The Singley Saga

Here goes nothing

2012-01-27T13:17:00.002-05:00

This past weekend I decided I must no longer put off my DIY project - our dining room table. We bought the table & 6 chairs when we got married almost 11 years ago. Being a young newlywed, I didn't realize that a dining room table shouldn't be used as a drying table for clothes as well. After about 2 -3 years of doing this, tiny pieces of the stain were coming off and I was left with an UGLY top for a table - as well as the tops of the chairs since I used those as well to dry clothes.

Since I don't really like tablecloths and I wasn't ready to go and spend $2K for a new dining room set, I thought I would make the table look new to us - MUCH cheaper!! I went back and forth on whether to stain or paint. After reading LOTS of different blogs and talking to my helpful hardware friend Stephanie, I decided the easiest thing would be to strip the current stain and paint.

Saturday after Brody's basketball game, I was off and running my dad's electric sander. I am happy to say that it really wasn't that bad to sand the table and all 6 chairs. My dad LOVES to help and offer LOTS of advice and eventually I get tired of hearing what I should be doing that I just let him to do it - ie the boys' bathroom. My dad was warned multiple times to NOT come over while I was sanding because this was my DIY project.

Jason stayed around a little bit but for some reason Brody woke up that morning and really wanted his daddy to take him to play golf "convenient". I actually said it was ok because I Trevor would be taking a nap soon and I would be able to get a lot done. My dad did come over later in the process and assisted with the manual sanding - corners and such. After about 6 hours of sanding, I was done!!

I can't wait to start on the paint this weekend and have the dining room finished. Now if I could just decide on the color of the walls for the dining room.

Date Night - the first of many I hope

2012-01-25T15:30:00.003-05:00

One of the "resolutions" I wanted to start this year was for Jason and I to have regular date nights. My goal was to have them every other week. Well, last Thursday was our first one. My main plan was to just spend time together - not really caring what we did. We had one of our great babysitters (our boys are blessed to have several) Taylor come over to keep the kids so we could enjoy a great night out. The boys were pretty excited to have her keep them - that makes going out easier for us.

Anyway, on our way to the Town Center here was our view

We did some browsing at LifeWay to get Jason a new Bible (his has fallen apart "literally"). He got an Apologetics Student Bible - this will be great since we help out with our seniors at church. We also each got a new audio devotion taken from the new movie Courageous. Since I commute 35 min each way, this is a great time for me to listen to some encouraging stuff.

Our choice for dinner was Urban Flats. I am all about trying new places and usually Jason is up for it too - as long as he isn't too uncomfortable. This place was really good. All different types of ways to eat your flat bread. I chose Hawaiian chicken and Jason chose a white pizza version with Ahi Tuna.

They were both very yummy and we were quite full - but I still had room for their dessert fondue. We kept saying - oh Brody would love this dessert. Maybe one day I can take him there for a mommy/son date.

What a great night just to relax and enjoy being with each other - can't wait for the next one - which is Jason's turn to pick :)

A little LOVE around the house

2012-01-23T17:13:00.002-05:00

Can you believe Valentine's Day is about 3 weeks away, wow!! Since it's coming so quickly I thought it was time to put out a little decoration - enter my latest pinterest project. This wreath was very easy to make. The hardest part was finding the styrofoam heart wreath - I think everyone had seen the same thing on pinterest and bought all of the heart wreaths.

All it took was a ton of 3 inch circles cut out of red felt, fold them in half twice and pin them to the wreath. It was a great project to do while watching tv. We now have some LOVE showing in the house :)

Trevor and his babies

2012-01-22T18:08:00.001-05:00

So lately Trevor has been taking different stuffed animals and calling them his babies. He is so funny with them - it might be his Mickey, or a little bear attached to a blanket. He will cover them up and sit them in the corner and read to them. What's strange is that he does NOT want to sleep with them or even want them in the crib with him.

Here are a couple of pictures of some of the ways he is treating the babies:

washing the babies hands

letting the baby eat

Reading to the babies

So, there may be times when I might become worried about these actions, but within 1 minute he can hitting his brother for no reason at all. That's my sweet Trevor who makes us laugh, smile and cry all within 5 minutes.

He has been talking in complete sentences lately and it cracks us up and some of his sayings are hilarious because he loves to repeat everything his brother says. The other day when we took Brody to his dr appointment, we are in the waiting room and Trevor wants to play with my phone (which is a lot lately). I was trying to hold him off so he could just play with it when we got into a room, however, I finally gave in because he was getting quite loud. When I gave it to him he says "See, told you".

Then while playing on my phone in the dr's office, he sneezed on my phone, so I took it and wiped it off and I soon as I gave it back to him, what does he do? Wipes his nose and face all on it - I just turned my face to the wall and laughed. This is our life with Trevor.

A quick & fun day at Disney

2012-01-22T15:37:00.002-05:00

The great thing about having season passes is that we don't have to stay all day and feel like we wasted money. Seeing that Monday was a holiday there was a possibility that the park might be crowded. We arrived at Magic Kingdom around 9:45 and headed to FantasyLand before it got too crowded.

Then off to Space Mountain. Ever since our last trip, Brody has been talking big about wanting to sit in the front the next time he rode it - well he chickened out but he did ride it again. While we rode Space Mountain, Trevor was off to see Buzz.

We had ride the Buzz Lightyear ride and I thought the picture the ride takes is quite cute - Trevor is really sitting beside me and trying really hard to play the game.

Of course a trip to Tomorrowland isn't complete without a ride on the PeopleMover.

On our way to AdventureLand, a Move It, Shake It party was pulling into the main circle in front of the castle. The boys had a blast dancing around and seeing all of their favorite characters.

After a ride on Pirates, we called it a day. The boys were actually very good about leaving and no attitudes - SHEW!

Another stop at IKEA to pick up something I "needed" and we were en route to get home. The boys were pretty exhausted and passed out pretty quickly and it was a quiet ride home.

SeaWorld

2012-01-21T22:39:00.001-05:00

Sunday morning we headed to SeaWorld. They had just come out with a free preschool pass that allows 5 and under to get in free to both SW and Busch Gardens for all of 2012. What a great deal.

The boys were so excited to be at SeaWorld. We looked at a few animals and watched a couple of shows - Shamu being one of them.

And then it was time for the place Brody had been waiting so impatiently for - Harbor Town for kids. His first spot was the Shamu roller coaster and then off to the 3 story net area. This is when I really missed Jason. I thought I could just let the boys go up by themself and have Brody just keep an eye on Trevor - that worked for about 2 minutes and there I went up to the top to climb through little tunnels chasing a 2 year old. Trevor was flying through the tunnels and I just couldn't move that fast through them and of course he got way ahead of me and I lost sight of him - nothing like a little panic.

The last thing we did was ride the big tall tower that overlooked the entire park. This was the first time we had ridden it and Brody loved it.

We left the park around 4 and headed back to the hotel and let the boys play on the playground and then got ready for TRex Cafe.

Of course the wait was 45 minutes, so what better way to pass the time than play in LegoWorld.

Nothing like a late night to help give us lots of rest for a day at Disney the next day.

A last minute weekend plan

2012-01-21T21:20:00.001-05:00

Last weekend was a long one for us - Brody and I were both off on Monday, so I decided to take the boys to SeaWorld and Disney World. Unfortunately Jason couldn't get off so mom went with us. What an adventure we were off on. We left Saturday afternoon after Brody's Upwards game and the best part was that the boys had NO idea what was going on until 5 min before we walked out the door. To say they were a little excited is an understatement.

I had timed the departure so the boys would sleep on the way. We arrived in Orlando and made a pit stop at IKEA for a few things. I thought I would be able to drop the boys off at their play land but since Trevor isn't potty trained he couldn't stay and he was very disappointed (but not as much as me since I didn't come prepared with snacks). Mom and I walked around for about an hour looking, dreaming and trying to entertain a 2yr old. When we picked up Brody from the playland - he had so much fun. I can now go to IKEA and the kids won't mind.

Since it was about dinner time we decided to go ahead and eat before we checked on - IHOP was the meal of choice. This was our first time there and it was a great choice. Brody ate everything off of his plat and even some off our plates. Trevor even ate 4 of his 5 pancakes. The best thing was that their meals were free.

We stayed at the Doubletree located on SeaWorld property and it was great - very convenient. The boys were pretty excited for the next day.

Brody's 5 year appointment

2012-01-20T23:55:00.002-05:00

Last Friday Brody had his 5 year check up. We had been telling him that he would be getting several shots and of course he was not too crazy about it -actually he DID NOT like the idea at all. When we arrived to see Dr. Hardman he first had his eyes & ears tested. Of course the vision wasn't 20/20 (he is my child), but she said no need to worry too much now.

He did well with all of the other check up until it came time for the shots. He completely freaked out. He had 3 shots, but I think he screamed more about the bandaids he received afterwards because everytime he moved his arm he felt the bandaids. Thank goodness we didn't go to tennis practice that day because it would not have been fun.

Well, it got even more interesting that night. Jason had bath duty for Brody that night and of course Brody didn't want the bandaids to get wet. He literally screamed for about 20 minutes. Check it out

He didn't want Jason to touch the bandaids, but Jason knew they had to come off.

This video will be saved for awhile and I'm sure will come back to haunt him. Don't worry Jason didn't hurt him at all even though Brody acts like he is.

That evening we had pizza night. I actually made our own pizza dough in our bread machine - which is so easy and cheap. The boys then wanted to help make the pizza - even though Trevor didn't want to eat any of it.

Just a normal day

2012-01-12T22:14:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I enjoyed 2 new Christmas presents

My old crock pot seemed to over cook EVERYTHING even though I cooked it for the right time, so it was time for a change. Tonight I made Santa Fe Chicken and it cooked it just right. So excited that I will be able to make crock pot meals now and they will be edible.

The other is a herb grinder which I used to cut up the cilantro for the meal tonight. Last year I planted several herbs and I have issues cutting them up so this grinder is going to be very useful.

