Wow, what a busy week it has been! Monday I took Mike on a whirlwind bike tour of our fine city. I now know why our city is referred to as a "rural town." Enough said. The book fair also started at school on Monday. The boys, including Chris, love the book fair. Ethan came home and dragged 1/2 the books off one of his book shelves and took them into the toy room to set up his own book fair. You had to shop with gold pirate coins, so most of us were out of luck. Luckily, the boys had a nice stash of pirate coins and could browse and shop.
At bedtime, the boys decided that they would all sleep in their swag (as Chris would call it) from Universal's video game competition thing. They loved sleeping in those great big t-shirts.
Tuesday is Cub Scout night. Ethan got all dressed and headed out the door. Will and Noah decided to stay home with me to do some Carmen Electra and Billy Blanks workouts. We had fun. Will and Noah mostly wrecked the house, but they had a great time with the big boss (aka Ethan) out of the house.
With the 9 inches of rain that fell Tuesday night and Wednesday, soccer was cancelled. We decided to go out in the driving rains and do some shopping. We needed a few necessities (and yes Chris, Mike, & Melissa, everything I bought was a neccesity including my pumpkins and fall leaves), and to be honest, we were sick of being trapped in the rain. Since we have to walk through the rain all day at school, running from the car into the store was no big deal. Our hallways at school are all outdoors, so when we got home we had to strip down in the garage because our pants, shoes, and socks were totally drenched! Thursday was Open House night at school. I took Will and Noah to Mrs. Walton's room. Chris took Ethan to Mrs. Zois' room. Chris had never met Kathy, Ethan's teacher, so we decided to split up that way. Then, it was off to the book fair to finally make their purchases. They had been browsing all week during book club. I spend my mornings and afternoons in the media center at book club. Kids who often otherwise don't read at home, come in and read with me for 1/2 hour in the morning or a 1/2 hour in the afternoon. Some kids actually come to both. The book fair was set up in the media center so the boys felt that they hit the jackpot and could browse the book fair every morning and afternoon. I showed a lot of restraint and we only spent just over $20 total at the fair. Not bad!!! Especially since the boys and I had a list a mile long of books we wanted. Luckily, Mrs. Lennon, the media specialist, bought one of the books that the boys really wanted for circulation. Now the boys can check out and read Pirates Don't Change Diapers. That is the follow up book to How I Became A Pirate, which is one of their favorites. Today we have soccer practice in the morning. Hopefully we make it through practice before the storms roll in. There is going to be an 80% coverage of storms today. So, I'm sure we'll be stuck inside all afternoon again!

Melissa and I had a good time this morning riding all around town. On our way to our new favorite coffee shop, we got held up by the drawbridge. After finally making it over the bridge, we ordered our brunch and relaxed in front of a fan! The place has AC, but we needed the fan as well! It was obscenely hot today when we rode. After brunch we rode around to all the various shops and did some window shopping. I think I found the perfect wood chimes for our pool deck. I need Chris to give the stamp of approval. There is a fine line between enjoyable and obnoxious sounds when it comes to chimes.

Melissa patiently waits for her sandwich to arrive.
Another shot of our new favorite hang-out. It is cute from inside out. It was an old surf shop that got converted into the coffee house.
Unbelievably, we hit the drawbridge AGAIN on our ride home! Talk about bad timing. Here was our view while we waited, and waited, and waited.
There is the top of the dopey sailboat (sorry Bobbie!) that held us up!
The boys just headed off to the fields to work in a little soccer time with dad.

