A nice visit.........

Joshua's mother and younger sister came to visit last week. We had a really nice time. Of course, they wanted to go to the beach and see some other things so we took them. The locals thought it was way too cold to swim but I guess when you just flew down from NY and there was 6 inches of snow, it seems very warm to them.
It was a great time to go. It was about 85 degrees but not humid and even though the water was not as warm as it is in the summer the kids still wanted to swim and didn't seem to be bothered. Joshua even took the kids in for a dip.........
We found out that Jack gets sun poisoning when he wears sunscreen (an ingredient found in sunscreen, PABA, When mixed with the sun and his skin it causes him to break out in a very bad rash all over his body) so he has to wear a t-shirt and usually a hat when we go to the beach. But he still loves the water..........
Grandma was cold the whole time but she still played in the sand with Abby.........................
Sammy still loves the sand more than anything. After a dip in the water and a big wave in his face he decided to stick to more "messy" things.

Even if all we did was go to sit and watch the water it would have been beautiful!!!!

My mom and I have been talking about our Christmas decorations.........All homemade because we are always on a budget........So my mom wanted to see some of my "innovative" ideas and here are a few pictures of the things I've put together. This candle set is just my creation..... I had the candle holders and the artificial stuff from years ago so I just put the holly around the bottom of the candles and laid the rest of the stuff down. The candles are just from the dollar store.....2 for $1.......
The kids have a "Little People" nativity so I used that and then I just put some pine garland around the top of our china cabinet to make it festive. The only things that cost money were the stockings and stocking hangers (actually bought on clearance after Christmas several years ago for very cheap).
Just a dollar can go a long way........I put this together out of some leftover junk from other projects and the candles are from the dollar store.......4 for $1.......
In my living room (great big empty room) I have these beautiful vaulted ceilings with this cut out on both walls at the very top. There are lights up there but otherwise they are just big empty spaces for dust collection. So I found some poinsettia runners and some sprigs of artificial pine (at the dollar store) and put a few together to dress up those spaces on both sides.........
Of course there is the tree........ most of the ornaments are homemade and to dress up the tree a little more we found some beads for garland.........Of course when you have little kids, they love to hang the ornaments and rehang them and pull the beads off and throw ornaments on the floor (if you look closely you can see them scattered). Then the curtains behind the tree (they are a little hard to see) I just used flat bed sheets and tied them.....then for Christmas I put the bows on...... I made them from some old ribbon someone gave me..........


Anyway, there you go Mom...........I really liked your decorations too......

Tooth Fairy............

Jack lost his first tooth on Saturday.....He was thrilled!! When I was a kid I remember my parents playing up the tooth fairy thing a little and thinking it was cool but Jack doesn't care about the "Tooth Fairy" or "Santa" or any other imaginary character unless it is Spiderman. And so, when the tooth came out the first thing Jack wanted was his dollar for his tooth (yes, teeth are getting expensive) because he knows that the "Tooth Fairy" (AKA Mommy and Daddy) gives money for lost teeth. He wanted his dollar because he almost has enough money saved up to get a new spiderman toy. He immediately went to figuring out how much money he has and then asked how much his toy cost. He still doesn't have quite enough but he is determined to save until he does. He made the comment that he can't wait until the rest of his teeth fall out because then he will have a lot of money. I think Mommy and Daddy will have to take out a loan from Jack Evan Financial Institution..........................

"Little Man"

Time is flying by so quickly! We just celebrated Jack's 6th birthday on Friday (his actual birthday is on the 19th but since he was 2 we have celebrated it about 2 weeks early so it was done and over so we could concentrate on Christmas.) I am very proud of my boy and I am looking forward to watching him grow more over the next several years. Here are some photos of his "BIG 6."

Christmas traditions......

Every year we try to take the kids to see Santa. Our kids know that Santa is "not real" but they really like to go see him just for fun......it is part of their tradition and it is kind of cute for Mommy to watch her kids with Santa........Not to mention it is great for the scrapbook! Now, this year we got to see Santa but it was a little "nontraditional." The kids thought it was the coolest thing anyway because, after all, why would Santa want to deliver gifts to kids here in Florida and have to wear that heavy, hot suit???

Feels Like June......

It is almost the first day of winter and Christmas is getting closer and the kids are loving it. The Christmas lights are up in town, our neighborhood is decked out and our house is decorated and looks very festive (if I do say so myself). Everything seems to make you want to sing "Tis' the Season......"..........................and then you step outside! Now, I'm not at all upset when the weather is nice. The kids can spend much more time outside and I don't have to spend any time preparing them to go out. All the socks, shoes, coats, hats, gloves etc. can take a lot of work and cause frustration when you have 4 kids, but I don't even need to worry about it. I love that! But, it just doesn't seem like home when the words "Christmas Day" and " 85 degrees" are in the same sentence. Needless to say, the weather is beautiful but I miss North Carolina and the visits we made to see family in the North Country at Christmas time. I think the kids agree but are just glad that it is finally "COOL" enough for them to play outside for long periods of time.............

Her are some pics of us at the park the other day. It was so nice but we still got a little sweaty if we stayed in the sun too long.