I am also enjoying Jason's new Christmas present. This thing is so cool and is very useful when I am cooking.

While I was preparing dinner this morning here is how I found Trevor enjoying the tv in our bedroom. He's so stinkin cute.

Today was Brody's dentist appointment so we rushed home after school to eat lunch - the best pb&j ever cut into Darth Vadar's ship - Tie Fighter. He was pretty excited about his new cookie cutters.

I got a little sad as he went back by himself for his dentist appointment. This is the 2nd time he's done this, but for some reason this time really got me sad. He's growing up and after a little hesitation he went right back. He got a great report and once again I am a big fan of Dr. Weaver over the last dentist we saw. He's so much better.

I then braved a few stops with both boys - geared up with some Sweet & Sour candy (great way to celebrate a good dental report). They had both their bad and good times,

but overall I would say they were pretty good while I did a little shopping - not that I'm ready to take off on that adventure again soon though.

My new bag

2012-01-11T23:11:00.002-05:00

With 2 kids you could say that wherever I am my camera is with me. I have a Canon rebel and I love it ( of course I'm looking to upgrade) - that's a whole other post. I have a small purse camera & my phone which takes ok pictures - when I have nothing else.

I really like having my nice camera with me at all times but now that I have several lenses I didn't really want to carry around the bulky camera bag and I know it wasn't great to just throw my camera in my purse. I looked at several camera bags/purses but they were about $80 - $100 - a little steep for me since i don't like to spend that much on my actual purse. So in comes pinterest to the rescue.

Here's a picture of the "purse"

Here's the inside of the purse. Since I don't have a sewing machine, I had to use liquid stitch and velcro glue, but it all worked fine. Maybe one of these days I'll get a sewing machine - but with 2 boys I really don't see a need.

I absolutely love the way the way it turned out. It holds all my lenses and any extra stuff I may have.

An exercising weekend

2012-01-09T18:08:00.005-05:00

Our Saturday started out with Brody's first Upwards game. Let's just say 10 5 & 6 year olds on the court is total chaos and so much fun to watch. Most of these kids have never played before and have really no clue what to do. They have a 30 minute practice before the game and then it's game time.

We were really nervous on how Brody would be on the court - if the ball hit him, would he run from contact, would he be too aggressive or not aggressive enough. I am very happy to say Brody did GREAT!!! They play man to man and Brody actually took the ball from his guy several times and ran down the court to shoot. Jason had to tell him he needed to pass the ball to the other players.

Trevor and Nini taking in the game.

We were very happy with how he played and couldn't have asked for anything better. Let's just hope it continues.

Since the game was early in the morning we decided to drive to Ft Clinch and go bike riding. The boys were pretty excited about our trip, but we weren't too sure how long Brody would be able to ride. Thank goodness the weather was absolutely beautiful. Here's my view on our way to the pier.

We parked at the fort and rode to the pier. However, we left the bike lock in the truck so Jason had to stay back with the bikes while we walked the pier. I loved watching the boys having such a good time and I can't wait until we get to go again.

Trevor was having so much fun, this is how we found him when we arrived back to the fort.

The motivation for Brody to ride back was that he could play on the playground. The first slide down and this is what we had.

They had a blast on the playground since there were really no other kids there.

We left the fort around 3:45 and headed home. Brody was asleep immediately and I really thought Trevor would too, but it begged for my phone for about 20 minutes and finally fell asleep 5 minutes from the house. Mom and I had already decided to head down to St Augustine that evening, so we decided to transport him to my car and just leave then. He cried for about 5 minutes and then was out the entire trip down there. And thankfully he woke up in a great mood and was a great shopper with us that night.

Another first for Trevor

2012-01-09T18:08:00.002-05:00

On Thursday last week, we decided to take BOTH boys to the movies to see Chipwrecked

We had heard it was a great movie from John and Tracy, so we thought Trevor could handle it. I was so prepared with LOTS of snacks, popcorn, and phones charged.

Thank goodness there was only one other mom with her 2 kids in the theater, so I felt ok. He made it through the previews and about 15 minutes of the movie. He then wanted my phone and more snacks - he wasn't a popcorn eater - I know crazy!! However, Brody made up for all of the popcorn that Trevor didn't eat.

He watched the movie off and on and got out of his seat a couple of times, but nothing too major so I was very happy with his first trip to the movie. Not sure the next time we'll go - the movie will have to be almost out of the theater for us to go back again and 5:30 was a great time to go for us.

Somebody is pretty excited about the upcoming Star Wars movie.

Trevor's first dentist appointment

2012-01-08T22:58:00.005-05:00

This past Friday Trevor had his first dentist appointment. The boys go to a pediatric dentist since really no one enjoys going to the dentist so anything I can do to help them have a more enjoyable experience I do it. I tried to explain what was going to happen so he seemed okay with what was going to happen.

He didn't want to sit in the chair at first but eventually did when he noticed the tv's in the ceiling. He did great for Dana who just checked out his teeth.

He got down right after that and when Dr. Weaver came in he didn't really want to get back in the chair, but thank goodness for iPhone's because he got to hold mine while he laid in the chair. Dr. Weaver was great - very thorough in everything he told me.

We got a great report on his teeth and Dr. Weaver reminded us how to brush Trevor's teeth. He loved getting the balloon and his toothbrush afterwards, so hopefully he will always enjoy the dentist.

To celebrate we headed to the mall for me to do some shopping - don't worry he got some candy for a great dental checkup - yeah kind of an oxy moron, right?

Happy New Year

2012-01-08T17:52:00.000-05:00

As the new year rolls around, I've been thinking of things I want to do differently this year - I guess it is a form of new years resolutions but not as formal. Here are just a few:

Have a better quiet time/ devotion. I can't seem to find the best time to do one. I know morningtime is best, so I think I'm just going to have to make myself get up earlier even on my work days which means 5AM.
Be a better, more supportive, encouraging wife - our church just started a series on the home - The Marriage Puzzle and today was the first Sunday and it was wonderful. I can't wait to see what else God has to teach me thru Bro. Lynn to help me be a better wife.
Find and take time to exercise - I really want to do this but of course daily requirements always seem to get in the way. I am hoping I can make time for this.
Have a date night every other week - With how busy we are, it can become so easy to not take time for our relationship but it is needed.
Cook more which will take meal planning
Spend even more time with my boys - they are growing up too fast and I don't want to look back and regret not spending enough time with them.

I'm sure there are more but I think this will do for now. Let's just see how I will do on these - I think I have my work cut out for me, but it will definitely be worth it. Here's off to a great year.

New Years Eve 2011

2012-01-07T23:27:00.002-05:00

As our annual tradition goes, we gathered at our house with the Cruce's and half of the Walsky's (Kelly was sick) for some food and fun to bring in the new year. We had invited a few other couples but everyone had plans, so it was just the 9 of us with kids.

Tracy provided the food this year for our Italian feast and it was yummy and of course we had lots of snack food. The kids enjoyed jumping on the trampoline and even John and Jason got involved with the jumping, so the kids had a blast trying to "break the egg".

Baylie had just seen ChipWrecked so she had been listening to the soundtrack a lot lately and really wanted to "Rock It' with the boys. At first the boys weren't too into dancing with her, but we convinced them they needed to try it out. Well, Brody's idea of dancing at first was not quite what Baylie had in mind. The 3 boys were running all around the playroom and falling all over the floor. Quite a sight but thankfully, we reeled them in and got them dancing somewhat ok.

John rigged up a disco light for the kids and they were off to dance the night away - or at least until the boys got tired and were ready to play cars or something.

While the kids played, we adults sat around and watched tv, chatted, and played games. Thank goodness the kids got along really well, so we didn't have too many disagreements/fights/feelings hurt.

Trevor and his buddy John

Brody and Baylie made it until well after 1AM and were still going strong but it was definitely time for bed. "Happy New Year" - not really sure why Brody decided to go and dress up like a pirate to bring in the new year.

What a great way for us to bring in the new year - times have changed from the days of just us couples going out to dinner - pre kids - but it's all good.

Holly Jolly Trolley

2012-01-04T20:17:00.007-05:00

The Tuesday after Christmas we took the boys down to St Augustine to see the lights via the Holly Jolly Trolley. Thankfully Jason only had to work Thursday between Christmas and New Years so he was able to just meet me after work on Tuesday to head on down. We didn't tell them where we going and of course Brody doesn't do well with that and he kept asking where we were going.

It was way more crowded than I had ever anticipated but thankfully we only to wait about 5 minutes for a trolley. The boys were pretty excited to be riding something around and then of course we got to wear some pretty cool glasses. When you look through the glasses you see snowflakes for every light around the city - pretty cool.

Here's one of Brody's favorite spots.

We got off the trolley and walked around a little and of course took a few pictures.

I had wanted to eat at Harry's but the wait was 1 1/2 hours so that wasn't going to work. We aren't that familiar with St Augustine so we didn't really know too many good kid friendly restaurants in the area so we walked around and hoped to find something. We ended up at Barnacle Bills and walked right in. Brody loves seafood, so he was pretty excited.

The boys had a blast and I'm so glad we were able to make it down there to see the pretty lights.

Christmas afternoon

2012-01-03T22:20:00.001-05:00

Once we got home from church we were lucky enough to get the kids down for a small nap before everyone arrived at our house for an early dinner around 4:00. This year Jason and I decided to try our hand at frying a turkey. Fried turkeys was also Jason's dad's thing to do so it is Jason's time now to try it out. I don't know what we would do without Mr. Google because we seriously used our share to look up how to fry one of these birds.

We found what we hoped was a great recipe for the injection and Jason actually did most of the work on making the injection and of course injecting it.

Off he went to fry the bird.

