Last night we had a little pirate party. The kids put on a Pirate Adventure Dinner Show for the adults as our after dinner entertainment. I actually have some cute videos of the whole thing, however, Blogger's fancy new video feature is not working! So, here we go...

Here they are introducing the show.
Here they are eating their brownie sundaes. A nice "End of the First Week of School" treat.
Some "Pin the Pirate on the Treasure" fun.

Um, Melissa, it is not called "Pin the Pirate on the Wall."

Fridays are school spirit days... go Rockets!

We all had a great first week. Things have been busy, but that is sometimes a good thing. I'm looking forward to not hearing an alarm tomorrow morning! Will and Noah really like kindergarten. Mrs. Walton told me today that they have been lovely boys! Ethan has adjusted beautifully to second grade. Next week he will have his first 2nd grade spelling test and reading test.

We have decided to celebrate the close of the first week of school with a little pirate party... don't ask! We've got all of our pirate gear out and the boys are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the girls. All three boys already wanted to invite some friends from their classes as well. I suppose that is a good sign that they are making new friends.

Chris has to go out of town for work. He will be back late Saturday afternoon. So, the boys and I will get to chill out and relax in the morning. Ah...

(BTW... Mike and I designed the new school logo that you see above. Pretty awesome!!) Now if anyone can think of any good rocket chants, let me know!

All of our boys are officially public school kids! Will and Noah enjoyed their first day of kindergarten! Noah was nearly in tears when I left the room, but he bravely held it in. I peaked in the window 10 minutes later and he was happily chatting up Mrs. Walton. I, too, was nearly in tears. I went to my friend Donna's room and said the Pledge as a distraction. Will and Noah even had their first fire drill today!! Exciting stuff. I stopped by during lunch and said hi to the boys. They were giving away all of their dessert! I fixed the whole food sharing thing and said goodbye. I visit Ethan during lunch each day as well. He normally just tries to figure out what friends can home with us!

Here are Will and Noah with the lovely Mrs. Rosemary Walton.
Noah in his place with his bright shining face.
Will went straight to work with his new box of crayons.
Mrs. Walton already has their beautiful bears hanging in the window. It is their very first kindergarten assignment! Love it!

Today was Ethan's first day of school! He is a proud 2nd grader this year. His teacher is Mrs. Zois and he said that he had a fabulous first day. I went to visit him during lunch and he was in good spirits. This week is filled with diagnostic testing for me. I won't start groups until next week. Testing kids is fun. I enjoy the few opportunities to work one to one with kids.

Ethan and Mrs. Zois!
Chris has a soccer coach meeting tonight. He is planning on coaching Ethan's 8 & under team. Melissa is planning on coaching Will and Noah's 6 & under team. It should be a good season.

Well, it is officially the last day of summer break for Ethan! I think he is looking forward to starting school tomorrow. I'm excited to have the kids back tomorrow. Yesterday morning Melissa and I rode our bikes to the beach. It was very nice. We stopped at the new coffee shop on Flagler Avenue and were impressed. It is really cute inside and we got to sit down and relax with NO children! Melissa needed to relax after she crossed those big, scary grates on the North Causeway bridge! She says she was paralyzed with fear, however, she made it across both times so clearly her paralysis was only temporary. I went to get my haircut while the boys napped in the early afternoon. They stayed up late on Friday night and woke up at 6:20 to play with Paige and Sophia since they had spent the night. Saturday evening we went to the Art and Science Museum to see the laser pop show. It was a neat experience and I am now certain that none of our children are epileptic or they would have definitely had a seizure watching it! On the way home we stopped at Long Doggers for dinner. Ethan joined the foot long hot dog club. Will only got through a third of his and Noah didn't even attempt to join. He went with his staple, chicken fingers! When we got home the boys and I rode bikes to Blockbuster. Noah was complaining that we were going too fast at 5 mph! Needless to say, it was a long trip there. On the way home he stepped it up a notch and went a bit faster. Chris claimed that Melissa and I tried to kill Hanzie last night. He is still alive and kicking. We took him rollerblading with us. We didn't even take him a third of the way! Apparently he panted and left puddles of drool all over the house because he was so tired. He did sleep well last night and is still sleeping now!

