what's this what's this?

2011-06-07T13:36:00.002-04:00

2011-06-07T13:33:00.000-04:00

high, high, what a feeling to fly over mountains and forests and seas, and to go anywhere that I please...

2009-11-09T09:26:00.034-05:00

while todd was away at guard duty, the kids and i hopped a shuttle and made our way to the jacksonville beach air show.

it was pretty awesome to see them out over the ocean.

like any good event, they had tons of food and games for children to beg for money for.
we decided to give the world's largest pinball game a go.

it was pretty cool. the guy running it was the one who built and designed it.

they kids were pretty excited with their prizes.
they are so my kids...picking the alien prizes.

there was a mural where people could give thanks and well wishes for our military.
eliza left a nice note.

this air craft snuck up on me and scared me.

after many festivals and events, the kids decided they were ready to try out this bouncy thing.
eliza was a little nervous waiting in line,

while her brother was cool and calm chatting it up with the girls.

asa even went for a few flips!

i never get tired of seeing the thunderbirds.
so amazing!

pumpkins scream in the dead of night...

2009-11-07T13:06:00.011-05:00

being in florida, pumpkin carving is a little tricker than we're used to.
we started our carving adventure outside, thinking it would just be easier to clean up, but it quickly got too hot.
it was at least 90 degrees.

the kids did the pumpkins all by themselves except for taking the top piece off.
they did a great job.

asa's pumpkins. carved by himself.

eliza's pumpkin had several faces.

before trick or treating we had a little fun
jumping
on
the
couch
session.
i almost got jumped on several times.

creepy/cool ski mask courtesy of my brother. he has become quite the knitter.

and we found the tricycle to complete the package.

i promised a snow cone to get this shot. it was worth it.

2009-10-03T15:09:00.000-04:00

rise up this mornin', smiled with the risin' sun...

2009-09-26T22:28:00.021-04:00

last weekend the boys went to their first jacksonville jaguars game.
it was asa's first ever real football game.
i would have liked to have gone, but it was a boys day.

po dog is so tiny under the monster truck.

so eliza and i grabbed a few cameras and hopped in the van for a little road trip. we ended up in amelia island/fernandina island, which is about an hour north of us.
this was actually the original place todd and i looked when we knew we were moving down here, but ended up a bit further south.
i wish we had looked more up there.
i loved it there and felt so at home. much more than i do where we are now.

eliza had a lot of fun using my other camera. we haven't checked out her photos yet, but i am excited to see what she captured.

we headed down to the historic district of fernandina island and grabbed some lunch.

we enjoyed our delicious fudge while waiting for our lunch.

the fun, funky place where we had lunch.

still not sure how she grew up so fast.

it's gorgeous here.

this was pretty cool. eliza spotted these carts down on the dock.

i'm in love with the garden that is down the street...

2009-09-14T09:47:00.007-04:00

this summer todd made a great little garden in our backyard.
i will say that i miss vermont for it's better soil and garden growing, but we did get a few things out of it, including our pumpkins that have crept over our neighbor's fence. oops.

asa found a cucumber that was ready to pick.

this little guy was sitting in this flower pretty much the whole day.
he was there the next day too!
so cute!

during his many runs to the back end of the undeveloped part of our neighborhood, todd spotted a pile full of discarded landscaping.
jackpot!
he loaded up the van twice with bushes and i think we scored about 11 palm trees!

all it required was our labor to give them a new home and spruce up our landscaping.
we were able to line both sides of the house with these bushes.

our yard is a work in progress. the front looks pretty good but the back is in need of some serious tlc.
the builders use st. augustine grass, which has got to be the worst grass in the world to maintain.
it's horrible stuff!
my solution to the backyard...dig it up and put in a pool!

and go round and round and round in the circle game...

2009-09-14T09:19:00.000-04:00

the kids have been in school now for a few weeks.
every year i can't believe how they've grown and moved up to another grade. this time with my children is going too fast.

the early morning light is so beautiful.

the kids were very interested by a pair of snakes that were down the drain.
they have been checked on just about every day since school has started.

everyone is so happy to be back to school!

mr. asa is a big 2nd grader this year.
he continues to amaze me with his reading and his math skills.
we really like his teacher this year and he is happy to be in the same class for the 3rd year with his best friend joey.
he also is not enjoying his mom taking his picture anymore.

eliza is a middle schooler now. 6th grade.
it was an easier transition since she's in a k-8 school.
her main differences this year are having 6 classes and being on the top level of the school.
so far she is enjoying it.
she is continuing to play the baritone in band this year too.

Asa's first football game!

2009-08-29T17:00:00.004-04:00

asa is number 17.

the video isn't that great on here. i'll get the pictures up soon!

i got that hit to beat the block...

2009-08-22T21:02:00.011-04:00

so....most of my pictures for a while are going to be of mr. asa playing football.
he's just so darned cute.

they had a little scrimmage the other night which was their first time getting to play in a game settting.

asa is playing some sort of defense position (i'm hoping to learn something about football before this is all done).
he was anxious to get out there and play.

asa is the one with the yellow shirt.

early saturday morning was picture day.
i snuck in and grabbed a team shot.
i didn't buy individual pictures of him since i was capable of doing that myself, or so i thought.

asa was not too cooperative.

we'll have to try it again on another day.

and we don't notice any time pass...

2009-08-22T18:57:00.004-04:00

i'm not really sure what happened to the summer, but it's gone.
gone, gone, gone.
it's been nice having todd home over the summer after returning from his deployment but now he has returned to work and the kids will be returning to school on monday.
every year i am amazed that my kids are a grade higher.
this year eliza is a 6th grader.
wow!
there wasn't much transition or drama of going to middle school since she is in a k-8 school and she is just moving to the upper level of the school.
however, she does change more classes this year, 6 of them actually.
this is serious business now.
she will continue to play her baritone in the band this year too.
i think this will be a big year of changes for her as we have already seen so many changes in her this summer, both physically and maturity wise.

my little guy is now a 2nd grader.
he now gets to have an agenda at school to keep track of his assignments. lots more responsibility and no longer just a "first grader."
he is very excited to have his best friend in his class again after having been together for kindergarten and 1st grade.
the beginning of the year will be a good test of his ability to stay busy with school and football season going on.
he's been practicing 3 nights a week for 3.5 hours at a time.
it's been making me tired.

of course my kids getting older only means that i am too.
this past week todd and i celebrated the 20th anniversary of the day we met.
i am truly amazed at that.
20 years is a long time! i was just 17 when we met.

so, we say goodbye to the no more school summer, the staying up till midnight summer,
we'll still have the heat of summer, being in the south as we are.
i kind of miss that coolness in the air that the beginning of school brings up in new england.

it will be good to get back to a routine on monday. the kids are ready for it.
i'm ready for it.

and though you want them to last forever you know they never will...

2009-08-22T18:44:00.002-04:00

despite me telling him not to,
not to pull out that top tooth, taking away the beautiful baby tooth that once poked through the surface of a little boy learning to crawl and explore his world,
he did it anyway, but carefully trying to hide from me the fact that he did, knowing that i didn't want it to come out...ever.

it was a symbol that my baby is growing up and i am not ready to admit that

just yet.

big hits, big hats, yeah give me the ball...

2009-08-22T15:08:00.016-04:00

asa started football season on august 1st. this is our first sport since living in florida.
todd and i are both amazed at the intensity and seriousness of the pop warner football down here.
wow.
so far asa is really enjoying it. he's been having practices 3 times a week.
his first game will be in another week and i have a feeling that although i will have no idea why i am shouting, i will not be able to be quiet.
it's just so cute to see these tiny little guys out there playing football.
i also think asa looks pretty handsome in his uniform.

he's just so cute i can't stand it.

they gave the kids a choice of their number and asa picked number 17, since it's his favorite nascar driver.

practicing his tackles.

asa on the left, running with the ball.

i'm glad other people are helping him put his gear on.
it's just really hard.

my little girl is growing up too fast.

but isn't she lovely made from love...

