Christmas Activities

With the Christmas holidays, we have been very busy enjoying all of the special events and activities.  The kids have both had Christmas programs - both at school and at the gymnastics program.  Kaleb was super excited about his gymnastics program, telling us the whole week in advance small snippets, but that it was a 'secret' and he couldn't tell us everything!  Their school put on a Christmas Around the World program, which was precious when the Pre-K kids played "Jesus Loves Me" using hand bells!

Playing the bells

Classroom crafts after - focusing on Great Britain in Zachary's classroom

Posing at the end of the Christmas gymnastics program - Kaleb on the left, sitting down.

Hugs with Evan

We did some Christmas baking this year, making cookies for the kids' teachers.  We all had a fun evening making these peanut butter cookies, although we don't do this very often and thus it was a bit of a learning experience for how the ovens in our new house cook (one is very definitely hotter than the other!)  The ones that were a little "browner" were kept at home, and the boys thought they were just fine!

The major highlight for us last week was a visit from Aunt Evelyn, Uncle Ken, Jeff and Niesha!  They brought over perogies for a feast, and they were DELICIOUS!  Thank you Aunt Ev!!  It was super fun to catch up and visit with them.  We have had a problem with our "echo-y" our dining room is, and a coworker had shared a tip that felt can help trap the sound waves, so we put up a wall of brown felt in our dining room and tested it out over Sabbath dinner with the Steinkes, and we have to say it did work!  It isn't our long-term decorating plan, but it'll work over the Christmas holidays while we have a houseful of loved ones!

Our Z-family began arriving this week, so we'll have lots of pictures to post over the next two weeks as we cover our Christmas holidays with family and loved ones, as well as packing in a lot of fun activities!




Hanging out with Uncle Ken!

Building a fort - awesome Christmas present!

Getting to know Aunt Ev and Uncle Ken

The whole crew - a replica of last year's picture!

Phrase of the week:  Elise Da-vi-da!  The boys insist that this is in fact how to sing the song Feliz Navidad, and it is so cute that we just let them enjoy the fun of singing the song!

 

Random pictures:



Feeding herself - although parents have to help get most of the food into her mouth!

Deiningers passed on this little table and zebra chairs as their boys have outgrown it.  Addison thinks that it is quite delightful and loves to sit there!

Christmas art

Christmas time is here!  Addison had some fun over at Miss Jennifer's with her first finger-painting trial.  She did very well letting Jennifer paint her hand and place it on the paper etc.  She then decided enough of the "prim and proper" (SO ADDISON!) and then painted her hair red.  Oh well, it is all about experimentation, right!?

  

This is the "free-form" art version where she just went to town on her creativity!

The version with the masterpiece of her little hands!

Addison has a fetish for putting things around her neck.   Mommy's pantyhose is a normal thing, but the latest was when Addison walked out of Zachary's room with his night-time pull-ups around her neck!  It is like some kind of fashion statement!

The boys have recently discovered the joys of a good old pillow fight.  Kaleb is getting old enough to hold his own a little more, although he still had on his wrist brace at the time, so it was a little harder for him to get some wrist action when he was swinging the pillows.  There was lots of laughing going on, so it is all good.

 

We took Addison out to the soccer field when the boys were at soccer camp.  Devin was out there as well, so the two of them were chasing each other, and the soccer balls, around.  Addison stunned us all when she began to actually kick the soccer ball in a straight line, walking/trotting behind it continuing to keep it going at the same speed by repeatedly kicking it!  The child is so athletically inclined, it is amazing!

 

 

Addison and Devin entertaining themselves.

The boys had their school pictures taken, and we are so pleased to say that they both turned out very well!  It was quite pleasing (although a few horrible school pictures are just par for the course, and everyone has a few in their background that they just cringe whenever they see!)

7 years old

5 years old

Phrase of the week:  Kaleb was bemoaning being told No by Amy one day, and he mutters under his breath "Why are Mom's so cruel??"  Life is so hard when you're 5!!

