and Julie and Jake on the balcony. I really love the Atlantic. The longer I spend in the East the more I love it.

Needless to say, we spent the rest of the afternoon and into the evening on the beach! Here you see we are still in the sand hole phase with Jo but we learned that Julia has moved from the "screaming terror of waves" to the "pleeeeaaase take me out to jump waves" phase. Jacob is still in the "can I just please get wet" also known as "how far our will they let me go before they come get me" phase.

Here is our "Baywatch Baby" and "Water Boy" and some pictures with Mom and Dad. I had on these yoga pants and the bottom got wet and they kept trying to fall down.

So, Daytona was a nice beach but we won't be going back... The cars driving on the beach was not too enjoyable, especially trying to keep three oblivious children from getting run over. (yes, even though the speed limit is 15mph) That combined with Jacob's fist view of a thong swimsuit has decided us to keep heading to more family friendly beaches.

Halloween '08

You know.....Halloween is quickly becoming my favorite holiday.

This year was super sweet! Jacob decided on Harry Potter, he (with help from Allen) carved his own wand and Nimbus 2000 broomstick. Mom applied a scar (yes, a removable one) and topped it off with a robe, glasses and a bit of black hair.

Julia went with Cinderella this year and her Mom wasn't satisfied with any of the dresses in the stores so she MADE Julia's costume. Yes, you read that right. Laura MADE Julia's dress. I know it sounds crazy and all that but I am happy with how it turned out. The Tiara, gloves, purse and sparkling slippers (and a bit of makeup from mom) transformed our little house slave into a beautiful princess. (note the black velvet choker, courtesy of Julia's keen eye while reading a Cinderella story book she noted that she didn't have the black necklace) This is REALLY only the tiniest smidgen of transference.

So, you probably noticed Jo in two different costumes. Because of the range of parties this year, she actually wore three. Halloween morning she was the blue fairy (dress up for Julia's dance class) . For trick or treating Friday night she was Pooh Bear's Honey Pot. (sooo adorable) Finally on Saturday night she was the Purple Princess. The costume changes were precipitated by mainly her slothful habits. In other words, after one wearing her costumes were filthy and we went to the costume bag to find a clean one. Good thing she's cute.

Below we have Mayci and Julia, both Cinderella, at the church party. We also have the first ever meeting of Darth Vader and Harry Potter courtesy of Max and Jacob.

Jacob's Birthday

Well, after all the hooohhaaaa of last years birthday, this year we opted for minimalistic partying down. Which basically means, the family and a big cake.

Jacob and Mom went to the movies and FINALLY saw Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. We loved it. Then we went to Sams Club and Jacob chose his birthday gift (Madden '09) and the cake he wanted (half chocolate, half white with buttercream frosting). The rest of the day was playing video games and eating cake. Not too bad for a 44 year old.

Oops, that is 4+4+1=9

~Happy Birthday~

The return of Football..I mean Fall.

I haven't posted for so long! I have lots of things to blog about but I am frustrated by my computer. AARRRRGHHHHH

Earlier this month we had a chance to tour Heinz Stadium as a family and it was SWEET.

Here are some pictures.


Here is the fam on the old bleacher seats that are now in the food court and a shot of Allen and the kids in the press box. Heinz Stadium is one of the few stadiums where the press box is NOT on the 50 yard line.

Our own little Steeler Cheerleader and the kids and I outside the locker room.

Jacob and Julie in the East end zone. Dad and Julie with the stadium and downtown behind them.

Allen and kids at Ben's , I don't know what, closet? locker? Jo and I in the East end zone.

Ahhh the smell of Fall.