2009-08-09T19:59:00.022-04:00

eliza celebrated her 11th birthday on august 1st.
i'm still amazed that she is 11 already. when people tell you that your kids grow up fast, it's so true.
i really don't know how 11 years have come and gone already.
i love this shot of eliza getting birthday wishes from my parents.
(and making a great ad for Apple with my laptop and iphone)

we did a tie dye party a couple of years ago when we were living in virginia and had a blast with it.
eliza decided that she wanted to do it again this year.

eliza got mr. ish one year ago as a birthday present and we thought we'd take a picture every year of the two of them together.
he has turned out to be a wonderful cat.

a sweatshirt from her grandparents up on the st. lawrence river.

asa bought this pillow for eliza and was so proud to have her open it.
he was equally as excited to take a picture with his phone.

the beautiful creations.

the artists!

happy birthday beautiful girl!
we love you more than anything!

fly me to the moon...

2009-07-29T16:02:00.012-04:00

we headed to the beach to watch the shuttle launch a few weeks ago.
i love the beach late in the evening as the sun is going down, the temps lower, and the light is just magical.

popo came with us and loved being in the ocean. that little dog never tires.
we kept him on a leash so we didn't lose him in the waves and so he didn't chase everyone that went by on a skimboard.

the idea was to get a picture of todd with the shuttle going off behind him.
after a few minutes passing the launch time and no sign of it in the sky, i checked on my iphone (so happy) and read that they had once again rescheduled due to thunderstorms in the area.

the shuttle tried to launch one or two more times after that and when it finally left earth, the weather by us was cloudy and we were unable to see it.
we've seen three so i can't complain but i don't think i'd ever get tired of watching them.

2009-07-29T15:58:00.002-04:00

todd and asa took on the task of painting the kitchen finally.
once i get it completely pulled back together, i'll get a 'finished' shot to post.
janna had given me that print on the right of pears a long time ago and i've always loved it and wanted to paint the walls to go along with the colors in it, which is what led to this color choice.
i think it's called 'tuscan red'. something like that.
i was a little unsure since our kitchen doesn't have any windows and can be dark, but i love it!
i don't feel like it makes it any smaller at all. in fact it seems bigger.
now though, the rest of the house's white walls are looking pretty blah.
we've got a color picked out and hopefully can get some color in the rest of the house soon.

this land is your land, this land is my land...

2009-07-29T15:46:00.005-04:00

we didn't do too much this year for the 4th of july.
we had many options between jacksonville and st. augustine, but just didn't feel like getting caught in all the big city fireworks traffic.
not to mention, we have a giant fireworks store right down the road from us which makes it easy to do it ourselves and we can also see several area fireworks from our house.
we ended up having a barbeque at our neighbors, just hanging out, and having a little fun with the sparklers.

peace sign.

asa's letter A.

eliza attempting her name.

eliza's name with a flashlight.

building castles in the sky...

2009-07-05T15:55:00.016-04:00

after living in st. augustine for a year and a half now, we finally took a tour of
castillo de san marcos.
it was a horribly hot day, but i'm glad we finally checked it out.

asa was in a mood and wanted nothing to do with a camera pointed in his direction.

nor did he want me taking his sister's picture.

ha! shooting from the hip = capturing a picture of the non cooperative, grumpy boy.

i love this shot of eliza.

and lucky for me that i had my camera with me.
this cute little guy was on the road behind out house.
i've never seen a baby one that wasn't dead.

now smackwater jack he bought a shotgun...

2009-07-05T15:49:00.002-04:00

how to shoot a bb gun...by todd.

fairytales can come true it can happen to you...

2009-07-05T15:41:00.003-04:00

LOOK WHAT I GOT!!!

since day 1, todd and i have been lusting after the iphone, making faces at anyone that i saw with one.
todd had shut down his cell phone when he was deployed and needed a new one when he returned.
he read that a new iphone was possibly coming out so he held out for a month and we were glad we did.
we ended up with the brand new 3Gs phones.
oh my gosh...so exciting.
i totally agree with my brother when he told me it would be life changing.

i sat on the couch and stared at the beautiful box, afraid to open it.
after about 5 minutes i finally lifted the lid to reveal the beautiful shine of the most wonderful invention inside.
i took it out and sat for another 10 minutes just staring at it, nervous to turn it on, disbelieving that what i was holding in my hands, what i had cried for so many times, was now mine.
mine, mine, mine.

on the road again, going places that i've never been...

2009-06-27T12:35:00.048-04:00

well, first of all, i have been horrible at updating this poor neglected blog.
just too many things going on and all that kind of stuff.
so...i'm going to attempt to catch myself up.

we had planned on a family trip when todd got home and the kids got out of school. the original plan was to head up the east coast to visit family and friends from NC, to VA, to NY and VT.
todd ended up with a toe injury and plans changed in regards to his return to work time.
(he had a bone spur that has been taken care of and is currently healing)
so, with out great east coast tour not happening, we took a little trip closer to home and drove down to Westin, florida which is right outside of Ft. Lauderdale, a place neither todd or myself had ever been to.
It was beautiful down there! at one point from the highway we could see the city of Ft. Lauderdale in the distance and on the other side Miami.
the resort was amazing and we had fun one day just hanging out and swimming in the pool.

the kids had too many snowcones.

they always become best friends in the pool.

so we took a few trips out to Sawgrass Mills Mall, which is a giant outlet center with food and movies and such.
what a great place!
i was amused by all the people that bring suitcases with wheels so they can carry their purchases around much easier.

dinner at the cheesecake factory!
asa was having issues so we gave in and he ended up eating a piece of chocolate cake for dinner.
i should have done that too!

we stuck eliza inside this wind machine.
asa chickened out but then wished he had gone in after seeing how much fun it was.

our resort room.
the place was really nice.

we spent our 16th wedding anniversary on an airboat ride in the everglades.
it was so much fun.
todd and i both got off the boat and said that we wanted to buy an airboat.

we named this very tame bird Peepanese.

our boat and our guide.

after the boat ride we got to check out the animals they had there.
we even got to hold a baby alligator!
he felt really cool.

this little guy was not a resident of the park but i think he wanted to.

on the way home we decided to take a little detour through jupiter, florida and add another lighthouse climb to our list.

right in front of the main lighthouse building there was this beautiful little beach with spots to sit that were shaded by big beautiful trees.
the kids decided to go for a little swim before we made our way back home.

they even did a little snorkling and looked for fish to catch.

look! it's my boat coming through.

we got talked into bringing home a few hermit crabs that they captured.
great.

and we came across this most beautiful road lined with banyan trees.

so even though i was disappointed to not have gone back home and visited family, it was a nice little get away and chance to reconnect again as a family.

schools out for summer...

