Both kids are enjoying 5th grade and are doing really well. The first trimester both received honor roll, all B’s or better. We are proud parents. It is nice as well when they both receive awards as it always doesn’t happen. We are happy parents as long as they do their best.
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Over holiday break, Nikki did a soccer camp. It was a soccer camp run by retired soccer players, Abby Wambach, Shannon Boxx, and Christie Rampone. Nikki was star struck. I guess one of them bumped her and said excuse me and Nikki loved that they talked to her. The soccer players signed one item. Nikki decided to have the soccer ball they gave her signed. Here is a pic.
And just like that it is December….I am going to be so sad that I didn’t update this earlier. Nikki has been enjoying club soccer. She eats, breathes, sleeps soccer. It has been a good/bad season. The coach was a bit of a let down. I thought she was going to be amazing but instead she is unfriendly and moody. We try to be as positive as we can be but it kills me that Nikki and a few other girls have been on the bench a lot. I am not going to let this coach burst Nikki’s enthusiasm for soccer. 
We are just loving having a dog. It is work but for the most part he is a great dog. He is so easy going, loving, and ball crazy. Cody brings a ton of joy into our lives.
In September, the kids and probably Bret went to their first Bat Mitzvah. It was really surprised to see how reform the temple was compared to the temple I went too. My temple was reform but compared to this one mine seemed conservative. It was a wonderful Bat Mitzvah, fun dressing up, and partying. Nikki could have danced all night. One thing that was pretty cool is the kids sat up at the bar and had someone getting drinks for them. They loved that! I wonder how many Shirley Temples they drank that night.
September 29th, Nikki got quite a surprise….her braces came off. We went to the appointment not knowing they would come off. We were shocked but what a smile she has. Yes there is a wad of gum in her mouth.
I would say Justin’s highlight in October was that he was finally tall enough to drive the go carts himself at Boomers. He loved it! Bought him a season pass and we have used it a lot. After being able to ride the go carts, Justin decided he wanted his bday party at Boomers.
For Halloween Justin is not much of a person who likes to dress up. He went as “glow stick man”. It actually looked really awesome when it got dark. Nikki dressed up as Alex Morgan. We went trick or treating with some friends. And the kiddos in their almost matching orange shirts.
Kiddos turned 11 and had amazing birthdays. Justin finally got a laptop. Ugh, I didn’t get a picture though. So now when he goes to friends houses, he can take his laptop, DS, and ipad. He is all set for gaming! Nikki finally got a cell phone. She had a better phone than me for a while there. Now she can do musically all the time. Both were so happy with their gifts.
This is the first year for separate birthday parties. Justin took about 10 people to Boomers. He had a great time. I think it ended up being a 5 hour party as there was so much to do there. Of course the highlight for Justin was the go carts. The only problem was a lot of his friends weren’t tall enough to drive them yet. Nikki was able to bring one friend so she had a great time too. Nikki had her party at the Hyatt Newporter. She took 4 friends to the hotel, where we had an adjoining room. The girls had so much fun. Justin took a friend too. We went to the Old Spaghetti Factory where the girls had their own table and we sat with the boys. The waiter wanted to practice his magic skills, so did a little show for us, so cool! The pool was heated and the following day the water slide was on. There was a little theater so the girls did a bunch of shows. Girls wanted to go to the gym so at 10:00 PM, we went to the gym. Finally they went to bed around 1:00AM when the neighbor next door pounded on the wall to be quiet. The hotel was great as there was shuffleboard, huge chess set, and just big areas to play on.
