Dance Preview

I finally got to see what I had been paying for the last few months. Parents were invited to see their child dance. Brylee would never show me what she learned, so of course, it makes you wonder what your child is learning. I was so proud of her! She actually did the moves she was supposed to do! I was afraid she would not perform, especially since there were so many people there. She was so excited after her performance that she did her dance, too! She did so well!

Christmas Open House

Brylee's preschool had their annual Christmas Open House where parents and grandparents were invited to see their children sing and receive the gift that their child made for them. She was not into the party; she kept telling us she was ready to leave. When it was time for them to sing, Brylee did not open her mouth. She just stood their and cried for me to hold her. When it was time to eat at their party, she would not eat until after everyone finished. She kept wanting to leave with us. Thankfully, Bryan & I were both off that day, so we took Brylee after the party ended. We spent the rest of the day with her! We ate Chinese and ran errands for Brant's party.

Happy 6th Birthday, Brant!

Brant celebrated his 6th birthday December 10th. He was so excited that his name was going to be announced on the intercom at school. Later that day, Bryan took ice cream cups & juice boxes to Brant's school for the class. Bryan also brought our mischievious elves - Ralphie & Christopher. Santa gave Brant & Brylee special permission to touch then & hold them on Brant's birthday. Brant was super excited to get to hold Ralphie & Christopher. He loved showing them off in his classroom. After all the fun, he got to check out early! After I got home from school, Brant opened gifts from us - a ton of Heman (yes, the Heman most of us remember from our childhood - Bryan got him into them - thank goodness for Ebay). He also got the new Toy Story Mania Wii game. For dinner, he chose to eat at Pepper's; so his parents & Uncle Chip & Aunt Ginger met us to celebrate.

Brant & his buddy Chance celebrated their birthday together two days later by having a big party at Gametime Sports. It was so fun - a jumper slide, tumbling mats & equipment, football, & much more. Brant's preschool teacher from last year made the delicious cake. It was so cute, and so yummy. The funniest thing happened, when we were just about to cut the cake in the party room, the lights went off and did not come back on. Thankfully, the lights where on where all the fun was! The kids didn't mind it, though. They ate their cake quickly and headed back to play!

After the party, we went to Brant's favorite restaurant - Mi Toros. He wanted to wear the big sombrero and eat fried ice cream for dessert!

Thankgiving & The Polar Express

We had a great Thanksgiving break. Bryan was off the whole week with us. We took Brant to see The Christmas Carol, decorated for Christmas, and just enjoyed spending time together. We ate lunch on Thanksgiving with Bryan's parents and then headed to Meridian for my family's Thanksgiving. We had a great time - I did a little shopping on Black Friday and took the kids to play at a park.

The Polar Express Saturday, we headed to Birmingham for the Polar Express train ride. Brylee did NOT like Santa. She immediately started crying when we boarded the train. Thankfully, she calmed down. She would not talk to Santa. When we arrived at the North Pole, Santa came to visit each child on the train, but not Brylee - she would not even look at him. Mrs. Claus tried to talk with her, but Brylee was not happy about that either. After Santa passed by, she was so happy. She enjoyed the rest of the ride back. We then headed home and the next morning, Ralphie, our elf had returned and brought Brylee one - Christopher! We look forward to spending the season with our elves!!

Trunk or Treat & Trick or Treat

We went to Brylee's preschool church's Trunk or Treat with our friends, Shannon & Jay Vickers! Brant & Brylee were Peter Pan and Tinker Bell. They were so cute! They had so much fun playing all the different games, except Tinker Bell was a little scared. She did eventually play some games. They both loved getting faces painted and the bounce house. On Halloween, we went on a hayride with our friends around our neighborhood. We ate our favorite pizza - Little Caesar's Pizza! We then loaded up on a trailor for the hayride. The kids had lots of fun and loaded up on candy. After our trip around the neighborhood, we watched the end of the MSU game - GO DAWGS!!

Running, Kicking, Pumpkins, & Star Student!

Brant is now playing soccer. He has had just a few games, due to the RAINY weather. He really loves playing and actually does really well. Bryan is helping coach. Brant is playing with most of the same boys that he played with last year. We went one COLD afternoon to the Pumpkin Patch. We didn't get to stay long because Brant was invited to a birthday party. The short amount of time we were there was definitely well spent! Brant's favorite activity was the maze and the cotton. Brylee just liked being pulled in the wagon. The kids had a great time! Brant is having such a great kindergarten year, and to top it off, Brant was chosen as his class's 1st 9 weeks Star Student. This is a BIG deal at New Hope Elementary. Star Students get to eat a special lunch on stage in the cafeteria and the principals announce their names and give out certificates. They also receive treat bags full of goodies. Bryan, his parents, and I all got to attend and take pictures. My parents & Bryan's parents sent Brant balloons with a Wal-Mart gift card & candy attached to celebrate. He, of course, had to spend it that day. He used the money to buy Bakugan - his new obsession. If you had asked me last year if I thought Brant would ever be Star Student, I would have laughed out loud! He has had such a great year - he is doing SUPER, helping others, and keeping green lights! We are so proud of him!

Our Wild Weekend!

Poor Brant came down with strep throat Wednesday night. He went to the doctor Thursday and had to miss his field day. Friday night, he was well enough to go see the NH Homecoming game. Sadly, the Trojans lost their first game this season. We had fun anyway. Saturday, we decided since it was going to be a beautiful day, to take a trip to the Birmingham Zoo. We usually like to go this time of year because of the weather and the fall decorations. They had already started decorating for Halloween. The kids loved taking pictures by their decorations. We really enjoyed the weather! It was so fun - we even had a picnic outside the zoo. We spent most of the day there, shopped a little at our favorite stores - Target, Academy Sports, and Sam's (we can never make a trip anywhere that has a Sam's without stopping by) and then headed to eat and Jim & Nick's! We all had so much fun! Today, since it was another rainy day, my sweet hubby is taking Brant to see Toy Story 1 & 2. He has always loved Toy Story since he was little. We still have his Buzz, Woody, & Jesse dolls! Brylee & I are going to take advantage of some R & R today!

Dance!

We enrolled Brylee in dance. She was so excited until we got there. She started crying - I hated to leave her. I waited outside her class and didn't hear anymore crying - Good Sign! After dance was over, she came out so happy with her buddy, Leila Kane, chewing gum. Week 2 rolls around, she doesn't want to go to dance at all. I make her go and again,she comes out smiling. This week, she was actually excited to go. I was thrilled! Brylee even was one of the very few (4 out of 16 to be exact) that got a sucker because she followed directions! I was SO PROUD!! I think she has decided she likes dance now - I hope!!