Weekend Stuff

This weekend flew by and now its Tues afternoon and I am playing catch up!

Saturday we spent the morning at the pool. A friend of mine is selling Mary Kay and so I agreed to attend one of her workshops Saturday afternoon. Then I met Todd and the kids at his brothers house where his Uncle Skip and Aunt Konni were visiting with one of their kids and three of their grandkids.

Sunday we got up and went to church and then attended an art exhibit that Tori had won a place in representing her school awhile back. A ceremony was held and certificates given for those students in the exhibit as well. Below is a picture of the art she had submitted...it was watercolors on rice paper.



Then Sunday afternoon Todd and the kids watched Bolt and I joined a couple of friends for a last minute birthday celebration for another friend at Cheesecake Factory - yummy!!!

All in all it was a nice weekend. Back to the grind Monday morning though and today I am working split shifts - 7 am to 2 pm and 7 pm to midnight. Blah!

Sea World

Not one - but two field trips this week for my kids. Friday I got to accompany Tori to Sea World with the gifted program. They have been studying "ocean odysseys" and this was the big hurrah. We saw some cool shows, checked out some cool exhibits and got an educational tour of the Florida animals (manatees, sea turtles, alligators). Just a couple of quick pics!

A Day at the Zoo

Wednesday Tristan's kindergarten class when on their last field trip of the year - to the zoo! The kids had a blast and I survived. It was a nice day but 6 six year old boys at the zoo is alot of kids to handle.

8 things

I don't really have time but I have the desire to waste time instead of doing other things so...inspired by Laurie's list, here are 8 things...


8 Things I’m Looking Forward To
1. Chaperoning Tristan's field trip to the zoo tomorrow.
2. Chaperoning Tori's field trip to Sea World Fri.
3. Dinner with friends we dont see often Fri night.
4. The art exhibit this weekend in Clearwater Tori earned a spot in.
5. Toris American Idol bday party.
6. May 1st - the kids are spending the night at my brother's!
7. A quiet evening reading in bed.
8. The UPS guy to bring the new shoes I ordered from Chadwicks.

8 Things I Did Yesterday
1. Went to the gym at 5 am, again.
2. Worked.
3. Taught my mom to attach pictures to her email.
4. Read the 26th book in a series Angelle got me stuck on.
5. Ate super yummy Otis Spunkemeyer cookies.
6. Got together a bag of stuff for good will.
7. Uploaded pictures from my camera to Walgreens.
8. Ordered new shoes from Chadwicks.

8 Things I Wish I Could Do
1. Lose weight.
2. Keep on top of my laundry so the mountain goes away and stays away.
3. Get 8 hours of sleep.
4. Take a girls weekend to Rio, guilt free!
5. Figure out how to make my dog not bark at things.
6. Have time/money to go back to school for my master's degree.
7. Invent something that kept grout clean - all the time, scrub free.
8. Write as well as I read books.

8 Shows I Watch
1. 24
2. Chuck
3. Life
4. Grey's Anatomy
5. Private Practice
6. News
7. Jay Leno
8. Friends
I really only watch the top 3 regularly these days though. I will catch up over the summer on the others. And of course Friends is just reruns!

8 people Who Should Do This

Have at it! I especially like the what are you looking forward to question...so what are you excited about?

Addedum to Dad Saves the Day

It was a "brown water snake" that lives near lakes in FL - ew. It can grow up to 60 inches long - ew. It can climb trees - ew. It can also throw itself out of trees to escape it's predators - double ew.

Do I need to mention that I am now not walking anywhere near the trees or our lake?

Dad Saves the Day

Sometimes it can be, um, tense, living next door to your parents but yesterday I was so thankful. We needed a few groceries after the soccer game so Todd who had met us at the fields took the kids home and I headed out to the store. So I walk up to my house, carrying my insanely heavy milk, coffee, etc and what is awaiting but a giant snake on my door mat.

I am not even exaggerating. It was not a racer but some unidentified creepy two and a half foot long visitor. Freaked me out. And despite my excellent girl scout training I could not tell what kind of snake it was and therefore was not going near it. I did not want Todd to open the door in fear that it would bolt towards the open door and right into my house so I got my dad who got a broom...and yep saved the day!

Still freaks me out since I leave for work in the dark, but I won't forget to turn on our outside light as I go for awhile. It slithered off into our bushes, hopefully it stays away!

