I have completely neglected our blog lately. I have tried to sit down and update it… I really have! But every time I get in front of the computer, there is usually a stack of bills or work that take priority over it.
The last few months for us have been extremely busy, but in a good way. (Well, mostly good. I have been very busy at work lately. We are in the middle of a large conversion and it is keeping us working a lot. There are many nights that I am logging in from home and working after the kids go to bed.) But, besides that, the kids activities and school (holiday parties, book fairs, PTO meetings, football, swimming…etc…etc…!) is keeping us on our toes. Especially close to the holidays. Justin also works a ton around the holidays. Working retail, that is to be expected. He refers to me as a retail widow from about the beginning of November until January 1! This year was especially crazy, because he switched stores in September and got the job of Store Manager in December. We are so excited for him! After all of the many years of working towards it, he finally has his own store. Somewhere during this time, we all got sick as well. That just added to the craziness!
The only time I get to myself to get things done are between the hours of about 10pm and 1-2am. (It is 12:47am right now…See what I mean!). So, the little bit of time that I would have had to update the blog, I decided that sleep sounded like a better idea. Yes, that is correct…I choose sleep! I have tried to catch up the last few months in a few different posts below…so they may be a bit rambled as I try and remember what we all did!
We had a great 2011 filled with lots of fun memories. I am excited for what 2012 has to bring for our family!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Christmas festivities!
This year was filled with tons of fun holiday activities! I think the highlight was Paytons school musical. Each year the Kindergarten and 1st grade classes do a winter musical. This year it was called the Littlest Christmas Tree. It is mostly singing, but there are some speaking parts as well. The kids try out during class and Payton got the lead role of Santa Claus! We were so proud of him! The other speaking parts had one or two lines and he had 10 that he had to memorize. We worked hard and practiced almost every day! He looked so adorable in his costume! They all did so good and we were so proud of him! I think at the end of the musical, my sister, my mom and myself were all crying! (Shocking, I know!)
In November my mom and I took the kids to Branson for the weekend to go to the Old Time Christmas at Silver Dollar City. I have never been to Branson, (not that I remember at least, apparently I went as a child). But, it was a really pretty area and I am sure it would be a lot of fun in the summer! The Christmas lights and parade at Silver Dollar City were so neat. We booked a lunch with Santa and that was a big hit for the boys. Unfortunately, with Justin working mandatory weekends during the holidays, he didn’t get to go with us.
One of the other fun things we did was go on a hayrack ride through our neighborhood! Our subdivision puts it on every year. Santa was there and they had a hot chocolate bar!
We had a really great Christmas this year. The boys are so into everything Christmas related. Easton loves the lights and trees and Payton is all about Santa. Easton really got it this year that Santa was coming to his house. If you asked him what he wanted he would say, Choo Choo, Elmo, both! On Christmas Eve we were tracking Santa on TV and Payton was so into it! He had to find a globe so he could figure out exactly where they were talking about! It was so fun that the boys were so into everything. It really makes the holidays so special. After we did our thing on Christmas morning, we went over to my moms and celebrated over there as well. I was worried that the boys would not last as they were up late on Christmas eve and then the long day on Christmas, but they did great! I was actually really impressed with both of them. Especially Easton, I was sure that he was going to be tearing into presents and such, but he always waited his turn and did so good!
In November my mom and I took the kids to Branson for the weekend to go to the Old Time Christmas at Silver Dollar City. I have never been to Branson, (not that I remember at least, apparently I went as a child). But, it was a really pretty area and I am sure it would be a lot of fun in the summer! The Christmas lights and parade at Silver Dollar City were so neat. We booked a lunch with Santa and that was a big hit for the boys. Unfortunately, with Justin working mandatory weekends during the holidays, he didn’t get to go with us.
One of the other fun things we did was go on a hayrack ride through our neighborhood! Our subdivision puts it on every year. Santa was there and they had a hot chocolate bar!