2009-06-10T11:36:00.018-04:00

this morning, on the last day of school, we attended the first annual school parade.
other than being 90 degrees at 9am, it was wonderful.
this was the first year for this new k-8 school and despite a few bumps in the beginning of the year, i think it was a pretty good first start.
all the kids came out and paraded around the parking lot then each grade came to the front and sang patriotic songs.
they recognized veterans and at one point had service men and women and their families come to the center to be recognized.
it was really nice.

the 1st graders.

asa is changing and no longer is willing to let me take pictures of him.
his teacher tried to help me out, but this was all i got.

the 5th graders.
todd and i were both frightened when we saw the 6th graders and what a difference there was just from one year.
it seems like the 6th graders were 10 years older!
i am not quite ready to have my little girl be a 6th grader.

i only got a few shots of eliza and her eyes were shut in all of them.

can you tell by mr. asa's face that he wasn't too happy to be shoved up in the center with the veterans being recognized?

i love this shot.

todd being thanked by the school's principal.

asa with his best friend joey.
they were in kindergarten and 1st grade together.
we'll have to wait closer to the start of school to see if they'll be in 2nd grade too.

it was so hot that asa was able to sweat slick his hair back.
asa chose to come home with us right after the parade, but eliza wanted to finish out the day and ride the bus home.
as soon as she gets home we're hitting the road and heading down to westin, florida which is just outside of ft. lauderdale.
it's a mini vacation/dad's home/school is out/happy anniversary trip.
we're looking forward to a few days of not doing much other than hanging by the pool and relaxing.

sunday morning and it's time to go...

2009-06-09T21:43:00.012-04:00

we've finally jumped on the sports bandwagon for the first time since moving to florida. besides other things going on, price was a big factor.
we were used to the 30.00 fees for soccer and baseball back in south carolina and virginia.
i had thought 100.00 for swim team was a lot.
down here i'd be happy to pay 100.00.
asa starts his official tackle football season on august 1st, but they've organized sunday throws through the summer to give the kids a jump start.
besides the price of florida sports, i am not sure how to feel about the intensity and level that these kids are playing.
asa's "unofficial" practices run 2 hours long and they go through a series of drills.
while i'm a little nervous about my little boy playing tackle football, i can't wait to see how cute he looks in his pads and helmet.

come fly with me...

2009-06-01T08:28:00.000-04:00

about 3 months ago our favorite neighborhood sandhill cranes welcomed a new baby into their family.
we watched as the adults sat on their egg and then finally the baby hatched.
i got to see him at about a week old swimming in the swamp and he was about the size of a small duck.
he has grown quite a bit in 3 months.
his body is a little lighter and more red than the adults and his head hasn't turned bright red yet.
they have finally started coming back into the neighborhood.

this was the cutest thing i've ever seen.
the daddy bird would catch the piece of bread then feed it to the baby.
so cute!

i love how he stays nice and protected in between his mom and dad.

we have named the mom and dad 'ogo' and 'pogo' and asa named the baby 'juno'.
i just love these guys!

rock the boat don't tip the boat over...

2009-05-30T20:58:00.018-04:00

this afternoon eliza and asa were begging to do a little kayaking.
they had asked while todd was gone but i just wasn't up for lugging that down to the water and back.
dad to the rescue!

we headed down the street through the neighborhood to the pond at the end of one of the roads.

todd carried the kayak down to the water but after that the kids were on their own.

po wasted no time jumping in and swimming around.

pushing themselves off the bank.

for a few brief minutes po dog got up on the boat since he was getting so tired staying by the kids' side the whole time, but he jumped back out preferring the swimming to the riding.

he's such a great little dog.

silly faces!

blame it on the rain yeah, yeah...

2009-05-20T19:48:00.008-04:00

we have had no rain for the past month,
until sunday night.
now it's been raining non stop ever since. over 3 full days of it.
the woods next to our house have flooded up like they did during tropical storm fay.
todd and the kids decided to have a little fun while i tried to balance my camera, focus, hold an umbrella and not get wet.

push-ups!

these woods should have no water in them normally.
i'm hoping the rain stops soon.

when i get up, i get up and go surfing with the girls...

2009-05-17T20:45:00.011-04:00

this past week has been filled with adjustments.
learning how to be a family of four again.
learning how to have a dad in the house again.
todd has been unpacking, catching up on his laundry, the heaps of mail and magazines.
today we put that all aside and went to crescent beach in st. augustine.
we joined our friends and neighbors at their friends' beach house.
i totally want to live in a beach house
and i totally want to go surfing if all the sea creatures were removed from the ocean first.

the kids had a blast running down the dock and jumping into the heaps of soft white sand at the bottom of the steps.

it was a perfectly beautiful day.

but these places and these faces are getting old, so i'm going home...

2009-05-13T08:05:00.017-04:00

we had lots of time changes and frustrating delays with todd's arrival time.
he was coming in on a military plane that was carrying a hellicopter.
after being given many false times, we were told to head to the base for a 6:15 arrival.
the kids found some paperclips on the ground and kept busy chaining them together.
after waiting for about 30 minutes we were told that now the plane would be in around 8:15.

so we spent our time eating some dinner then to walgreen's to find some window markers.
we hung out in the walgreen's parking lot and prettied up the van windows.
we had a lot of fun and people walking by had lots of happy comments for us.

we made our way back to the base at 8:15 and waited as the sun went down.
not surprisingly, we were then told it would be more like 8:45 when they touched down.

finally at about 9pm, we spotted their plane in the sky coming towards us, that tiny speck of light.

it was so exciting to watch it land, and to watch everyone on the ground's reaction to it landing.
it was dark by the time they were bussed over to us and i didn't get any shots of that unfortunately.

it was wonderful to be back together.
todd looks great.
the kids were thrilled to see him and suddenly mom was shoved to the side and not needed anymore, but i didn't mind.
we spent the night at the hotel and hung out at the pool the next day.

the timing worked out well since there was a shuttle launch at 2:01 on monday so we had some lunch while we waited.

we made our way down to the beach as a little crowd gathered from the hotel.

we had a great shot with the shuttle going out over the ocean.
this is my third shuttle launch, which amazes me, and i don't think it would ever get old.

we made it home monday evening and todd was welcomed with the row of flags and the kids' posters on the garage door.
just as there's an adjustment when he first deploys, there's also a welcome home adjustment.
at least the kids are responding with "yes" and "ok" now instead of "NO".

and now...time to get back to our life.

i'm sitting in a railway station got a ticket for my destination...

2009-05-10T15:29:00.016-04:00

last week our neighbor got some poster boards and had the kids over to make some posters for todd.
she will put them up on our garage for when we get home.
the kids came up with some great designs.

i love how asa wrote "todd" instead of dad.

saturday morning i awoke to this beautiful sight of flags outside of our house that my neighbors had put up.

they lined the road leading to our house.

the kids had a lot of energy and decided to wash both of the vehicles.

both of the kid's classes made these awesome banners to welcome todd home.
this one was made by asa's class.

and here's eliza's class banner.

saturday afternoon we headed down to melbourne beach.
the arrival time kept changing and was getting very tiring.
the kids had fun on the beach while is sat and watched and enjoyed a drink.

latest word is that todd's plane should be landing at the air force base in a couple of hours!
we'll stay here for the night and head home tomorrow.

guess i better get in the shower and get cleaned up!!

just keep swimming...

2009-05-08T20:46:00.016-04:00

today i met the kids at the bus stop and we headed down to a beach in st. augustine where 2 baby turtles were being released back into the ocean.
they were green sea turtles (chelonia mydas), which are endangered turtles.
they had been found on a beach in ponte vedra and had upper respiratory infections and abrasions on them, along with barnacles and algae.
poor guys.
they were taken care of and were better to return to their home.
i'm so excited we got to be a part of it.

i can't believe i forgot to grab swimsuits for the kids.

that didn't stop asa from going in and getting soaked.

i love, love, love this shot of asa!

finally, the stars of the day!

the turtles little flippers were going crazy.
i just love the crowd's reactions in these shots.

these turtles were gorgeous!
it made me think of the sea turtle farm in grand cayman when we got to hold them.
i love them and i'm glad i have a sea turtle license plate since part of the fee for it goes to helping them.

and just like that, they were set free.

so long turtles!
we wish you a long and happy life!

in order to get the shots of the turtles being set free, i had to wade knee deep through the tide pool onto a sand bar then out into the water.
i am not a fan of the ocean and was freaked out to go in barefoot too!
my skirt got soaked as the waves crashed onto me.
it was worth it and i'm glad i braved it for the shots.

as we were leaving we were having fun watching this guy.
i don't know what this is called, but he was on a surf board getting pulled along by the sail.
he was going so fast. it looked like fun.

tomorrow we head down to the air force base to get todd.
latest word is that he will land around 2 am on sunday, so we'll crash at the hotel then get up to get him and make our way back home on sunday!

don't let yourself pass you by, it can happen in the blink of an eye...

