This afternoon we went to Universal. Melissa and I went one Sunday afternoon and there was no one there. Well, today, that wasn't the case! The place was packed. Between the Holloween Horror Night and the Megadeth concert there were loads of people there. It wasn't as bad as a summer day, but just enough people to make it annoying. Of course the boys didn't seem to mind! We went to both parks and did most of their favorite rides.

Here we are on one of our favorites, the Jimmy Neutron ride!

It was perfect timing for a Curious George photo shoot. They were very excited to see him since they have watched that movie a million times this weekend!

Chris forced me to post this picture. Sadly, it was the best shot out of the 5 or 6 he took of us coming out of the tube. I was trying to avoid the gigantic splash that we endured. Noah was happy that I took the brunt of the splash and he remained dry.

Will and Noah are elephants in the Curious George playground.

Ethan went the giraffe route!

Their favorite ride at Islands of Adventure!

Happy Birthday Leigha!!! We love you and miss you.

Let the fall frenzy begin! The kids have been dying to use the Halloween pancake molds. Tonight was the night. They were very happy eating their bats, ghosts, and cats! I was trying to make them orange, however, I had no orange food coloring or red food coloring so that made it a bit difficult. They ended up being a spoooooky mauve color! After their pancake and sausage dinner they devoured the yummy brownies that Melissa made. We had fun trying to decorate the brownies for the kids. Sadly, they didn't care much about how they looked. They just all wanted one with a lot of icing! Emma and Paige are spending the night tonight. Hopefully they will all sleep in until 8:00. I can dream!

There is a major cold front moving into Florida this weekend. Sadly, this will feel freezing to us!

The boys built their castle after school. Hanzie played varying roles in the castle. He was a horse, unicorn, and coyote throughout their adventures!

The boys are ready to haunt you!

Noah wanted to assure you that you would be so scared that you would have to run away. He's showing everyone how they would be running away.

Sorry Melissa- we have made the best oatmeal cookies ever! The boys LOVE them.

Sam is finally Mrs. Stephen Anderson! Her wedding was fabulous. I am very happy for both of them. The boys stayed with the Eagney's during the wedding. They seemed to have had a great time there.

Samantha and Stephen Anderson

September 30, 2006, Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, Florida

This week went by rather quickly. No major events. We spent the morning at Target and then took the boys to McDonald's for a quick lunch. Tonight is my friend Sam's wedding. She has had an extremely trying week. Her Monday started with a phone call in the middle of her teaching math class that she would not be able to get married where she originally planned as it would not be built in time! She had already pushed her date back just so she could get married there. I feel terrible for her, but she worked something out and I'm sure it will be wonderful! I only hope that the Atlantic Center for the Arts will go out of their way to make her wedding magnificant since it is not what she was hoping for! Chris' back is slowly recovering. He can at least stand straight up now! I even sacrificed my "leg pillow" last night. Okay, I don't know what I was thinking and probably should have let him borrow it weeks ago, but I never thought of it! I bought it when my back was bothering me when I was pregnant with the twins and it helped immensely. I can't believe that it was five years ago! My "babies" will be five in less than two months. I think them turning five is actually going to be harder for me than my 30th birthday was!

Ethan raced in the Rain Gutter Regatta today at Boy Scouts and I am proud to say that he came in 3rd Place. Here is one of the many photos I took...

Popcorn For Sale Now!

For those of you that would like to buy popcorn to support Ethan's Boy Scout troop, you can go to the site which is located at http://www.orderpopcorn.com and enter in the Order Key TEDEVMT. Doing this will give Ethan and his troop the credit for the sale.

Please remember to verify that you are giving Ethan the credit by clicking on the Order Key tab at the top of the page once you are logged in. It should say ETHAN S. -- CENTRAL FLORIDA if you are logged in correctly.

The selection on the site is not as great as it is in the paper catalog for some reason. If you don't see anything to your liking, let me know if you want to see the complete catalog and I can get you a copy over e-mail.

Ethan and I thank you in advance for your support!!! This is what helps the troop pay for all of their activities and camping trips throughout the year.






It's for me, you see.

