Christmas Preschool Style

Last Thursday, Mommy, Grandma, Papa, and Dharma gathered in the little sanctuary of Lilah and Noah's school to watch our little ones perform in their Christmas program. Noah very seriously sang 'Feliz Navidad' (or "Police Navidad" as he originally thought) and 'Jingle Bells'. Lilah's class did not sing, but they (or should I say she and another girl) danced their way through. After the program, we enjoyed some goodies in the fellowship hall and had a visit with good ol' St. Nick. There are few things better than celebrating Christmas preschool style.

Noah during his performance

Noah and Lilah after the program

Our Christmas princess
My Noah

Lilah trying to explain to Papa what she did during her performance.

(Love this picture and the love between them)

Dharma with two of her grandchildren

Noah and Santa Claus

He explained to this "helper" that he wanted a DS. He told us immediately that this was not the real Santa. We explained that many times Santa has to send helpers since he has so many kids to visit. He finally agreed to go talk to him after we convinced him this guy would talk to the real one.

This was as close as Lilah would get. She just wanted the candy cane.

Here's a little video of one of Lilah's performances.

Wish I could have posted one of Noah's songs, but the files were too big. I was fortunate to join Landon at his school later in the day for his holiday party. Next time I won't forget the camera. :) We had a good time making lots of crafts and eating yummy snacks.

She's Two

Our baby girl turned 2 on Thanksgiving Day. She woke up that day saying "it's my birthday". She loved opening presents and thought the special cupcake Aunt Sally made for her was delicious. It must have been a good day for her because in the days after, she continued to ask me if it was her birthday still. When I told her no, that her birthday was over, she changed the asking to stating that her "birfday is dum" (done). In fact, she said it again just yesterday. I'm glad the day made her happy. I know her birthday just reminded me of how thankful I was that Jason told me that our baby was healthy when she was born two years ago.

It's already happening...

Once in a great while, I will put a note in Landon's snack for school. It will be something simple like "Hope you're having a good day! I love you!", etc. I don't do it often--maybe three times this whole year. Earlier this week while we were discussing his snack, he said "Mom, don't include a note this time, though. My friends make fun of me when you do."

Sniff. Sniff.

I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. Who are these so called friends? Do I need to go up to the school and tell them a little something about my notes?!?!? This is my baby--I can send him any notes that I want to, and they better keep their little mouths tightly shut. Okay, that wasn't exactly my reaction; however, I did feel like I had been hit, and I realized that it was starting. Mom isn't so cool anymore. Again, I was reminded that with each day that goes by, my children are taking steps away from me and creating their own lives.

The good news is that I'm not completely shut out yet. When I dropped him off at school after his doctor's appointment the next day, I went to give him high five so I wouldn't embarrass him. In front of another 1st grade class, my little man grabbed me instead and smacked a kiss on me.

Sigh...

I'll enjoy those kisses for the very short time I still have them.

Fall and Halloween Fun

Here is Lilah at her "Pumpkin Day" at school...

Noah and his class at Pumpkin Day....

Lilah and some of her classmates watching the older kids on the playground...

Lilah blowing bubbles at Grandma and Papa's Halloween party....

The Skeleton (Matt), Batman (Landon), Spiderman (Noah)...

Batman (Landon)...

My own little Minnie Mouse...

Jason and the kids carving pumpkins...

The pumpkin that Noah picked out...

What Landon did during the pumpkin carving...

Spiderman (Noah) at his school Halloween parade...

Minnie Mouse with her class at the Halloween parade at school...

Pumpkin time at Stone Mountain

A couple of weeks ago, we packed up a lunch and headed to Stone Mountain for the afternoon. This month is the Pumpkin Festival at the park, and we thought it would be a great day to spend as a family. We were right--we had a fabulous time! The kids were able to decorate their own little mini pumpkin, and the boys had their faces painted. We took a train ride around the mountain, and we rode to the top on the Summit Skyride. To finish off the day, we picked out our pumpkins for Halloween. I love days like that one.

The kids walking through the park.

Brotherly love

Daddy helping Lilah decorate her pumpkin.

The kids showing their decorated pumpkins

Landon's face painting

Our very own tiger

Mommy and Lilah enjoying the train ride

Checking out the carving while riding on the train.

On top of Stone Mountain

The Atlanta skyline (and the haze that goes with it)

Landon and Lilah trying to find the perfect pumpkin.

"I think it's this one, Daddy."

My babies

Just another day

I thought I would take a few pictures of a couple of things we do around here on ordinary days...

Here is Lilah cooking with her daddy. Jason lets Lilah and Noah

help him often. They love it, and he's so patient with them.

Waffles for breakfast...yummy!

A picnic dinner...in the living room.

The UGA game was about to come on, so we decided it was

time for a family dinner in the living room. The kids thought it

was a treat. It was, I suppose, but mostly we wanted to

watch the game. :)

San Diego

At the end of September, Jason and I headed to San Diego, CA for a good friend's wedding. Jason was the best man in the wedding, and I did a reading during the ceremony. We had a fabulous time. We flew in Thursday night and took the red-eye back on Sunday. I can't say that we did that much beside the wedding events. Our hotel was on Mission Bay near Pacific Beach, and we spent a lot of time walking around there with friends. It seems like we ended up in an outside bar overlooking the ocean a few times, but how could we resist with such beautiful weather? We're so thankful that my parents took care of the kids and Kasey while we were gone. It's so nice to go somewhere and have no stress about the kids. Landon, Noah, and Lilah all said that their weekend was fantastic. Kasey had an extra wag in her tail, and Max was in heaven at the kennel getting to play with dogs who play as hard as he does. So, it was a happy weekend for our Seabolt family--no matter where we were. I'm just glad Jason and I were in San Diego that weekend. ;)

There were 4 or 5 big birds in an outside area of our hotel. Pretty cool.

Our friend, Shelby, drove down from LA to spend the weekend with us.

Jason and the boys

The gang hanging out Friday night.

Jason and I on the wedding day.

At the wedding