Yesterday the boys had soccer practice in the morning. They went to be at nearly 10:00 and woke up at 5:30ish. Spencer woke up at that point and decided to wake up the boys to get a start on playing. So, after waking up and playing video games, they went for a swim. Then it was straight off to soccer. After soccer it was lunch, a short rest, and then into the shower. We left around 2:00 and headed over to Universal for a couple hours. There was a video game competition going on, so of course we had to check that out. The boys got tons of free stuff and played video games. They did not at all pay attention to the competition going on or all the cameras around filming it! After a that, and a couple rides, we headed off to Downtown Disney to meet up with my cousin Mike and his wife Lydia. They have an adorable little girl named Sofia. She was so sweet and cute. Even through all the waiting and recent traveling she was so good! We ate at Planet Hollywood. After we checked out the toy store. The boys were impressed by the Fur Real Pony. Pretty cool.

Sofia got her groove on to the loud music at Planet Hollywood while we were waiting for our table.
Will thinking about what clubs he wants to go in at Pleasure Island.

A view of Rainforest Cafe from Pleasure Island.

At the toy store!

The girls spent the night last night and this time Sophia did the wake up call. She did give us almost a full hour more sleep than Spencer did though! So much for sleeping in on the weekend! Today may just have to be a nap day! Melissa and I are just about to ride our bikes to the beach to grab some brunch.

TGIF! Today has flown by! School went by very quickly today as I was running around all day. I had a fabulous and exciting lunch with my lunch bunch, thanks Donna! After school the girls came over to play so Melissa could run some errands in peace. They all had a good time and were well behaved. They had waffles for dinner. That was the girls' request. Just after the girls left, Spencer arrived for a sleepover. He is also on Ethan's soccer team so he will just head off to practice with us in the morning. I had a nice, relaxing bike ride and saw lots of dolphins playing in the river. I also was dodging crabs left and right. They were in the road and on the sidewalk! All, and all, we had a great day. Tomorrow is jam packed with activities as well. Hopefully Sunday we will catch our breath before it all starts over again on Monday!

Tonight we had a bit of fun with the strobe light and fog machine...

Who are The Naked Brothers again? It's all about The Chemical Brothers when dad is home!



Or if you prefer, Paul Oakenfold.

Noah has been keeping us on our toes in more ways than one this week. Yesterday he threw the fit of all fits because, you aren't even going to believe this, I put chocolate on his ice cream! Chris has photos of that fit. It was pretty extreme. Unfortunately, I also put the last cookie in the package next to his ice cream so that got some chocolate on it as well. I ended up feeling so guilty and baked him an entire batch of cookies to make up for it! He was so upset that I ruined his dessert! Last night at bedtime he said his arm hurt. I looked at it and it looked like he had gotten rug burn of some sort. This morning, as he was getting into the bath, he again mentioned that it hurt. I looked at it and it was HUGE! At first it looked like he broke something and it was protruding out! I touched it and he didn't freak so then I realized that it had to be a reaction to some sort of bite. Since Chris gets super reactions to bites and requires and Epi pen, I just thought it would go down. Well, it only grew throughout the day. He is about to take some Benadryl and hopefully it will go down without any further treatments.

I also wore the shirt that Mike and Melissa got me for the second time today. Since I am the reading teacher at the school, it is fitting. (In case you can't read it, it says, "Reading is for awesome people." (Ignore the wet spots all over it as well, I just finished doing the dishes before Ethan snapped this picture.)
Below you can see the boys rocking out to some rock music. The funniest action was before these videos happened, but I took too long getting my camera.

