Christmas – the perreault family

happy new year

Published on January 6, 2016 by kristenperreault2 Comments

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”.

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.

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

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.

June
We spent a lot of time in the pool and we spent the week on Anna Maria Island with Jamie’s 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.

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.

September
We adjusted to our new school schedule, took a trip to Terra Ceia and the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.

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.

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”.

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.

tree elves the 2015 edition

Published on December 4, 2015 by kristenperreault1 Comment

We tree elved (yes I just made that noun into a verb) it again this year. Every year I look forward to going and picking out our tree. Having a tree up in the house (a real tree- sorry all of you fake tree supporters) is probably one of my most favorite parts of the season. I could literally sit by it for hours and just enjoy the glow of the lights.

I didn’t get many photos this year, the boys were too busy running around like mad, so it’s just the one traditional tailgate photo. Also, I dug up all of the other tailgate photos that I could find because it’s fun to look back!!

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

happy new year

Published on January 13, 2014 by kristenperreaultLeave a comment

2013 year in review…

January
We played outside (in diapers and underwear since it was SO warm), Jay learned how to ride his first bike and we celebrated his 3rd Birthday!

February
We made some updates around the house, I painted some new bedroom furniture, Jay was potty trained and Charlie really started running around.

March
We enjoyed a little bit of a cold front, found out that we would be welcoming another baby boy to the family, built our super cool backyard fort and hosted the shrimp boil.

April
We battled some a nasty cold where Charlie had to do breathing treatments, I finished Jay’s quilt, we played with cars, played outside and enjoyed our new slip and slide.

May
We celebrated Charlie’s half birthday, we grew butterflies, we played out front in our kiddie pool, started swimming again and played outside in the rain.

June
Charlie got his first haircut, we took a trip to Starbucks Springs, we swam a whole lot, I painted the boys joint big boy room and we vacationed in Anna Maria Island with family.

July
We welcomed our third beautiful baby boy, Luc, into the world, Jamie and I celebrated 7 years of marriage and I turned 31 years old.

August
We spent a lot of time in the pool, the boys finished their swimming lessons and Jay started preschool 3 days a week.

September
We visited with extended family while they were in town, attended Jay’s first school parade and swam some more!

October
Jamie celebrated his 33rd birthday, worked out the kinks of our new shared sleeping arrangements and therefore battled with some very tired boys; we built a whole lot of duplo towers, made some pretty adorable Halloween costumes and battled off some terrible preschool germs.

November
Jay attended his first Florida State football game with Jamie, Charlie celebrated his 2nd birthday and we enjoyed visiting with family when they were in town visiting.

December
We decorated our house for the holidays, enjoyed Jay’s preschool Christmas program, took a trip to Terra Ceia and enjoyed holidays with our boys and extended families.

Every January as I look back at our year I can’t help but feel so incredibly blessed. We have had a wonderful 2013 and I can’t wait to see what 2014 is going to bring!

tis the season

Published on December 10, 2013 by kristenperreaultLeave a comment

santa

Published on December 7, 2013 by kristenperreault1 Comment

This morning we braved the crowds to enjoy the Winter Park Christmas Parade and then we followed it up with breakfast with Santa at Jay’s school. All of it seemed pretty crazy and busy but at one point during breakfast Jay looked at me and said “Mommy, this is a really fun day.” I guess all of the crazy was worth it ;)

Thanks for everyone who enjoyed the festivities with us.

