Birthday Weekend for the Twins

There is a definite theme this birthday and holiday season...Star Wars! They went through a phase a few years ago and had the toddler version of all of this and now they are on to the big kid version (aka more expensive version)! Here they are with their various birthday ships. Will and Noah went to Toys R' Us this morning and purchased the Millennium Falcon. This thing is huge and full of glorious details for the boys to explore.
We went to the movies at 1:00 to see Old Dogs. We all thought it was really funny. Mike, Melissa, Paige, and Pamela all joined us. We are also excited to see the sequel of Alvin and the Chipmunks this Christmas!
After Toys R' Us, we went to the breakfast buffet at a local restaurant on the river. The food was not impressive, but the outside set up was cute.


The restaurant's name is "Dolphin View" but it should have been "Pelican View."
On Saturday, Ethan had SGA duties. There was a little holiday kick off festival on Canal Street. The SGA kids had a secret Santa shop. Ethan worked the craft table and helped all the little kids make their crafts.
Here they are decorating the bags to package up the gifts purchased at their shop. It quickly got warm. We started in jackets and scarves and were down to t-shirts in no time!
On Friday we spent some time at the beach. I had stayed up far too late at the midnight Toys R' Us sale, so I was able to sit and veg out while they played!



Off to eat some birthday cupcakes! I can't believe it is bedtime already and our vacation is over. Only 3 weeks until our 2 week Christmas vacation. Woohoo!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our Thanksgiving Day recap! We started with the traditional Thanksgiving Krispy Kreme doughnut breakfast!After breakfast it was a walk along the river with the dogs. It is a bit too far of a trek for Hanzie so he stayed home. We walked up to the "sand park" and met the kids there. The dogs enjoyed the walk. It was still cloudy and humid early this morning.

Abby, Finley, and Jazz resting at the park before the return trip home.
Noah taking a break from skipping shells.
Will refusing to take a break.
After the walk and park time, it was directly home for coffee and the parade!
Noah took over 100 pictures of the parade on TV. I'm not exaggerating! Here Will and I are trying to watch the parade despite Noah constantly standing in front of the television!
We turned the oven on and then headed to the beach for a walk. By late morning, the sun was shining, the temps were in the low-70's, and the humidity was gone. It was an absolutely gorgeous day!
Will collecting shells.
Leano Beano
It is hard to believe that the boys will be as tall as me soon. Ethan's foot is already bigger than mine! Crazy. Noah took my glasses!
The boys walking.

Thankfully, they didn't have to make any rescues!
Ethan was an awesome helper today. He peeled all of the potatoes and helped every step of the way with making dinner.
The table the boys made.
After dinner it was time for another walk and park time. This time I brought Hanzie. Chris and the boys drove up and I met up with them again. Hanzie did catch a ride home.

The boys are now asking for dessert! Chris just left to go see New Moon. Tonight Melissa, Sam, and I plan on a midnight trip to Toys R' Us.

We have had a great day even though it started a little rocky. The boys have had a Beta fish for two years and he died today. Noah had just said how thankful he was for his pets! The boys buried him in the front yard. He lived in a space themed fish tank so his name was Rover as in Mars Rover.

So, it has been a while!

Pamela kindly pointed out that it has been some time since I have updated the blog. With soccer, school, 3 boys, dogs, and biking there is very little time left in the day. The days are over before I even know it. Not to mention, everyone knows I'm not a late night person! In my defense, my husband is a late night person and still has not managed to update the blog! With that said, not much thrilling news to report. Since the last update, Chris was in a motorcycle accident and broke his elbow. He also had various other scratches, bruises, and sprains. His elbow is still bothering him weeks later and I think his wrist may be bugging him even more than his elbow. The sling he was supposed to wear for 4 to 6 weeks lasted about a week. The no soccer for 4 to 6 weeks lasted less than a week! That could explain some of his problems. I am just thankful that it was not any more serious than it was. I'm still in disbelief that people actually ride those things and that in Florida many do it without a helmet as it is not a law here! Crazy. Chris did have a helmet on, thankfully!

Noah's broken collar bone healed nicely. He also did not follow the no soccer for 4 to 6 weeks rule. I think he lasted 2 weeks! Soccer wrapped up for the season on Saturday. Will and Noah's team was undefeated. Ethan's team did not have that same sort of record. His team was at a major disadvantage though. His age group goes from 4th to 6th grade and Chris' entire team was 4th grade. Others were entirely 6th grade and it showed. They were twice their size. They actually did amazingly, all things considered.

The boys are looking forward to their birthdays. Will and Noah don't have much longer to wait! Ethan still has a month to go but already has the countdown clock ticking. They are also looking forward to Grandma and Pop-Pop's visit. They are coming for a long weekend in December. All the boys have community choral performances during their visit so they are excited to have family there to watch them!

The holiday events kick off in full force next week. I'm sure we will have lots of photos to post in the near future.

Almost Better!

Noah had his 2 week, follow-up x-ray today. He is healing wonderfully and can resume full activities in two weeks. It really only bothers him now if something hits it really hard. Here is his newest x-ray. No, he didn't swallow any pieces of metal. Those are the metal pieces of his clavicle brace!
We had a nice, cool weekend. We went from record highs to record lows in the matter of a day! It has been a nice treat to have these few cool days. Wednesday we head back toward our normal mid-80's for this time of year. Sure beats the mid-90's! Saturday the boys had their soccer pictures and games in the morning. Will and Noah's team won and Ethan's team tied. After the soccer game, Melissa and I went on a nice, long bike ride. We traveled down a road that the "real bikers" bike down. We have seen the road bikers travel down that road several times and I was curious what the appeal was. It was a cute little country road with lots of farm animals, citrus groves, a tilapia farm, etc. It has was very windy and hilly! Yesterday, while Ethan was out with his friend Pamela, the rest of us went Halloween costume shopping. I couldn't convince any of them to be something I wanted them to be! Where are the days when I could dress them up as whatever I wanted?!? After shopping, the boys headed to a birthday party and Chris and I headed to the beach for lattes. I had a delicious pumpkin latte. I love the tastes of fall!

