Merry Christmas

WE wish you a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas,
WE wish you a Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year.



We ate, We laughed & We opened gifts,
it was a wonderful day. Will finally "got it"
so it was fun seeing Christmas through his eyes.
Wyatt got his very first bike and since his feet
can't reach the petals he might get it again for his
birthday in July (just kidding mom). The boys
got a kitchen & shopping cart from Santa...this was
a really big hit.


We shared a wonderful dinner with Roonie &
Pawpaw, and our friends TJ & Elisa with their
girls Katelin & Elina, we were so blessed to have
everyone here with us, it made the day even
more special.

Some of our Christmas traditions are:
1. Go to a Christmas Eve church service
2. Open 1 gift on Christmas eve...this year it was
Santa pj's for the boys
3. On Christmas morning I get up and make
monkey bread for breakfast
4. Happy birthday Jesus cake
5. The last gift we open is the most
beautifully wrapped, inside is the baby Jesus
who gets placed in the manger to remind us
why we celebrate Christmas

We hope your Christmas was very special!!!!!

Roonie & Pawpaw

The holidays would not be complete without Grandparents!!!! Roonie & Pawpaw made the very long drive from Louisiana to spend Christmas with us. After being on the road for 2 days we were so excited when they finally arrived. During their visit we celebrated Pawpaw's birthday and Christmas.
Will loves having Roonie here and requests that she read him his books at night before bed. She taught him a special song to sing on Christmas Morning. Mom had mentioned they wanted to take the boys somewhere special for some "bonding time" so they ended up going to the park. From the pictures it looks like they had a lot of fun.
Pawpaw is very handy and he worked on some projects around the house for me. One afternoon he actually installed new child safety locks on my kitchen cabinets....Wyatt had figured out the old ones...I needed an upgrade and pawpaw was just the man to do it. I had no idea it was going to take several hours.... THANK YOU PAWPAW!!!!! What a relief to have that done. He even took the boys to the park & out for lunch one morning so that me and mom could go out for some "girl" time.

The week seemed to fly by and we were not ready for them to go but were thankful that they made the trip. Christmas would not have been the same without them here.

The Bliss Christmas Dance

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Breakfast with Santa

One of my girlfriends had invited us to join her and her daughters for a pancake breakfast with Santa that a local church was hosting. I didn't have high expectations, I thought there would be a small crowded room with a long buffet line moving slowly for some cold pancakes...but I was ok with that, this was going to be a fun outing for the boys. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised though.... the breakfast was a fund raiser for the church's youth group so the youth actually served the pancakes to everyone. The tables were nice and festive and there wasn't a crowd. The youth did a great job serving and making sure we had everything we needed during our breakfast. When we were finished eating Santa was sitting in the front of the room where the children could go up and see him. That did not go over too well with Will but I was determined to get a picture with Santa anyway. Instead of pictures with Santa, I ended up with pictures of myself trying to keep Will from escaping, with Santa "looming" in the background. I guess there is always next year.

The Live Nativity

One of the local churches here had a live nativity for the community to come out and enjoy during the holidays. My dad came along with me and the boys for the fun. First you walked through scenes of the bible where the Christmas story was told and then you end up at a small petting zoo. The boys loved it, especially Wyatt, he was hugging every animal out there. This was a special evening really got us in the Christmas spirit.

The Christmas Card Picture

I love sending out Christmas cards every year. In the past I have enjoyed making cards to send out but because of time constraints I now opt for a cute holiday photo of the boys and I try to fit in a personal handwritten note. I personally find this therapeutic...what can I say I just enjoy it. Maybe it is because I love receiving Christmas cards so much. I love hearing from friends and family and getting updated pictures.

For the past several weeks I have been trying to get the "perfect" picture of the boys for our Christmas card. It has not been an easy task, in fact it has been down right difficult and frustrating. Wyatt is touching Will or Will doesn't want to sit by Wyatt or Wyatt is looking at Will or Wyatt is crying or ...well you get the idea and these pictures speak for themselves.

So as Christmas draws closer my quest for the "perfect" picture changes to just getting a picture of both boys that will fit in the frame of the card. One afternoon while out walking Hershey I bring the camera & santa hats with the hope that today is the day... I am getting the boys positioned, ready to place the hats atop their heads, Bill has the camera ready, I jump up and down, sing, dance, act silly, do anything I can to get both boys attention and make them smile then click...I hear it, Bill says "I think we got a good one". After our walk I come inside to download the picture and this is what I see..........