Charlie was obviously much happier about seeing Santa than he was last year!

catching up

Published on February 23, 2013 by kristenperreault2 Comments

It seems as though the last few days I have finally had enough energy to catch up on a few things around the house that I have been neglecting (the blog included). I am not exactly sure how long this energy spurt will last; in fact, I am pretty sure that I will be snoozin’ along with the boys by the end of the next week (chasing two littles and baking another one at the same time really wears a girl out). So bear with me while I have the energy to play catch up… I have photos that are too cute to not share ;)

First up, Christmas. I know, I know these are pretty old but the boys were so cute Christmas morning while they were opening their presents from Santa. Their excitement was contagious and Jay’s genuine joy over everything (including socks) is something that I won’t soon forget and probably my favorite part of the holidays this year.

putting out milk and cookies for Santa

Christmas morning after realizing that Santa had visited

excitement over new books (what he asked Santa for)

more books!!

this is one of my favorites- it sums up his joy and excitement all morning long

meeting santa

Published on December 17, 2012 by kristenperreault1 Comment

Santa makes the rounds in Winter Park every holiday season; driving down the streets, waving at people, passing out candy and making a few stops along the way to visit with kiddos. Since one of his stops was just down the road from us we decided to pack up the boys and meet Santa. Both boys were pretty leery of actually sitting with him and honestly, Jay only did it after getting distracted by Charlie screaming but he did sit with him and told him that he would like some new books for Christmas- LOVE that kiddo!

Here are the photos in all of their glory- the lighting was horrible since we were standing in a dark parking lot but you can get the general idea and it has been documented for posterity’s sake ;)

Santa’s set up- a john deer tractor with a Rudolph head pulling a trailer with a sleigh attached

we decorated our tree

Published on December 15, 2012 by kristenperreault2 Comments

Last year we didn’t decorate our tree… it toppled over once (because a certain little boy pulled on the lights) before the decorations were on it so we decided to just stick with lights to be safe. This year, after a bunch of deliberation Jamie and I decided that we would decorate our tree. I like having the decorations on it and all of the memories that are coupled with them; however to be on the safe side we only hung non-breakable ornaments. It was the first time that Jay helped decorate the tree and I love that we let him help. He had such a great time looking at and hanging the ornaments and I love how there are places with clumps of ornaments because he hung them so close to each other :)

Here’s photos from the decorating and by the way he does not have to be convinced to wear the holiday headbands at all; he loves them! He did last year too…

Jay offering Daddy a chair because he told him that he couldn’t reach to put the star on

tree elves

Published on December 13, 2012 by kristenperreault2 Comments

Honestly, I am not exactly sure how it started or why but each year Jamie and I pick up Christmas Trees for most of his family. I think it may have started one year when someone asked us to grab them one after hearing how reasonably priced ours was going to be and then the last few years we have taken more “orders”. Let me preface this story by saying that I love the holidays, I love getting a tree and I love picking out trees for others too. Honestly, I usually have trouble sleeping the day before we pick out trees… I think it’s the excitement over the holiday season starting, I know it’s silly but so true…

It’s been a fun tradition. We pick out the trees, trim them up with Pepere’s chainsaw and then deliver them to our “patrons”. This is the second year that Maggie and Josh have tree elved with us and it was just as fun as it usually is :)

Also, I dug through some old photos to find past elfing adventures- it’s crazy how much can change in a year!

2010

2011

lighting of the tree in WP

Published on December 1, 2012 by kristenperreaultLeave a comment

Recently, Jay has become super excited about Christmas lights and Christmas trees (all to be expected) so we decided to meet Jamie on Park Ave to watch the lighting of the Christmas Tree. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a pretty tree and it was cool to watch it light up all at once but the hour plus that we waited to see it happen (with a one year old that hadn’t napped in the afternoon) was less than desirable. Honestly, the two best things that came from the trip were
1. knowing what it’s like and not really having to see it again
2. the glow-sticks that were given out after dark!!

Charlie swiped Jay’s glow stick while we were getting our picture taken and had a blast with them the whole way home. Jay, Jamie and I had so much fun playing in the bath with them after Charlie had gone to bed. Here are a few photos Daddy took with a slow shutter speed while we were sending the “lightning fish” swimming through the water.

I think it is so funny that Jay has no clue that his glow-stick is being swiped!

the tree

Jay is in the tub in all of the following photos- at times you can see him better than you can at others depending on how much he moved during the shot.

By the way, in case you couldn’t guess we would recommend a glow-stick bath if your kids (or you- no judgement here) ever happen upon some glow-sticks. It was cool!