Stuff

So Easter morning was lovely. Got up early, kids found the eggs we had dyed the night before that magically crawled out of our fridge and around the living room/dining room (no yard remember and warmish weather!). Then it was off to church for the morning service. Afterwards we headed to my brother's in Brandon for honeybaked ham and all sorts of yummy sides. We usually do KFC at the park so this was a big change for us but nice nonetheless. Then we had a quiet evening at home.

This morning was Tori's Battle of the Books competition. The third graders lost to the fifth graders and she did not actually get to answer any questions as the alternate but she did get a trophy for being on the team at all and she was VERY excited about that. She was also excited about the idea of being on the team in the next couple of years and now knowing how to study for the test.

Then we met Aunt Jenni for dinner who excitedly told the kids about her pregnancy. She had sono pics and while the kids were very polite and reserved at dinner had much to say in the car on the way home...maybe not to say but to ask. Standard how does that baby get in there again? How do you know when it gets there? But then there was some really sweet ones too...do you think Jesus knows if its a boy or girl? Do you think that baby knew to wave at his mommy like that? (There is a picture of the hand that looks like it is waving!) And of course they both want to know how they get those pictures period. It was neat listening to them discuss it with each other. The other pregnant women in our lives have been either not close enough relationship wise or location wise for them to see the process in such detail...anyway congrats to Aunt Jenni and the peach!

Now there is a dance party happening in my living room to Cha Cha Slide and Miley Cyrus' new Hoedown Throwdown. Love it!

Easter Egg-Stravaganza

Today was the annual Bayside Eggstravaganza. There were egg hunts, carnival games, face paint, egg dying, a ventriloquist, balloon animals and inflatable. Fun times. Todds brother, Brett and his family joined us out there as well. Just a few quick pics - Aislynn wanted to escape the picture so its not the best but all 4 are in it, and the other is of Tori and her friend, Leah waiting at the shuttle that took us back to our car at Countryside High.

Pretty Pictures

These are yearly pics/Easter pics/Toris bday pics - I love them! Hope you do too.

The Best Cure

I have had a crappy crappy week and its only Tues. Tori got sick, work is horribly stressful right now - long boring story as to why - something everyday, and way too little sleep.

But the perfect cure is very near...

A good book.
Chinese takeout.
Flannel pajamas.
Early bedtime.

I can feel the stress leaving with just the thought...

Spring Break Finale

Okay so its a weak finale. Saturday Todd and the kids went to a birthday party for one of his classmates. Cute idea - they made a little bikie arena at the park and all the kids brought bikes. The mom even made little trophies as their take home gift with bikes on top. I went to a bridal shower for a friend who used to be one of the kids babysitters that we met through youth group. Shes all grown up now though and the wedding is a month away! Odd but nice...

Today we slept in - made a big breakfast of french toast and sausage. Planning to catch a movie this afternoon, Monsters v Aliens, possibly with Dave and Rhiannon and Ty...then its time to get stuff back together for the week. Clothes laid out, backpacks packed.

Day 6 & 7: Big Bands and Big Bangs

Thursday was Day 6 of spring break and the kids spent the day with my friend Christie and her son Landon while Todd and I had to work. Christie took them to the park and to Ritters (frozen custard/italian ices) and they sang karoake and watched the Bee Movie. All in all a fun day. Then we headed to a night parade in downtown St.Pete we go to every year. It was unfortunately quite lame this year...and I had managed to forget to put batteries in my camera so no pictures either. The only kind of cool thing is that the Honda Grand Prix was in town so we got to see Mario and Marco Andretti and Danica Patrick.

Friday Todd took the day off to hang out with the kids. He and Dave decided to build and launch model rockets. Here are a couple of pictures of the kids and Ty, and of course the two big kids with their new toy!

Spring Break Day 5

Wednesday was my day off and so we took a trip to the beach. The day started off slightly overcast but by 10:30 it was sunny and beautiful with just enough wind that kept us cool. 4 other friends from church came and a couple of them brought their kids so that was nice too. Then we came home and the kids had Easter pics which I will post next week when I get them.Here are couple of pictures: My kids, My kids and Kate, and Tori with her sandcastle and its fence.

Day 4

I had to work again but the kids spent the day with our friend Travis. They went to the library, the park and played lots of Connect Four Stacko which they love.

Then daddy came home and we went to Arby's for yummy jamocha shakes and then mini-golfing at Celebration Station. I got a hole in one on the first hole and then got progressively worse. Daddy won as usual but we all came in close, the kids are getting better and better at it and we only had to chase the ball of the course twice!

Day 3

Boring. I had to work, kids went to my friend Di's. We came home did laundry, watched a movie, had hot dogs and onion rings for dinner.

The end.