All the Rest

I think that this is the last of the "must do" posts and my catching up so that I can start writing real-time, "just because" posts.  With the rest of our birthday and Christmas season wrap-ups needing to be done, I felt guilty about sharing anything else. 

Aaaanyways....Christmas was mild and really quite warm this year in Florida, so it only made sense to spend New Years at the beach. We woke up to beautiful sunrises, happy babies, and warm days to play in the sand.  I love my new (Merry Christmas to me!) iPhone for many reasons, but one is that it takes pretty good pictures.  As if I didn't take enough pictures already, now I always have my camera or phone with me to capture a moment. 

This was Jude's first trip to the beach as a walker, and boy did he love this new experience.  

He loved feeling and playing in the sand, became obsessed with chasing the birds, and went off on many adventures.  He would sign "bird" with both hands just as fast as those little fingers would move and run off pointing at them.  "Do you see them, Mama?" 

There were treasures to discover all along the island.

Each night, we made bonfires on the beach to roast more marshmallows and indulge in s'mores once again.

Eli was very excited as he has a new found love of campfires. Even though the days were warm, the nights were damp and chilly.  It got late, and Eli got tired.  The cold was too much for him.

 

Once the littles were tucked in and sleeping, the adults enjoyed time by the fire.  A little bit of pyro-mania by the big boys.  ....If only it weren't so damp.  Once the sun went down, the humidity was outrageous and everything we brought out with us was wet!  Those that were able to stay awake (I was one who dozed around 10:30, but rallied right before midnight.), rang in the new year with Prosecco toasts.

And then it was back home in time to watch the Gators end the season with a bowl win over Ohio State.

Jude and I were decked out in new Gator gear we got as Christmas gifts from Aunt Z and Uncle Matt B.  We were looking good....and maybe it was the good luck we needed to finally pull off a solid victory.

Eli still had another full week off from school after New Years, but the kids and I kept it low key.  We could be found many days still in jammies at lunch time.  I loved this week!!  A whole bunch of lounging around, trying out new toys inside and outside.  After Jude's fun in the sand at the beach, he has fallen in love with our sandbox.  Many days, he leads me over to the back door, points at the door knob, and signs "please!"  How can I say no? Once I open the door, he makes a beeline for the sandbox.

Eli tried out his binoculars from Pap Pap and Lil while Jude played in the sand.   Don't you love how big brother had to get himself into our picture in the sand?  Cracks me up!  When we did manage to get ourselves dressed, we enjoyed a few playdates.  One of them was a lunch date at Moe's.  Have I told you how much Jude loves black beans yet?

What a mug! And want to see what this little stinker did to my kitchen cabinets?

Guess he wasn't too proud of his work.  Actually, I think he was throwing a fit because we took away the marker.  It took Eli until his was almost 2 to color on the wall.  And he barely did.  Jude really went for it.  Thankfully it was a dry erase marker and the cabinets are laminate.  It wiped right off.

And then finally, Christmas season came to a close with the Feast of the Epiphany.  Eli was so excited to finally move the 3 wise man over with the rest of our nativity.  All week long, we had been inching them closer and closer.

Sadly, this meant it was time to take down Christmas in our house.  Eli was very sad to see the tree come down and begged to leave it up a little while longer.  I was actually ready to have our house back to normal, but Eli said the house looks sad now; empty.  I get it.  I really do.

So things are slipping back into a routine for us.  After a week of running everywhere--always feeling like I was late to be somewhere--we are back in a groove.  The house is slowly but surely getting reorganized after the birthday and Christmas haul.  I have projects planned throughout the house....now I just have to execute. Here's to a happy, healthy, productive, and blessed 2012!