Candice & Todd's blog: So absolutely, ridiculously behind..... Here are December's AND January's posts!

This hasn't happened before. It's been more than 2 months between posts?! 2 months!
So, it seems that the only time to blog is during my school breaks. Problem is - with our December break - we were travelling... and by the time getting home / trying to get things back in order from the trip / running around with our two active kids / lesson planning / etc... there was no time to write and post! School breaks seem to be the new pattern. In fact, this December and January "installment" is being typed during our February break. (better late than never....)

Just after Thanksgiving - but Christmas related - we went to a local production of the Nutcracker. (Isabella was beside herself because she got the autographs in her playbill of some of the main characters + a photo of her with two high school girls that babysit sometimes. (They are the reason we went... to support them.) Later in the holiday season, our elf-on-the-shelf brought Isabella a nutcracker AND she got a new Nutcracker book to read. The theme went throughout the entire holiday season for us.

After the play, we went to the same tree farm that we visited last year for the first time. Todd hurt his back, so Mercer actually helped out this year with the cutting. It's a nice tradition... hopefully we can keep it up in the years to come.

Our most memorable early December highlight: We had SNOW! Lots of it. About 8” +/- ...and it was the good stuff... not one of our typical Atlanta ice storms, but FLUFFY, light snow! Mercer got out of school early. Todd went to pick him up. As usual, traffic around the square was bad, so the guys did end up walking part of the way (only a mile this time)… much better than last time there was a big storm!

Isabella and I got out of school only a little early, but we made it home with no problem. Here she is greeted by Hip-Hop when we got home. One thing that was soooo cool to see: Hip-Hop LOVED the snow! He had a blast playing in it! So did the kids.

We had better clothing for them this time which allowed them to hang out and play in the cold stuff longer. (The ski bibs really made a difference!) We had a legit snowman this year + a snow dog. It stayed on the ground long enough to go play again (and again). The sledding was not ideal because it was too fluffy, but there were lots of snowball fights. :) Mercer and Todd are in the back of the photo having their own snowball fight.

Mother nature thinned out the trees at the corners of our back yard that lean over from our neighbors yards. Also, a fence that separates our yard from our back-door-neighbor's yard came down in one area. Otherwise, we had no damage thankfully.

The snow fell on the Friday before my birthday. It was cold, but the sun came out the next day -- enough to melt the majority of the snow on the roads. So we went out to a Hibachi dinner. The kids don't really like the fire. Isabella buried herself into me and Mercer left the table altogether and isn't anywhere to be found in the "fire" photos!

By Monday, most of the snow was gone, but Mercer's school district closed for the day. He came to school with me because my school was operating as normal. (Well, we had a sewer pump break and were in alternate locations for school during repairs -- so not really normal -- but no cancellation for us.)

At the end of the week, we had Isabella's 5 year check-up (a few weeks after her actual birthday). She is, of course, progressing very well and is doing great in all areas. She is still on the small side compared to other kids her age, but she has always been on the small side and her height/ weight are within proportion to each other.

(Her stats: _________ ) We had some psychological and developmental tests done separately because of the trouble she was in previously at school and based on some things that the preschool director suggested. Isabella has ADHD as well - she also has the impulsivity presentation (which we suspected) but she is also really really smart.... which we thought as well. The testing didn't tell us anything that we didn't know, but it did confirm things that we thought and gives us some ideas of what's going on in her head / how to better manage her educational experience. Back in Sept/ October, she was pushing the limits in a classroom that did not have enough structure. Things are waaaaay more in-check now that there's a new / very experienced teacher running the class. This teacher is also very dedicated to pushing spelling and reading with the kids. This new teacher, Mrs. Helen, says that Isabella will absolutely be kindergarten-ready. She already knows how to spell certain words: November, December, Christmas, red and one. (and she tells people this all the time... as well as her name, her age, sometimes my phone number, and information about her brother and dog). She is NOT shy - that's for sure.

Here are some photos of her throughout the season (baking and at the live nativity at our church). And here's a quick mention of some things that she says that are cute: granoculars (instead of binoculars), leg sleeves (for pants) and knee-pit (the area behind your knee).

She also likes to sing. She sings mostly in the car on our way to/from school, but also at home, at church (seen in the champagne colored dress) and at school (seen below in green in their Christmas program). She sings all of the time! *UNDERSTATEMENT*

And, she makes up her own songs. Sometimes she makes them up in Spanish. When she sings in English, it's a cool little way to gain some insight into what she's thinking:

- "I love my family all the time on the weekends....." (this one cracks me up.... what about during the rest of the week?)

- "I try to be good...."

