Recently in Celebration Category

Yes, we did wind up with a White Christmas. OK, technically it’s not snowing now, and the snow on the ground is almost a week old. But there is snow still there, so I think it counts.

The kids were wild this morning, tearing into their presents. They were really happy to see what Santa and family gave them. But things have now settled down a bit, though you certainly wouldn’t know it by looking at the floor.

But let’s also remember what this season is all about. And Linus and Charlie Brown really seem to have it down. (Yes, this is a repeat from last year. It’s still as relevant.)

Yup, the kids are really feeling it, too. Even Sean and Daniel are antsy about when Santa is going to get here. They really are itching to know that Santa will be here, even if they really don’t know what to expect. All three of them cannot wait for Christmas to be here.

That’s not to say that they don’t get the religious significance of tomorrow, either. We’ve been reading lots of Christmas story related books, and they know that we are celebrating Jesus’s birthday. (Will’s understanding is a bit deeper, as it should be with an older kid.)

But in honor of their antsyness, I give you this little Sesame Street ditty. Kinda cute, if you can stand Elmo and Cheryl Crow. (And yes, Sesame Street has lots of official short videos on YouTube now. Plenty to distract kids with, if they want to sit in your lap and share some computer time with you.)

Yes, it’s that time of year again. I hope she had a good birthday, although probably not as relaxing as she would have liked. Daniel had to see the doctor this morning about a cough. We seem to have caught it in time. There went much of her free time she had planned on today.

(The photo is one from October, when we visited Aunt Iris and Debbie at their farm. Yes, from an event I haven’t written about.)

Then, it was off to see Legendary Santa. All 3 boys actually sat still (no crying or shyness) for Santa — a first as a group. (There has always been at least one before this time.) More on that later. After all, this is about Kellie’s birthday.

Which meant a birthday dinner out — at O’Toole’s. This one was kind of cool, in that her brother Tim was also in town, so they got to celebrate their birthday together for once. (I guess I should wish him a happy birthday, too.) Of course, 3 kids don’t last forever in a restaurant, so we were the first to leave, while the rest of the Padgett clan stayed behind.

I know she’s tired, but I hope she still enjoyed her birthday. Now, for that backrub she was asking for…

Wow, you’re now 3 years old. Crazy little time we’ve had getting this far.

More pix of the festivities will come later. Just wanted to wish the boys a happy 3rd birthday before the day was out.

In more ways than one. The weather broke just in time for everyone to go out. It had rained from Friday night until about 3pm on Saturday, then the sun started to break through the clouds. We got a nice view of the almost-full moon as we were out in the neighborhood, but by 10pm, it was raining again. (And it still hasn’t stopped as I write this entry.)

If you saw the previous entry, you already know what the kids are going out as. But each of their outfits got improvements to go out tonight — red pants and shirts for the Elmos, facial make up and some added costume jewelry for the vampire.

Unfortunately for the twins, their outfit wound up being too warm for the 70 degree weather we had for walking around. Even I was hot and sweaty from walking around in the humid air. But they were troopers and stayed with the outfit the whole way, only removing the heads (like a hood) over the last 30 minutes or so.

They all got good reactions, but there must be something about seeing two Elmos walking around that makes women — from preteen through adult — just say “Awwww.” It happened probably at least 10 times as we were just walking around.

I know Will and I were done with walking on the day. On Saturday morning, we went around a couple of nearby neighborhoods dropping off paper grocery bags for collecting food as part of our council’s Scouting for Food effort. Next Saturday, we’ll go back to these neighborhoods and pick up any bags that have been filled. Will actually had fun going around and leaving the bags on the front doors and stoops, even if it was lightly raining at times during our 2+ hours of bag distribution.

Nothing major — just at the daycare facility this afternoon. This was like last year. They get to dress up in their costumes. There is lots of food to eat. Some of the parents get time off from work to visit. And people go home a little early, though this year is a little different in that we don’t have to go trick-or-treating until tomorrow.

