Happy 2007! We had a fun New Year's Eve. We started the day in Daytona at the Ocean Walk and Daytona Lagoon with both Grandmas and Pop-Pop Bob. We had lunch at Santora's Buffalo Pizza and Wings. That may sound familiar to some of you. They actually ship in their dough and sauce from Buffalo. It was new to me, but very good! After lunch we played a round of mini golf at Daytona Lagoon. For our evening plans we went to the Eagney's for a fondue party. There was a little pre-fondue trampoline party outside with Chris and the kids.
Here Noah is showing off his sweet Ninja S-K-I-L-L-S!

Will in an apparent attempt to break his neck!

Paige showing everyone her sweet moves!

Sophia will not be outdone with her bottom flop!

Okay, okay, while it is true that I did change the clocks, this was an authentic midnight toast with champagne! At least the kitchen clocks said midnight and the kids thought it was the real thing. It sort of felt like midnight to me at 7:55 so I thought it would to them as well! Noah was a bit silly from all of the "champagne" that he drank, but it did make it up to "midnight." They also enjoyed some chocolate fondue to ring in the new year. They cleared two platters of marshmallows, strawberries, pound cake, and bananas!
Here are a couple pictures from the Ocean Walk in Daytona. There was a lady there sculpting the sand. There is also a picture of the Daytona Pier in the background.

On Saturday we woke up early and went to Blue Spring State Park to see the manatees. I was surprised that there were so many manatees in the springs with the warm weather. When we got there in the morning there were 79 in the springs!

Here is a decent sized alligator swimming out of the springs! I guess he likes sleeping in the springs as well!

On Friday we took advantage of the sunny, warm weather and went to the beach. We packed a lunch and the boys played for a while on the beach playground. We attempted to take a walk, but the boys quickly plopped themselves down to play in the sand.

After going to see Ice last Thursday, we met up with the Gangloff's at Downtown Disney. The boys are now VERY excited about the beach trip and spending a week with all the other kids.

ICE! ~ We met Grandma Pat and Pop-Pop Bob at the Gaylord Palm in Orlando to see the 2 million pounds of ice on view there! It was amazing to see all of the thing that can be made from ice. Noah couldn't get past the fact that it was only 9 degrees in the display and continuously asked to leave!
Noah had already snuck out and missed getting his picture taken with his bros.

This is the slide made from ice. That was fun! If you can't tell, that is Chris coming down.
Here is Grandma, Pop-Pop, and the boys on the ice sleigh.

This is Noah when we FIRST walked in. This is about as much interest in the ice that he showed. The remainder of the time he was begging to leave because he was so cold. I must note, he was the only one there with two coats on!

Happy Birthday to Pop-Pop Wayne!
We went to the "wood park" today. It was fReEzInG! The boys didn't bring jackets, but they promised they were nice and warm since they were running around so much. Yesterday they spent most of the day outside playing. It was cloudy and yucky for most of the day still. Today is bright and sunny, but cold. Last night we took advantage of the cold weather and sat in the spa. I forgot to bring the wine out and I couldn't convince my mom or Chris to go get it for me since it would involve jumping out of the warm spa into the cold air. Oh well, perhaps tonight. Chris and I watched The Last Kiss last night. I really liked it, and I think Chris did too. My mom could hang with us young peeps so she watched it this morning while we were at the park.

Chris got the table together. The boys are enjoying it! Chris is trying to give them some pointers but they want to hear nothing of it.

CHRISTMAS MORNING...
Here Chris is helping Noah put together his pirate ship. Noah seems most interested in his new castle and ship.

The boys went outside to try out Will's new golf clubs.

Here they are opening their new Foosball table. Ethan seems to think it is cool! Chris is putting it together now so they can play when they wake up from nap. We all need a nap after getting up at 5:40 thanks to the boys. They were done opening their presents by 6:20!

Will asked every Santa he saw for a stuffed horse. He was VERY happy to get this one. He has named him Duke.

Here Will is trying out his new moon shoes. They are calling for severe thunderstorms and tornadoes so we had to get in all of our outside play this morning.

My new ride! All I need is a basket and I'm all set for my Blockbuster trips.

Just a small portion of the mass chaos/mess! After cleaning up the house, we went to Bobbie's for brunch. It was very delicious and I'm quite certain I'll be stuffed for the entire day.

CHRISTMAS EVE...
The boys sprinkled out reindeer food so Santa and the reindeer would know where to land.