Watching and waiting

We thought it should only take about 30-40 minutes to fry it but an hour and 20 minutes later he brought it out (the oil wasn't getting hot enough, so he didn't think it was done) and let's just say we were a little nervous that it was going to be a Chevy Chase Christmas turkey. Thankfully it wasn't - it was just a little dry. I realized that I got too big of a bird, so we will have to redeem ourselves and try a smaller one real soon.

The weather was absolutely beautiful so the kids enjoyed jumping on the trampoline while we got dinner ready.

Even Allye wanted some of the good food.

After a full meal (minus my dad who was home sick), we got ready to open presents. We let the kids go first in the playroom. This year they all opened at the same time - 1 present at a time. Last year was CHAOS - they all just went and we had no idea what anyone received, so we had to change it up this year.

Sweet Madeline hanging out and taking it all in.

We even had Daniel joining us via Skype. The kids love to see him on the computer. Wow at technology. I really don't see how Jessica does it - 7 months away from her husband, missing Christmas, birthdays, and anniversaries, holding a full time job, and being a mom to a 6 year old - wow!!

Then it was our turn, while the kids played with their new toys. It takes us awhile because we all take turns so we can see what everyone opens - it really is a lot of fun.

Rhonda opening up her new Pandora bracelet

Kim's new rock - really he got a new grill that was in our garage.

Rhonda and all of her grandbabies.

What a wonderful Christmas we all had spending time with family and friends and I just pray that Brody and Trevor understand the true meaning of the season - I think Brody does because I heard him several times schooling Trevor that Christmas is not about the presents and Santa Claus but it's about Jesus' birthday. I pray that he keeps this close to his heart and doesn't forget the true meaning - it can be so easy to do as a child AND an adult.

Christmas Morning 2011

2012-01-03T19:49:00.003-05:00

Trevor was the first to awake on Christmas morning - around 6:45AM. Thankfully he just crawled in our bed and laid there and watched tv. Around 7:15 we figured it was time to get things moving and just about that time Brody bursts in our room and says Santa came so off we went to the tree. They were both pretty excited of course. I don't think Trevor quite understood everything going on.

There were a few things laid out from Santa and then onto the stocking.

We then showed them a scavenger hunt that Santa left for them. Off we went to see where it led.

X marks the spot

I have to admit the reaction they had wasn't what I expected. Brody saw it and was a little excited and was ready to walk out to the trampoline but the ground was wet so he backed up and he went back to a different toy he had received in his stocking and Trevor started playing Jason's phone.

Brody was pretty satisfied with just playing with the few things Santa left. We told him that we could open the presents under the tree and he said "really, but there's no one else here?" I guess he thought other people were supposed to be there so that just made his day and off we went. A little bit of chaos but that's what so fun about it.

Another box full of costumes - this is his Darth Vadar one

Someone's pretty excited about this gift - a new to him phone with a Star Wars case. It's not really the phone anymore - he can use it to play games. He LOVES it.

A new Bible

Some new fake food

A couple weeks prior to Christmas, Brody got to go shopping at the Santa store at school. When I saw this note from school, it brought back so many great memories of me doing the same thing. We gave him some money and off he went to pick out some wonderful presents for us. Brody did so good at not telling us what they were and was really excited to put them under the tree. Trevor got a Jaguar soft football helmet that suctions to glass.

Daddy got a cool #1 Dad keychain

I got a nice #1 Mom necklace

Then it was time for Jason's present - an iPad. He was pretty shocked. He always makes comments that he doesn't have any computer time because I'm always on it - usually writing this blog, so I thought I would solve that and I'll get to use the iPad as well.

Jason got me a new lens for my camera - a fixed 50mm. I was pretty excited and can't wait to use it. I had also bought myself a Cricut the day after Thanksgiving and saved it to open on Christmas as one of my presents.

After all of the presents were opened, Brody wanted to go jump. Thankfully we had a little bit of time before we had to get ready to go to church.

At church that morning, Brody went in with us and Bro. Lynn invited all of the kids to go down front and help him with the Christmas story. He and Baylie headed down and listened - it was so sweet.

We were then back to the house to get ready for the family to come over.

Getting ready for Santa

2012-01-02T20:08:00.002-05:00

When we got home from Nini and Papa's it was rush time to get baths and get everything ready for Santa. Since the weather was about 60 degrees outside - not the typical Christmas weather to wear fleece pjs - Jason turned the air down to make it pretty cool in the house. Oh, what we do to wear our Christmas pjs.

I had seen this cool picture on Pinterest and I really wanted to try it. I think it turned out pretty good.

And don't forget Cookies for Santa. He might really need them whenever he arrives (around 2AM or so).

Christmas Eve at Nini and Papa's

2012-01-02T19:52:00.001-05:00

This is the 2nd year we have spent Christmas Eve at my parents. It has definitely made Christmas Day less stressful. We headed over for dinner around 5:00.

Mom made lasagna and of course Red Velvet cake - one of my favorites.

Of course Brody was ready to open presents but first things first - mom read the Christmas story. This was quite interesting because Trevor was not really interested and kept talking but mom kept trying and finished - not sure if the boys got anything out of it but we tried.

The boys and PoPo

Now, off to open presents. Brody's favorite gift I think was his box of costumes and the Storm Trooper gun. He said it was just what he wanted.

Trevor on the other hand was just enjoying opening presents. He received some clothes, a cash register, and an ol' school spiny thing. Yeah, I'm not so sure of the actual name. One of those things where you sit on it and spin around.

They both received a tent and sleeping bags. Brody wants to go camping so bad, but mommy and daddy aren't so big on camping so maybe they'll be able to just use them in the playroom.

Mom was pretty excited about her new Nook Tablet. She was really wanting something to just read books on but we thought the Tablet would work great for her and she was shocked that she would be able to check Facebook and surf the web.

Jason and I received new bikes from my parents so now we can ride with Brody. Here's Jason with his new pillow pet - Jaxson well maybe it will be for the boys.

Camera fun

2012-01-02T19:21:00.003-05:00

So, lately I've been trying to practice with my camera to try and get better pictures especially at Christmas - you know not using the flash so you can see the actual lights on the tree. Well, I don't think it's going to well but I keep trying - I like to say I don't have the right lens - not sure Jason will buy that one or not.

Anyway, here's some practicing I was doing on Christmas Eve

Baking fun

2012-01-02T15:51:00.005-05:00

One thing I love to do is bake and especially at Christmas, so I spent one whole day doing it. I had made my list of everything I wanted to make thanks a lot to Pinterest and the rest to some old faithfuls that I make every year.

Santa hats

Trevor came into the kitchen and saw this ball of dough and thought it was "poo poo" - yeah I have the child that LOVES to say those words.

Here's the finished product from the ball above - upside down gingerbread men as reindeer.

Here's my helper while I was baking.

Then it was time for the cut out sugar cookies. I let them pick out which ones they wanted to use since they would be decorating some of them.

My little helpers

So, I decided to just let all of my controlness let loose and just let the boys decorate some cookies. Don't worry about all of the sprinkles on the floor or how the cookies actually looked - they had a blast as you can see below.

Straight to the tub they went

Can you tell which ones they did???

Brody wanted an S & C for Santa Claus

and a J for Jesus.

Christmas at the Zoo

2012-01-02T00:15:00.004-05:00

The Thursday before Christmas my mom and I took the boys to the zoo for a couple of hours. They love to go - especially Trevor and it helps that we have an annual pass.

Brody requests a picture with this turtle everytime we go to the zoo.

Nini the science teacher enjoying explaining to the boys about all of the animals.

Not my favorite exhibit AT ALL

This was the sweetest thing - baby anteater riding on its' mom's back.

My sweet boys

Playing in the play area - they love this area.

Thought the ostrich was quite interesting - we watched it take off running across its area and then doing this.

Girls Night Out

2012-01-01T23:34:00.003-05:00

The Tuesday before Christmas a few of us girls decided we needed a Girls Night Out. There were 5 of us and 4 of us have 2 boys each so we have a lot to talk about and really needed this break. We decided to go to the Melting Pot - a fondue restaurant. We knew our husbands wouldn't want to go so we took advantage of going and having lots of fun.

We had 3 courses and enjoyed all of it. The best part was of course dessert - fruit, marshmallows, cheesecake all dipped in chocolate - YUMMY!!

After about 2 hours at dinner we headed out to do some last minute shopping. It was a great time and we all really enjoyed ourselves and can't wait until the next time. Thanks to the dad's who took care of the boys while we had some girl time.

Sunday best

2012-01-01T22:45:00.003-05:00

The Sunday before Christmas I decided to try and utilize the time the boys were in their Sunday best and get some pictures.

After church we headed out to the beach to Jason's moms for lunch. They made a Paula Dean main course - quite pretty.

Our spread

All the boys playing on "their" phones.

Willis get together

2012-01-01T19:15:00.001-05:00

My mom loves to have family get togethers so usually right around Christmas along with everything else going on we try and get both sides of our family together. First was my mom's side. We had a mexican fiesta night with most of the family there.

Mom and her sister

Playing pictionary

Shalee and Trevor enjoying some M&M's

All the little cousins

My cousin Charleen and her family

My cousin Cindy and her family

The 3 1st cousins

Trevor started playing a little game with Brittany and Josh by covering them with all the pillows. Here's Trevor seeing where they are. It was so cute

Crazy Trevor

2012-01-01T18:40:00.000-05:00

Trevor is definitely one of those kids that just makes you laugh. Lately he is getting into dressing himself so one day he comes out of his room like this

Shorts inside out on his head

I then told him it was on wrong, he tried again. Shorts inside out, both legs in one hole, shirt inside out and backwards. Yeah, that's my little stylist.

He's also loving the bubble wrap. Santa probably could just give him some for Christmas and he would be happy.

Here's Trevor's favorite place to hang out.

Pinterest Fun

2012-01-01T18:16:00.002-05:00

Not sure what I ever did before Pinterest. Oh yeah, more time off of the computer, had to come up with creative ideas on my own, had ideas (recipes & crafts, etc) printed out everywhere. Pinterest is GREAT!!! I remember thinking before I got hooked "how in the world are people hooked on this" - well now I know.

