It's the most wonderful time of the year!

I love, love, love Christmas! As important as Thanksgiving is to me, I am one of those people that gets giddy at the first sight of Christmas lights, and wants to put the tree up at 12:01 am the day after Thanksgiving.

This year, the Christmas season has brought so much joy for our family. If you know Jake, you know that he is obsessed with lights (to the point where I have been pretty concerned in the past). Christmas lights bring this obsession to a whole new level! They are the topic of conversation the majority of his day. At bedtime, I have to wrestle him away from the window in his room where he likes to stare at the lights down the street. In the morning, he pops out of bed and says "Hey Mom! Do you want to see Christmas lights?!" He then grabs my hand and rushes to the window, before coming downstairs to plug in the garlands, tree, and find his elf (which he creatively named, "Red"). He is loving it so much that I am actually scared for January, when the lights will have to come down. Here are a few pictures from the gorgeous light display set up in Dorothy B. Oven park. I'm not kidding when I tell you that the child literally ran from scene to scene, yelling, "WOW! Christmas lights are BEAUTIFUL!"

You can tell that, although Cole was interested, he didn't quite express the same level of excitement. Maybe next year. ;)

Shopping for them has been so fun this year. It will be Cole's first time really opening presents, and Jake tells me every day that he wants a "blow dryer" like Daddy's, so he can blow the pine needles in the yard. He means a blower, obviously. Luckily, Black & Decker makes a kid's version! I can't wait to watch their little faces. It will probably be more fun for me than for them!

In the flurry of it all, I am also trying to teach my boys about the true reason for the season. I hope that they will one day understand that, even though it's fun to participate in the more commercialized aspects of Christmas, we celebrate to remember the ultimate gift that Christ gave us.

We are so blessed!

9 months and a long blog post later...

Apparently, I blog like I work out. I did have really good intentions, though!  Anyway, here's a quick update on our year. I will TRY to be better going forward.

We've been enjoying our first year in our new home, but are just now starting to really put the improvements into it that we wanted to! We laid new flooring in our bedroom and bathroom earlier this year, and now we've moved on to light fixtures. This usually results in me reading the directions, Banks reminding me that he's an electrical engineer and doesn't need the directions (HA!), and both of us getting frustrated. Needless to say, it's not coming along as quickly as I would like. I have found so many things that I would love to get to decorate the house, but the budget will only allow us to do a little at a time. Next big projects: painting cabinets and clearing the back yard out! Maybe it will be done this time next year. :)

 

 

Banks and I took a 5 year anniversary trip to Sandals Grande Riviera in Ochos Rios, Jamaica in June. We stayed for 5 nights/6 days, and it was fabulous! My parents graciously took on the boys while we were gone, and we loved every minute of it. We had zero cell phone service while we there, but luckily, we were able to FaceTime with the boys over the wifi for free. It sure beat the 5 minute phone call from the hotel room that cost us $40!

 

Banks & I at dinner on the dock.

 

view from our balcony...

Jake turned 2, and Cole turned 1! They're growing up so fast. Jake's birthday fell in the middle of FCAT for me, so he had an "easy" party at Zoinks, which is full of bounce houses. It was perfect, because he loved it, and all we had to do was show up (and pay the bill). Banks had to travel to St. Louis for work over Cole's 1st birthday, but we had a fun playdate with a few of his little friends at the house. He had cake for the first time and loved it!

I graduated from University of Texas at Arlington in August, with my M.Ed. in Educational Leadership. I am happy to have my weekends back, but not quite as happy to start paying those student loans back in the near future. I decided to take more time with my family this year and go back into the classroom, so I resigned my position as Dean of Students at Imagine in June. On October 8th, I will be starting a new job at a local elementary school working only part time. I'll be delivering supplemental instruction in reading and writing to students who need it, between the hours of 8:30-12:30. I'm so excited to be able to continue my career while having more time to spend with my kids. This is a HUGE answer to prayer, and I am so grateful!

Our precious angels

Jacob Banks started preschool last month at Temple Israel. He goes Tuesday and Thursday mornings, and absolutely LOVES it. He is learning so much about sharing and friendship, which is what I really wanted. We were driving through a parking lot yesterday and a few high school girls were taking pictures together. Jake pointed at them and said "Look Mom! They're best friends!" I had no idea that he had any concept of such things, but I was happy that he did. :) Meanwhile, Cole Matthew is enjoying the 6 hours a week that he has my undivided attention, and he can play without his toys being snatched from his hands (the whole sharing thing hasn't been perfected quite yet).

1st day of preschool

Nathan, my oldest, younger brother (if that makes sense), moved to Colorado last month. We usually only saw him a few times a year, even when he lived in Orlando, but now I feel like we will REALLY miss him. :( Aaron and Ethan are both in state now, so that's good! We really missed Aaron while he lived in Illinois. I just selfishly want all of my family to be near me...the one huge downside to living in Tallahassee, and the one reason we're considering leaving in the future. Jacob prays for his extended family every night. It always cracks me up when he prays for his "uncles and aunts...and uncles again". It's like he knows that they need extra prayer. :)

We are now heavily involved in football season! To say that we were looking forward to September would be an understatement! After 4 home games in a row, we can now relax while we're away, right? Umm..NO! We're traveling to Tampa this weekend to watch the FSU vs. USF game, and we are really looking forward to it. Tomorrow we will head to my parents' house and stay with them. Thankfully, they are keeping the boys for us on Saturday night while we attend the game. It will also be nice to sleep all night long (and past 6:30 am) while we're in Tampa. Thanks, Mom & Dad!

So, it's my goal to post less on Facebook and more on here, but we'll see! :) It's just too easy to update Facebook from my phone!

Hopefully, my next post will be a bit more timely...

GO NOLES!

Days like today...

Some days I feel like I can't get ahead, no matter what I try. Then there are days like today, when I feel like I could conquer the world if I wanted to. In this hectic life we lead, these days are few and far between, but when I do get one, I enjoy every single minute of it. This type of day is probably to thank for this blog FINALLY getting started.

I often find myself thinking, "time is flying". I look at my not-quite-two year old, who's ever-expanding vocabulary and big blue eyes amaze me on a daily basis, and my 6 month old little guy, who reminds me so much of his brother, yet has his own unique and wonderful personality, and I hope to remember every second of this time. Yet, I know I won't. So, I hope to find time, somewhere between working, parenting, and going to grad school, to sit down, reflect on our current events, and document all of the wonderful moments that I have been so wretched about recording up to this point.

Stay tuned...