- "I got in trouble for hitting brother so I won't do that again....I promise"

She sings regular songs too - just the ones she makes up come from her life experiences. :)

One of my favorite places to sing: singing carols IN church (not the door-to-door thing). We invited a friend of Mercer's, Sean, over to join us for ginger-bread decorating before going to our church's carol sing with him and his mom, Renee. It was nice to spend a little extra time with this friend & his mom, because they were moving to another state at the end of the month. :-(

And - speaking of singing.... Mercer actually signed up to sing in his school's chorus. The 4th and 5th graders have a group called the Singing Stingers. He was - admittedly - a little upset after getting into it because they practiced once a week and he missed a PE class. Otherwise, however, he had a good time. They got to do some cool stuff (like go Christmas caroling around businesses on the square one day - during school - followed by a pizza party at a restaurant). One performance we were able to see: they performed at the tree-lighting up on the square.

This was the season of flying by the seat of our pants / things "almost" didn't happen.... as usual.

We lucked out that we got to sneak in an impromptu visit with Santa that same night as the tree lighting / Mercer's singing Stingers performance. Otherwise, we probably would not have been able to seen him (and sweet Mrs. Claus) this season!

Even our Christmas card photos almost didn't happen. Thankfully, Todd took the kids to the square one day after church and took a few photos in front of the big tree. The "trash" in the background, of course, was edited out.

Many of the Christmas cards - after printing - did not go out. <sigh> I am seriously thinking about sending them out with next year's card to those who didn't get the 2017 one. Ha!

School ended on the Wednesday before Christmas this year for M as well as Isabella and myself. We rented a mini-van starting Thursday in order to drive to NC and NJ for the week.

Before we hit the road, however, we had a little Christmas celebration of our own at home.

Our first stop for our trip up north: Liberty, NC. We stayed with my mom.

Somehow, we only snagged this ONE photo of the kids at my mom's house.... we did not even get a photo with my mom.

hmmm... not sure how that happened?!

Instead of visiting (great) Grandma and Grandpa at their house, Grandma went to the rehabilitation center about a week before our visit. Here are a couple of photos of Mercer and Isabella up at the rehabilitation center lobby.

Look - a nutcracker!

Grandma had lost quite a bit of weight and was very weak. We went up there a couple of times during our stay in NC to see her. Somehow we don't have any photos while there of Grandma or Grandpa either.

In Liberty, we visited Aunt Becky and Uncle Tony.

(The only photo snagged was of Todd and Mercer picking pecans for the first time while Isabella slept in the car). Uncle Mel stopped by for a visit while we were at my mom's too.

Later, Aunt Becky had a surprise guest - my cousin Josh - visit her. She brought him over to hang out for awhile. HE took a photo and sent it to me.... otherwise there wouldn't have been a photo there either!

[****At the time of this post in February... Grandpa is now in the rehabilitation center too. He's been there a couple of weeks and they moved him into Grandma's room. She's not thrilled that she no longer has a private room, but I think it's sweet that they're in there together.... he was up there / hanging out and visiting in her room all the time anyways. I believe that the two of them are scheduled to come home -- perhaps later this month? Grandma is also doing better than she was in December. She has been eating / gaining some weight back and gaining strength.****]

Our next stop on the road trip was to NJ, but, not our usual visit to Mountain Lakes. Rose Marie is in a condo now and cannot host the family, so we had Christmas at Aunt Tonia's instead. She went all-out on decorating. (Ryan's girlfriend helped a lot too.) It was very festive and relatively quiet.... until all of the cousins arrived. (cousins to our kids, that is... nieces and nephews to us.)

Cousin Tara flew in from California. She and Isabella "fought" the whole time. Whew... they were a pair. Both like to argue. Both are always right. It was actually hilarious to watch Tara seriously engage in this banter with Isabella. Usually, Todd and I are just too tired to argue.

Jim and Becky came up from DC along with their kids, cousins Nate and Marley. These photos are courtesy of Becki.... her kids are really sweet with ours. Nate and Mercer. Marley and Isabella. LOVE IT!

Bobby was already there when we arrived; Cousin Sam came down from north Jersey. A few of the family members (including two cousins - Zach and Meagan) were missing. Isabella had to crush on someone. This trip, it was Sam, as her usual crush -- cousin Zach -- was in Ireland with his dad and sister.

Although two of the cousins and "big Rory" were travelling, It was still plenty loud and boisterous.

It is always a lot of work to get up there, but when we do and everyone's together, it is fun for us and especially for the kids.

Isabella's big gifts: a hatchimal and a scooter (which she and Mercer rode through Tonia's house... no kidding!)