2009-05-08T14:02:00.003-04:00

i'm cleaning the kid's bathroom and open asa's drawer to find this.
first of all my brush that i've been missing is in there, but a couple of things made me laugh.
all of his "man" products all lined up nice and neat.
he does use them, often dashing out the door to school in the morning with whiffs of "man spray" following behind him.
the other thing that made me laugh was the piece of wood.
i don't know why anybody put a piece of wood in their bathroom...unless you're a 7 year old boy i guess.

2009-05-07T08:17:00.000-04:00

happy birthday dad!
you're the best and we love you!

cool pool party, la la la la...

2009-05-06T11:06:00.005-04:00

it's been pretty warm here this past week.
upper 80's, lower 90's.
no rain.
hot and dry.

we have no neighborhood pool (still questioning why we bought in the only neighborhood in this area with no pool yet)
so we made our own.

homeward bound...

2009-05-04T07:58:00.002-04:00

this is our last week as a family of three. yay!
our latest update is that todd will be making his way out on thursday and arriving here in florida either friday night or saturday morning of this week.
we are pretty much just waiting for a call from him on the last leg of his journey
so we can hit the road and head to cocoa beach to pick him up!

a week in the life of asa...

2009-04-30T12:35:00.007-04:00

asa started the week out with a tough day.
he had spent the whole day with the neighbor at his ball game, came home for about an hour then back to spend the night.
when he came home at 11 the next morning
he
was
a
monster!
i can't remember when i've seen him so miserable.
so in true tired kid style, he had himself a nice little tantrum, going a rampage through the house, throwing things and finally tossing all the cushions off the couch.
i walked away and came back to find him sound asleep.
well, he was till i took this pic.
he was too tired to kill me, poked up his head and said stop taking pictures of me, then fell back to sleep.

another day, whole new asa.

busted.
i spotted the kids out the back door.
asa had a suit on, a cowboy had and i witnessed eliza drawing on his face.
he was jumping off a ladder as they filmed a little movie.

running away after having enough.

the mastermind and mustache artist.

day by day, minute by minute, that's how we're living...

2009-04-25T19:48:00.019-04:00

eliza and i had a fun little spontaneous photo session this afternoon.

i love this.

eliza has the most beautiful eyes.

my favorite of the day!
she was mad about having braids and a skirt even though she looked very cute.
i think by the end she changed her mind.

the lighting was so pretty.

one of my favorites.

cat in the upstairs window smiling down at me...

2009-04-23T21:02:00.001-04:00

mr ish has been so happy enjoying the sun through the backdoor, the lizards, the frogs, the bugs that fly by,
ever since po dog has agreed to let him share the rest of the house with him.

i'm bringing home a baby bumblebee...

2009-04-21T07:48:00.000-04:00

last week my neighbors noticed this lovely bee gathering on a tree in the field next to our house.
yikes!
this is the field where i throw the ball for po dog to fetch. good thing we hadn't been doing that.

this wonderful man came out and put on his protective gear and got rid of them for us.

i watched and took pictures safely from inside.

and the long leaves in the tall trees, pale in the sunshine...

2009-04-20T09:45:00.013-04:00

these are the last of the photos from janna's visit.
these first three pictures were taken at the kid's school dedication ceremony.
i was only 2 days out of surgery and drugged up on percocet, but wanted to be there.
i sat in the chair and had my eyes shut the whole time.
hopefully nobody got a picture of me all junky in sweats, no bra, no makeup.
i'm surprised i was able to operate my camera.
the rest of the shots were from downtown st. augustine. we headed down there on saturday, which was my first day out and about and looking normal.
by the end of the day i was feeling it, but i'm glad janna got to see the city and not spend her whole time here inside my house taking care of everyone.

my favorite shot of the three of them.
i love chaos pictures.

eliza took this one.

and asa took this one.

the ancient city gates.

the old cemetery was opened.
i've never been able to go in because it's always kept locked so we just had to go through there.

the crypt keeper in the stripes was suddenly behind us at one point yelling in a scratchy death voice
"get off the wall!! get off the wall!!"
she was yelling at janna who had walked across an old stone wall in the cemetery.
we think she may have crawled out of a cracked grave that we came across.

asa loves his little cousin as you can tell by the look on his face.
we went over to the lighthouse and i stayed behind with finni, who was too small to climb and asa, who said he had bad climbing shoes on.
janna and eliza hiked to the top.

our last night we enjoyed some pizza and pasta after all the delicious meals janna had cooked for us all week.
she made it home last night and i'm sure her boys were happy to have her home although we wish she could have stayed here. it's hard to be away from family and i realize that more after spending time with them.
i realize how lucky i am to have such a wonderful family who is so close and will do what they can to be there and help each other out.
i could not have made it through the last week without janna here.
she was the best part of my time away from todd.
thanks janna!

never underestimate the power of...

2009-04-17T18:45:00.015-04:00

after wind and rain and tornado warnings, janna arrived on monday evening.
we were all excited to see each other and here are the kids at 11:30pm on a school night.

finni is so cool!

asa practicing some late night yoga.

the kids have been enjoying helping janna cook delicious dinners.

shifty eyes...

happy eyes.

janna has been a huge help, getting the kids up and ready for school, cleaning, cooking and everything else.
i can't believe she'll be leaving already in 2 days. tomorrow is our last day.
i'm sure her family will be glad to have her home, but we will be sad to see her go.

2009-04-14T19:50:00.002-04:00

i had my surgery today and everything went really well.
janna and finni got here last night and have been a wonderful help!
jonny will be glad to know that i was not grumy when i awoke from my deep sleep, in fact i was extremely chatty.
my right ovary and my appendix were removed and some adhesions were taken care of.
janna and i tried working the nurse to let me take the ovary home, but it was a no go.
bummer.
i have 4 incisions, a little bigger than i thought they'd be but after 2 c-sections, it's no big deal.
now i can get that tummy tuck i've always wanted!
some day maybe.
i'm feeling fine, just sore in the incision areas and will be taking it easy for a bit.
i am very thankful for janna to be here. it means a lot to me.
eliza and asa are having fun playing with finni too!
thanks to everyone for their thoughts!

i am the eggman, they are the eggmen...

2009-04-11T18:56:00.021-04:00

the color.

the girl.

the boy.

the canvas.

such concentration.

eliza was annoyed that i made her hold her egg for so long to take the pictures because she got dye all over her fingers.

po was not happy to be inside.
i got tired of chasing him on the side of the house where he is on a never ending lizard hunt.

she is starting to look really grown up lately and i'm not so sure i like that.

a typical asa face.

asa was very proud of this egg.
he ran out of room so he just wrote 'happy' on it.
i like it.

eliza's beautiful spiral egg.

i love this of eliza.

asa's stash. he has just as much dye on his hands as he does on his eggs.

happy easter!

