Caden's Birthday

Caden has had many birthday celebrations this year. We started on New Year's Day at my parents house. My mom baked cookies and we used left over icing and decorations from Jesus' birthday cake to decorate Caden's cookies. My mom had been sick and didn't do a lot of shopping. She gave Caden a card with money in it. He got excited about his money, but then put it down and whispered "Daddy, can I open my presents now" to Dan. When we told him the money was his present, his eyes got glassy and his bottom lip started quivering. We all felt so bad that Dan and I took Caden to Walmart and let him pick out 3 new toys with his money. We took them back to my mom. Then she wrapped them up and gave them to him. He was much happier and so was Baba until we were getting in the car to leave and he asked her is she was going to mail him his presents on his birthday. Caden, without realizing, really knows how to work Baba. The afternoon we left to drive home, she was out shopping for more presents for Caden. She did good and Caden LOVES his new super hero boxer briefs!!! :p
Caden celebrated with cupcakes on his actual birthday and we had a small party for him on Saturday. He wanted to go to a bounce place, but I wasn't organized enough before Christmas to get it all arranged. Instead, we invited 2 of his friends to go with us to Chuck E. Cheese. They had a blast.

Caden and NathanAllie flying highJaelyn had a stash of ticketsCaden and the mouseAlyssa, Caden, Jaelyn, Allie and NathanThank you everyone for making Caden's day so special.

My favorite present that we gave Caden were these Yoda Christmas lights. They are supposed to be strung on a Christmas tree. Instead, I drilled new holes in their backs to move the lights from their bottoms and hung them on Caden's curtain rod. He LOVES LOVES LOVES his new night light!

The Rest of the Pictures - Christmas 2009

Last week, I spent time updating the blog with all the stories of our Christmas. I took well over 500 pictures with my new ;) camera. Here are a few of my favorites that I may or may not have shared already...

We got a Wii

We started talking about buying a Wii over a year ago. I had very successfully talked Dan out of it or at least postponing the purchase all that time. Not that I didn't think a Wii would be fun, it's just that I didn't want the wires hanging down everywhere in our living room. We have 1 living room/family/whatever you want to call it and I didn't want it junked up. It's my space. The kids have their space in the basement, Dan has his dumping grounds other places. The living room is my area. So anyway, Dan went off to get something the other day. He was gone much longer than I thought he would be. He came home with that dreaded white box. Yea for Christmas money. The kids have had a ball with it and so far, when not in use, it has been stored and tucked away in the nice lidded box I gave Dan. I'm hopeful that'll last!

Decluttering

Several of my blogging friends are on decluttering kicks. I love to clean, declutter and organize so I jumped right on their bandwagon. I have a very analytical brain. I need my world to be in order to be able to think. Dan doesn't get it at all, but I know there must be other people like me out there :p. When my house is a mess, I feel like my brain is in chaos. I'm more forgetful and scatterbrained.

So, we came home on Sunday afternoon. I was already motivated to clean because of my friends' blogs and because of the piles of stuff we were bringing home. By the time I went to bed Sunday night, I had our Christmas stuff sorted and packed away. Monday, I pulled everything out of our storage closet and the blue room. (The blue room as we call it is our guest room which doubles as another storage room. Since we don't have a garage, it stores Dan's Army gear and our bicycles among other things. By the way, encase you are wondering, the walls are blue, hence the name) By lunch on Monday, I had the toys sorted and moved to a shelving unit in the store closet and the blue room looking like a guest room (anyone want to come visit? - better come quick before it becomes a dumping ground again). I took a van full, literally, of stuff to Goodwill before the girls got out of school and it felt so good to get rid of all of that stuff. If things don't add value to our lives, I don't see the point in storing them. Dan let go of books he's had since he was in college, and has never opened again. What's the point?

I've been tackling some project since then. Last night, I sorted out the 2 drawers in our TV armoire and cleaned out the kids' younger DVD. This morning, schools were delayed 2 hours for snow so Jaelyn helped me empty our craft and game cabinet and organize it. It looks so much nicer and we can find everything now. I've smiled every time I opened it today.

Next up is bedroom closets!!!!

A Successful Dinner

Dinner is usually a hit and a miss at our house. Allie always eats what Dan and I eat with the exception of Chinese food. Jaelyn and Caden can be very picky. Usually I can get a few bites of meat and 1/2 a cup of veggies in Jaelyn as long as there's Ranch dressing. I'm lucky if we get a bite of everything into Caden. Our newest rule is you have to eat 1 bite of everything and then you can fix yourself a bowl of cereal. It's working. Caden is trying more foods. It's still only 1 bite, but it's becoming more voluntary rather than Mommy making him eat it.

