Spring Break in Florida 2010

Here's what we did....



A little baby blessing.A little getting to know our newest cousin, Addy. An unplanned easter egg hunt.

A little pretending to be an astronaut (and we did actually get to see the launch of the final space shuttle...but no pictures of that!) A teeny tiny bit of Disney.
A lot of cousin time.

An awful lot of Mary doing anything but go near the ocean.And a lot of fun in the water.

Tanner would say we also did a lot of driving which is true. As it turns out everyone (or at least the other four moms at my kid's bus stop) goes to Florida for spring break!

Have you ever.....

Have you ever gotten up before the kids to exercise on Monday morning so that you have the rest of the day to be really productive?

Have you ever had a perfect plan of attack for your productive morning that included the post office, the bank, a goodwill drop and a little shopping for your upcoming spring break trip?

Have you ever had such a fun, busy weekend that you had to have a nap on Sunday afternoon and forgot to help your first grader finish (or start really) her timeline project for school?

Have you ever been in the office 10 minutes before the bus comes on your precisely planned Monday morning when said timeline project is due trying to finish it up and had your 2 year old fall off the office chair, hit her head on the leg of the desk and split her head requiring an unexpected trip to the ER?

Have you ever heard how much scalp wounds bleed? It is true.

An episode of Dora, four staples and a popsicle later, all is well.

Mary and Sarah helping out

Many things about this video make me chuckle.

First, how furiously Mary is cleaning!

Second the huge ball of wipes that Sarah is hiding behind her back.

And third how Sarah tries to blame it all on Mary!

I held the camera the wrong way and have no idea how to rotate a video so either tilt your head to the side or pick up your monitor and rotate it 90 degrees clockwise! Sorry!

Bracketology according to Ella

Me: Georgetown or Ohio?

Ella: Of course Ohio, silly!

Me: Butler or UTEP?

Ella: (giggling) Butler has a funny word in it

Me: Vanderbilt or Murray St.?

Ella: Murray St. has my middle name in it!

Me: Temple or Cornell?

Ella: Temple helps us get to heaven

Me: Clemson or Missouri?

Ella: Have I been to Missouri?

Me: No

Ella: Then Clemson

Me: Kansas or Lehigh?

Ella: Well, Lehi was a prophet...

Happy Birthday Mary Berry!!!

'Twas two years ago that into our life

popped this little berry out of my wife

With four other children already present

the housing situation became very unpleasant

But with eyes and a smile so sweet

having her around turned into a treat

She's learned to say bumblepus, Dora, and fries

but love of the latter has resulted in 95th percentile thighs

While all the kids love to smother her in hugs and kisses

a somewhat disappointed Tanner still wishes

that while he and Mary are of the same genus

there are days where he'd rather she had a...

...lego set

bicycle

comic book

cookie, etc.

What were you guys thinking?

Yesterday was a big day

Tanner had his first pine wood derby. While his car wasn't the fastest, I overheard some of the older scouts say that they thought his car was the coolest.

How do you know which way R2D2 is facing?

Ella lost another tooth. She got hit in the face during basketball practice. She was actually pretty excited about it. She even wrote a note to the tooth fairy explaining what happened.

I think one of her friends at school told her that the tooth fairy's real name was Sarah.

It's great to be eight.....

...just ask Tanner.

His birthday started with a request for breakfast in bed, which Dad made for him. French toast and juice in a sippy cup! (We don't usually allow food out of the kitchen/dining room to avoid messes!)
There was lunch with Dad and Marc was excited because Tanner actually wanted to go somewhere besides McDonalds or Burger King. When they left, the plan was to go to Taco Bell. While that would not be my choice if I could go anywhere I wanted, it was his. But, when they came home they told me that had gone to McDonald's after all. Tanner said it had been a year since he had a chicken patty! Marc took the camera but forgot to actually use it!

We then had a great party at Lazer Kraze, a local laser tag place. Great for me because all I had to do was send the invites and bring the cake!

Mary enjoyed the arcade.

So did Sarah.

The cousins inside the arena.

The army man cake.

After the party, we invited the family back to our house for dinner. Tanner's request? Hamburgers and french fries. I think that means Marc had the same meal twice in one day.

After dinner everyone joined in for our inaugural playing of Beatles RockBand. I think grandpa may have enjoyed in the most.

A little info about Tanner at eight.....

• He is SO smart.
• He LOVES Legos.
• He is a voracious reader and prefers non-fiction, especially wars and military books.
• He is a Cougar fan (of course) and roots for the Steelers as well (just like his dad).
• He likes spending time with friends , but I think he secretly prefers his family, especially when we play games or do fun things together.
• He has a great giggle.
• He is a thoughtful brother and son.