Christmas 2012

We are blessed, 

and Christmas was just the icing on the cake of a wonderful year.

Granted, it wasn't always rainbows and smiles.

Clare, our sweet and nurturing little 4-year-old, was equally as excited about giving gifts to her teddy bear as she was about receiving them.  Here they are in matching dresses, and below is a video of Clare presenting Pinkie with a Christmas Gift.

 The whole Durham gang was together, 

and we went to Christmas Eve service together on Monday evening.

 Clare was wiped out and fell asleep right before we left for church.

 Her energy quickly returned when we opened the traditional
"one present on Christmas Eve" gift.

 She opened a really special memory book from her Aunt Marcie and Uncle Brian.

 She LOVED seeing all of the special pictures from our family vacation this summer.

 Daddy and Clare sprinkled reindeer food on the lawn 

so that Santa would know where to land.

Santa had no trouble finding us, and he gobbled up his cookies and hot chocolate.

 CHRISTMAS MORNING!

This was one of the gifts that Clare made for Mema and Papa.

Isaac, who is totally car obsessed, loved playing with his new cars.  He organized them in his new garage, and that kept him entertained throughout most of the morning.
Phil had fun with that too!

After a wonderful day, lots of family fun, and a fantastic Christmas FEAST (salmon, steak, grilled peppers, sweet potatoes, portobello mushrooms, and green beans), we finished the day with our annual BIRTHDAY CAKE FOR JESUS!

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

 

 I've been a huge Christmas fan ever since I was a little girl.  I was ALWAYS the first one out of bed, and I relentlessly tortured the rest of the family until they joined me next to the Christmas tree.  Once again, I was the first one out of bed this year (although our anxious little girl, whose apple doesn't fall far from her mother's tree, wasn't far behind).  I enjoyed spending the first few minutes of Christmas morning in reflection of how deeply blessed we are to have a Savior that was born so that we could live.  My prayer for 2013 is to begin every day with that same profound gratitude.

Just for fun...

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

Legoland

We went to Legoland last Friday, and it was a really fun day (for the most part).

 We had never been there, but Clare has asked about it ever since she saw the first commercial a couple of years ago.  Phil acquired some free tickets (what a blessing),
so we decided to make a day of it.

 The handsome guy in the middle put on a good face for being completely sick the entire time that we were there.  He had a strange case of the flu, mixed with a lingering headache and constant nausea.

Isaac, who was too small for most of the rides, 

was happiest when he was playing in the Lego Villages.

Clare was happy the entire time!

 She LOVED going on the rides...ALL OF THEM!

 She is absolutely fearless, and she rides every roller coaster with her hands in the air.

Jousting Horse Ride

 Isaac stayed entertained with tasty snacks...lip-licking good!

Clare had her first driving experience.

 As you can see, she could use some practice!

The car, behind my brood, is made entirely of Legos.

Overall, it was a really fun day.  Clare has asked to go back at least once a day.  We feel fortunate that we live in America's playground, and that we have access to world-class amusement parks all around us.  We love Florida!

Right of Passage???

Why the tears?

Why the shame?

Why, oh why, oh WHY???

Our little Rapunzel let down her golden hair this afternoon.

After noticing wispy bangs that have never been there, 

the conversation went something like this:

Me: "Why does your hair look different?"

(My Mom taught me to avoid "yes" and "no" questions in situations such as this.)

Clare: "I cut it."

Me: "WHY?"

Clare: "It was getting in my eyes, and I couldn't see my craft...so I just cut it."

Me: "Where did you put the hair?"

Clare: "Just on the floor in your room."

The picture above is what we pulled out of her ponytail...

not what we found on the floor in our bedroom.

She was very remorseful (as you can see in the video above), and she didn't want to look at the clumps of hair that I kept pulling out of her ponytail.  She cried for quite a while, and she kept saying, "I want long hair again."

Thankfully, the major damage was on just one side of her head.  It is very obvious to me, but it could have been MUCH WORSE!  Hopefully, this was a one-time learning experience...as it was for my sister, Ann/Ninnie, when she was about this age.

A Little of This and That

It is already December, and I feel like it should still be September.  The months are flying by, and we've had far more to show for them than what the blog suggests.

We are thankful for Christmas celebrations that help us feel like we're in the midst of the holiday season.  The 80 degree weather is AWESOME, but it doesn't feel like Christmas is just around the corner.

Isaac continues to be a ham!  He thought it was hilarious when he colored his lips with orange marker, and we think it will be funny when he looks at it someday and thinks we let him wear makeup.

Phil has had some fun with penguins over the past month.
 Here is a little snippet of him on the news this week. 

  He drove up to Virginia to pick up six penguins, and he's been taking care of them as part of the Christmas Town event at Busch Gardens.

You can see some pictures on the website.  Below is a snapshot from the Busch Garden's Christmas Town webpage...featuring Penguins, Jimmy Osmond, Jars of Clay, AND SnowWorld (with Clare and Phil Hillary).

In other "news"...

 My amazing husband helped me roll, cut, and decorate 72 cookies for a cookie exchange.  What took us way too long would have taken just me even longer.  We had plenty of dough and frosting to keep us hyped up, and they turned out really well.

 This was how a few of the cookies were displayed.

Here's the crew doing what they do best!