2009-04-11T18:54:00.000-04:00

just like when he was 5, asa felt the need to sit on one of his eggs and wait for it to hatch.
he named it 'eggy' but said if you're in mexico you can call it 'chickdo'

with your feet on the ground you're a bird in a flight...

2009-04-09T09:06:00.001-04:00

good day sunshine...

2009-04-06T16:18:00.008-04:00

saturday afternoon we couldn't resist the beautiful blue skies and warm sunshine
so we took a spontaneous trip the the beach.

i don't know how asa can stand to have shells on his back like that.

i love this moment.

and we finished up the beautiful day with a trip to the skatepark.

she's got it all figured out, she knows what everything's about...

2009-04-05T16:59:00.003-04:00

last week eliza's cast sock got all sweaty.
she tried to fix it and it ended up pulling out and was just a mess.
so,
i called the doctors and they were able to see us the next morning.
i did not bring my camera since i assumed they'd just fix it. she had an appointment in 2 weeks to get the cast off.
well. they slapped some giant headphones on eliza and pulled out the saw and off came the cast.
they x-rayed her wrist and decided that it had healed enough to leave the cast off!
she now has a brace that she has to keep on for a month.
no biking/skateboarding/trampolining etc. during that time as well.
i was disappointed that i didn't get pics of the removal of the cast.
eliza was just happy to be able to shower again.

saturday morning and it's time to go...

2009-04-05T16:22:00.004-04:00

this saturday we were up bright and early to get asa registered for pop warner tackle football.
he was unsure at first, but then was very excited and wore his new shirt for 2 days.
he'll start in august so todd will be here to help out with this one.

we went to the 4 legged zoo, to visit our 4 legged friends...

2009-04-02T09:25:00.026-04:00

last week we took our first trip the the jacksonville zoo.
we were there to meet asa's cub scout group but never found any of them...so, we did the zoo on our own.
what a nice zoo. we had a great day there.

this viper was cool but asa was afraid of the anaconda that i wasn't able to get a pic of. that thing was huge!

the kids got their tickets to feed the giraffes.

loved this bird. he kept following us.

i always wanted to live in florida and have my own flamingos.
i'm half way there.

no autographs please.

asa said "i think this must be God's front yard."

eliza said "why is everyone so happy to see a komodo dragon???" in her best irritated voice.

the komodo dragon...that thing was huge!

ahhh....a rare moment. i find that lately i don't get too many nice pictures of them together.

and....see? that didn't last too long. asa was smushing eliza.

we had finally had enough and the kids pulled out the map to find our way back out.

clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here i am stuck in the middle with you...

2009-03-31T16:27:00.003-04:00

you're thinking i'm looking pretty cute right now huh?
well, later this evening i will be trying to fix the wheel on my derby car that somehow broke with my dad's gorilla glue that mom forgot to put away.
looks like good strong stuff.
i will accidentally squirt out too much, getting it on my hands and then all over the sink and the faucet when i try to wash it off.
it will get rubbed into my hands as if i'm washing them with liquid soap.
all over nice and good...down onto my wrists too!
mom will hear the water running in the bathroom and come to investigate why it's been running for so long and she will find me covered in gorilla glue.
she will not be happy as she tries to remove it from the counter, all over the sink, the mirror, the lightswitch...everything i've touched!
eliza's hairbrush will have to be thrown out because for some reason i've touched that too...handles and bristles.
mom will pour almost an entire bottle of goof off on my hands, but the glue will not come off.
she will try powder to make it less sticky and i will spend the rest of the night trying to convince her that i shouldn't go to school the next day as i pick off the dried glue from my hands.
mom will tell me that according to the internet it can take a week to get it all off.
she will also find pieces of dried glue all over the couch and floor from me picking and picking at it.
later that evening all the windows will be opened since we'll all have headaches from the goof off fumes.
i will remind myself never to touch gorilla glue again.

will you still need me, will you still feed me...

2009-03-28T21:41:00.034-04:00

7 years old...hard to believe.
todd and asa celebrated a birthday today. sadly we only had one birthday boy here with us, but were able to talk to todd and wish him a happy birthday.
eliza made this rockin' sign for asa that we put on the front door.

asa had a great morning face and left over chin person marker left over from the night before.

trying to look like the frog on his gift card....target of course.

a new webkinz and a super new keen backpack.

even with her casted arm, eliza was a great help.

a special edition automoblox from grandma and papa.

he was a little excited getting this one opened.

an awesome new r/c car from grandma and papa

having a hard time getting this one opened.

gifts from aunt janna and uncle jerry.

one year i let eliza carry the cake and she dropped it.
this year i let her decorate it instead.

asa and i couldn't help ourselves and dug into the cake before it was time to sing and officially cut it.
oops.

this kid cracks me up with his poses.

asa loving his little remote control car.
i did good.

party time!

the kids thought it would be fun to make confetti and dump in on people as they came in.
we ended up with confetti everywhere!
so,
we played a game.
whoever picks up the most confetti wins a prize.
ta da...house cleaned.

asa and his bff joey.

asa was very happy with all of his gifts.

a little guitar hero showdown with some pizza time.

the cake with the missing slice.

happy birthday!!

it isn't made out of glitter or gold....

2009-03-26T16:31:00.002-04:00

with both kids having the flu, eliza with a broken wrist i guess it's only fair that i have a turn.
every since my hysterectomy a year and a half ago, i have had a constant pain in my right ovary.
finally....i went to get it checked out and i will be going in for surgery in a couple of weeks.
the doctor thinks it could be kind of mushed up and in a spot where it doesn't belong.
gross.
he said it also could be a problem with my appendix, so most likely my ovary will be removed and depending on the appendix, that too could go.
i could take hormones that would put me into menopause, but i hate taking stuff like that and am not ready for hot flashes just yet.
i'm still fighting the weight gain from stuff they put me on last time. no more!
and...i just want it done and over with. i don't want to medicate it, i want it gone.
don't need it anyway.
like last time, todd was away and jonny came out to help us in va which was a huge help. he is a good nurse.
this time my wonderful sister will be making the trip out to help me out.
the nice thing is that my recovery period will end around the same time that todd comes home, so i've got good things to look forward to.

i can tell that we are going to be friends...

2009-03-26T10:12:00.000-04:00

singing in the bathtub...

2009-03-25T10:24:00.007-04:00

ask an almost 7 year old boy to clean his bathroom...
and this is what you get.

we want to welcome you to munchkinland...

2009-03-24T08:40:00.008-04:00

remember when i took the kids to the orange park mall here in florida to see some real live munchkins?
i sure do!
i had seen that there was a wizard of oz festival at the mall and wasn't really interested until i saw the 4 of the actual munchkins were going to be there.
they were so cute!!
this guy was the coroner.
"as coroner i must aver, i thoroughly examined her and she's not only merely dead, she's really most sincerely dead."

the lullaby league/flowerpot lady was looking a little bored but was still so cute.

this guy was the 'first trumpeter'

i loved this guy!
he was my favorite. he was the middle lollipop guild guy who presented dorothy with the giant lollipop.
had i paid some money, we could have had dinner with all of them.

haha! just like the movie, 'paul blart mall cop'!

baby bennett & his family ~ st. augustine, florida

2009-03-22T20:30:00.021-04:00

wednesday i had plans to meet my neighbors down at the beach, but as you can see from the post below, it got cold, windy, and stormy down there. they called me on their way out and i told them to turn around since the weather was not the best for a little guy. it ended up being nice still back by our house and we met up at the end of our road and the entrance to the golf and country club.
it worked out perfectly.

is he the cutest thing? he has the most beautiful blue eyes.
i don't think i've ever seen eyes so blue.

gorgeous!

the beautiful sisters.
they could be models.

with mom.
this picture makes me smile.
i just love those little baby grins.

what a beautiful family!

i love this.

beautiful mom.

handsome dad

bennett's aunt.
this whole family has beautiful eyes.

i just like this moment.

with daddy.

this image cracks me up!

the green light flashes, the flags goes up, churning and burning they yearn for the cup...

