Just A Quick Note

Just wanted you to stay tuned as I am going to try to get a you tube video posted soon.  It probably will not appear here as it will be too long but will be on you tube and I will tell you how to find it here.   If anyone knows how to put a video here from you tube that is longer than allowable here please let me know asap so I can get that video straight through to here.  Thanks I will have more really soon.  Merry Christmas to All and Happy New Year too if I dont get back here soon enough to tell you.  Stay save!  AJ

The Countdown Has Begun...Los Pasados

Visiting Santa ....not a bit scared of him any more

My tormented boys 49 and 71 lbs at 3 and 2 years old yes that is correct the younger one is the 71 pounder...Jake is my big boy and such a mommas boy.
 Mikayla's stocking holder picked out herself
 Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...yum!  He gave Mikayla her first card of the night

Ahh!  The now famous Sugar Plum Fairy...who became famous for being fired by the Mayor and having some of the local shops hire her back as the Candy Fairy giving out Candy Canes instead of the Collectible Cards. 

Outside our Carriage Ride before waiting for the Parade 

Daddy and Mikayla waiting for the Parade eating cookies from our favorite wonderful Italian Pastries place. 

The parade begins...The Fife and Drum Corp

Ah my buddy, Jack Frost and The Snow Queen

The highlight of the parade....Joseph and Mary riding the Donkey looking for a place to stay, stopping to knock on doors only to find there is no room at the Inn and must go to the stables. 

The Angel announcing the Birth of Baby Jesus

Jesus is born!  Happy Birthday Jesus!

The wisemen came sheep and all

In a stable rejoicing of "The New Born King"

Today was Los Pasados.....we started the day visiting our friends at the hair salon, where they have a wonderful picture of Mikayla's first Santa visit bawling her eyes out terrified of him that is shown to all who visit.  This year they will have a new picture of Mikayla visiting Santa but I think they should have taken a picture of themselves as they all oooo'd and aaaaaa'd in shock as soon as Mikayla walked in and ran straight to the back and jumped right up onto Santa's lap.   After our Santa visit and having a chat we ventured to the store so Mikayla could pick out her own stocking holder, last year hers got broken.  Last year she had a penquin as she was crazy about them from Happy Feet.  This year she opted for a Snowman so we each have Snowmen this year except the boys who have there doggy ones.  No christmas is complete with out decorating the boys and making them sit still for photos.  Next we rushed home to get some nap time in so we can be ready for the late night.  Once awake we headed out and started our fun collecting our cards of the characters...her first one came from the Chestnut guy, followed by Jack Frost and so on.  She collected 13 of 33 this year since we started out later and we also took us a Carriage Ride bringing us close to parade time.  Of course this is also when it started to really rain hard.  We were crazy enough to stay and the parade came through....Mikayla got to see Joseph and Mary come by with the Donkey and she was thrilled as usual.  We follow Joseph and Mary to the Riverfront where the story was told and songs were sung...the angel announced the birth of Jesus and the Wisemen came sheep and all.  When they were done all gathered around the hugh yule log and sang Carols this is when we departed hungry and quite wet.   We had a great time as it is one of our traditions to do this and also share it with Mikayla year after year.  The temp was in the 60's but the wind and rain made if feel a bit colder.  Coming next will be my birthday and probably no more than a dinner as usual and then Christmas close behind, followed up with the New Year and the Ice Sculpture Competitions.  Then of course we will then have Chinese New Year racing right in.   So keep checking back as this is the busy time of the year.  Blessings to All!!!   Any one daring enough to guess on how old I will become this year? (I won't have as many of one color of Greg's candles but will have more of the other color)

Happy Birthday Greg!

The room was dark and the tree lights on yet the flash made it look the opposite....but at least it is up and done and yes it is a real Christmas Tree

It maybe small but so is she and she was soooo proud and excited to have a tree to herself to decorate.  This might be the only year too as it sits maybe a foot or two next to our Blue Spruce and will grow into the side of it if we continue to let it be.

