Okinawa 2009

Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas everyone! Sorry I've gotten so behind. I've been so busy. We put up our Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. The children just loved it! Chris got to "help" this year. He couldn't get the hooks to stay on the branches. It was so cute though. We got pictures of the kids and the tree. We were going to have to change the ornaments around after a few days( most of them were down at the bottom), but the base of the tree broke. We had to take it down. We will be putting the tree back up this week. It just wouldn't feel like Christmas without a tree. The important thing about putting up the tree is that it's time we spend together as a family.

Christopher and I went to Julia's school to watch her Christmas program last week. It was so cute! Julia was Mary. Mary and Joseph had a "donkey" crawling down the aisle behind them. The shepherds were leading "sheep" down the aisle(one of them was crying for her mother). Everything was just perfect for such little children. After the manger scene, each class sang a Christmas song. We really enjoyed it. I don't have any pictures of it yet.

I got together with two of the class moms and did Julia's class Christmas party. It was so much fun! The kids made little manger scenes out of toilet paper rolls and paper towel rolls. All they had to do was put material around the rolls to make robes and a little bit of material over the head. You just had to slide rubber bands over each piece to hold it in place. They actually turned out cute. Then the kids got to decorate sugar cookies. We also had a birthday party for Julia's teacher, Mrs. Cole.

Rick and I are starting to get ready for our trip to Okinawa, Japan. We are going to see the Aaron Miller family. Our tickets have been paid for for a couple months. Now comes the fun part. You know, the packing. We have to pack for the kids(10 days @ Rick's parents' house) and for us. This is my first trip out of the U.S.A. so I'm excited and a little nervous. At least I'm not going alone. Rick has been over there before. I think the worst parts of the trip are going to be the endless traveling and the time difference. Jet lag.

We will be leaving for West Virgina the day after Christmas. We will get to see our families for a couple days. Then on Monday we will start our journey. We won't be back 'til the 7th of January. So, I won't be blogging for a couple weeks.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Julia's Fall Festival

Julia is really enjoying going to preschool. We had parent teacher conference a few weeks ago and her teacher said that Julia is a little angel at school. She listens well and learns everything that is being taught. She loves learning.

October 31 was the day of Julia's school Fall Festival. Fall Festival is a day that all the kids dress up in costumes, and show off for their parents. They have a little parade and then sing several songs. I dressed Julia up like a little princess(she wanted to be Princess Daria from the Pink Kingdom). I fixed her hair up in a sock bun and let her have a tiara and a wand.

I dropped her off at school, then waited for Rick to get there. We stood outside for a while just waiting for the kids to come out. They marched past us twice(the sidewalk goes in a square). Then we all went up to watch them sing. They did a great job. We could hear little Julia's voice above most of the kids. At least she's not afraid to sing out. We were so proud of her. Here are a couple pictures of my little princess.
































Now, we're all caught up to the present. Finally!

Christopher's Birthday

Hello everyone! Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. Our family has been through one illness after another. I've been told that it's normal when your child starts preschool.

Christopher had his second birthday on October 20th. We did a Curious George party. He enjoyed all the attention and all the toys.






























Chris played with his cake topper. It's safely put away now.















He was very excited to get another "digger truck".

We also got a play tent for Christopher. He shared that with Julia, of course. They had so much fun with that tent. I hated to put it away. I'm sure it will come out again during these long months of fall and winter.

More Birthdays

I had my 30th birthday on October 11th. Rick took me out for dinner the night before. We went to Outback. I got to try Crab legs. Mmmmm! Were they ever good! We walked around in the Mall for a little bit after eating.

Rick gave me my big birthday gift, while we were waiting for our table at Outback. It was in a gift box. I opened it and it was a gift certificate to a day spa. I got up early just to spend about 4 hours at Salon Vivace. I got a facial, a full body massage, a manicure, a pedicure and a hair-washing and drying. It was very relaxing.

When I got home, I ate lunch and went to the Mall to spend my gift card. I got a cardigan at Christopher & Banks.

When I got home, we had a birthday party(mostly for the kids sake)with cake(Rick insisted on 30 candles)and presents. I got a fuzzy throw and a memory foam pillow. Nice for those long winter naps. Anyway, I had a great birthday.

I can't find where Rick put the pictures right now. I will post some soon. I know you'd like to see that cake with 30 candles on it.

Birthday Pictures

Here is my birthday girl!















Here is her cake.















The kids enjoying their treats.

Birthday Party!

On September 20th, we had a birthday party for Julia. She turned 4 on the 22nd. We thought a Saturday party would be best because of Rick's busy schedule. I even tried to invite our neighbors over for it. I ended up having to cancel having them over. All of us came down with some kind of bug. I took party favors and treats over to their house and told them I had to cancel.

We still had our little family party. My sister-in-law Jessica decorated, while I sat out in the garage wrapping gifts. Julia wanted a Dora party this year. I didn't know how popular that stuff is. It was hard to find a cake topper. I finally bought a little jar of play dough that had a Dora stamper on the top. It was just perfect.

The party was a success. Julia loved all of her gifts. She loves cake and ice cream. Chris was so funny! He didn't know what to think of the icing on his cake. Rick tried to feed some to him and he just held it on his tongue and started to cry. He got some on his fingers and couldn't stand it.

For some reason, blogger won't allow me to upload pictures today. I'll have to try again tomorrow.