November is always a fun month for us since we have birthday parties for Bennett & Papa Rock, William, and Rodgers! This November was a little crazier than usual, of course, but still fun! We had a birthday party for Rodgers on Thanksgiving in Lake City with Rod's family. Then we took him to Medieval Times in Atlanta (because Rod was working in GA then) along with Nana & Papa B. We continued the celebration the next weekend in Bryson City with a ride on the Polar Express! The 3 kids enjoyed all the adventures, and I enjoyed not doing a party! We went to Columbia the first weekend of December for Bennett's party at Monkey Joe's; it is one of our favorite places! They love being with their cousins! The second weekend, Rod and I went to a wedding in Charlotte AND GOT AN OFFER ON OUR HOUSE! The negotiations took a couple days, but then everything went really quickly (including the long repair list received following the inspection), and we closed January 7. We didn't actually go to closing since we moved to Jacksonville on January 1st. HAPPY NEW YEAR! In the middle of all that packing/moving/unpacking, we obviously celebrated Christmas!! Christmas was a WONDERFUL family time not only with extended family, but also with Rod. The timing was perfect since we got to be in Columbia & Pinehurst before heading to Charlotte for the week of packing and moving. Rod started his job in Jacksonville on Monday, January 4, and loves it!
We are settling in and finding our way around Jacksonville. We are loving being together as a family again! It was really cold the week we moved down here, but now it has warmed up. We got a membership at the zoo with some of our Christmas money, and it has almost become our home away from our apartment...we have already been 4 times, and Rodgers asked if we could go back this weekend! We are also looking forward to exploring some of the bike trails around here and trying out the frisbee golf course!
Downsizing from house to apartment has been a challenge, but I would like to think we are doing pretty well! The kids are all set up in their rooms: Kylie and Eli share, and theirs is pretty much full from floor to ceiling; Rodgers has his own, and it is set up like a library.
I have all of my stuff unpacked and put away except for my scrapbooking stuff. The kitchen is a challenge because it is TINY (definitely don't spend my whole day in the kitchen anymore), but it works. We have a playground right at the end of our building, walking paths around the complex, 2 pools, 2 tennis courts, a fitness center (that I have yet to step foot in)...it is all really nice. I think this will be a good home for us for the next year or so.
School for the kids has consisted of lots of worksheets and reading while we have gotten settled, but now we have internet again and are ready to rock & roll on school! I am ready to be back on a "normal" schedule and have some sort of routine again.
I'm going to school tomorrow and Saturday. Yup, going to get my ESL (English as a Second Language) certification. We offer an ESL program at our church here that I am going to start working with, so I get to spend too many hours in a classroom the next couple days.
Speaking of church, we visited one the weekend we moved in and loved it (just like when we moved to Charlotte). So we've been there since, joined a small group on Sunday nights with 4 other couples, and have already made a lot of friends there. The kids haven't had any trouble meeting other kids even though we are still homeschooling. Homeschool is HUGE here, so that has been a blessing! The kids started Awana last week. We have never done it before, so I didn't really know what to expect, but the kids came out all excited! Kylie asks every day when it is time for Awana. Yesterday morning she came in my room when we were getting ready to go to the zoo and asked what time it was. I told her 10am. She said, "so how many more hours til Awana?" So cute! They were all pumped up last night because they got their vests, bags, and books since it was their second time there!
Mom and Nana Irwin came down for a visit Monday. They left this morning to go to N. Fort Myers to visit Nana & Papa B, and took Eli with them. He is all excited to go on a "big boy trip!" He packed some bubbles, and walked out to the car carrying his potty! Mom and I were joking saying "has potty; will travel!" LOL too funny! I'm sure they will have a great time!
Well, I have a bunch of pictures to load...my computer crashed and was sent off and I now have it, but haven't reloaded all my stuff, so I'm on Rod's. Mom brought me back my camera cord, so I now have no excuses about getting the pictures up...other than I just haven't done it yet! But, keep checking back!
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