Kiddies Christmas & Play Day @ Hammock

We got the kiddies...three musketeers... together for their Christmas dinner (us parents got take out...can;t beat that!). They were so cute in their PJ's playing together, sneaking around the tree, chasing each other, climbing over one another, etc. Ellie sure can handle those two boys. They on the other hand had a fit when Ellie got her pink car. As soon as it came in the room she knew it must be hers...those boys had a fit. We made them all happy by taking turns doing wagon laps in the living room! Very cute and great to get them together for Christmas. The next day was beautiful so we met up at the Hammock for a play day!

Hunter's Broadway Debut....sort of!

Hunter participated in his preschool's Christmas program @ FBC in Sebring. WOW! The whole performance was fantastic. All the children were so cute! Each class had their special part to tell of the nativity story and birth of Baby Jesus. Hunter's class was the angels and that they were! Nana & Popi Halloran brought Hunter's cousins Avery and Halle and Grandma and Grandma Kistner came too! I was so proud of my little angel! After the play we went right downtown on the Sebring Circle to enjoy the fun lights, Santa, fishing and puppet shows....FUN FUN FUN!

Celebration, The Palms & Disney!

Once again we enjoyed yet another GREAT hotwire deal. $33 for a room at Celebration. We enjoyed the snow on main street while cousins enjoyed ICE @ Gaylord Palms. After the snow and a drive through all of the BEAUTIFUL homes lit up and decorated ever so perfectly:) we met up with the gang (Nana & Popi, Matt, Jenn, Avery & Halle). Michale, Hunter and I enjoyed strolling through Gaylord Palms while the rest of them were freezing:) and having a great time. Hunter enjoyed the laser lights and sounds show and Mommy enjoyed a Godiva liquor hot chocolate! WOW Merry Christmas to myself! Most expensive yet best I've ever had! :) Daddy enjoyed...making his family happy!:) What a good sport all weekend.

Next morning while the cousins enjoyed Disney for Avery's 6TH b day! Halloran's Three along with Nana and Popi enjoyed Disney resort hopping on the monorail (zero dollars). We visited the magic kingdom resorts to see them all gussied up for Christmas (The Contemporary, The Polynesian, The Grand Floridian and Fort Wilderness Lodge). BEAUTIFUL! My fav's were the Wilderness Lodge (even though Hunter was completely passed out by then..I was hoping to get some really cute pics of him at the Lodge)and the Grand Floridan which had a 16 foot tall REAL gingerbread house complete with a chimney that blew out gingery "smoke/steam" every few minutes and made the whole place smell yummy! Hunter had fun running around in the huge lobby and his eye caught a few beautiful little princess that he just could not stop staring at! They had just been to a private tea party with Princess Aurora for a birthday party...So cute! The Contemporary was not much to see really, though that is where we parked and boarded the monorail because it was the least crowded. The Polynesian has lots of little gingerbread houses made by all of their chefs and they were all very tropical/cabana looking. We did enjoy watching a hula class in the lobby. :)Hunter LOVED riding on the monorail from stop to stop! He HATED however having to get on elevators at the resorts to get to the different levels! He totally freaked out every time the doors closed! :( Here are some pics from the day. What a treat for the eyes and a must see sometime during the holidays!

Sebring Christmas Parade!

off to find our spot that daddy had to save early that afternoon! Nana, Popi and Halle...lookin' good guys! :) Hunter & Halle Fun time with Popi

A kindergarten Christmas~

OK...I am loving kindergarten...it's true! I am exhausted...but so worth it. I tried to do as many crafts. projects and activities as I could possibly squeeze in the three weeks after thanksgiving. What fun to watch their little eyes still twinkle at the magic of it all. How still they sit and listen to stories about baby Jesus, Santa and of course the Grinch too! And how their sweet and totally off key voices sound trying to sing Christmas carols that they repeat the same few lines over and over because that is all they can remember. My fav was acting out the nativity with the Fisher Price Little People that Hunter got from Nana last year. I gave each of the kids a piece and we turned the lights off. As I retold the story they brought their part up and placed it where it belonged (with a little help of course). So so precious! Here is a little recap of our classroom @ Christmas!

MY FLU SHOT MUST HAVE BEEN A PLACEBO!