We had Jars of Clay over to our house for lunch on Sunday, and that was a really neat experience.  There is something extremely surreal about watching your 4-year-old daughter play hide-and-seek with a Grammy-winning band whose music you grew up listening to.  (I know that I just ended that sentence with a preposition...which kind of makes me skin crawl...by I didn't get enough sleep to creatively think of a way around it.)

We are looking forward to the upcoming visits (from Ninnie, Mema, Papa) for Christmas, and there are sure to be several blog worthy events during that time.

Snow in Florida

Real SNOW in Florida!

It is during this time of year that we LOVE living in Florida.  The weather is perfect, the sun shines beautifully EVERY day, and we have our windows open 24/7.  Being that we still have some Michigan blood (although I think that has pretty well thinned out completely), there's a tiny desire to see snow during the holiday season.  TINY!  TINY!

Busch Gardens, the amazing place where my husband is fortunate to work, started a new family tradition this year...Christmas Town.  The entire park sparkles with thousands of lights, and they have unique attractions that are only featured in the evening (i.e. PENGUINS that Phil drove all the way to Virgina to rent for the month).

Clare LOVED SnowWorld, and we loved the fact that we didn't have to travel outside of Florida to experience SNOW!  :)

Unconventional Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving (with the big feast) a week early 

(since Phil had to work on Thanksgiving day).

 On Thursday, the 15th, Phil smoked a turkey for 9.5 hours.  It was perfect!!!

 My parents were in town, so feasted with them.  It was the first time in years that we had Thanksgiving with family.

On the real Thanksgiving Day, we went to Busch Gardens to "be with" Daddy.  It was a beautiful day, and the park wasn't very busy, so we had a GREAT time!

 Clare and Isaac had fun on the rides!

 I had fun watching my kiddos have fun...

and not sweating from head to toe like we usually do at Busch.

 Isaac LOVED seeing the Sesame characters!

 Clare played a game (thank you, Papa) and won an Octopus.

 Not too hard to win considering the competition.  :)

An unexpected highlight of the day 

was when Clare got to help prepare snacks for the hyenas. 

 She rolled meatballs in the kitchen of the animal hospital.  

 Isaac was happy to sit back and watch...

as long as he had his sunglasses and sucker.

 We walked past Santa on our way out of the park, and his lap was open and ready.  I didn't even know that he was in the park, but the kids thought it was pretty fun.

Santa told Clare a story (see video clip below) about why kids can't have everything that they ask for on Christmas.

Isaac Turns 2

 Isaac turned 2 on November 9th

It was a special day for many reasons!

 He woke up to the surprise of balloons all around the house (little video snippet above) AND the arrival of Papa and Mema from Michigan.  It was almost as if he just didn't know what to do with himself...as if he wanted to say, "What did I do to deserve balloons AND Papa and Mema on the same day?!"

Isaac LOVES Elmo.

I think the same could be said for most 2-year-olds, so I should clarify that Isaac is absolutely obsessed with Elmo.  He has a pair of Elmo socks and two Elmo shirts, thus ensuring that he is wearing at least one article of Elmo paraphernalia EVERY DAY.

Clare and I made some fun little Elmo Cakes for the Birthday Boy,

and they were a hit!

For a second, Clare thought they might be too cute to eat.

 She quickly abandoned that train of thought and got right to business!

Isaac never gave it a second thought...he dove in without a moment's hesitation!

As previously mentioned, our little Elmo Groupie insists on wearing Elmo at all times.  Now, with his new Elmo slippers and two pair of Elmo pajamas (thank you, Papa and Mema), he will literally be one with Elmo 24/7!

 We had fun celebrating our lively little birthday boy, and the entire day was special.  He got a smoothie from McDonalds (thank you, Papa) before going to the park for most of the morning.  We then went to Chuck E. Cheese as a family and let him run around and play on the rides.  It should be noted that I beat Phil in Ski-ball three times in a row.  He devoured a few platefuls of salmon (one of his favorite foods) for his birthday feast, and then he opened presents after making a mess of his Elmo cake.
Perfect day in the eyes of a new 2-year-old!

 Height - 37 inches = Off The Chart

Weight - 32 pounds = 90th percentile

Head Circumference - 20 inches = 90th percentile
He is a proportionately big guy!

Isaac is energetic, outdoorsy, adventurous, and perceptive.  He still isn't talking in sentences, but we all know exactly what he wants (and vice versa).
Isaac LOVES: Elmo (pretty obvious), Veggie Tales, Noodles with butter and Parmesan cheese, Salmon, Hot Wheels, Driving the green cart at Publix, Smoothies, Playing Outside, Taking his socks and shoes off and then insisting to have them back on (over, and over, and over), Riding his Tricycle, Playing at The YMCA, Popsicles,
and ANYONE who gives him undivided attention.
Isaac Dislikes: Sharing, Trying unfamiliar food, When Clare takes something from him, Not being able to communicate clearly (this may actually be higher on Mommy's dislike list than on Isaac's), When I won't let him wear his Elmo socks (because they smell like vinegar), Drinking plain water, Time outs, Getting his hair cut, Sitting quietly in church...or anywhere, Being told "No."

Now that he is two, it seems inappropriate to call him my baby.  However, this little guy melts our hearts just like the day he was born.

We LOVE You, Isaac John!