Happy Birthday Daddy, Uncle Kelly and Auntie Shelby!

We had a busy party weekend! Auntie Shelby and cousin Hunter came into town. We celebrated Kent, Kelly and Shelby's Birthday! Shelby is 11 months older than Kent and Kelly. Can you imagine?!? Sandy (my MIL) had three children under one for a few weeks there....I always think about her when I am having a rough day, or a rough few days..... I do ask her for advice but she honestly doesn't remember ALOT! I'm sure she was just on survival mode for a good five years, at least. Ok, back to our weekend.... this was mac & cheese and hot dog night at Kelly and Sarah's. All the cousins, except Noah, who we missed! Keegan, Brayden, Dani, Owen, Ally, Ellie and Hunter.

Keegan and Brayden delivering the birthday presents.

All the kids couldn't wait to find out what Kent got! Sandy got him some cold medicine, it was percfect, we've all been pretty sick this week!

I know this pic. is blurry, but Ally looked so cute, I had to post it.

Owen giving Hunter love.

Shelby, Great-Grandma, Grandma, and Great-Grandpa.

Kent, Shelby, Kelly, Ellie and Brayden.

Auntie Sarah and Uncle Kelly were brave enough to have the boy cousins (4) sleep at their house and we got all the girls at our house (my girls plus Ally). I am pretty confident I got the best end of the deal because the girls just played with their kitchen and played "Mommy and Daddy." They were so darn cute, it was nice to just have the girls. Ally even taught Dani and Ellie some of her ballet moves. Two and three year olds doing ballet is almost as funny as watching four and five year olds play soccer!

The next morning we went to Sears to get Halloween pictures of all the kids. What a grand idea to begin with, plus the morning after a sleep over, not the best plan..... we got it done, but the pics. could have been better. Oh well, it's a good memory and the pic. tells it all. I will post it when I pick it up.

A day with Dad AND booger soup!

For a while now, I have wanted Kent and I to be able to rotate weekends and take each child one at a time, for some "special one-on-one time." Sunday was Brayden's first day with Dad! They went out to breakfast at the buffet by themselves, and enjoyed a magnificent breakfast. Then they came home and started a project that we picked up at Home Depot the day before. It is a fire station bank. They had to sand it, nail it, paint it and put the "decals" on. It was very sweet watching my boys work together. Brayden is such a good listener and follows directions so well, the project turned out great! Kent took the time to make sure he didn't go against the grain and consistently painted in the same direction. Who would have thought of this? I have to say I think I would have handed over the paint and let him have at it. The end result is amazing, and you can tell they really worked hard together!

I don't have a pic. of the final product, maybe later......

As I was working on the kids' Halloween costumes, (yes, I'm making them, more to come in the future) Kent started to get dinner ready. We were going to have clam chowder and focaccia bread. Brayden let Kent know he did NOT like clam chowder. Surprisingly, Kent let B pick out the kind of soup he wanted from the cupboard (I am assuming this is only because there wasn't a whole lot of clam chowder and he didn't want to waste it, when the kids wouldn't eat it anyway). Unfortunately, Brayden picked broccoli and cheddar soup. I don't even know where this came from, or why it's in our cupboard. My only assumption is that I bought it for a recipe, then forgot about it.

As Kent was dishing up the bowls I could hear the conversation from my bedroom.

Brayden: "EEWW what's the chunky stuff in there?"

Kent: "Boogers. It's booger and cheese soup! Doesn't it look yummy?"

When I walked out to the dining room B was sitting at the table with a disgusted look on his face.

B: "I"m NOT going to eat this.

Kent: (Who tends to be a hard ass when it comes to eating and manners at the table). "That's fine, you can go to your room and if you decide to eat, you may come out, otherwise we'll tell you when dinner is over."

B bolts out of his chair to his room. The rest of us sit down and enjoy our soup and bread. After 5-10 minutes with no sound from B's room, Kent says, "Maybe you should go talk to him."

I went into B's room and pretended like I didn't know what was going on.

Me: "What's up, what is going on?"

B: "I DON'T WANT TO EAT BOOGER SOUP!" Then a whole stream of tears came out.

I, of course, burst out laughing, wouldn't you know? I let him know that Dad was teasing and we wouldn't feed him boogers, "Remember we tell you NOT to eat your boogers? Why would we feed them to you? With a huge sigh of relief he ran back and got into his chair and devoured his dinner.

Wouldn't you think with our sarcastic personalities our children wouldn't be so gullible? Hopefully they'll start to catch on soon!

Homework and Halloween!

Ahh, the first week we're back and B has homework. I know pre-school homework really shouldn't be a BIG deal, but jeez, just finding the time to do it was rough last week. PLUS it had to be crafty! My craft supplies are a little limited, but B busted open his "craft closet" and all was well. Grandma Phillips was over for dinner so I put her to work afterwards. B had to make a person that represents him. I think it came out pretty cute!

