Christmas in Whoa hi whoa (Ohio)

We were blessed enough to spend another Christmas/holiday season in Ohio with our family. It is always a little crazy because we only get 5 days with Jim's basketball schedule. In those 5 days we try to see all our friends and family, eat as much FABULOUS home-cooking as we can and we even try to relax some since it is our break from school.  This year the break was a little wierd with nost of our days in Ohio coming before Christmas. This meant, we had to hurry up and eat ALL the food we love in the 2 days after Christmas before we had come back to Texas! I was so full but oh so sad to leave all the food behind. For those of you who think I sound obsessed with food, next year, I will have to take some pictures of the food table... it is ridiculous!!  Anyway, onto less fattening,  healthier topics! Below is a picture of the kids on Christmas morning. We are always so blessed with how much Santa brings for us. Some of the favorites this year include sparkly "S" earring from Mrs. Claus, an Innotab for both kids, and of course the trampoline Santa left for us in Texas!

 Of course Ohio Christmases wouldn't be the same without all our loved ones. We so love spending those few crazy days with all these special people! We especially love getting to spend time with Nana and Grandpa. Isn't Nana amazing??

 Jim's dad and Holly came down too! This year Jessica and Grandma Kearns couldn't make it, and we were totally bummed. However, Skylar played with Grandpa Jim for hours. I am sure his arms were quite tired from all the flips he helped Skylar do over his arms. He was also quite good at playing Barbies. Hmmmm

Of course my parents were there too! I love that Gogo is so awesome. She shares these holidays with everyone so we can all be together at this special time of year. I don't think you'd find too many people willing to have their in-laws come for Christmas Eve dinner and stay for Christmas morning. She also opens her home to her ex-husband just so we won't have to do any additional traveling in our short visit. She and Grandpa Carl are special like that!
 I had to share this picture too! On Christmas Eve Gogo and the kids spread reindeer food on the lawn. It has beautiful sparkles in it to help Rudolph see where to land! It must have worked too, because we woke up to quite a pile of presents!

Where Grandpa Carl go?

This is the question Jimmy asked EVERY time Grandpa Carl was out of his sight! Ha. Luckily for us Grandpa Carl is a pretty awesome guy. Jimmy loves all the silly jokes Grandpa plays and he really, really likes that Grandpa Carl is almost always up to taking a walk outside which just so happens to be Jimmy's favorite thing to do.  I highly suggest everyone get their very own Grandpa Carl, he rocks!

zoo phonics

This year at school Skylar is learning Zoo Phonics. It is a program that teaches kids letter names and sounds with animal pictures and hand motions. Skylar has learned so many letter names and sounds already! It is a amazing to me that a few short weeks ago, she didn't know any letters except for S, L, and J and now she knows almost all of them. Skylar asks us to practice the zoo phonics songs with her almost every night and she really uses the hand motions to help her recall the names. It is so fun to watch her learn! I love her school and her teacher, we are so blessed!

Muffin Man

Jimmy has taken to singing the song "Do You Know the Muffin Man" I am not sure why he started, but it is very cute to hear. The words sound a little more like, "do you know the muffin main" and then he continues to sing "muffin main, muffin main" over and over!! Cute

First Day of a New School Year!

Here we go again! The first day of a new school year. Skylar will be in Mrs. Alice's 4-year old class and Jimmy will be in Miss Brittany's 2-year-old class. I know they are going to have an amazing year!

Coloring

Skylar laid on her belly on the floor with a big princess coloring book and proceeded to color in Belle. She stayed in the lines and used the correct colors. When did she get so big? Once I commented on how nicely she was coloring, Jimmy laid on his belly and started to color too! So sweet.

Home Sweet Home!!!

We always hate leaving family and friends but it is good to be home. Over the last 3 weeks my kids have not had anything that resembled a schedule, and I am the schedule queen! They skipped their naps almost everyday, went to bed at 10:30 at night or later, woke up at 9:30 in the morning and we ran them ragged. Plus, most nights we took turns sharing a bed with Jimmy or Skylar and they are not nice peaceful sleepers! We got kicked, hit, jabbed, and had to save them from falling off the bed on more than one occasion! I am not going to lie, Jimmy did roll off the bed at Aunt Jan's house... it was a king sized bed, how does someone who is 3 feet tall and 30 pounds, roll off of a king sized bed?? Thankfully, he was okay!


Here are a couple pictures I hadn't posted yet. The kids did spend a few hours in the car traveling between cities in Ohio and Jimmy fell asleep more than once on the floor of the family room. Poor kid, he would literally be running around the house and then a second later he would be on the floor asleep! Once, he fell asleep in the doorway between the kitchen and the family room. His legs were in the kitchen on the tile and his face was on the carpet! 

Oh well, here's to being foot loose and fancy free in Ohio and having lots of structure in Texas!