Noah's Clavicle

Noah had a biking accident on Saturday evening. We rode bikes to Blockbuster and on the way home he flipped over his bike going full speed and landed on his shoulder. He was wincing in pain, which he never does, so I knew something was wrong. By today, it still wasn't feeling right so we went to the doctor. Sure enough, he broke his right clavicle. Sadly, he can't write. He also can't eat with his right hand! It bugs him the most while he is sleeping. The doctor said it should heal fine and put him in a clavicle strap for at least four weeks. I think the strap bugs Noah more than the break! It is itching him like crazy. He goes back in two weeks for x-rays to ensure it is healing properly.

hApPy OcToBeR!

I'm so excited that it is October. Besides the fact that it is still insanely hot in Florida, October is my favorite month.

Here is one just one reason!!!!We went to the beach this morning. Yes, one benefit of it being hot still! The water was super clear today. You could see all the way to the bottom even when you got out far. Ethan was happy so he could be sure he wasn't stepping on any crabs.
Noah's shoulder is still bothering him, so he spent much of his time at the beach doing this!
Ethan and Pamela were being ghost hunters this afternoon. This is what they documented.
Here is the same area without any ghosts present.
The boys reminded us that October had arrived and it was time to get out the Halloween decorations. Here is their festive dinner set up!

Busy, Busy, Busy

School, soccer, and after school events have kept us quite busy so far this year. The boys are all doing great in school and are enjoying it. What more could you ask for? They have been going to soccer practice on Mondays and Wednesdays. Games start this weekend. Will and Noah have a bye week this first week, but Ethan has a game. I haven't been going to much of the practices. I have been trying to get my miles in each night so I only catch the last few minutes of Ethan's practice.

It is still quite warm here. Okay, hot! The kids are still able to swim in the 90+ degree pool and 85+ degree ocean. Later this week, we are supposed to have our first dip into the 60's at night since last spring! Sadly, Noah will want a coat for school on those mornings. He was complaining this morning when we left and it was 73. Normally, it is already 79 or so when we leave at 7:00.

On Saturday, Chris, Mike, Melissa, and I went to Sea World for the day. Katie and Matt watched all 6 kids for us. I was impressed! Matt looked ready to collapse when they left, but Katie could have kept on going I think. Sea World had an open house for teachers. Teachers always get in free at Sea World, but for the open house you could also bring in a guest for free. We didn't even have to pay for parking, so we couldn't pass up the opportunity. Plus, our school has a chance to win a field trip for 200 since we completed all of the "teacher" activities! Their new Manta roller coaster is pretty awesome.

Here are some recent pictures of the boys at the beach. Ethan was there, but apparently avoided the camera!



I can't believe that pretty soon it will be too cold for the beach and pool. We still have a month or so more.

Some Old, Some New

Here are a few pictures from our school's pep rally. We have a program called "In the Zone" that rewards kids for getting zero referrals. We have zone days every 4 1/2 weeks. Any kid that gets no referrals during that time gets to attend their grade level's zone day. They choose activities such as crafts, dance, sports, electronics, etc. We have a pep rally at the beginning of the year and again halfway through the school year to encourage the kids to stay in the zone. (Sorry for the picture quality...someone was messing with my settings!)


Here Donna pumps up the 1st and 2nd graders! She was quite the MC!Will limbos out the door!
Noah heads out.
Here the boys show their rockets that they waved during the pep rally. I ran into them in the hallway and made them pose for me!
Noah just looks thrilled, huh?
Sam amps the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders!
Ethan and his friend Spencer.
Pamela hamming it up!
Speaking of Pamela, Ethan hung out with her for most of the day today. They watched Cake Boss after working on homework for a bit. Donna then allowed them to make and decorate their own cakes. They got pretty fancy! Ethan brought his home for us to eat. I didn't see Pamela's, but I'm sure it was just as fabulous!
Abby was barking like crazy out the front door. I thought Donna and Pamela were here to pick up Ethan, but instead it was the cranes out for a walk! Chris stalked them and took a couple pictures. He only had my camera since his takes so long to get ready!

Weekend and Soccer

We enjoyed our first long weekend of the school year! We fit in plenty of bike rides and pool time. Melissa and I see these huge buggies all the time on our bike ride. They are at least three inches long. It is crazy how big they are. Normally we find them squished on the road. This guy was alive and well on a country road. On Saturday night we had a big taco night event! The boys and Sophie love tacos so it was a treat for them. Paige and Emma were willing to partake in the experience since they were eating off of "school trays."
Soccer evaluations were yesterday. It was a long two hours at the fields! Here Noah struts his stuff. Just following his evaluation, he was bit by a fire ant and his pinkie turned into a massive looking blob. It was still a little swollen today after his three doses of Benadryl between last night and today. Hopefully he is not developing a reaction like Ethan's!
Will was showing his skills.
Since Chris and Melissa are coaching, the boys and Emma pretty much know what team they'll be on!
Chris is at the draft now. He has been there FOREVER. Hopefully he will be home shortly so I can go for a bike ride. Tomorrow night there is a PTA meeting so I don't think I'll fit one in. Unless of course I ride the miles to the meeting and show up a hot, stinky mess. Is that wrong???

Peter Bjorn and John!

My friend Mike and I saw them at The Social in Orlando last night. Not many good groups come out of Sweden, but I have to give them their due. They were awesome!!

Up Against the Wall (My personal favorite)


Nothing to Worry About


Young Folks