I pan fried pork chops tonight. I added a cinnamon chipotle grilling rub to the flour and they turned out really good. I'm not a big pork chop person and I was gnawing the bone. Caden ate his bite of pork chop and declared that it was good! He then proceeded to eat a few bites of carrots and several bites of green beans so that he could eat okra. The boy loves fried okra which cracks me up when he doesn't like any other vegetables. I don't fry very often, but whenever I do, okra is always included in the meal. Jaelyn even ate all of hers without complaint. It was the nicest dinner we've had in a long time.

Finally Got Tired of Being Cold

We have lived several places that have been very cold. I've always made do with a coat and gloves and the strategy of not spending too much time outside. I've frozen and just dealt with it. My feet always feel like ice in winter. Thankfully, Dan's understanding and lets me put my cold feet on his legs at night. I guess I could blame my Florida upbringing on being totally unprepared to live in cold climates.

It's barely January and the cold has finally gotten to me or maybe I've finally gotten smart. I thought you'd enjoy a picture of how I dress for winter these days. Dan bought me the coat in October. I knitted the scarf in November. The gloves, boots and cuddle duds I've had and I just bought the wool socks and hat yesterday. I didn't even shiver at the bus stop this afternoon!

Happy Birthday Little Man

I cannot fathom how Caden could be turning 5 today. It just doesn't seem possible. I see him as my baby boy, but when I look at recent photos, I can indeed see a maturing little boy. I tell Caden all the time that he can't grow up, but he promises me that he'll still hug and kiss me when he's grown. I really do need to get that promise in writing or maybe video since he can't write anything other than his name very well.

We started celebrating Caden's birthday in Pensacola with presents and cookies. Today we had lunch with friends and came home to bake cupcakes for him to take to school tomorrow. Saturday, we are having a "surprise party" for him at Chuck E. Cheese with 2 of his little friends.

I've Been Ordered...

...to update my blog. I like to please people and I try hard to follow directions. This morning, I brought my camera bag in from the car finally. I know I've been home for 4 days, but it's so cold. I still haven't managed to bring in the food processor or the DVD players. And before you ask, yes, we did travel with a food processor. It doesn't sound nearly as funny if I tell you why so I won't. That was step 1. Step 2 turned out to be impossible at the moment. It seems the extreme cold has sucked all life out of my rechargable batteries. Alas, you'll all have to wait for the batteries to charge before I can download my pictures to my computer and then upload them to my blog because honestly, who wants to read a bunch of stories when a picture is worth a thousand words.

Be patient!

ETA...scroll down, I added a few posts in chronological order. I'll work on the rest tomorrow. Right now, I need to go ice cupcakes for the little man's birthday!!! Can you believe he's 5 today?

Happy New Year 2010

The last year dragged in the beginning, but the end sure did zip past! I'm looking forward to learning what the new year has in store for us. We are still in limbo land as far as orders and moving. Hopefully, Dan will have an email in his inbox when he goes back to work on Tuesday.

Blogging about the rest of our trip will have to wait until we get home. We leave tomorrow morning to start the trek north. We always look forward to coming, but that drive home...well, it's not always as much fun.

Lunch with Grandma Molly

We planned today to be my Grandparents' day. The morning started with a call saying my Grandpa's house was infected with a tummy bug; so unfortunately, we had to stay away. Instead we took lunch to Grandma Molly's house. The kids and Grandma got Chick-fil-a, but Dan and I took advantage of her location and got ourselves Moe's! I've missed Moe's :p and their yummy burritos. Dan has changed his allegiance to Chipotle Mexican Grill, but it just doesn't compare for me.

After lunch, we let the kids play in the backyard. A family of lizards made a home in the aloe plant by the door and we had the best time catching them. Everyone got in on the act, even me, and Grandma laughed and laughed at us. I bet she's told all her friends the story. We probably scared those poor lizards half to death.
My mom has been sick, but she's feeling better. I feel like we've hardly seen them. They are going to let the kids spend the night with them tonight and they are so excited.

A Night Out With Friends

My best friend, Jennifer, and I normally head to Destin for a day at the spa whenever we go to Pensacola. There just weren't enough days this trip so instead, we planned a progressive dinner with our husbands. We spent an afternoon searching the internet looking for the best places in Pensacola to have our appetizer, main course and dessert. There were a lot of good choices, but in the end Bonefish Grill won out for appetizer and the main course. We started with bacon wrapped scallops and bang bang shrimp. The bang bang shrimp was awesome and by far my favorite. Sorry, Jen, the bacon wrapped scallops just tasted like...well, bacon. I like bacon so they were enjoyable, but I'm not sure I'd order them without you.
We all had a bowl of their corn chowder which was unbelievable and I'm not a fan of chowder. I had grouper with the pan asian sauce for my main course and I can't believe I didn't take a picture. It was wonderful. Dan and Jen both had a stuffed fish dish and Rich had chicken - at BoneFISH Grill. Silly Rich.