We had a really great Christmas this year. The boys are so into everything Christmas related. Easton loves the lights and trees and Payton is all about Santa. Easton really got it this year that Santa was coming to his house. If you asked him what he wanted he would say, Choo Choo, Elmo, both! On Christmas Eve we were tracking Santa on TV and Payton was so into it! He had to find a globe so he could figure out exactly where they were talking about! It was so fun that the boys were so into everything. It really makes the holidays so special. After we did our thing on Christmas morning, we went over to my moms and celebrated over there as well. I was worried that the boys would not last as they were up late on Christmas eve and then the long day on Christmas, but they did great! I was actually really impressed with both of them. Especially Easton, I was sure that he was going to be tearing into presents and such, but he always waited his turn and did so good!
Payton is 7!!
Payton turned 7! Seven seems like such a big number! It seems so much older then 6 for some reason. So hard to believe that my first baby is 7! Payton continues to amaze me on how bright, sweet, sensitive and caring he is. He is a wonderful student and is a great big brother. We could not be more proud of him. This past year he has really changed. He has gotten over being shy and is the student counsel representative for his class. He pretty much loves everything about school. He has gotten much more into sports and loved playing football (especially when he was playing quarterback) and enjoys swimming.
On the day before his actual birthday, I went had had lunch with him at school. Eating lunch with a bunch of elementary school students is always very entertaining! For his birthday we decided to go with an astronomy theme. He likes to study the planets so it seemed fitting. We just had some local family over to the house and ate and had cake and he opened presents. Most of the gifts he got from us where space themed. He really likes a moon that we hung on the wall that he can change to the different phases. On the day after his birthday, to celebrate some more, we took him and a friend of his to Incredibowl to go bowling, play miniature golf and laser tag. They had a great time! Overall all I think he had a great time turning 7!!
On the day before his actual birthday, I went had had lunch with him at school. Eating lunch with a bunch of elementary school students is always very entertaining! For his birthday we decided to go with an astronomy theme. He likes to study the planets so it seemed fitting. We just had some local family over to the house and ate and had cake and he opened presents. Most of the gifts he got from us where space themed. He really likes a moon that we hung on the wall that he can change to the different phases. On the day after his birthday, to celebrate some more, we took him and a friend of his to Incredibowl to go bowling, play miniature golf and laser tag. They had a great time! Overall all I think he had a great time turning 7!!
Fall 2011
Our fall was pretty much filled up with football. Mostly Payton, but Justin and I managed to make a very quick trip to Iowa City to catch a Hawkeye game! (By very quick, I mean we left at 10, right after Paytons morning flag football game. Drove 5 hours to Iowa City, checked into the hotel, changed, and walked up to the stadium with enough time to walk around a bit before the 6pm game. Then drove back the next morning!) That’s okay though, we had a great time!
The rest of our Fridays were filled with practice for Payton and games on Saturdays. We were actually really sad when the season was over. The boys got along great and we really enjoyed the other families. (It was nice though to have Saturday mornings back!) At the end of the season, Paytons team made it to the Championship game. They ended up getting second place! We were so proud of them! None of the boys had ever played before and they improved dramatically from the beginning of the season. Payton usually played quarterback so he didn’t get to score that much, but he did make a couple of touchdowns the last few games. And, yes, I cried! Football also carried through to Halloween! Easton dressed up like an Iowa football player and Payton was a referee! Payton also wanted to be a vampire though, so he did that one for trick or treating! (I wasn’t so sure about that one for school, so we played it safe at school and did the ref costume there!)
The rest of our Fridays were filled with practice for Payton and games on Saturdays. We were actually really sad when the season was over. The boys got along great and we really enjoyed the other families. (It was nice though to have Saturday mornings back!) At the end of the season, Paytons team made it to the Championship game. They ended up getting second place! We were so proud of them! None of the boys had ever played before and they improved dramatically from the beginning of the season. Payton usually played quarterback so he didn’t get to score that much, but he did make a couple of touchdowns the last few games. And, yes, I cried! Football also carried through to Halloween! Easton dressed up like an Iowa football player and Payton was a referee! Payton also wanted to be a vampire though, so he did that one for trick or treating! (I wasn’t so sure about that one for school, so we played it safe at school and did the ref costume there!)
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