Yesterday was not only Aunt Kate's birthday, but also Paigey Pie's birthday. We are sad that Kate wasn't here. We would have loved to take her to Mi Mexico for a vegetarian fajita quesadilla. Paige had her party at McDonald's. Outside of Chris setting off the security alarm in the middle of the party, it went great! Chris and Mike couldn't get enough pictures of me and Katie.
Sophi at the top of the playground!
Kung Fu birthday- I don't know!
Paige looked a little confused by our present. We had given her a pink bat and ball for Christmas and got her the tee for her birthday. I think she was thinking, "What the h#**!"
Today we went to Target to return Ethan's electric guitar. We have already returned it once and even the exchange was damaged. So, now Chris is back in the market to find Ethan a new one that will actually work. After Target we went to the boys' favorite park for a while until it started to rain. The coldest weather to hit Florida in FIVE years is on the way. I'm not sure we'll survive it. We may need to turn on the heat! The AC is on right now!

Oh, and we have a new Will story to add to the books. My back has been hurting for the last couple of weeks and the last couple of days have been exceptionally bad. I resorted to using Bengay last night. This morning while Chris was eating breakfast he noticed that Will had a rash all over his body. I instantly thought of the Bengay bottle that Will had just brought to me and asked him if he had opened it. He said, "No, I just brought it to you." He didn't smell like Bengay so Chris was sure it wasn't that. We gave him some Benadryl and watched him. The rash started to fade so we knew it had to be some sort of allergic reaction. Later when Will was sitting on me on the couch he told me that he and Noah had been sniffing the Bengay. I guess he inhaled a bit too much!

We hope everyone has a fun, safe New Year's.

The Rocking Rockets Rock Band! The boys set up their jam session area yesterday after I took down the Christmas tree. We had Will on the keyboard, Ethan on the electric guitar, and Noah on the drums and microphone. We got some rope lighting yesterday and they all got new matching rocket pajamas, hence their band name and uniform. They are begging us to get out the fog machine and strobe light out for their performances. We may need to start charging for their performances with their elaborate set-up. I can't promise the music will equal the show itself. But, hey all those other pop stars lip sync.

So, Lori, this is what beats your winter wonderland. Chris and Mike went up to the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse last night to take some pictures. Chris and I went for a long bike ride last night and the moon was amazing over the river and ocean. Of course we didn't have a camera with us then!
Today we signed Will up for horseback riding lessons. We had previously checked out a barn that was sketchy and we were not at all comfortable sending him there. So, today, we checked out a new one that Melissa found and it was really nice. The barn is brand new and beautiful. The horses were all well cared for and seemed happy. They had very nice fields to play in as well. He starts next Friday and is very excited! Emma is taking lessons with him so they should have a lot of fun.

Today is Pop-Pop Wayne's birthday. He just told Alina and Aidan that he was turning 36. Ha! Will and I made him a cake while Ethan and Noah were at the beach with my mom. It is sunny and 80 here today. Tonight we are going out to dinner.

As if we haven't had enough sad news currently, Ethan's old kindergarten aide teacher passed away on Sunday. It was a very unexpected death. She leaves behind teenage boys that were everything to her. It is so saddening. She was such a young, vibrant, wonderful woman. She is the one that turned Ethan onto reading. She always got him excited about reading and Ethan really bonded with her. His desk was next to her desk in the classroom and he would always come home with Ms. Spinney stories. I was lucky enough to get to know her by eating lunch with her each day while she was at our school. I'm still in complete disbelief. I will miss seeing her and Tom walking along Riverside Drive each Tuesday and Thursday while I'm out for my bike ride.

Last night we had Christmas Eve dinner at our house. We had our traditional lasagna dinner. The Eagney's along with Greg, Karen, and Bobbie joined us as well. Melissa and I pose in front of the Christmas tree.
Paige seemed happy with her pink baseball bat and ball. The girls all looked so pretty in their Christmas dressed and beautiful hair!

The champagne (aka sparkling grape juice) came out at dessert time. The boys got awfully silly after that!
Guitar Heroes III was the hit of the party! We only managed to squeeze in a few minutes of Sing It!
The boys woke up at 3:15 this morning ready to open their presents. They opened their stockings and then came in and started digging through the stuff under the tree. I sent them back to bed and they lasted until 6:15. Chris hasn't converted the Christmas pictures yet so those will be up later. We went to the park this afternoon and then came home and had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and broccoli casserole. Everything was delicious! The kitchen is once again all cleaned up and begging me to make Steph's apple pie recipe!

On Ethan's birthday the boys started the day at Bob Evan's with Pop-Pop and Daddy. My mom and I did the grocery shopping for Christmas Eve and Christmas dinners. We all met back at the house and headed back to the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge. First we stopped to see the manatees. They were mildly entertaining. Chris and I brought out bikes this time and biked the nature loop. It was a lot of fun biking though there and we saw lots of birds and gators. The boys drove through with Grandma and Pop-Pop. Pop-Pop left the doors of the van opened as they drove through so the boys thought that was really cool.