Not that Amazon needs any more advertising, but we have to include a story about how we LOVE Amazon.  It all started when Kaleb was a baby and we got free Amazon Prime because of the diapers that we would purchase from them.  We eventually gave it up (when it no longer was free), but they ran a special on it a few years later, and we jumped back in with both feet after longing for the days of free 2 day shipping.....  Anyway, we bought a Kindle Fire a year ago, and Zachary was recently playing it and dropped it on the tile floor.  As you can imagine, it shattered the screen.  Karis called Amazon to figure out if it was fixable, and they informed him that it was no longer under warranty but that we were such long-standing good customers that they would extend our warranty and replace the entire Kindle for FREE!  We love Amazon!! (And while we wish that we were paid for this plug, it was entirely free out of our Prime-loving hearts.  Our motto - if it isn't on Prime, do you REALLY need it???!!)

Forgetfulness

How is it that a person can write an entire blog post one weekend, after failing to write one the week before due to illness, and then FORGET to post it!?  Well apparently it is possible for one Amy Z!  So while we were thankful for last week's post, we are forgetful for this one!  Anyway, we have now posted last week's post below!

We had a great week, starting off with a field trip for Karis and the boys to SeaWorld last Friday with school.  That is always a fun time, and a lot of their friends were there, including Bergherms and Hilliards.  They ran around the park, cramming in as much fun as possible!

Zachary, Maddie, Blake, Evan, Hazen kids, Loghann, and Kaleb

We then went back to SeaWorld on Sunday night, with the whole family (Addison's first time) for just a short time to enjoy the Christmas lights and ride a few rides that night.  We met up with the Bergherms and Grodacks, which was fun to enjoy the rides together.

Taking in the sights and sounds of SeaWorld!

Addi on the Teacup Twirl ride while Amy was on the nets with Zachary and Karis' stomach was so thankful that Miss Jenn agreed to take Addison!

The week's excitement continued when Amy's Aunt Marge and Uncle Melvin were here for two days, before heading up to Tennessee for their granddaughter's graduation.  It is always fun to catch up with them, but never long enough!

Addison trying to figure out Uncle Melvin!

Enjoying some reading time with Aunt Marge

Kaleb, what a life - getting a head massage from Grandma!

Always a story to be heard with Uncle Melvin!

Come again soon!

 We are super excited to now have a camera again about the drowning at the beach.  We typically do a ton of research about the latest greatest thing, but this time we decided to save our money and just hopped onto Ebay, and got the exact camera that we had before (which we liked very well) that had barely even been used for a whopping $50 - not too bad compared to the $300 + price it was back when we bought it new!

We are so enjoying the Christmas season - Addison has been doing pretty well with the tree, only pulling down a few ornaments.  We love driving around at night looking at the lights, although Zachary apparently is in the in-between age where he's not young enough to continue screaming "LIGHTS!" but not yet old enough simply to enjoy the loveliness of the lights and the fact that you're spending time with family - so at times he's having to be cajoled into hopping into the van to go look at the lights!

What is it about a decorated tree that always makes a person happy?

Phrase of the week:  Zachary has become quite a sports fanatic and must read the sports scores every day, and discusses with Blake the games that were played.  They have two phrases that they use as they discuss games that just crack us up.  The first is "They STINKED them!"  Amy explained once that it was SKUNKED, but after that it gives her such a chuckle that she no longer corrects him!  The second phrase is "They blew them up!" instead of "They blew them out of the water" - ahh, the joys of these awesome phases of life that they are going through!

Addison has hit her stride as well with new words all of a sudden.  We've gone from not talking at all to having lots of new words, although some are one-hit wonders!  She can say baby, hello, Bruce (once), thank-you (once), up (LOTS).  It is fun to start seeing her talk now!

Enjoying a walk down our road last weekend with Devin and Auntie Heather!