We really struggled with coming up with the perfect place for dessert. We looked at dessert menus for at a least a dozen places and we ended up at an old favorite...Krispy Kreme. Honestly, can anything beat a hot, fresh, right off the conveyor belt KK donut? I don't think so. I loved that we all wore our hats the entire time we were there!




After KK, we rolled (literally, we were so stuffed) back to Jen and Rich's house to play a crazy dice game. It had at least 12 different type of dice/die? We laughed a lot and had a great night out. Thanks guys! It's always wonderful to get to spend time with you.

A Day at the Museum

We love to go out to NAS Pensacola to the air museum. It's been several years since we've been and they've made lots of changes. My friend Jennifer and her kids met us there to play this morning. We had a ball. The kids must have spent 30 minutes climbing in and out of the roomful of simulators. We ohhed and ahhhed at all the planes and rockets and ship models. We even shelled out money to do the Blue Angels simulator ride. Caden cried like he didn't want to do it, but he had fun and was laughing the whole time. My favorite part is still Main Street USA circa 1940.

The girly girls with the sailor man - should we worry?

Allie ready to take off!Jaelyn and Jackson - I tease all the time about an arranged marriage. They play together so well. Jackson's sisters were teasing him about "his crush." :pCaden and I going into the simulator - it was like a roller coaster through the sky. So cool!Jaelyn liked the play plane with Lt Jay Jay on the side.Caden landing his big bird.Dan chilling while the kids played in the new play area.After the museum, we had planned on going to Ft. Barrancas to run, but it was cold and windy so we found a McDonalds for lunch instead. The kids had fun sitting at a table by themselves!

Tonight, the kids get to stay with babysitters and the big kids are going out to a nice dinner at Bonefish Grill. Can't wait!

Grandmother's Projects

Grandmother Joanie loves her projects. My kids loves to do projects. It's the perfect combination. First up was magnet painting and then beaded animal zipper pulls. Next, Grandmother pulled out a loom and taught Jaelyn how to weave pot holders. We've tried before at home unsuccessfully; so it was nice to see her succeed. I'm sure every little girl has memories of weaving potholders as a child. I remember one Christmas when everyone in my family, including the men, got potholders as gifts.The kids loves to "play" Grandmother's piano. Allie wanted to really learn so Grandmother got out one of her book and gave Allie a little lesson. She can now play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Allie is the most musically inclined of our children.Our final project was peanut butter bird feeders. I had to stay away from this project so Granddaddy stepped in to lend a helping hand. Every tree in Grandmother's backyard is sporting a new bird feeder. Now all we need are the birds!

A Bittersweet Lunch

I have a wonderful friend named Sarah. We met through our shared infertility journeys online at an infertility ministry we are both a part of. She moved to Mobile just before we moved back to Pensacola from Germany. I've met many of my online friends over the years. Some you hit it off with right away and other friendships just never seem to click in real life like they do in cyberspace. I clicked with Sarah immediately and we became fast friends. We make the effort to see each other every time I am in Florida. This time was no exception. Driving to Daphne, though, I realized that this lunch would be our last for maybe a long time. Sarah's husband is about to complete his surgical residency and they are moving to Gainseville this summer for a year before heading to Texas for good. It makes me so sad. We didn't let it effect our lunch though and spent 2 hours at Longhorn talking and laughing and having a great time. You have been a wonderful friend, Sarah. I treasure you and our friendship!

Can't Believe It's Monday

I'm not sure where the time is going. I'm amazed that it's already Monday. The days are flying by in a blur. Saturday, the day after Christmas, has left my memory...literally. Dan says we went to Kohl's to spend my Kohl's bucks in the morning. That's vaguely familiar. I bought socks because all of my socks have holes in the bottom (poor Mommy). We had lunch at CiCis Pizza and then the kids went to my parent's house to have a sleep-over with Nick and Jared. They had a blast.

The next morning, Jared wanted to know when they were going home because he was tired of being the entertainment coordinator. I'd say he earned the money I chipped in for his Digivice. Dan and I had planned on dinner and a movie that night, but instead we came back to his parents house about 4:30 and took a nap. He woke up and went to a movie alone while I slept.

Sunday, we picked up the kids and had lunch with his parents. The kids had a few hours to play with their plethora of toys before we loaded Allie and Caden up to go to a hockey game. Jaelyn decided she wanted to stay with Grandmother. Nick and Jared went with us and the Hackney's met us there. It's been a long time since I've been to a hockey game. It was so much fun, although a little tame. We didn't see a single fight :0. The Ice Pilots aren't here anymore. Instead we have a lower division team called the Ice Flyers. They were pretty good. They beat a Louisiana team 3-1. The kids watched the game during the first period, played their DSs during the slower second period and watched again at the end. They may or may not have pigged out on hot dogs and cotton candy :p. It was a fun night. Jaelyn said she wasn't jealous, but I would have been if I'd stayed at home.

