Christmas time!

Was celebrated at Mimi and Papa Tom's house!

And Great Grandma Trudy was there!

Opening up presents!

And finally, Matthew's dream came true! It was a new bike, parked under the tree! He is so proud

Hanukkah Time

Celebrating the second night of Hanukkah. Cousins Josh and Zach lit the menorah and did the prayers. Sam, he just smiled for the camera.

COUSINS!

Waiting to eat dinner!

Making Hanukkah Cookies!

Matthew and his new camera!

oh the weather is so delightfull!

Oh yes, this year it did feel like Christmas! It was a winter wonderland.

For a visual of snow accumulations

Oh yes, it was great! Sam loved loved loved the snow this year. He dove right on in and loved every minute of it. Matthew, well, he wanted to enjoy it, and tried his best, but couldn't get into the groove. Enjoy the pictures of snow! I'll touch it, but that's it!

Sam, hammin' it up!

See those monster tears...they were from the strong winds. Poor baby.

This was the glare we got....getting better.

The boys went sledding...and as usual, Sam threw a fit to come home.

-2 degrees

Yes, you read it right. -2 degrees and freezing...freezing our little bottoms off.
But oh how wonderful it has been. The boys are soaking up all the attention. Today we played in the snow, pictures to follow. Tonight we celebrated Hanukkah with the family. The house was full of cousins, aunts, uncles grandparents and parents! Gaga Judi made her traditional Hanukkah feast and it was scrumptious. Potato Latkes, brisket and cookies! Yumm yumm yumm. It's been forever since I last ate a yummie home cooked meal.

But, we made it safe and sound....20 hours later and are freezing.

We're in Kentucky!

And freezing our little hiney's off! It's coooollldd.
We made it about 12 hours yesterday. Drove through rain, heavy rain, a thunderstorm, rain and a lightning show. The mountains were so neat as they were fog covered. There we so many accidents it was scary, but we held on tight and plowed through! We rolled into our hotel around 10:15. The boys were every so excited to get here, although they didn't fall back asleep until around 11:30 because they kept giggling and talking to each other. It was so cute and so made me excited for what the future has in store for our family!

We just finished up breakfast in the hotel, and we're getting ready to get back in the car and just get home!!!! But first, Starbucks, here we come :).

And we're off!

And here is what our vacation looks like! Snow, cold cold cold cold. Check out Monday! YIKES.

Please pray for our family as we make this trip home. Our path does hold some snow and slippery roads, however, we're hoping the plows are doing their jobs. Thank you to all who have let us borrow DVD's. It's going to be a looonnnnggggg ride.

From shorts and t's to mittens and hats.....here we go!

Check back on our journey ! We'll be updating along the way.

Weather Weather Weather...Winter Storm Watch

Today I have been watching the weather forecast and talking with Erin since there is very large snow storm headed in our driving direction. We are planning to leave early this weekend for the north but I am thinking we should leave earlier. I know the further north we get the roads will be covered in snow. I also know the kids will be amazed at the snow since it has been almost 2 years since we moved to the south.

I am hoping the highways are in good condition for the southern minivan... we will drive very safely and watch out for the other crazy drivers.

Closing in on one chapter, opening up a new

Well well well....it's almost been two years since our plane landed here in Northern Florida. We were moving from cold snowy Wisconsin to warm sunny Florida. We had absolutely no idea what life would bring us as we held our GPS. We moved into a house we knew nothing about. We led ourselves blind as we put ourselves out there to make friends. And oh my, two years later, who would have thought....I have tears in my eyes as I am writing this thinking back to our first few days here in Oakleaf, to our last few days here in Oakleaf. Wow, what an amazing journey it has been. So many milestones we've reached together as a family unit, and also as individuals. I never dreamed that I would be the one who would live in Florida, let alone live in Florida with my husband and 2 children. However, life takes us in so many different directions, sometimes you just have to go with the flow. For that we are so thankful.

It's time my friends for us to close this chapter of our lives and move onto the next. As bittersweet as it is to leave, leaving behind so so so many close friends, who substituted as family, we feel it has been the best decision to move back home and call it home for good. Brad got the news last week that he will no longer have a job come January 30th. Our homeowners called the next day and told us they need their house back due to some life changing events as well. That was a sign, a huge sign for us to make up our minds and run with this and call it an opportunity.


So, we don't have a plan in place yet as life has been full of craziness, however, we will make something work and we'll keep you updated on our blog. What we do know is this is going to be a hard, but easy thing for our family to go through. Sam is taking it all in as we explain things to him at a very slow pace. He has worries, childhood worries like, "who will be my new friends" and "where will I sleep" and "who will be my new teacher" and how dare we not have a park at a 10 step distance and a pool in our backyard. Matthew is concerned his bed will be moved. However, all things will come with time as we adjust to life as we once knew it. We are so excited to make this journey work, under the circumstances. I already have people waiting for photo sessions back home so get ready friends, I'm going to be signing you up sooner than you thought!