These are the Roseate Spoonbills that always hang out at the refuge. They are by far the prettiest birds there, mostly that is because they are pink and what is cuter than a pink bird??
This is the large alligator that we saw sunning himself.
This guy was a lot smaller. I noticed him while we were biking so we slammed on our brakes. Since we were biking on rocks we slid when we tried to stop. Rather than scaring this gator away it made him quickly approach us. He came full speed at us and I hopped on my bike!
He came right up to the bank where we were standing to check us out. Once he turned and got a safe distance away I posed with him.
After we biked the loop we went to the visitors center and walked around there.

Immediately following Ethan's party, the boys had their first flag football practice. Of course as we were packing up the car after the party it got sunny and warm!

Ethan practicing his catch.
Noah making a pass.
Will making a pass to Bryce.

Ethan, Will, and Bryce going after Spencer.
Ethan trying to outrun Noah.

Grandma and Pop-Pop arrived around 1:00 am on Saturday morning. Once everyone got in bed, it was no time before we were up and getting ready for Ethan's birthday party. They were calling for sunny, 80 degree weather. Well, it was quite chilly and raining off and on! Luckily we had a pavilion and it only rained hard while they were eating so they were able to play on the playground and play games as planned.

This game was really funny to watch! All of the kids had balloons tied to their ankles and they had to go around trying to pop everyone's balloon. In the end it came down to Spencer H., Emily W., Ethan, and Kyle. Emily used some sneak attack strategies and won in the end.
I'm not sure what they were doing here besides racing over the bridge.
Pamela makes and interesting face and she tried to get the clothes pin in the jug. Pamela also managed to get herself stuck in the baby swing which was quite funny.
Here Emily goes in for the sneak attack. Spencer better watch out!

Ethan has come a far way from hiding under the table screaming when people sing Happy Birthday to him!
His favorite present that has been the non-stop source of entertainment around here for the last two days! (That would be Guitar Heroes III for the Wii.)

More present opening.

I guess he was happy about something he got!
Emily blowing up another balloon preparing for a second round of balloon stomp. They all loved the game and begged to play again!

While the boys are having fun with the Havoc Heli that Kyle gave Ethan, I think Pop-Pop and Daddy are having even more fun with it than they are! (That is Ethan's teacher, Mrs. Zois, in the background.)

I'm not so sure what Kyle is doing here!
Sophie and the Headless Woman.

Well, this week has brought some sad news. It started Sunday morning when Bobbie took a spill off of her bike while we were all out biking and had to make a trip to the ER. It turned out to be a minor injury but it sure was scary when it happened. Then of course Buppa with his fall. It is sad to think of him being alone when that happened. When Stephanie emailed today about Evan I instantly pictured that cutie pie sitting in a great big hospital bed. He is not one that likes to sit still so I can only imagine how frustrating that must be to him. Hopefully both Buppa and Evan have quick recoveries. Santa better be extra good to both of them!

Today at school the classrooms all had their holiday celebrations. Mrs. Walton's class made these adorable reindeer t-shirts and sang many adorable holiday songs. Mrs. Walton's father collapsed yesterday as well. He too is going to be okay, but what a horrific week!
The lovely Mrs. Walton with my boys. (Those halos Mrs. Walton gave them may be the only halos they will ever get to wear!)
Ethan was happily showing off one of his presents from his holiday celebration.
Pamela got Chris' favorite- bloonies!

Spencer was super excited to get his remote control cars until he realized that he had no batteries to get them going! Oops.
Will and Noah carrying their loot at the end of the day!
Tomorrow is the last day of school before break. So, our countdown stands at 1 day of school, 2 days until Grandma and Pop-Pop get here, 2 days until Ethan's party, 3 days until Ethan's birthday, and 5 days until Christmas! Hopefully there will be no more illnesses or injuries.

We had a fun day and a half with Eric, Asa, Isabelle, and Vera. Just after they arrived we took off to the beach. It was getting chilly but that didn't stop the girls from stripping down and getting in the water! They definitely have Schrader blood in them and have no problems running around naked! The boys played soccer with Uncle Eric while the girls swam. We then drove down the beach to the tourist district and Asa did a little shopping. The kids all jumped in the spa after dinner on Sunday night to warm up in the chilly weather. Our freeze protection actually had to come on for the pool last night because it dropped down into the 30's! Today's high was only in the low 50's and it was quite breezy. It made for a chilly day.

I took off work today to spend the day with Eric, Asa, and the girls. We drove down to Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge. We saw a bunch of manatees, more birds than one can imagine, and two gators. Here is the first gator we saw.
The girls and I enjoyed walking around the boardwalk at the visitor's center.
Isabelle checks out the second gator we saw along the side of the road. I guess he was trying to sun himself in the freezing weather.
We went to lunch at Ce La Luna and then I had to go pick up the boys from school. They had fun and really enjoyed the puppet show at school today. They said it was awesome! They rushed in the door to get the last couple of hours of play time with the girls in. They did lots of crafts, played a Cranium game, and also played lots of guitar! Once Chris got home we ended their visit with a trip to Mi Mexico. They are off to Disney for a few days of fun. I am a bit jealous. The boys have all of their countdowns in place. 4 days of school, 5 days until Grandma and Pop-Pop arrive, 5 days until Ethan's birthday party, 6 days until Ethan's birthday, and 8 days to Christmas!!!