We had an uneventful, but pleasant weekend. Friday we had our NBB viewing party. I still haven't had a chance to watch it and I'm dying to see it. Melissa and I worked in a bike ride while the kids were watching. Saturday's soccer practice was a success. The team decided to be called the Tiger's. Well, The White Tigers technically since their jerseys are white. We did have a scene straight out of Kicking and Screaming while we were out on the fields. One of the girls on the field was dressed head to toe in pink and even had a pink ball. Chris told her that Mrs. Jennifer, that would be me, also loved pink and had a pink bike. The boy standing next to her, who happens to be the only challenging child on the team, said, "So, are your underwear pink?" I was speechless and Chris finally just said to him, "Why, are yours?" Saturday evening we went to the Eagney's for dinner. The kids jumped on the trampoline for two hours and then jumped in their hot tub. After soccer, having Spencer over the entire day, and then the trip to the Eagney's the boys crashed at 7:45. Paige sent me home with this beautiful castle/palace that she had made. She wanted me to have it, but I told her I would just display it at our house for a while and then return it to her.
Yesterday was very low key. We did some laundry and cleaning. In the afternoon I went to Target with Melissa to get Will and Noah some soccer socks. You didn't really think I'd be going there for myself, did you??? We had a delicious dinner and then Chris took the boys to the soccer fields to kick around the ball and then to Banana Split Republic for some ice cream. I stayed home and cleaned up after dinner. We watched Big Brother last night. It wasn't thrilling since I have been reading all the blogs and know what will happen on the show straight through Thursday! Things are going my team's way! I have my fingers crossed that Daniele wins.

The Northern Schrader's did some celebrating this past weekend. On Saturday, Isabelle celebrated her 4th birthday. She is quite the cutie with her beautiful curly hair. I wish we could have been there to celebrate with her and we were certainly thinking of her on Saturday. On Sunday, the newest Schrader, Miss Skylar Noelle, was baptized. She looked so beautiful, as you can see below! I can't wait to meet and hold her. Hopefully sooner than later. Skylar is pictured with her proud parents Bill and Stephanie. She also has two adorable older brothers, Gavin and Evan.
We have also enjoyed reading about all the first day of school stories. Both Gavin and Colin started their kindergarten careers. Alina, Evan, and Caroline both headed of to preschool to continue working on their preschool degrees. Alina, Colin, Caroline, and all the kids here all started soccer season this week. Dara, Isabel, and Ethan started the whole Cub Scouts/Girl Scouts thing this week. It is nice to read about everyone else juggling their crazy schedules as well. And I LOVE looking at pictures of the kids. Keep them coming!!

The boys all made it through the day today. Well, I should say the younger boys did. I called Chris at 10:30 to see how he was feeling and he said not good. Hopefully he made it through the day okay. I assume he did since we haven't heard from him and he is not home in bed! The boys went to extended day after school today for the first time. They went for one hour while I was in my staff meeting. I think they had higher hopes, but said it was okay. They were only there for the snack and homework time. They missed all the playing! Oh well. We are all excited that tomorrow is Friday. We have had a lack of sleep at our house this week and we need some serious catching up. Hopefully the new Naked Brothers movie will arrive from Amazon today or tomorrow. The kids all want to watch it tomorrow night and have a NBB viewing party! Why, not, right? Friday = Party We are teaching them young!

Full schedules, illnesses, Halloween shopping...

Well, Noah had a relapse yesterday. He said he didn't feel well in the morning, but with his dislike for school I wasn't convinced. He seemed okay on Monday. Apparently, he cried all of lunch because his belly was hurting and didn't eat a thing. Poor guy. Yesterday was the first day of Cub Scouts so Chris took Ethan and Will. Noah stayed home with me because he wasn't feeling well. I did my Carmen Electra workout and Noah spent an hour going through the Halloween costume catalogue that came in the mail. He picked out costumes for just about everyone he knows! Chris came home from Cub Scouts saying that he didn't feel well. Being the genius that he is, he decided to eat some chips and queso before bed! He spent the entire night throwing up. So, today he was home. While I was eating lunch I got an intercom call that I was needed in the clinic. I thought for sure it would be Will or Noah. Nope, there was Ethan laying there. He said his stomach hurt and that he wanted to go home. Chris came to get him. I am still not sure how sick he truly is. It could be a case of "Daddy's home so I'm going home." He was well enough to eat some pizza for dinner and he did fine at soccer practice. We shall see how the night goes. All of the boys started soccer tonight. It was breezy which made being outside bearable! Both the practices seemed to go very well. Will and Noah are on Melissa's team along with Emma. Noah said he liked practice. Melissa must have done something right because normally he is totally not into organized sports! Chris' team all seemed to have fun as well. There were at least three kids on his team that have never played soccer. That was fairly shocking. They seem to be picking up the general idea of it fairly quickly. I put my bike on Chris' car/truck/SUV and rode home. It was a nice ride, but shorter than I would have liked. This whole fall schedule is really killing my biking opportunities. We came home and the boys picked out a book. Oddly enough, they begged me to read about Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. So, after reading the kids' version of the history of the speech we read the speech. I never lost their attention, so either I can make anything sound good or they thought it was interesting!

