Cleo loved her Easy Bake Oven.
Here is Sidney opening some of his gifts. He opened his Diesel Train and that's all he wanted to play with. He reluctantly and begrudgingly opened his other gifts. When he was done, we let him play with the Diesel Train.
Roger got me a Keurig coffee maker for Christmas. I love it! On Jan. 3, 2013, I ordered on Amazon an Ekobrew reusable k-cup so I can use my own ground coffee. The real k-cups are pricey and I feel bad contributing to the landfills.
We left for Jacksonville on Saturday, Dec. 22. Here are some pictures from our first day there. Sidney put on Kaelin's Santa hat. Sidney put Cleo's elf hat on Roger's head.
Saturday, Dec. 22, we visited with Robin, Linda and Kaelin and we all had dinner at Ruby Tuesday.
Sunday, Dec. 23, Roger and I watched Cleo, Sidney and Kaelin while Linda and Robin did some Christmas shopping. Roger and I took the kids out for lunch. He and I got burrito bowls at Chipotle and we at them at McDonald's where the kids got their lunch. We then went to visit Carolyn and Lisa, Roger's extended family who we always visit a lot with when we go to Jacksonville.
Monday, Dec. 24, Roger and I watched Cleo, Sidney and Kaelin. We took them to visit with Linda and Makayla, she is 11. Linda is Roger's god-mother. Makayla is Linda's granddaughter. Cleo loves Makayla and the feeling is mutual. Sidney asked Linda if she had any chicken salad. She had some on hand in June when we last visited her. She did not have chicken salad but she made the kids tuna sandwiches, which Cleo politely declined. Instead she had a wholesome lunch of Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies and poundcake. Makayla had planned to make the cookies with Cleo, which was super sweet.
We went back to Roger's mom's house and we got ready for church. We went to church and came home and had a nice pasta dinner prepared by Linda.
Cleo lost her tooth on Christmas Eve. Her mouth collided with Sidney's head and her tooth was knocked out. There was plenty of blood. Kaelin, the calm super helpful girl that she is, got me a napkin. I tried to take a picture of Cleo's mouth with the missing tooth. I will add one in a later post. Cleo, Sidney, and Kaelin were very excited about the Tooth Fairy coming. On Christmas morning, they all asked if the Tooth Fairy came before they even asked about Santa. Cleo got $5 for her tooth. She enjoyed a holiday bonus.
The kids left cookies and milk for Santa.
The kids were very happy with all of their toys.
Kaelin was very excited about her Fisher Price mini-Cadillac Escalade.
Cleo helping Roger with snapping peas.
After getting dressed, we all headed to Roger's "cousin" Keith's house; we got there around 3pm. We left around 9pm. At first our car wouldn't start but it eventually did. We were nervous. It acted fine the rest of the trip.
Wednesday, Dec. 26, I left Linda's around 7:30am and I went to Target and bought some 50% off Christmas stuff. I got gift labels, wrapping paper, window gels, gift card bags. Then, Roger and I took Makayla, Kaelin, Cleo and Sidney to see a 11:20am showing of Wreck-It Ralph. It was very good. We then went to lunch at Cici's Pizza Buffet. It was surprisingly good. I had some super thin crust veggie pizza that was as good as any gourmet pizza I have had at other real pizzerias. You can order any pizza you like. It's great. We went back to Roger's mom's place and the kids played a lot. We then drove Makayla home and we exchanged gifts; Linda (Makayla's grandmother) was not there because she was at church.
Thursday, Dec. 27, I went to Walmart and Target while the kids napped. I got some more discounted Christmas stuff, nothing too exciting. Linda made dinner including her awesome macaroni and cheese. We went to Carolyn's for dessert and visited until around 10:30pm.
Friday, December 28, we took the three kids and visited Theophane. We went back to Linda's and picked her up. Then, we visited Carolyn and saw Cynthia and Joe. Cynthia is the daughter of Sidney Parker who was Carolyn's husband. Joe is Cynthia's husband. Our Sidney is named after Sidney Parker. Sidney Parker was like an uncle to Roger and one of his important mentors while growing up. We then had dinner at a really nice Golden Corral. Then we visited with Tiffany, Deacon, Kayla, Carol, and Raven. They are Roger's real blood cousins. We were there 7:30pm-12:00am. We had a really nice visit.
Saturday, Dec. 29, Roger and I went to the Dillard's outlet store while Linda and Robin watched the kids. I got some cute underwear; nothing racy. Roger got some shirts. We also got new throw pillows for the couch because the orange and gold ones have gotten old. The kids took naps. We then visited with Linda and Makayla. We left their house at 9:30pm and Robin took us to the Blackhawk Bluffs subdivision for their Christmas Lights extravaganza. Most of the houses have awesome lights displayed. She took us there last year too. The kids LOVED the lights.
Sunday, Dec. 30, we left Jacksonville around 10:45am and headed back to Atlanta. We encountered some pockets of traffic but it wasn't bad. It took us around 6 hours to get home.
Monday, Dec. 31, Roger dropped the kids off at daycare. Cleo's school is closed until Jan. 7 so she's attending Kids R Kids as a drop-in student. I went suit shopping at Lenox Mall. I tried on at least 50 suits and none fit right. I got a shirt at Ann Taylor Loft. I returned some stuff at another mall. Then, I saw a 2pm showing of Silver Linings Playbook at the Tara Cinema. It was good, not great. Then, I got some socks at DSW (the one near our house) with a $10 coupon I had. Then, I headed home. I had a very nice day to myself. Maybe next year I will have more than one.
Playing Disney Hedbanz on Monday, Dec. 31.
We didn't do anything special to celebrate New Year's Eve. I fell asleep putting Cleo to bed. I woke up at 12:02 to fireworks going off nearby. Roger went to bed before midnight. One day when the kids are older maybe we can do something more festive and celebratory.
Cleo showing off her whoopee pies made in her Easy Bake Oven on Jan. 1, 2013.
She rolled them in red and pink sprinkles.
In this picture you can sort of see the tiny gap in her mouth where her lower left front tooth is missing.
Cleo and Sidney racing each other on Sidney's new race track.
Sidney very happy after trying one of Cleo's tasty whoopee pies. The one sitting on the plate was Roger's.
I returned to work on January 2. I am so happy it's short week. I still have "vacation brain." It's hard to get back into work mode.
We are gearing up for Sidney's 4th birthday party. We are having it on Feb. 2 at 12pm at the Imagine That Enrichment Center in Dunwoody, GA. His party will be a "We Lived Here" theme. Partygoers will learn about fossils, volcanoes, and Native American artifacts. The kids will make their own fossils, bury them, and dig them out. There are interactive activities associated with the volcano and the artifacts too. Sidney has developed a deep love of Angry Birds so that is the party supplies theme, including the cake. We will order it in a few weeks from Publix.
I am not feeling motivated about exercising or eating right but I found a great Weight Watchers leader right before we went to FL. He's from Red Hook, an area in Brooklyn. His family lives here now. I think he's younger than I am. He makes me homesick for NY. He's great. His meeting is on Fridays at noon and I am going tomorrow to weigh in and face the music. I will start my exercise program this weekend. Roger promises me every year that he will do the P90X program with me and this year I am holding him to it. Robin got me some cute exercise tops for Christmas and I look forward to wearing them.
Have a great week!
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