Mother's Day

I got my first Mother's Day present the night before. Each spring I hold off on getting hanging plants because Jim and the boys get me some. This year I got some purple ones with lots of blossoms. They did not disappoint. Now I just have to remember to water them so they last all summer.

On Sunday Jim made me breakfast, frozen waffles=my choice I swear. I do not like to go to breakfast and wait two hours on Mother's Day. I did not want to wait two hours for lunch either which is why I didn't get my good seafood that I wanted from Brown's at the beach. We went to the beach even though it was quite windy. They boys (all of them, big one too) wanted to collect some skipping rocks to bring to the camp to skip and I was all about the seafood. I did end up getting some at somd dive but it sufficed.

Such Cutie Patuties.

Sorry, I have no idea!

"Muah!"

Somehow that tongue helps the rock go just a little bit further.

I just love the look of awe and wonder on his face. I love this age of discovery.

Skippers for the camp.

Happy Mother's Day to me!

On the way to the beach we stopped for a quick surprise hug and hi at my friend Karin's house. We said we would see each other once a month when she moved...let's just say I haven't seen her since Halloween! She blew me off for our birthday dinner...(who could blow off the Olive Garden???) and now she says we should hook up after school gets out...That's like 5 more weeks!!! Girl I miss you!

T-Ball

T-ball games officially started. It is kinda funny to watch. I am glad Jacob is doing it. He plays for the Indians.

He was so funny. I did catch it on camera, but his first at bat he slid into first base. I think he thinks he has to. The first week at his new babysitter's he came home with grass stained knees each day. "I have to practice baseball mom, I have to slide." "Kid, I can not afford to buy you new clothes because you want to slide". As soon as he got to first, he had to clean off his shoes. Too funny.
Lookin good.

Pt. 2

I was trying to wait until I got our Disney pictures to post, but unfortunately, I forgot the camera in the trunk and we only had a disposable. I got them done last night one hour and they pretty much s*ck. Not worth even posting...thank goodness I got them for free (they took too long and made me wait).

So the second day in Florida we went to Blizzard Beach. It is a water park with an iceburg theme. Again, I tried to plan ahead and thought I did a good job. Brought our beach towels and flip flops so our feet wouldn't burn up on the pavement. It turns out they were both a waste of effort. You rarely get off the slides etc where you get on so to leave towels and shoes at the start is a waste. We had to centralize our towels on the beach chairs. So sorry to all those tourists who had to view my 'curves' as I walked around in my bathing suit. And as for the flip flops...they had sprinklers misting the concrete everywhere.

My sister in law asked me to take pictures because she wants to get there one day. Unfortuneately I did not read that until after we got back. It was really hard to take pictures at the waterpark for the simple reason that it was a water park. I couldn't take it on the rides and I wouldn't leave it on the 'centralized' beach chair we chose for our towels. We were so busy on the attractions that there wasn't just time to walk around and take pictures. Soooooo...I cheated. Some of these pictures I got off Google.

So the first thing to let you all in on is that as they saying goes...the bigger they are, they harder they fall...or in the water park...the bigger you are, the faster you go. It scared the poop out of me. Not literaly thank god...but it was not enjoyable for me. Especially because you have to go on your stomach head first on some of them.

Joshua was a daredevil again. He, Jeffrey and JIm went on one of the speed slides. Not the super tall one but still, you weren't catching me on it!

They had some cute water slides and a play area for the little guys. I say little guys, but the water at the end of them was 6ft and 8ft. Luckily we found out they had free lifevests since Jacob hasn't learned to swim very well at all yet.

Joshua on the zipline. Jacob did it too.

I liked this slide because we all got to race each other. Again, scarey as heck, but worth it.

We're Back

What a great week! Airplane tickets booked-check...Car rented-check...Hotel booked for the first night-check. Ok, doing good. Let's think ahead-print out some directions. Airport to hotel, got it. Hotel to SeaWorld, our first destination, good to go. SeaWorld to Gram's house, printed. Smooth flight, great behaved boys about 40 seats to spare on the flight. Seems things are going great.