Here we are at Long Doggers. I made Mike take a picture with his phone! I must note that our table was the OBX table and had a picture of a Brew Thru t-shirt on it.

We are in the midst of the traveling High School Musical 2 Party! The first third of the party was held at Bobbie's house. Melissa made some delicious party punch and got pizza for the kids. So, they swam up an appetite and had dinner there. After swimming, the party moved to Melissa's house. They watched the dance version of the original High School Musical and then ate some of the cool cake Mike made for the party. Emma has lots of her girlfriends over and after watching High School Musical 2, they are all going over to one of her friend's house for a sleepover. I felt bad for Sophia and Paige since they were going to miss out on the sleepover part so I offered for them to come over and spend the night here. I thought for sure they were going to hurt my feelings and choose the "girl party," but they decided to come home with us! They are all watching it right now. Sophia takes breaks to play with Chris and then heads back over to the TV. She has resorted to wrestling with Chris and have a light saber fight with him since none of the other kids will play with her. You see, they are all wrapped up in the movie.

Tonight we went to the beach to watch the lifeguard surf competition. The waves were pretty lame, but they managed to get up on them anyway. The boys played some soccer on the beach while they waited for it to start. The girls were there so I was able to see their fancy new haircuts and Sophia's beautiful new pierced ears! I biked to the beach and for the first time I got stuck at the draw bridge on my way home. Luckily I didn't have to wait the whole cycle since they were lowering it when I got to the top of the bridge, but I still had to wait a while. By the time we got home it was already bed time for the boys! Big Brother was on tonight and I was happy to see Dustin go! Ha! Right now I have Chris watching the 1970's made for TV movie, Sybil. You know, the one with Sally Fields. I personally love that movie and he has never seen it.

Mike snapped some pictures while we were at the beach. Here I am keeping Melissa entertained while she glows with her fancy new haircut! I'm going Saturday and I have no idea what to get done to it. I'm certainly ready for a change though!

I promise, Chris and I are just watching the lifeguards surf.

It has been a busy, but good start, to the new school year. Enough said about that! The boys are in a state of excitement mixed with anxiety about the new school year. Ethan finally visited his classroom today and got excited. His teacher is Mrs. Zois. He knows her as a friend, sub, and mom to one of Will and Noah's old preschool classmates. She had a previous career in nursing and made the jump to teaching this year. She is very excited about the school year and is fully motivated to make the best of her first year teaching. Will and Noah have Mrs. Walton as their teacher. They have visited with her several times. In addition to regular visits when Ethan attended kindergarten with Mrs. Walton, they have been stopping by throughout the summer and the last week of preparations. Today their name plates were affixed to their desks and they had piles of papers ready to go home tomorrow with them at Meet the Teacher Day. Mrs. Walton is such a wonderful person and the boys will have a terrific year with her. This is not her first year teaching, I believe it is more like 25 years or so, but is just as eager to begin the new year.

I have not yet got back into the school year schedule. I'm trying to cram far too much into my days, but in time it will all catch up. I have kept up with daily biking and have also kept up with staying up too late! Just like with everyone else~ so much to do, so little time!

We are looking forward to the weekend. The Eagney girls are having a High School Musical 2 party on Friday. Then on Saturday we are taking the boys to the planetarium. They are having a laser show set to music. It is a double feature. The first half will be set to pop music (Noah and I are excited) and the second half is set to The Beatles (Chris, Ethan, & Will are excited). Sunday will have to be a low key day to prepare for school, perhaps the beach in the morning and then a relaxing afternoon at home.

I was just looking at pictures from my niece's birthday party. Yesterday was Alina's 4th birthday party. Her party was at Chuck E. Cheese and she chose a Strawberry Shortcake theme. Some days I am sad that we don't live in Maryland anymore!

(I tried to upload some pictures, but Blogger is not cooperating. Stay tuned...) There, it finally worked...

