Season's Greetings

Wow! It's been since August since we've updated our blog page. Time surely has flown by. I think we left off with John needing shoulder surgery due to a old injury. He had outpatient surgery back on August 26th. The diagnosis was a labral tear. It was repaired with standard measures. Unfortunately, he spent his birthday gimped up but his shoulder is steadily improving. He has been going to rehab twice a week since then. This marks the first Howard rehab that did not involve the law enforcement....not yet atleast! He almost has full range of motion back in his shoulder and hopefully will be done with PT by the end of the year.


Isabel is now in 1st grade. It was an adjustment for her in the beginning, but now she has adapted well. She is still our "Little Miss Creative" loving to draw and do arts and crafts. She is reading excellent and brings home new books everyday that she is required to read on her own. She is growing up so quickly and we can see her blossoming into this little Tween....OH NO!! She has started using terms like BFF, having sleepovers and wearing UGG boots and peace sign shirts. It's all kind of scary for us, but she is a good girl (when she is not fighting with her brother). She loves the movie How to Train Your Dragon, and asks for Daddy to do "Viking training" with her daily. She and Noah have swords, shields and battle axes which they slay dragons regularly.


Noah, on the other hand, is a typical little boy. He is full of mischief. He likes to terrorize his sister and the dogs. He is in his last year of preschool(K4)and is finally catching on. Being a boy, he didn't seem quite interested in the "school stuff". He just wanted to play. He now is writing his name, and his coloring and drawing have improved. He is also learning letter recognition. We were getting a little worried since Isabel soaked up that information at his age. But we are told, boys are different, and learn at their own pace. The only thing that really keeps his attention are his TRAINS. How many train sets can this boy own? Both of his grandmothers give into his puppy-dog eyes everytime they take him to the store. He can talk them into anything! On Fridays, he spends the day with his Yia-Yia (John's mom), and their normal routine is to visit the downtown Toy Store and the Mast General Store. Even the employees at both stores know him by name and love when he comes in. For his heart health, he is doing great. We are humbled by what our prayers and medicine have delivered to our family. He plays at full speed with no signs of difficulty. He has amazing strength coupled with a vivid imagination. He is a locomotive himself!

In the Fall, the kids played soccer for their first time at the YMCA. The kids really liked it and are looking forward to Spring Soccer. Isabel joined the Girl Scout troop this year and is also attending Religious Education classes at our church.

Over the Fall Break, we took the kids to Gatlinburg, TN. They really enjoyed going to the mountains. The fall foliage and mild temperatures made it a perfect getaway. We spent a day at Dollywood, which was Noah's favorite because they had a REAL steam train that he rode on. We also took the kids to some classic mountain attractions: the ski lift, mirror maze, black bear zoo, trolley ride, and gem mining. It was a great family mini-vacation and the kids have already been making plans on going back.






The Monogram shop is in its busy season and I am working longer hours and weekends to stay ahead of the game. I have recently created a webpage for the business to showcase a few items. It is www.monogramsbysilvia.com. It's still a work in progress, but for now it will do. Between juggling kids, after school activities and a business, there is not much going on with me. I'm still Jazzercising and have committed to run a 10K in the Spring. For those of you who know me well, I don't run. But it was a goal of mine to run a race. At the time, I thought the Cooper River Run in Charleston was a 5K, but quickly found out it was a 10K. So by January I'll be hitting the treadmill to train for "Racing Day".

I guess that brings us up to date. Christmas is here and in full gear. We have decorated our tree, hung our stockings, Clark Griswold'd the house, and began our Christmas countdown. We will be visiting Santa soon and doing our yearly holiday lights tradition. We look forward to spending Christmas with our family and friends and are excited about what the New Year has to offer. The Lord has truly blessed us. We give Him thanks and praise.

Peace, Love and Happiness to all this Holiday Season!!