Random January Stuff

So, I did a great job of blogging this month. That's all about to change with school going full-force now. But, here are some of the random leftover pics from this month's happenings...

Peter bikes in the hills while I'm at school

Chores

This dog loves the beach

Many 75º+ days this month.

I love my study spot

The sunsets are ok here.

We helped pack over 10,000 meals for hungry kids in our county.

Snape sheds every other month.

This was the first time I got to see it live.

And, somehow, it's February already....

Partaaaay

We waited until yesterday to have Jeremiah's birthday "party". He insisted he was too old for corny birthday parties, so we had a few boys over, ate pizza and chips (and carrots), drank soda, and played games (both board games and video games). He was super excited for his cousins to join us since it's been many years since they've been able to come to a birthday "party". Before the other boys showed up, we went off to the beach to enjoy the afternoon. It was good fun. We had brownie sundaes for dessert and one of his friends spent the night. It was a great!

Life with a teenager hasn't been too bad. For now.

Cousins!

Games!

Chunky Monkey

Zack won!

We've Got Ourselves a Teenager

Well, if you can believe it (we can't), Jeremiah is now, officially, a teenager (as of 9:06pm PST). Wow. Just, WOW. What a milestone for our firstborn, our oldest son. He's been our most challenging child, and there are times when I fear the worse is yet to come (I'm really not a fan of teenagers, y'all), but he's taught us so much about parenthood, about patience, about compromise, and (most importantly), about unconditional love. It's been quite the road to get this far. And, if the past few years of "tweendom" are any indication of what's to come, we still have some bumps and twists and off-roading ahead of us. So, here's to that!

When you think about it, Jeremiah has been our guinea pig for everything. We had to test everything on him--from scheduling to entertainment to discipline. But, I always tell people, as challenging as it's been to parent him, Jeremiah gave me the greatest gift because he is the one who made me a mother. And, he'll always have that special place in my heart.

We brought a Costco cake to youth group tonight to celebrate. He'll have a pizza and game party on Saturday with friends, plus my parents are bringing up the cousins. Fun times!

Here's to 13! Happy Birthday, J-man!

Disneyland 2015

Last time we all went to the Magic Kingdom together was in December 2010, so this trip was long overdue (in my humble opinion). I have an annual pass and we were able to get a park-hopper for Peter for half-price, so we decided to raid the savings account (usually a no-no) and get the kids park-hoppers for Christmas. It's an extravagant gift, but we don't do it often, and it will only take about 12 hours of overtime for Peter to earn the money back, so, no worries.  :)

We had a great day. It was a warm day, with a high of 82º and cooled off quite a bit at night. The parks weren't too crowded at first (we literally walked on to the first 5 rides, including Splash Mountain and Indiana Jones), but that changed shortly after noon. Then, both parks were packed--almost to capacity! But, everyone still got to go on their favorite rides. We did 19 rides total in just over 14 hours. I like to bring in my own food, both for health and financial reasons, but, we did splurge on churros and soft serve ice cream. Plus, the kids brought some of their birthday/Christmas money to buy souvenirs (I get a discount with my annual pass). I also couldn't resist this amazing Tigger mug for $13. Oh, how I love Disney!

Oh, and just so you know, so far, none of us have contracted the measles (because, THIS came up in the news yesterday). Vaccinations, FTW!

Big thanks to my parents for Toby-sitting for us so we could spend the day at the Happiest Place on Earth! We can't wait to go back! (But, it will be another two years or so.....)

The park was nearly empty when we got there, so I managed to grab this shot. 

Peter was over getting fast passes for Radiator Springs Racers, so we missed this opportunity for a great family castle shot. :/

Thunder Mountain!

Pure delight on Radiator Springs Racers.

The best family castle shot I could get with all the crowds....

Didn't get to ride Small World because it was over an hour wait. 

But, I still had to get a shot and watch the "show" outside the ride.

Tired faces after a FUN, but long, day.

Goodnight Disneyland...