The 4-year-old Princess!

We had a busy, but fun weekend. We spent all Friday morning in the pool. Friday afternoon we headed up to school to pick up my keys so we could go back over on the weekend. After our trip to school, we headed over to Bobbie's to swim with the girls. Melissa had recorded some Big Brother After Dark so I was able to watch a bit of that while the kids were playing. Interesting stuff, you are right Michelle! I actually watched a scary movie with Chris. I never watch scary movies so sitting down and making it through Disturbia was amazing. Chris was ready to kill me with all my jumping. He got even more annoyed when I looked away and refused to watch. I think it was more of the fact that I stared at him to see how he was reacting! I tried to gauge when the scary part was over by his face. To top it all off, after the movie ended I drove to Bobbie's to meet Melissa. She is watching Kiki and had to go spend some time with her at 11:00 pm, so I met up with her to keep her company. We swam for a bit and then watched some more Big Brother After Dark.

Saturday morning we went to school to work on my classroom. Chris installed some hooks for me and helped me move my super heavy desk! The boys had fun running around my classroom destroying it! It was so beautiful and clean- no longer. Here they are modeling in front of the chalkboard.
After working at school, we headed off to do some exciting shopping for the boys. Our first stop was Hallmark to pick up their Webkinz. Will got a monkey and named him Curious, Noah got an elephant and named her Lilly, and Ethan got a tiger and named him Tie. Then it was off to Target so Will and Noah could pick out their new backpacks and lunchboxes. I had already purchased all of their other school supplies, but knew it would be a big deal for them to do this part of the shopping. Will and Noah got matching backpacks and lunchboxes. Luckily they are in the same class so if they get mixed up it won't be an issue switching them.

The Eagney's came over for dinner. Well, the kids had Williams-Sonoma shape pancakes. They had airplane, train, truck, cat, and bat shaped pancakes. You see, the kits only come with three molds and with six kids we decided that we needed to break out the Halloween molds as well. You see, cats and bats can work year round. I didn't make the ghost one though! The girls ended up spending the night and woke up in the morning to watch some TV while they waited patiently for Chris to get them Dunkin' Donuts! After the kids went to bed Saturday night I watched another scary movie, Zodiac. It wasn't nearly as scary as Disturbia. Today the boys spent the better part of the day playing with their Webkinz online. Sadly, I think we need to get some more computers in our house so they can all play. There was a lot of switching going on and also a lot of frustration having to wait around for the computer to free up. After dinner it was off to the beach. Chris and Mike drove the kids up to the beach and Melissa and I biked up there to meet them. We didn't stay long at the beach since we had to get back home, but Chris and Mike played there for quite a while with the kids.

Here are the girls striking a pose.

Noah and Will posing for their dad.
Ethan did not want to be in any pictures so this is the best that you get!
My man Will!

Noah Bean!

Last night we went to the beach to watch the shuttle launch. There was some thought of driving to Titusville to see it. When I was coming home from Orlando before noon there was already traffic backed up trying to get into Titusville. I guess a lot of the tourists in Orlando were driving to the beach to see it. We decided that we would just watch it from our own beach. We got a pizza and headed off to the beach to eat and watch the 6:36 launch. We met the Eagney's there and the kids were more into playing with each other and hardly glanced up to watch the shuttle.

We had a good time on our short trip to Orlando. We left Sunday just after lunch and checked in at the Shingle Creek Resort. I was attending the Just Read, Florida! Convention. So, while I was in meetings the kids and my mom were able to play at the resort. I had no meeting Sunday so Chris came along since he was off work. So, after checking in, we hit the pool for a bit. After the pool we headed to dinner at Fuddrucker's and then to Universal. The boys had been wanting to see the water stunt show and we got there just in time for it. Universal was very hot so we didn't stay long. We arrived just after 6:00 and it was still 102! We left Universal at 8:00 and went back to the resort. Chris left to go home to Hanzie and work.

Will and Noah model in front of the resort.

The boys enjoying the pool on Sunday.
The boys were begging to take pictures with the camera. Here is one of their shots.