Here is "Coach Chris" doing his thing!

Here are some of the boys lined up and ready for the next drill.
Spencer and Ethan practicing their shooting and saving techniques.
Will and Emma working on their pass and trap drill.
Noah taking a shot.
** I had my camera so you won't be getting any fancy shots. Perhaps you may find some on the Eagney's blog. Mike had his fancy camera.

BEACH TIME! What would Labor Day weekend be without a trip to the beach? We have been planning on going today for some time. It just wasn't in the cards for Noah. The poor guy said he wasn't feeling well this morning. He looked really pale with a hint of yellow to his tone. We decided that he would stay home with Chris and I would take Ethan and Will to the beach. Just as we were going out the door he got sick. He calls this particular type of illness "throw-up sick." Luckily, he has been fine since and even ate lunch. Hopefully it was an isolated incident and was from something he ate. To sum up the beach... it was very crowded, the sun was very hot, and the water was freezing! On the plus side, it was so hot that it made the freezing water bearable.

Ethan and Will enjoyed their time playing in the sand and water. They were just as excited to leave and get Slurpees on the way home.
Will rode the waves on a boogie board most of the time that we were there.
Straight from Dunkin' Donuts... Melissa's crew arrives at the beach.
Um, how cute is this swimsuit ensable? Okay, the kid is pretty cute too!

The other big news of the weekend is that I finally upgraded my bike! Here it is, a Trek 7100 WSD.

I was very nervous about getting a new bike. I wanted to get something that would make me happy for a long time. I LOVE my Trek Cruiser, but with just a single gear it was a bit limiting. So, after looking, test riding a bunch, and talking with the bike store owner, I decided on this model. Chris wanted me to get the boys' version, but I just couldn't. How cute is this yellow? Plus it still looks like a cruiser, but is a hybrid with all the cool features I wanted. Well, most of the features I wanted. We can't have it all, can we? It is a 21 speed and has front shocks. I probably don't need 21 speeds, but most of the others with less were all cruiser types with no shocks and big, fat tires. This is considered a hybrid and has skinny tires, but not as skinny as road bike tires. You can sit up on it like a cruiser and the handle bars are fully adjustable to make it easier to tuck, if necessary. Melissa was kind enough to go riding with me last night from 10:00 to 11:00 pm so I could break it in! I'm still not used to all the gears, but I just have to keep riding. The seat also isn't as nearly comfortable as my cruiser seat. That is probably the biggest adjustment that I'll face. I am riding about 100 miles a week and on my cruiser never had a sore bottom! Last night I felt it at just 12 miles! (Notice the nice saddle bag to keep my camera and phone EXTRA safe. And, yes, we Schrader's have a ton of bikes in our garage!)

Last night, 16 of us went to see Arabian Nights. We got deeply discounted tickets through the teacher's union so it was hard to pass up. The kids were all completely mesmerized by the show. The food was not so great, in my opinion, but that was okay. The kids loved it and that was the purpose. Our family went, along with the Eagney's, Melissa's brother Greg and his wife Karen, Bobbie, and my friend Debbie from school and her husband Chris, along with their son Bryce. Although I cannot prove this is fact, I am quite certain that the wine they served was Boone's Farm. It seriously brought me back to the days (of course I was 21 Mom)!

