January Misc

Random pictures from January...

Our good college friend, Phil, came to visit over New Years.  We always enjoy having him and the kids love their "Uncle Phil."

I just know they're going to be the best of friends...

Eating some scrambled eggs

Jenna organizing her new jewelry box from B.

Time at the eye doctor - still trying to figure out how best to help her eyesight.  She's making it quite challenging since she refuses to wear her eye patch or glasses.

Girl time!  My mom, sister, Jenna, and I went to get manicures and lunch out.  Jenna loved being included and enjoyed having her nails painted!

The smile says it all!

Enjoyed this time together.

I noticed there was a "Frozen" themed night at McDonalds, so we decided to check it out.  Anna and Elsa were there, although Elsa's wig was a tad frightening.

They got their hands painted...

And Jenna even stood in line for probably a good 20 minutes so she could sing karaoke.  Her song of choice was...you guessed it - "Let It Go!"  I was completely shocked that she actually sang the whole song alone without any help.  She's a much braver girl than I was at her age!  (By the way, I have the whole thing on video if you ever want to see it...)

Hannah looks so big in Grant's lap.

Snuggles

He has become quite the crafty boy.  He loves cutting, coloring, gluing, taping, and creating!  It's so fun to see what he'll come up with.  His favorite right now is cutting up boxes and gluing or taping things to them. 

She found the Mickey ears I had made for Grant's Halloween costume a few years back.

Our January date night was a progressive dinner.  Appetizers at Applebees...

...dinner at Olive Garden....

...and dessert at Dairy Queen.  So fun!

Someone got a hold of my phone and is already practicing the selfies.  Oh boy!

Remember those Perler Beads as a kid - those little cylindrical beads with holes in the  middle that you put on the pegs to make colorful designs that you then iron to melt them together....anyone....no?  They were a favorite of my sister and me, so I picked some up for the kids.  Grant really enjoyed it and even wanted to help me iron it afterward.

Practicing the fishtail braid.  One of my new favorite braids that Cathy taught me to do!

The snow was just right for building a snowman...albeit a miniature one.  (Anyone else have the song, "Do You Want To Build a Snowman" from the movie Frozen running through their head ?!?)

While the kids were out building their snowmen, Hannah and Bailey were inside.  Apparently they found it quite interesting because Hannah scooted herself all the way across the slippery hardwood floor to peer out through the door.  This was what I found when I went to check on them.  Too cute!

So this is what all the pictures of Hannah should look like.  Somehow I managed to get a picture of her wearing both the eye patch and glasses before she ripped them off her face. 

Hannah had some rough, sleepless nights for a while due to a double ear infection that refused to go away.  The only way we could calm her down was by rocking her to sleep.  We didn't mind though - those snuggles are too precious.

More therapy with Faye.  Here she worked on extension (getting Hannah to extend her body and arms up high because she rarely raises her hands above her eye level) as well as trunk rotation.  Notice the bucket on one side and the blocks on the other.  Faye rotates her body to the blocks, has her grasp a block, and then rotates her to the other side and has her drop it in the bucket.  Sounds easy enough, but it's very difficult for Hannah to hold the block the entire time.  She typically drops it once she's brought back to midline, and even dropping it into the bucket is difficult.  They're working on her release.  Amazing how all these "little" things come so easily - we don't have to even think about telling our brains when to grasp and release objects, but with Hannah those things don't come as easily.  We do see improvement, so we're confident she'll get there.

Penny (the OT) also works on grasping and releasing with her.

We're involved in a small home school group from our church and each month we have an activity that we do.  For the month of January we had a Science Fair.  With Jenna only being six years old and in Kindergarten, we needed a fairly simple experiment - one that she would be able to not only understand, but also explain.  So we went with "What Makes Ice Melt?"  Her hypothesis was that heat makes ice melt faster, so we placed cups with ice in different spots around the house (refrigerator, by the vent, on the kitchen counter, etc) and timed how long the ice took to melt.  She did a fantastic job explaining the experiment and what she learned.

The home school group, plus some siblings.

Florida Trip (*Warning: Picture HEAVY)

In mid-January we took a week long trip down to Naples, Florida to spend some time with my sister's family at her in-laws' beautiful home.  It was the longest vacation we've taken and was filled with fun, laughter, relaxation, and lots of great memories!

On the plane, ready to go!

They sure love to fly

This little one is so happy in her Daddy's arms.  :)

So funny - we came in after putting the kids to bed to find Jenna with her arm around Grant's head, sound asleep.

The neighborhood was beautiful and the weather was perfect!  It was so nice getting to go for walks outside in the middle of January - something we never get to do back home!

There was plenty of pool time.

Grabbing lunch on Marco Island right off the beach.  We even spotted some dolphins!

The kids were ready to have some beach fun.

Jenna really got into looking for shells.

Grant had a great time playing in the sand with Aiden and Bentley.

Sister time

Surprisingly Hannah fell asleep in my arms - not something that typically happens.  It didn't last terribly long, but at least she got a little catnap in.

Daddy's are so much fun!

Hannah examining the shell her Uncle Brian found for her.

When in Florida, go see the alligators, right? We visited an alligator park where you could see lots of gators, hold a gator, and ride an airboat.  We weren't sure what to expect, but we had a really great time!

Grant found a friend...

Now who can say they've ever held a real live alligator before?  Grant can!

And so can Jenna!

And Hannah's even touched one, too.

They had a show where they did all sorts of "tricks", like sticking their hand inside the gator's mouth - you know, perfectly normal things.  !!

While standing on a bridge looking out over the water we saw this gator swim directly beneath us.  It makes my skin crawl even now thinking about it!  All that kept running through my head was one of the kids climbing the railing to get a better view and slipping.  Augh!!!  Needless to say we didn't stay on the bridge for very long.

Kelley and Brian took the boys back to the house for a nap, while we stayed back and rode an airboat.  It was so neat, but at this the sun head slipped behind some clouds and it got pretty chilly, especially as we were zipping over the water.  But still AWESOME nonetheless! 

Grant and Drew even got to sit in the seat next to the driver.

Definitely a highlight of the weekend!  Also, we found out after the ride that our boat driver and one of the main guys we spoke to while the kids held the gators were on Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson's TV Show "Wake Up Call."  Their episode aired the following week.  Kind of neat to see the guys we just spoke to on a TV show.

We took quite a few walks together, which I enjoyed!  Grant was not too happy about all the picture taking, though.  :)

After church on Sunday, we grabbed lunch at a local mall.  Inside they had this merry-go-round, so we let the kids have a ride.

Practically every meal was eaten on the back lanai overlooking a beautiful pond.  So relaxing!

More time at the beach.

The whole crew

My new favorite picture of all 3 kids.  Can't believe I got one of them all looking and at least partially smiling!

The trip fell over Drew's birthday, so we went out for dinner at a Mexican restaurant...

And of course had Drew serenaded.  :)

A few decorations along with his favorite homemade (from a box, mind you) birthday cake.

Love this picture of Uncle Brian with Hannah!

The kids "playing" games together.

We had such a great time down there....I'm ready to go back!