FYI

I am loving all of your holiday stories, memory-making moments, lazy day crazy anecdotes, etc. Keep writing and sharing and know that Jayne is reading, laughing, praying, getting good ideas, and everything else.

Also, due to getting new custom cabinets in our kitchen (which are going to be marvelous by the way!) we have had to push back our moving date until the first week of January. For sure a little frustrating here, but 24 hours later, I'm almost done fuming!!! Hehehehe! We'll slow down the moving process and enjoy more of the holiday season instead. The smiles are still on the upswing here!

Small town parade

Although we don't live in a small area, our Christmas parade definitely has a small town feel to it. We had some snack foods left over from Thanksgiving, and it will be the last year that we live ON the parade route, so we hosted a few of our friends for a chili-snack-food dinner and parade festivity. It was a great time chatting, eating, watching The Grinch and then making it out to the curb just in time for the first floats to arrive. We love the parade...all the fire trucks, boats, marching bands, dance troupes, etc. Grayson's does not in the least love the sounds that accompany a parade as we had to go inside to retrieve him as he escaped the sidelines to not be so near to the sounds of the drums and horns!! We had a great time, and the weather was perfect! Thanks to all of you for the "roasting" you gave me afterwards for my birthday, especially for Dave's comments about my "shoes"! Love all of you and your friendships that we cherish. Hope ya'll had a great time too!! Next year it's tailgating, and parking early like everyone else!

Santa finally came, and on a space ship no less??!! I love the excitement of a child!!

Another "First"

Yes, we have been bowling before, but only ever in our hallway in our home. We bought Grayson a play bowling set at the consignment sale a couple years ago and pull it out every now and again. We love to bowl!!! In fact, a couple weeks ago we bowled at home and kept score and Grayson actually beat me!! Those pictures are posted here as well.
But the big news is the first real trip to the real bowling alley!! Trevor works with a group of middle school boys and they were going for an event with church. I met up with Grayson at the alley after church. Trevor said he was absolutely beside himself so excited. Apparently he was so excited, he didn't even take his jacket off at church all morning!!! When I arrived, he was talking so fast I couldn't keep up. He gave me a wristband, took me to get my shoes, helped me pick out a ball, and showed me where to put it. They were already in the middle of the game and I had missed his first and only strike!!! Oh well. Besides the bumper guards so no ball is a gutter ball, they had this metal contraption that Grayson would put his ball on and then push it down the slope to let it roll down the alley. Needless to say, he scored better than me. We all had a great time!! Too bad bowing is so expensive, or we would be tempted to go again really soon! Maybe a special treat for an afternoon out of school! Anyways, it was a huge hit!!

Aren't bowling shoes awesome??!!

Countdown for the Company

Yes, we are in the middle of 2 countdown's at our house: Christmas and moving day!! The company is scheduled for 2 weeks from today...aaaaaagh!!!! So thus it has begun. Not only the single busiest time of the year, but the single busiest thing a person/family undertakes, and yes, we're doing it all at the same time. Here's to the lovely decor that has begun to take over our home, and no, it is not of the red or green variety!!

Christmas Countdown

One of our favorite memories from childhood was having a way to count down the days until Christmas. When we saw this tree calendar in a catalog we both had to get it ordered for Grayson. We hung it after he went to bed on Sunday night and filled it with goodies, ornaments, gift cards, etc. When he awoke Monday, December 1 morning, he noticed it right away. I explained to him what it was and that only once a day and only one day at a time, we were going to get to remove something from the tree. Day 1 was a penguin jingle ornament for the tree, Day 2 was a chocolate star and mini Santa, Day 3 was an "arches" gift card which he promptly enjoyed for lunch today.

It is fun to share old traditions with our own families!! Here's to only 22 more days until the jolly one arrives!!

Visions of the Parade Danced in his Head

That's about as close as Grayson was getting to the parade tonight!! This little guy was having visions of the parade in his sleep as this is the way he looked at 6:50, even before the start time of the parade!!

He has never had a hard time adjusting to fall or spring time changes, but this time he has never recovered from the clocks setting back. We have been dealing with a 6:15 riser for weeks now, and we are tiring of it on so many levels. Today was just the culmination. We knew we wanted him good and rested, so we tried to let him stay awake even later than normal last evening (8:30) in the hopes that he would sleep good, sleep in a little, so we could stay awake longer and be pleasant tonight even way past his bedtime. Absolutely no luck!! He was awake singing, and I mean it literally, this morning at 6:05!!!!!! The singing means he was fully awake, no chance for a snuggle to lull him back to another hour of sleep.

By 4:30 this afternoon, the departure for the parade time, we were all exhausted, and had a glossy-eyed little boy on our hands. It was all we could do to get dinner in him and get him into bed at 6:40. Afterall, it had been a 12 hour for him, and with a 4-year old needing his 12 hours of sleep, especially with a typically busy Hoare family Sunday, parade was out and sleep was in!! Yeah for mommy and daddy to get to have some alone time and an early bedtime too!! May we all have visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads tonight with the excitement of the holiday season here, parade or not!

Homeowners!!

It has been a very busy couple of months at our house. With all the usual stuff going on we have been trying to do some house-hunting. We have loved our place, but you know when it's time to move on...and it is definitely our time. It's a great time to be buying right now and because of that it made our hunting actually a little bit harder! Sometimes too many choices is not a good thing. I wasn't really picky: we needed more space, a yard for Grayson, a laundry room for me, a dishwasher for Trevor, a garage to store outside bikes and stuff, 2 bathrooms, 2 floors...you know all the stuff a family hoping to grow needs!! All of that and we wanted to be close to the church/school.

Well, it isn't our dream home (which we found many of!), but we found a place that has a lot of equity built into it already, 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, a small yard for Grayson, an upstairs laundry, an open floorplan downstairs, and a neighborhood pool across the way. Oh, and best of all, the train tracks are right in our backyard practically! Dream home or not, I'm ecstatic to be moving!!!!! I can't wait to decorate, paint walls, hang curtains, pick out flooring and countertops, etc.

More than all that, I am thankful to be this blessed to be able to buy a home and be "upgrading" our lives at a time that is trying for many. I am truly grateful for my new space, my new place to hang my hat, a home that will allow Grayson to have a 'real' childhood, a place for our families to visit, a place where Trevor and I can entertain and cultivate relationships. We're hoping to be in to celebrate our first Christmas "at home" truly at our home!!