Are you kidding me!!!!!!!

Florida Oceanographic Center

This past weekend I took the boys and our nephew Daniel to the Florida Oceanographic Center for a few hours. We had never been and didn't know what to expect but it turned out to be a fun outing for us. There was a big Sting Ray pool where the boys got to touch the sting rays. There were game fish to feed and shells to be dug in the sand. We will definitely be going back.

Happy Thanksgiving

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble, that is what we did...Turkey, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie..these are just a few of the things we enjoyed this Thanksgiving. We had the pleasure of sharing a meal with some of our neighbors, it was a wonderful evening.

I have been trying to teach Will about being "thankful" for the people and things in our life. I want him to know how blessed our lives are and that every thing we have is from God and we should never take for granted the things he has blessed us with. At night before we say our prayers I will ask him who he wants to thank God for. These are some of his responses mommy, daddy, Jomondo (his stuffed dog),Ms. Peach & Ms. Jeannie (his teachers), Roonie & Pawpaw, Pop & Ms. Tara, and Babi. Some of the more interesting "things" have been candy, Thomas the train, his closet door and the picture of the helicopter on his wall. It is very cute to see what he comes up with.

I will end this post by telling what I am thankful for....
* Jesus Christ, my savior & provider he loves me in spite of myself, shows me compassion and grace and is my purpose for this life.
* My husband Billy, my soul mate and best friend. He makes me laugh and is my biggest fan.
* My boys....they just make me smile. When I feel their little arms around my neck, it is the greatest feeling.
* My parents, they love unconditionally...me and my boys
* Our nephew Daniel who spent this Thanksgiving week with us, he was such a big help to me around the house and with the boys, we love having him in our home.
* My home, food in our pantry, beds, clean water, A/C & electricity
* Friends and neighbors that truly make Palm City our home
These are only a few of the things I am thankful for, we are so blessed. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Fall Festival

The church we attend hosted a Fall Festival earlier this month. There was food, music, exotic animals & bouncy houses. Will had a blast on the bouncy obstacle course. Wyatt enjoyed the exotic animals, the poor alligator didn't know what to do with Wyatt grabbing at his head and eyes...good thing his mouth was taped. It was a beautiful day the boys enjoyed the playground equipment and we had the opportunity to visit with some of our church family. By the time we left the boys were exhausted. It was a great day.

Boo....Happy Halloween

We had been working up to this day since the end of August. I will tell you the story. Last year I found the perfect costume for Will...Thomas The Tank Engine, I was so excited to take him trick or treating one problem though...the costume terrified him, I would pull Thomas out of the box and Will would run the other way, if I tried to put it on him real fast while he wasn't paying attention he would scream, I really think it scared him. He even had a Thomas tee shirt that he stopped wearing after I brought out the costume. So last year we didn't go trick or treating, I was lucky to get a picture of Wyatt dressed in his "Pea Pod" next to Will sitting beside his Thomas costume.

So come this August I started telling Will about trick or treating, dressing up and going to get candy (this part he really liked), I was trying to figure out what I could dress him up in that would seem more like his normal clothes rather than a costume so I was leaning toward something like a doctor wearing scrubs or a golfer. One day I was talking to him about the Thomas costume and he seemed to act like he would try it on so I pulled it out to see. Of course he didn't want anything to do with it. The next week my mom came for a visit and as we were talking about a costume she could could sew for him Thomas came up again and Will asked if he could wear Thomas and go get some candy....who am I to disappoint my sweet boy so I once again go and pull out Thomas with the certainty that he will again refuse to put it on but to my delight he cheerfully stepped into Thomas, put on the cap and then asked for some candy...so what did I do after jumping up and down hugging my mom and repeating over and over "I cannot believe it"...I got him some candy.

Finally the big day arrived that night we arranged to meet up Brandon & Gabby...some of his pals in our community and they were off. Pop and Ms. Tara joined us for the festivities as well. It was a quiet night, not as much activity as I have seen on past Halloweens. The kids had a great time. And when all was said and done the boys were exhausted

And to not leave Wyatt out...he was very easy, since he is still young enough to not have an opinion about his costume, I got to pick. He was a very cute lion, he even learned how to roar.

