Christmas 2015

 Christmas Eve we painted ornaments and the kids opened their new pjs!  

We were supposed to be getting ready to go camping but the weather wasn't cooperating, 8 people jammed into a camper in 90 degree weather and 80 percent humidity is not ideal, so for the third year in a row we cancelled!  

That meant we could do Christmas on Christmas day!  

Celia's 2nd Christmas but first time actually opening presents.

She got a towel and a pillow pet. 

She has no idea what it is but she loves it! 

 Then she decided to teeth on Isla's new Christoff doll.  Silly girl.

This Frozen fan had a great Christmas!! 

 We got the kids two group gifts, a trampoline and a zipline!  Our backyard is kind of epic! 

 I wanted to get Jed a kayak for Christmas but it's sort of hard to fit one in the back of our van, especially with 6 kids!  So my plan was to buy him an inflatable one, have him open it and then take it back and get a real one with his truck.  

Then this happened. 

Our pond is thankfully gator free!! He decided he wanted to keep it to use on our pond and get a real one later. He's not allowed to take it out on any other bodies of water south of North Carolina. 

Celebrating 11 Years!

It had been a few years since we had been to Sea World so when they had a BOGO sale on their passes we jumped on it! We kept it a secret from the kids so we could surprise them!  

We got up on Evan's birthday and told the kids to get ready to go out.  We loaded everyone in the van and drove.  It worked out really well that we had moved since our last time going to Sea World because the kids didn't know the drive.  

Cece Climbs For Cookies

Kindergarten: Ford

At the beginning of the year I considered putting off Kindergarten for Ford for another year.  He wasn't showing readiness in letter recognition but his excitement for math was overwhelming so we pushed on with a focus on numbers.  As the weeks went by he made slow progress in phonics and then one day we opened his phonics book it clicked!  Yay! Since then he's blown through his first book and even went back to finish things that had been to difficult

Unwanted Math Tutoring

Evan: Seth, I'm learning about Roman Numerals in math right now! Did you know that the letter M means 1000, C means 100 and L means 50?!!  

Seth: Ok.

Evan: Can you guess what X means?

Seth: I don't know... 5?

Evan: No, 10! 5 is V and I is 1! 

Seth: Cool.

Evan: So if you see XII what number do you think that is?

Seth: I don't know.

Evan: Come on try.

Seth: How should I know, I haven't learned this math yet.  

Evan: I'm trying to help you so when you're doing it next year you'll know.

Seth: Well, maybe I want it to be a surprise!

Celia Turns One

My baby girl went from this,

To this,

In what seems like the blink of an eye!  

Cece, 

The first year of your life has been a whirlwind! The day before you were born, daddy moved our kitchen from the second floor to the first. Literally if you had been born 24 hours earlier we wouldn't have had a functioning kitchen!!  As it stand it's still very unfinished. Less than a week after you were born he had to go back to work and less than a month after you were born he had to get back to traveling again!  When you were born, Evan was starting 4th grade, Seth 2nd, Kane Kindergarten and Ford well, he's giving preschool a shot.  Not to mention your older sister is an incredibly busy, moody and demanding 2 year old. We also had 9 chickens, 3 cows and 2 dogs.  Before you turned one we had added 2 chicks and lost them, plus 3 adult birds, birthed a calf only to sell it and the rest a few months later and purchased a rambunctious puppy.  Your first road trip was to North Carolina for Thanksgiving with Aunt Jessie and Uncle Nate.  You, Isla and I slept in Sofie's room while your brother's slept upstairs and dadd slept in the living room. We're planning to go again, only this time we're taking the camper!  You've also gone to a Cusimano family reunion in Michigan and a family vacation in Tennessee!  You've met all your living, grandparents and great grandparents!  Our family no longer fits into a minivan, we tried to make it work in a Suburban but after many painful months we bought a full size, van, the Transit! Don't listen to the naysayers, It. Is. Amazing! You had a weird thing with the roof of your mouth, when anything touched it, you gagged, sometimes to the point of vomiting.  No thumbs, binkies, bottles, or spoons for months! You sometimes struggled to latch on to eat!  Then one day you took a nap began sucking your thumb and just like that no more gagging!  At six months you became mobile! 

A Typical Conversation

 Isla: "Mom, you never bewieve what I saw!! You. Wiw Not. Bewieve. It.

Me: "What did you see?"

Isla: "I saw, I sawwwwwww, A. KING. SNAKE!!  It was out in da road and I run away from it."

Me:  "You did the right thing running away from it!"

Isla: "I know. And den I go to it and said, 'Oh snake. Oh snake'" (she knelt down and pet an imaginary snake) "It was a dead snake.  It said, 'Sssss' At me!"

Me: "Really, the dead snake said, 'Ssss.'?!"

Isla: "Yes!! And it's orange.  Den I shot it wif my bonen arrow but it was actually my gun so... yeah. And it was my gun! Hahahaha!"

Me: "So it was your gun and not a snake?"