Thankfulness

Even when life seems to be going awry, there is much to be thankful for.  While 2013 has not been the best year for the Z-family, we still have many positive things in our life - like wonderful family and friends, health (for the most part), food, a roof over our heads, cars that don't give us hassles, children that bring smiles to our faces - the list goes on.

This year we had a jam-packed Thanksgiving.  We were planning on a quiet Thanksgiving Day with Amy's Mom and then all of us would join Deiningers for their Thanksgiving meal on Friday evening (as they spent the actual Thanksgiving Day at Busch Gardens).  However, on Thursday, Grodacks texted us to join their feast that evening. 




The camera phone would not properly email the picture Amy took, so she had to snag Corey's picture - thanks Corey! :)

We headed over, including Amy's mom, to Grodacks, and joined Isidros, Bergherms, Braces, and their extended families.  The kids had a great time playing together, and the food was bar-none delicious.  Duncan's Dad did a magic show for the kids, by which they were highly entertained!  It was a great time of visiting and eating (or should we say over-eating?).  Amy and her mom then jumped in the car to go shopping.....Yep, shopping.  WHY????

Well, the why is the Amy has realized that Zachary has been wearing church clothes that are a size too small now for a while, and his feet are growing and the shoe supply is dwindling....and Zachary kept tearing the knees in his pants and thus his supply of pants was nearing panic levels.....So Amy decided to brave the insanity and see if she could fix this situation.  Sadly, Amy and her mom being from Canada have to say that the Boxing Day Sales (day after Christmas) totally ROCK compared to the American's Black Friday.  American's could learn something from Canadians as it relates to how to REALLY put on a sale.  Oh well, she got some shoes, one pair of pants, and then Gymboree helped her out with some good deals on Sabbath shirts.

The next day, she hauled herself out of bed and hit the stores again, grumbling as she went that the deals were just not anything to write home about.  She did hit two consignment stores that were worthwhile for Addison's future clothing needs, and at the one store she put her name in a drawing for a gift card and WON!  Yippee!

Hopefully this is the last time in a while that Amy lets the clothing situation get so dramatic that she has to go shopping on Thanksgiving weekend, but at least she survived with nary a scratch (unlike some lady that was pushed down twice that morning at Walmart (or at least that is the story that Amy heard as she darted into Original Mattress Factory to buy a mattress for the fifth bedroom).

Speaking of which, we're in the process of setting up the 5th bedroom for our company that arrives in 2 weeks (excitement is building!).  The carpet has been laid (it is clear now that the Z's simply love carpet, as we all oohed and ahhed around in our bare feet on the thick carpet), the bed has now been set up, and the bedding is in the process of being put on.  Nothing like having family come to visit to actually motivate you to get yourself in gear and start to actually finish some of these projects! :)

Ready for sleepers!

As mentioned though, we ended our Thanksgiving rounds at the Deiningers, where we once again over-ate (common theme here).  We enjoyed visiting with Al and Marilyn who were here for the week enjoying the grandkids.  Lisa's pecan pie is a slice of heaven, so it was the perfect ending to Thanksgiving!

Zachary's Thanksgiving card

Sound of the week:  WAILING!    While the wailing can occur from any Z-family member at anytime, this week's wailing is from Addison.  We thought that we should memorialize some of her latest - we have determined that Addison is a mover and a shaker - always wants to be on the move, never letting grass grow under her feet.  So, when she realizes that someone (ANYONE) is about to leave, she begins to fuss and cry, trying her best to get down and run over to that person so that they can pick her up and take her with them!

The second time that she employs the wailing technique is when she wants to just be picked up and carried around.  She begins to whine and cry, and runs over in front of you and then will plaster herself against your legs, with a death grip with both hands around your legs as she looks up at you pitifully until you pick her up!

Kaleb attempted to get all of his PJs on his body at once!

They have discovered the joy of building a fort!

 

What's That You Say?