Anyway, I was very thankful for Pinterest this Christmas because it helped give me ideas for teacher gifts. Here's what I worked on for them. I had 7 of them to do between school and church.
These are hot chocolate, marshmallows & crushed peppermint. I was pretty happy with how they turned out.

This was Ms. Cicero and Ms. Hodges' gifts (Brody's teachers at school). There was a monogrammed towel and baked goodies.

I really enjoyed getting these gifts together, however Jason said he thought I spent more time on the teacher gifts then I did on his.

Here's another idea I got off Pinterest. I literally did this in about 10 minutes one day when I got home from work. We get so many picture Christmas cards and I love them, however I never really knew what to do with them so I could see them all. I hung 2 ribbons on our pantry door and taped the cards to it. I LOVE how it turned out and the kids enjoy seeing all the people they know.

Our little Joseph

2012-01-01T17:58:00.001-05:00

About 2 months ago, Ms. Cicero passed out parts for the Christmas play. Her class was acting out the Nativity Scene and Brody was assigned Joseph. She needed someone who could stand up there the longest and she felt Brody was the one. No pressure right? No lines just stand there and not act up!!

Here's our little Joseph all ready for the play

He and Mary, Ansley Johnson (her dad and I graduated from high school together) came out with the 2 year old class as they were shepherds and then headed to the back to wait for their class to come back out

Thankfully, I knew someone on the front row who let me squeeze in to take pictures. When Brody's class came out they were dressed as wise men, donkeys and presents. They sang a couple of songs and quoted John 3:16.

Poor mom had Trevor to deal with. He just couldn't stay still.

All of the classes came out at the end and sang a song or 2.

Nini and Papa with Joseph

They did so great and I was one proud mom

Brody's Christmas party

2012-01-01T17:11:00.001-05:00

Nothing like finding out the day before that Brody's school party is the next day. That's what happens when he's been out 2 or 3 days the week before - we didn't get the memo. Oh well, thankfully I only had to bring 2 liters and that I have a job that allows me to be flexibile with my schedule.

The kids had worked so hard to get the room just perfect for the party and they were all pretty excited - maybe it was all of the sugar they were to soon eat. Lots of parents were there ready to party with their kids.

Brody & Cody

Getting his present from Ms. Cicero

Brody & Nick

Brody & Ms. Cicero - she is one of the sweetest teachers and loves her students.

Ms. Cicero had all of the kids say their Bible verse that they would be sharing at the play that night. She wanted to make sure we knew they knew in case they got nervous that night and didn't say it.

A wet game

2012-01-01T16:10:00.003-05:00

Dec 11 was a Jaguar home game. Well, it was kind of a dreary and cold day. There was a chance of rain so I had pretty much made up my mind that I wasn't going to go. However, after church we ran into Stephanie and Adam. Stephanie and I kept going back and forth on what we were going to do. We ended up talking ourselves into going to the game - what good wives we are. We were just praying it wouldn't rain.

Since there were a lot of empty seats we were able to sit right behind Steph & Adam. We didn't have to break out the ponchos until about half way through the 3rd quarter. Stephanie was really hoping it wouldn't rain since she didn't come too prepared but thankful Adam brought something for her - she's in there somewhere.

Here we all are enjoying the rainy game.

Upwards 1st practice

2012-01-01T15:57:00.004-05:00

Brody will be playing Upwards basketball this upcoming year at our church. This is where kids from age 5 to 5th grade have the opportunity to play basketball or cheer. The purpose of Upwards is to provide a fun and safe environment for kids to play basketball. At the young ages, score isn't kept - it's about allowing everyone to play. There is also a devotion so the kids and parents can learn about God's love for them. We usually have over 100 kids playing and Jason has helped coach since our church started hosting Upwards about 8 years ago. He has coached 3rd grade, 7 & 8th grade, and now he is coaching 5 year olds - yeah what a difference this year will be.

A few weeks ago, they had their first practice. Brody was so excited and ready.

There are 5 kids on the team - 4 boys and 1 girl. He had a lot of fun, however, I think it may be easier for Jason if Brody was on a different team. You know your kids perform better for someone else than you. Oh well, we will see how these 8 weeks go.

Taking a break and listening to Coach Brown tell about David and Goliath.

Back to some drills

Trevor growing up

2011-12-29T15:26:00.001-05:00

Since Trevor was born he has always used one of these except his was a pale beige color.

This is the paci he received from the hospital. I never really tried a different type because I kept thinking he wouldn't really use it, but oh well. Thankfully, he only used it at night to go to sleep. I really never had to go and find it in the middle of the night to give it back to him. As he got older he liked to hold onto it as he slept or bite on it. The poor thing looked pretty pitiful - it had lost it suction because there were holes in it, so it was time to say goodbye.

I am thankful to say as of the beginning of December we no longer have any pacfiers and they were pretty easy to get rid of. I never really wanted my kids to use pacifiers because I've heard it can be pretty difficult to break them of the habit. Yeah, for no more paci's!!!

Decorating at the Singley's

2011-12-29T14:50:00.002-05:00

You never know how much 2 boys will get into decorating trees, so we are always in for a surprise. In the boys' playroom, I have set up a small tree on top of a ledge for all of their ornaments. They were so excited to open up each ornament and put it on the tree. I let them put them on and kept telling myself I would keep them exactly where they put them. But I just couldn't once I put the tree on the ledge and some of the ornaments were in the back - so at least I only moved those.

We were then off to decorate our family tree. A few years ago when Brody was younger we decorated the tree at night so he didn't see us touching the tree - we were hoping that he wouldn't mess with it since he never saw us touching it - AND actually that worked. This year I just knew Trevor would mess with the ornaments but I said I'll just go with it. Brody LOVED pulling out the ornaments and putting them on the tree. He really was a huge help.

Trevor wanted to help too and hung a few ornaments himself - but I think his kept falling so we had to redo them. Lately, he is into taking his shirt off which is why he is shirtless while he decorates the tree.

I'm happy to say that Trevor did not play with the ornaments on the tree and didn't even touch the presents under it except for the occasional falling into them.

The perfect tree

2011-12-27T23:58:00.000-05:00

Our annual tradition is for all of us to go pick out our tree together. We have always had a real tree and I love the tradition of going together to pick it out, however there are times when I wished we had a fake tree. Because of Brody's birthday party and him not feeling so good, we had to wait a couple of days to get our tree.

The boys were pretty excited to be going to pick it out - even though I don't think Trevor had any idea what was going on - he just likes to repeat whatever Brody says. We were off - trying to corral 2 boys around a bunch of trees - sounds like fun right? Well, they weren't too bad just the typical hiding behind trees and chasing each other a little.

On the search for the perfect tree

They actually got to step on the pedal to shake the tree.

We picked out the "perfect" tree and were off to the house to decorate - or at least get it in the house.

Christmas Pics 2011

2011-12-26T00:46:00.003-05:00

As our yearly tradition goes, we went several weeks ago to get our Christmas pictures taken for Christmas cards. Jeff and Jennifer Walker were our photographers - I actually graduated with Jeff "small world". It's always such an ordeal to get all 4 of us to coordinate in some way. I was pretty happy with the outcome though.

This is Trevor's sweet smile. When you tell him to smile he does he scrunched nose look like above, so we tell him to do a sweet smile and we get below.

This one cracks me up - look at Trevor's face.

Operation Christmas child

2011-12-24T16:09:00.000-05:00

We have been doing Operation Christmas child for several years now, but this year we decided to pack 2 shoe boxes - one for each of our boys. The tradition I really enjoy about this is that we all go as a family to the store to pack the shoe boxes. It is a great way to teach the boys about giving to others who don't have as much.

Brody enjoyed picking out the stuff for the boxes. Now don't get me wrong we had to reel him in several times that this was stuff for someone else not him. It was a great learning experience and it is something that we are able to talk about to help him remember about others less fortunate than we are.

One more Monday night

2011-12-24T15:21:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, we had our last Monday night football game of the season. I really love these games. There is something about a football game at night and I really enjoy hanging out with our fellow season ticket holders. For this game we decided to downscale it a little so we just bought pizza. It was so easy and of course very good.

In the last few weeks, we have had a lot of changes with our Jaguar team. We have fired our headcoach and we sold our team to a new owner. Well, to help bring on this new change, the guys decided to dress the part.

Our new owner Shahid Kahn sports a huge mustache so a lot of the fans were sporting big mustaches that night. Well, we didn't win that night - this really isn't our season - which is an understatement, but as always we have lots of fun. Maybe next year will be our year.

Singing in church - the sick way

2011-12-24T13:26:00.001-05:00

The Sunday after Brody's birthday party, he was to sing in church with the children's choir. He seemed to be feeling ok so we thought we were ok. He looked miserable on stage. People actually thought he wasn't a morning person because he looked like he didn't want to be up there.

Well, when he came off the stage I was taking him to children's church and he was having a break down and did feel a little hot. The great thing about my parents and I going to the same church is we always have a 2nd form of transportation. I grabbed the keys from my dad and took Brody home to rest.

He also had his buddy Dominic's camping birthday party that afternoon so he was really hoping to feel better. Thankfully he got a little rest and was able to go to the party. They had the camper set up and all the food was under it. The kids did a little scavenger hunt to search for little bugs for their jars - they had a blast.

Brody and Walker playing in one of the tents.

Needless to say when he got home he crashed. He had one busy weekend.

Whew, what a busy Saturday

2011-12-24T00:20:00.001-05:00

Saturday, Dec 3 we had Brody's birthday party AND the Callahan Christmas parade was that morning. We met up with Stephanie, Adam and Ava to watch the parade. The boys enjoyed it all except for the many firetrucks with the loud sirens. All 3 of the kids would head out into the street to get the candy that was thrown. We were at the beginning of the parade route so there was still lots of candy - not that we needed anymore in our house.