We had a blast at Universal today. The kids even got to ride the ride that they have been dying to ride since we got our passes. Normally it has a 75 minute wait but today it was only 20 minutes! They seemed to like it a lot. I got to go through my favorite cave- twice! It was quite funny; I never knew there was a water feature in the cave and somehow it managed to shoot off right as Chris and Melissa were crossing the bridge! We all relaxed in the spa when we got home. We are planning a nice little night swim with the girls. Our days are numbered in the pool. Just over a month left. Normally the last week we can swim is the first week of November. The pool was 92 today so there are no signs of a cool down yet. Here are the kids enjoying the Jurassic area of Universal! More pictures to come. Chris has to convert them for me. Something about shooting in the raw... I don't know!

The boys are very happy that today is Friday. They are desperately hoping to go to Universal in the morning. Chris is torn about going since his back still hurts. He is a caver to the boys so I am sure we'll be going in the morning. Yesterday we watched Grey's Anatomy. It was so good! I didn't even cry for once. After school today we came straight home and jumped in the pool. It was so hot! Of course, once the sun started going down it felt freezing every time you got out of the pool. It looked like you were watching the boys in fast forward when they got out of the pool to get a toy or a snack. They moved really fast so they could get back into the toasty 92 degree pool! Tonight I made Chris one of his favorites for dinner. We had fried green tomato sandwiches. The last time we made them they weren't too great. This time they were much better. I think I'll have it perfected by my next attempt!

Thursday was the highly anticipated Grey's Anatomy season premiere!

Apparently, the boys wanted a moving fort and Hanzie was their only hope! Poor Hanzie was completely confused by it all. He is so tired from his nice long walk that he didn't know what was going on.

We have had a rainy afternoon! The rain is bringing a "cold front" so I can't complain! It will be dropping all the way down to 87 degrees this week. Bring out the winter clothes. Will and Noah decided to "moon bounce" while Ethan was at Cub Scouts tonight. They are enjoying themselves. Ethan usually is bossing them around and telling them what game they have to play in there so they are enjoying their "alone" time. Oh yeah, Grey's Anatomy is in 2 days!! Woohoo!!! Please contact me if you are interested in Cub Scout popcorn or Yankee Candles. Ethan is selling both. Popcorn is a Cub Scout fundraiser and the Yankee Candles are a school fundraiser.

I had to load the pictures one by one. This last one is of the ladies' man!

Chris' back is still bothering him so our weekend was pretty lame. We just hung out around the house for the most part. The boys begged me to take them to the dollar store on Saturday so I did that. Sunday we went swimming with the girls in the morning and yesterday afternoon I dropped Chris and the boys off to play tennis while I went grocery shopping. Noah was rather upset with Chris for hurting his leg wrist! Chris grabbed his ankle while they were wrestling. A reminder to all- the Grey's Anatomy season premiere is on Thursday!!! Flights are cheap and we are having a premiere party!!!

Well, blogger will only let me upload one picture at this time, so more will follow.

For homework tonight Ethan had to do a "senses" scavenger hunt. I thought you might enjoy his responses.
Something that smells pretty... "incense."
Something that tastes sweet... "cookies."
Something that feels bumpy..."the numbers on the phone."
Something that sounds loud..."my brothers."
Something that looks funny..."my brother Will."
Something that smells icky..."my brother Will."
Something that feels smooth..."my desk."
Something that we all like the sound of..."rain."
Something that looks symmetrical..."my dog."

Thankfully, this week has been very uneventful, so far! Ethan had Cub Scouts again yesterday. He gets home so late. They are normally in bed by 7:45 and on Cub Scout nights he isn't even getting home until nearly 8:30. He then is so grouchy and emotional on Wednesdays. This afternoon we went and swam with the girls at Bobbie's house. That broke up the afternoon nicely. We came home, made dinner, did homework, and played some games. It was then time for desert, books, and bed. Everyone was busy the entire night and there were no major meltdowns! Ethan just started the new Captain Underpants book- number 8. He thinks it is the funniest thing ever. The boys have also been into building forts since early this summer. They saw the new Mega Fort by Cranium and are now begging us non-stop for it! I guess at some point we'll have to break down and get it for them. Fort building certainly keeps them busy. Chris is already in bed. It may be a miracle. It's 8:15 and his normal bedtime is 1:00 or 2:00 am! He took some muscle relaxers for his back which is bothering him and promptly passed out on the living room floor.

Pure Blue Ranger power!!!

Last night Katie brought Gibbs over to play. He is so stinkin' cute. Hanzie was very tolerable and patient with him. He would let Gibbs play with his toys, but the first chance he got to get it back he went for it.

Too bad we weren't this close...

We have a lift off! We didn't go to the beach since everyone is sick. We just watched from the driveway.

