Feeling a bit "Challenged"

Ok so I have sat here most of this evening trying to pick out a cute new layout for our blog. I found one that worked but the lettering was too light and it couldn't be read. Everything else won't load correctly or I am just not doing something right. Oh well thought I would give the blog an update while waiting to get back home to share our Holiday vacation. If anyone has any suggestions pls let me know!

Christmas Photo Shoot

Ok so I am way too broke (or cheap) to go and buy everyone gifts this year. Jakob has made these adorable frames for everyone in our family to get for Christmas, and thanks to my dear friend Angela I have some decent pictures to go with them! She has the most awesome camera and was gracious enough to allow me to borrow it for an evening. Here are some shots from our little Photo Shoot. I think they turned out great! Thanks Angela!!!

Cookie Playdate

Our theme for the preschool playdate was giving this week so we were going to practice giving with cookies. Since its a tradition in our house to bake cookies with friends, we invited our playgroup over Monday to share with us. Obviously Mike had fun, and we made a ton of cookies. The kids were on a serious sugar high after it was all done but we had the best time!

Cooking out with the Fambros

So this past weekend we had a cookout to hang out with our buddies from the playgroup, and to give the dads an opportunity to meet each other. Needless to say the kids had a blast!!! They beat up on Mike, and played games and eventually passed out. It was great!

Grandma's Visit and Thanksgiving

Grandma came down for two weeks and we all had the best time! It was so great having her here to play with the kids and to help out since Mike was gone on the boat. Although I am sure she was a bit homesick by the time she left (and thankful to get out of Ft. Lauderdale Airport) The kids really enjoyed her being here and we did more shopping than I have done in Months!!! Thanks Grandma for spending Thanksgiving with us. You made it feel just a bit more like home with your presence (and your stuffing!). LOL
Hazel playing with Grandma's pocket book at the Airport the day we picked her up.

Hazel and Grandma creating the Christmas "Wish List"

My First Turkey!!! Sorry but I am really proud of that!

The kids in the bed with Grandma watchin a movie (and posing for a picture..)

More Pics

Hazel in My fav dress for her

Peter Pan and Tinker Bell (can you believe I actually made Jakob's costume?

Jakob receiving an award at school. He was the only one in his class to get straight A's!!

Chocolate Face!

Just some pics to catch up...

Jakob getting his strips on his belt in Ju Jitsu

Some of the kids from the playgroup

Hazel doing "excersises" like brother!

Pumpkin Patch Pic

Are you serious?

It has been THIS long since I have posted? Oh wow. Ok so I am sure you can see that we have been busy. Actually that's an understatement but oh well. Here's a little recap on everyone.

Jakob-is great. He is getting so tall and as always very handsome. Since we have had this cat hanging around our house he hasn't been able to find many frogs and lizards (except the ones that "sneak" inside). Gradewise he is doing well in school but is just not as enthused about it as he was last year. And for that and a million other reasons he will not be returning after christmas break. I have prayed so hard and cried so much for another solution, but apparently God has something to show me through my little man because here we are homeschooling after Christmas. Please pray for us both. He loves to play with friends and can't get enough of his sister. Also he has developed this ravenous love for arts and crafts. And of course you know that is not my strength, but he seems to be happy with what we have come up with.

Hazel- has gotten "2" down to a pat now! Most times she is a loving child, but she definitely has her moments. At this point we are working on frustration cues so that no one is the recipeint of a bite, a hit, or the highest pitch squeal in the world! On a more positive note she is talking like crazy! I can't believe how well she communicates! Everyone in our playgroup has noticed it too, she has just come right out of her shell. The Dr even said that she shouldn't need any speech therapy if she continues on this path! Yahoo! We are still trying to potty train, but its more a hit and miss thing. She has discovered Dora and is a HUGE fan! Thanks to the moms in our playgroup she is completely fitted for the next few shoe sizes with Dora sneakers and loves to take them out and poitn out Dora and Boots.

Mike-Is really getting use to this boat and the crew and we are planning on accepting the offer of an extension here for another year because of it. of course that is pending on whether or not he makes 1st this summer but he really loves the rotation and loves having huge block of time to hang out with the kids. He often comes with us to the playdates with all the moms which just makes me beam to see how in to his kids he is. He is such a good daddy Jakob especially counts down the days until he comes home so he can play "washers" (thanks again grandma for the game) and update him on all of the happenings of the week. The only down side he is seeing to him being on this boat is the food. There's too much of it! All of the sweets that are just not allowed here are plentiful there and their cook often makes them rediculously awesome meals like steak and crableggs, and three kinds of sausages and bacon for breakfast. So needless to say when he is home from the boat he is usually hitting the gym to work off his "boat weight".

Me- I am in the final week of my semester with Miami-Dade and will be starting Grand Canyon University (online) in January. They have a phenomonal Elem Ed/ Special Ed Dual Major program which is what I have wanted all along but was afraid that I would have to do Elem Ed first and then go back for Special Ed. It is an extremely extensive writing curriculum with MANY in school service hours, but I feel as though this will be the best choice that I could possibly make to be the best teacher I can be. Preschool Playdates are still doing well and we are up to about 9 kids that regularly attend. Although I know that there is still much I need to learn, I can't help but smile when the parents call me or tell me how their child tells everyone that "Ms Allison is my teacher and I go to school at her house." They are learning so much and having just the best time. Unfortunately because I am teaching the class it provides very little opportunity to take pictures, but I will get some up here one day. Other than that, working out, preparing for Homeschooling, Sunday school lessons, my school, and playdates, we don't do much! LOL

My Handsome Men!

Just a couple of pictures of the two most Handsome men on the face of the earth! I know I may be a little biased but Oh well! Love you guys!

Pictures to show her first boyfriend!

We have been attempting off an on potty training for some time now. A couple of weeks ago a friend of ours let us borrow her son's potty chair so that I would have more than one, and did not have to worry about it being in the right bathroom before I went (Hazel usually wants to sit on the potty when mommy does). I had slid it out of our half bath that morning to mop and she started pulling at her pants like she wanted to potty! So I set her on it and gave her a book. I swear she was there for like 10 minutes! Never did anything but these shots were just too cute! She's gonna have to bribe me really hard not to show these when she's older! LOL

We had a visitor last week

So one afternoon last week the kids and I went out back to play for a little while before going to the Y. Jakob looked across the yard and said, "Hey mommy a bird came to see us!" It took me a second to realize that it was a hawk but once I did I immediately knew what he was doing! Jakob wanted to go and see if he could pet it but I tried to explain to him that this bird was a very strong bird and had a bad attitude. He then told me, "No its not a bad attitude bird, look its nice it's cleaning its feathers!" I let him take some pictures but that was about it. Once the camera flashed the bird started getting antsy and hopped on the fence and then flew away. The last picture is Jakob's that he took to prove to me that the bird was not eating anything but cleaning its feathers, good thing it didn't pay attention to the lump it held in its claws!

A Beautiful Sunday Afternoon

Sunday we took advantage of the last free weekend at Pinecrest Botanical Gardens. It was a nice CHEAP outing as a family before Mike had to go back to work on Monday.
The entire place was beautiful! It was nice and cool and clean and oh! You felt like you could breath so much better! Here are just some of the shots I took. As I find them all, I will post more! God has truly given us a beautiful world!

Jakob's Umbrella

The only sort of pine tree I have seen in Florida. In a garden no less! Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore!
Tour Guide Jakob and a pretty white flower