Lake Lanier

We went to Lake Lanier today with some of the families from Chris' accountability group. We had a blast. I didn't take too many photos because I spent most of the day in the water. We took three boats out to this sand bar, and played in the sand and water for several hours. Our family rode with Mr. Joe and Mrs. Debbie in the super fast boat that you see on the far left. We spent most of our day swimming out to Mr. Corey and Mrs. Bethany's boat in the center, and the boys jumped off the back of the boat and swam around to the opposite ladder at least 100 times. Mr. Corey also took Jonah around the lake on his tube. While the boys were jumping off of Mr. Corey's boat, I overheard Jonah tell Daniel, "This is Mr. Corey's boat, but that boat over there is mine." You go, Jonah. Name it, and claim it!!! Sorry Mr. Joe.

Karate Kick-a-thon

Jonah was able to participate in a St. Jude Kick-a-thon with karate today. The goal was for the kids to complete 1000 kicks. Jonah was one of the youngest and least experienced kiddos there, but he did great. After 500 kicks, his instructor asked him if he wanted to take a break, and he told him that he wanted to keep going.

Daniel had to sit and watch the entire time, and he was a trooper as well. See him in the bottom of this photo... Jonah is in the white uniform in the center of the group- facing the wrong direction.

I didn't get great pictures, but here is an action shot. This time he was standing in the direction that the rest of the group was facing at least.

And another action shot- back in the wrong direction. Check out that heighth though (and the man's foot that I didn't even notice).

Jonah made it to 600 kicks. At which point, he will want me to let you know that I made him stop. He also raised $60 for St. Jude Children's hospital. Great job, Jonah!!!

Talking to Jesus

My morning routine is that I get up, get a cup of coffee, and have some quiet time before I get the boys out of bed. They are often awake during this time, but they know that they can't come out of thier room until I come to get them. This morning they were especially unruly, and fighting- with lots of crying involved- so I went to intervene. I told them that it was not time to get up, and that I was downstairs trying to talk to Jesus. They needed to be on their best behavior for a few more minutes.
When I went to get them out of bed, Jonah started to run out of the room, and I called him back to make his bed. And he said, "But, Mommy, I need to check and see if Jesus is still here. I need to talk to Him too!"

Yo Ho! Yo Ho! A Pirate's Life for Me

If you ask Jonah what his favorite thing on vacation was, he will tell you it was the pirate ship. We went on a REALLY REAL pirate cruise, and Jonah and Daniel got to be pirates for a couple of hours. It was a blast. No pun intended even though they did fire a cannon. Never mind that the cannon was about 18 inches long.

The adventure was complete with pirate hats...

A water gun fight (Doesn't he look ready to conquer the high seas?)...

Face painting for little boys and their daddys...

And even some limbo time! How low can you go? What a gnarly looking pirate!

This was so much fun, and a bit of marketing genious. We took the "cruise" on Tuesday and discussed going again on Thursday. What could be better than keeping your children contained (I mean entertained) while you chill on a boat for two hours?
Those pirates are smarter than they let on.

Jungle Gardens

We drove over to Sarasota Jungle Gardens for the day. It is basically an outdoor tropical animal petting zoo.The boys each got to hold exotic birds on their arms.We had to show the totum pole some love!The ducks literally walked up and ate out of our hands.
Jonah fed the koi.
And we were warned to watch after our own snacks. We snacked at our own risk. How funny is that?
And, although it is difficult to tell in this photo, we rode over the largest suspension bridge in Florida. It looks very tiny in the background, but it is over 4 miles long.

'That's not a Duck...That's a Pelican!!!"

For those of you who don't recognize the title, it is a quote from Finding Nemo, and we have quoted it often this week. In fact the boys are a little obsessed with pelicans. I must say that Chris and I are as well. It is so fun to watch them dive for their breakfast early in the morning. We had to get a photo of the boys next to the pelican statue. And here is Daniel riding the trolley, which he insisted was a bus, and loving it. You can see the St. Petersburg pier in the background.
The pier was a bit of a disappointment because of the time of day- there was nothing going on- but the trolley ride was well worth the trip.
Then we played games with Daddy's crab legs at dinner.
Daddy only eats the dead crabs, not the live ones- just in case you were wondering. In the pool today, Jonah pretended to be a crab. He would alternate between being a LIVE crab that pinches you, and a dead crab that Daddy could eat. J also got a net to try to capture fish in the ocean. We were not successful with the fish in the afternoon. We will try again tomorrow morning, but Jonah decided to attempt to catch a seagull with our net since the fish were too elusive. I will leave it up to the imagination how successful he was. Here is a hint- we are not sleeping with a seagull in our room tonight.