The finished product....cotton hair, denim patches for pants, pom poms for buttons, thread for shoe laces and a button nose. Nice work guys!

Yesterday we got a special treat in the mail for Grandma Wagener....a big box full of stuff we forgot at her house AND new Halloween Jammies! The kids were all very excited!

They're a little wild and they glow in the dark! How lucky can they be?

For some reason, B can't take a normal pic. anymore.

Here's a good one of all of them, this may be a X-mas card pic. because I don't know that I'll be able to get them to all look at the same time again.....maybe I should have made B's bed?!?

Brayden's first soccer game!

My nephew, Keegan on the far left, trying to get a touch on the ball.

I have been looking forward to this day since Brayden was born. I was NOT disappointed. It was pure entertainment watching eight, 3-5 year olds try to kick the same ball. I laughed so hard, I almost peed my pants. (Yes, some of it was inappropriate laughter). At one point the WHOLE green team was on the ground. I am pretty sure it was their fault, tripping over their own team mates. All the coaches swooped in and put each one back on their feet, while the red team scored once again. They don't keep score at this age, I discovered mainly because it would be impossible! We were scored on, on an average of every 30 seconds. The score had to be 20-something to 1.

Brayden is on the green team, which was the Green Beans. Now they have decided to change it to the Fierce Sharks, which no one can say. That's where my occupation comes in handy. Each night after practice I am going to have speech therapy sessions so they can cheer each other on appropriately. J/K! I have to say, I am disappointed they aren't the Green Beans anymore.
The fans: Ally, Ellie, and Owen.

Warming up the all-stars before the game.

This was early in the game when I was watching nicely/quietly from the side.

Right after this, Brayden scored a goal!! However, it was for the wrong team. It didn't even phase him though. He came running off the field so proud and excited, yelling, "Mom, I GOALED!"

I gave him a high-five and said great job! I then said, "Do you remember that you are going the other way, and you're supposed to kick the ball in the other goal?"

He looked at me like I was nuts, "I know Mom, but that was WAY too far away. I would have had to run all the way down the field, this one was much closer!" Always thinkin' I tell ya, so smart. :)

It's all B! One v. four!

Half-time pep talk, it went something like this:

"Coach, can we play on the toys? Can we have a snack? I'm all done."

Coach Brian, "No, we're not done playing soccer yet. Who knows which way we're going? What do you do when you see the ball? What do you do when the other team has the ball?"

Grandma Phillips and her three grand daughters, such loyal fans.

This was right after Brayden scored his goal in the RIGHT goal!

This was right after Brayden ran and ran all the way down the field with the ball and didn't score. Yes, he is crying. He was a little distraught that after all that work, he didn't "goal!"

High-fives and finally the best part, SNACKS!

It was our snack day, we got to hand out ding-dongs and capri suns, how does it get any better than this?

Brayden's first day of school

Since we were on vacation, Brayden missed the first week of school. I know, we're those BAD parents. But, since he has already had two years of pre-school and he knows the routine, I wasn't too worried. He missed the kindergarten cut off by four days, but I think in the long run it will be a good thing. Hopefully he will be a leader, since he will be old for his grade level. We shall see...here he is on HIS first day of school. He looks so grown up to me, I can't believe he is getting so big!

All aboard the FREEDOM!

Ok, so this is a massive post. We just got back from vacation and it was wonderful! Kent and I went on an Eastern Caribbean cruise, while my sister, Kalin, watched the kids for us. My camera broke right before we left, therefore, Kent was in charge of taking the pics. (which was really nice for me). He did a great job, so great in fact, we have 600 pics.! It is a bit overwhelming AND they got all mixed up when they were uploaded. Bare with me, they are out of order and there are a lot! I tried to pick just the best ones, but as you know, I always have too many pics.

Here we have the infamous towel animal. I have to admit, I took pics. every night that we got a new animal, it was really quite cute and amazing.

Our ship was called the Freedom, and it was magnificent!

Our first port was San Juan, Puerto Rico. I was the most excited for this because this was where we got to do the zip lines through the rain forest! I had been looking forward to this since we booked the cruise in May. I was not disappointed! It was the high light of my trip! We didn't get to the port until 5 pm. Therefore, we ended up doing it in the dark, which we knew ahead of time. I think I actually preferred this because then I couldn't see the 500 feet of wilderness below me. I was oblivious to the dangers and just hooked on and took off, flying through the air! It was by far one of the best adventures I've had! The only downfall was my light on my helmet was a little askew, so unfortunately for the safety instructor on the other end of the line I couldn't see when/ where the line ended and where I needed to "brake." This resulted in a huge collision, which he was not too happy about, but he reassured me that he gets paid for that, but I really need to brake earlier! OOPS!

