Shopping with Daddy

Jordy and Kaylea had a long date on Friday night.  They started off by heading to the mall and shopping for presents. They had dinner and ended up seeing a movie.  It was hard to stay awake waiting for them :)

Ornament Exchange 2015

In keeping with my favorite holiday tradition, we exchanged ornaments last week.  Jordy got a Broncos ornament and I got the White House ornament.  Kaylea got an ornament with make-up. I think we were all pleased with the selection this year.

Cookie Decorating

In keeping with tradition, we decorated our famous sugar cookies this year.  Kaylea has gotten a lot better at cookie decorating and helping out in the kitchen.  I also tried a new decorating technique so the icing looks a lot smoother than normal.  The cookies were delicious.

Girl Scouts - Pancakes & PJs

Saturday night was the first of 3 parties in 7 days (the only one at our house thank goodness).  We hosted the Girl Scouts for Pancakes & Pajamas.  In all of the excitement, I completely forgot to take a picture of the kids. 

We started the evening with breakfast and then went downstairs and turned on a movie.  Most of the kids did not watch the movie.  They did a sewing craft and also made pillows.  It was wild and it was loud.  We played a few games and then it was time for the kids to go home.  It was a fun time, but exhausting to prepare for this time of year.

Thanksgiving Day

We started Thanksgiving morning by doing something different than normal. We served at the church with Project 25.  I was amazed and humbled by the number of people showing up to serve.  Kaylea enjoyed bringing the food from the front to the back and I helped pack desserts.  500 meals were prepared for delivery in just over an hour.

We finished cooking and went to the Gallagher's for Thanksgiving.  It was very kind of them to invite us over.  We enjoyed the usual Thanksgiving fixings and tried fried turkey for the first time.

Kaylea ended up spending the night with Alannah so Jordy and I went out shopping alone. We started around 7pm and we were finishing up by 10pm.

When I picked Kaylea up on Friday, we went shopping.  She was excited to participate in her first Black Friday.  We shopped for about 4 hours and she was an awesome shopping partner.  

Gaylord National Harbor Presents ICE

Wednesday, Jordy was out of school and Kaylea got out 2 hours early so we headed to the National Harbor to begin Christmas celebrations.  ICE! is an indoor winter wonderland featuring a walk through holiday attraction (kept at 9 degrees), 2 million pounds of hand-carved ice sculptures, 5 ice slides, 7 individual rooms depicting the story of Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, and the Frostbite Factory (a live carving zone).

Before making it to the hotel for the attraction, we went to the National Harbor and checked out the decorations.  We also visited the Peep Store and picked up a Gingerbread Man.  We had dinner at the Cadillac Ranch.

We were impressed by the ICE! exhibit,but I'm not sure we would visit it every year.  Kaylea's favorite part was sliding down the slides.

School Pictures - First Grade

School - Lorton Station Elementary

First Grade

Teacher - Mrs. Maquera

Alarm Rings - 8:00 AM

Catch the Bus - 9:05 AM

School Starts - 9:20 AM



Lunch - 11:05 AM

Recess - 11:35

School Ends - 4:05 PM

Favorite Class - Reading
Favorite Friends - Alannah, Amerah, Sara

First Day - September 8, 2015

Last Day - June 23, 2016

Field Trip - Gunston Hall

Thursday morning I was able to attend a field trip with Kaylea and her class.  We went to Gunston Hall. Gunston Hall is an 18th century near the Potomac River.  The house was the home of George Mason.  The trip was definitely educational. 

The class was broken into three groups and I was able to tour with one group.  Kaylea had several of her friends in our group, as the teacher allowed them to select the group they wanted to go with.  It was awesome hanging out with Kaylea and I was able to give some love to some of her friends who need it.  It's amazing how loving children can be.

We toured the mansion, the grounds, the school house, the kitchen, and the laundry room.  While it wasn't all that exciting, I think the kids were just happy to be away from the class and I know Kaylea was thrilled I came along.

Veteran's Day

Jordy had Veteran’s Day off for the first time in 10 years.  I usually have the day off alone and it was certainly nice to spend the day together.  We had a very early lunch with Kaylea at school.  They celebrated Thanksgiving early.  She just loves having her family at school with her.  After lunch Jordy and I had massages.  We spent some time at home and got in a quick cat nap. 

Our Weekend

Friday evening Jordy took Kaylea out to see the Goosebumps Movie. It was supposed to be a little scary, so I wasn’t sure if she would make it through the entire movie, but she did and she actually enjoyed it.  While they were out, my mom and I took advantage of some time together and went to play Bingo.  We found Bingo at a firehouse in Springfield.  It was interesting.  They wasted no time in calling numbers.  We definitely had too many Bingo sheets, but it was nice to get out together.

Kaylea asked me last week if we could have a Girl’s Day, so Saturdaythat’s just what we did.  After collecting canned good for a food drive, we headed to get Kaylea a haircut.  Then she got her nails painted and I had a pedicure.  We went to the mall and did just a little bit of shopping. She also stopped in to see Santa and tell him what she wants for Christmas (this time of year there is no line). 

Saturday night we went to a housewarming/birthday party for some new friends in Virginia.  We had a great time.  We snacked on food, enjoyed birthday cake, and sang karaoke.  I’m looking forward to doing this again.

The Peanuts Movie

Friday after work, we all headed to dinner and the Peanuts movie.  We went to the Silver Diner because it was nearby.  It was OK, but I wouldn't go back.  We were able to see the movie at a theater with reclining chairs.  That was pretty cool.  It was good to have my mom out with us.

Happy 7th Birthday Alannah

Saturday afternoon we celebrated Alannah turning 7 with a party at Chuck E Cheese.  Kaylea had fun with her friends from school and we enjoyed talking to some adults and playing games.  Alannah has quickly become one of Kaylea's best friends at school.

Play Date

Kaylea had her friend Alannah over on Monday night.  School was out in Fairfax County for two days.  We had pizza, Jordy took them to Flight Zone, and they played in the basement.  They covered their faces in makeup.  They had a great time.  Kaylea was able to go to Alannah's house on Tuesday afternoon.  They had a great time there, too. 

Mastering the Backbend

Kaylea has been taking gymnastics on and off for the past year.  She is pretty good, but just started practicing more at home since she got an incline mat.  This week she mastered her backbend.  I cannot tell you how proud I was the first time I saw her do this.  The smile on her face showed me how proud she was, too.

Storybook Character

Friday was storybook character day at school.  The children were supposed to dress as their favorite popular storybook character.  Kaylea debated who to be, but ended up going as Pinkalicious.  She said it was a fun day at school.  It probably helped that it was a 2 hour early release day.

Halloween Weekend

Saturday afternoon we went to the Fall Festival at church.  It was really nice.  They had food, tons of games, crafts, pony rides, and a puppet show.  We stayed from 4 - 5:30.  We could have stayed longer, but we had some other plans.

We went to a neighborhood with our neighbor, Laurel Lee.  Kaylea has never last so long trick or treating.  We were out for over 2 hours.  She collected tons of candy.  The decorations were amazing at some of the homes.  One lady answered the door with a parrot on her shoulder.  Another man handed out candy from a casket.  Kaylea ended up with 6 full sized candy bars and one giant Hershey Bar in addition to all of the other treats.

By the end Kaylea said her legs hurt and she was tired, but as it turns out, she was up until midnight, so I'm not sure how that worked.