I'm not saying good bye to all our friends yet as we have so many things coming up/going on. It will be a "see you soon" as you have no idea how much you all mean to us in sooo many different ways. Your kind words of encouragement when I need a lift me up. Those mommy day/night outs where you just knew when to call. Those awesome nights at the park where we played until the sun set and we had to pull our kids off the playground and drag them home kicking and screaming. Those pizza nights when we trashed each others rooms. To fun Bunco nights. Those families who have made us who we are today.....through tears of sadness and joy THANK YOU. Our family has grown up so much with your help and for that our family has been blessed.

Now, hang on kids, we're going for a ride!

Making our famous Thanksgiving dessert

Pumpkin Bars! The boys did their share of helping me this holiday. We made pumpkin bars about 4 times for different occasions! They were sooooo good.

The Finished Product

Our Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving 2008. We got a wonderful invitation to be with another family for the holiday. We ventured over the river to Ms. Cathy and Mr. Mike's home. The boys were ever so excited to go and so were we. Thank you family for a wonderful Thanksgiving. It was so nice to be with you on this holiday!

The boys were each allowed 2 activities to bring along! They decided with one head (as usual) to bring a puzzle and some coloring devices! They had a blast sitting out on the lanni.

They were so intrigued with the pool. Unfortunately the weather was a little bit on the chilly side, so we did not go in.

Playing with puzzles

And then Mr. Mike pulled out his toys~ and you should have seen the looks on their faces! They were in heaven :)

Sam, the driving machine!

Too cute!

Matthew waiting for dinner! He can smell the bird.

Sam wondering if they will have butter and rolls.....

I will cherish this picture forever. This picture brings a smile to my face. It is so pure and innocent. They boys, waiting patiently for all the guests to sit down. Matthew excited that someone other than mommy was cooking for him...Sam overjoyed that Mr. Mike made rolls for him!
Kisses for Ms. Cathy. Matthew warmed up after about 30 minutes...but still dished out the "glare" and then said, "no, can't do that".

We ended the night with a bon fire. It was perfect. Roasting marshmallows around the fire on a chilly Florida night.

Thank you SO much Greene family for your hospitality. You make living so far from family on the holiday easy. Thanks again!

We're here! We're here!

Oh my goodness. It has just been forever since I last made a entry. WOW. Seriously, I don't even know where to start. I sure do feel the holidays approaching as life is passing by so very fast. So, in a nutshell, things are going great! Halloween came and went and we're slowly seeing the bottom of the pumpkin. The kids have long forgotten about their Halloween candy, it's Brad and I who are enjoying it. Darn it.



Sam had his 4 year well check at the good ole' Doctor. He did great as he braved all 5 shots. Matthew thought he was in the clear but got his flu shot as well! We left the office with a clean bill of health, puffy wet red eyes and a huge lollipop!


I have a ton of video's to upload so enjoy our little life below!

Thanksgiving Feast Video#12

Thanksgiving Feast Video#1

5 little ducks-Video

Trick or Treat!

And then the eve of Halloween finally approached. Sam was officially Hallo-weened out, however, he was so pumped to go trick or treating with some of his friends frog the "hood"! However, he wasn't digging his 2008 pirate costume, and he made up this big long long long story about how he really things that he needs to be a fireman. So, he dug in his bin of dress up clothes and picked out his own Halloween costume. He came out of his room all ready to go. He had on his cars boots, 2 different hats under his helmet and his undies and shirt hanging out of his pants, which the Velcro stuck to this socks. It was a moment. A priceless moment, but he was so proud that he was going to be a firefighter! Matthew, Mr. I don't do well with change, carried out his 2008 Halloween costume and wore his adorable little pirate!

The 2008 "hood" treaters!
(check out happy Matthew)

Pals! I just love this picture!
Ready to go...or not go...not sure, but ready and cute!

Ahh, fireman (2007) Sam and pirate (2008) Matthew!

They did great as they ran up to the doors. We started a little early as the hood tends to get a wee bit scary when sun falls. We really didn't see have any communication with Sam as all we did was supervise his whereabouts. Matthew was a little timid at first and did the nose pick:

however after watching the gang, he jumped right in!
(Go Matthew go)

Happy Halloween friends!

Happy Halloween

Introducing the Silver Bluff Blvd Pirates

Happy 2008 Halloween!

This Halloween year was so much fun! And, I think, this was the first year the Sam really enjoyed the big night!! He did so well. Our neighbors brought in the spirit last weekend with their annual Halloween bash! Then we had "Trunk or Treat" at Sam's school...a first for us Teplin's...And then we went Trick or Treating last night with so many friends and neighbors!

Matthew giving the glare to Ms. Kelly at the party!

Sam pretending to own the pirate ship


Here are the costumes...up close and detailed :)

and the patch was worn through all the festivities! Pirate Sam

Pirate Matthew

Pirate Matthew
"What am i supposed to do with all this stuff?"

And then we had Trunk or Treat. Again, this was a rather interesting concept....mommies decorated their trunks, the kids went trunk or treating in the trunks. Matthew had a good time, and insisted on wearing his pirate costume just like Sam. He sucked on lollipops and dished out the glare. Sam was intrigued. Some pictures from the event.

Sam and his class (and Matthew)

The trunks...

Friends! These 3 musketeers have so much fun together.
I love little people relationships!