Let's Swim!

Despite some hesitation from both kiddos, we've kept them in swim lessons this semester so they can continue their skills and not be afraid of the water. Aiden has LOVED it, and is pretty fearless in the water. He's jumping in by himself, swims to his teacher (9 seconds!), and turns to the wall and climbs out by himself. Bridgette has come a long way since the beginning of the semester. She was pretty terrified of going under the water, and spent most of the class in tears. We've since switched teachers, and she's doing much better. She still relies on Miss Anna quite a bit, but 2 weeks ago she went down the big slide all by herself! (this was a huge milestone!) And of course, since she's done that... all she talks about is swim lessons and that slide. Here are 2 videos of the kids in action!

'tis the Season

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... everywhere you go! We've kept our tradition, and the minute we got back in town from Thanksgiving, we went and bought our tree. Our ceilings are a little taller than the last house, so we were able to pick out a big one ... and boy is she a beauty! The kids enjoyed unpacking Christmas boxes, and looking through all the ornaments and decorations. It's been fun figuring out where things go in the new house. We have the Christmas tree in the dining room window, and we have the stockings on the fireplace! (We haven't had a fireplace mantle for the last 4 years, so this was a big deal - ha!) Stanley (our elf on the shelf) made his first appearance once we got our tree, and the kids have had a blast finding him every morning. Here's a few pics of the night we put our tree up...

no kids, those aren't socks... they're stockings ;)

 and then over the next few days, we were adding our final touches...

I made my first tree skirt!

Aiden 1st Cut

Haircut that is! After much talk and many "girly" comments - I finally broke down and cut Aiden's hair. I thought I was going to lose those curls in the back, but he still has a lot of body to his hair. Oh, and he looks as handsome as ever! Watch out ladies!

In case you forgot... here's a before...

And here's an after... he didn't love the haircut itself, but he got a sucker after and was all better!

  HANDSOME!

Gobble-Gobble

For Thanksgiving this year, we headed down south to Galveston. My parents rented a beach house, and we were able to stay there half the week. With a lot of planning, we got to see LOTS of family! We started out at the beach, hung out with aunts/uncles, cousins, and both grandpas made it down! Then Jared & Jenn came down, had a great Thanksgiving meal sitting outside on the balcony/deck with the view of the ocean. Friday morning, Bob's parents, Sandra & family, and Martha drove down for a day in the sand. The kids had so much fun with everyone, and we had another great meal outside. (the weather sure was nice for us this trip!). Next day, drove to Houston to meet Bob's family and Christina who had just flown in - everyone was in town at once!! :) Had a delicious feijoada that Bob's mom made, and we ate... and ate... and ate... all day. Sunday came, we woke up... loaded the car again and headed back home to get our Christmas tree. (this has become a tradition now, so Bob and I made sure to hold to it) :) Whew! We got some great pictures over the weekend... enjoy!

first stop: Shrimp 'n Stuff! (a family tradition)

the Beach!

Casey showing Aiden some crabs

Playing around with Papoo! The kids loved teasing him,

making him "cry", and having him steal their hats!

Aunt Jenn & Uncle Jared arrived!

Turkey cookies with Holly & Maddy

the Bloems arrive!!

the kids started in their clothes, and ended up in undies!

the grandmothers enjoying some love from the boys

the dads don't look like they're having fun, huh!? :)