The Eagney's and Bobbie came over for Eve dinner. We had lasagna and baked ziti. We exchanged gifts after dinner and from what I hear, there was a lot of Wii action going on after that. Melissa and I had some last minute shopping to do so we were spared. I did play a couple rounds of Twister with the boys after we dropped off donuts to the firehouse. The boys had a hard time departing with a dozen Krispy Kremes, but they were happy once they the firefighters came out to thank them.

The boys killed some time waiting for the big day with a little Perfection action.

It's getting so close! The boys are so excited for Christmas. They can't wait to start tracking Santa tomorrow morning. They had fun at school this week. Ethan brought in donuts to share with his class for his "birthday breakfast" at school. In the afternoon he had his Christmas party at school. He begged Grandma Ann to attend so she did. He was quite happy about that. On Friday Will and Noah had their turn to wear their pajamas to school for their "Polar Express Party." They also had a pizza party. They said that they had a lot of fun. Friday night Bobbie hosted a cookie exchange at her house. We had a good time and came home with a lot of cookies. Emma, Paige, Sophia, and Dara had a good time entertaining everyone by dancing around in their fancy dresses. The boys stayed home with Chris and had a Wii party! After Bobbie's we did some last minute shopping at Target. We went late and did not have to suffer through any crowds. Today is Ethan's 7th birthday. He chose to go to McDonald's for lunch today. We met the Eagney girls there and they all had fun eating Happy Meals and playing on the playground. Tonight we went over to the Eagney's and sang Happy Birthday to Ethan and he had a chocolate pie. I didn't bring my camera with me so I don't have a picture of the birthday boy. I think Melissa snapped one though.
Here are Sophia and Paige showing off their fancy Christmas dresses!

Ethan's stitches are out! He was very nervous walking in and kept asking, "Is it going to hurt?" Well, since I have never had stitches I had no idea. Chris kept promising it wouldn't hurt and the doctor also promised it wouldn't hurt. The first set of stitches to come out was a breeze. The second set, however, was not that easy. The doctor that had put the stitches in had apparently done that one too tight so there was a lot of tugging involved with is still very sensitive cut and still swollen and broken thumb! He didn't cry, but was shivering a bit. The doctor apologized profusely and he once again took it like a champ. He is just happy that the only thing involved in his future is x-rays! I am happy about that as well!! The cutest part of today was that Ethan had a "Polar Express Party" at school today and had to wear pajamas for it. He was VERY embarrassed to walk past the older kids in his pajamas on his way to class. He was even more embarrassed having to walk into the doctor's office in his PJs. In other news, the boys brought home the most adorable Christmas ornaments that they had made at Cub Scouts. The local pottery studio brought the ornaments for the boys to paint and then fired them. Today a group of teachers from work got together at the local pottery place, Fire It Up, and I returned the favor and made the boys a surfboard plaque to hang in their hallway. It fires much darker than the paints look now. Noah seemed to really like it!

Will and Noah had a little Christmas performance at school. We didn't think Will would sing, but he did great! Mom and I went to watch them. Now, if we can just get past the next 6 days of constant begging to open presents we'll be set! Tonight they are going to the Cub Scout Christmas party.

After the party we came home for nap time. We were supposed to camp tonight at the park that Ethan had his party out. Unfortunately, because of the county burn ban in fear of wildfires, we couldn't have a campfire. Well, what's camping without a campfire??? Ethan chose to go bowling instead. We met Mike, Melissa, the girls, Colleen, Aaron, and Kyle at the bowling alley and played a game. They had a blast. It was Will and Noah's first time bowling. After bowling we went to eat at a restaurant on the beach. The kids all ran around on the pitch black beach. There was no moonlight so there were some close calls with a couple poles! After, they strolled along Flagler looking at all the cool motorcycles at the motorcycle stroll. I think we made Ethan quite happy on his birthday party day. They are currently playing the Wii. Tomorrow we pick up Grandma Ann from the airport!

Ethan's party was a lot of fun! The weather cooperated and minus the numerous playground injuries, the kids all had a great time. Ethan of course turned away from everyone when we sang to him. He turned bright red and looked out towards the parking lot. He has at least come a lone way from hiding under the table shouting, "I don't like that song!" Here are a few pictures from the party.

Ethan is doing much better! Yesterday he went to see the orthopedic doctor. They cleaned around his stitches, checked out his x-rays, and re-wrapped it freeing his four fingers. He goes on Wednesday to get the stitches out. After that he has a second round of x-rays on January 3rd to be sure that his thumb is healing properly. We just finished up some Christmas crafts and now all three of them are reenacting the Sinbad Show from Universal. You see, it involves a lot of sword fighting and special stunts which they love to practice to perfection! It has been a rainy afternoon here so we have been trapped in the house.