2009-03-21T18:33:00.024-04:00

my stress level with the pinewood derby continued to build.
all those tools in the garage and i was not capable of using them and helping my son build the car that i know todd would have.

i worked on making the wheels speedy fast and left the painting and designing to asa.
he did all of that by himself.

all done!
i love asa's little yellow fingers

we were up bright and early and out of the house by 8 am to head to the derby.
we had all stayed up late and weren't too excited about being up so early on a saturday but we made it.

there's our dirty yellow car in the front.
it wasn't meant to look like that but asa tried to paint on it after adding the glaze and it got all dirty looking.
i ended up sanding it and trying to make it look like it was supposed to have an old school look to it.

while i was nervous and afraid of letting asa down with our not so perfect car, he was pretty excited.

i was really just hoping that it would make it down the track, but had no further hopes for our little car.
we hadn't even had a chance to try it out so our first run was a real one.

the car could be no more than 5 oz.
this was not bad for having not weighed the car until right before the race.
i think that had we made it even closer to the weight limit we could have gotten it to go even faster!

eliza cheerfully cheering on her brother.

asa's car was in the first run...i was so nervous.

and it was off so fast.
i couldn't believe my eyes when he quickly went from last, to second and then whizzed passed the finish line in first place.
first place!!
i was crying and laughing at the same time.

he ended up winning six 1st places, four 2nd places and two 3rd places.
wow!

first place!!

asa ended up winning a second place medal for the tiger racing.
i believe he came in 3rd in his den, which we'll find out on wednesday.
his friend came in 3rd for overall and 1st for the tiger race.

while i was very disappointed that todd couldn't be here to do this with asa, i'm very proud of our dirty little yellow car.

where the children of tomorrow dream away in the wind of change...

2009-03-19T07:57:00.026-04:00

last night i had a photoshoot for my neighbors and their sweet little boy.
the kids and i headed to the beach to wait for them but as we were waiting the sky darkened, it got windy and cool and just wasn't the best place for a little guy to be having his pictures taken.
it was however, a great picture taking opportunity with my own kids.

so while eliza complained that she couldn't swim due to her cast,
and asa worked on his skimboarding skills,
i fired off some shots.
i love unplanned shoots that turn out to be some of my favorites.
i love this shot. on one hand asa looks like such a big boy, board in hand ready to go out and hit the surf,
then you look down and he has a couple of matchbox cars clutched in his hand reminding me of how little he still really is.

asa's hair has gotten so long and wild.
he will not let me cut it.

how on earth did asa get so big?

not sure if asa was trying to break his sister's ankle too when he went sand surfing right into her.

there was a reason this chair was in the trash.
right after i took this pic, it collapsed.

the longer we were there, the darker the skies got and then suddenly there was this rainbow that stretched out across the ocean.

this is my new favorite picture and needs to be printed and hung on the wall for sure.

i'm just watchin' other people watchin' me...

2009-03-17T19:33:00.010-04:00

pattern courtesy of jonny. (who has turned into an awesome knitter)
i knitted this hat for todd for his birthday. 40th!!!
i know it's chilly where he is so hopefully this will work for him

and many thanks for asa for being my wonderful hat model!

i just love this pic!

love this kid!
i can't believe he is almost 7!! same day as todd turns 40.
40??? i still can't believe i'll be married to a 40 year old.
i feel like asa is still 2.

oh so asa...dirty knees and all.

lord of the flies???

the littlest birds sing the prettiest songs...

2009-03-13T08:08:00.001-04:00

we have our neighborhood birds, the sandhill cranes that i just love.
i consider them my outdoor pets.
they come in the yard and we feed them and i just love them.
a few weeks ago i panicked because we were seeing just one and i had read that they stay with their mate for life.
i was afraid i'd find a carcass somewhere.
one of the neighbors told me they had seen them nesting back in this swamp that's on the road behind our neighborhood.
it's the road we drive down to get to our house.

we finally spotted the bird sitting on her nest.
i guess the male and female take turns sitting on the 2 eggs that she lays.
i read that often neither make it because of their predators.

on wednesdy i happened to be driving down the road with my camera and noticed them in the water close by the road.
i stopped to say hello and they immediately let out their loud honking at me as if i were threatening them.
(they're actually honking at me in this picture)
i looked down in the water and there was a baby!
i was so excited that tears came to my eyes.
i only saw one and was unable to capture him in my pictures. he was tiny and fluffy and swimming in the water as his mom and dad quickly helped him move further into the swamp.
i read that it takes 10 weeks before they can fly and they stay with their parents until they are 9-10 months old so i'm hoping the baby will be coming around the neighborhood soon.
i can't wait.
we had named the mom and dad 'ogo' and 'pogo' and now need to come up with a name for the baby.

i've got to admit it's getting better, a little better all the time...

2009-03-11T19:36:00.014-04:00

today after school in these most glorious temperatures, we drove to downtown jacksonville to 'nemours' children's clinic to have eliza's broken wrist looked at.

eliza was being typical eliza and was very nervous about the whole thing and of course annoying mom brought along the camera to document the whole thing.
and i'm so glad i did!

she got her splint removed.
it had gotten quite dirty in just a few days.

her arm was all wrinkled up and you can see the bump on the inside left of her wrist where it is broken.
the doctor said it was a nice clean fracture and should heal with no problems.
he said that if it weren't for me documenting the whole thing she'd probably even forget which wrist it was.

asa kept us entertained...

and then he found the hand sanitizer again.

her cast started getting wrapped up.
it went on so quickly and the nurse who did it was a pro. i could tell she has done it many times.

there were probably 10 colors she could choose from but she went with a nice dark purple.

she wasn't happy about having it on at first because i think she was concerned about the saw they use to remove it.
she wanted to keep the splint on.

once it was on, she realized how much better it felt than the splint and how much more finger wiggle room she had and how much more mobile she was without the sling.
she was happy.

i got a thumbs up.

and a big smile.
and the staff at nemours was awesome! what a great experience.
we will go back next week to have it rechecked.

we were almost home and saw this guy in the road behind our house.
he was about 3 feet long.
i backed up and rolled down the window to take a picture and was afraid he would jump into the car.
he posed for me then turned around and slithered away.

we stopped at the store and got eliza her very own silver sharpie for the autographing process.
she was very happy.

i can relate because sharpies make me happy too!

i made sure that i was the first to sign it!

you've got a fast car, but is it fast enough so we can fly away...

2009-03-11T08:12:00.009-04:00

the moment that todd has been waiting for has turned into the moment i am dreading.
pinewood derby.
i will be sure to remind todd to not be deployed next time.
i am a creative, crafty person but cutting wood and using power tools is todd's thing.

thankfully at the scout meeting last night someone brought a saw and this kind man cut out asa's shape for him.
i thought of turning on todd's saw and trying it myself, but we've already had 2 trips to the ER this month and i do not want to go again.
someone had a car cut and weighted already and was going to give it to us, but asa decided to make it more difficult for me and wanted to cut his own.
i'm so afraid that i'll let him down. i know i will. i have no idea what i'm doing.
it's a shame because we have a woodworker's dream in the garage and i know that with todd's skills that asa would have a winning car.
maybe at least i can help him with the painting.

asa has had the flu and strep and missed monday and tuesday of school.
obviously he's feeling better.

here's the shape he chose.
as a backup i also bought a precut kit and now he is thinking of using that one instead.
maybe we'll just do both.
he came home last night and sat down and sanded both of his cars and was anxious to start painting.
wish us luck!

when you're standing in a puddle with wet feet...