Even though Greg was not feeling well with his sore elbow, and being it was his Birthday today, he still was kind enough to help make way for our new refridgerator to be delivered tomorrow.  After over 30 years with the one we have it definitely did its job and was due for an upgrade.  If only the new one will last that long.   Not only did he do that he also helped me get all the Christmas decorations out and brought upstairs.   He did help put up some of the decorations and tried to make some of the lighted decorations work some with success and some without.  After Mikayla came home and was being over whelmed with not more to say but "Cool", "WOW!", "Awesome" and the other such words and after decorating her own personal Christmas Tree, yes that right....see the pic....we all treated Daddy to a Birthday Dinner of his choice with a FREE desert that was big enough for 4 people to eat.  Then home it was to open his gifts and us to sing Happy Birthday to Daddy with Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream Cake, candles included (no not one for each year but 1 for each small group of years in one color and one of another color for the difference).  So Greg is officially old, Over The Hill, down the other side, almost a Dinosaur and on his way to a Fossil. (Trivia for you...Do you know how old Greg is Today)    HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEY :-)   Love Ya

Ok whos afraid to become a follower on my Blog.....hmmmmm

Be brave and follow and then you can post comments ....I think I might start being more fun like my bud Cecilia and start posting trivia or something like that about my blog and see who is paying attention...I'm just crazy enough to do it....:-) :-)

Come on Follow Follow Follow the Blog below ......

Its that time again!

Hanging at the house while Mikayla and Daddy use the fan to blow pinwheels ....I think Jake was blowing in Louie's ear....crazy boys!

Here's smiley snuggle bug Louie

Smiley Mommas Shadow Jake

Goin for a Choo Choo Train ride at the Zoo

Being an Otter at the Zoo

Lovin the Beautiful Day!

Daddy and his girl on the Carousel being goofy

Sun  Bear looking for his fav food

It's Happy Feet!

Look no more Plastic can holder necklace!

First Day First School Picture

You cant really tell but she was in a caboose in the top of the higher part at the Museum