Plane lands, all bags in tow. Let's look at my print outs. What car company did I rent from??? Good question. I forgot to print out that. 10:45 at night and all of the rental companies sound familiar, Budget, Alamo, National...oh man. Budget has like 20 people in it...Alamo sounds familiar. I'm going with Alamo...Bingo! But Jim can't drive...that will be an extra $10. a day. I'm fine with driving. I can spend the $50 another way and did I'm sure.

So we got to the hotel...but you know as the saying goes...if it sounds too good to be true there must be a problem. Me, Miss Cheapy, I was just excited to get a hotel for 5 in Orlando for $40. I mean we didn't need a pool, fancy restaurant or room service. We were only sleeping there and then heading out early for the theme park. BUT...sleeping accommodations for all would have been good. I figured on two double beds and a cot or trundle or somethings. I clearly said 5 people and it is printed on the reservation print out. Two double beds is it!!! Now for some reason, Jeffrey has always acted like Joshua has cooties when it comes to sleeping together...would rather sleep on a floor than with him. So long story short. I slept in the double bed with both of my boys...in the middle mind you because now Joshua has learned to treat Jacob like a leaper(sp?). Not my best nights sleep.

As soon as we got through the line at SeaWorld and were about to start our adventure my foot felt a little funny. I look down only to see my $30 flip flops (I treated myself to some blinged out flip flops) were broken. That extra $50 from Jim sitting co-pilot is not going to last long. There is something for everyone in these gift shops, including new flip flops for Mom.

I think the misfortunes end there...oh wait. I left my only pair of Jammies hanging on the hotel bathroom door. And we found out when we were about to return the rental car that the console has a secret double compartment which explains why we couldn't find the directions to Gram's house even though they were clearly just there a minute ago. Really it was a great week. All of these little pains didn't put a damper on our time. We needed the vacation and I wasn't going to let it.

The boys really enjoyed it. Jacob is at such a perfect age. You can see the excitement on his face and I just loved watching it. Joshua really wants to be like Jeffrey so he was game to go on the crazy rides. Pretty brave for a 7 year old. He went on this crazy rollercoaster. Jacob was too funny. He said, "Mom are you going on that?" I of course said "NO". To which he followed up with, "Good, you can hold this then (his hat)". Because he thought he was going.

In the age of digital cameras, it's good to take a picture of your kids...because I can never remember what they are wearing in case we get separated.

The boys wanted to sit in the Soak Zone. We sat back a few rows. More like the sprinkle zone.

Joshua and Jeffrey were right up in the front near the part where Shamu comes up. I didn't even notice when I took the picture of his splash about the drench the boys, that they were up on the screen above. Chris actually pointed it out to me. I'm pretty sure if you click on the pictures you can see them larger to see it better.

Gotta love Shamu!

I'll post more later...can't catch up a week in a day :)

Posting before leaving...

We are leaving in a few hours to go to Florida. We are all very excited. Unfortuneatly I can't really make anyone here jealous since we're having 80-90 degree temps too...

So as usual, it has been crazy and I haven't posted for a while. Jacob started T-ball. He has had practices and will have his first game the Sat. after we get back. He is really liking it. As Jim says, the practices are painful to watch...but you know, they have to start somewhere. I am so glad he is playing and maybe it will spark Joshua into wanting to do something to.

Last weekend we went for a little walk in the woods. Jim, being the nature man was a little frustrated by the typical boy behavior. They were yelping, running, banging sticks on trees. Behavior to surely keep away any wildlife. I think it was fun. Don't tell anyone, but I even peed in the woods.

"What kind of poop do you think it is?"

I took a picture of myself to prove I was there since I'm usually behind the camera.

This is Jim's attempt at picture taking with my new camera.

Jeffrey in search of catching some newts or salamanders, which ever one lives in the water.

Plenty for everyone.

Happy Anniversary

Holy Cow! I have been so unmotivated to get my butt to writing and today I decide to give it a shot. Today marks one year of this blog. I just checked and my very first post was April 17th.

OK, some random happenings.