Sorry we missed the blog posting last week, the weekend just went by in a blur and before we knew it, it was time for this week's blog post!  Part of our excuse was that the whole family came down with a nasty illness - starting off with 1-3 days of fevers, that then turned into a lot of phlegm and mucus.  Amy's actually turned into an ear and sinus infection.  Imagine, an adult with an ear infection!  While she's on antibiotics, this germ seems to be a super germ and isn't actually clearing out of her ear.  It is very annoying to be half-deaf! There is as lot of "huh?" going on!

The weather has cooled down now in Florida, so we are enjoying the time spent outdoors.  Zachary has started to play catch with Karis, so it is a perfect time of year!



We headed out for a walk last weekend, and Kaleb decided that walking was for the birds, so he and Addison enjoyed the double stroller - much to Zachary's dismay who wished that we had a triple stroller!  You'll notice in the picture that Karis had sprouted a full beard - for the month of November in honor of prostrate cancer, it is no shave November!  That lasted until we had to head to the Gala last weekend, so off the beard went!  The gala had two entertainers this year - Smokey Robinson and Gladys Knight.  It made for a later time to actually eat, as Smokey Robinson performed before dinner and then Gladys Knight was the "closer" for the evening.  Karis was starving, but we were actually quite disappointed this year in the food, it was quite possibly the worst that we've had in our 13 years of going (although to be fair, not everyone shared our disparaging opinion of the fare)



Grodacks, Deiningers, Biris, Zs and part of the Isidros!

Here is the rest of the Isidros - wouldn't want to miss Allen!

Karis has been busy trying to replace the toilets in the house - they all get plugged very easily, and with the amount of toilet paper that little boys use, we found ourselves having to plunge the toilets more often than we'd like, so he's replacing 3 of them.  The kids have found the boxes to be great fun - turning one of them into a slide!

Phrase of the week:  We've had several memorable conversations with Kaleb lately.  One was with Amy last week while she was on her deathbed with the 102 degree fever - he was adamant that she had to get up and come to his room to snuggle for bedtime.  She encouraged him just to get up into bed with her as she was so sick.  He refused, and she replied "You're being selfish Kaleb, Mommy is really not feeling well" - to which he said "I know I'm being selfish, but I REALLY WANT you to come to MY ROOM! I like my blanket better!"

The next came while he was in the van with Evan and Miss Jennifer.  Evan and Kaleb were having some random conversation and Kaleb stopped to say "I love you Evan!" and Evan replies "I love you too Kaleb!"  Those two are just too precious!  Brings a tear to your eye!

Face Paintings

Last weekend was the first Adventurer campout - the Z-men headed off to Pine Lakes to enjoy sleeping out in a tent while Amy and Addison stayed at home.  The kids of course loved being outside and playing soccer from sun-up to sun-down, and Karis was happy to report that they actually slept pretty well!  The ladies had a relaxing day at home, and headed over to Johnsons for a visit that evening for supper - it is always a treat to visit with wonderful friends as well as not having to cook for oneself! :)

On Sunday, the boys started a soccer league that was organized by the Apopka SDA church - Kaleb's level is Happy Feet and Zachary's is Legends.  It will be every Sunday morning for the next 6'ish weeks or so.  Intramural soccer at FLEC is also winding its way to the conclusion, and the boys have been enjoying it very much.  Zachary is proud that he made 16 goals over the season!

Great action shot!



Kaleb and Kieran battling it out at the net!

Kaleb apparently enjoys having his tongue out as he runs and kicks the ball! :)

 An inaugural event also happened last week - Addison had her face painted for the first time!  Addison rarely sits still, but she was enthralled and didn't move a muscle until they were done! :)

Pretty princess!

Zachary and Blake

Fierce Kaleb and Evan

Phrase of the week:  I wonder who I am going to marry when I'm older?  Amy replied " Only God knows, shall we pray for her"  so then we had a little prayer.  Kaleb replies"  Thanks, I really needed that prayer!"  So concerned about his future spouse! :)

 

Practicing her artistic side with sidewalk chalk!