All Things December

December is a crazy, busy month so here are some of the highlights of some of the many activities we have done.

 

TEMPLE LIGHTS w/FRIENDS

 

Alora and Alli H.

Jackson and Hone W.

The annual cocoa-after-the-lights at the crappiest McDonalds in Mesa.

 

CHRISTMAS ELF, RUDY, RETURNS



 

 

4th GRADE HOHOKAM INDIAN PROJECTS

 

Jackson and friend Dylan with one of their projects.

BUCKEYE ELECTRICAL PARADE 



 

MAKING CHRISTMAS COOKIES

 

CHRISTMAS EVE NIGHT 



Looking for Santa's sleigh before going to bed.

Alora asked for roller skates and Santa listened!

It might have taken two years of asking, but Santa finally brought Max "Pop the Pig."

It's been a crazy month, but it has been fun.  Now, it's time to settle down for a loooooong winter's nap!

Merry Christmas 2013!

Merry Christmas from a Bunch of Fuls!

L to R: Alora (7), Max (4), Noah (11 1/2), Jackson (9 1/2)

Nutcracker Ballet

My friend, Lisa, recently purchased tickets to see the Nutcracker Ballet but was then unable to use them, so she sold them to me.  Alora was ecstatic to have a mom/daughter date.  Before going to see the show, we ate at Chili's (her choosing) and then headed to the ballet.  We made it a couple of minutes late, but luckily, the performance started a tad bit late also. 

 

This performance was put on by kids ages 3-22.  Alora was enthralled the entire time, except for maybe the last few minutes (I think she was getting tired).  We ended the night getting chocolate shakes at McDonalds on our way home.  She is now obsessed with purchasing a Nutcracker doll, but being this close to Christmas, we haven't had any luck so far.  

 

 

Fourth Grade Gingerbread Village

This year Jackson has Noah's old teacher for 4th grade so it was his turn to make a gingerbread village.  Each kid, or engineer, has to plan our their assigned building or place and make up a budget based on the materials they will need.  They then construct it and reevaluate  their budgets upon completion.  This is the third year I have helped and it's always interesting to see how buildings or places change from one kids perception to another.  Jackson's portion of the "village" was to make North Lake, an area in our community where you can check out boats and fish. 

 

School Christmas Performances

It's that time of year again when we have to cram ourselves into the toasty-warm gymnasium and hear the same old random Christmas songs (i.e. Hearts Around the World) sung by our kids.  Noah is too old to perform, so this year it was just Jackson and Alora.  Even though the songs are kind of on the annoying side, the performance was actually pretty good and our kids did great. 

Alora is again the smallest 2nd grader.  At least we get to see her entire body and not just a little head poking out!

Jackson's last year performing.  Another one down!

Max had his own preschool Christmas performance last night.  Poor kid fell asleep half an hour before we had to go and then was super scared being up on stage in front of everyone.  I would try to motion to him to smile and he would just shake his head and stick out his bottom lip even further.  It was too cute.

Church Christmas Party

This year our church building was transformed into the Polar Express.  We entered on a make-believe train, complete with our conductor (the Bishop) and fog.  The kids were invited to wear their pajamas, but only our two little ones wanted to (Jack and Noah were too cool).  Towards the end of the evening, we were visited by the big guy himself and surprisingly, our "too cool" older boys chose to sit on Santa's lap!

 

 

Courtside Suns

One of the oral surgeons, Dr. Lam, that works with Jeremy has several season passes to the Phoenix Suns.  This past week he gave Jeremy 3 tickets so he and the older boys could go.  They were stoked!  These tickets retail for $400 each and are the second row on the court, so obviously were way out of our reach.  They even got access to the VIP area, which allowed them all the food and drinks they wanted.  As if that wasn't cool enough, Noah even got a Markief Morris' signature on his hat after the game!

Markief Morris signing Noah's hat

Art in the Park

Noah's baseball game today was held at the Goodyear Community Park, the same day as the Agua Fria Art in the Park celebration.  Local artists were competing using chalk as their medium.  Along the sidewalks, kids were also able to get in on the fun and draw their own designs.  It was pretty amazing to see some of the artist's designs take shape, especially how detailed some of them were.