Pumpkin Patch

Fall is in the air...Wyatt's Mom's Morning Out class met up at the pumpkin patch for some early morning fun. There was a chill in the air which was a nice change for us, in the past few years when we have gone to the pumpkin patch it has been so hot we are sweating before we can pick out a pumpkin to take home. I guess the cold weather had its downside though, the church that hosts the pumpkin patch was low on pumpkins, they were supposed to get another shipment in but the pumpkins were destroyed by a freeze in New Mexico. The few pumpkins they did have were strategically placed for optimal picture taking. It was cute watching all the 1 year olds run

around and I was able to get some cute pictures.

Costume Parade

Halloween morning at Will's school they had a spirit rally where the kindergarten and pre-k classes got to "parade" in their costumes through the big kids. Bill, Wyatt and I went out to join the fun. Will walked hand in hand with his teacher Ms. Peaches and seemed to enjoy all the attention. He looked very cute waving at all the big kids. Afterwards Bill & I did a little trick or treating of our own at Dunkin Doughnuts....ahhhh coffee and doughnuts, it was a perfect morning.

Orlando

So last weekend we headed up to Orlando for a few days, we had visions of basking in the sun by the pool, letting the boys swim and wearing themselves out. But unfortunately Friday the weather was not on our side, it was cloudy and raining. We right away had to figure out a plan because being inside all morning was not an option with the boys, they would be climbing the walls before lunch. We had to come up with something quick!!!!! I remembered one of my friends telling me about them spending a morning at Disney not too long ago just visiting the resorts and catching rides on the buses and monorail so I called her up to get all the details. It was settled we were going to Disney. Since Will & Wyatt are so young a morning spent riding buses and the monorail was very exciting. They had no idea they were not getting the full "Disney" experience.

We parked at Downtown Disney and caught a bus to the Contemporary Resort, where we walked around and visited the arcade then hopped on the monorail for a quick ride. After we got back to the resort we jumped back on the bus to Downtown Disney and had lunch at McDonalds. It was a new adventure for us and the best part was that we didn't have to pay for anything other than lunch at Mickey D's and of course the $2 kiddie train ride that Will took at Downtown Disney. I love finding fun inexpensive things to do as a family, Bill and I joked about how long we could do this instead of actually going into the parks. I think we can milk this for several more years for sure.

One of the other highlights of the weekend was that I was able to go have some "girl time" with one of my dear friends Mindy. She lives there in Orlando, her husband and children were going to be away so it was the perfect opportunity for us to get together and catch up. She is a dear friend and sister in Christ. It was refreshing for me as a mom to have a night away and I think Bill enjoyed his time with the boys too. I was very excited to see them the next day though, and I think I missed them more than they missed me...spoken like a true mommy. Then next 2 days the weather was sunny so we were able to get out an enjoy the pool. It was a fun filled weekend away.

Mommys Birthday

Now I am officially 33. I had a wonderful birthday, the day was spent with my mom and my boys, what else could I have asked for, it was a great day. We celebrated at Bono's Barbecue...one of my favorite restaurants and then with a yummy Mint Chocolate Chip Baskin Robbins Ice Cream cake...another one of my favorites. Will sang me the Happy Birthday Song over and over again.

My mom gave me one of the best gifts, an album called "Dear Daughter", it is a scrapbook that highlights some special times and people in my life. She really put a lot of time into it and I just love it. We are both very sentimental and she knew it would be special to me. I am so thankful for Annie Roonie, she is my mom but she is a very good friend as well...that is something that is truly priceless. She was here for the week, we had so much fun with her...especially Will, he was asking for Roonie to give him his bath and Roonie to read him books and for Roonie to come play with him....and so on. She and Bill would go fishing...they got up early one morning to head out before the crack of dawn and wouldn't you know it Roonie snagged what Bill was calling the "biggest bass he had ever seen" it got away of course when the line snapped. We did see it again the next week....that is another story in itself...one that Bill will have to share. We will call that post "The Big One that Got Away".

Anyway I will now end my birthday post on a positive note...I had a wonderful day thanks to my loving family and friends. Thanks to everyone who sent cards and happy birthday e-mails and to my dad & Ms. Tara for the yummy Bliss chocolate. I am blessed to have you in my life.