2009-03-10T16:16:00.002-04:00

he told me he had to use the shaving foam because he didn't have enough bottles to complete the circle.

and i'm free, free fallin...

2009-03-07T10:15:00.008-05:00

i'm sure had there been a bet going on which child of mine would end up with a broken bone, we all would have lost.
last night eliza fell off her skateboard, something she's done numerous times and she was crying that it really hurt.
we had been in the doctors last week (see pic in last post) with a sprained wrist and here she was complaining about her other wrist.
ahhhh!!!
after our nightmare experience at the ER a few weeks ago, that was the last place i wanted to be especially on a friday night.
she persisted and i finally decided to pack them up and head out.
this time i drove a little further, right smack in the heart of downtown jacksonville, to the children's hospital which i had heard was a bit better with emergencies.
i felt like i was in the movie 'adventures in babysitting' as i was headed at night into the big city, the tall buildings looming up ahead of us, half expecting my tire to blow at any minute.
thankfully it did not and our adventures went no further than the emergency room.
i was very pleased at how much quicker, despite the more crowded waiting room, we were seen and treated.
so much better!
eliza had an x-ray and turns out she did fracture her wrist.
the right one, of course, since she is right handed.
convenient too since she has FCAT, state testing all next week at school. that should be a challenge.

she got a splint, which was pretty neat. it was a fiberglass pack they wrapped up on her and it hardened up pretty quickly.
i'm supposed to call an orthopedist on monday to get her in to re-look at it and see about putting a cast on.
she was a good trooper, but it is hurting and she wasn't too happy about having the splint on.
i had to help her put her hair up and undo her belt, things i haven't had to do in a long time.

i think asa was a little disappointed because he too expected he'd be the first.
he said he'd trade arms with her and then he got all excited that we could now park in the handicapped parking spots.

sprained left,
broken right.

they can feel it all over...

2009-03-06T08:04:00.003-05:00

oh...this little boy of mine.
always into something. nothing bad, but always being very creative and doing things that i often can't understand.
i walked in and busted him in the bathroom with a cardboard shoebox filled with water.
i didn't get out of him what he was trying to do with it but he didn't look too happy that i had busted him.
looks like his hair was involved in the water fun as well.

we're supposed to have a beautiful weekend with temperatures into the 80's.
i'm thinking we have a beach day in our near future.

going to the candidate's debate...

2009-03-03T08:10:00.008-05:00

the first graders at the kid's school had a 'living museum' day last week and it was great that my parents were here to see it.
each kid drew a name from a hat of an american icon and then had to make a poster, dress up, and be able to recite at least 5 facts about their subject.
asa drew president obama.
i was pretty excited about that since my creativity has been zero lately and all i had to do was put him in his suit.
eliza really wanted to paint his face brown but we didn't take it that far.

classic asa.

a little more serious and presidential looking.

asa with his best buddy who was portraying martin luther king jr.

this pic just cracks me up.

here he is telling his teacher the facts that he learned.

and listening to abraham lincoln share her facts.
it was very cute.

remember how we laughed away the hours, think of all the great things we would do...

2009-03-01T20:35:00.034-05:00

the week whizzed by way too fast, but it was wonderful to have a visit from my parents.
it came at a good time with todd being gone for a couple of months now. i needed that adult interaction in the house and it was good for the kids to have someone other than "mean mom" as i've been called lately.
we started our visit with a trip to the oldest city, st. augustine.
these are the gates to the city.

we had lunch at the A1A ale works...yummy beer and deelish foods.
it was a beautiful day and we enjoyed our lunch out on the deck with a view of the water and the bridge of lions.

after touring the historic city we made our way over to my favorite haunted lighthouse.
it was quite a climb, 219 steps to the top and i was very proud of my parents for making it all the way.
the view is so worth it.
this is the 3rd time the kids and i have climbed.

i was so happy that my parents got to see my favorite neighborhood pets, the sandhill cranes. we've discovered that they are nesting so we've been seeing just one coming around.
i can't wait to see the babies.
we had fun feeding them.

my mom got pretty close.

we spent a lot of time just hanging out in the backyard in the sun and mr. po got a lot of ball time in.
he was a very happy dog.

the kids still had school all week, so i took my parents to our favorite local beach, mickler's beach, one day.

this was the first time we took po to the beach. when i had him on his leash he was barking and barking, running at top speed down to the water when i set him free.
he loved it.

my parents had flown into orlando so they rented this cute little mitsubishi eclipse.
i would like a car like this some day when i don't have to worry about fitting kids and kid stuff into it.
my dad took them for a ride across the road to the toy store.

mr. ish was enjoying hanging by the back door while we were all outside.

asa got a new automoblox car and was having fun mixing and matching it with his other one.

on the last day, it was beautiful, 80 degrees.
the kids set up a shooting range in the backyard and collected coins for hitting their targets.

gosh, i hope my grass greens up soon.

and sadly our visit had to come to an end as my parents drove off to the airport.
it was so wonderful to have them here and we miss them already.

so follow me follow, down to the hollow, and there let us wallow in glorious mud...

2009-02-20T09:39:00.004-05:00

so, what have we been up to?
well, asa has been making it a daily routine to head over to the empty lot and dig holes with the other kids.
the other day it was nice enough out for him to strip down to his shorts and bare chest, dig, and turn on the hose.

when i went over to tell him it was time to come home, this is what i found.
he was completely covered from head to toe in mud.

i asked him why his bottom lip looked like he had been drinking it, he said he kept licking his lips.
a-ha...

he looks like he just crawled out of a horrible accident.
i had to take him to the side of the house and squirt him down as best as i could with the hose, then i made him strip outside the front door and i had to wrap him in a towel to carry him into the shower.
i had to help him scrub the mud off of him and even still he was still a little dirty after his shower.
he's going to kill our water bill if he keeps this up!

eliza is still not feeling great and came home from school yesterday and is home today. i hope she kicks this thing soon!

we are very excited that my parents will be here tomorrow and spending next week with us.
my kids do not have a winter break so they will be in school, but we will still be able to do things.
i'm looking forward to seeing them of course and to a little break from my 'testing the limits' kids, as well as some adult conversation in the house at night.

don't mean to make you sick, it just turns out that way...

2009-02-17T08:40:00.004-05:00

we've had a rough few weeks with poor eliza.
it started about 2 weeks ago or more with complaints of a stomach ache. we had gone to the doctors and were told she had a stomach bug.
she missed 3 days of school as a result of it and even though was feeling better, never fully recovered.
this past thursday she was complaining of a headache and that her throat hurt so friday since they had no school, i took her in to the doctors once again.
she tested positive for strep and was treated.
saturday she was fine and even convinced me to let her have a sleepover at our house.
sunday morning she came in my room saying she didn't feel well.
she felt dizzy.
she said there were weird things going on in her room and she thought people were playing games in there and that she saw red bouncy balls bouncing off her walls and ceiling.
i took her temp and the reading was 106!
i checked a second time and got the same thing.
so, i checked myself and got 96.
i called the doctor and gave her motrin and got her into the shower.
the temp went down but went back up to 104 later that afternoon.
i finally decided to take her into the ER.
what a horrible experience. we were there for over 4 hours before i flipped out on one of the nurses. nobody was even coming in to check on us or anything and the place was dead (pun intended).
dinner had come and gone, asa was starving, restless and overdosing on hand sanitizer out of boredom.
they checked her temp and it was 99 and she was feeling better so i made the decision to leave when they said that we weren't even in the queue yet to see the doctor and it would probably still be another couple of hours.
i was so frustrated and so mad.
monday morning we went back to the regular doctors where she tested positive for the flu, but she was on the upside of it.
she hadn't had a fever since sunday afternoon and was feeling much better.
it was nice timing with the 4 day weekend and she was able to go back to school today, not missing any more days.
i will say that it is certainly way more stressful dealing with a sick child all by myself.
i'm glad she's better and only hope that asa or myself don't get it.

take me on a trip i'd like to go someday...