Just traps, no boobies!! So, if you want to see a movie with just traps and no boobies, Home Alone 2 is the way to go. We went to the Eagney's on Saturday night and we all watched Home Alone 2 together. Melissa commented on all of the booby traps he was setting up and Noah corrected her and said, "Just traps, no boobies!"

We've had even more holiday fun this week. On Wednesday Johnna hosted a holiday party at her house. It was a lot of fun and Johnna was an awesome host. Everyone brought tons of delicious food and drink. We did a white elephant ornament exchange and of course that was a riot. Last night was the Winter Wonderland at school. The PTA did an incredible job of decorating the school. The chorus put on a second performance of their Light Up Flagler show. The PTA had set up little craft centers around the campus and had hot chocolate and cookies. Here Will and Noah decorate their mitten ornaments.
Tonight was the toy party. I can't even imagine all the hard work Donna, Susan, Vicki, and Amy put into organizing the event. It is open the community and everyone brings an unwrapped gift. There are raffles going on as well. Of course there was tons of wonderful food and drink! The best part of the night is when the teachers from the schools that are present get to dive into the pile of presents and scout out gifts for the kids at school. Read-Pattillo definitely had the unfair advantage of having tons of people there to scout out! So, after getting lots of great gifts for some families from school we loaded up the cars and drove it all over to the school. Next week will involve sorting through all that stuff and wrapping it.

Tomorrow I am taking Will and Noah to watch Emma's choral performance. Hopefully it won't get rained out. While we are at that, Chris is taking Ethan to his friends' birthday party. They are twins and Danielle is in his class and Daniel is a scouting buddy. The plan is to see Alvin and the Chipmunks with the girls once all of that wraps up. Then Sunday Eric and Asa arrive with the girls. I'm not sure what the plans are during their visit, but I'm sure we'll have fun!

Sunday was the 2nd annual cookie exchange. Bobbie did a great job putting it all together and everyone seemed to have a great time. The girls provided the entertainment. While Emma, Paige, and Sophia mostly took turns singing the same song over and over again, there were one or two other songs thrown into the mix. Of course I was entertained by it! I was the lucky winner in the "Overall" category. So Grandma, thanks for making fudge such a Owens' holiday tradition! That is what I made! Anne won for best presentation and Melissa won for best taste. Emma, Paige, and Sophia won for best decorating. They made sugar cookies with icing and sprinkles and they were beaut-eee-ful!

Here are the winners...
This is the sweet Longaberger holiday purse that I won! Pretty much everyone was jealous. I had a stomach virus on Sunday and almost didn't go. I had a low fever and the worst stomach cramps all Saturday night and Sunday. It didn't help that once I pulled myself off the couch, put on a fancy version of sweatpants, loaded my bike with the fudge, tray, & recipe, and finally headed off to Bobbie's tons of fishing line got caught in my bike components. I had to walk my bike back home and get my Knight in Shining Armour to come out and fix my bike for me. I was really ready to call it quits then. Luckily I didn't or someone else would be walking around with my super cute bag!
(Oh, if these pictures look familiar I stole them from Melissa's blog!)

Tonight I am off for more holiday fun with my peeps from school. I can't wait until my mom gets here so I can bike for hours at a time to work off all of this holiday fun!

Ooh, I forgot to mention... Will lost another tooth this week! Noah keeps wiggling and wiggling his. I keep trying to tell him that Ethan didn't lose his first tooth until 1st grade, but he insists that he will lose his in kindergarten.

What Jen was alluding to in the previous post was that Ethan was picked to go onstage at the Animal Actors stage show. We weren't even planning on going to the show, but we had some time to waste before the fireworks/laser show was supposed to start. Well, the host of the show asked for a volunteer and Ethan raised his hand and stood up. Of all the kids there, he felt really lucky to get to go up there. He had no idea what was in store for him though.

First up were a couple of intro questions like what is your name and where are you from. Ethan said his name and stated that he was from Maryland. Huh? I guess that is kind of my fault. I tell him that we are from Maryland. I don't want anybody confusing us with crazy Floridians. Plus, he was born in Annapolis.

Anyway, I have video of the whole thing and some pictures as well. Here are a couple of pictures. Enjoy!

What we thought was going to be the highlight of our day was the Macy's Parade at Universal. While it was incredibly cool, it was not the highlight (more on that from Chris later). Mike, Melissa, the girls, and Melissa's Aunt Stephanie secured some awesome seats. We, along with Debbie and family, rushed over from the Grinch show at Island of Adventures and met up with them right in front of Terminator 3 at Universal. We were right near the beginning of the parade. We shouted at everyone going by so we got lots of handshakes and high-5's from the people and characters in the parade.

I believe that they just brought the Macy's owned balloons down. There were no licensed characters. Ethan was convinced that the famous people from the New York parade would be there as well. When I screamed, "Look, the Jonas Brother!" he totally fell for it! Man, I love tricking those boys. Mike had his fancy camera so I'm sure he'll have a lot of great pics on his blog.