It was SO HOT and humid, everyone was just dripping, even before we started the hike up the mountain.

Kent coming in for his landing.

Waiting for the adventure to begin.

Out of order, this is when we were docking at the port and we were itching to get off the ship.

Flying through the air with the greatest of ease!

As everyone knows, I am not the most graceful. Maneuvering through the platforms in the trees was sometimes a little tricky, especially in the dark.



This is in Antigua, it was beautiful . We took a taxi tour of the island and saw some amazing things.

We watched the people who paid $300 to swim with the dolphins. The dolphins were so quick, I couldn't get a good shot of them.

This is me a little too hot and getting a little irritated with some dumb Americans that were on our tour. Side note: If you put your hand up to a parrots beak, he will bite you. WTH, this lady seemed so shocked that she was bitten. What a freakin' idiot, then we had to listen to her complain about it for the rest of the day!

Another stop was at the Bomba Shack. Apparently they really know how to party here. Whenever there is a full moon, the whole island comes out to drink the "Bomba juice." There were women's panties and plenty of pics. to prove that they know how to have fun.

Another stop on the tour was the rum factory. Eyes on, hands off!

We also made a beach stop, which was great. We made a point to take pics. of all the hotties in speedos. (That's for your benefit Shelbi). Always a treat to see old men in banana hammocks. I wanted to share the pleasure with all of you. :)

This is me and my cheesy smile waiting for Twilight to start on the mega-flat screen on the lido deck outside! I was so pumped and ready! However, they didn't play it! 007 came on instead, let me tell you, there were a lot of disappointed people. We ended up watching it, and it was great, kinda like a drive-in, in a lounge chair with the wind blowing through your hair....ahhh, I wish I was there right now, it would have been even better if it was Twilight.

I'm sure most of you have heard how great the food is on cruise ships. Yet again, we were not disappointed. We made sure to eat our moneys worth. :) It made me laugh when Kent whipped out his camera to take a pic. of his breakfast! I told him

he needed to start his own blog! It was eggs benedict and it was so scrumptious! I'm just glad he thought to take the pic. while there was still some left!

This is our team waiter, Jose. He was wonderful, we got to hear all about his family in El Salvador. He loved to perform for us, he was the ultimate singer and dancer!

This is Kent on one of the formal nights, sorry it's sideways, I don't have the patience to go and fix it now, I just deleted the one of me in my fancy dress. I'm sure you will all survive though.

These are our new friends from Arkansas, Matt and Melissa. They renewed their wedding vows on the ship. We had a lot of laughs with them, they were great people!

Lounging by the pool, reading a book, and loving life!

I did a lot of this.... I guess that's why Kent felt he needed to take a pic. and why I thought I should post this horrific pic. of me... but I do love my sleep!

This is a shot of the huge flat screen I was talking about. On the screen now, was our cruise director, "WEEE JIMMY" doing his morning show. He is from Scotland and was an absolute riot the whole trip. We really enjoyed him!

Here is another port day in St. Thomas. Kent is posing for his senior pic. in Magen's Bay. It was beautiful. We really enjoyed our beach days!

Hanging out on the balcony waiting to get to the next port.

Still waiting!

This is Melissa, Matt and I walking through the Atlantis trying to find tickets for the water park.
The place is HUGE! It was beautiful and ever so fancy, but I just wanted to get to the freakin' water park.

The aquarium at Atlantis.

Here is another pretty beach shot at the water park. This European mom (I'm assuming European) is just putting sun screen on her boys.

The Atlantis.

This is part of the wild, rapid river at Aquaventure. The place was unbelievable. You may have seen it on the travel channel. They have roller coasters where you sit in your tube and go shooting through rapids and up and down hills. LOVED IT!

Included in our ticket was access to the beach. Here I am with a Bahamian wheelin' and dealin' to get purses for the girls. They are super cute and she put their names on them. She was very interested in me when I told her I needed "Two!"

Mayan temple water slides.

Carnival Freedom. We also went to Tortola, but I apparently forgot to upload those pics. to this post. It was a beautiful island!

This is the sun rising on our final morning in the Ft. Lauderdale port. They woke us up at 6:30 am to let us know it was time to get off the ship, your vacation is over! It was rough! Our flight didn't leave until 4:30, so we booked an excursion to the Everglades.

Waiting to get on the air boat to check out the alligators.

Hello Mr. Alligator. It was crazy, he came right up to our boat, a little too close for comfort for me!

This crazy gator boy stuck his hand and then his head inside the gator's mouth! It was quite the show!

Kent in Magen's Bay, St. Thomas

Magen's Bay, absolutely gorgeous!

That was as short of a synopsis as I could do... we had a great time, but we were ready to squeeze our munchkins! Now we are home and it's life as normal...as normal as we get anyway!