karate and missing teeth

So a new year is upon us...it is so redundant to say...but time is flying by.  Another Christmas has come and gone, is packed up and the kids are already talking about next Christmas.  The Mayor asked if he could work on his Christmas list.  Just love it when kids have zero concept of time.

We spent the weekend after Christmas in South Georgia for a super fast visit.  It was a lot of fun packed into a very short timeframe.  Traffic was horrible Friday afternoon...what normally takes 4 hours door to door....took us 7 hours.  I thought D and I were going to snap.  The kids did great.  Thank goodness for snacks and a DVD player in the car.  We spent Saturday celebrating Christmas with the family and left first thing Sunday morning.  We just couldn't risk being stuck in traffic again.

waiting to open presents

Love Bug and Uncle Tom opening presents

so happy

love our princess

cuties

modeling her new costume...which lights up and plays music!

wearing his 3D glasses and new 3D toy

New Years Eve the munchkins spent the night at PopPop's and D and I celebrated with some friends.  It's been a long time since D and I have been out at midnight...at 9:30 I was kind of ready to be home in my PJs...but we took advantage of the free babysitting and enjoyed our night.

New Years Day we had some of our training buddies over to celebrate.  It was a fun day with lots of kids running around playing.  The kids were beyond exhausted when the day finally came to an end...I am pretty sure they passed out before their heads hit the pillow.

A major cold snap has hit Atlanta today.  Temperatures will be in the single digits and the windchill will be below zero.  Tomorrow was supposed to be the first day back from break but all schools have been canceled.  The South just isn't prepared for temperatures this cold.  It will be fun having the kids home for one more day!

This morning we braved the cold and went to Love Bug's ballet class.  The Mayor enjoyed seeing his sister dancing but really enjoyed the toys in the lobby and the fact another brother was there while his sister was in class.  After class we went to Meega's house so the cousins could play together.  After our playtime, we came home to get ready for karate.  But today it wasn't just The Mayor getting ready...today was Love Bug's first day of class!  She was so excited...and so adorable in her little uniform.  And I mean little...she is in the smallest size they offer and I still had to roll her pants at the waist.  I will be framing this little thing...especially if she sticks with it and becomes a black belt one day.  There were 13 kids starting today...all boys...Love Bug is the only girl.  She wasn't phased one bit.  She did awesome.  She was focused and showed no fear.

learning high blocks

While she was in class, The Mayor waited patiently for his class to begin...and decided to pull his 2nd tooth out.  Ah!  I am so not the parent who will be pulling teeth.  It made me so squeamish.  Especially since it wasn't really ready to come out...but he said it was time and he was a big boy and he was pulling it out.  And he did.  I gave him a paper towel so he would have a better grip and 10 seconds later, his tooth was in his hand.  Seriously, my teeth hurt right now just thinking about it.  But he proudly put that tooth under his pillow...he can't wait to see what the tooth fairy brings.  

Tomorrow will be a low key day.  Lots of movies, playing and lounging in PJs...and trying to stay warm.

merry christmas

Wow...another Christmas has come and gone.  And each Christmas just seems to become crazier and more chaotic than the year before...in the best possible way.  The Mayor was in our room promptly at 7:03 asking to go see if Santa came.  He wasn't very happy when we told him he needed to wait while he woke his sister.  Patience is definitely something we need to work on for 2014...for all of us!

We came downstairs to find a note from Santa!! Both kids made it on the nice list and Buddy our elf said goodbye until next year.  I tried my hardest for the "take turns opening gifts" and it lasted 3 1/2 seconds.  The Mayor really just wanted to tear into his presents...who am I to disappoint on Christmas? He was done opening his presents while Love Bug still had half of hers left to open.  While he is tearing through and enjoying each gift, she is meticulously tearing open the presents making sure to put each piece of torn paper off to the side before she goes in for more.  I love how different each of my children are...

After presents and breakfast, each toy was taken out of its packaging and played with.  We put on some movies that were received as gifts and just enjoyed the morning and afternoon together.

Around 4:00 our family came over to celebrate.  Meega, J, Bennett, Walker, PopPop and Uncle Bobby came over for dinner and round 2 of presents.  Excited and loud doesn't even describe the environment.  The kids were so excited just to be playing together and then to add more presents into the mix...it was awesome.  We finally had dinner on the table a little after 5:45 (which Meega and I made all on our own...and it was so good!) and enjoyed the company and listening to the kids playing.  Christmas is just so much more fun when you have young kids.  Everything is exciting at this age.

