So Much To Be Thankful For...

This year was the first since Kendall was a few months old that we have spent Thanksgiving with my parents.  The two years we lived in Jax before we traveled up to Kiawah to have dinner at the Sanctuary.  Since we're back in Jax, we decided to rekindle that tradition.  The kids were so happy to see their Nanny & Pappy and Kendall sobbed for the first 30 minutes of our ride home because she missed them so much.  It broke my heart to see her so upset, yet glad that she loves them so much that it caused her so much pain to leave them.

They keep getting cuter every year!

 Always have to get a picture on the staircase at The Sanctuary

The Sanctuary is such a great family friendly place - they have this fancy buffet where everyone dresses up for but they have a special room for the kids where they can play, color, craft, watch movies and can find "kid friendly" food if they don't enjoy the buffet.  Kendall found the cotton candy they were making in the kids room!

Kendall's favorite activity with her Nanny was coloring and helping Nanny cook.

Enjoying some hot cocoa before visiting Santa 

Well, at least she sat on his lap this year.  She didn't want to tell him what she wanted for Christmas but she did manage to mention one item.  

A good time was had by all.  It was a shame that the weather was cold while we were there.  The wind was bitter and there was a chill in the air...I know, I should be use to it, but remember we left from Orlando, came home to unpack and repack then head to Kiawah Island...

Disney Trip #3

It's official, our season passes have officially paid for themselves!  We've been there a grand total of 6 days since late August.  The kids had a full week off from school for Thanksgiving so we had rented a condo nearby for 4 nights and Andy took vacation from work.  We headed down right after Andy came home from work on Friday.  On a sad note, my suitcase got left in the parking lot at our apt and we didn't realize it until we unpacked at the condo in Orlando.  Needless to say, I drove ALL the way back to Jax at 10pm that night and drove back to Orlando Saturday morning.  Not a great way to start a mini vacation, but I survived the drive!  We spent one day in Magic Kingdom and two days at Epcot.  The fourth day we got rained out so we ended up heading home early.

Kendall got swallowed up by Bruce the shark while visiting Nemo and Crush in Epcot!

Silly faces in Morocco

 Not only are we now pin traders, we are Hidden Mickey hunters!  Can you see the upside down Mickey head in this light fixture?  This one was found in Germany at Epcot.

She didn't want to see any princesses, but she did cave when she saw Sleeping Beauty in France at Epcot.

We had a great time and enjoyed taking our time through each park.  Having passes allows us to do as little or as much as we'd like.  The kids had a great time pin trading and both got some that they were searching for throughout the trip!  We are headed back down in a week and a half when my brother and his family come to town.  I can't wait to see the cousins at Disney together!

Happy Little Campers

Sissy and her BFF have had 2 playdates in a row and they couldn't be happier.  These two have become the best of friends and her friend has a brother in Little Man's grade at the same school as well.  The boys are starting to become friends too even though they aren't in the same class.  Aren't these two campers just the cutest ones you've ever seen?  

BFF Pop Stars

When asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, Sissy told her teacher that she wants to be a Pop Star!  Just my luck, right?  The way I figure, we need some wholesome, Christian pop stars in this day and age, so why not?  The kid LOVES to sing and dance.  After a birthday party on Saturday she went to her BFF's house to play.  They decided to put on a show for us moms when I went to pick her up.  The moms even had to throw flowers on stage after the performance!  Love these two sweet girls!

I Love Country Music

It's no secret that my favorite genre of music is Country & Christian.  Last night just solidified my love for country music.  Here are two examples of why:




This one is awesome too:

Are You Kidding Me?

As if I needed one more reason to keep my kids OUT of public school.  Here's a great one:  Common Core Curriculum.  This is a worksheet from a Common Core elementary language/English lesson.  Since when do we need to have a political slant on learning possessive nouns?  I pray that my friends with kids in public school look into what content is being snuck into their lessons.  Here is the FULL STORY.

Lingo From Home

There is this page on FB that I follow because it reminds me of "home."  It's called How To Speak Philadelphian.  The pics they post crack me up!  Here are a few of my favorites:

This reminds me of Andy's dad!

My beloved Iggles.  Andy calls them the Beagles.

Delish!

Boat House Row

I still say ice-ning

My Nanny Hershock use to say it this way...and hamburg instead of hamburger.

We use to call it Spacme in college!

Loved him leading my team back in the day

I still struggle to spell this month!

My mom-in-law says the days this way!

I grew up thinking it was spelled this way - but it's a faucet if it's inside the house, spicket if it's outside.

Dr. J - no Dr. Chapstick!

My college roommate said it this way!

We still call it a MAC machine.  What's an ATM?  "Gotta tap Mac before we go out tonight!"

Wooder?  Wader?  Always a debate, but rarely ever was it water.

Trick Or Treat!

A few weeks ago our new neighbors from across the street invited us to participate in trick or treating with the rest of the street.  Everyone came out to their driveways and the kids trick or treated from driveway to driveway while the adults socialized.  It was SOOO much fun.  We met so many of our new neighbors and it makes it even more exciting to be a part of our new community.  The best part is that the neighbor kids we met at Poes a month ago - a little girl a year older than Sis and a little boy came running down the street yelling "Kendall!  Hi Kendall!"  Nothing warms a mom's heart like her children being included and seeing their joy.

We didn't have a "driveway" so we decided to let the kids trunk or treat out of our car.  The kids and I cut out the teeth Wednesday night.  It was so much fun to see the little ones look a little nervous when I told them to be careful because the car might bite!  

One of the neighbors went ahead and had a banner made to close off our block!  So awesome!

Our two little trick or treaters - Ryan Dungey and a sweet little cowgirl

Riley's buddy Connor and his parents came over to trick or treat with us too.  Afterwards we walked over to the Benz's house to visit with Jim and Murray.  Jim is the now retired COO of Andy's company.  Then we came home and put two very tired little kids to bed...