........And I can't seem to make it go away! Help! Need some home remedy suggestions...ASAP! I feel so bah humbug at "the most wonderful time of the year"!

WOOP WOOP!

IT'S GREAT TO BE A FLORIDA GATOR!!!!!

Last Day of Hurricane Season HAH!!!

Today is Sunday November 30, 2008....the last "official" day of hurricane season. Had to catch this and post from this afternoon, how I will remember today!!One of THE windiest days of the year! Plenty of storms, power outages, and tornado warnings for today!
Good thing we skipped church (sshhh...Don't tell Andrew!...Although He somehow always knows! HA! :) We ran some early errands including picking out a Christmas tree and "decking the freaking halls" as mentioned earlier! :) Back to reality tomorrow! SADNESS!!!! (At least I managed to tackle most of the things on my to do list for the break including: downloading some new iTunes, started reading The Shack, CLEANED MY HOUSE, watched The Holiday and ate Publix peppermint ice cream..in my pj's of course, lots of Q.T. w/ Hunter, watched ENTIRE Macy's Parade, went Christmas shopping with mom, didn't get a nap that I remember and didn't get that date w/ hubby! :( But had a great week off overall. Back to Kindergarten early in the morning! "YAY"

T is for Turkey Day+Tummy ache+Travel=Tired

Our turkey day plan was to spend a few days in Lake Wales between both families. You all know how it is. It took most of the day Wednesday to get packed and loaded and actually out the door and on the road. We decided to keep going on to Winter Haven to take Hunter to the doctor for possible pink eye. After finding out he had a mild case in both eyes and $60 bucks later (for the smallest bottle of eye drops I have ever seen but whatever). We finally made it to the Halloran's Wednesday evening just in time for dinner followed by Uncle Mic's laser light show in the living room with the kids.( For those of you who don't know...laser light show commonly called L.L.S . consists of a "jam box", strobe light and color light spinney ball thing. Basically dance party USA...Avery, Halle and Hunter had a blast (so did Uncle Mic). The rest of us had a headache..but again...whatever. Needless to day Hunter got to bed, Michael and I "went necking" (to Publix to get a pack of Turkey necks for gravy) made it back to find Hunter up and his, well...he spewed all over Nana's floor. He had gotten a nasty stomach bug and thus we loaded up the car and drove right home. He made it through the night thank you Jesus but was pretty pitiful most of the next morning. Thanksgiving morning we decided to stay home! Just the three of us. We stayed in our PJ'S and watched the ENTIRE Macy's Parade. By around 2:00 that afternoon I started pouting about missing out on Thanksgiving. We decided Hunter was feeling much better, so we loaded up again..headed to LW....ate...a lot...and headed home AGAIN!
Poor little Hunt watching the Macy's Parade

Friday we slept in..sort of..then packed the car up yet again and made the all too familiar trip back to LW to my brothers on Crooked Lake where we camped out with my mom's family and had a BLAST fishing, boating and four wheeling. Not to mention staying up late around the bon fire on his beach. Everyone was so relaxed and our Clearwater "city slickers" enjoyed the laid back and PERFECT weather. Such a fun relaxing time.

Fun Fall Photo - Op

Many of you who are local know the spot! There is a home in Sebring that decorates their lawn for the holidays and welcomes the public to take pics. So we did just that(...especially since it is almost time for them to change for Christmas!) We got the kids together for their fall pics. I had to post a few from only one year ago to show how they have grown! Enjoy. Our little photo op was fun and the kids were so stinking cute!
My littel punkin' last year(6 months)- bald as a chicken...hahaha

The three little bambinos

Fire, Friends, Fiasco:)

We finally had a COLD night recently so Mic and I made a huge pot of yummy chili and our friends came over with the kids. We enjoyed, or well tried to enjoy...well...we had a fire! The kids pretty much hated it. By the end of the night Hunter had done a Pete Rose and split his forehead on the wall, poor Ellie got attacked by Hunter's bear chair and got a NICE shiner on her eye and Bauer, well...that boy is just a tank and always in to something! hahaha Something fun to do anyway..i think. Mic and I have sensed truely enjoyed the fire the last few evenings after Hunt goes to bed!
The Brinling's(Ellie just got her shiner)