A Day at the Beach

Tan before we even started... This was prior to our first time on the beach.

The boys are loving the beach. Jonah has learned to body surf, and we have found all sorts of sea creatures and shells. The seagulls and pelicans are plentiful. Sadly, we have no photos of us on the beach because we are too nervous to take our camera out with the water, salt, and sand.
Jonah's new snorkle and mask set. Let's just say that it works better on land than in the sea.
Check out Daniel's choice of footwear. He is such a trendsetter. He's ready for the ocean.

Lazy mornings

Lazy mornings at the beach. Daniel tries to sleep after Jonah is already awake. Good Luck D!

Trail Mix Recipes

A long car trip is only as successful as the food you eat along the way. Of course, anything you do is only as good as the food and company you have available. On our way down to the beach yesterday, we decided to take some of our own snacks to minimize pit stops. Our snack bag included two new trail mixes. Yum, yum! Here are the recipes:

Savory Seed Trail Mix:
1 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1 cup raw shelled sunflower seeds
6 tbsp soy sauce, separated
1/3 cup dark raisins
1/3 cup golden raisins

Toast pumpkin seeds in a non stick skillet until they begin to pop and turn golden brown. Remove from heat and add three tbsp soysauce and toss. Toast sunflower seeds in same skillet until golden brown. Add sunflower seeds to pumpkin seeds and toss with other three tbsp of soy sauce. Add raisins, and return to hot skillet (with heat turned off) to plump raisins and dry the soy sauce. Enjoy!!!
This recipe is even better the second day.

Toasted Coconut Trail Mix:
1 bag flake coconut
1 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup slivered almonds

Toast coconut in oven or toaster oven until golden brown (approx 10 minutes at 350 degrees). Be careful because coconut quickly goes from perfect to burnt. As soon as you smell the coconut, it is time to remove from heat. Toss with the cranberries and almonds and enjoy!!!

Hide and Go Seek

This morning was our first morning to wake up at the beach. It's a hard life, isn't it? Jonah woke up before Daniel, so to allow D to keep resting, we pulled J into our bed. To entertain himself (and us), he made up a new version of hide and go seek.

With his hand.

We took turns counting to ten and looking for one another's hands hidden under the covers. Quite the challenge!!!

Vacation Bible School

Jonah went to VBS this week, and had a blast.
He sang me songs in the evening, told me the Bible stories that they learned, and showed me his crafts each day. Today was the final day, and he told me the story of Jesus dying on the cross. Apparantly when he died on the cross, they put a really big rock on top of Him. Then when they moved the rock, Jesus wasn't there. He was alive, and then He went to heaven. At least he got the important details right.

Happy Anniversary

The Man and I celebrated 9 wonderful years of marraige yesterday.

He surprised me and came home from work early with so many yellow roses that they wouldn't even all fit in one vase.
He walked in the front door and the first thing he saw was Susannah sitting in the kitchen. We were baking to get ready for vacation next week. So romantic. Fortunately, he is used to it by now. A house is not a home unless it is full and shared often!

Happy Anniversary, Baby! I love you!

Washington Farms

We traipsed off to Watkinsville yesterday to strawberry pick. The berries were small, but delicious. I had help for about the first half gallon, and then I was on my own.
How about the cutest little strawberry harvester you have ever seen? I think that he consumed more than he placed in the bucket even with my constant reminders that they were not washed yet. Papa even joined us for some reinforcements, which was fabulous when all the boys deserted me to play on the nearby playground.
Jonah and Grant's favorite was the super high tree swing.
When I went to pay for my strawberries (only $8 a gallon by the way), the dude at the checkout was going to give me a discount because my buckets were not completely full. I told him that was to make up for the berries that were eaten along the way. After we finished at the berry patch, we had a picnic lunch, and came home for some R&R. Here is what three little boys look like after a long day on the farm.

