Easter

Jason worked all night so he was in bed for the Easter morning festivities. We cared a lot more when they were smaller but now we prefer sleep over revelry, so I told him he could miss it if I didn't have to get up at 6:30 when he came home from work. It was a good trade-off and the kids didn't seem to mind.

They showed him what the Easter bunny brought and we bought them life jackets to wear on our boat once it's built, so Jason still got to watch them get excited about something.

As has been the case all spring, it was rainy on Easter, so no outdoor pictures of the kids this year. In fact, I couldn't get a good picture of them together to save my life. When one was ready the other wouldn't cooperate.

Jordis cute and ready with signature head tilt. Xander not ready.

Xander finally cooperative, Jordis not so much.

Xander still photogenic, Jordis decides to be present.

Like Xan's tennis shoes? He hates dress shoes and I figured it wasn't worth the money to buy him any to wear for two hours before he outgrows them. Trying to pick my battles.

After church we picked up Jason and went to my mom and step-dad's house. The kids had an Easter egg hunt before lunch.

Then the boys played Wii while the girls cleaned up the kitchen.


It was my mom's birthday weekend as well, so she opened presents and then we had dessert and played some Go Fish.


We left and paid a visit to Jason's parents as well. They got the kids each a great collection of books, so they were excited and also had something to entertain them in the car on the way home. It was a nice relaxing day with family.

Five

*Sigh*

My baby is five. I remember being sad when she was one and Xander was three. I thought their clothes were getting SO big.

*Another sigh*

She is now the oldest child in our weekly group of kids that visits the nursing home.

She's going to kindergarten this fall and can't wait.

She talks ALL DAY LONG. Seriously. It's no wonder she doesn't have any trouble going to sleep at night, she's got to be tired from all the talking. And if there's not any humans to talk to she'll talk to her babies and her stuffed animals. I've been told she gets it from her mother, but I wouldn't know anything about that.

She's such a sweet little girl and has friends everywhere she goes. I can't even imagine life without her.

We had quite the busy birthday week for Jordis. Her birthday was on Wednesday, but we have bible study on Tuesday mornings so I let her take birthday treats to share with her friends. She helped me make marshmallow pops and they were so cute and yummy.

For the next morning we took little cookies to share at the nursing home.

Jordis was so polite and passed them out to the residents.

Miss Kelly, the activities director, was so nice and had planned a party for her birthday. The residents made the cupcakes and there were party games to play. It was such an incredibly nice gesture and Jordis loved it (after she got over people giving her all the attention).

When Xander got home from school she got to open her presents.

I love that she gets excited about cute clothes.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Girl!

Seven

The little man turned seven two weeks ago.

*Sigh*

He was so excited when he got up and saw that Jason left him a note at the kitchen table when he got home from work.

I wasn't too horribly sad this year........until I washed all of the new summer clothes he got for his birthday. Apparently size 7 clothes have bigger neck holes and don't fit very well on the little kid hangers. I had to start putting the adult size hangers in his closet. THAT made me sad.

He opened his presents after school.

Then we took him for one of his favorites, a meatball sub, while Jordis attended a friend's birthday party.

He said it was a great day!

Christmas Day

After a leisurely morning at home my mom and step-dad came over for lunch and some gift opening.

Dr. Jordis spent the afternoon taking care of her patients.....


...while Xander taught Ba how to play his newc Wii game.

We don't get a lot of family time, so it was a nice way to spend the holiday.

Christmas morning

I'm so behind. My dog is sick, the oven is broken, and we're still adjusting to Jason being back on 3rd shift. So here goes:

Santa was here

Kids were excited

The kids requested a trip to the store to spend their own money on gifts for Jason. It was very cute. They each decided to buy him some bait for fishing.

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

Christmas Eve

Jason had to work on Christmas Eve so as soon as he got home we piled in the car and went to my dad and step-mom's. We had a small window to gather before they had to leave for their church service. We had an early dinner of sandwiches, potato salad, chips, dips, cookies and candy before opening presents.

The packaging is always more fun than the actual gifts, isn't it?

Having a "moment"

Everyone else


After leaving we took the kids to a street in a neighboring city that has twenty-two homes of Christmas lights set to music. On the way home we stopped to see my step-brother at the restaurant where he works. Got home, set out cookies for Santa, and put the kids to bed. For once they were more than eager to get to sleep.

Latiolais Christmas

We had some work conflicts with multiple family members, so our holiday celebrating with Jason's family was the Sunday before Christmas. It worked out nicely because it spaced out the festivities and the kids had some new things to play with the first week of winter vacation. Xander helped me prepare by making some reindeer snacks for everyone.

After dinner it was a free-for-all with the gifts.

We all chipped in and got Jason's parents this blanket. It turned out to be even nicer than we'd excpected.

Then the obligatory family pictures. Jordis loves this dress my aunt made her and refused to put on any attire related to Christmas or winter.