Our California Peeps from Florida

When we lived in California one of PK's friends from Chaplain School, Jay, was stationed in San Diego.  We had several opportunities to visit Jay and get to know his wife, Lin.  When we all lived in California they had a son, Nathan, who is about a year older than Rachel and a daughter, Maggie, who is the same age as Rachel.  Since then they have added three additional children: Noah, Lily and Nico.  PK has had a chance to see Jay and his family a few times since we left California over eight years ago.  Jay spent the night at our house right before we left Georgia on his way to Kenya, but I hadn't had a chance to see Lin or the kids.  They are now stationed in Florida.

PK received a text from Jay last night saying they were in the area trying to catch a MAC flight to California and wanted to know if we would be able to get together.  They were happy to accept our invitation to dinner at our house.

It was so nice to catch up with Jay and Lin and to meet the three younger kids.  All of our kids talked as if they had been friends their entire lives.  Their kids were so well behaved.  I tried to get Nico to stay with us while his family went to California, but he was having no part of that.

 

Back row : Lily, Hannah, Nico

Front row: Maggie, Nathan, Aaron, Noah



Holiday Concert

Aaron had his first band concert in Virginia tonight.  He doesn't like band here as much as he did in Georgia.  His band director here is not very kind and the band directors in Georgia were just phenomenal.  He has continued in spite of her.

 

This is Aaron's cousin, Noelle, who plays in the same band.

 

They both did a fabulous job and we were thrilled to listen to them play!



Lawn Boy

The day has finally arrived where I no longer have to mow the yard!!  PK will do it when he has time, but his schedule in Georgia really did not allow it.

This past week, PK and the kids finished cleaning up the leaves.  Yes, it is December.  Don't judge.  We have had a lot of wet weather. 

Anyway...We had put off teaching Aaron how to mow even we he had expressed an interest due to his allergies.  His allergist in Georgia said he has very mild asthma due to his allergies being out of control and her hope was once when we had them under control he would outgrow the asthma.  We took him for allergy testing a few weeks ago and it seems as though the injections he has been receiving for the past two years have done their job and he has built up a tolerance to many of the allergens.  The pediatric pulmonologist is going to check him again after the new year and if he is still progressing nicely, she is going to take him off of his asthma meds.

Since his allergies are better, PK taught him how to mow.

 

 

He is very rule oriented and safety conscious, so PK gave him very specific safety rules.  I am not worried  in the least and that is one Blue Job that has been a Pink Job in this family too long and has been passed on to the younger Blue.

Saint Nicholas Cookies

Aaron was about 18 months old the first time we made Saint Nicholas Cookies.  I have pictures of him covered in flour.  Rachel didn't help us make cookies this year.  She isn't as interested in some of our traditions, but I think she will come back to them.  Part of the reason is she has just been so busy with school work. 

 

The dough is made the day before and chills in the refrigerator over night.  It is full of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger.  This is really an Advent Cookie, but it makes my house smell like Christmas.

It is then formed into balls and shaped on a mold.  This is the most time consuming part.

 

After they are finished we package them individually and give several away as gifts.



No Screen Time

Screen time is one of the privileges that can be lost in this house.  Hannah and Aaron are currently grounded from all screen time which includes the DS, computer, tv and the wii.  I love the creativity they show when they are not distracted by technology.

 

They pulled out the giant checkers game, but wanted to personalize their pieces.

Aaron added Lego mini-figures.

Hannah added My Little Ponies.

They are usually disappointed when they lose screen time, but I think deep down they actually enjoy using their imaginations to come up with fun things to do.

Needle and Thread

Aaron was sitting on the floor dressed for church last week when I noticed there was a hole in the crouch of his pants.  I told him he needed to go change and we could throw those pants out.

Later that week when I was doing laundry, I came across those pants.  I thought they were the pair that had a hole and upon further examination I realized I was correct.  Instead of throwing the pants out, Aaron decided to fix them himself.  Did he sew them.  Of course not!

He used a stapler!!  It obviously didn't hold, but we will give him points for creativity.

At-Homecoming Queen

It is so much fun having Rachel and Lori attend he same high school this year.  They have always been great friends, but they are growing closer with each passing day and thinking of fun things to do together.

As Homecoming time grew closer for the school, the girls decided they didn't want to attend.  Lori had gone last year and felt like she didn't really have much fun and a lot of the music and dancing was not appropriate.  I am often impressed with her morals, standards and sense of modesty. 

The girls decided to have an At-Homecoming celebration of their own.  Shannon and I took them to the craft store where they purchased plain t-shirts and supplies to decorate their shirts.

 

Both families went out for frozen yogurt and then the girls watched movies at Lori's house.