Trevor hitching a ride with his friend Ava and she was so sweet to accommodate.

Ava telling Trevor secrets or maybe just hiding from the camera.

I was trying not to stress too much about the party that afternoon so thankfully most everything was done - cake and food. The party started at 3:30 and we were actually able to get Brody down for a nap and when he woke up he was ready to go and jump. We couldn't have asked for any better weather - absolutely beautiful.

The birthday boy

The kids jumped and slid and had so much fun. The adults sat around and watched football. That's the great thing about Brody's birthday party - it will usually fall on the SEC championship game day so there will always be a tv on.

Dominic

The adults enjoying some football

The kids moved to the playground as well - Caleb and Brody

Sweet Ava was the only girl at the party - she didn't seem to mind too much though.

Sweet Tucker

The Ards with the birthday boy

The guys had to exert some energy with basketball.

It was a transformer birthday this year - for those of you who don't know this is the autobot symbol and they are the good guys.

All of his buddies

Brody did not like the candles - he was kind of freaking out when Jason was lighting them.

Present time

One of Brody's favorite gifts.

Nana and Poppy

Popo

Nini & Papa

I had totally forgotten about the pinata until one of Brody's friends had something - I guess Brody had mentioned it to him and really wanted to do it. Some of Brody's friends had already left so there weren't many there. This year's pinata wasn't that much fun because it was a pull string type where every kid gets to pull a string and one of the strings unlatches the trap door - well none of them worked so we just had to tear into it - oh well they still got lots of candy.

It was a very busy Saturday, but lots of fun.

Trevor and his magnets

2011-12-23T14:00:00.000-05:00

Everyday I realize how different my 2 boys are. Trevor has always been the child who can't sit still and always wants you sitting down with him to play. In the past 4-6 months or so, we find him like this:

He is playing with MagnaTiles that Nana bought Brody a couple of years ago. Brody enjoyed them as well but Trevor will sit for an hour or more and build stuff over and over again. He loves to pretend they are a pizza and bring us a slice, ice cream, castles, ramps, church, and the list goes on and on.

Since he loves them so much and he seems to be more of a builder than Brody was, we thought he should ask Santa for some legos. We'll see how he does with them.

A busy birthday weekend

2011-12-21T12:42:00.001-05:00

Brody was pretty excited about his Transformer 5th birthday and has had it planned for awhile now. He actually has each birthday planned out until either 8 or 9. We try to explain to him that the theme of his party should be what he likes at the time. He doesn't quite get it - it's all in his plan. This birthday was supposed to be Iron Man, but thankfully I talked him out of it because he wasn't really into Iron Man but because he had decided about 9 months ago that Iron Man would be his 5th, he thought he had to stay with it - crazy kid.

Anyway, I found this idea on Pinterest (love it) to decorate their door/room for their birthday. He was pretty excited to see it on Friday morning when he woke up. He didn't want to tear any of it so he kept going under it.

He had actually gotten the 24 hour stomach bug the Wednesday before his birthday (nothing like not believing your child that his stomach hurts and him proving to me that it does in the church parking lot), so thankfully he was able to make it to school for his birthday on Friday.

To celebrate his day, I brought cupcakes for his class. His class is so well behaved - I just love Ms. Cicero. I was actually scared to say anything when I walked in and NO ONE said a word to me and wouldn't even look at me. She has those kids trained. You would expect them to all holler out "Hey Brody's mom", but nothing. Impressive!!

Later that day Brody had tennis lessons and then when we arrived home he was greeted with a big surprise - a bouncy house. It was delivered a day early for his party the next day. Of course the boys bounced for a LONG time that night.

Happy Birthday Brody

2011-12-21T12:19:00.001-05:00

Wow, I can't believe that Brody turned 5 on December 2nd. He is growing up way too fast and I really need to savor every moment I have with him. It is amazing to see what he is learning every day. Here are some of the things about Brody that I love and some that I may not like too much:

He loves going to school and the teacher says he knows most everything they go over
He has a tender heart for others
I love to hear when he tells us about Jesus - Bible stories he has learned and especially when he tells Trevor
He is in love with costumes - Star Wars, Buzz, Transformers, Iron Man, etc - you never know when he will come out in the latest.
To go with the costumes he loves Star Wars and Transformers toys
He has started taking tennis lessons and really enjoys them.
He is an excellent eater and will try almost anything. His favorites are pasta and seafood
He still takes naps - maybe because I make him, but he definitely needs a few a week or it can get ugly
He plays pretty well with Trevor and can be an awesome big brother "at times" but then other times he gets so annoyed with Trevor that he loses his temper a little (we are working on that)
He doesn't do well with meeting new people and shys a way - he doesn't like to be in the spotlight.
He is extremely tall for his age which should be helpful for sports
He loves to watch sports with his daddy and is beginning to know the teams. Everytime there is sports on the tv, he asks whose playing.
I think he has a little OCD because when he is in a mood everything must be in it's place and he is going to make sure that it gets there, which I guess falls right into place since he was born right on his due date (everything just right)

Wow, that's quite a list, right? Well, it has been a wonderful and exciting 5 years. I pray I don't take this time for granted I have with him while he is young. I want to savor every minute I have.

The Christmas season has begun

2011-12-19T12:52:00.000-05:00

Every year for who knows how long, my mom and I have headed out to brave the crowds on Black Friday - minus the one year I was in the Atlanta area. This year the stores opened up MUCH earlier - some even at 10PM on Thanksgiving night. This year my cousin Charleen came with us and we decided to leave at 5AM. There really wasn't anything I needed to "fight" over at the stores so we decided more sleep was important. It's just a great day of shopping with NO kids - my sweet husband takes the day off of work to stay home with the boys - love him!!

There was 1 item at Wal-Mart that I assumed would be gone but I thought I would give it a try - not that I was wanting to brave Wal-Mart on Black Friday. To our surprise there was NO ONE in Wal-Mart - I hadn't seen the store that empty in awhile AND they still had the item I was looking for. This was starting out to be a great day. Off we went to Kohl's and once again NO ONE in the store, NO long lines - it was great. I was kind of liking all the stores opening up so early because when we got there all the crowds were gone.

We continued on the mall for a few hours and it was finally off to eat lunch. I ran into a couple of friends buying LOTS of clothes for needy kids for Syds Kids (an organization they started a few years ago named after their dad who passed away - he loved kids and Christmas and what better way to help remember him but by doing something like this). This is the 2nd year I've run into them and it's such a hoot to see them in the back corner with clothes stacked about 4-5 feet tall. They really do enjoy doing this and it will put smiles on a lot of kids faces this Christmas.

Anyway, we ended up meeting them for lunch at Olive Garden. We sat around and talked for about 2 hours - it was a great way to get reenergized.

We continued shopping for quite some time and eventually made it home around 9:30PM. Here was our vehicle at the end of the night.

Whew, I was tired but I got a lot accomplished and more importantly spent some great quality time with mom and Charleen.

Oh the things to be thankful for

2011-12-17T15:54:00.001-05:00

Everyday this past November, so many people on Facebook would put something they were thankful for. I kept thinking I would join in but I kept getting busy doing other stuff. However, when I read other people's thankful hearts it encouraged me to be thankful for everything God has blessed me with. Here are just a few:

Jesus Christ who loves me no matter who I am or what I do
loving and supportive husband who works hard everyday but doesn't let his work overtake his family
2 healthy boys who keep me on my toes and help me realize that God gave them to me to help mold them to be Godly men
wonderful parents who are there to help us out anytime we need it - boy do I take that for granted way too many times
an awesome church family
a job that allows me to work just 3 days a week so I can be at home with my 2 boys

There are a ton more and I am so overwhelmed with how God has blessed me.

This year I decided to ask Brody and Trevor what they were thankful for and here are the answers:

And in celebration of Thanksgiving, here's how Brody comes out to greet me one day when I get home.

I guess someone learned about Indians at school.

Our actual Thanksgiving was pretty low key - lunch at mom and dad's so it was just the 6 of us.

Later that afternoon we headed out to Jason's moms for dinner with Bryan and Tara. Trevor and Cale enjoying an after dinner snack.

I wanted to get home at a decent hour so I could get some sleep to get ready for a BUSY and LONG day of shopping on Black Friday.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

What a surprise - Chef Mickey's

2011-12-14T22:55:00.000-05:00

Saturday morning we packed up the car and headed over to the Contemporary hotel to dine at Chef Mickey's for breakfast. The boys had no clue what was in store. I have always wanted to take them to eat here but I wanted to make sure they were old enough to enjoy it since I was pretty sure it would be a one time thing - due to the cost!!

Let me just say this place was crazy - people and kids everywhere - but of course Disney had it all under control. I didn't realize it was a buffet, but oh at the choices for food and it was SOOO good. Brody was so funny as he carried his plate from choice to choice - he wanted a little of everything. He is such my good little eater. Trevor on the other hand not so much. I didn't think he was going to eat anything and I was just praying that we didn't have to pay $16 for him to eat a piece of bacon and 1 mandarin orange (just a slice not a whole orange) - yeah a great appetite, huh?

We ate for about 15-20 minutes and were pretty stuffed and then out came the main event - the famous 5 - Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy & Pluto. I tried to get Brody & Trevor to continue eating but I quickly gave up. All 5 of them made their way to every table for pictures and autographs. Nothing like right before Donald comes to our table I smell something not so pretty coming from Trevor. Oh yeah, thankfully there was a bathroom right behind us, but I didn't bring any wipes (I only had the Wet Wipes antibacterial ones in my purse). I didn't think I would need them because he had already gone that morning. I know TMI, right but oh well. Thankfully, Donald understood and came back to us.

The boys had a great time and smiled for every picture really well. When the bill arrived we definitely knew this was a one and done thing. Hope they enjoyed it.

Off we went to do a little shopping at Downtown Disney - legos, toys, you name it that place has it. It is a kids dream.

Finally, we were headed home and the boys were asleep pretty fast and slept most of the way home which was very nice and quiet.