One of the many trains at the Museum to check out

Doin some tap dancing in her new dance class right next to the teacher of course

We have been busy....We have been to the Zoo, The Transportation Museum, The Mall and of course swimming and dance class.   We went to the activities with Daddy this time and of course Mikayla was in heaven to share these days with her daddy and have him for the whole day as I am sure daddy enjoyed also.  At the zoo she did her usual of visiting the goats so she can pet and brush them she loves the hands on and loves animals as much as I do, mommy likes that.   It was Ottertober Fest while we were there so there were activities throughout the zoo for her to do and learn about the Otters.  At one area as the photo shows she had to dress and act like an otter, that did not last long as she was not keen on the dressing up part.   There was an area to make a otter puppet, a place to try to walk in their tracks, a place to make otter tracks with rubber stampers made from otter feet, and a game to see who can eat enough to survive the winter.   She had a blast with all the activities along with the normal zoo animals.  She loved watching the Otters play on land then in the water, she watched a Sun Bear try to find the food it liked most, the penguins waddling and swimming.  She enjoyed a ride on the carousel and the train and just plain enjoyed the beautiful day and creatures God created as we all did.   At the Museum I am sorry to say I did not take the camera because sometimes Mommy just wants to enjoy the moment and Daddy is just not a picture taking kind of guy, so I only took a few with my phone.   At the mall we shopped since it turned out Mikayla seems to be growing.....imagine that.  With going to school now from 8-4 she did not have enough pants that fit and long sleeve shirts to go to school every day.  Now though she is fully stocked with school clothes, yeah for mommy.  Although her very first day of school was picture day and Mommy did not have her dress for success she did pretty well.  For those wondering even with Mikayla going to school 8-4 M-F I still have not found my ME time.  No worries I don't mind so much since at least I feel I am getting some things done and I did say some.  I even got Daddy's car all washed and cleaned inside and out while he was gone on one of his trips....I even bought some new car mats for him.  Daddy came home and thought Mommy bought him a new car....like that would ever happen.   Mikayla is doing great in school, her 3rd day she did the usual and bawled when I left but shortly after gone she recovered.  Day 4 was less bawling and that was the end.  She never once said she did not want to go to school she just did not want me to leave.  Some days she is like Velcro and I have to rip her off me but as long as I tell her to help her teacher cause her teacher needs help she is good with that and moves on.   I am hoping though that she is not a cluts and is just getting used to things at school.  She has cut her arm, smashed a finger, slammed her chin and cut her hand already at school at only 3 weeks, of course none of it was anything a bag of ice and some band aids couldn't fix, thank God.  I just hope it is just the newness and not going to be a regular clumsy thing.  Mommy can deal with blood and gore but if needles, stitches and broken bones are involved I think I might have to call in the reinforcements (Dad).   Swimming is going awesome, in fact she has been doing better when she misses a nap then when she takes one, but on days without swimming no nap is NO GOOD.  Dancing has been switched from Saturday mornings to Thursday evenings which seems to work better for all and I even made another mommy friend although Mikayla and her daughter have not had a play date as of yet.  She is still claiming Olivia as her fav bud but talks of a boy she hates that likes her at school and she had a friend named Kaira who is not her friend now but Lilly is....when I asked why she told me cause Lilly is now her friend so I had to let her know she can have many friends in many places at a time.  It just drives me crazy people who think you can only have ONE friend.  I actually have friends like that or is it had friends like that, any who.  When I go to her school funny thing is I hear all the boys saying HI to her, she even got a hug good bye from a boy one day.  The only girls I see saying HI is her teacher.  On the other hand when I pick her up it seems only the girls say good bye and they are also the ones to tell her, her mommy and daddy are there to get her as she is always so hard at play to even notice us. That's a good thing of course.   Back to Dancing, she is doing well but does get to wondering and has to be reeled back in every now and again.  Not sure if she is liking the class for sure or not or if she is bored.  She never says she doesn't want to go so I guess that is also a good sign.  I guess when its over I will ask her and see what she thinks before doing another semester.  She IS the one who chose to keep swim and ditch gymnastics last time so we will see how it goes.  She is learning so much so quickly and as I mentioned to a few of you who know me so well.....she even seems to know directions better than I do.   No GPS for her not that it help Mommy any ...lol.   One day I wanted to detour before going home and Mikayla hollered from the back sit that I forgot to turn (to go home) I told her thanks but we are going somewhere else first.   Yesterday on the way home from Swim School she told me the name of the street we live on.  She knew for a long time now the land marks for turning and such to many places we go but now she is learning names of streets which is awesome.  So mommy is trying to remember to show her where all the signs are that show the street names so she will also recognize the names on the signs and always know where she is and how to get home.  She just amazes me constantly with how fast she is learning and growing.  That's my baby girl.   The boys, yes, are growing also and missing Mikayla's torments throughout the day but they are also loving the time without her just as much as they are getting to go for more, longer walks in new areas and going for more car rides (mommy likes a companion in the car).  The boys are doing very well also learning better manners and such but they still have not learned where THEIR beds are.  Oh well that is all for now.  Enjoy until next time.

Otters Playin

Daddy and his girl throwing a penny to make a wish....bet you cant guess what it was...Maybe I should get a few pennies and make me a wish too

School

Outside on the frogs everyone just has to sit on

Inside the kids area of the zoo.  They actually got in trouble for making too much noise banging with the tools they provide for fixing...hmmm

 I love this pic he was eating from the tree that was so close

Off to school to have fun.  By the way Daddy hates this jacket and mommy don't care, its just a jacket.  It was a hand me down from a friend.

