happy new year

2015 hasn’t been an easy year for our family. However, regardless of the difficulties there has always been joy. Our three boys bring smiles to our faces and laughter to our house on a daily basis and for that we are always grateful. Regardless of what 2016 brings I hope that we can always focus on what really matters, our family. Happy New Year everyone, here’s to a wonderful 2016.

2015 a year in review…

January
We celebrated Luc’s 1/2 birthday, Jay’s 5th Birthday, he requested a “Blue Heart cake with Flames on it”.
Lucas half birthday
Jay- 5 years old
his cake

February
We read books, we built a ridiculous amount of things with duplo, enjoyed the cooler weather outside and it even got cold enough one night to freeze water outside. The boys set up an “experiment” and were thrilled that some of the water froze.
duplo building
concentration tongue
our experiment

March
We played outside in the pool and also in the rain, we raced cars and Kristen finished her first queen sized quilt.
playing in the pool
playing in the rain
queen sized quilt

April
April was a crazy month. We hosted the annual Shrimp Boil which also served as George’s retirement party, Jamie got a new standing desk, we rearranged most of the office after getting the desk and created a lego area for Jamie and a sewing area for Kristen, we celebrated Easter and decorated a bunch of eggs, did a heck of a lot of lego building and Kristen finished another quilt.
George's Shrimp Boil Retirement Party
testing out Daddy's desk
Jamie's new desk
the lego area
Charlie building away
Easter Eggs
Luc decorating too
Charlie's

May
We built a bunch more lego, we swam in the pool for the first time in 2015, finished up a the school year at MSEE, Charlie got a new bike, Jay started riding a bike without training wheels and Luc got his first haircut.
playing lego
all of the boys in the pool
more swimming
Jay Bird flying fish
Charlie's new bike
Luc's first haircut

June
We spent a lot of time in the pool and we spent the week on Anna Maria Island with Jamie’s family.
all four boys on the beach
our boys on the beach
the whole family

July
We spent the week at the beach with my Mom, celebrated Luc’s 2nd Birthday, Jay’s half birthday and our 9th Wedding Anniversary.
boogie boarding with Dad
boogie boarding
enjoying a evening walk on the beach
Luc enjoying the waterI am 2!
he's 2!!

August
We enjoyed some time with cousins visiting from Canada, swam in the pool a WHOLE lot, Charlie started a 3 day 3’s program at MSEE and Jay started Kindergarten at Brookshire Elementary School.
pool fun with cousins
a family walk before school started
pool fun
pool fun!!
Charlie's meet the teacher
first day of school
walking to school with Dad

September
We adjusted to our new school schedule, took a trip to Terra Ceia and the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.
hanging out
three boys in a tree

October
We played outside a whole lot, dressed up in both Halloween costumes and a ton of dress up clothes and we took Jay and Charlie to Disney for the first time.
playing outside
playing outside
3 Peter Pans
Peter Pan!!
frist trip to Disney
Halloween 2015

November
We had to say goodbye to our sweet kitty, Bella, and we celebrated Charlie’s 4th Birthday for which he requested a “mouth cake”.
saying goodbye
Charlie is 4!!
Charlie is 4!

December
We prepared and decorated with the Holidays, Charlie learned to ride a bike without training wheels, we took a trip to Jacksonville to celebrate Memere’s birthday and got to see a lot of family and we celebrated Christmas.
boys in PJ's
listening to Daddy play
celebrating Memere's birthday

bella and charlie

Out of our two kitties Dolce and Bella, Bella was most definitely not our “friendly” kitty. Dolce was in your face, right in the middle of the action whereas Bella always hung back at a safe distance to observe what was going on. She was always in the same room as everyone but she kept her distance from the action. However, since we lost Dolce almost a year ago Bella has become much more friendly; she sits in laps more, hangs out with the family a little bit closer and even lets the boys pet and lie on her from time to time. She’s a sweet girl.

Charlie and Bella

crazy normal part 2

a few more from the phone

a GREAT mail day- now to get started on some projects ;)

he’s giving kisses now

prepping to wash the alphabet mat

what, you don’t wash foam letters in your dishwasher?

he is not a huge fan of the gate

he couldn’t quite get his hat off when he was riding in the car and this is how he looked when I opened the door

how many pears can I fit in my mouth all at once

paper, scissors, glue

impressive coloring skills for a 2.5 year old if you ask me

so thankful- day 1

Because Christmas decorations are already up in the stores, since the weather here is in the low 80’s, because the leaves are changing colors on the trees (ha- we live in Florida folks) and because we hope to enjoy time with family and stuff our bellies to capacity this week, it can only mean one thing- Thanksgiving is almost here!! And since we have been especially blessed this year we thought that we would take the week to tell you about a few things we are most thankful for. We hope that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and are able to enjoy it with those most dear to you…

Make sure to check on posts from the rest of the week too…

We are so thankful for our animals. They may drive us nuts sometimes but seriously our lives wouldn’t be complete without our furry family members!

in case you didn’t know

we still have three furry children that live in our house, they just don’t get as much face time on the blog as they used to. Doesn’t mean that we don’t love them as much as we did but we do take fewer pictures of them now.

Just so they don’t feel too neglected here are a few of them lately…

she's so pretty...
an advantage of having a baby in the house is having baby stuff to hide under :-)

sneaking in some cuddle time with Dad

Piper making good use of a vacated blanket