December 2012

I know it has been a long while since I updated the blog and I sincerely apologize! Our laptop has not been working and that is where I had stored all of our pictures! (EEK!) Thankfully, Dan is a computer genius and was able to recover the pictures...so here we are (December post).

As soon as December 1st came around, we had the house decorated for Christmas. I love Christmas and I knew that the month of December would be super, crazy, busy...so we had to decorate when we could. 

It seemed like the entire city of Palm Beach Gardens was also in the holiday spirit and that afternoon we joined Dan's swim team friends at a local restaurant close to the water to watch the Holiday Boat Parade. 

On the 2nd day of December, I walked the Palm Beach Half-Marathon with my friend Dena. We had so much fun that we forgot to take pictures. It was great to organize with our friends, Alyson and Paige, a surprise cheering section for Dena at mile marker 6 and mile marker 10! Dena was so surprised at mile marker 6 to see our friends cheering her on at 7am on a Sunday morning that she started to cry. It was truly amazing!

 We celebrated Hannah's 4th birthday with a joint party with her friend Alexandra. Alexandra turned 4 on the 3rd of December and Hannah turned 4 on the 22nd. They both wanted to have a art party, so Lauren and I got our creative juices flowing and made a canvas out of cardboard to place the different colored cupcakes for the party we held at the park. 

Since it was an art party, everyone got to decorate their own canvas to take home. It was a blast and a little messy. 

When people were waiting to paint, they got to enjoy the many structures at the park and play with all our friends that joined us to celebrate. 

 The second weekend in December we participated in the 2nd Annual Breakfast with the Grinch to raise money for our local Relay For Life with the American Cancer Society. I can't seem to find my file with those pictures, but we did have a blast and raised lots of money, plus awareness for the cause!

The day after Breakfast with the Grinch, the girls and I flew to Birmingham, AL to visit my family. I was so thankful that the Grinch brought them LeapPads to play with on the plane. The girls have become such great little travelers during our many adventures.

 A few days after we arrived in Birmingham, we were able to travel to Mobile, AL with my parents (Dearie and Papa) to visit Granmere. Granmere is my dad's mom. We had not seen her since Gryffyn was 3 months old! This trip was long overdue!

 When we got back to Birmingham, Uncle JoshA (my brother Joshua) came to visit us at my folks' house. Of course he brought presents to rile the girls up!

On December 18th, we celebrated Hannah's 4th birthday (for the second time) with my family in conjunction with Papaw's birthday! I can't remember if it was Papaw or Hannah that requested the Dora Ice Cream cake, but it was GOOD!

On the 19th, we flew back to Palm Beach Gardens with a connection in Tampa. I love flying through Tampa because they have great play areas past security at each terminal. Each time we play there, the girls pass out on the plane and have a solid nap!

On the 20th, we had to start preparing for our first Disney trip. Before we left Birmingham, Dearie gave me money to buy the girls Disney Princess dresses. She said a "first Disney trip deserves a Disney Princess dress!" She was right. Hannah picked out a Merida dress and Gryffyn picked out a Rapunzel dress. 

While at the store, the girls picked out their ornaments for the tree this year. Gryffyn picked out Rapunzel's tower and Hannah picked out Tinker Bell.

Next post...all about Disney....

November 2012

Gryffyn and Hannah have been doing such a great job feeding their dogs every morning! Atticus turned 8 years old in November. He is thinking about dying his grey hair. 

Beginning of November, our family participated in the Place of Hope family walk to benefit Place of Hope family system. Place of Hope is a faith-based child welfare organization that provides foster care, family outreach, and intervention in the area of Palm Beach County. My MOPS group supports them throughout the year with different fundraisers and preparing crafts for the kids to do while placed in the foster care. Our "Faith" table from MOPS raised over $400 through a garage sale and 3 families signing up to walk! It was a great time and fun way to start off that Saturday morning!

The girls are still enjoying this nice weather we get in Florida! We get to play outside a majority of the year. Our swings are really coming in handy! 

Little Miss Independent (Gryffyn) has learned how to open the pantry, get out her cereal, find her bowls and fix breakfast...now if should could figure out how to turn on the TV she would be set for Saturday morning cartoons! 

The girls love their big girl beds, but if Daddy sleeps over Gryffyn has to make sure he is comfortable on the floor. It is hard to find him in the mess of all the stuffed animals. 

I wish we had these chairs at my library growing up! It is hard to pull the girls away when they find a good book. 

For Thanksgiving, Aunt B (Brandy) and Uncle David came to visit us for the week. The girls were SPOILED! 

 I was too when I talked Aunt B into helping me put up the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving...

and spoiled even more when Dan and Uncle David installed a bench in our kitchen. It is so wonderful having that extra seating and storage! 

 End of November, I went (without the girls for the first time) to Mommy and Me at Downtown at the Gardens. It is our local outside mall, and MacaroniKid (online resource) hosts "Mommy and Me" highlighting local businesses and providing free carousel rides. Relay For Life of the Beaches had the volunteer tent at the event that day promoting our "Breakfast with the Grinch" event happening the second weekend of December.