2009-02-10T08:34:00.004-05:00

i received these pics from todd. he's doing well.
looks like he's doing some pretty cool stuff.

eliza looked at this pic and said
"that looks scary."

asa's response was
"that looks like fun!!"

it's as common as something that nobody knows it...

2009-02-09T09:27:00.005-05:00

so a few random things here...
our dog Po just loves tennis balls. i think that dog would chase over and over until he dropped dead.
i was playing with him and threw the ball and it landed right up in this tree.
i laughed at how it could get caught up there.
so i grabbed a bottle of bug spray from the garage and tossed that up hoping to knock it down and couldn't believe it when that got stuck!
so, back to the garage to grab a soccer ball, thinking for sure i'd be able to knock them out and the soccer ball got stuck!!
i was laughing so hard.
i finally grabbed a broom and used the long pole to knock them all out of the tree.

eliza and asa had this brilliant idea to see how many t-shirts they could put on asa.
28 was the final count.
he renamed himself Grub while decked out in his outfit.
he was so big that he couldn't put his arms down and needed help getting up.
it was funny but disturbing at the same time.
i was glad when we finally got all the shirts off of him to have my healthier looking asa back.

and finally this weekend after what can only be described as a tornado passing through eliza's room, we got it all cleaned.
it was quite a chore and we still have a little bit left, but at least we can step on the carpet now.
for some reason it really tired mr. po out and he was so excited when the bed was made that he jumped right up and fell right to sleep.

it's not always easy, and sometimes life can be deceiving, i'll tell you one thing it's always better when we're together...

2009-02-06T16:14:00.004-05:00

so i have been such a blog slacker.
i think things just got crazy after we got back from the cruise and todd left.
part of it is being alone, dealing with everything alone, dealing with the kids alone.
my kids are great, they are, but when todd is gone it's like they try to see how far they can push me before i snap.
i feel like it's such a battle sometimes. it's not easy being a single parent!
todd is fine. i've only spoken to him a couple of times but it's much easier to email.
i also think i've been in a creative slump. i've been depressed about my lens that got broken on the cruise. sounds silly, but that thing is my third eye. the good news is that my lens along with the body that had a cracked lcd screen and my battery grip that had a broken lock, are all in the process of being repaired and i should have them all back in about 3 weeks.
i'm hoping once they are back that i can snap out of it.
ever since starting this blog, i've loved it. it's been a good creative outlet for me as well as keeping friends and family informed on our crazy adventures.
i guess i'm feeling that i'm missing todd since he's always a big part of our crazy adventures.
i've got one or two posts left from the cruise. once i get them all up i'm going to repost them so they're all together chronologically since they're pretty scattered right now.
my parents are coming down in 2 weeks and we are so excited about that.
it will be nice to see some familiar faces again. we've already got a trip to the lighhouse planned out.
i just hope this weather warms up by then.
as for tonight...we're hitting the opening night of 'coraline'. eliza and i have been so excited for this movie to come out.

the cruise, castaway cay v2.0...

2009-02-05T09:10:00.032-05:00

our last day on the cruise we returned to disney's private island.
the day was just perfect and it turned out to be one of my favorite days.
it was just spent hanging out with family, relaxing, laughing, and just enjoying.

kameron was a crazy snorkel guy. he went out so far and he just loved it.

my parents with one of their favorite 'drink of the day' guys.

i just love this beach and it's nice that it's just the people from the disney cruise hanging out here.
as i was taking this pic, one of the crew, in the red shorts, did a little dance for me.

love this one!

asa and todd looking for fish.

my favorite picture of jonny.
he got a little freaked out and swears he saw a fish the size of a golden retriever.
i was so proud of myself and janna. we went out really far, loved it (after a few minutes of panic) and we both even dove down to the bottom with the snorkels on!
dove!

my mom and dad getting ready to have some fun.

todd, eliza and i went on the jet skis later in the afternoon.
it was one of the most fun things we did, which is kind of funny because it's just jet skis.
eliza rode along with todd and i was by myself. the whole time i was speeding across the surface of that beautiful blue water i was screaming with joy at the top of my lungs.
i got nervous that people could hear me.
when we stopped for a minute i asked todd and he said he didn't hear me so i continued to scream.
i was screaming "i'm jet skiing in the bahamas!"
it was so much fun!

i just love this pic of my dad!
his hair was sticking straight up from his speedy ride on the jet ski.

at one point the Disney Wonder passed by the island. we had been on that ship on our first cruise.
the two ships were doing some battling horns as one would go then the next would echo.
very awesome and the horn does the 'when you wish upon a star' tune.
i overheard someone say this was the fist time the two ships were out here at the disney private island.
not sure if that was true or not, but it was pretty cool to watch the Wonder swing by, turn and head back out to sea.

is that ice cream or sand on his face?

kileigh is so pretty.

i wish i always had food like this available to me.

baby finni

bennett had tuned out everything around him and was so into his castle making.

sawyer was having fun dancing around in the water.

i loe this pic of todd.

kameron hanging out in the water.
he had a smile on his face the whole cruise.

the beautiful castle everyone made.
i really love all the shells that were used.

bye castaway cay..we hope to see you again!

the cruise, pirates, celebrations, and midnight chocolate buffets...

2009-02-04T18:54:00.065-05:00

pirate night!
eliza with sawyer.

jerry with baby finni...he looks so cute!

mom and dad. i think they were buttering their bread.

todd with eliza

eliza showing off the eyeliner tattoo she gave herself. not too bad!

doing a little word search with help from uncle jason

the murphy clan!

jonny and jason double dipping. why wait for that second drink?
bring 'em both at once!

they did a conga line and of course we had to throw in a little napkin twirling.

i can't really tell the moustache from the chocolate all over his face.

we decided to recreate our fake birthday celebration for my mom from the last cruise.
her birthday is in april.
here's the lady sneaking up behind her.

i think she was surprised.

later that night we caught the pirate party on the upper deck with an ending of fireworks.
i guess disney is the only cruise line allowed to shoot off fireworks.
it was very cool!

thanksgiving day we spent at sea. it was a very nice relaxing day lounging in the sun and in the pool.
thanksgiving dinner...why choose one when you can have two!

eliza had been feeling sick since the day we left for orlando and hadn't been eating too much.
5 days into the cruise and she finally had her first mickey bar.

bennett wins the prize for the best face making for sure.

thanksgiving night we had some real birthdays to celebrate.

both kileigh and kameron were celebrating their birthdays about a week after getting home from the cruise.

i loved coming back to our rooms after dinner because we always found an awesome towel animal waiting for us with chocolates too!
the adults went the the lounge and caught a show and i was about to order room service back in the room when jonny knocked and reminded me of the chocolate buffet.
oh my gosh...i can't believe i almost missed that!

there was already a line when we got down there.
everyone else had gone to bed so it was just me with todd, jonny and asa.
he was such a trooper up so late, but he is totally my kid to stay up that late for chocolate.

i almost died when i saw the spread of chocolaty goodness.
where to start?

jonny had two plates going on and his own personal assistant to load them up for him.

asa obviously enjoyed himself.

we were so full and couldn't eat all of the deliciousness so we brought our plates back to our rooms.