And in a blink of an eye the holidays are over...

This was the first year in a while that we didn't take a vacation during the months of November or December and I have to say it was a good thing we didn't because as it was we lost a week of shopping between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year due to Thanksgiving falling a week later and poor Mrs. Clause has enough to do without losing precious shopping days.

So here is our season in a post!

We had a lovely Thanksgiving at our friends the Hayes and once again we got to experience Rick's yummy fried turkey! On Black Friday, in keeping with tradition we headed out to the mall for our annual photo with Santa. Once again this trip did not disappoint and we were literally the only ones in line. No one is thinking of Santa on the busiest shopping day of the year which is why we LOVE going on this day. Aside from a way overpriced photo that I insist on buying every year the trip was a success! I love that the boys keep the spirit of Christmas alive and well and are such good sports about the annual visits!



After returning home from the mall it was time to pull out all the stuff! Quickly we were reminded that our main tree is having light issues. After stringing some around the unlit spots we are good to go until we plug in the boys' tree which is now our dining room tree, and realize that another couple rows of lights on that tree are out so a trip to the store is required! I don't know what we were thinking thinking that Target would be quiet on Black Friday at 10 pm but it was a zoo. So after seeing a line that wrapped around the store we left and thankfully Michael's came through with a much shorter line...

Ty came up with the brilliant idea of hanging our large sized balls from our chandelier in the entry way. At first I kind of dismissed the idea but he insisted and sure enough it turned out really cute!



So here it is...or here she is...



Now Thanksgiving weekend is bittersweet for me. Love the turkey, time together as a family, decorating, etc. Not so sweet? Elf. Yes, Philburt would be returning and so would my night sweats from my rapid heart rate on those mornings when I realized that Elf hadn't moved... Next year I've decided Jack is on full time elf duty.

Clearly Philburt has a sweet tooth like Ty and likes to take selfies like Sage...



So finally it was the morning everyone had been looking forward to. It was anyones guess as to how the kids would rate this Christmas. Ty had changed his mind several times and the rule of once you tell Santa what you want you can't change your mind didn't seem to stick with him. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas he had changed his main gift request three times and Mrs. Clause was getting quite frustrated with it all. Aside from a book set the only other thing Connor had asked for was a new video game but after some research we didn't feel it was an age appropriate one for him so we gambled on an older yet well reviewed game and came up with a couple other things we thought he'd enjoy. Sage, on the other hand we had no worries about. Her list never changed (she knows and understands the rule), and we knew that she'd love her surprise gift. So here is how the day unfolded:

Christmas eve couldn't come quick enough. As a family we watched a video on the birth of Christ and then the kids opened up their new pj's. Finally elf would retire back to the North Pole and Mrs. Clause would rejoice...



Christmas morning:



Gotta love the look on Ty's face when he realizes the biggest box under the tree is for Connor. You could put $1,000 in a small ring box but if given the choice Ty would still gamble on the biggest box. Size matters with Ty. Connor kept hoping he'd unwrap his much desired video game. Unfortunately this wasn't a box trick. Sorry sweetie, not this time...



Originally Ty had asked for Beats. After trying on the different types at the Apple store we realized that the cheaper ones sounded terrible and weren't that comfortable. If you're already going to spend the money you mind as well get the better ones. So we did but of course we didn't let Ty know. Then he changed things on us and decided he wanted Heelys shoes (yes, the dated skate shoes) but ironically a week before Christmas one of Jack's colleague's kids was in the ER from his Heelys so we wiped those off his list. Then days before Christmas Ty placed a photo of a green electric scooter on our bedroom door. By this point I had the attitude you get what you get and don't throw a fit. Thankfully he was thrilled with his Beats and Jack will no longer have to share his Bose on flights...



Sage was in shock when she opened up her ipad mini. Sadly I didn't realize she was opening up the case we had got before the actual ipad but we played it off that it was for her leap pad.



After all the gifts were unwrapped we had one last surprise hidden in the basement!



I'll blame Costco for this. They are the masters of selling stuff that you didn't know you needed until you walked into their store. The kids had loved playing foosball on our last cruise and so one afternoon around Thanksgiving when we were browsing around Costco we came across this foosball table. Jack was determined to get this for Christmas. Of course when he went back with his buddy to go pick it up they were now selling a coordinating shuffle board table and you know what happened next...

Here's Jack enjoying one of his gifts!



Our happy campers...



Since we didn't have family in town to share the holiday with we invited the Hayes and Denisoffs over. We had a great time with them eating yummy food, doing karaoke, playing foosball and shuffleboard, and sharing many laughs. It's always nice to spend the holiday with people you know and love!



A special shout out to my parents for their thoughtful gifts and letters. We missed having you but will plan for next Christmas! And a shout out to Jack for my fabulous Christmas. He was indeed very good to me and although it's not in my nature to keep his presents, I'm slowly learning to. I've always loved them...and I love you!

Football!

Well, we have officially closed the chapter of pee wee football! Next year it's off to middle school where the teams are huge, the practices are after school and the games are during the week. The jury is still out on if the boys will even continue with football or not and as sad as the idea of them quitting now is for Jack, I have to say I'm completely ok with it. We shall see...

This season their team did quite well. Their new team had coaches who were more organized but unfortunately they didn't get to play both sides like they had last year and they moved around a lot in their positions. I'm sure being on vacation for 10 days a week into practice and taking a week off in October during playoffs for a cruise didn't help matters but we're not to the point of sacrificing family vacations for football yet! Between the two of them they covered the positions of lineman, linebacker, tight end, defensive end and fullback. The team made it all the way to the semi finals before losing to the championship winners for the past five years, which happened to be one of the other four Mason teams. It was probably a good thing we were on the cruise for that blood bath... but it was still quite an accomplishment for them to get that far.

