End of Summer

Today we had perfect spur of the moment fun. The kids and I were going to go to the park in the afternoon after G was done with school (E didn't go again, he was up at 3:30am for a few hours, and I just figured he had only been on the medicine a few days, keep him home with me) Clay called and said he was done with work- a few hours early and was on his way home. We waited for him, then after a game of trap (the kids trap each other under the laundry basket) and a mini dance party (blaring music, then they both leave the room and the radio stays on) Clay napped (we are still all fighting the germs). I cut up the sweetest watermelon of the year and we ate it outside, instead of the constant gray clouds and humidity we have had lately it was gorgeous out. So we woke up Dad and said lets hit the beach one more time before summer is totally gone. We went out to Sandbridge, taking into account playgrounds and parking (Oceanfront still has metered parking till oct 1, sandbridge free). The playground was full of preteens, like 2 bus loads. No one else around of course, except maybe 10 people at the beach.

we walked the pier, G did a few Vogue poses that I caught

E ran the pier, and looked just as excited as his dad gets when out on a fishing pier

we flew our big kite, the wind was great- almost a little too windy

we all smiled, and soaked in the end of summer

snacks for E and a stick for G, she is really into writing (the same things over and over)

tickled our toes in the water

E ran across all of G's hard work writing, on purpose.

made foot prints, while singing Hi HO Hi Ho (Disney CD in the car on the drive)

"a girl without freckles is like a sky without stars"

Boys being boys! Looks like E is trying to reach the power lines, they really weren't anywhere near him!

It was a fabulous trip to the beach, and we finished it off with burgers at Red Robin and drove home thru the darkest clouds ever and so much rain that it was coming in the chimney!

Thiefs

"the" Grasshopper made another appearance last week, I am sure it wishes it wouldn't have. The kids had quite a good time chasing it, squealing when they got it and then letting it jump off them... to start it all over again. I noticed he only had 1 leg- although it didn't look freshly done.
I have these sneaky little things I like to call Thiefs that come visit often. They love to steal things as I am preparing dinner, usually it is things like grated carrots. Today they both got into the crime of sneaking lettuce out of the fridge, during the middle of the day.
This girl thinks she is being quite the rebel, and enjoys it! Man, stealing vegetables- lets hope it doesn't get any worse than that!
We opened the front door to a package, inside were new jammies (among other trinkets) for the kids from Nana and Baba. Gabby was more than willing to model and smile in her Hello Kitty ones.
Elliot didn't want to cooperate. Then he came out of his room and wanted me to take a picture of his book, so I did (with him in his Batman pajamas too!)
The medicine must be working, the boy did not want to go to bed- it was 9pm before he was asleep! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the goodies, xoxox

MD

Just call me Mommy Doctor.

E has been extra tired the past week, and that is so unlike him- actually wanting to nap! In the wee hours of Sunday morning G woke me up because she got hot (really? take your blanket off!) so I got up and checked on E as long as I was awake (yes every time I wake up I check on the kids.) I noticed his diaper had leaked, so I changed him, and doing so, noticed he was so HOT. I took his temperature, it was just over 102. Medicine and ice water, then just about back to sleep and he started talking crazy. He told me he was magic, he could blow his breath and see something on the ceiling. When is it crazy and when is it just childhood imagination? That woke me right up, and him too. We ended up on the couch for 2 hours, watching a bit of a cartoon and snuggling till he was "normal" and I was beyond exhausted. All of Sunday he was sick, taking a nap 2hrs after waking up, not finishing milk or juice (the kid can guzzle juice like you wouldn't believe.) After another nap, and a dose of motrin wearing off his temp was up to 103. I am not one to wait around to see if it will get better, just a bug type thing. I know my kid. He wouldn't eat, except popsicles. I left Clay to make dinner and I took E to the clinic. We got the Dr I hoped (if he had a private practice I would go to him, he is so calm and gentle. We have seen him 3 times before I think during off hours- and I like him better than our old regular Dr). E was a trooper, and he did everything they asked of him; standing on the scale, height, finger pulse, temperature... The Dr said his throat looked fine, but lymph nodes were swollen. E didn't mind them shoving the huge Q-tip down his throat, he just asked the guy why. Results, just as I suspected: Strep Throat! Neither G or E has had it before, but somehow I just knew thats what it was. Must be cold and flu season, the clinic was all out of the antibiotic! And of course being a Sunday evening the pharmacies all closed at 6pm and we were 45 minutes too late. We got the medicine today, and now it is just a matter of the rest of us not getting sick. I am ever hopeful, feeling crummy all day and exhausted, and Clay seems to be in the same boat as me. Movie night it is!