Noah and Chris seemed to enjoy the show. Noah hopped on Pop. He has a habit of always ending up on some one's lap wherever we go! The boys really like the magic show. They had a magician in the pre-show waiting area and he was a hit. Noah sat on my lap through that portion.
We had a fun car ride home. Mike drove in our car so they wouldn't be forced to drive two cars to O-Town. I sat in the back with the boys and I now see how much fun it is to be loud in the back seat!!! Will was ready to fall asleep but the rest of us just wouldn't let him! Sorry Will.
Bryce and Ethan kept their eyes on the show. They chit chatted through the whole thing and made some funny comments.
Mike and Melissa, along with their crew, sat behind us. They looked like little heads sticking out of a box. Pretty funny.
We stopped at the Nike outlet on the way home, but no luck. I desperately need new tennis shoes (sneakers, athletic shoes, jogging shoes ~ whichever your choice term may be).

Today was the In the Zone Pep Rally! Go Rockets!!! It totally rocked and the kids loved it, loved it, loved it! Unfortunately, most of the kindergarteners did not get to experience it. Will and Noah were lucky and had music during the Pep Rally. Since the music teacher was busy working the mic at the Pep Rally, they got to come during their music time. They thought it was really cool and had front row, center seats!
An old Cool Spring ritual of wrapping the teacher into a mummy made its way to Read-Pattillo. Here Audra, an awesome 3rd grade teacher, gets wrapped!

Here is Ethan waving his rocket. I sort of missed the rocket in the picture!
Here are the primary teachers, along with Sam, singing the zone song. Mrs. Jones, the music teacher who the boys adore, wrote the lyrics. The kids really got into it.
Here is Bryce, Mrs. Vaughn's son, waving his rocket for school spirit.
This is cutie pie Sammy, Mrs. Fernandez's daughter. Mrs. Fernandez is our fabulous art teacher.

The soccer season has officially started! Today was the draft for Ethan's age group. Since Chris is coaching, he had his first drafting experience as a coach. Before, all the boys were too young to have to participate in the draft. This season should be far more fun for Chris to coach. Ethan's finally at the age where they will have a better idea of what is going on out on the field.

Here is Chris in the midst of the draft.
Ethan enjoyed standing on the sidelines with all of the coaches. He and his friend, Spencer, put themselves in charge of getting the balls between drills.
Will and Noah were happy to get to kick the ball around while the draft was going on. (Noah had an interesting day at school. I involved locking himself in the bathroom to avoid going to class and then crying and burying his head when I dropped him off. Luckily, by PE time he was in much better spirits.)
While Chris was locked in the drafting room with the other coaches, I took the boys to Banana Split Republic for a treat. Ethan and Will both raved about the chocolate brownie flavor. Noah got vanilla and took about two bites.
What went down after the draft is better left undiscussed. Thankfully, I have Melissa to vent to. I will just say that Chris cut out all of my rockets for school without complaint!!!

We went to the beach last night so Chris and Melissa could jog. I rode my bike there and got there a little late thanks to this hold up...

Paige knew I was going home to do the Carmen Electra workout. She was showing me her best Carmen moves. I will tell you, they are better than my moves!

Noah was burying his feet. For some reason they spent most of their time burying feet.

Emma and Ethan chilling out!

This bird was quite brave. He was right next to us.

Here are Sophia and me taking a self portrait. Mike snapped this one.

Here is how it turned out.

Chris after his jog. I was kind enough not to post Melissa's picture. She was in her cool down phase.

After the beach we came home and polished off the rest of the delicious brownies left over from the pirate party and started the bedtime routine.

Noah was not at all thrilled with going back to school today. He kept saying that he wished that it were vacation and that he didn't like school. He hugged me a million times to delay my departure from his classroom. When I ask him what he doesn't like about school he has no explanation! I visit him everyday during lunch and he is in good spirits. I guess he gets over his school day blues quickly.