Holiday wishes

We've updated our wish lists! (You can find them linked at the right.)
A few notes. . . .
We've discovered that non-Amazon items can be added to Amazon lists, which makes it easier to keep everything in one place. I think it's listed pretty clearly that you're being directed to another website, for those non-amazon items. Some of the items link to Target's website, and often those items can be purchased in stores. Like I said, it's just easier to link it all to our Amazon lists.

Also, Eric has very little on his list, but he did that on purpose.  He's traveling to the middle east in January, and what he really would like/what he needs is spending money for his trip. It's boring, we know - but it's what he really wants! (And maybe he'll even bring you back something!)

Frightening as it is, Bryce has figured out how to add items on to his wish list all by himself. Which is why you will occasionally see completely overpriced and crazy items. (i.e.: $20 individual Lego mini figures)  If for some reason you feel led to make such purchases, who am I to judge? ;)  But please feel no regret in NOT purchasing said overpriced items. (I already purged much of his list, like the 6 different versions of Risk that he added, many of which were $75 and above! HA!)

If you're considering clothing for the boys:
Tanner - 4T
Bryce - 8-10 (pants with adjustable waist if possible!)

Tanner loves anything with superheroes, Legos, or Playmobil.
Bryce loves anything Lego or Playmobil or Pokemon.  (He's going to be getting the Disney Infinity game for the XBox, for his birthday.  Once we know which characters we're getting him, we'll probably add some additional figures to his list.)

Christmas Eve

A few silly pictures on our way to Christmas Even service at church. . .we are sad that Eric is never in our Christmas Eve photos, but such is a pastor's life. (This is information that I am still figuring out, after HOW many years!?) 

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, 

and to all a good night!

xoxo

Christmas vacation fun!

Lots of fun to be had over Christmas break. . . .

cookie decorating with Bryce and Tanner's pal, Emma.  (Emma has been in B's class since Kindergarten, and we ADORE her. Tanner is quite obsessed with Emma, and she is a super sweet friend.)  They used some serious SUGAR to decorate those cookies!!!!

And while Lizzie was in town, we went to the zoo with her.  Definite highlight of the trip was petting the goats! They are so funny! :) 

It's hard to believe it's almost CHRISTMAS!!!! woohoo!

SeaWorld

We had a great time at SeaWorld a few weeks ago. We celebrated Poppy and Bryce's birthdays, and had lots of fun with Mimi and Poppy. We liked the new Turtle Trek 3D movie....except when Tanner was pretty sure he was about to be eaten by a giant crab. Bryce loved the Shamu roller coaster, and Tanner went on the kiddie train FIVE times!!! The Christmas decorations were festive and fun (even though it was 75 degrees !)
This is the first time I'm blogging from my phone, on the new Blogger app...here's hoping it works!

Holiday Wishlists

Holiday wishlists on Amazon have been updated! Links to all are at the right!
Just in case. . .
ya know. . .

:)

Christmas 1 and Christmas 2 and Christmas 3!

Last week we spent a few days in Fort Myers, just me and the boys (poor Eric had to stay and work). We celebrated Christmas with my parents and Annie Grannie, complete with the Tomaino traditional Christmas dinner (turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, veggies, and sweet potatoes . . .and of COURSE my dad's apple pie, and my mom's pumpkin pie!)

 (Um, just HOW dirty could Tanner's face be!? Yikes!)

 Bryce has wanted this Lego set, The Battle of Endor, for SOOOO long.  He was completely thrilled to get it from Annie Grannie!

 Big hugs followed, after THAT gift!

 What fun would a giant box be if you didn't fill it with paper and climb in!? 

 And what fun would that giant box be if you didn't dump it out all over the floor and swim in the paper?

 We had lunch at Bass Pro Shop, and visited with Santa there.  Then the boys (all THREE of them) had to climb on all the 4 wheelers and boats out front, because well. . .boys WILL be BOYS.

We also went to see Frosty The Snowman, on stage at the Broadway Palm dinner theater, which was lots of fun! The boys really liked it! :)  We had a great time in Fort Myers.  Tanner's highlight of the trip, was that it was garbage day while we were there, so he had the privilege of helping Poppy take 6 cans of yard waste out to the corner.  He was THRILLED beyond explanation.  (I just don't get that kid!?) :) 

After a long car ride home, we finished getting ready for Christmas. . . 

 On Christmas Eve, on our way out to church! Eric preached at the 5:30 children's service, and he was dressed like a shepherd! I should have taken my camera!!! :)

 2nd Christmas. . .the actual Christmas morning, at our house.  Santa was ever-faithful and brought goodies for everyone!  Bryce got Pokemon cards (against Santa's better judgement!) Nerf guns (against Santa's better judgement) and a new Wii game.  Tanner got a keyboard that looks like a kitty, a puzzle, and a new Wii game (which is technically for EVERYONE!) ;)  Bryce's big gift from us is a fish tank.  Tomorrow we are going to go to the pet store and Bryce can pick out some Glo Fish, which he has wanted for like TWO years.  (The whole idea sort of disgusts me, but I've made it clear I am NOT cleaning the fish tank, or scooping out dead fish, or doing much of anything to deal with it!) But it has a cool black light in the tank, to make the fish "glow" and it makes a terrific night light in Bryce's room.  Tanner's "big" gift from us is a garbage truck from Toy Story.  He loves it!

 So after we celebrated at our house, the REAL chaos began. . .at Nana's house.  The explosion of gifts of every shape and size, and more goodies than you can count!  I hardly took any pictures, because I was in the thick of it :)  But much fun was had, and many treats were consumed.  Tanner ate enough M&M's over the course of the day to sink a ship.