We had so much on this trip and Brody is already asking when can we go back - thankfully we bought a pass for this upcoming year.

Day 4 - 2 in a day

2011-12-14T22:28:00.000-05:00

Friday we started out at Animal Kingdom.

This isn't one of our favorite parks - we only go for a few things - Lion King show, ride Mt Everest and the playarea in DinoLand. We started our visit at the Lion King show, which is one of the best things to see. Jason actually got called to go up and represent our section as the elephants. We were really hoping Brody would be our representative, but it was pretty funny that they chose Jason. He gave a really great elephant call in the microphone - we were quite impressed and so was the guy (he wasn't so impressed with his first try which thankfully wasn't for everyone to hear).

We tried to visit the characters after the show, but the lines were very long so we headed to the safari. The last time we rode it, we didn't see too many animals, but this time it was much better and the boys loved it.

AK has a petting zoo area which you have to take Rafiki's train too. We had never done this before so we thought we would give it a try. The train was nice but the petting zoo was pretty sad - only a few pigs and lots of goats. Inside the "Discovery building", were all kinds of bones, small creatures (always my favorite lol), touch animals and even picture opportunities. I think my mom enjoyed this area the most being that she was a science teacher for a LONG time.

Trevor's favorite animal - Rhino

With Rafiki

With Jiminy Cricket

Some strange animal that I can't remember the name of

We really wanted to ride Mt. Everest and thought we could get Brody on it but he wasn't feeling too excited to ride it so we didn't push it. Off we went to the Dino area for the one ride that they can ride and mostly for them to play in the play area. They absolutely love this area. Trevor was not a bit timid, he ran around everywhere and it took all we had to keep up with him. Thankfully all 3 of us were in there.

Before we left, one last stop to see a few friends.

We headed out to Epcot around 4:00. I'm amazed at how long we stayed at AK seeing that we didn't do that much. Well, on our way to Epcot, the boys took a little nap and thankfully they continued to sleep through the transport to the strollers. Boy am I thankful that they can sleep anywhere.

We immediately went to grab fast passes to Soarin' but we just missed it so if we wanted to ride we would have to wait almost an hour - needless to say we never rode it. However, we were able to grab the fast pass for Test Track which up to 6 people get in a convertible type car and it takes you through different conditions like bumpy roads, hairpin turns, breaks and then out in the open air to drive 60 mph around a track - what a rush!! Brody loves it.

We got a little crazy while shopping.

Checked out Turtle Talk with Crush and a little play time with a shark.

Of course no visit to Disney is complete without a meeting with the fabulous 5. Trevor was not scared AT ALL to go up and see the characters. He was so excited and loved it.

Back in our hotel room and here's how housekeeping left Mickey.

Brody loves to ride the big golf ball, which I think is a little boring so I did a little shopping while they all rode it. We were finally saying goodbye to the parks at around 9:15 that night. Whew, what a day/week. The boys were exhausted and definitely ready for bed and ready for the big surprise on Saturday morning.

Day 3 - Magic Kingdom

2011-12-08T09:21:00.040-05:00

Since we had gone to the Christmas party Tuesday night our 2nd time at Magic kingdom was a bonus. The boys were still pretty excited. We made our way through the whole park and rode just about everything we could minus Splash Mtn & thunder Mtn - the lines were just too long & Thunder Mtn even closed at one time.

Of course we spent a lot of time in FantasyLand. Trevor's favorite was the merry go round. I got sad when Brody didn't really want to ride it because it told me he was getting big. Sad day.

However as Brody gets bigger he gets to ride different things like Space Mountain which is one of my favorite rides. We really weren't sure if he would since he has to sit by himself but he seemed pretty pumped about it so off we went. Brody loved it and actually rode it 3 times. Thankfully there were really no lines to ride. What a great day when the only wait is the time it takes you to walk to the ride.

Oh yeah, I let Trevor drive the car - with me holding the wheel.

Riding one of our favorite rides - Buzz Lightyear - and Trevor wearing the glasses his way.

Like I've said before, Brody can sleep anywhere. What was funny is that we were sitting about 20 feet away and so it looked like no one was around him to watch him. Someone actually tried to find a cast member to let them know that it looked like someone had left him alone. Well, he got over an hour nap in this spot.

When we arrived to the park I noticed the electrical parade was going on that night do I was pretty excited. I haven't seen this parade in about 25 years. Wow that makes me sound old. The one thing about parades is that you have to get a spot so early which is not fun when you have kids. We didn't get a spot so the boys couldn't see that well which meant we were off to ride. I was quite disappointed but realized the trip was for them. We quickly learned that Trevor loves the people mover and could have ridden it all day.

A day at Magic Kingdom isn't complete without a fireworks show. However I think my boys could do without it. A few pictures that don't even come close to showing how wonderful the fireworks are at Disney.

Day 2 - Hollywood Studios

2011-12-07T22:31:00.000-05:00

Day 2 of our trip started off way EARLY because we were headed to Hollywood Studios and had 1 thing on our mind - Jedi Training Academy. Hollywood Studios has a show every hour where there are 15 kids ages 4-12 who go learn how to be a Jedi and eventually fight Darth Vadar. Brody didn't really know what we were doing but we were hoping he would like it. Boy does it fill up fast because he was able to sign up for the 5:30 show and we were only there about 30 minutes after the park opened.

After that we were off to the new Star Wars ride and Brody was so excited. This was one of the few rides he asked to ride again. Our favorite ride is of course Toy Story where you shoot stuff like pie plates, balloons and it's all in 3D and you try to get the highest score. I always beat mom but couldn't quite get as high as Jason.

One of the favorite spots for the boys is the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area. Of course they wanted to stay a LONG time but it was pretty crowded in there, so off we went.

sWe watched the Pixar Parade which is always pretty good since it has all of the Pixar characters. As we waited for the parade to start they had a street dance going on so Jason and Brody joined in on the fun - once again what we do for our kids.

We saw a few shows - Playhouse Disney, Beauty and the Beast and the Stunt show (which we left 15 min into it because it was a little boring for the boys - too much talking and not enough action). Thankfully the boys are able to take a nap in strollers because they really needed one about this time - Brody took his during the Beauty and the Beast show. Once he woke up we were off to learn how to be a Jedi.

The only issue was that Brody woke up a little sluggish so we were feeding him sugar to get him excited about what was coming up - yeah I know crazy but I had waited a long time in line that morning so I wanted him to enjoy it. Well, he wasn't too crazy about the whole idea because he didn't know anyone and he just wasn't so sure - as you can see in the pictures.

Once he got out there he did fine (still doesn't look too excited though). All 15 kids were on stage and were taught how to use their light saber to fight off the dark side. Then a visitor showed up "Darth Vadar". Let me just say that he was pretty realistic. Each child came up and used their learned skills to fight Darth Vadar. Brody did really well with it and I'm pretty sure he enjoyed it even though he doesn't look too happy in the pictures.

It was then time for the Osborne Christmas Lights to come on - LOTS of lights fill the Streets of America and they move to music - a beautiful sight to see.

We then stood in line for 40 minutes to ride Toy Story one more time - this was quite interesting with a tired 5 and 2 year old. Thank goodness for a bag of snacks.

We said our goodbyes and headed to Earl of Sandwich at Downtown Disney to grab a sandwhich to take back to the room. Nothing like eating dinner at 9:00 at night. We had to get our rest for a big day at Magic Kingdom on Thursday.

Start of a great Disney vacation

2011-11-30T15:36:00.000-05:00

Tuesday afternoon, November 15 we headed out towards Disney for our annual trip. Brody was pretty excited and had assisted in packing - making sure he had the right "big boys" to wear for when he was going to see each character.

This year we were short my dad because he was hunting in Kentucky, but my mom was with us and was pretty excited - can't you tell?

This was before they went to sleep.

This year we decided to stay off property since we don't really spend a lot of time at the hotel. We were pleasantly surprised with our 2 bedroom suite hotel and once we changed clothes we headed out to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. I had 2 boys who were pretty excited and were ready to see Mickey and ride some rides.

With the Christmas party ticket we were able to get in at 4:00 and stay until midnight. Our first ride (minus mom and Trevor) was Thunder Mtn - nothing like starting big. We made our way through a lot of rides and even to a few characters which Trevor LOVED. The lines were a little long for characters so we didn't see too many.

It's a Small World

Playing some of the games

Nini and I don't like riding this but Trevor wanted to so we let the big boys ride so they could spin all they wanted and we sat in another teacup with Trevor

We decided to see the late parade at 10:15 and found a great spot on Main St to enjoy the "snow". Hard to believe that Trevor was still up and going but this was going to be his first time seeing Mickey so I think he was pretty excited. It's the cutest thing to see a child's face seeing the wonderful sights of Disney for the first time.

Neither of my boys like the sound of fireworks so I thought this was so cute.

Ok, so Trevor wasn't feeling this picture so much

Once the parade was over we gave Brody the opportunity to pick what to do next. He chose dancing with Woody, so off we went to the Diamond Horseshoe Saloon to dance with Woody and his friends.

Now, Trevor was my dancer. He had so much fun showing off his moves, until ol' Buckeye laid his hoof into Trevor's head and he was done. I don't think it hurt but that it was about 11:30 at night so Trevor had had enough.

This is really a cool place because there really aren't that many people - maybe because it's late at night or because it's somewhere a lot of people don't know much about.

Jason even got out there and showed off his moves - what we do for our kids.

This was right up Nini's alley - she was loving it.

What a beautiful sight!!

Day 1 of our Disney vacation was a success and finally got everyone bathed and asleep around 2AM - whew!! Wednesday could be a long day!!

Pj style shopping

2011-11-27T20:47:00.000-05:00

This year at the last minute I decided to take the boys to Target to see Santa and have their pictures made. Everything would have been fine except the pictures were only being done the Monday before we left for our Disney trip. Oh well, I decided to just deal with it and get it done.

