Marathon prep

The Disney Marathon is less than two weeks away! Chris and I will be running it on January 10th, beginning 5:30AMish. You can track our progress by going to this site:

http://disneyworldsports.disney.go.com/dwws/en_US/events/eventDetail/detail?name=WdwMarathonDetailPage&pid=pip-4

Put in your cell phone number and it will text you as we cross certain points. Just don't look for fabulous times. Our goal is to finish. We're shooting for 5 hours, but just finishing will be fabulous!

Dance Recital Time

The Y Dance program had a Christmas mini-recital. It's the first time they have done a recital during Christmas time, and it preceeded the high school dance recital. Benjamin and Alexander were both in it, and did great! It's hard to tell from the video, but they really looked like they were enjoying themselves!

Alexander performed a jazz piece. He felt a bit unprepared - he had missed two of the rehearsals right before the recital - but he did a great job anyway!

Benjamin was in 3 different dances. His favorite was this modern piece.

The hanging of the pictures...finally

Yesterday we finished hanging pictures in the downstairs. Our Christmas stockings are hanging on the stairs, waiting to be filled.
Fish tank, with two pics above it

We found a great place for our Weinrich chocolate picture - right by the back sliding glass door.

This is probably my favorite part of our house - I LOVE our new washer/dryer.

This is probably the boys' favorite part of our house, and our only true splurge. 52" plasma TV.

We opened one Christmas present early, at mom's suggestion. Aunt Denise and Uncle Bob bought us these three awesome pictures of the boys. They were taken on the cruise, while they were dressed up in western clothing.

Our family portrait, which we bought on our summer cruise, hangs in the dining room. It's big!

Living room, with my Florida Christmas tree by the window.

More living room

Dining room - including my angel curio cabinet and our portrait. This was Grandma's table, the one where she kept all of her plants in front of the window. We also have her embroidered chairs.

Moving day, part 2

Last Monday night, the movers came with mom and dad's furniture. They arrived at 9:30 PM, and were out by 10:45. Although it's hard to tell from these pictures, the moving van was HUGE! It was an 18 wheeler, chugging through our neighborhood. The movers were very efficient and set everything up for us. The house is almost arranged and we hope to be taking interior pictures soon!

Alexander's birthday party

Here is the cake Alexander requested. He wanted a Strawberry cake. I used a white cake recipe and added strawberry jello mix, which turned out quite good. He wanted purple icing!
Alexander had 3 of his friends (and 3 of Benjamin's friends) sleep over that night. Lynnlee and Tanner also came by for cake and some of the activities.

Blowing out the candles with gusto

It really was good!

Wild Holly

I finally completed my "memory" book of our old home. Take a look at it here:

http://www1.snapfish.com/projectshareewelcome/l=3838988015/p=959141260838334260/g=1283235/cobrandOid=1000/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/otsc=SYE/otsi=SPBKlink/

Christmas, muppets style

Benjamin's Christmas Band Concert

This is the First Christmas March that was performed at Benjamin's band concert on Friday. They have really improved since their first concert. These kids have been playing their instruments since October!

An Ode to Jonathan

It has been so much fun to watch Jonathan grow up. I think we appreciate it much more, knowing he is our last one. It becomes bittersweet, in a way. Jonathan has had a huge year. This year, he lost his first tooth, learned how to swim, learned how to ride a bike, and learned to read. First grade is such a wonderful year. He's developing quite a sense of humor, and boy, can he talk. Just ask his teacher.

Last week, he got an unexpected (and unwanted) chance to prove just how grown-up he is. It was a day of pouring down rain. Alexander had been picked up early from school to go to a doctor's appointment, so Jonathan rode the bus home alone. No big deal.

Because of the terrible weather, I went straight from the doctor's to the bus stop. We arrived there at 2:25 for a 2:45 pick-up time. I looked down the street, but didn't see him. And why should I? We were there 20 minutes early. I waited and waited, but the bus didn't come. Finally, it was 2:45. Traffic had been bad for me, so I thought the bus could be late. I had a funny feeling, though, so on a whim I picked up my phone and called home.

"Hello?" Jonathan answered. I couldn't believe it. I quickly drove the half mile down my street to find him sitting calmly in the kitchen, a little bit damp. He had walked all the way home by himself, let himself in through the garage keypad, taken off his wet coat and shoes in the garage, closed the garage, and come in the house to wait for me. Incredible. He's six years old.

Since then, I have lodged a complaint with the transportation office. After questioning the other boy at our bus stop (a fifth grader), I have discovered that the bus driver ran the route backwards, dropping our stop off first instead of last. Since my complaint, they've had substitute bus drivers. Hmm.

I've also taught Jonathan how to dial the phone and call my cell, something we should have done a long time ago. We have praised him for his maturity. He now seems to think he can stay home alone by himself. While that won't happen, it sure is nice to know how responsible he can be when something like this happens. He isn't my little baby anymore.

Cousins

My favorite picture - all of them ages 6-11.