Popcorn and Clifford- what could be better?

Well, we were back at the doctor's office again today. This time for Noah. His ears were fine, but he has tonsillitis. She put him on antibiotics for 10 days as well. Hopefully Will will stay healthy! We grabbed Will and rented The Dark Crystal on the way home from the doctor and Will and Noah are cuddled on the couch watching it now. They seem to really be into it. I've said their names 3 times each and haven't gotten a single response from them! In a few minutes we will be off to let out Loki and Boda, pick up Noah's medicine, pick up Ethan from school, and swing by the preschool to get Paige and Sophia. Thank goodness it's Friday and I get to sleep in tomorrow. I'm not feeling all that great myself!

Ethan was diagnosed with his first ear infection of the season. He started complaining that his ear hurt Sunday after Universal. I took him today, and sure enough, an ear infection! Let the fun of fall and winter begin!! I don't quite understand how the sickness sets in so long before the cool weather.

Some more pics from yesterday...

I had to ride at least one big kid roller coaster since there were no lines. I chose Dueling Dragons. The boys tested out the seats to try to get a feel for what I was going through. They decided that it wasn't thrilling enough and went over to Flying Unicorn to ride as many times as they could until I got off Dueling Dragons.

The boys are deathly afraid of the Jurassic Park dinosaurs! There is one coming out of the jungle ready to attack them!

Here come the super heroes!!! They couldn't wait to tell Pop-Pop Wayne about their mode of transportation!

Here the boys are with Cyclops. A bit of super hero trivia for you... his full name is Sly Fox Cyclops.

Here Will is testing out his newly learned Cyclops powers! Careful, if you look too closely you may come under his spell.

Yesterday was a lot of fun! The boys kept saying, "This is the best day ever." Okay, they say that when they are doing anything fun, but they clearly had a good day. We went to Universal in the morning. There were no lines so we got to do everything they love to do. They even got to ride the Flying Unicorn three times in a row. They were begging for fourth go at it, but Chris and Ethan were ready to move on! They got to see all of the super heroes ride in on their four wheelers for the first time. We have never caught them riding in after the many times that we have been there! After Universal, we headed to Tijuana Flats for lunch. The boys really like eating there. I think it may have something to do with the Pez that comes with the kids' meals, but I could be wrong! The boys crashed on the drive home. When we got home, Chris mowed the lawn and we got ready for our cook-out. The Eagney's and Dyett's came over. We played TV Scene It which was a lot of fun. The kids had a good time swimming and running around.

This morning I tried to take Hanzie for a nice long walk. I tried to go early before it got too hot but all of my planning just backfired. As soon as we got outside we got swarmed by mosquitoes. It was really quite disturbing. We only made it a outside of the neighborhood and then turned right back. Hanzie looked like he had black polk-a-dots all over him. Next time I know to wait until the dew dries. There is a fine line between when that happens and it gets too hot! We came home and jumped in the pool with the girls. No bugs in the pool screen! Perhaps we could walk laps around the pool!

Here Noah is waiting in line for the Dr. Suess Train. His hair got wet on the One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish ride so it's looking a little crazy.Here the bros are in Suess Landing.

Today had an interesting start. The kids started screaming that there was a snake in the toy room. I was hoping that they were wrong, but when we went in to investigate, sure enough there was a baby snake. Luckily Chris was home to do the catch and release. I might have just allowed it to be a house guest. I'm not a fan of reptiles so I would have just left it alone and hoped for the best! After Chris handled the snake, we headed off to the boys' favorite park. Radio Disney has made NSB it's official beach so they came to celebrate. It was sort of lame and very hot, so we didn't party with Radio Disney for long! We saw a million kids that we knew from school and let the kids play on the playground for a bit. Ethan saw two of his friends from his class on the playground. As it turns out, they were big fans of Ethan. They kept saying how cute he was and how they couldn't believe their favorite boy was at the park. I was laughing so hard listening to them gossip and giggle over him! Ethan finally let them chase him all around the park! On the way out, Tabitha said, "You are so cute and handsome!" Chris was quite proud! Will checking out his Radio Disney bag!


Ethan with Tabitha and Jade!

It's Friday!!! Okay, all that really translates into is that I'm exhausted. Ethan is having Emily spend the night tonight. The boys were super excited because she brought over her PS2 to play. Ethan is grounded from video games so he isn't too thrilled. Hanzie is as cute as ever and ready to camp-out with the kids.