Adam getting Bauer's attention
My rugged men

Kindergarten Update

We recently took another field trip with Kindergarten. First we went to Papa John's Pizza and they got a "behind the counter" tour and then they each got to make their own little pizza! YUMMY! They were soooo good! After we enjoyed our pizzas we went to tour Florida Hospital. The kiddos got to see the nursery where babies are born, the pediatric wing, the ER, warehouse, fitness center, X-Ray center and the lab! We had such a sweet "pink lady" to show us around. I really appreciated the time each station took, especially the pediatric wing. They showed the kids inside a room and told them what to expect if they ever had to come because they were sick or hurt! I think the kids really enjoyed seeing all the neat stuff. They finished off the tour with cookies and milk in the cafeteria.


Here are some pics of our different fall activities. Mrs. Halloran's and Miss Bagwell (I mean Mrs. Brooker's) classes got together for a Thanksgiving play. My camera is on it's last leg so unfortunately I only have a few pics. But they were so cute depicting the pilgrim's voyage and arrival in the new world, their encounter with Squanto and the Indians and their thanksgiving feast. The songs they sang were very cute too. We ended with our own feast in the classroom with parents. It was a lot of work (I cooked my FIRST TURKEY EVER the night before. Yes, I was so very proud of myself. haha. I can still remember my kindergarten thanksgiving feast and how fun and special it was!

BUNCO TIME!

Our November BUNCO night was PJ theme and we enjoyed pizza and other yummy snacks! Laci kept the AC down low so we could enjoy a fire! Enjoy we did! Those logs...WOW! :) We were all a little silly that night! Lots of fun with the gals in our PJ's. I did not win...again...but I did play much better than last time! :)
Winners (and Loser!):)

Care Center annual golf tournament

By now most of you know my involvement with Lake Wales Care Center. They recently had their annual golf tournament @ Lake Wales Country Club. Michael always enjoys getting some guys together to play and I usually go to help with the drink cart or registration ect. This year I was able to be the photographer and even had a personal chauffeur to drive me around the course so I could get team photos, pics of all the hole sponsors, and some candid/action shots. It was a good thing he knew the rules of the course. Some of those teams were INTENSE!!!!! :) It was a beautiful day for golf. I believe there were aprox. 150 players combined with two flights. It makes me so happy to see people participate in such an event that enables Care Center to help so many people with many different needs! I did not attend the awards dinner that evening (couldn't miss BUNCO!) But Michael and the other guys were excited to get their prizes!

Florida Hospital Gala

Florida Hospital Gala featuring Michael W. Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman. It was lots of fun getting gussied up for this year's annual Florida Hospital gala. Dinner was beautiful and the concert afterwards was UNBELIEVABLE. In year's past we have been lucky to see Frank Sinatra Jr. and Sandi Patti. However this time it took me quite a while to believe I was actually getting to see these two incredibly talented artists. While MWS was great to "SEE" (HEHE gals!) Steven Curtis Chapman was actually my fav due to all that he shared personally about his family! What a spectacular evening!
Michael W. Smith (left) Steven Curtis Chapman (right)
My hot date!
Inside @ dinner

hang in there y'all

I should have gone to bed a long time ago but I already have vacation on the brain! Two more LONG days of Kindergarten for me then a WHOLE WEEK off for Thanksgiving Break!!! Yay! Here is what I am looking forward to hopefully doing (in no particular order of course).......
*catch up on blogging and posting pics
*eat a lot on Turkey day and hopefully take a LONG nap:)& Macy's parade of course!
*clean my house (this will probably happen last or not at all) :)
*download some new itunes (Christmas maybe?...)
*read a book that has been sitting unopened on my nightstand for months(The Shack)
*go on a fun date with my hubby (Orlando?...KOBE?...Downtown Disney(aka FREE Disney!)
*snuggle with Hunter and have a tickle fest on the floor to hear his cute laugh, watch him run around the house butt necked:)hahaha
*watch a Christmas movie in my pj's eating Publix Peppermint ice cream
*Break out the Christmas decorations and DECK THE FREAKIN' HALLS BABY! :)hahaha

Special Delivery

One evening this week we delivered some cute little pumpkins to some of our neighbors. Miss Ethel wanted the little pumpkin in the wagon! :) She is so cute! It was a VERY nice evening for visiting and was a fun and special memory for our little family.