Back in the Land of the Blogging

December is usually a busy month with most people, and it was no exception with this family. With preschool ending, Christmas and vacation to prepare for, families and friends to visit, a regular routine to get back to when it was all said and done, there was not much time for blog updating. Thus the reason it's been several weeks since my last entry. Since so much time has passed, I thought I'd make it all up by hitting a few bullet points with a picture or two...

Mason finished up the first half of the preschool year with his preschool Christmas program. Dave took the morning off to join us as we watched him actually stand up with his class and participate - in stark contrast to his performance last year where he ran back and forth between his spot and the teachers and didn't sing at all. He learned many songs and has been singing them around the house for several weeks.

Because we were heading out of town to see extended family for Christmas, we celebrated our little family Christmas a few days early. We don't really stress Santa Clause around here, but he did bring the kids a blow-up ball-pit a few days early.

A few days before Christmas, we loaded up and headed south. We spent a few days, including Christmas, with my family in north Florida. Mason loved playing with his cousins. Poor Lauren wasn't herself due to what we think was teething or possibly a little cold. We played games, worked puzzles, exchanged gifts, and went to Christmas Eve service at my home church. I also enjoyed getting to see some long-time friends and laugh about old times. Here are the kids with cousins Kellon and Chandler.

A few days later, it was back in the car to head even farther south to visit Dave's family in Orlando. We really enjoyed our stay there... Who can beat wearing shorts in 80 degree weather on New Years Eve? The highlights for me there (in addition to my mother-in-laws delicious meals - and I'm not just saying that because she reads this blog) was a visit with more dear friends (including a childless double date night!) and a meal with Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck! (We took the kids to a character breakfast at Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary hotel at Disney, but felt that was as much Disney we could do with two little kids.)

Back home again, we prepared to get back to a routine, but it was a new routine for us. Mason started at a new preschool with the new year. We decided to make a switch which worked better for all of us, and after sailing through the first week, I am very happy with our decision. Mason is now attending a very good school 4 days a week (instead of 3) from 9:00-1:00, including lunch. I was a little worried about how he'd cope with a new environment away from the friends he made in his old school (which he talked about constantly), but he seems to really like it. His teachers say he hit the ground running and is doing great. I'm very excited about the rest of the year and the next school year to come.

I hope to get back in the blogging mood and make a few more updates soon, but for now, I think I'll just pace myself a bit. There must be a load of laundry or some dishes to catch up on somewhere around here...