I had the worst case of strep throat I think I’ve ever had and was pretty much in bed from Saturday through Monday. My sweet little Xander asked this morning, “Mom, are you feeling better today? Cause I’d really like to go somehwere…” Thanks to prayers, rest, and antibiotics I actually started feeling like myself today. So, after taking the boys to a few quick appointments in the morning, we headed to IHOP for lunch (spontaneous fun) and to Pinkerton Park to play.
Xander and Roman have been taking swim lessons this winter (while Jonas is taking art lessons and trying his hand at Destination Imagination). It’s always so exciting for me to see them swim…I’m amazed at how quickly they learn and how far they can swim.
Before winter break started, I tried to stock up on a few activities for the boys to do at home in between outings. Today we busted out the Gingerbread House making kit!!! The boys watched a how-to video on www.wilton.com/gingerbread-wm while I worked on getting everything set up (gingerbread, candies, and icing). We ended up learning a few fun, helpful things from the video…you can use sugar as snow, a gumdrop can be rolled out flat and then stamped out with a small cookie cutter shape, and it works better if you decorate your gingerbread (and let it dry) before you put it all together. Here’s what Jonas, Xander, and Roman came up with…
The boys and I went to the Patterson Park Community Center Indoor Pool this morning. Jonas and Xander went down the water slide for two hours straight, while Roman and I played in the water together. They’re all becoming such great little swimmers. We picked up some lunch afterwards followed by a peppermint shake and headed home to cozy up by the fire.
Here’s my little dolphin, Xander, swimming his heart out…
The boys and I loved checking out the Smyrna Outdoor Adventure Center today. Aunt Jean bought them a membership for Christmas…thanks, Aunt Jean!!! I know they’ll have a blast in the climbing rooms in the fall/winter and at the pool/splash pad in the spring/summer. Here’s Xander scaling the climbing wall, and Roman monkeying around on the ropes.
The boys enjoyed making and decorating sugar cookies this morning…
I loved being able to be a part of the boys’ winter parties on the last day of school before winter break. Xander’s class hunted for candy canes, painted ornaments, and played reindeer antler ring toss. Jonas’ class listened to Mrs. Blackburn’s special Christmas stories, made a ribbon/cinnamon stick ornament, and exchanged books with their secret pals. Roman’s class decorated Santa hats, enjoyed a game of holiday bingo, and played musical stuffed animal presents. They loved joining in the holiday sing-a-long in the gym…their favorite part was seeing the Gingerbread Man.
We spent Thanksgiving in Virginia this year. Here we are with Grandma and Grandpa, the Northern Seyfrieds (Tim, Mary, Lindsey, and Audrey), the Longs (Rich, Sherri, Kaitlyn, and Andrew), the Paccassis (Dave, Tree, John, Lily, Peter, Sam, Gianna, Philip, Sam, and Gabe), and five priest friends from Ghana (Father Felix, Father Eric, Father Patrick, Father John, and Father Eric).
Happy Halloween from the Seyfrieds!!!
Jonas: a Ninja
Xander: Ash the Pokemon Trainer
Roman: Steve from Minecraft
Tom: an alien
Jodi: Katniss Everdeen from the the Hunger Games
We had a wonderful Fall Break!!!
On Wednesday, I took the boys to the Patterson Park Community Center indoor pool. It was the first time that Jonas and Xander were tall enough to ride the big, twisty slide…so they were super pumped. Roman was bummed out that he couldn’t ride it but found a friend from school to play with and got to spend some special time in the water with Mommy.
Grandma and Grandpa came in on Wednesday night to spend Fall Break with us. We always love their visits…Petra too, she does laps around the house as soon as they walk in the door.
On Thursday, Grandpa and Tom went golfing, while Grandma and I took the boys to the zoo. First, we stopped to see the monkeys who were spunky and swinging from the branches. Then, Grandma rode the zoo’s zip line ride, Soar, with Jonas and Xander…she’s so cool. The boys were even tall enough to ride it with each other, which was really exciting for them and a little bit scary for me. We rode the carousel several times, and Grandma got to cross two things off of her bucket list (riding on an elephant and riding on an ostrich). Afterwards, the boys ran around on the playground and we snapped some pictures with the pumpkins.
On Friday, we relaxed at home (the boys love playing board games with Grandpa), and then went to Walden Pumpkin Farm. The boys visited with the animals, ran through the mazes, and played in the activity center.
I enjoyed being able to go to each of the boys’ fall parties. They had so much fun wrapping their friends up as toilet paper mummies, making scarecrow and pumpkin crafts, and eating yummy fall-inspired food. What a great way to ring in Fall Break!!!
The boys were SO excited to run in the Fun Run. Thank you so much to everyone who sponsored them!!! They had a blast running and helping raise money for their school.
I loved being able to go with Xander on his field trip to the Traveller’s Rest plantation. He experienced a one-room school house, toured the plantation home, played with old time toys (Jacob’s ladder, cup and ball, whizgig, hoop and stick, etc.), wrote with a quill pen, and learned a folk dance.
Jonas is playing soccer again this fall (Tom is his assistant coach…go Daddy!!!). This was the first Saturday that we had fall weather…it was beautiful. Here are all three of my little dudes in action during the game:
Roman was SO excited to bring Chester, the classroom raccoon, home this afternoon for an adventure. He and his brothers had a blast running around with Chester…
The boys had Donuts with Dad this morning at school. I was SO incredibly moved by how many dads showed up to be with their kids…the line literally wrapped around the school and snaked down the hallway…I teared up and applauded all of the daddies as I walked by…especially this one with these three boys.
We picked the boys up early from school, so we could all watch the eclipse together. We drove about an hour north where totality was longer. My favorite parts, aside from sharing such an historic event with my family and watching the boys play in the lake afterwards in the changing light, was hearing this precious lady say, “Praise Jesus!” and seeing all of the fish start biting when the sky went dark. What an amazing day, and what a gift it was to witness it!
Today was the first day of school for Jonas and Xander!!!
Jonas, going into 3rd grade: “When I grow up, I want to be an artist.”
Xander, going into 2nd grade: “When I grow up, I want to be a dolphin trainer at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.”
You know, I’ve come a long way. I went from picking out their clothes (waaaaaaaaay back in the beginning of their preschool days when they would let me and didn’t have strong opinions about what they wanted to wear) to only requiring nice clothes (that they choose) on the first day of school, picture, and church days. Today, I decided to take a leap and let go of the nice clothes on the first day of school thing and just let them wear what they were comfortable in…I think it was less anxiety inducing for all.
Here they are holding their first day of school signs, being silly in front of the school, and meeting their teachers for the first time. I always love seeing the progression of pictures taken at the beginning of the school year, where they’re holding back and a little nervous…to the end of the school year, where they’re all in and confident. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful school with such precious and caring teachers and staff…they are the best!!! I can’t wait to see how much my boys change, learn, and grow this year.
The boys and I enjoyed checking out the Adventure Science Center again…