On the bright side, I made a new dessert. It is easy and mostly healthy! I had 2 frozen bananas that stared ugly at me each time I opened the freezer.... I peeled them and chopped them up (may try peeling them before freezing them next time) put them in the blender with a spoonful of unsweetened cocoa powder, it wouldn't blend well so I added some splashes of coconut milk (not the canned kind, rather the jug kind I bought as an alternative to regular milk). Blended up and it was delicious! try it.

hunting

What a whirlwind this week has been. Last Wednesday started out with a perfect trip to the beach after I picked the kids up from school. The beach was practically empty, as you would expect it to be at 1pm in the middle of September. I counted 25 people, and then the Marines doing exercises on the sand when we were leaving. I felt proud, and good- even if I don't feel comfy in a swimsuit. I saw people watching us, maybe it was because we each had a turn getting our legs covered in sand and sculpted into a mermaid tail, or that we were playing a serious game of tag, or us defending our popcorn with a foam hammer from the seagulls. It was awesome, and I was so glad we had that special end of summer day. Part of my plan to spend 3 hours running in the sand was due to our Thursday trip. At 3pm we were on the road and headed South. I forget frequently of our geographical location, but it was unmistakable that we really are in the South just an hour out of town. Last time we took this route out of town it was to avoid the hurricane, and dark.... on the way back we were looking for downed trees.
It was unbelievable to see all the things we had passed by and not even noticed. Cotton growing, like field after field of it. Oh yeah, and a real life cotton gin. We passed what we are pretty sure was tobacco somewhere in either North or South Carolina. We passed a semi truck full of pigs. Also, those salty peanuts G has been wanting. Well we tried a totally Southern thing- boiled peanuts. yuck, sorry. none of us were fans. They were cold, the shells full of salt water, and the peanut was totally mush. The guy who we bought them from was a little surprised by all my questions, but said he loved them so much now he wanted a bag!

We stopped for dinner, at a truck stop. Somehow that took 45 minutes, and then add on a few potty breaks. We got into our hotel and asleep at 2am. Our hotel by the way was a priceline deal, 3 star in the area and we ended up at the Courtyard Marriott on the campus of the Mayo Hospital. Strange to drive around the hospital in the middle of the night, but it ended up being great and fairly kid friendly (mostly the bistro we ate breakfast at which had a tv in our booth that had kid shows on!) The weather was crummy, like such a big thunder storm that our power went out at the hotel in the middle of the night (just quickly, but I was already awake from the rain and thunder, and we were on a middle floor!). The "gator pond" as Clay called every little body of standing water, was almost overflowing when we left the hotel in the morning.
We fell in love, with a house. Of course someone else likes it too- and our realtor didn't find that out before we left town. I think I could get used to over 2800 sq feet, especially only 4 years old. Cross your fingers. We are still looking, and planning a quick trip for Clay one weekend soon to see more houses- ones that hopefully we could close on quickly and move into so we aren't scrambling on a place to live when we move in... oh yeah just about a month! eek.
The drive North was a bit longer, mostly because the kids weren't sleeping for hours of it. We still had a good time, and the kids watched too many movies. We may need to rename our van the "candy carravan" after the amount that was consumed during our trip. Not only did I buy a big bag of licorice and some lemon heads, our realtor gave the kids a bag full of treats to help with the getting in and out of the car constantly. Our realtor was great, especially now that we know what we are looking for and so does she. She took us to her house for bathroom breaks and cold drinks- since many of the houses had no power which means no a/c on. She got Gabby a new littlest pet shop set too (an alligator, hello massive UF gear everywhere!) and a Cars projection flashlight for Elliot.

South of the Border. this place was wild, and crazy, and ridiculous, and fun. We stopped at the reptile farm, to stretch our legs and see some reptiles. Mostly crocodiles (many different kinds) turtles, snakes and then this pool of small alligators.

it was classy

the entire area was flocked on both sides of the streets by random statutes, Pedro being the main character, but animals too (dino, gorilla, chicken, flamingos, etc). They really spare no expense when advertising, you see billboards 200 miles away, and lots of them!

I spotted something up ahead of us and instantly knew what it was! Yes, we saw the "weinermobile" how exciting is that!
Life is continuing to be exciting, and eventful and full. On the way home from work yesterday Clay got in a car accident. He was less than half a mile from home, in our development. A big van was doing some crazy u-turn type move and not looking, he managed to swerve enough to only get his passenger fender crunched. He is fine, they were fine (possibly un-insured) and it got figured out. He gets his car fixed tomorrow.

On another note, E and I had a date today while G was at school. We went to the park and played for almost 2 hours. He found his new superhero cape in my purse and wore it, I used my sweatshirt tied around my neck as a cape. We ran the hills after playing on the toys and were totally awesome superheroes. Tonight when I put him to bed (at 6:45p because he was so tired) I said "good night Super Elliot" and told him what a fun day I had with him. He replied "thank you supper momma!" What a sweet boy.