Sadly, I didn't take many photos and as it turned out we also missed the beginning of the season jamboree and team photo so these few shots will have to sum up the season...




The end of season party was once again a highlight for the boys. They love hearing their coaches compliment them and receiving all their goodies! We'll sure miss the camaraderie of the football family but will look forward to continuing some of those friendships beyond the football season!

Oh how we love our Ohio fall weather...with the exception of Halloween night

So this year the kids begged to go to the pumpkin patch. They wanted the experience of picking their own unique pumpkins rather than me just buying a bunch at the store. Schappacher Farm had come highly recommended and since it was close to the house we thought we'd give it a try! They had hay rides, corn mazes, all sorts of apple treats for sale (we highly recommend the apple slush), not to mention an excellent selection of pumpkins of all sizes, shapes, and colors! It was a great time and it couldn't have been a prettier day!

Here is the gang trying to figure out which ones are keepers and which ones are being left behind...Clearly someone was overruled on size limits!



After some nearly back breaking lifting we managed to get the first batch loaded into the trunk. Not even the driver of the hay ride would stop for this load...



After selecting a few more colorful pumpkins and enjoying some apple treats it was time for the corn maze...



This year the kids each went with simple patterns to carve with Ty actually free handing his own...hmm, wonder which one that was...lol!



My long standing offer to pay the kids to find things around the house to wear for Halloween paid off as Sage chose to be a Pirate, Connor was Clark Kent, and Ty went as a mariachi boy!



Unfortunately for the second year in a row, Halloween here in Ohio has been a bust with wet weather but the kids still managed to go out for a little while! The boys had decided to go with friends over in another neighborhood and as always Ty returns home with more than Connor...hmmm. Our little trooper Sage stayed in our neighborhood and went with Jack. Even though the houses are much farther apart in our neighborhood, she clearly did just fine! Here she is with our cute neighbor Lynn!



Good bye fall! We'll look forward to seeing you again next year...

What a FaNtAsY is made of...

For the last few years we've talked about getting my side of the family on a Disney Cruise together but the logistics of picking dates that work for everyone and then actually lining up airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, etc. can be quite a job but finally we made it happen! As much as we would have liked it to have been a family reunion with all my side of the family we knew with the crazy "ex" that my brother has to deal with, this would be asking for too much. And of course it was, but we didn't let her selfishness affect our plans. So us, my parents, my brother Gary and his family, and my brother Steven did the Eastern Caribbean on Disney's newest ship the Fantasy. What a great time we had!!!

I think everyone in the Roddy fam would agree that the best part wasn't really the cruise itself but rather the excitement our kids had sharing the experience with their cousins B and P. My kids still talk about how much they loved when my parents surprised them at the port a couple years ago to go on the Mexican Riviera cruise with us so what a treat it was to not only have my parents there but some of their cousins, uncles, and aunt!

So here we start with the first photo... a bunch of kids who look like they haven't seen the sun in years! ha! Just as I went to take this first photo they said the sun was in their eyes so I said everyone close your eyes and when I count to three, instead of saying cheese, open your eyes!" And this is what I got:



It's very hard to narrow down five hundred photos to a few to plug into a blog but hopefully I can capture some of the highlights:

Here are a couple from the first day! It is a rare thing to have two Disney ships in port on the same day so this first photo is looking out onto the newly refurbished Disney Magic which had to sadly cancel it's cruise for this same weekend due to not being ready in time. Thankfully we weren't on that ship as those poor people only got four days notice that their cruise had been canceled!




Meeting some friends...Sadly the boys are no longer interested in photos with the characters but Sage still loves visiting with the princesses!




Fun times at the dinner table! From entertaining us with magic tricks and brain teasers to cutting up the kids' food, we will sure miss our wonderful waiters Norah and Noel!



Days at Sea were very kind to us with picture perfect weather in the mid 80's! We felt so lucky. I was nervous to book a cruise in Oct but it was equally as nice as the weather we had in May. The kids enjoyed spending the days at sea playing foosball, swimming, eating ice cream non stop, and for the first time the boys actually spent a couple hours in the tween club! Of course I was happiest enjoying a couple hours every now and then in the adult only section with Jack!



Nightlife on a ship full of kiddos included shows, movies, swimming, the slide, big screen TV, ice cream, more ice cream, pirate night, Halloween fun, game show, shuffle board, dancing, and a whole lot more...



The highlights for me would have to be the ports of call! I was really excited about the boat we had chartered for our St. Maarten excursion. We zipped around on a speed boat, went from the dutch side of the island over to the french side, went to a couple small outer islands, swam with turtles and fish, enjoyed some beautiful beach time, ate a fabulous lunch, and boated some more. The kids LOVED speeding around in the ocean waves!



After St. Maarten it was on to St. Thomas. Here we all jumped on a ferry from St. Thomas to St. John (since ships can't port at St. John) to do an island tour which I knew was something my parents would enjoy! Since we had vacationed on St. John last November it was fun to share with the family some of our favorite parts of the island!





A family favorite, Castaway Cay...



Just a couple favorite shots of the ship and our balcony...




Since none of our flights departed until the late afternoon we decided to hit Cocoa beach for some shopping and lunch! Of course we couldn't leave without experiencing the beach. Who knows when the next time will be!



What a wonderful time we had! The only thing missing is a photo of the rental car they gave us for the return trip back to the airport. Coming to the port we had a big Expedition for our family but somehow for the return all they had for us was this gigantic silver PASSENGER van that could have seriously fit everyone in our group had we known. Not a mini van but a passenger van! It was hysterical. Although I felt they should have paid us to drive it Jack found it to be quite the cool thing to drive.

So there you have it! We have now officially made "gold" status on Disney Cruise Line!!!!