We spent Easter this year at Aunt Jean’s…eating yummy food, hunting for eggs, and catching up on life. I love this picture that Heather snapped of all of the kids together (from left to right: Annabella, Jordan, Dylan, Val, Jonas, Xander, and Roman). I can’t believe how big they’re all getting!!!
We are so grateful to Mark Fielder, one of Tom’s good friends from the fire department, for letting us go camping on his land over Spring Break!!!
It was definitely a cool day and an even colder night, but we very much enjoyed walking through the fields and the woods, following the creek, collecting firewood, roasting hot dogs and marshmallows, and staying warm in our sleeping bags. It is always so soul refreshing to get away from it all and just be in the great outdoors.
The boys and I went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch (dang, that place is always so crazy busy) and then to the Smyrna Outdoor Adventure Center to play this afternoon.
The boys ended up doing an impromptu scavenger hunt (that was set up there for all of the kids on Spring Break), learning a little bit about turtles along the way, and picking up a prize at the end (they each picked out a slap bracelet). They had a blast in the climbing rooms and even played a few old school kids games in the party room (Chutes and Ladders and Candyland). Thank you, Aunt Jean!!! She gave the boys a membership to the SOAC for Christmas.
We can’t wait until the pool, splash pad, lazy river, and water slides open up later this spring…
Today, the boys and I went to Patterson Park Community Center. We swam in the pool (it was so nice and warm), ate lunch in the lobby, and played around in the game room (air hockey, ping pong, bumper pool, and pool). It ended up being a fun little outing.
I had the worst case of strep throat I think I’ve ever had and was pretty much in bed from Saturday through Monday. My sweet little Xander asked this morning, “Mom, are you feeling better today? Cause I’d really like to go somehwere…” Thanks to prayers, rest, and antibiotics I actually started feeling like myself today. So, after taking the boys to a few quick appointments in the morning, we headed to IHOP for lunch (spontaneous fun) and to Pinkerton Park to play.
Before winter break started, I tried to stock up on a few activities for the boys to do at home in between outings. Today we busted out the Gingerbread House making kit!!! The boys watched a how-to video on www.wilton.com/gingerbread-wm while I worked on getting everything set up (gingerbread, candies, and icing). We ended up learning a few fun, helpful things from the video…you can use sugar as snow, a gumdrop can be rolled out flat and then stamped out with a small cookie cutter shape, and it works better if you decorate your gingerbread (and let it dry) before you put it all together. Here’s what Jonas, Xander, and Roman came up with…
The boys enjoyed making and decorating sugar cookies this morning…
I loved being able to be a part of the boys’ winter parties on the last day of school before winter break. Xander’s class hunted for candy canes, painted ornaments, and played reindeer antler ring toss. Jonas’ class listened to Mrs. Blackburn’s special Christmas stories, made a ribbon/cinnamon stick ornament, and exchanged books with their secret pals. Roman’s class decorated Santa hats, enjoyed a game of holiday bingo, and played musical stuffed animal presents. They loved joining in the holiday sing-a-long in the gym…their favorite part was seeing the Gingerbread Man.
Tom and his good friend, Dave, have been working really hard to get a wood burning stove set up in our living room and running for us by Christmas!!! They finished this week, and it has been such a blessing. Tom enjoyed taking Jonas out to cut some firewood.
We spent Thanksgiving in Virginia this year. Here we are with Grandma and Grandpa, the Northern Seyfrieds (Tim, Mary, Lindsey, and Audrey), the Longs (Rich, Sherri, Kaitlyn, and Andrew), the Paccassis (Dave, Tree, John, Lily, Peter, Sam, Gianna, Philip, Sam, and Gabe), and five priest friends from Ghana (Father Felix, Father Eric, Father Patrick, Father John, and Father Eric).
Jonas’ artwork is hanging in the Assistant Principal’s office!!!
Tom was the assistant coach for Jonas’ soccer team this season. It was a good run. Here is Jonas being honored by Coach Tom and Coach Tom (yes, two Coach Toms) before his final game. His award…”Most Fearless”.
Happy 9th Birthday, Jonas!!!
Jonas had a BLAST on his birthday weekend. He invited two of his best friends, Ethan and Pranav, over for a sleepover. They had so much fun playing games, laughing over dinner and birthday cake, cozying up and watching a movie, going to bed with many giggles, waking up to a pancake breakfast, running around on the playground, and jumping at a trampoline park together.
I can’t believe my firstborn son is nine years old. Unbelievable.
Happy Halloween from the Seyfrieds!!!
Jonas: a Ninja
Xander: Ash the Pokemon Trainer
Roman: Steve from Minecraft
Tom: an alien
Jodi: Katniss Everdeen from the the Hunger Games
We had a wonderful Fall Break!!!
On Wednesday, I took the boys to the Patterson Park Community Center indoor pool. It was the first time that Jonas and Xander were tall enough to ride the big, twisty slide…so they were super pumped. Roman was bummed out that he couldn’t ride it but found a friend from school to play with and got to spend some special time in the water with Mommy.
Grandma and Grandpa came in on Wednesday night to spend Fall Break with us. We always love their visits…Petra too, she does laps around the house as soon as they walk in the door.
On Thursday, Grandpa and Tom went golfing, while Grandma and I took the boys to the zoo. First, we stopped to see the monkeys who were spunky and swinging from the branches. Then, Grandma rode the zoo’s zip line ride, Soar, with Jonas and Xander…she’s so cool. The boys were even tall enough to ride it with each other, which was really exciting for them and a little bit scary for me. We rode the carousel several times, and Grandma got to cross two things off of her bucket list (riding on an elephant and riding on an ostrich). Afterwards, the boys ran around on the playground and we snapped some pictures with the pumpkins.
On Friday, we relaxed at home (the boys love playing board games with Grandpa), and then went to Walden Pumpkin Farm. The boys visited with the animals, ran through the mazes, and played in the activity center.
I enjoyed being able to go to each of the boys’ fall parties. They had so much fun wrapping their friends up as toilet paper mummies, making scarecrow and pumpkin crafts, and eating yummy fall-inspired food. What a great way to ring in Fall Break!!!
The boys were SO excited to run in the Fun Run. Thank you so much to everyone who sponsored them!!! They had a blast running and helping raise money for their school.
Here’s Jonas with his landform project. He looks so proud…and he should. He worked really hard on it, and it turned out great!!! He cut out the board, mixed the salt dough, created the landforms, picked out the paint colors and painted everything, glued on the moss, and typed up the labels…all by himself. Way to go, JoJo!!!
Jonas is playing soccer again this fall (Tom is his assistant coach…go Daddy!!!). This was the first Saturday that we had fall weather…it was beautiful. Here are all three of my little dudes in action during the game:
