Wow, grouchy is not even the word to describe Ethan today. I think it's the Benadryl bringing the evil out! At least he saves it all for home and remains the good child at school.

Will and Noah had their class picture taken at school today. I can only imagine the smiles. Watching 4 and 5 year olds try not to over-smile is the best!

Emily came home from school with us. Ethan was so grumpy so she spent most of the time playing with Will. I know Will was happy that he had someone to play with today! Ethan was dying for Emily to come over and play spies. They are both really into spy gear! Emily just got loads of stuff for her birthday. Ethan is quite jealous and is dying to start a spy kit of his own. He did get the spy watch as a present from Emily!

Noah was into his own thing today. He played with his favorite (Playmobil stuff), and then moved on to Legos.

Monday...definitely not fun day! Today's weather is sort of yucky. After school the boys watched the rest of a movie that they started watching with Daddy last night. Now they are doing art projects and playing in the house. Everyone is suffering from allergies. The pollen is insane here right now. Poor Hanzie is facing the worst of it. I have a headache and poor Ethan and Noah are coughing up a storm.

Today has been a fairly boring day! We finally did some MUCH needed yard work. Always thrilling! I also did a load of school work and still have a ton more to do. The boys played around the house all day and were actually quite good; especially considering we didn't go anywhere! I made veggie chili for dinner and Will and Noah refused to eat any of it. Of course when it was time for Sweetie's they were quite upset when only Daddy and Ethan went out the door! They were screaming like you wouldn't believe. I finally tossed the chili and gave them apples and strawberries. Noah was quite pleased with his logic that it was fine because Daddy and Ethan were going to get fat and unhealthy and he and Will were going to be strong and healthy since they were having strawberries and apples!

PARTY!!! Today was Emma and Paige's final (or so I hope) birthday party for the year. The boys had tons of fun. They loved playing with their friend Hanah's new puppy! The girls seemed to have a good time and were quite pleased with their presents.

Ethan went to a second party and had a great time! He is completely exhausted.

Chris and I got the house clean while Will and Noah napped and Ethan was at Emily's party. We had from 2:00 to 4:30 kid free to clean! Sad, that is how we use our free time! I'm definitely having a mudslide tonight- Chris is the best at making them!

Off to walk with Melissa and her Aunt Stephanie.

Well, let's see... our house is a wreck, the pool needs some serious attention, I've stayed at school late almost every day this week, our children are wild, and I had take-out for the third time this week (the last two nights have been 100% Melissa's fault) and there doesn't appear to be a break in sight! That pretty much sums up my week.

Tomorrow the boys have two birthday parties. Emma and Paige are having their fourth birthday party tomorrow- you think I'm kidding, I'm not! They had one in VA, one in FL, one at school, and now another tomorrow with their friends from school. That is from 11:00 to 1:00 and then Ethan's friend Emily is having her birthday party tomorrow from 2:00 to 4:30.

We will have to spend all day Sunday cleaning and doing yard work at this point and I think I brought 10 hours worth of school work home with me. Yikes!!!

Emily came home with Ethan a few times this week. He enjoys having a playmate other than his little brothers. Since Ethan and Emily wouldn't let Noah play with them today, he made a major announcement. It went down something like this, "EMILY AND ETHAN YOU CANNOT PLAY IN MY ROOM!" There was no reaction from Ethan or Emily. He then said, "OKAY, I'M SHUTTING MY DOOR NOW AND YOU CAN'T COME IN SO DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!" Still no reaction! He did shut the door and then went on to create a gigantic mess. He stood his ground though! (I don't think Ethan and Emily heard a word he said, but he was quite happy with laying the law down!) Oh, in case you were wondering where Will was through all of this, he was happily playing video games in the toy room!

My friend Sam from school stopped by this afternoon and Noah is now obsessed with her. He keeps saying, "Can she come over for dinner, can she spend the night, can she come back soon?" I guess he liked her! His favorite teacher, Miss Chelsea, wasn't at school today so I suppose he needed to replace her.

No, this is not Will's new greeting. Emily, their friend, accidentally closed his finger in the door and he was showing everyone his boo-boo.

81 degrees in January required a trip to the beach! It's supposed to be just as warm tomorrow. The boys had fun playing soccer and building in the sand. I didn't bring towels or anything thinking that they wouldn't go in the freezing water. Well, I was wrong and they jumped in as soon as we got there!

You'll never guess... now Ethan has an ear infection! It's never ending. He came home this afternoon complaining about his ear. Ugh... Luckily we made it just in time to have his doctor call in the prescription and rush over there to get it before the pharmacy closed. Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday. Although I do have to sit through testing coordinator training for the FCAT (MSA equivalent) all morning tomorrow. I feel like it's such a long drive to get to the training place, which is only about 30 miles away. I've gotten spoiled by my 5 mile commute and have completely forgotten about my commute from Annapolis to Adelphi!

My mom just called and they are returning from Bermuda early. They leave on Tuesday now and will not be staying through until March. So, if you are looking for her, as of Tuesday she will be in the mountains again.

Chris stayed home with the twins today. It turns out that Will and Noah both have double ear infections! She put them on a stronger antibiotic this time, so hopefully that will do the trick. Chris also woke up with pink eye this morning. For now, only Ethan and I are healthy! She put Noah on a full round of all the other meds he was on to try to clear up his cough. So poor Noah has a load of meds to take now- he is up to 5! I'm sure his girlfriend Emma would be more than willing to take care of him! She was even grabbing his tushy while they watched a movie on Sunday night.

The long weekend is definitely over!!! Everyone was back to school today. Ethan received his report card for the 2nd quarter and he once again got the kindergarten equivalent of straight A's! He wants to celebrate tonight with Chick-Fil-A and champagne (sparkling grape juice). We are very proud of him, as usual!

Noah woke up with pink eye on Saturday and Will woke up with looks like the start of it. They are both on drops. When I picked up Will and Noah from school Will kept complaining that his tongue hurt. Unfortunately we had to go straight to get the oil changed in the van and I couldn't really take a look at it (not the cleanest place to be sticking your fingers in your kid's mouth). He complained the entire time we were there. They did get to see the circus train go by while waiting for the van. The mechanic came running in the office to get us. At first I thought he was joking, but sure enough when we went out there was the circus train. The boys thought it was cute, but all I could think of is all of those poor animals getting carted around! By the time we left the mechanic Will was complaining non-stop about his ear hurting. He had an ear infection just before Christmas and it appears that he has another. Of course the doctor does not reopen until tomorrow morning. (They close at noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays.) I gave him some Motrin and hopefully he will tough it out until morning or else we'll be going to Nightime Pediatrics tonight!

Ethan is still trying to feel out his rollerblades. They are a bit harder to get around on than he was anticipating. He is trying and not giving up so I'm sure he'll get the hang of it soon. All the boys continue to be wild men on their scooters and bikes. I nearly have a heart attack each time we go out there. You see, I grew up in an all girl family! Chris is far more relaxed than I am.

Chris and I watched Cinderella Man last night. We have been trying to watch it forever and it finally fit in our schedule. As Kate said, it was a very good movie.

My sister sent pictures of Aidan and Alina yesterday. They are both so cute!! I think Alina may be a future American Idol contestant. That is, of course, if she didn't get skipped on the music gene like Lori and I did!

Yesterday the girls came over and played on the skate ramp with the boys. Chris and Mike were being all dorky with their cameras! I was relieved that Gray's Anatomy was finally back on. This morning we went to the park to enjoy our day off. Unfortunately Chris had to work! Chris and Ethan both have karate tonight. I have loads of school work to do. Ugh...

Karate tournament... Ethan placed 2nd in weapons and 3rd in forms. He actually didn't place in his strongest event, sparring. I was surprised. He seemed to be very nervous out there this time. He really didn't do his best at all, but I am still amazed that he goes out there in front of so many people! Christie came to cheer him on as did Mike. Mike was also our professional photographer. You see, he, being a dork much like Chris, just got a new camera as well!!

It is super windy and chilly outside today. The boys want to play outside but I'm not ready to freeze yet! I was hoping Chris would be home by now but we haven't even heard from him! Luckily Will and Noah are still napping. They jumped out of bed at 6:20 this morning since they knew they didn't have school. It's amazing how we have to drag them out of bed during the week!

It has been such a busy week! Ethan is preparing for his tournament tomorrow. Please send 1st place vibes his way tomorrow between 10:00 and noonish! Christie is coming with me to help out with the twins. Chris is out of town for work and RJ is out of town as well. Melissa, Christie, and I are renting a movie tonight.

Chris got his camera this week. I haven't seen any of the pictures popping up in our computer yet. I don't know what's going on with that. He got another lense yesterday as well. I'm not impressed yet seeing how I haven't seen a single picture.

Will and Noah have been working hard on their homework. They worked on opposites all week. Last night part of their homework was writing a story about twins that were completely opposite. How appropriate was that?!? Ethan has gotten to be such a good reader! I am very proud of him. He even brought his book that we are working on at home out to recess with him yesterday and read it to his teacher! She finally convinced him that he should go play.

I'll post some pics tomorrow after the tournament. Expect to see a trophy!

Chris started karate last night. Ethan has been teaching him some moves and giving LOADS of pointers to get him off to a good start. Chris has classes on Monday and Wednesday nights.

The boys have been exhausted every night this week. They are just doing way too much but insist on fitting everything in each day. Last night we were out scootering and skateboarding well after dark. Ethan also tried out his new rollerblades. He is SLOWLY getting the hang of it. No pictures yet. I was out there by myself and it was too hard to hold him up and take pictures at the same time!

Melissa and the girls came over this afternoon. Emma tried out the ramp and seemed to like it. Sophia just enjoyed laying in the middle of it waiting for someone to react! All I can remember Paige saying was, "I'm a Teen Titan!"

Noah's newest joke is, "Knock, Knock - Who's there? - Warren - Warren Who? - Warren Peace!" You see, he has watched Sky High at least 50 times in the last month. Will was quite entertaining tonight. Besides running right into the palm tree while playing soccer, he tripped on Hanzie's leash while running and saying goodbye to Melissa and the girls. It may have been the most dramatic tumble I've ever seen. Luckily, Will being Will, he just started cracking up at himself. Ethan ran into the same palm tree as Will when playing soccer. He wasn't quite as lucky and snagged his head on one of the thorny things. Anyone that knows Ethan, knows that Ethan and blood don't mix. He screamed forever. Ooh, and the funniest bit came from Noah today. Ethan got bubblegum the other day. He decided to share it with Will and Noah today. I told them that they couldn't swallow it or it would get stuck to their heart. Surprisingly Noah somehow swallowed it anyway. He was quite upset that it was going to stick to his heart. He was actually in tears at the prospect. I assured him that there is a top secret way to stop the gum from sticking to your heart the first time you swallow it. He was more than happy to spin in a circle ten times to prevent the horrid gum from sticking to his precious heart. He then asked a million times, "Listen to my heart, did it work???"

Boring Sunday! We did our grocery shopping today- never fun. After grocery shopping, Chris and Ethan went shopping around for a camera bag for his new camera. Well, Chris came home with nothing and Ethan came home with rollerblades!! He tried them out on the carpet and fell a few times. I'll post some pictures when he truly tries them outside.

Ethan has a karate tournament this weekend (on the 14th). Chris has to work so he will miss it :o( Hopefully all will go well. It is quite busy on tournament days and without Chris there to help out with the twins it will be a bit chaotic. Ethan has to get dressed out for sparring which he can't quite do on his own yet. I believe Chris is going to try out karate this week to see how he likes it. He is most interested in sparring, but of course you can't do that without doing the forms. He is interested in doing the weapons as well. I think by February all of the Schrader boys will be enrolled in karate! I might as well have my pay check direct deposited to them!

Back to Blue Spring! Chris and the Eagneys missed our last trip, so we went back again today. It was a nice crisp morning, so once again there were over 100 manatees in the spring. The boys weren't quite as interested this time, but they had a great time playing soccer in the park's big field. Noah insisted on being carried most of the walk- surprise, surprise! Chris just ordered his new camera but it hasn't arrived. Today would have been the perfect day for him to experiment. Oh, well! Next time, I suppose.

I forgot to mention, we have freeze warnings up and all sorts of talk of the FREEZING weather that is going to arrive this weekend! I'm not sure we'll be able to leave the house!

Well, we are back to reality! Ethan adjusted back to his routine better than we expected. Although, I must note, we weren't expecting much!

The boys spent ALL afternoon outside on their scooters, skateboards, and bikes. Ethan and Will decided to take their bikes off the ramp! I was a nervous wreck and "ruined the fun" after they fell one too many times! They did make it over 8 out of 10 times; it was the other 2 head first crashes that made me cringe. The picture of Ethan sitting on the ramp was taken after a major spill that knocked both his shoes off!

SLOWLY RETURNING TO NORMAL...

I took my mom and Wayne to the airport this morning. The boys had to say goodbye last night because we had to leave so early. Will and Noah started back to school yesterday. I picked them up early yesterday and today. Ethan and I return to school tomorrow! MEGA SIGH!!

We did manage to squeeze in one more night of partying. Since Emma and Paige were out of town on their birthday, we had a small Florida celebration with them tonight. Grandma Bobbie and the Whites were also there. Their real party will be at the end of the month.

I'm off to get the boys in bed. I'm ready for bed myself!! We do have to squeeze in a viewing of The Wedding Crashers before bed. I love that movie and the DVD has an extra 8.5 minutes. Woohoo!! Mike and Melissa are coming over to watch it with us so hopefully that will be enough incentive to stay awake for the whole thing!

The boys apparently had a rough day. They went to the skate park, fishing, and on their skate ramp. Throw in a viewing of Shark Boy and Lava Girl and they needed some serious relaxing!