I am still having problems with my pictures which has impacted my desire to write on here. But the show must go on, they say, so here I am. I'm trying to utilize another picture method so we'll see how it goes.
I have no idea where I last left off - - the picture thing has totally thrown me. I guess I'll just touch on some highlights over the last week and a half.
A week ago Sunday we attended London Bergherm's first birthday party. She doesn't actually turn one until 12/2 but the holidays are so busy that Jennifer did the party a few weeks early to avoid any scheduling conflicts. As you would expect, Jennifer out did herself on it all although I can proudly say that I tied a couple of bows so I'm taking partial credit for how great it all looked. Ha! She had a face painter there which always thrills the kids especially Brady these days. I thought for sure he was going to get some animal (since animals are his passion) but he caved into peer pressure and got Batman. As he was waiting in line, I questioned him on it and told him I really thought he should get a lion or a tiger. But he held firm and Batman it was...along with like five other boys. Later in the day, he came up to me and says "Sorry, Mom, that I got Batman. Next time I'll get a tiger." Apparently he felt really bad for disappointing me which was really sweet.
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| Our friend Fiorela made these flowers out of paper. She is amazingly talented!! |
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| You can't get much cuter than that!! |
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| Snow Leopard |
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| Bear |
Prior to the party, the girls wrapped up their fall soccer league. Calleigh finished off with a bang - - scoring two goals which I missed (I was home getting ready for the party so Duncan was there). She's scored goals playing with Aubree's team (the four to six year olds) before but never on her own team. She typically plays defense which I'm sure is part of the reason but I guess Duncan gave her a big pep talk before the game and she became really aggressive on offense with positive results. They will play again starting in February. In addition, the church is going to have a team playing in the City of Apopka league on Thursday nights and Calleigh wants to sign up for that too. Aubree had fun too although she hasn't been as vocal about it as Calleigh but she insists she still wants to play at the church when it resumes.
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Thursday I took the kids, along with Jennifer, Evan, Addison, and London, to see the play/musical "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." We enjoyed it because it was Christmas but I didn't think it was nearly as good as Fancy Nancy we saw a few months ago. We were a little pressed for time as the play started at 10:30 and the girls had gymnastics at 12:00 with a 25-minute drive to get there. But the last one had finished in less than an hour so I thought we'd be good. Alas, at 11:17, they broke for an intermission which was not a good sign. And then, about a minute later there was a big commotion behind us and low and behold a little girl had thrown up all over the floor. Yikes! Fortunately it didn't land on any of us but it did delay the start of the second half which caused us to be about twenty minutes late to gymnastics. Ah well.
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On Sabbath the girls made their church drama club debut. They were having a special Thanksgiving program at the church and asked the drama club to participate. Each child got to hold a letter that spelled "Thanksgiving" and recited a short description. Since some kids weren't going to be around, they needed kids to do multiple services and Calleigh and Aubree were happy to do it multiple times - - they ended up doing all three services. Aubree held "K" and said "K is for Kindness we can show to those in need." Calleigh did both "V" in one service and "S" in the second and third which was "V is for Valuable friendships strong and true" and "S is for Sharing and doing good deeds." I got to go up on the stage too and hold the mic and arrange the kids. It all went really well and they had a lot of fun. Grandma and Grandpa came too to see them. But, the highlight of my day was when the choir sang "How Great Thou Art." Seriously, it was like one of the best performances I have ever seen from a church choir and I had massive goose bumps. I encourage you to look it up online and watch it. That was Exhibit A of why I love the traditional church service.
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| Getting ready in the choir room. |
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| Getting ready to go on stage. I don't have any actual photos because I was on stage too and the one time I wasn't, I took a video. For some reason I guess Duncan didn't take any either. Oops. |
Sunday was the Florida Hospital Gala at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort. Last year Duncan really didn't want to go so Jennifer and I went together but this year I told him he had no choice. He was able to get four tickets so Bruce and Jennifer were able to go with us. It was critical for Jennifer to go because she was asked to do a basket to put up for bid with the proceeds going to the Florida Hospital Foundation. She did a Thanksgiving basket with cookies, breads, pies in a mason jar, etc. As you can imagine, it was really great looking but she was nervous that no one would bid on it. Her fears were completely unfounded because within about 45 minutes, it had reached the "Buy it Now" price of $550 so it was a huge success! We were really excited.
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| I got my hair professionally done this year - - by Ashley's sister, Marya. I was very happy with it. |
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| Chilling with Grandpa while Mom and Dad are gone. |
The entertainment was Kristin Chenoweth (actress and singer) and Katharine McPhee (singer and actress) whose claim to fame was American Idol some odd years ago. Duncan was anxious to leave but we did stay for the whole program. The ladies sang fine but it wasn't something I was overly excited about.
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| Kristin Chenoweth |
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| Katharine McPhee |
Later that evening, Ricky and Ana arrived for the week from Mississippi. We are thrilled that they are closer now, unlike last year when they were in Montana. Ricky is the dean at Bass Memorial Acadamy which is about 10 hours from here. They also brought their Miniature Pincher, Libby, with them and the kids have had a great time running around with her outside. We are now getting the dog itch again!
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| Happy to be back on Uncle Ricky's lap! |
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| Brady almost fell asleep with Tia Ana rubbing his head. |
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| This cracked me up. When Ricky and Ana left for a few hours, they left the dog in her crate. She started barking and crying so Aubree got the idea to make this Ana stick figure to put next to the crate to calm the dog down. Not sure that it worked but what a great idea! |
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| Supper at a mutual favorite - - Noodles! |
Some other pictures...
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| What the boys get into while the girls are doing school. |
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| At least this activity isn't messy... |
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| Adventurers last week. Colby wanted to be with Brady. |
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| It was the Thanksgiving party and they had a bunch of games, treats, and crafts. In this game, you had to roll the die and then put a clip on the corresponding number on your game card. I was actually impressed that Brady could do it all by himself. I didn't even know he could recognize the numbers 1 - 6! |
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| A food craft which quickly got eaten. |
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| Discovered a slug on the back patio. Time to bring out the Nature Hunter supplies. |
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| Worked on a whale puzzle to go along with our Science theme. |
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| Bike ride with Daddy. |
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| Why it's a horrible idea to run out of straws when you're having smoothies. |
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| Since we were studying Mexico for school, we decided to have a Mexican fiesta complete with Mexican food, music, a piñata, and Pin the Tail on the Donkey. |
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| Making tortillas |
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| We all laughed hysterically when Brady put his last tail way over on the other wall, totally unintentional. |
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| Just what we needed. More candy!! |
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| Science experiment. Learning about how sound travels better over a string. |
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| Patiently waiting for the girls at gymnastics. |
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| Animal parade. |
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| This past Saturday night I went to a "Mom's Night Out" at the church to watch a movie by the same name. The kids were with Daddy and it appears they went somewhere although I can't tell where. |
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Duncan made a Lowe's run early Sunday morning and took Brady with him. They stopped for breakfast at McDonald's.
That's all I've got. Have a great Thanksgiving! |
