Novemeber 8. 2015. The kids had a party at a trampoline place for their birthday party. They had such a fun time. Nikki had been wanting a balance beam for her birthday and Justin wanted a go cart. The go cart surprise was blown when Justin found the delivery by the front door. So we gave both gifts early, Love seeing their little happy faces.
Considering it is almost April I may not remember much from Christmas. Love Christmas morning with the kids. It is so fun! We put our tree this year in the family room since there is a pool table in the living room and no seats. It was nice to have the tree in the room we spend the most time in. Nikki made just a beautiful frame for Xmas and picked out a picture of her and Justin to put in it. She also got him a video game he had wanted, no surprise he wanted a video game. Justin got Nikki a soccer bag she had been wanting. Love their faces when they get exactly what they want. Nikki wanted a go pro camera and she got something similar she wanted. Justin’s main gift he wanted was Anki Overdrive Race car set. Kind of like slot cars but uses the ipad. Amazing technology. Bret replaced my digital picture frame with a bigger one. I just love it and I think I could stare it all day!!! The pics that come up bring back so many good memories. This was our last Christmas with our precious Zoe. I think we were lucky enough to have Zoe for the last 8 Christmas’s. So Justin has always been so silly with underwear, never wears it. He does wear it to school but takes it off as fast as possible. So we had to get him underwear for a Christmas gift, too funny!
I have discovered it is 4th grade when school gets more serious and it is missing the fun. In the past the kiddos have had holiday parties with lots of activities, not anymore. I wouldn’t even call it a party; they got to decorate cookies and make a bookmark, woo hoo!
The kids went out with grandma/pa to celebrate their wedding anniversary. They dressed up and looked so cute. Justin had to wear athletic pants as he outgrew his jeans. He never wears pants so I hate buying them. He still looks handsome even though he has athletic pants on and Nikki looks so pretty in a dress!
I love Halloween. Love decorating and the fun behind it. I waited to get pumpkins and it was crazy trying to find pumpkins to carve. We tried about 5 stores and a pumpkin patch. Even that pumpkin patch was out of them. Finally we went to another pumpkin patch and they had some left. I have blocked out how much that the pumpkins cost but sometimes it is not about money. The kids loved carving their pumpkins and we loved seeing what they came up with for faces. Both kids pretty much did their own pumpkins. Justin didn’t want to touch the guts though-Nikki helped him out. Justin carved the entire thing himself though. On Halloween night Nikki went to a friends house who was doing a haunted house. Since Nikki is so comfortable at Ava’s house we took Justin to his buddies Evan’s house. We had pizza with them and then went trick or treating. Bret and I popped between both kids. I was a little sad Nikki didn’t join us for trick or treating but she had so much fun so that is all that matters. I will enjoy being with the kids for as long as they want me around. Bret was a huge hit as “Billy Bob”. He was creepy and probably gave some people nightmares. It doesn’t seem too scary until you actually look at the face and it is CREEPY. We didn’t even want to touch Bret even though we knew it was him but Billy Bob is just creepy.
Another year of family camp. I was a little worried that the kids would be tired of it. They proved me wrong-they still loved it and so did we. Even without friends able to join us we still had so much fun. The highlight was gaga ball-both kids could not get enough of it. Both kids were on fire and definitely one to be reckoned with. It was the usual stuff there; bb guns, archery, paint sling shots, panning for gold, pumpkin carving, trick or treating….etc. Nikki carved her Mr. Floppy Head Pumpkin. For trick or treating, Justin dressed up as a crazed sports fan. We found the helmet and built the costume around it. Nikki was a pirate so I copied her and dressed up as a pirate too on Halloween. Love the memories we make at family camp.
Back in October Nikki participated in a cheer camp. The Northwood High School Cheerleaders teach the young girls some cheers and they actually get to cheer at a high school football game. It was really cute. I am still smiling at seeing Nikki have so much fun. She did it with a few friends which always makes it more fun.
She says she loves soccer more but it was a fun opportunity for her.
My husband is the best. My hard drive crashed and he got my computer up and running for me again. It amazes me how good he is at repairing and updating my computer. It is a bit of a learning curve as some programs were updated but look completely different. As I am getting older I definitely get a little intimidated and whine that I want my computer back to the original programs.
Anyway I have lots of catching up to do on this blog. Justin has decided to play the cello at school. Such a big instrument but lucky it is pretty light. He is excited about it and seems to be enjoying it. They will start using the bow next week. Nikki is liking vocals a lot. Her teacher seems fun and she keeps mentioning he gets “off topic” a lot.
It was red ribbon week at school recently, say no to drugs. During that week, the kids got to wear their favorite hats and crazy hair day. Hard to make boys hair too crazy. I also told Justin he could get the Chip hat when it was hat day at school. So we ran to CA Adventure just to buy him a hat. I didn’t realize that Disney wouldn’t have it online or in their stores in the mall. It was also walk to school day where we all meet at Northwood Park.
Well it is official we have upper graders. 4th grade as been quite the adjustment. More homework, more test, longer day, etc. Both seem to have great teachers. Justin seems a little more strict but both are great. I decided to have Nikki use my hair dresser. It was time for a haircut from someone who can really deal with curly hair. He did an amazing job. He straightened it but Nikki still prefers her curls. She is so beautiful no matter how her hair is. Ever since getting cut she has been wearing her hair up a lot and it is now curling so pretty. Here are the kiddos the 1st day of school.
They both had a great first day. Justin has Miss Kretsinger and Nikki has Mrs. Walsh. I don’t know much about the 4th grade teachers. I am sure it will be a great year.
Now the kids are getting older, I have noticed that their creative play has gone away a bit. They are wanting to watch videos or play Minecraft. It rarely rains in Southern CA. When it does the kids get back their creativity and are silly as can be. I miss those crazy days. The pictures say it all:
We got home from Boston and Todd and gang were in town, staying at Grammy’s. Nikki was so nervous to see Henry and Megan but it was so silly as they just caught up where they left off. Seeing the cousins together makes me wish they lived closer. They had so much fun swimming in Grammy’s pool, going to Legoland, Safari Park, and just hanging out. The cousins got along so well and loved being in the pool together. The kids did sparkler together and ate ice cream-perfect summer.
Legoland was really fun! The kiddos had a great time in the water park. Unfortunately I didn’t take my big camera but did capture a cell phone pic Nikki, Justin, and Meghan loved the water slides. They all hung out in the lazy river. The water park was way more crowded than the park itself.
The safari park was great. The kiddos loved having their cousins with them. Even the car ride there was fun. They were playing hot potato with a beach ball.
We can’t wait to see them again-it was sad when they left. It is funny how the kids got along so well but Nikki and Justin really hasn’t asked to call or email Meghan and Henry. The excitement of summer was the first month of the summer, Boston trip, cousins, etc. It took us a while to get into the swing of summer after everyone went home.