Today, we took our nephew Caleb with us to the beach. It sounds fun and we are in Florida, but even this part of Florida is cold in the winter. It was in the 40s this morning, but the beach was beautiful....clear blue skies, white sand, what more could you ask for? The kids kept their socks on to play if that tells you anything. We stayed long enough to take a ton of pictures and find a few shells before loading back up into the van.

The rest of our week is booked solid with activities so stayed tuned...

Our Christmas

We had a good Christmas day, I just wish I had felt better to enjoy it. We got the kids to bed about 8:30 Christmas Eve. We had planned to drive around looking at Christmas light, but we had a horrible storm come through with tornado warnings. We stayed home. Even with all of the excitement, the kids went to bed pretty well.

Jaelyn was in charge of Santa's treats. She left Santa cookies and his reindeer oatmeal and a peppermint lollipop (she read a "non-fiction" book that said reindeer like candy for a treat). She wrote a note and left a blank paper for Santa to write back. He wrote her back, ate her cookies and his reindeer ate their oatmeal and left a sticky peppermint stick behind. She said it smelled like reindeer slobber...priceless!

I was awake most of the night with a cold so I heard the kids get up about 5. They peaked at their presents and then skipped our room on their way to Grandmother and Granddaddy's room. I heard Caden tell Joan "Next Christmas I'm bringing a flashlight because it's dark in there and I don't like the dark." I had left a light on over the sink so it wouldn't be so dark when they get up, but someone one turned it out. All the grown-ups got up and ooh'ed and aah'ed at what Santa left. The girls each got a new doll with a suitcase filled with clothes. I let them open their new pjs last week and Santa somehow knew and found matching nightgowns for their dolls. Caden got a box filled with Star Wars men. We let them open their stocking presents and then took a break to take showers and eat breakfast. After breakfast, we opened a few more presents and then I went back to bed for a nap.

I planned too stay home from Dan's huge family dinner, but Caden cried and there was no way Dan was going to get him their without a major fit. I got up and went with them. We had a nice time visiting with Dan's family. It's been a few years since we've seen some of the extended relatives. After an hour and a half there, we headed to my parents house for their lunch.

I must stop and say that holidays are filled with traditions and for me, most of those are centered around food. I didn't get any of my favorite dishes for Thanksgiving so I was so looking forward to lunch at my mom's house and she didn't disappoint. Everything was wonderful and exactly what I wanted.

The kids had a great day playing with all of their cousins. We had dinner back at Joan and Larry's and opened even more presents with Dan's immediate family.

Jaelyn said her favorite present was the jar of cash from Baba and Grandpa. Caden loved his Lego Star Wars DS game from Grandmother and Granddaddy. Allie's favorite present by a mile was a Hannah Montana dress up kit from Aunt Cathy, Uncle Nathan and Caleb. She snuck off in the middle of opening presents to open it. I've found her singing away with the fake microphone in the bedroom mirror on more than one occassion.

Caleb spent the night last night and played with the kids this morning before we headed to Cici's Pizza to meet my parents and Nick and Jared for lunch. The kids went home with them for another slumber party. Dan and I had planned on a movie and dinner since we are kidless, but instead we came back to his parents and took a nap. This cold is kicking my butt.

In Florida

We had a good 2 day drive. We had originally planned to leave after the girls got out of school on Tuesday, but schools were closed because of the weather so we left Tuesday morning instead. Dan drove and I played the role of entertainment coordinator. Caden and Allie do a good job of entertaining themselves in the car. It's mainly Jaelyn that needs the attention. I folded the front passenger seat and sat beside Jaelyn with my feet propped up. It was pretty comfortable. Jaelyn and I tried to make friendship bracelets, but she gets bored easily. I ended up making the bracelets while she colored and played with her DS. We stopped in Knoxville over night and made it to Pensacola about 4 o'clock yesterday. We dropped off the kitties at Mom and Dad's to kitty sit and then headed to Joan and Larry's to stay. The kids were so excited to see their Grandparents and cousin. Nana couldn't wait to get her hands on the little man. We got everyone to bed by 9:15 and they were up by 6 (7 our time).

Caden is doing better. He's still coughin some, but it's much better than it was. He started coughing up phlem yesterday and didn't like that one bit. Jaelyn and I are getting sic now. I could feel my throat closing up in the hotel 2 nights ago. She's coughing and her nose is stopped up. Hopefully a day of medicine for both of us will have us well for Christmas.

Today's agenga has us visiting friends and family, baking cookies, tracking Santa, and then bundling up in pajamas to go look at Christmas lights before we tuck everyone into bed in hopes that St. Nicholas will soon be here!