 Here's Tanner with a cool jeep he got, long after the craziness had calmed and been cleaned up!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!

xoxo

christmas is in the air!

Top Moments Christmas Card

Customize your Christmas cards this season at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

a sneak peek. . .

(because it really is almost time!)

Christmas Wishes!

It's just barely there so far, but I added a tab, just above here, with our ongoing Christmas/birthday lists!!! It's hard to believe it's that time of year already!!!! I'll try to leave a note as I update it!

Luminaria night

While Eric was serving at Trinity UMC, we were introduced to such a fun tradition that I wasn't even aware of, here in Jacksonville. In the area of town where Trinity was located, they light the streets with luminaries, and everyone decorates their houses. Churches host cookie and cocoa socials, and concerts, and people ride bikes, walk, or drive through, looking at the lights and having a festive fun time. Even though we missed having cookies and cocoa at Trinity, we got in our pj's, made cocoa and cookies ourselves, and drove across town at bedtime to see the lights. I was determined to get a picture of the boys in their cute jammies and hats - which was not an easy task. But here's the best of the best!!

pictures with santa!

When we were in Orlando, for Bryce's birthday trip, we saw Santa at Downtown Disney. Here are our pictures!!!! It's so nice they give you the option of purchasing the photos for DOWNLOAD now, rather than just prints, so we can do what we want with them! I love technology!!!! (And I love Santa too!) I have lots of pictures and fun to catch you all up on, so I am going to schedule some posts ahead, so check back throughout the week, and believe it or not. . .the blog WILL be updated!!!! (In fact, the next post will be up later today! I have too much to cram into the end of the year!) XOXO






You'll notice there is no photo of Tanner alone with Santa. (And I'm sure this doesn't surprise you!) There was one photo of him. . . .unpleasantly sliding down Santa's lap. Not exactly purchase-worthy! I'm pretty sure Santa will find it in his heart to leave presents for Tanner anyway though. ;)

Christmas wishes. . .

I updated the Christmas Wishes page, with some ideas and suggestions if you want them!! Link is in the sidebar, or RIGHT HERE! I'll let you know if I update it anymore!!!

XOXO

this one. . .

As promised a few days ago, THIS ONE. . .

* . . .usually turns our coffee table into a war zone of Lego guys, football players, knights, or dinorsaurs, as seen.

* . . .is sporting his new Hot Wheels watch (his first watch!) in the photo in front of Nana's Christmas tree.

*. . . thinks some of his favorite Christmas gifts were his new football, new soccer ball and net, basketball, and Football Guys (seriously one of the coolest toys I've seen in a long time!)

* . . ..has acquired the fine art of bathroom humor, now that he's started preschool - "poop head" and "pee pee face" are among the phrases we are trying to remove from his vocabulary.

* . . . .is still reeling from a full month of present-receiving. It's going to take some time to reign him back in, and he thinks that every day he should still be getting more STUFF.

* . . . wants to go to Toys R Us and buy more Star Wars Legos. (See above statement for clarification!)

* . . .seems to be the only child at his preschool who is totally unaffected by the crazy cold weather we are having. He is still happy to run around, and wants to take off his coat, despite the fact that its 40 degrees, and everyone else is shivering. (Daddy's boy, or what!?)

XOXO

Merry Christmas!

It has been such fun getting everyone's Christmas cards in our mailbox. We love seeing the photos and the sweet cards. We aren't sending out Christmas cards . . .so here is my attempt to thank each of you and say, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! We are so blessed by our friends, and our family, and we love each of you - whether you live down the street, or across the world.
Big big Christmas hugs. Stay warm and cozy, and have a wonderful holiday week!!
XOXO

Remember this little guy?

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

We love you!

XOXOX

FINALLY.

Clearly these pictures are all out of whack and out of order. So, in backwards land. . .here are the Starfish cookie favors that we made for Bryce's birthday party.

A little more pinata action. . .I believe we were picking tiny plastic firefighters out of the grass at this point.The cousins. . .i LOVE this picture. This is the first time I have ever gotten all four kids looking at the camera TOGETHER. Amazing!

Singing happy birthday .. .

Here's the cake!!

Seriously, posting pictures from the party has been at the top of my list .. . .its just that there were also 35 other things that got stacked on top of it. But, I am happy to say that the gifts are wrapped, the tree is decorated, the office is covered in wrapping paper and ribbon, and after one more trip to the grocery FIRST thing this morning, we are officially ready for Christmas!!! PHEW.

Night of Lights

Since Eric's parents have been out of town, and Lizzie didn't have any plans, we were able to carry her off to St. Augustine, to come with us to Night of Lights this year. It is a yearly tradition, and it was special to be able to share it with her! The lights are beautiful as always, the weather was PERFECT. . .cold, but not TOOO cold. We are always able to catch up with friends from Flagler, and it is the BEST way to kick off the holiday season!!!! Here are two pictures, taken right after we got downtown (before it got dark. . .and before my camera battery died!!!)

(And because I just came across it, check out this picture of us at Bryce's FIRST Night of Lights!)

In a few days, we are heading to Sea World to celebrate someone's 4th birthday. Can you guess who it is!!??? YIKES, can you believe Bryce is turning FOUR!!!??? I think he is going to LOVE SeaWorld. We will do some fun Christmas stuff in Orlando while we are there too, and we'll let him open his birthday gifts on Saturday morning, in our hotel room. And of course, I will take LOTS of pictures!!!