St. Augustine afternoon

Whenever we go down to Night of Lights, in St. Augustine each November, we ALWAYS say "Let's come back and see the Christmas lights again when it isn't so crowded!"  We love the tradition, and the kick-off of the holiday festivities, but we don't reallly get to SEEE the lights - because there are so many people, and we're focused on trying not to lose our children!

So this year, we finally went back down to see the lights before they came down at the end of January. First stop was Project SWING.  This is a playground that Eric and I helped BUILD, way back when (ha ha) in college.  The kiddos had a TON of fun - it's a really great playground!  It was absolutely FREEZING the day we went, and windy, and cloudy.  But it was worth it!

After that, we had dinner at a little British pub that we had NEVER been to, we walked around downtown, and enjoyed the Christmas lights one last time for the season.  

Baby Sabrina

Allow me to introduce you to my new favorite little tiny friend!  This is Sabrina Emerson Shockey, the new baby sister to Jillian and Ava, two of my favorite girly girls on earth!  I am Sabrina's (fairy) godmother, and on December 31st, just a day after returning from North Carolina, we took a whirlwind trip to Lakeland to meet baby Sabrina, catchup with a bunch of friends, and be there for Sabrina's baptism.

I'm seriously obsessed with this baby.  She is a DOLL.  And she looks just like Jilly!  

the kiddos at the church 

the best part. . . sabrina LIKES me! she stopped crying when i held her, because she LIKES me! ;)

me, the boys, and my little girlfriend

Me and B! The grownup Sabrina! (my roomie at flagler!)

the boys, keeping an eye on miss sabrina

love these kiddos!

eating lunch with jilly and daniel (daniel is joy's oldest son)

We have a picture of the four of us, when Jilly and Bryce were babies - at Jillian's baptism, sitting here in this very spot, at AM's parents house. . .let me see if i can find it. . ..

HA! Success. . .check this out - CRAZYPANTS. I can't even BELIEVE it. 

This pic was May of 2005. (gulp. i feel old!)

It had been FAR too long since the four of us girls were in the same place at the same time. It was so bittersweet though, because we only had a few hours together!

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!

More birthday celebrating

On Bryce's birthday we had lunch with him at school, and brought pull-apart cupcakes (star wars) for his class. All treats for school have to be store-bought (sigh) so I couldn't make them. But Bryce loved these (and I never would have made that awful dark blue frosting! Ha!) Then we went to Dave and Buster's for video games and dinner. It was a super fun day for our 8 year old!!!

Bryce is EIGHT!

Bryce's cake request: cake with chocolate frosting with gummy bears and sprinkles.  We compromised a little, went with gummy bears, no sprinkles, and fondant/buttercream frosting.  It DID turn out pretty cute, but I was seriously panicking, trying to figure out how to make something with gummy bears that wasn't hideous! :)

And if we had remembered to bring candles to the condo, then he wouldn't have to blow out that GIANT candle! Ha! (Improvising at its best!)

Bryce was super excited about his new electric scooter, a magic kit, and lots of new books!  We went to Dave and Busters to play games and eat dinner on B's actual birthday, and then celebrated with family at the condo a few days later.  (below)

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!

Made our list and checked it twice!

We've updated the Amazon gift lists, and made sure everything Bryce received for his birthday, was checked off the list. We've all had fun virtually window shopping on Amazon, and now....we are done! We hope Santa is an Amazon Prime member, so he can take advantage of free two-day shipping! :)

Sleepy head!

Sleepy head Tanner fell asleep right on Eric.  

He hasn't been taking naps anymore (usually) in the afternoons, but he'll sometimes fall asleep in the car line, while we wait for Bryce after school.  And on a few rare occasions, he falls asleep at home, but that hardly EVER happens anymore! When it does. . .we are quick to capture it!

Here's one day when he fell asleep on my lap.

And I think on this day, he fell asleep in the car, and stayed asleep when I carried him inside.

Sometimes life is exhausting!

Holiday Wishlists

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

:)

Bonfires! (Autumn in NC part 3)

We had a couple of bonfires while we were there, but the day after Halloween we had a big BBQ dinner planned with some of my parents neighbors/friends.  

Good photo ops before it got dark . . .

Getting the fire started! 

My dad strung lights up in the yard and it looks festive and FABULOUS!

MORE SMORES!

The mark of a good bonfire BBQ. . . a REALLY dirty face.

Oh look - another dirty face! Soot and marshmallow. . .not much better than that!

Autumn in North Carolina (part 2)

Poppy and Tanner feeding carrots to the horses. This picture was taken just before the mule tried to eat Bryce's hair!!!! (PRICELESS!)

Riding in the Jeep!

Bryce's favorite activity was standing on a bale of hay and diving into a giant leaf pile behind it. 

We drank about a gallon of hot chocolate this week.  Mimi was the hot chocolate making master! :)

Hiking down the path on an another adventure