Field Day and Last Day of School

I can't believe that Jonah is officially out of preschool. He made it, and it seems that his teachers survived as well. Of course there is an unwritten rule that all schools must cram as many activities into the last few weeks of school as possible, so here are some photos of field day and Jonah's graduation picnic...

I'm not sure what this little girl's name is, but I had to include her because she wore a tiara the entire field day. Because what field day ensemble is complete without my tiara?

There were Dizzy Bat Derbys...

Amazing displays of balance...

And even potato sack (or in this case, pillow case) relays...

Here is Jonah with his teacher, Ms. Holland on the last day of preschool. We had a wonderful year. Great job big boy!

Tagged again

loving. joy. friendly. mama. wife. child-of-the-king.



here are the rules for this meme:

1) Write your own six-word memoir about yourself.2) Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you'd like.3) Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to this original post if possible, so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere.4) Tag five more blogs with links.5) And don't forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play.



Try to ignore how I broke the rules by hyphenating and trying to make a phrase one word. :) consider the source. Six words could never be enough. I'm also a little disjointed, so I had to come up with six separate words instead of a phrase.



Andrea, you are tagged.
Kristina, you too.
Melanie, you are it as well.

Kum Ba Ya

We finally did it. We have been talking about taking the boys camping since Jonah left the crib behind- because who wants to take two pack and plays on a camping trip? Now that both boys are out of pack and plays, we finally planned a trip...

We took the Sanford's with us- or they took us with them, and we camped at Watson Mill Bridge State Park. Here is our campsite all set up.

Friday night we enjoyed Smores, and then we finally got the boys settled and asleep.

Around 4 o'clock in the morning, Chris woke up to use the restroom, and when he got up, he found Kristina and Christopher up as well. They had seen lightning flashes off in the distance, and although there was not a cloud in the sky, they decided to put all of our stuff away just in case. Within fifteen minutes, there was a HUGE thunder storm on top of us. It poured, and the lightning was flashing at the same time that the thunder was crashing. It lasted for about two hours. Good times in a tent.

By the time we got up on Saturday, the sky was clear, but everything was soaked (including a little inside of each of our tents). We got to enjoy our day though playing on the playground,

and on the rocks and waterfall.

Grant and Jonah also loved feeling like big boys and riding their bikes around the campground by themselves.

See the waterfall and covered bridge in the distance. It was beautiful.

We also hiked on some of the trails. I have never seen so many ticks in all my life. I pulled two off of Jonah that were already attached, and we pulled over twenty off of all of us combined. It was insane.

The boys also enjoyed a massive water baloon fight. You know the kind where the mommys spend twenty minutes filling the baloons, and the kids take two minutes to throw them at each other.

This is where poor Jaxon spent a lot of his time. Attached to the picnic table. Poor baby.

And, just in case you were wondering. This is what four boys look like at the end of a campout.

And, here is the end of the story...

Saturday evening, when we finished smores and baths for the boys, someone drove by to warn us that the storms coming through that night would be worse than the night before. Since we were going to enjoy pancakes and break camp first thing Sunday morning, we decided to see how fast we could load up and head home instead of braving the storm (again). Forty- five minutes later we were in our vehicles headed home. Jaxon was already asleep when we made the decision, and I don't know if you can see the pack and play in the middle of this picture of the boys taking the tents down. But, Jaxon is asleep in the pack and play. They literally took the tent down around him and he stayed asleep.

Good times were had by all.

I'm an ADD cleaner

I hate clutter. The Man and I were just discussing last night how we tend to err on the side of giving something away or throwing it out rather than hanging in to it (just in case we might need it later). But, I cannot stand to have clutter sitting around. Now keep in mind that I have children. Clutter and children apparantly go hand in hand. There are days when I feel like it is out of control, and those always seem to be the days when we are having company. Funny how that happens, huh?

When I am feeling overwhelmed, I have a tendency to start in one room (usually the kitchen) and never make it to any other room in the house. So, I have to limit myself. I will set the timer, start in one room and work there until the timer goes off. No exceptions. Then I move to the next room and reset the timer. It Works for me. Head on over to visit Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer to find other Works for Me tips.

It's officially official!

Just in case anyone was wondering, it is official that my children are boys.

Proof:
I just caught Jonah drinking water from the spout of the Brita pitcher in our kitchen.

Yep, It's a Boy!

A very sad confession

Okay. Here goes. I am finally swallowing my pride enough to admit why I haven't posted as frequently lately.