Today is the day it is Mikayla's very first day of Preschool.  She was excited and so was mommy.  She was slow eating breakfast but mommy showed her how fast she can dress Mikayla.  Mikayla then was so excited she got to take her lunchbox (that matches her dance class roller back pack) to school.  It was mommy's tactic to make it more exciting to go and it worked.  As soon as she got to school she whipped off her coat and was ready to go even before getting to her classroom.  Once she got to her classroom she was shown her cubby area and was quick to put her coat in and hang her bag and quickly found a spot to start playing.  Mommy talked briefly to the teacher and off I was back home to feed the boys, do laundry for Daddy who is getting ready to head to Virginia then off to take the boys for a stroll.  Followed by a trip to the Chiro.....hmmm I don't get it my day is still the same even with Mikayla at school.   What happened to all those people telling me my life will change and I will have more time for ME when she goes to school???  I didn't find it today.  Maybe I will find it sometime Monday through Friday from 8-1 in the next year or two.  Other pics posted are from a trip to the Zoo with her bud Olivia.  Post more soon.  Love you guys,   AJ

PS Chrissy if you get a sec sometime soon I would love to chat with you via phone about a few things I think you can help me with.   Give me a call either cell or home where ever you can find me.  Thanks

WOW!

Playing in the Sandbox with Pink and Blue Sand that is almost completely all purple now. 

Princess/Fairy Day at the Gym 

At the gym not even planned her bestest bud dresses almost the same. 

At Swim School awaiting her coach playing in the wading pool 

With Coach Lindsay learning to Dive in the 10ft+ diving pool

At the Zoo with Grandma hanging with the Hippo's 

Not at all scared to touch what Daddy hates the most....notice how he puts her out there to touch the snake....lol  I love it. 

She could not get enough of brushing these guys at the petting area at the Zoo 

Getting ready to relax and go to bed, reading books with Grandma 

Being Daddy's little girl 

Mikayla's new indoor toy

Mommy and Daddy's new indoor toy

Once again not even planned...this time the same outfit on Beach Day at the Gym....one bought in NY the other in MO...was too funny and it was even funnier that both Oliva's mom and Mikayla's mom both wore pink and had Minnie Mouse on their shirts on that day.  Do you think we think alike or anything? 

Grandma and Mikayla at the Park feeding the Ducks...this one duck was even eatting out of Mikayla's hands. 

This one would be Streak 

This is Bother/Ian and Baby Bunny....Bother is the one hiding his/her face. 

Baby Birds not so little and this is the third set of babies in this nest....second set of doves 

Dove mommy #2 or same mommy as #1 we don't really know for sure.