 

You can't see it super well, but the detail in the eyes were awesome!  It was almost as if her eyes were sparkling.

 

The detail in this drawing was also amazing!



Endo Update

This morning had her 3rd endocrinology check-up.  Her current doctor, Dr. Constantine Djedos, recently transferred to Los Angeles, so now she will see his replacement, Dr. Dorothee Newbern.  She too is younger, but seems nice and pretty thorough.

Because it has only been 3 months since her last appointment, there wasn't much change in her growth.  She weighed in at 40.2 lbs (5th percentile) and was 109.6 cm (4th percentile).  She has grown about 1.5 cm since August.  Nothing outstanding, but it is all still on her growth curve.  Dr. Newbern wants to check her diet, making sure she's eating enough (which I know she doesn't because she is super picky and has a tiny appetite).  We have to complete a 3-day food diary and then fax it back in to the nutritionist so they can analyze her caloric intake.  Depending on that too, Dr. Newbern might conduct a celiac test just to rule out celiac disease.  Lastly, at her next appointment in 6 months, Dr. Newbern wants to repeat her bone scan test to see is she is still a year or so behind her actual age. 

Overall, the appointment went well and everything still just points to Alora being a bit smaller. 

Trick-or-Treat 2013

 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Hobo Noah



Jack as "The Walking Dead" Daryl Dixon



Alora as a 1920s flapper



Max as a gangster

Lake Pleasant Camping

 

Our little secluded home away from home campsite.  Dusty, but otherwise perfect!

This past week our kids had their school Fall Break.  I personally think it's kind of pointless and would rather start school a week later, but it is what it is.  We didn't really get to do anything real exciting until Thursday.  That was when we went camping with a bunch of friends.  Due to the government shutdown, most of the good camping areas were closed.  Plus, all of our schedules and availabilities kept changing, so we just decided to camp in Lake Pleasant. 

After a slight campsite mix-up with out RV camping friends, the rest of us finally found an area that was perfect for our crew of 5 families and 21 kids, two of which were under 5 months.  Although it was quite dusty and had no running water or toilets, it was secluded and next to the water.  The kids were in heaven. 

Once the tents were all set-up I helped the kids try and fish, but with only 5 poles and lots of inexperienced kids fishing, the poles didn't work long.  The next day, Jackson and Hone W. did catch a crayfish, but that was the only success.  No stripees for us.  The kids were all surprisingly good and we didn't have any incidents with any of them.  It was so nice for them to just to be able to play with friends and enjoy everything around them.  Our friends, the Wrays, had brought their boat with them and we were all able to ride on it.  Jackson tried to water ski and Alora tried to knee-board.  Neither were too successful, but it was cool that they tried.  The kids all loved playing in the water and collecting shells.  (On a side-note, Jeremy was a bum and didn't come camping.  He claims he doesn't like camping anymore and had too much work to do.  Oh well, his loss.  Maybe next time!)

Overall, I think this short little campout was fantastic.  It will definitely be something all the kids will remember and it was a great way to end Fall Break!

Noah and Will W. with a crayfish Jackson caught.

Jackson and Hone W. (Mud Buds)

Max in swim trunks early in the chilly morning.  Notice the other boys are all bundled up?

Jackson's first attempt at water-skiing.  He did manage to almost get all the way up.

Alora on the boat.  She did try to knee board, but wasn't quite big enough.

 

Nothing like an early morning swim with the sunrise.  Even though everyone was chilled, Jack apparently liked the freezing water!

Blue and Black, Let's Go Wolfpack!

Alora chose to do the High School cheer camp again this year.  This was her 3rd time (I think) that she has participated and there were no meltdowns during practice this time around.  Hallelujah!  This time she was also in the Silver group, so the next age level up.  She was still the smallest in her group, but still managed to perform great!  The cheerleaders taught the kids several cheers and then a dance routine which they then performed at the high school football game against Winslow tonight. 

 

Alora and her friend, Alli H., before the performance.

Alora and friends Jade and Paola at the game.

The shirts the cheerleaders give the kids are GIANT!  It's always interesting to see how parents modify them to make them fit.

I love the look of pure excitement on Alora's face!