Since I decided at the last minute to do this and I thought it would be cute to have their pictures in their pj's, I had to find matching pj's for the boys. This is getting more difficult because most of what is out there is the tight ones and let's just say they aren't the most flatering for pictures. Thankfully I found some even though they were thick fleece and pretty hot since it's still 80 degrees here. Oh well.

I rushed home from work Monday and quickly dressed them and we were off to Target in their pj's. Thankfully Jason was able to meet us there. I'm not sure why I thought I could do this by myself - sometimes I try to be Ms. Independent, but Jason comes to the rescue - LOVE him for that!!

The lady at Target asked if the boys were going to be scared of Santa because if so then Santa could hide first, but I didn't think they would be so we just went with it. Sure enough they were fine with him and the pictures turned out so cute and they spend more time better with Santa than the 1 at the mall.

The hard part is afterwards - both for picking out the pictures and having 2 boys ready for you to hurry up. This is where Jason was a life saver because he took them down the toy aisles to "shop". I'm sure we got some looks, but it made it quite easy to put them straight to bed when we got home since Brody fell asleep 5 min out of the parking lot.

My boys' sweet singing

2011-11-27T19:34:00.001-05:00

The Sunday after Busch Gardens, Brody was scheduled to sing in church. He goes to choir on Sunday nights and really enjoys it. However, we really weren't sure what he was going to sing because he isn't the type to sing all over the house for us.

Of course there are rules whenever or wherever we go so for singing that Sunday the rules were to keep your hands to yourself and don't pull your shirt up - when Brody gets uncomfortable he likes to twist his shirt up so I thought the rule would eliminate that. Well, it kind of backfired on me because he didn't do any of the hand motions.

Well, Trevor isn't going to let his older brother outshine him. Trevor is really our singer and sings ALL the time. I was finally able to get it on video. He has several favorites: Jesus Loves Me, Deep & Wide, Baa Baa Black Sheep, and Itsy Bitsy Spider.

He sings everywhere we go and especially loves to sing when I take him to a public bathroom. Our nightly ritual is to sing Jesus Loves the Little Children before he goes to bed. I'm guessing he gets his singing skills from his daddy.

A fun but LONG day

2011-11-22T23:55:00.000-05:00

A couple of weekends ago, we packed up and left our house at 5AM and headed down to Tampa for a funfilled day at Busch Gardens with the Cruce's. We decided to all pile into our vehicle with Tracy & I utilizing the 3rd row. Since we would be coming back in the same day, John didn't think he could stay awake for the drive so we thought it was best to all ride together - all 7 of us - 3 kids and 4 adults - oh the memories we made (if you could have seen us trying to crawl in the back of the vehicle everytime - thankfully we didn't get any pictures)

We went to Busch Gardens last year and Baylie & Brody were free using a Preschool pass. Well, BG allowed us to renew the pass for 2011. We thought this was a great deal until I called on Thursday before we left just to verify a few things and they informed me that we were supposed to renew the voucher at the gate by April 15. It was just hard for me to believe they were making us drive all the way to Tampa just to renew a voucher. We tried to fight it but they kept saying there was no way around it. We figured we just play ignorant when we got there and pray for the best, which is exactly what happened - Brody and Baylie were free.

Heading into the park

Checking out where to go with a little help from their tall friend.

Since we all rode together, there was only room for 1 stroller which Trevor won the seat for, so B&B had to walk but thankfully they did really good. Our first stop of the day was BG new roller coaster - Cheetah. It is SUPER FAST and one of the best rides ever. Since the kids couldn't ride it we took turns keeping the kids.

John & Jason finishing up on the Cheetah

Of course with BG comes lots of animals

And then it was the kids turn to ride - and boy did they ride

Oh yeah, all 3 rode it but Brody's face is priceless - he doesn't like to get wet.

Trevor LOVED Big Bird - he is such an outgoing kid

Don't they look like such big kids.

Showing off their kangaroo impressions

Trevor was too small to go in the kangaroo exhibit but he was able to get close to this one near the outside.

Trevor barely holding on. A couple of minutes later he was out.

On the skybuckets

Cool kids

Aren't they too sweet.

The merry go round has to be Trevor's favorite ride of all.

Brody had waited in line for a ride that showed you had to be 46" to ride, well when he got to the front they measured him and he was about 1/4" short. Well, Brody broke down when they told him he couldn't ride. I felt so sorry for him. So, we gave him the option to ride whatever he wanted as the park was closing soon. He chose the Scorpion which is an adult roller coaster with an loop. I was pretty leary about him riding it, but he was all smiles when he was done.

At the end of the night, they were all 3 in the stroller for the ride out to the car.

So, after stopping to eat dinner we got back home around 12:30. Thankfully it was daylight savings time so we gained an hour of sleep that night. Also, the kids actually slept the entire way home which was very peaceful since Tracy, John and I did our share of sleeping as well. Thank goodness Jason can handle driving late at night.

Conner's Corn Maize

2011-11-20T22:54:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, I headed out with the boys (by myself) to Conner's Corn Maize. I was hoping I could handle them both - most of the time they are better for just one parent than both parents together. A couple of months prior I had purchased a Groupon for half the price.

It worked out great because Brody didn't have school on the Wednesday we went so we were able to go earlier. There were a couple of school groups there when we got there, but it wasn't too crowded. Our first stop was the actual maize. You can pick different questions to answer to help guide you thru the maize, well I just wanted the easiest one to help us make sure we made it through - we picked Toddler Tots and we were off. When you come to a fork there is a number and according to your answer you take either the right or left way. We were doing good until we couldn't find the #5 - I really think it wasn't there because we looked everywhere and had no luck so we just back tracked out way out. I really didn't want to lose a kid in the midst of the corn so I thought it was best to stop while we were ahead. The boys had a blast just running through the maize and Brody did great answering the questions.

Next up was the petting zoo

Next up was some jumping off the hay bales - they thought it was great to act like Superman.

Trevor was determined to get to the top.

They went down a tube slide, rode the cow train and pedal cars.

Last on the agenda was the corn bucket. I think this was the favorite part. Corn was everywhere and I even found it in the washer and dryer later.

I'm pretty sure the boys had a blast at the Maize and the weather was beautiful which made it an all around great day.

Yoda & Luke

2011-11-19T23:14:00.000-05:00

Halloween was on a Monday so it made trick or treating a little more challenging. When I got home from work I asked Brody if we could just stay home and he was quick to say no because we were supposed to go trick or treating. We decided to go ahead and go out to the beach to Jason's moms. She lives in a gated community so there aren't a lot of kids and the boys loved it last year.

All ready for trick or treating.

Trevor was quick to ask for his bag and knew exactly what to do with it. They were so cute going up to the houses with their "trick or treat" and of course trying to remember to say "thank you" when they left. and We walked around for about an hour

My sweet boys off to get some candy.

Their first house

Brody isn't so sure about this house.

Here's how Trevor was carried quite a bit during the night.

Nana and the boys.

All of their loot.

All ready for our drive home

Trunk or Treat

2011-11-19T22:49:00.000-05:00

Our church normally does a Fall Festival but this year we decided to do something a little different - a Trunk or Treat. This is where people from the church decorate the trunks of their car and pass out candy to the kids of our community. This is a way for us to show God's love to the people in our community.

I think we weren't quite prepared for what God was about to do because over 1000 people showed up at the Trunk or Treat - WOW!! The boys had so much fun going car to car to get their candy. Trevor wasn't sure at first what to do but as soon as he saw he got candy for holding his bag out - it was game on. The boys were so cute in their Luke Skywalker and Yoda costumes. I hope I will always be able to convince them to dress somewhat alike - I think it's so cute.

Sara Lynn aka RaRa and the boys

One of our girls in our Sunday School class - Brandi heading up the TP Toss

Trevor taking his turn with the Toilet Paper

Yoda, Luke & Darth Vadar

Digging into the back of a trunk

Regan aka ReyRey - she was dressed as spaghetti

One of Trevor's Sunday School teachers - Mrs. Angie

Brody & Trevor met up with Baylie for a picture

Trevor & Tucker

Brody & Tyler aka Dash

I think Trevor is eating more than he is decorating.

After about 45 minutes we had made it to all the cars, played a few games and decorated a cookie. The line for food was sooo long so we thought it was best to avoid that and call it a night. They had a great time and of course received lots of candy.

One busy Saturday

2011-11-19T22:21:00.000-05:00

The Saturday before Halloween was going to a BUSY day so we were all ready for it. The day started out with Brody's last soccer game. We came home for a quick change of clothes and then off to one of Brody's buddies birthday party.

Tyler turned 5 and had a bouncy house. What boy doesn't love a bouncy house so the boys had a blast. To add to it there was cotton candy - Brody's favorite.

Trevor hanging with the big kids

Here's how I spent my time at the birthday party - holding Baby Tate (Jude's little brother)

Thankfully the boys were pretty tired so getting them to sleep was pretty easy because we had a GA/FL game to prepare for. As goes our annual tradition we had the Cruce's and the Walsky's over for a fun afternoon of food and football (Stephanie & Adam stopped by for a few minutes on their way to another party). The kids always have a blast ~~destroying~~ playing in the playroom.

This year John brought crab legs so the guys feasted on them for awhile

Brody even joined in and LOVED them.

This year was not quite the outcome we would have liked so the Cruce's went home happy & well rested.

Finally over...

2011-11-10T17:26:00.000-05:00

October 29 was Brody's final soccer game of the season - he actually had 2 more but we would be out of town. There are no sad feelings on mine or Brody's end that the season is over. I think he finally somewhat enjoyed being out there but is very thankful that it is over.

Someone asked him if he had made a goal during the season and he told them no and they said well, maybe next year. He was pretty quick to respond that he wasn't going to play next year. This pleased my heart!! I think he'll just stick to tball and tennis and playing an occasional 18 holes with his daddy.