So, what are the kids dressing as? Well, you’ll just have to see below.

Will will get a better makeup treatment before going out tomorrow night. (As a vampire, if you cannot quite tell from the picture.)

One of the games that the Older Two class (the age group Sean and Daniel are in) did was apple bobbing. They each got their own little buckets to go bobbing for an apple. Lots of the kids weren’t really sure what to do. But one of ours did know what to do. First one to get it.

At least we wished him a happy birthday as a family closer to his actual birthday, which was last Tuesday (October 6). (Still a day late, but it turns out we likely wouldn’t have reached him anyway that evening. Not that that should be a consolation or anything.)

I’m sure Dad doesn’t want to make a big deal out of it, but I’m here to still wish him a happy birthday, no matter how belated on the Internet. (No, I won’t give away age details.) He got a nice game of golf in on his special day, and he was even able to avoid going in the office. (Good for him.) It was a nice, quiet birthday for him, from what I understand.

So here’s to another year of fun and family for Dad/Grampa. Happy birthday, again — at least one more time this year. Maybe I’ll actually start catching up on some of the other family details that I’m falling behind on.

As I noted on Friday, Will’s birthday was actually celebrated in three parts. Yesterday was the third and final installment. (There may be a fourth part, as Aunt Dena and Uncle Dennis were unable to make it yesterday. But we don’t have a set time to get together yet.)

So, Nana and Grampa were down to celebrate. And Nana’s cousin Pat and her husband Harry also joined us. Just a small gathering, but still lots of fun. Will’s dinner request was — homemade waffles, with all of the decorations! Will went with chocolate chips, whipped cream, and syrup. Most of the rest of us at least included some fruit in our decorations. Yes, I made a face out of mine. You can see more in the picture slide show below.

We also tried a couple of simple games after dinner — like bingo and a clothes pin drop. Fun stuff that kids and adults could all play. Some video of the clothes pin drop can be seen below.

We closed things out first with opening presents, then moving on to the ice cream cake. Will loved all of his gifts from everyone, and was really excited about the whole afternoon and evening. So now he is 7 years old, and getting taller every day. (He measured out at 52 inches at Busch Gardens.)

So, one last time — Happy Birthday, Will.

Today was part 2 of the birthday celebration, though it was his actual birthday. (Going to Busch Gardens last Saturday was his first “celebration.”) He’s already getting too big (52”). Seeing him sleeping in a regular twin bed is just astounding, as he takes up so much of it.

Today, he got donut holes for breakfast — and the birthday song sung to him. It’s a bit of a tradition, though usually it’s in bed. He got up too early today. I guess he was kind of excited.

At lunch, Kellie brought in cupcakes (store-bought — we’re not allowed to bring in home-baked items) for the class. After school, Kellie and I took him to see the movie Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs. That’s a fun movie, and definitely worth the reviews being heaped on it. Good for the kids. Will really enjoyed it.

Dinner was out at Red Robin, after I picked up the twins. Nana and Grampa made it down from northern Virginia just after our dinners arrived, so they got to eat with us. Of course, Will got the birthday song/sundae treatment, too. Then it was home for a semi-relaxing wind down.

Tomorrow is the family birthday celebration. (I think the celebrations end after this.)

So, happy 7th birthday, Will. I’m sure the next year will offer all kinds of new and exciting experiences.

Just a quick note on this Labor Day weekend. It’s definitely the shoes — in this case, for Will. We’ve been working on getting Will to learn to tie his shoes this summer, and it looks like he’s finally gotten it. (No, no boring video of him trying to do it.) He’s actually been doing it independently for almost 2 weeks now, with very few requests for us to help any more. He still likes sliding his shoes off and on sometimes (his knots still aren’t super-tight yet), but more often then not, he’s actually tying his shoes when he puts them on.

Way to go, Will. So that’s swimming and tying shoes that you’ve mastered this summer.