More thoughts from Jaelin...

My mom made 2 pound cakes to send to Maine with us. We have successfully powered through the first one in a day. So we open the second one to start cutting into it....
Jaelin- Oh yes! I didn't know there was another one!
Gayl- Yeah, I made this one Jaelin....do you believe me?
Jaelin- Weeelllllllll, does it taste like Mamal's?

Thoughts from Jaelin...

Jaelin and I went to get haircuts and I decided to try the bang thing again.
Jaelin- Woah, mom! You have bangs!
Me- Yeah, do you like them?
Jaelin- Weeelllllllll....yeah but I don't really like bangs.
Me- But do you like them on me?
Jaelin- Yeah, but I just don't like bangs.

Alrighty then!....

4 days later, Jaelin and her McDonalds doll.....
Eeewwww! She has bangs!!!

Christmas

Where did December go?? I can't believe that another Christmas has come and gone. This one was a good one for us! We had family in town celebrating with us in our new home, and we had a few nice days to actually go down and hang around the beach. The kids were so excited when Nana and Jim walked through the gates at the airport! They had no idea they were coming! It was such a wonderful week!

Lunch on the Harbor at Dewey Destins- What a beautiful day!

Making sugar cookies for Santa

Christmas Morning

Patiently Waiting

The Howell Family Band

Fort Walton Beach

Gayl and Jim

Miss Antioch Beauty Pageant

Oh, the good 'ole south- football, bbq, huntin', fishin', and beauty pageants! Jaelin decided a couple months ago that she wanted to be in her school beauty pageant. Yes, it seems as though she does have some girliness in her after all! I was told it was a "no big deal" casual pageant and that most of the girls wear Sunday dresses and don't really go all out for it. Simple enough. I later find out that most of the girls have rented dresses, hair stylists coming to the school, and a professional photography company has been hired. I had ordered Jaelin a little flower girl dress online, was planning on doing her hair and make up myself, and taking my own pictures and video. Funny how things suddenly change the night before the big day. We went and tried on dresses and rented one that suited her perfectly. I was still semi-confident in my ability to do her hair and make up. We had fun, and I think we were both happy with how it turned out.

Once we got to the school, we set up shop-got dressed, did the touch up hair spray, lip gloss, etc. and she waited her turn to go up on the big stage. Jaelin was #19 out of 21 girls in her division so it took a little while. She did so good for her first time, not straying away from the judges at all, blowing her little kisses, and doing her exit wave. Once all the girls were finished, the judges tallied their scores, and they brought the 4 finalists back on stage just as David and Ayden were walking in from Football. Jaelin won Miss Antioch- Petite Miss- First Alternate. Basically, if they find some racy pics of the winner, Jaelin gets bumped up. She was so excited to receive her trophy, tiara, and sash...not to mention the flowers from Daddy :)

Piper and Jaelin; They're in the same class.

2nd Alternate McKilah (Kindergarten) and Jaelin

Lining up to strut her stuff...I'm hoping the photog got a better side shot of her on stage...

Miss Antioch Petite Miss Winner (2nd Grade), Jaelin (Kindergarten), and Miss Photogenic (2nd Grade)

Ms. Pratt and Jaelin (I think she was more excited that her teacher was there to watch)

One proud little family. Ayden's team won their game too, remaining undefeated.

Cloud 9

Halloween

This year's Halloween started off with the usual baking of the famous cookies and carving of the pumpkins. However, David and I got a little taste of how it will be when the kids leave home. I baked and he carved while the kids played outside with their friends. They had no interest until it was time to ice the cookies and eat them, of course...Jaelin posing with the "flat Girl Scouts" from Moldova

Shopping for costumes was quite the event. Ayden had no idea what he wanted to be, and Jaelin went in wanting to be a candy corn witch. There was simply no time to throw a costume together this year so into the store we went. Party City has this little system where you see the pictures on the wall, remember the number of the costume you want, and tell the store associate to get it for you in your size. Mind you, there was about a 20 minute wait in line to get to an associate, and this is about 3 weeks before Halloween. We stood in that line 3 times. Either they didn't have it in stock, the costume was "itchy," the mask was irritating, or it didn't fit. Oh yes, did I forget to mention that once Jaelin saw all of the options she backed down from her candy corn witch idea and decided to try on about 6 other costumes? Would you like to take a guess right now on what she walked out with?? Oh yes, little miss candy corn witch! Ayden, on the other hand, walked out with nothing, but was very excited when he had a ninja costume waiting for him when he got home from school! It turned out to be a fun night. All the kids from our street went trick-or-treating together. By the time we got around the neighborhood, half of them couldn't carry their buckets anymore because they were so heavy. I think we ended up with more candy at the end of the night than what I bought to give out....hello sugar rush!

The kids with some of their friends- Gemma, "Turtle," and "Miggy"

My Little Running Back...

Before Ayden started football he said he really wanted to be the "runnerback" or the quarterback. He now knows that the position is actually "runningback," and he's gotten a taste for what it's like to hold that position. I am so proud of him! He's one of the littlest guys on the team, but he doesn't seem to notice. Last Saturday he was able to run the ball with a total of about 25 yards and a 2 point conversion play. He is absolutely thrilled, and now that he knows what it's like to get the ball in his hands he's ready for more! High 5-ing the coach after his fumble recovery.

The Crestview Cowboys remain undefeated and have not allowed any points to be scored on them this season. Way to go boys!!

Gulfarium with the Girl Scouts

The Girl Scout troop has been keeping us on our toes lately with all sorts of activities and meetings. The latest has been the trip to the Gulfarium. The girls had so much fun visiting the dolphins, sting rays, sea otters, walrus, sharks, alligators, sea turtles, and penguins. We were able to see a few different shows and meet a lot of other troops from the area. Here are some pics from the day...