Love Bug actually asked to be put to bed last night at 6:30.  She was exhausted!  Everyone left around 7:00 and D and I finished cleaning, got into our PJs and were asleep shortly after 9:00.  It was a long, exciting, exhausting day and I can't believe it is already over.  Thankfully we will have Christmas round 3 this weekend when we celebrate with MeMe, Big Daddy, Aunt Nat, Uncle Tom, Trey and Luke.  Lots to get done before South Georgia Christmas starts!

putting out Santa's cookies on Christmas Eve

tracking Santa on the internet

the obligatory "waiting at the top of the stairs before seeing what Santa brought" picture...you can see how happy The Mayor is about this picture

love his sweet heart...thanking daddy for all his presents

she loves to dress up and sing...having a little concert

sweet Bennett...through all the chaos I didn't get a picture with the cousins :(

the night before

I can't believe it is already Christmas Eve.  Everyone in the house is feeling so much better so we have spent the past couple of days gearing up for Christmas.  We spent a lot of time baking cookies and yummy treats.  Love Bug and The Mayor really love helping in the kitchen and I love passing along my love of baking to them.

We went to the Christmas Eve service tonight at church and then came home to put reindeer food in the yard and open our Christmas Eve presents.  They each got a new pair of PJs and Despicable Me 2.  Of course we immediately got into our new PJs, popped popcorn and are now watching the movie.  As soon as it is over we will be heading to bed so Santa can visit us!

I can't wait until morning to see the excitement on their faces!  Christmas is so much more fun when you see it through your child's eyes.  And after we enjoy our day with just the 4 of us, my family will come over for Christmas dinner.  It is going to be an amazing day celebrating family and our Savior's birth.  Happy Birthday Jesus...Merry Christmas!

decorating cookies for Santa

showing off our reindeer food

sprinkling/throwing it in the yard

opening our Christmas Eve PJs

she loves her Repunzel dress PJ...she is doing her curtsy 

purple belt and the flu

Last week The Mayor had his belt testing...going from green belt to purple belt.  I had gotten a call from the school nurse that The Mayor was complaining of a headache and when he got off the bus he told me he had a cold.  I gave him a dose of Mucinex for his cough and Advil for his headache.  He had no fever so off to karate we went.  He made it through his belt testing very well.  It was definitely the most calm he had ever been through his test and he passed!  He is now a Tiny Tiger purple belt.

Bedtime came and he was still fever free; unfortunately it didn't last.  Around 11:00 he woke up crying because he had just vomited and was now burning up with fever.  We cleaned him up, stripped his bed and he asked to go sleep in the guest room.  He passed out almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.  Luckily I had his 6 year well visit scheduled for the next morning so I decided to keep the appointment.  Thank goodness I did because he tested positive for the flu.  After we picked up his prescriptions, we came home and I tried to get him to eat some Saltines.  He only ate a few, got sick again and then he asked to go to sleep.  He took almost a 3 hour nap in our bed and when he woke up, he asked to get into his own bed.  He didn't want to lie on the couch or on the palette on the floor, he only wanted to be in his bed.  He laid there in silence for about an hour and then I brought the iPad to his room.  He watched movies on the iPad until bedtime.  Because we caught the flu so early and got the Tamiflu in his system so quickly, by the time he went to bed that first night, his fever was already back to 98.6.  He woke up the next morning asking to go to school and back to his old self.  Of course I made him stay home...he was pretty upset he missed the last two days of school but I was actually glad we were officially on Christmas break.

Because The Mayor came down with the flu I missed Love Bug's Christmas party at school.  I was really sad to miss...it was the first party of either of my kids I had missed.  Love Bug was really upset I couldn't be there, but my friend whose daughter is in the same class took extra good care of Love Bug. She said Love Bug had so much fun she really didn't notice she didn't have a parent there.

D had also been battling a nasty cough all week and finally decided to go to the doctor.  Turns out D has walking pneumonia.  Ugh...not the way I wanted our Christmas break to go but luckily everyone is on medication and on the mend.  I decided we were going to all lay low until Christmas.  We are hosting Christmas dinner here for my family and I really don't want to spend Christmas day with anyone feeling sick.  I can't believe another Christmas is almost here...the kids are so excited...and so am I!

weapons portion of the test

waiting to spar

showing his offense while in his sparring gear

sparring (his back is towards me in this picture)

sparring (he is on the left)

showing his Songahm 3 form

the students have to close their eyes while the parents are presented their new belts

seeing his belt