G had a bit of a rougher day, cranky from sun up to sun down, except for school she says. She does have a school best friend, and they both are so excited to see one another in the morning. They hold hands and walk to their room! of course she would find a(nother) great friend, who lives close to us and has a 2 year old brother.... we are moving. thats it for this novel, off to watch the season premiere of Glee!

busy

Life has yet to calm down, especially with the addition of pre-school. School has been a wonderful experience so far. Gab loves going each day and is having a fun time meeting new friends and getting assigned jobs. So far she has been line leader, caboose, and weather girl. The job all the kids want is being in charge of the lunch boxes (pass them out to all 7 other classmates). Somehow she is the oldest in her class, and tallest, and since she is in the only pre-k class we have come to the conclusion she is the biggest kid in school! I pack her lunch every night, and we agree on an outfit for her to wear so there won't be any fights in the morning. Elliot has gone two days, the first there were tears from both him and I. Monday when I brought him he was a little clingy, but didn't cry. He hugged his teacher and I heard a little whining, but it lasted only a minute. He and the lead teacher are buddies. His favorite thing I have heard about is when they got to play musical instruments, for this weeks letter is M. After school Monday the kids and I headed to the toy store to pick out E's potty chart prize of a sword. He filled the chart up, even tho he hasn't been wearing underwear full time. We had such a great start, and then it got a little rocky. We seem to have better luck when we are out or with friends over. Today he came and told me quietly twice while our friend was here playing he needed to go potty. A few accidents later in the day, but he is still doing a really great job! Gabrielle has a sticker chart going, just for fun. The prize she wants when it fills up is a bag of salty peanuts- in their shells. where this idea came from I have no clue.

Just to make sure life stays busy we have the excitement thrown in of the van not starting on our way to school today. I fiddled around a little and could tell the battery post was corroded. I somehow got it started with a little luck and got the G to class on time. Once Clay got home from work he took a few trips back and forth from the store to get the right parts to replace the terminal connections- or something like that. I had it explained to me, but really as long as it worked and is safe I have no clue what was going on.

Oh and did I mention we are going to spend like 20 hours in the car this week to go house hunting. fun.

One bright point in our weekend was a trip up to Williamsburg where our dear friend Amber was staying at a fancy resort for a family reunion. Amber was part of our 9th floor family in Japan. It has been 3 years without seeing her, she hadn't even met Elliot- outside of my stomach! We got the joy of playing with her nephew and the kids borrowed some of his swim clothes, due to me not even thinking to bring any for our visit ( I now have some that I am keeping in the car, just for those times).

heart

war paint aka my mascara! this happened in the time it took me to brush my teeth. the boy is sweet as can be, and he sure likes to keep me on my toes.

1st day

End of Summer catch up

It is all of a sudden the end of Summer, and it feels like it happened too quickly. We had a pretty wonderful summer, and kept busy. Although we kept busy, I don't have too many pictures of whatever it is we have been busy doing!

The kids caught grasshoppers in the back yard, and wanted to keep them as pets.

this was our hotel room in NC, playing with our cool flashlights that have little lids you snap over the light that then projects shapes onto the wall- we have dinosaur and pirate shapes.

last year I ran the race and these two amazing ladies cheered me on, this year we swapped rolls! they did amazing, and really motivate me to start running again.

there is a bus that parks up the street (VA is strange, the drivers park the buses near their homes bc the garage can't handle the thousands of buses there are) so we did a beginning of the school year picture by it.

we met 3 other families at the beach today, and this pretty butterfly fluttered around us while the kids chased it.

one of the "new fisherman" who caught the fishing bug from Clayton caught this Pompano fish. Clay has yet to catch one, they are pretty rare in VA so there may be a little jealousy! does it count that the guy was using Clay's fishing gear, and Clay un-hooked it? He will have his chance in FL to catch many I am sure. Pretty, and quite delicious too I hear (although this was too little.)

Our dear British friends had their handsome boy last night, after 39 hours of labor! I went up and visited, and got to hold Jaxon and congratulate Shaun and Marella. Brought back so many memories of my 1st baby, the pre-eclampsia, induction, magnesium sulfate and an IV for days, being in another country, etc. Oh how I love and am amazed by birth!
Can you believe these 2 start pre-school this week? Tomorrow is open house, and then Wednesday they start. I know it is only 3 hours, Gabby will go 4 days and Elliot 2 days a week, but I am already trying to wrap my head around how they are big enough to go to pre-school... and how I am going to handle it emotionally! It is so rare that the kids are away from both Clay and I. Gabrielle is beyond excited, and Elliot- well he wants to make sure I will pick him up. Actually he wants to go to school with Nana!