Snow

It snowed a couple of times while we were up in Pennsylvania for Christmas. The morning after we arrived, we woke up to 14 inches of snow. It was beautiful and Caleb had a blast. We had flurries off and on throughout the week and then, close to New Year's, we had another several inches fall. This time Myah joined Caleb out in the snow and had a lot of fun. She loved sledding and throwing the snow. Caleb built a snow fort and a snowman and we all had a great time - except Daddy, who was curled up inside by the fireplace.
(The last three frames below are movies)

Playing House & A Visit From Pop-Pop

Pop-Pop flew down to spend a few days with us before we left for PA. He and Caleb always enjoy going fishing together and we all love hanging out at the beach together. Myah got a play house from Caleb for Christmas and she loves it!

Christmas in Florida

Since the kids and I were leaving for PA on the 18th, we celebrated Christmas in Florida on December 11th this year. The kids loved their toys and really enjoy playing with them.

Weekend Surfing

Caleb and I got to go surfing this past weekend. It was unusually overcast and windy that day so the waves weren't great. We still had a blast and we were both exhausted by the end of the morning. Unfortunately both us ended up getting rolled by a wave at one point which was not fun. Poor Caleb got hit on the head with his surfboard so he took a breather for a few minutes. I was very proud of him when he decided to get back on the board and ride some more waves. The ocean temp is finally starting to cool down a bit so we were both thankful for our wetsuits.

Practicing on the balance board before heading to the beach.

Visit with Santa

Over the Thanksgiving holiday we took the kids to see Santa. Myah was reluctant at first but Santa finally won her over with a candy cane. Funny thing is, she doesn't even like candy canes! She lasted about 10 seconds on his lap - just long enough for a picture.

It's a big difference from last year's encounter.

Christmas Program 2009

The first and second grades at Caleb's school recently put on a Christmas program. Caleb had a line to say during the show and he practiced it over and over. While the children were singing, Rob and I noticed how serious Caleb was looking. After the show we asked him if anything was wrong and he said, "No, I was just concentrating really hard". And of course, he had to do a little bow after each song was over which Myah noticed and now she bows whenever we clap for her. Monkey-see, Monkey-do. lol

Caleb and his teacher

Yellow Belt (Again)

Caleb recently tested for his yellow belt in karate. He was already a yellow belt from when we lived in Arizona, but because of our move and switching teachers, he had to start over from a white belt. Here he is with his instructors shortly after he received his new yellow belt. He's doing really well with his lessons and he's developed one heck of a side kick.

An Illinois Thanksgiving & Christmas

Sorry that it's been a little while since my last post. In my defense I spent a week in Atlanta on business and then a week in Illinois for Thanksgiving - plus it's the holidays and things always seem to get a bit crazy around this time of year. With that being said, below are some pictures from our trip to Illinois to visit Rob's side of the family. We also celebrate Christmas with them while we are out there, so Caleb and Myah were very happy to open some early Christmas presents. The weather was actually really nice for Illinois in November so we were very happy and the kids got to play with their cousins a lot. Overall it was a very nice trip - with the exception of having to sit right in front of an extremely sick family on the airplane ride home. Yuck!

Surf's Up!

Caleb had his first surfing lesson today and he totally rocked it! This was his first time trying to surf ever and he did so good - I was super proud of him. Especially after I gave it a try too - and wiped out a couple of times. Surfing looks pretty easy, but man, is it tough! The hardest part for me was battling the waves - they completely tired me out. The kids surf closer to the shore but the adults have to go out further to the bigger waves. It was a ton of fun but what a workout! Caleb has already changed his Christmas list - he wants a surfboard! Make sure you watch the movie at the bottom - it was Caleb's best ride of the day.

Super Kids

Yesterday was one of those really good brother-sister days. You can translate that to mean they spent more time playing together nicely than they did fighting. lol Caleb even drew some pictures to commemorate their afternoon of catching 'bad guys' and protecting the house.

Here they are dressed up as cowboys and kept everyone safe. Caleb kept saying stuff like, "Come on lil' lady, we've got bad guys to catch" or "Howdy Pardner, grab your gun and let's go get some grub to eat". What a little goof! I guess he watched too many episodes of Bonanza with his Pop-pop!

I don't think I'd mess with these two - they threw Daddy in jail as soon as he came in the door. Of course 'jail' was the guest bedroom so Daddy didn't mind it too much - he tried to even squeeze in a five minute nap!