Mercer got some cars, toys and game stuff, but he really seemed to love this hat with built-in-beard the most! (He still loves this silly hat months later... funny what they latch onto~)

Holy cow - he looks like cousin Ryan!

On our way back to Georgia, we were able to visit my friend Cindy and the boys in South Carolina. This "passing through" visit is always too short, but it is great to hang out / stretch our legs after travelling, and play hard! The 3 boys played hard outside mostly.... no photos there.

Isabella, our animal lover, wanted to stay inside because they have some new pets. It hard to believe Cindy allows this in her house, but they have RATS!

(I was told at an animal exhibit Isabella and I went to a long time ago that rats make excellent pets. I guess it's true?!)

We were pretty wiped out after that trip. Hip-Hop was thrilled to see us come home too! We have found a good spot to take him when we travel and are grateful that he gets to run around and get socialization instead of being locked in his crate all day. (he even got to go to a birthday party while there + they dressed up the dogs for Christmas photos!) xoxo

We made it home well before New Year's, however, we had a quiet evening at home with the kids... until midnight, then the noisemakers and horns came out. There were events going on up at the square this year, but it was just too cold and rainy to go up.

In January, we had some false starts and stops for getting back into the groove of things... there was ice and more SNOW!

What a cold winter we've had! Our pond has even frozen over multiple times. Check this out... Hip-Hop can stand on the ice!!

(and there's a later shot below of the frozen pond with snow on top... the fence in the back has been repaired!)

We played in the snow again (and tried out additional winter clothes). We also did some things that we had not done previously... like making snow angels and making snow ice cream!!

My school called it -- and we missed a couple of days there which is a miracle because our head of schools rarely calls it! Once my school was back in session, Mercer came to school with me again as his school system was out longer. Mercer actually came to my 4th grade "Building Arts" class. It was interesting teaching him in a classroom setting!

We missed the sign-up for Isabella's gymnastics for the winter season. Signed up the day after registration opened and it was already full.... so... we will try to be quicker in the spring and sign up the day registration opens! At least she's been involved in mixed martial arts since the fall / over the winter. I just started in January too! We both go (at overlapping times) on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school in the dojo there. It is super convenient!

Mercer had basketball, thankfully, to keep him active this winter. He moved up to the
"10 and Under" league this winter. Things get more competitive each time he moves up and it's amazing to see the speed and athleticism of the boys playing at this age.

Mercer started out with some trepidation, however, became a more aggressive defender as the season moved on. He even sank a 3 pointer once this season... which he was pretty proud of. The other parents and his coach all commented on how much growth he showed over the course of the season. His coach also encouraged him to attend some basketball camps throughout the year instead of only playing in the winter. We will see!

They ended the season strong - making it to the playoffs. The regular season came to a close at the end of January... the playoffs began at the beginning of February. They played hard, but got knocked out early in the tournament. Most of his teammates will move up to the next league, but thankfully, Mercer has another year in this one. It was a fun season and we are excited to see how much more he grows in the sport next year.

One other winter thing that takes place every year: pinewood derby racing for Cub Scouts. I got to go with Mercer to help him pick out the shape to be cut and picked out some of the decals to put on it. After that, he and Todd sanded it down, painted it and added the wheels and weights. The derby was a little crazy this year in terms of attending the race. I had an all-day meeting at church - which happened to be in the same building as the derby.

I was able to register and drop off the cars first thing in the morning for him & Isabella. (His next to one of his den member's cars. There were a few more added to the mix for the 4th grade boys a little later in the morning. Isabella's is the pink spider girl car. There were a lot more "outlaw" cars added too.) Mercer missed his qualifying race because he was at basketball.

I had a lunch break during my meeting and popped over to the room with all of the boy scouts & was texting Todd the play-by-play action of each of Mercer's events. 1st place. 2nd place. Another 1st place win... he was going to the finals! (I even caught Isabella's "outlaw" car race. Her car was the same as last year's - spider girl - we just affixed a super hero character onto the car. Hers was super slow, but a fun addition to the mix of outlaw cars!)

I went back to my meeting and completely missed the family coming over to the church for the rest of the pinewood derby. Thankfully, Todd / Mercer / Isabella made it over in time to catch his car in the finals. He did not place in the pack-wide race, but still glad he got to see his car in action / fly down the track!

Here Mercer is seen with the other winners from his 4th grade Den. Mercer's car came in 2nd. The boy in the middle placed 1st, but also placed within the overall Pack - hence the trophy. Mercer's certificate acknowledges the car for "Best Workmanship." I wish it wasn't as crazy of a line-up as it was.... multiple activities in one day. whew~