Road Trip!

We had a non-Traditional Thanksgiving.  We decided to motor to central Pennsylvania to take in some Christmas lights that have been on ABC's Christmas Light Fight, HGTV, and the Today Show.  The kids enjoyed it.  Mom and Dad thought it looked better on TV.  :)

The next day, we went to the Bethlehem Christmas Market at the old Bethlehem Steel Mill.  We walked around 4 tents of booths, enjoyed some yummy lunch, and then took in a tour of the old steel mill.  RJ was most excited that the mill was used as a setting in Transformers 2--they just put up some Kanji lettering to make it look like it was in Asia.  Jip and I enjoyed the history, but we were all glad when the tour was over--it was chilly!!

We drove home on Saturday and immediately got to work on Christmas-fying the house.  We ended up buying a new tree thanks to the old one (purchased in 2003) deciding to half-way die.  Thankfully I found a lovely one--but not on sale, of course.  Most importantly, Jip and I finished our beautiful new porch decorations.  Over the summer, I showed Jip a catalog picture of boxes that look like a stack of presents and then nest inside of each other during the off-season.  He engineered his way through making the boxes the right sizes and the right weight.  I made vinyl stencils to create the painted patterns and did a bunch of free-hand touch-ups when my stencils failed me.  We know what we would do differently next time (hopefully there won't be a next time), but all of the headaches were completely worth it!

This weekend, Ryleigh has another meet.  Jip and I have a holiday party and the kids get their favorite teenager, Meghan, to hang out with them.  As always, pics to come.  Until next time, cheers!

Commonwealth Cup 2019

Ryleigh had her first truly competitive meet on November 23.  She was a little nervous, but we are all very pleased with her performance.  Ryleigh learned what it is like to use another gym's equipment (not always the best experience), which will be a valuable lesson for the future.  The best part of the meet was that Ryleigh's combined score qualified her for the State meet in May.  Go, RyJo!

After the meet, we stayed in Fredericksburg an extra day to let the kids swim and just enjoy being away from home.  Then we all took in Frozen 2 Saturday evening.

Just Plugging Away

The Mosman Clan is just plugging away.  Jip is busy with work.  Amy is busy with volunteering and driving kiddos where they need to go.  RJ is busy with Ninja Zone, Code Ninja, Hip Hop, and of course,  playing video games.  Ryleigh is busy with gymnastics, ballet, and playing with Audrey.  The kids are both doing great in school, as described in their parent-teacher conferences.  We're keeping on and keeping up.

Jip and I have also been plugging away on our porch decoration project.  We thought we'd finish this weekend.  We were so wrong.  But, we're okay with taking our time and making it look amazing.  Pics to come when it is done.

Picture-wise, I only have a couple of pics to share this week.  One is a snap of RJ on Saturday morning.  He was the first one up on Saturday morning.  This is what Jip found when he came downstairs.

And, this is what I found on Facebook earlier this week.  Jip said a few words at the Shipyard's quarterly Big Rocks ceremony, a time when the Shipyard celebrates meeting its various goals.

This weekend, Ryleigh has a gymnastics meet.  It is in Fredericksburg, about 2.5 hours away.  So, we're making a little family trip out of it to include a hotel with a pool and a movie (already bought tickets to see Frozen 2).  Ryleigh will compete all 4 events, and we're looking forward to being just parents and watching her without having to worry about helping out at the gym.  Of course, pics to come--but it is at a convention center, so don't count on me being close enough to even be able to distinguish whether or not it is Ryleigh. :)

Until next time, cheers!

Another Month, Another Special Me

Last month, Ryleigh was the Special Me awardee for her class.  This month, RJ is the Special Me awardee for his class.  We had the ceremony on Thursday.  Jip was able to join in, and RJ was so delighted.

I then popped back into the school to surprise the kiddos for lunch.

Over the long holiday weekend, we did our best to just chill out at the house.  Jip and I are working on new porch decorations for Christmas, so he spent lots of time in the garage, and I spent lots of time cutting stencils with my cutting machine.  Results will be post-able in another week or so, but so far, so good.

Ryleigh wanted to get in on the project action.  So, she asked Jip to help her make a sitting area for a Barbie.

For some reason, she wrote a word on the back of the cardboard before Jip assembled it.

So, now Ryleigh has her very own crack house.

Then Ryleigh decided she wanted a guitar out of cardboard.  So, Jip asked her to draw it.  This was the neck before Jip intervened.

Someday she'll look at this blog and be really mad.  :)  Until then, enjoy a chuckle!

Tomorrow we're expecting our first kiss of wintry weather, as we are supposed to get a rain/snow mix and even some bay-effect snow (rare, but not unheard of).  It shouldn't stick, so it shouldn't affect school.  But, it should make for some interesting driving tomorrow evening as we go to dance and return home.  The rest of the week should be pretty normal.  As always, pics to come.  Until next time, cheers!

A Lovely Visit

We had a lovely visit with my parents.  They got to see the craziness that we call life.  The kids were delighted to show them gymnastics, dance, and Code Ninja.  We joined the kiddos for lunch and got ignored.  The kids loved having Grandpa and Dad go trick-or-treating with them while Grandma and Mom handed out candy.  We even got a little excitement in the form of a tornado warning in the middle of the night--my Mom got up and saw that I was hanging out in my room, watching the news on Facebook Live, so she figured I would get her when it was time.  My Dad slept through the whole thing.  We never did need to all try to cram in the downstairs bathroom, but we had some fierce wind and some crazy winds.  South and west of us, there were confirmed tornadoes that touched the ground.  There's never a dull moment in Hampton Roads weather!

I was a total failure in the picture-taking department while they were here.  But, here are a few.

I combined the videos from Ryleigh's first meet as a Level 3.  She did great!  Ryleigh did not compete on floor exercise because she hadn't mastered the back handspring yet, but she has it now, and will get to complete all 4 events at her next meet in Fredericksburg.

The meet was an in-house meet, with only girls from Ocean Tumblers competing.  It was a chance for the girls to learn how a meet runs and a chance for the parents to learn how meets run and how they can help them run.  The girls also received a terrific sportsmanship lesson from the gym owner.

RJ's teacher invited parents (and grandparents) into the studio to show them what they have been working on for the last 6-ish weeks.  They've been working on letting loose, finding their dance persona, and transitions that involve moving around the floor while dancers are doing different movements.

Oh yeah--I almost forgot to share.  RJ finished his White Belt at Code Ninja, and now he is learning Java Script as he works on his Yellow Belt.  He did some Java Script at his Minecraft camps, so I bet he'll do pretty well as he plows through each unit of Yellow Belt.

This week, the kids have Tuesday off because the schools were needed as polling places.  But, they still did virtual learning day projects, went to the bookfair at the school library, and helped Mom with a couple errands.  The rest of the week should be pretty normal.  As always, pics to come. Until next time, cheers!