"Spooky" Halloween Party

2011-11-09T15:48:00.001-05:00

A couple of months ago, I decided to host a Halloween party for Brody and some of his buddies. Brody LOVES Halloween and so what better way to help him enjoy it then by having a not so spooky Halloween party. He was pretty excited about it.

Luke & Yoda all ready for their big party.

I decided to try and have most everything outside so the kids could play. So this meant I had to try and camouflage the garage - here's the best I could come up with.

Thanks to pinterest for some great halloween decorating and food ideas.

My dad actually surprised us with these little ghosts hanging in our trees when we got home from Hilton Head. The boys thought it was pretty cool.

It was difficult to get the kids to stop to eat, so not sure how healthy they ate that night, but oh well.

I had all of these games planned for the kids and what did they mostly want to do when they arrived - play on the playground. Brody had actually wanted to decorate the playhouse but I didn't think the kids would even play on it because they would be in their costume - boy was I wrong.

Molly's costume didn't stop her from climbing to the top of the playhouse.

Most of the boys shed their costume to play because they were too hot - 6 kids on the tire swing - fun times.

Dorothy "Baylie" and Rapunzel "Ava" just stood back and watched the kids playing - probably wishing they didn't have their costume on so they could play.

Another thanks to pinterest for ideas on Halloween games - they played pumpkin bowling, pin the nose on the pumpkin, eye ball relay, decorated pumpkins, and pumpkin toss. It was pretty crazy trying to get 11 kids in line to play games, but I think they had a blast.

Molly trying out her skills with pumpkin bowling.

Bradyn aka Batman

Tucker & Trevor best buddies - They are about 4 months apart and I think Janan and I may have our hands full with these 2.

Trevor bowling to knock down the ghosts toilet paper.

In line for the pumpkin toss

Even the parents got involved to help out - Adam & Stephanie assisting with passing out candy & picking up the balls.

Tyler trying out his skills with the pumpkin toss.

Brody and Jude

Baylie pinning the nose on the pumpkin - her 3 eyed pumpkin

Brody did pretty good

Time for the eye ball relay

Ava is concentrating really hard to try and not drop the eyeball.

Time for some pumpkin decorating.

Molly, Dominic & Brody showing off their pumpkin creations.

The one thing Brody and maybe a few others was looking forward to was the "spooky" hayride. I had made a few ghosts to be hung throughout our ride and had put my dad in charge of where and how to put them up. Everyone loaded up for the hayride and we were off with my dad driving the tractor. My dad had engaged a little help from a couple of the dads to wear a hat with green lights on top and a sheet over it all. Most of the kids thought it was great - a few of them weren't so sure.

Scary ghost # 1 coming up to the hayride.

One of the best parts was that my dad hung some of the ghosts on a rope and one of the dads pulled it when we came to it and the ghosts swung over us as we went through. It was great.

Not sure how many of the kids had no so pleasant dreams that night - I really didn't want to scare them too bad so hopefully they will come back next year because we are already thinking about it for next year.

Nothing like waiting until the last minute

2011-11-07T23:14:00.000-05:00

October flew by and I thought I had planned us going to the pumpkin patch early enough so we would have time to carve and color our pumpkins. Well, time got away from us and here we are coloring our pumpkins the day of our Halloween party.

The boys were VERY closely supervised as they used the lovely Sharpies. Brody did great with them, but I'm sure if I turned my head Trevor would be all over using sharpies anywhere but on his pumpkin.

Check them out - all nicely dressed in their fall clothes :)

Why I love my job

2011-11-07T23:04:00.000-05:00

One of the main reasons I love my job is that it allows me to be off 2 days a week and those days can be flexible. This allows me to spend time with the boys but also have adult time because I just don't feel that I am meant to be a full time stay at home mom. The Friday before Halloween, Brody had a Hallelujah party at school - aka Halloween party. He was pretty excited to be able to dress up as his favorite superhero - Luke Skywalker.

Jason dropped him off at school and rushed over to Chick Fil A to pick up the nuggets for his class - how do I get one of the most expensive items on a party list 2 years in a row. Thankfully another mother and I went in together. I just didn't want to cook nuggets myself and you just can't beat CFA.

When I arrived to his classroom I quickly was reminded why I requested Ms. Cicero - all of the kids were at their seat even though there was a party going on. Brody didn't come running to the door to see me because he was told to stay in his seat. I loved it. Even though there were nuggets and sandwiches, the kids mostly filled up on cookies, cupcakes and candy - surprise, surprise, but it's Halloween right and the start of a LONG weekend.

I love how the kids are all sitting down and there is control in the classroom.

My sweet little Luke Skywalker who was so excited about his party that he didn't eat much.

His buddies - Dominic as a dragon, and Trent as Spiderman

His other buddy Nick

He was having so much fun that he didn't want to leave. This was just the start of our busy Halloween weekend.

MNF - Tailgate style

2011-11-04T14:29:00.000-04:00

I know our Jaguars haven't been too great this year, but that doesn't stop us from enjoying a great tailgate party for Monday night football. This is our only time that we get to do this since we are usually rushing from church to make a 1:00 kick off.

We joined up with the Fachko's, Henderson's, and the Mahan's. We all park in the same lot which makes it great for tailgating. There was lots of food, cornhole ( a new invented way), tossing around the football, and of course people watching. We have so much fun tailgating.

Adam our cook.

Here's Jaxson deville entering the stadium - he is the best mascot.

This year we changed our seats to the south end zone and they are great seats. It was hard for me to change though because I liked the group next to us, but we were in mostly a visitor section which lead to some good ~~fights~~ discussions. With this game, I had a guy that didn't realize he could use the fold down part of his seat as a seat instead of sitting on the top part of it - needless to say he was pretty glassy eyed so it didn't matter how nice I could have asked him to sit down I don't think it would have ended nicely so I chose to keep my mouth closed (hard for me to).

This was THE longest game especially since I had to wake up at 5:30AM to get to work. The first quarter was 1 hour so I knew it was going to be a long night. The game was pretty close the entire time so we had to stay until the end - which was 12:15AM - thankfully we WON!!!

HH - day 3 - a day at the stables

2011-11-02T23:06:00.000-04:00

Saturday morning we made a stop at our annual community garage sale. My mom enjoys going here but I'm not usually too keen on the whole thing. It's a huge garage sale, but I think we just don't get out there early enough.

We then headed out to the Sea Pines Resort area, which you have to pay $5 to enter for the day. We went to Lawton Stables to see what all they had to offer. There was a a petting zoo and pony rides, so the boys were pretty excited.

This was a roaming free deer and the boys just wanted to walk beside it. They thought it was pretty cool.

Pony ride time

Trevor thought he was such a big boy to ride the pony. The girl wanted me to walk around with him just in case he wanted to get off or started moving - this boy didn't move and LOVED it.

So cute in his helment

Since we had bought the pass to enter this part of the island, I figured why not go back there for dinner. We ate at Salty Dog Cafe which was right on the marina and they had live music playing outside and of course a bouncy house for the kids - AFTER dinner. I don't think my kids will ever get bored with a bounce house.

It was a great way to end our little vacation. We couldn't have asked for better weather while we were there - 70's and bright sun and about 50's at night. Now Jason said his golf game could have been a little better, but he had fun.

HH - Our biking adventure

2011-11-02T22:01:00.000-04:00

One of the things Hilton Head is known for is their bike paths - they are EVERYWHERE. I biked with Brody 4 years ago, but haven't since then so that was one thing I wanted to do this year. Our condo actually had 5 bikes included which I thought was a great idea. Well, on Friday afternoon after Jason played golf we headed out to ride bikes.

We knew we were going to have rent Brody a bike with training wheels and Jason one that included a seat for Trevor. We thought we could just use the ones from the condo for my mom and I. Well, the bikes were a little rusty and mine had a flat tire but I rode it up to the bike shop so they could blow it up. Well, they said it needed a new tube which would be $15 - ok I guess. I'll be a good person and improve the owners bikes. My mom starts riding hers and one of her tires pops and needs a new tube as well. About 30 minutes later, we end up renting another bike and leave my bike there for them to continue fixing.

Sick and all the boys were having a blast and Brody did great. We rode for about an hour all over our community. We had to stop a couple of times for Brody to rest but he loved it. Maybe bikes are on our Christmas list now.

After our biking adventure, we had worked up an appetite so off we went to an Italian restaurant. I love it when Brody wants to take pictures because he actually will look at the camera.

Trevor is showing off his sweet look. We are trying to get him to actually smile normally instead of the squinty eyes and nose - cute as it may be.

Loving the iphone but Trevor is not wanting to share it with Brody even though Brody just wants to show him how to do it "right"

Hilton Head - a hands on day

2011-11-02T16:23:00.000-04:00

One of the drawbacks of going to Hilton Head is that I have to get up EARLY to drive Jason to the golf course so we can have the car. I literally roll out of bed, put on a jacket and flip flops (with socks) - oh yeah I'm such a pretty sight on these mornings and I pray I don't have to get out of the car - of course Jason didn't realize he didn't shut the back of the vehicle this morning so I had to get out to close it :)

The key is trying to do all of this quietly so the boys don't wake up and I can crawl back in the bed to get a little more sleep. I was pretty successful Friday morning and I'm thankful my mom was there to help with the boys when they got up to allow me a few extra minutes of sleep.

Last year we went a Children's Museum and it was great so we knew we were headed there again this year. Brody actually remembered it and was looking forward to it.

Playing pirates

His mean look

This just makes me laugh

Inside the museum is a front of a plane with the controls - Brody loves this part as he tells me to sit in the back and buckle up.

My pilot and copilot

Trevor was putting on a puppet show for us - he loved seeing himself on tv

Playing in the sand - what little boys do best.

Pretending to drive a car

One thing about this place is everything is SO organized. You can see all the different colors of paper and they have tons of stuff to glue on it. Downstairs is a different craft area with paint - oh the possibilities.

My boys love this place and I'm sure we will always make a point to come here.