This weather is more torture on me. You would think that 60-70 degree days would be welcomed and they are...it's the mornings that are a pisser. The kids don't want to wear coats because they know what the temperature will be. Today, anticipating a 70 degree day thanks to Jacob's teacher, he wanted to wear shorts. Joshua insists he will not be wearing them to school (Big brother influence, you know the teenagers that won't wear a coat in the winter but won't wear shorts in the summer...I'm convinced teenagers are just plan old anti-establishment) But anyway, I regress. Point being that in the morning when we leave it is still 33-34 degrees, one degree above freezing I remind them. And...they have to stay outside for a half hour in the morning. So, bottom line...I'm not the popular mom, but I insist on trying to be a good mom. It's not easy making the unpopular decisions but I think I can deal with it. It is of course made tougher when Jim has been wearing shorts to work for at least three weeks.

Jacob broke a window. We have a little octogon window in our stairwell. He as trying to throw a baseball up on the roof to practice catching it on the way down. Missed the roof, hit the window. Bummer! Contact paper does a good job sticking to woodwork just incase anyone has a temporary draft they need to seal up. Not a noise reducer though.

Easter was great. We were nine altogether. I made pork and ham and yummy cheesey potatoes from Letti's blog on the right of my page. You should check out some of her recipes! Emily made a bunny cake. Here are the ones from this year and last, I like them both. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next year. I think she should try her hand at an Easter Egg cake. Consider that your invite Emily! We enjoyed having you.

This Year. Last Year.

I got the car rented, plane tickets and hotel rented for the first night. Boy are things more expensive than I remember. Actually the hotel was pretty cheap considering it was a vacation spot and we are 5 people, less than 40 bucks. The car was the kicker. Those suckers are like $500 a week. I got a deal for like $380, if you consider that a deal. I'm thinking I could start packing. But that wouldn't go along with my procrastinator MO.

Hey I did get my taxes and my Dad's estate taxes done in time. Mailed them on the 15th. With plenty of hours to spare.

I've got to lose weight. Surprise Surprise I know. But, my blood pressure is starting to rise and if I don't get it under control I will have to go off the pill. And since I can't convince my husband to buy a bag of frozen peas and suck it up to get snipped...I've got to get busy. Wish me luck.

Here are a few pictures of the boys (Ages 5-52) after Easter Dinner.

Let's see, where are we....

Crazy month to say the least. I would like to say we are out of the woods and all healthy. That would be mostly true. I have finally cleared everything. Just in time for Jacob to start some boogie nose crap. I can handle that though.


Jacob continues to have a hard time with his transition to the Kindercare in place of his beloved Kellie's. Kellie's son become ill at the same time we were all fighting the flu. He got a bacterial lung infection that they just couldn't control. He was medically fragile due to his multiple disabilities. He succumbed to his illness in late March. The boys enjoyed Drew. They got an experience that very few got. They unknowingly learned the lesson of accepting and interacting with people no matter of their appearance or limitations. When they 'read' picture books to him, they did not see that he could not see. When they put their four wheelers on his lap for him to play with they did not see that he could not. When they drew him pictures, they did so proudly. I see them interacting with classmates with disabilities the same way and it makes my heart smile (and my face too). As a teacher of disabled students, I see the struggle of inclusion in school and in the community. I am proud of them. Now if I can just get Jacob to 'overlook' nondisability traits, like being fat...Overheard when Jacob called a boy the wrong name, "Oh sorry, I have another boy in my class who is fat too"...can I please just cringe under the table.
This is also a very stressful time of the year at work. It is IEP writing time and I am tidying up the year long collection of work samples for Alternative Assessment. All of this combine gave me the last push I needed to plan a last minute trip to Florida. I have been swaying back and forth struggling between not wanting the little boys to miss a Disney experience and entertaining a 16 year old in a little kid world. We are going to compromise and save money. We are going to stay with my grandmother and go to three days of theme parks. We will go to Disney for the boys, Blizzard Beach (a water park) for Jeffrey and Sea World for us all. I am very excited for all of them (with the exception of wearing a bathing suit) but am worried about my camera. I am still having a hard time getting pictures of moving subjects. I never had this problem with my $200 camera. Now that I have upgraded to a Nikon P80 (which I read a lot of great reviews on) I am struggling.So much to do...so little time. That's what they say. It feels even tighter when you are a procrastinator, self-confessed. I have two IEP's to write for Monday and Tuesday and all I can think about it starting another 'project'. I want to take down the disgusting cheap wood cabinets to have Jim add trim to and paint white. Then of course I will need some color in the kitchen...It's called task avoidance folks, in its true sense!!! I'm in trouble.