Isla: "NO! It was a snake but NOW it's a gun.  No, it was a gun the ho time!"

Me: "Wow that's crazy!"

Isla: "I know!"

Daddy Needs to Make One of Those

Jed started building the fourth bedroom upstairs.  All the walls are up and the door is in which is good enough until we have help and more time to finish it.  We moved Isla in a few days ago and today I moved Celia in with her.  When she saw the pack and play she was beyond excited.

Isla: "Mom, is Celia going to sleep in my room with me?!!" (she literally squealed this) 

Me: "We're going to try it out tonight!"

Isla: "OH, MY G.O.S.H!! But wait! I don't have one of those things for her to sleep in!"  

Me: "Her pack and play is right there."

Isla: "No, no, no. I don't have one of those tiny rooms in my room where babies come from. Daddy has to build one for me. Then Celia can stay in there and be my baby and God can put a new baby in the tiny room in your room. YES!  Ohhhh I can't wait for us to both have babies! I'll have Celia and you'll have a new girl baby!!" 

Me: "Um.... do you mean a closet?" 

Isla: "Yessss a tiny closet for babies!!  I need one!" 

The Hair

So after 3 long years Isla's hair has emerged and it seems my genetics dominated here.   

Both my sister and I had this exact hair style when we were toddlers. It's basically impossible to tame at this point.  It's too short to pull back and at her age and activity level any amount of styling ends up looking like this sooner rather than later.

Oh and did I mention she hates anything that touches her head?! No head bands, no hats, and absolutely no clips.  She does like it when I "Elsa" her hair which is a tiny braid in the back that ends up looking like a rat tail.  

Eventually her hair will be long enough to weigh itself down, until then she'll be rocking the mad scientist look.   I think she pulls it off well. 

NC for Halloween

We surprised the kids by taking them to Aunt Jessie and Uncle Nate's house for Halloween this year! 

 On the way up we stopped in Savannah and spent the night.  The city was celebrating Halloween downtown that night so every parking spot was taken.  We drove the scenic River Street before heading to our hotel.  The next morning we enjoyed the free all you can eat breakfast at the hotel. The boys were in heaven!  We didn't have a problem finding a parking space at 9am so we walked River Street, enjoying the view and our morning coffee.  We were easily on the road before 10. 

We made it to Jessie's house just after Blake got off the school bus! The 6 boys greeted one another before disappearing for much of the weekend upstairs to play Wii or watch Netflix.  Isla became Sofie's shadow while Celia happily explored the house.  

Halloween was a full day, Grey had a costume birthday party, we went to a Trunk or Treat event, Trick or Treated around the neighborhood and ended the night with Thai take out for the adults!  

Sunday morning we had our traditional sendoff breakfast at Biscuitville. Yum!

After 6 hours on the road we made it to Jacksonville and met up with my sister who recently moved back from Colorado!  We all finally got to meet our newest family member, baby Violet!

 Celia sat like this about 50% of our trip up and back.

 Jed and I found it highly amusing!

 Savannah is so cool!

 The kids loved watching the ships come and go.

 We couldn't pass up a photo op with a giant pumpkin!

 Watching my family climb these stairs was both cool and terrifying!

Group shot!

 We of course stopped at South of the Border!


Finally we made it to NC! These two are a hoot to watch and listen to.

I got to watch the behind the scenes magic as my sister in law made an amazing two tiered rainbow birthday cake!

Isla's first sleepover! It makes my heart happy that she has such an awesome role model in Sofie, look at the two of them reading!!

Celia seemed to be on a mission to tear anything and everything she could find apart. 

 Jed and Nate spent the first evening out back shooting their bows.
He shot an arrow into another arrow! Now I just need him to shoot me a deer!


Grey's birthday party was awesome! Costumes, cakes, a castle park, an edible arrangement, it doesn't get any better!

 Celia wore the body part of her costume happily but whenever I would put her flower hat on she slumped over like this in protest.  Despite finding her adorable and this reaction amusing I only made her wear it for pictures.


Before we headed out for trunk or treat we got a family pic!
 Notice Celia's pouty face, I'm literally supporting her upper body so she can't slump over!

I didn't take any pics while we were out.  We had a great time. There was a pet zoo, hot dogs, bounce houses and a dance party!  The dancing was amazing. Isla was channeling her inner Elaine from Seinfeld, sooo funny.  Blake taught our boys how to break dance... I only wish the lighting had been good enough to take video!

The kids made a killing tricking or treating.  Unfortunately Blake  got sick a few houses in and had to go back. I think break dancing for 30+ minutes in a full body Halloween costume took its toll.

Apparently Celia wasn't satisfied with candy, soon after we got back she ransacked the pantry and had her way with a box of Trix!  

 The final meal together. Grey's not used to girly snuggles.

 Getting everyone to smile never works, I think silly faces should become the new standard for group shots!

Jacksonville!

 Violet is just the sweetest little thing!

Kisses!

 We're so thankful for all the family we got to see in just a few days!