Here the boys are playing in the pool while I was in meetings.
Because it was so hot, our evenings were spent at the mall for the most part. Will placed himself right inside of this honey pot at the Disney Store.

The boys favorite stop at the mall- the indoor surfing! One of the stores had an indoor surf pool thing. The boys watched forever. The employees were really good and did some cool tricks. The people doing it were just fun to watch wipe out! We actually brought Chris back here last night to show him. Next time we go to the mall he is going to try it.

Of course they convinced Grandma Ann to buy them some m&m's at the gigantic m&m store!

Chris drove back to O-Town last night to attend the closing conference dinner. We skipped it last year and regretted it after everyone said how cool it was. So, this time we went and were not disappointed. They had an awesome lit up dance floor, a gigantic band, tons of other acts including some cool acrobatics, clowns, face painting, artists drawing portraits, and TONS of food. They had a special buffet for kids complete with chicken tenders, pizza, hot dogs, and french fries. Needless to say, it was a hit.

The clown made a nice hat for Ethan and Chris. You can't tell in the picture, but at the top the balloons are joined so these boys were connected.

Will's crazy hat from the clown.

Noah took a picture of Grandma Ann at the dinner.

Noah wanted nothing to do with the clown. The clown made him a cool sword anyway. Here he is modeling Will's hat and his sword.

Here we are at after the party. We went back to the room, changed into our swimsuits, and headed back to the pool and spa to relax on our last night there. The boys were excited because they got to stay up until nearly 10:00!

The conference itself was enlightening. They had some interesting and funny keynote speakers. Some of the sessions I went to had some innovative ideas in the world of teaching children to read. Others were the same old info that we have all heard over and over again. I think the Just Read, Florida! program is great. They truly try to give teachers the tools they need to help even the most struggling readers succeed.

Painting, near death experiences, and concerts- that was what tonight was filled with. As for the painting part, the boys have been begging to help me paint and I keep saying no. Today we bought some plaster sculptures for them to paint. At 44 cents a piece they are a great way to entertain the boys for 20 minutes or so!
Many of you know that I am notorious for dropping and breaking cameras which is why Chris NEVER lets me touch his. Well, tonight we went to a concert at the Brannon Center. My mom drove the boys and Emily and Chris and I rode our bikes up there. I had my camera and phone safely tucked away in a baggie (see, I take precautions in case it rains) in my bike basket. Well, I hit a bump at high speed and my camera and phone had a near death experience. They went flying out of my basket, still safe from the rain in a baggie I might add, crashing down to the street. Surprisingly, the both still work. Chris noticed that a couple of the buttons aren't working anymore. I didn't even notice because in the years that I have had the camera, I have never used those particular buttons.

Here are Everyday Things playing the Brannon Center. It was a pretty tame crowd. Outside of the boys, I think Chris and I were the youngest people there.
Will enjoying the rockers.
Here they are making their way back to the car. The concert was actually supposed to be outside at their second favorite park, but it rained almost all day so I guess they thought the ground was too wet and moved it inside. The boys were not thrilled about that!
Off to watch Big Brother. I'll be so sad to see my man Nick leave tonight. I love that guy! I mean, we have something in common- we both have Matthew McConaughey at the top of our lists!

Here is our project in the works. Above is the not so magnetic, magnetic chalkboard. Ethan thought I should stand with it so you could see how big it is. Below is the trim in the middle of being painted. I painted a coat this morning and will do another this afternoon. I think Chris needs to put one more coat of chalkboard paint on and then it will be ready for final assembly. Unfortunately, the magnetic paint isn't a strong as we were hoping for. We followed the directions exactly. The can said to put three coats on a 4' X 4' area for the size can we got. We determined the size of the project based on the can. Had we known, we could have done a smaller board with more coats of magnetic primer. Oh well! Hopefully it will hold up some art.
We are off to run some errands including meeting Chris for lunch at Moe's and signing the boys up for soccer. Noah says he doesn't want to play. I'm bringing his birth certificate in case he changes his mind while we are there. I'm hoping he decides to play.