First and foremost, we have no way of uploading out photos onto our new computer. It makes for some very boring posts, in my opinion, without pictures. At least, that is my story and I am sticking to it.

Secondly, I am ashamedly adicted to two television shows that are not even on tv anymore. Okay one of them is currently still airing, but it is on season 4, and I am still way behind.

My first addiction is to Alias. I want to be Sydney Bristow when I grow up. Really I just want Jennifer Garner's body, and I want to kickbox bad guys. Is that really so wrong? Here is the beauty and the problem with getting hooked on a show on DVD. You don't have to wait to watch the next episode after a cliffhanger. You can just move right on to the next episode or even the next season when you find out that Sydney has been missing for two years. I mean seriously, who can go to sleep after that, when you know the explaination is in the next box?

The second show that I am addicted to is Lost. Although I like Alias better, I must admit that Lost is even more addictive. I really can't stop myself. I have been staying up way too late, way too many nights in a row, and I am even dreaming about the characters. See, I told you it was a sad excuse.

But it really is all about the lack of photos. That is the real reason. Y'all believe me, right?
So, there you go. Now the truth is out there. And to anyone who is looking for me, I'm probably glued to my tellie.

P.S. I was tempted to disallow comments on this post, because I don't want to hear what all of you have to say about it. But I am a big girl, and I can take it. I think?

Seven Things...Seriously?

I'm not that interesting. Andrea over at Braun Family Circus tagged me for a meme, and apparantly she thinks that I am interesting enough to share seven little known facts about myself. Here is my best attempt:

1. I have a phobia of elbows. I hate them. They are gross. They are usually dry, dirty, and nasty. I don't want them to touch me in any way, shape, or form, and if I do accidentally come into contact with someone else's elbow, I have to wipe my skin off. Is that a weird enough start?



2. I have always wanted a pair of red cowboy boots. I don't know why. I don't live anywhere near Texas. No matter how out of style they may be, I want to wear them with a short denim skirt. I wouldn't mind a cute cowboy hat either, but not at the same time. I tried some very loud black and red ones on one time with Nikki, and she swore that she would not be seen with me if I purchased them. Sorry, Nikki...One day I will own a pair. I just can't help myself.



3. When I was in Kindergarten, I was such a perfectionist that I wrote a lowercase "a" on my paper, and my teacher thought that I left the top of it open, and that it was a lowercase "u." I was so distraught that I got a 99% instead of a 100% that I cried and argued the grade. Wow! I was such a nerd. And, now I'm boring enough that I still remember it and am obviously scarred for life. This really is awful. I apologize to anyone who is still reading.



4. I made the cheerleading squad my freshman year in high school. I quickly learned that getting along with seven other females in a forced environment was not my forte. I know that this will come as a shocker to those of you who know me well, but I can be a bit bossy. I ended up punching a girl on my squad in the face during a football game. I didn't try out the next year. I only ever punched a person in the face one other time in my life. I will leave that one up to the imagination.



5. On our honeymoon, Chris and I ended up on a charter bus to get from the airport to our hotel in Miami. We were the only people besides the driver on the bus. We don't need no stinking taxi. I warned you that this wasn't worth reading.



6. When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a hair stylist, a teacher, an American Sign Language interpreter, and Wonder Woman. I think there may have been a brief aspiration to be Princess Lea too until I realized that the underoos I had were not her "real" outfit.



7. To anyone who knows me, this is not a little known fact, but I am completely out of ideas. I could subsist on chips and salsa and popcorn if I knew that they weren't both horrible for me in excess. If I were ever stranded on an island, those would definitely be the two food items that I would request. My favorite salsas are homemade tomato salsa (recipe adapted from Andrea Braun) and Chili's salsa. Mmmmmmm. My current favorite popcorn is home popped in olive oil on the stovetop.

Here is who I tag to keep this meme going...

1. Kristina Sanford (so that she will actually post something on her blog)
2. My new friend, Jen
3. An old friend, Melanie Crozier (Melanie's not old. I've just known her for a while).
4. (and 5) The two smartest people I know, Nikki and Beth. I've only officially met Beth once, but I am nervous about tagging her because it means that she might actually read my blog, and that is just intimidating.

6. (and 7.) One of my favorite people that I never get to see and her son, Walker, Christy.