That is all I can say, I'll say it again, WOW!  I can not believe it has taken this long for me to get this blog issue fixed.   I don't even know where to begin anymore.   I guess with my baby bunnies being last in the posts with pics I guess I will start with our wild life clan.   As you read, I am sure, we had the Robin nest and 3 babies which we watched grow and leave us, we also got to watch the dove that took over the nest when the Robin was gone and she had her 2 babies, we watched them grow and move on.   It does not end there,  once the nest was empty for the 2nd time, once again a dove or the same dove (unknown) came to rest there and have 2 babies also/again and just maybe 3 days or so ago one night while out with the boys I noticed the 2 babies on the roof of the house....I guess about to leave me empty nested again.  Sure enough come morning empty nest it was.  We are keeping the nest there and keeping our eyes open to see if anyone wants to rent it again.   In the meantime as you can see our baby bunnies are no longer babies.....we have Streak as he is my fav and mellowest, named for the small white streak on his head.  There is also My Bother or Ian after Olivia the Pigs brother as Bother the Bunny is very much a pain in the @*#.  My mother thinks this is the male of the bunch I beg to differ.   I still do not know the sex of any of them.   The other bunny I am sorry to say really has not been named.....mellow but not as much as Streak and no particular marking to make a name from, so for now its just Baby Bunny.  As for the boys, they are doing fine and still spoiled rotten as they've been.  Jake has picked up some bad barking habits from his menaces behind us and he is teaching Louie to do the same, not good, so we are working on combating that issue quickly, and as I finish up this post today, Thursday, I think Jake might have got the idea his barking will not be tolerated.  I guess tomorrow will tell for sure.   Louie had his 3rd birthday in July being same age as Mikayla now and Jake has his 2nd birthday coming in September.    Mikayla has started to claim Louie as her boy and mommy only gets Jake now, but that is okay, Louie still looks to mommy when Mikayla bothers him too much and he knows he can run to my room for a safe haven, although he seems to like to sleep in her room quite a bit lately.  Jake takes his stand and lets Mikayla know he won't take her bothering him but he is not going to run away either so he slobbers on her, making Jake my boy and not hers. 
As for Mikayla, she no longer attends Gymnastics and Swim School is over.   We have drained our pool and the play has been either indoors avoiding the heat or we have played in the sandbox or visited with friends or swam in the big pool at her school.   She has ridden the Carousel numerous times, along with the train.  We have been to the Botanical Gardens (now members) along with the Zoo.   Grandma came for a visit and left after having much fun at the Zoo, Big Carousel and other fun things.   Mikayla also visited the Magic House on a trip with FCC seeing some old and some new friends.   Her bed has been changed from a crib to toddler bed and she can't get enough of having a big girl bed.  Of course diapers, potty seats, booster seats and the like are all things of the past as she will tell you she is a big girl now.   She still continues to amaze me daily...with me having no sense of direction she can tell me how to get to her swim school or daddy's work already from all the landmarks she knows all to well, the lighthouse, Jake and Louie's Hotel, the curves in the road we say weeee as we go around and not to forget the choo choo tunnel or the place we see planes fly over so closely it looks like we can touch them.
We learned today that not only does she love shopping for shoes (mommy is not a shoe person) but she also loves earrings.   Every time she sees jewelry she says I love earrings.  We won't even mention how smart she is about more than she needs to know when you ask her what she wants to eat (when we want to eat out) she does not just say Tacos, Salad or Mac and Cheese, etc she will tell you she wants to go to the Olive Garden, Taco Bell or the Cheesecake Factory naming the Restaurant not the food she wants.  She is just getting way to smart.  She got the "Daddy Please" thing working really well and she still thinks she can do the same with mommy but still learning it does not work and never will.
Mikayla is signed up for Dance which includes Tap, Jazz and Ballet.  She was so excited and got even more thrilled when we bought her shoes and leotard.   She was supposed to start today but due to small class size they put us in on Saturday and if they get enough for Monday we will switch back to it, but until then she will go on Saturday, this coming Saturday being her first day.   She is also signed up for Private Swim Lessons with the same coach she had for her last two class semesters.  We just thought she seemed bored in the class setting and was not really interested in what the other class members were doing with the coach to watch so we thought for boredom's sake we would try the private lessons to see how that will go.
We are also getting ready to start on getting her back to learning her Mandarin while still keeping our ASL current.  We are also starting on more writing of her ABC's and 123's as she knows them but still don't care to write them.  Also, on the learning curve we have more word and math recognition going on as she is already doing some 1st grade level number and math work.   All in all we have been busy and pretty much stay that way.
As for G and I we are doing well and doing all we can to stay out of trouble and keep on the same page with Mikayla.   The Germany trip came and went and G traveled alone, Hawaii has been push back and back again not sure when that trip will come around....not holding my breath but I know it will come just in time.   I have been tossing around the idea of taking a trip with Mikayla with or without G, to Branson, NY, Texas or maybe Florida not sure which or when just thoughts being tossed around.   Of course Florida and Branson would be with G but the other two I know he would not mind missing but of course if he wanted to join us he would be more than welcome.

I think I pretty much got you covered for now so enjoy the blog once again and hopefully nothing else will go wrong.....at least not for a while.  I guess I was already wrong....the past few days I have been having internet issues and currently I am having problems putting my videos on so if there are none here or if they do not work I do apologize.  At least you got some pics to see and an update to read.   I will continue to try and keep you updated regularly.

Hit of the Day from the First Throw!

Petting the Stingrays with Daddy

Throwing Frisbee's into the crowd

Ringing the Bell