December Happenings

We have been very busy this holiday season as we prepare to celebrate Jesus' Birthday. Last weekend we woke up to a wonderful surprise of snow on the ground. The boys went out to play in it and make the most of it before it melted.





We also have been decking out the house for the season. Tate and Miller both helped to decorate the tree and did a wonderful job. No ornaments were sacrificed:)



Each of the boys also have already had their Christmas programs at school. Tate's kindergarten did the "Mice Before Christmas" which was super cute. And, Miller was a shepherd in his preschool nativity program.



The boys with their friends, Ayers and Addie Grace

Tate turns 6!

Tate turned six last Thursday and we celebrated with him for a few days. I took him lunch and cupcakes to school on Thursday to celebrate with his class. Thursday night we took him to Rosie's for dinner where he had a special birthday desert. On Saturday, he had his birthday party at the bowling alley. From my perspective, it was a very easy party, all I had to bring was the birthday boy and a cake. Tate had picked out a Nascar cake from the Publix Bakery (this IS Alabama you know:). We had a great party complete with friends from the neighborhood, his preschool class, kindergarten, and some of his cousins. It was a fun day and goes without saying how shocking it is to me that my baby is 6!!






We also had visitors over the weekend from Orlando. Travis' childhood friend, John, his wife Cheyenne, and son Rulin came up just in time to see the fall leaves at their peak. We had a wonderful time showing them around our city.

Halloween Fun!

We had a great time celebrating Halloween at the boys' schools and in our neighborhood. Miller had a program at school, but I am sad too say he was too out of sorts to participate in the singing. For reasons known only to a 3 year old, he did not want to wear his costume, or go to school on Friday (which is not normally a school day for him anyways). So, he boycotted the show but did trick-or-treat around the school building and ran around with his friends. Tate had "Hooray for Hollywood" at school complete with red carpet and a limousine. They announced each child in their starring role, "Tate Alston starring as Superman." It was really fun for his class to be famous:)



Notice the boy all the way on the left, that is Dequez as President Obama. He is the funniest little boy with tons of personality, he has just the "charisma" to be a perfect Obama.


Halloween night we had our second annual neighborhood party in our next door neighbor's front yard. We had fun food to eat, chili, and the kids played games. Then we went around the neighborhood to collect our treats. It was a fun night for all!



My edible eyeballs:)

Carpool Buddies Tate, Kate, and Sam

Girls Trip

My friend from college, Melissa, moved back to her home state of New Jersey about two years ago and I have been dying to get back up there to see her ever since. So, when I found out I was pregnant, I told Travis that I wanted to go before the baby was born. When I found out I was having twins, I decided that I needed to go NOW while I still could. I called my friend Amy, our other partner in crime, and began working on our speedy getaway. Amazingly our schedules all worked and the husbands were very accommodating to keep the children (6 between us). We had three great days together. We went into the city, saw Mary Poppins on Broadway, shopped, saw the sights, ate good food, and enjoyed the beautiful fall leaves in northern New Jersey. I loved every last minute of it, knowing how even more precious these memories will be to reflect upon when I am home with TWO newborns:)


Rockefeller Center

Central Park

The leaves in Caldwell, NJ

The now-famous (thanks to Cake Boss on TLC) Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken, NJ

Pumpkin Patch

One of our favorite things to do this time of year is go out to the pumpkin patch, so much so that I let Tate skip school on Monday to go with Miller's preschool's field trip. Tate still has friends, including best bud Jack, at the preschool for kindergarten. So, it was a perfect day to play, pet animals, and ride out into the field to pick a pumpkin.

Disney!!

We spent the week of fall break in Orlando and at Disney World. We had a wonderful time despite the record high temperatures. It was the most concentrated time we had ever spent together just the four of us, without work, school, and our regular routine at home. The boys loved seeing all of the characters, riding rides, and watching the wonderful shows. It is hard to narrow down the nearly 100 pictures we took while there, but here are some of the highlights.






Travis and I were also able to spend time with two of our childhood friends who still live in Orlando. Getting to see them is always an added bonus to going back home.

G-Ma, Soccer, and Best Friends

This week Tate's class celebrated Grandparents Day at school, which proved to be somewhat challenging schedule-wise since it fell on a Wednesday. Since either set of grandparents would have to travel in the middle of the week, I didn't know if it would work out at all. Fortunately, G-Ma was able to come for Tate's special day. They had lunch in the cafeteria and he was able to show her around his classroom.



This week also marked the beginning of another soccer season for Tate. He has been having a blast at practices since there are 3 other kindergartners from his school on the team, including our neighbor, Sam. Tuesday night was his first game and he got to play against his BEST friend, Jack. We were really hoping Jack and Tate would be on the same team since they are no longer in school together, but it just didn't work out. So, the next best thing became playing against each other. It was really cute to see them out there together, and Miller and Seth (Jack's brother) wrestled in the grass during the game.