The Lombardi’s Come To Play December 31, 2011

The holidays brought two days of fun with some of our best buddies, The Lombardi’s.  They drove up from Florida, and we got them to ourselves for 2 days of their visit.  Plus, April and I went out to dinner, just the two of us, which was a great treat.

They knocked on the door, and the months since their move just melted away.  We played and laughed and talked like always.  And one of the best parts is that we’ll be seeing them again in less than a month when we travel down for our Disney World Adventure!

Picnic Time

Pants are always optional at our house.

Chip was so happy to get some April love.

We always end up having a bath time.

Jumping onto pillows was a new game.

Tool Time April fixed our basement light and the bathroom exhaust fan. Impressive!

Christmas In Vermont, 2011

Once again this year, Buds and the children headed to the Northeast to celebrate the holidays with Buddie’s family.

They returned home yesterday, and it sounds like they had a fantastic time.  The trip started with a visit to Uncle Tony and Aunt Liz and Olivia’s new house, which got high marks for beauty and fantastic decor, as all their homes have.  (Buddie wants Liz to come decorate our house.  I’m scared to hang up pictures now because he told me it looked like someone with a mental illness hung the ones in the family room.)

Then, over to Gran and Gramps’ house on the side of the mountain on the west side of Vermont.  On their second day there, it snowed 15 inches, to everyone’s great delight.  Toasty fire, sledding, snow eating, and time with Grandma and Grandpa.  A pretty perfect Christmas.

Zachy playing on the big rock.

The “5” is confused by the snow.

Noa jams at Aunt L's and Uncle T's.

Reading with Grandma.

All photos by Grandpa John.

Closing out 2011

It’s been a wonderful day on which to end the year.  The weather has been beautiful.  Everyone slept great their first night back in their own beds after the Vermont adventure.  I was up and out the door early to take the car to have the tires changes, then we all headed to CrossFit for the open gym.

Buds did “Fran,” and cut his time from the beginning of the year almost in half.  For the uninitiated, “Fran” is a XFit benchmark workout which consists of 21-15-9 thrusters and pull ups.  The thrusters are at 95# for the men’s RX’d.  Buds did it in 4:40, and it just about killed him.  But, what the heck, it’s the end of the year.

I did 60 DU’s in 2 minutes, which exceeded my goal at the start of the year of doing 50.  We both exceeded several of our other XFit goals, although the pull up still remains elusive for me.  I can do it with the purple band, but just not there yet.  On the upside, I did learn to get “The Bite” needed for a rope climb.  Now, I just have to learn to make my way up the rope.  A great goal for 2012.

The rest of our day has been spent being together at home.  We’ve turned the upstairs family room into a truly welcoming place for everyone.  Buds set the Wii up, and Z and Z have been enjoying getting reacquainted with Link.  I took a nap, Bud is working, and Yessa is talking to Kora The Dog, who is staying with us for a few nights.

Highlights from 2011 would have to include becoming a part of Massadoah, making many more new friends through CrossFit, and continued involvement with our church and homeschool community of friends.

Another one of those perfect days of family, laughter, good health, good food, and peace.  I’m so thankful, and look forward to an even better 2012.

Yessa speaks. December 30, 2011

One of Noa’s recent lovely comments:

It was raining sun drops today.

Cat Conversation December 22, 2011

We took the cats to the vet yesterday for their annual check ups.  On the drive there, Chance was meowing and meowing at Zachary.

I looked in the rearview mirror at The Buster and said, “What’s he saying to you, Buster?”

Zachy looked at the cat, then back at me, and with an impish glint in his eye said:

“He says it’s a secret.”

Teeth falling like rain… December 15, 2011

Yessa lost her second tooth last week, and The Buster just lost his second canine, so he’s got big kid teeth in the middle on the top, with a hole on each side.

Yessa’s lost tooth was the middle one on the bottom, so now she has the typical hole in the front on the bottom.

The tooth had been wiggly for awhile, and two days in a row she insisted she wanted me to pull it.  The first day I held it with a washcloth, and declared it not loose enough.  The second day I told her I’d do it if she really wanted me to.  Two tugs, and it didn’t come out.  “Are you sure?”  Yup, she was sure.

Bigger tug, and it was out.  And then it bled.

She was not happy.

I told Buds I now have to realize that when this child tells me vehemently that she wants me to do something “to” her, like cutting her hair into a bob last month, I need to just as vehemently ignore her.

She did finally remember to put the tooth under her pillow last night and was tickled to find a dollar this morning.

Such a look of delight and awe they get after the tooth fairy has visited.  I love it.

Yessa’s First Non-Family Playdate

Monkey wanted time with Friend Thalia, and Thalia’s mom, one of the kindest humans on the planet, asked if Yessa wanted to come along to play with Thalia’s little sister.  Yessa thought about it, and said she’d like to give it a try.  Well, first she said, “Will Zoe be there to take care of me?”

She’s gone to play at Aunt A’s with Cousin M all by herself, but she’s only done that once.  It went well, and she had great fun, but she’s been to their house countless times.

When we got to Louisa’s, Yessa wanted me to go in with her to sit for a little bit.  CoCo was wonderful about engaging Noa right away, as well as Louisa bringing over Mr. Mew to entice Noa.  The Buster was still in the van, so I finally told her she could stay or go with me, but she’d have to decide.

She stayed, and she had a great time.  The girls played for three hours, then we picked up Cousin M from school, and had 4 more hours of playing and games and laughter.

Yessa’s growing up.  Before we know it, she’ll be willing to stay in her Sunday School class without Buds or me.  But I’m in no hurry.  In a flash of the years, she’ll be waving as she drives away…