Week 11: Life is too short to fold fitted sheets

You know, it's a good thing that I keep track of what goes on throughout the week in a notepad file, or by Tuesday I'd completely forget what has happened in the last week. Pictures help jog my memory too, but my SD card is getting full- and I find instead of deleting pictures, I just take less. I did take all the videos off the card and plan on posting them on our youtube account later this week, so I'll be sure to link that up when they're done. There is some funny, funny stuff.

Tuesday we played Jeopardy, and in a strange turn of events Calib won. It was a three way tie until the last round too. Which was very suspenseful- I mean, as far as Jeopardy with kids goes. Calib bet modestly, and they all got final jeopardy wrong- so he was the winner kind of by default. I made Calib do 'mental math'. My sixth grade math teacher used to make me do that- - (wait, I'm getting old- I can't remember my grade school teachers names- I can still see her plastic bracelets and poofy black hair though)- Anyway, just a bunch of math problems strung together, without any writing down. He was miserable, but still came out victorious. He also did not enjoy his bonus question which was some long out math problem about a combination of different colored socks and shoes that made zero sense, and then asked a football question at the end. I however, found it hilarious. At any rate, he made a deal to split his winning sour gummy worms with Hayden if Hayden chose the gummy bears and split those with him. Peyton meanwhile, threw a fit for not winning. That child, and his poor sportsmanship. I just don't know where he gets it. Then Asa and I decided we would begin also giving out an award for the best sportsmanship while playing. I'll let you know how that goes over next time we play. Jeopardy must really be creating an impression on Hayden, later in the week I heard him playing with his toys humming the theme song over and over again.

Tuesday was also bookfair night at school. Now, this is one of two times where I'm going to need all the teachers in my family to shield their eyes. I know buying books at the bookfair at school is good for the school, and part of the money goes back to the school. But, the very same books are SO much cheaper on amazon. So, we ordered the books from there instead. I know, I'm awful. But seriously, that school is going to run us dry. The amount of random supplies I send in, the overpriced field trips, the supply fees, the plays and songs that require a fee to take part in, the fundraisers, the festivals I buy popcorn and candy and pop and random things for.. times three. Holy guacamole. Ok, end rant. Anyway, the books should be coming soon. Apparently there's a Parts and a Pout Pout Fish sequel. I don't know whose more excited, me or Hayden!

Wednesday was the second to last day of the quarter (report cards coming soon, and I am intrigued to see Peytons since his grades coming home this year seem to be much better than last). I had promised the boys if they had good grades, and didn't miss anymore school I would take them out a day and we would go to Disney. This is the second part where teachers need to shield your eyes. We set up a hangman/wheel of fortune puzzle to let them know the day had arrived and told them if they solved the puzzle, they'd get to do what it says. It didn't take them very long to reveal 'Skipping School to go to Disney'.

Anyway, last year we went in October on a weekday and it was the least crowded I had ever seen it. We rode nearly every ride in a couple hours. We were hoping for more of the same- but we arrived and it was super busy. I don't know if it was the Not So Scary Halloween Party that was scheduled for later that night, or the Extra Magic Hours, but it sure was something. The boys got over it pretty quick, because, well, at least they weren't at school. We decided we'd get a dole whip- because life doesn't get much better than a pineapple ice cream float in pineapple juice. And stop by the Tikki Room since it was opened again. Hayden was unimpressed with the talking robotic parrots. But was convinced the staged thunderstorm was real. I'm not sure where the disconnect was there. After that we went over to Tom Sawyers Island to avoid the crowds and the boys ran around there for hours. They spent 15 minutes on the barrel bridge trying to make me sea sick. It worked, but don't tell them that.

I was trying to convince them to go into the haunted mansion, as we had never been, but the name alone is too frightening. I wonder if I could have gotten away with telling them it was something else, now that I think about it. We opted for the Hall of Presidents instead. Peyton is really into History and Presidents so he really enjoyed it. When we walked in Hayden was very concerned I was trying to trick him. Here's how the conversation went:

Hayden: Mom, are we in the haunted mansion

Me: No, Hayden, we're in the Hall of Presidents. You're going to get to see Abraham Lincoln.

Hayden: (gets very uncomfortable and whispers) But Mom, Abraham Lincoln is dead--- so we ARE in the Haunted Mansion?!?!

Ah, Logic. Such a funny subjective thing. We chalked up the hall of Presidents to our History lesson for the day and then I felt a little better about them missing school.

After that we went over and watched part of the show in front of the Castle, and hurried over to Tomorrowland before the parade started. Lines get a lot shorter during parade times. We went to the laugh floor, where the Monsters from Monsters Inc tell jokes and collect your laughs for power. You can text your joke and they'll use it in the show if it's a good one. Peyton and Hayden both had me send one in. Hayden's 'what do you call a bear with no teeth? A gummy bear!' joke got used. They even said 'this joke is from Hayden, whose from the Land O Lakes'. His face lit up like it was Christmas. I told Peyton next time I would just text his. He was awfully disappointed his joke wasn't used, but cheered up when he beat us all in Space Ranger Spin.

Then we went over to the cars. I loathe waiting for the cars at Disney. It's just a car, on a track- yet the wait tends to be hours long. All the time! The parade was just finishing up, so the line was only about 15 minutes. The boys begged me to wait, so we did. When we got up there Peyton seemed to be like half an inch to short and the guy kept saying, 'stand up really tall.... turn your head this way.... maybe scootch this way'. Eventually he just looked around and said to Peyton 'You can probably reach the peddle, go ahead', so for the first time ever Peyton got to drive his own car. Hayden on the other hand still needed me to push the peddle.

Hayden on the cars, is well, dangerous. My mom had gone on the cars with Hayden over my birthday and complained about how he would turn the wheel frantically from one side to another causing the car to jerk suddenly and crash from one side to the next, violently. I thought she was over reacting. I can now report, she was not. Hayden thought the whole thing was hilarious. Crash to one side, crash to the other. I am not trying to fight off my sea sickness from the barrels and a pounding headache from the thrashing about. As were swinging from side to side thumping along, at one point the crash was so intense my reaction was to abruptly take my foot off the peddle, causing the car to come to a screeching halt- this made Hayden's face ram right into the wheel. He began wailing, though I could find no physical harm done to him. I must have looked like an awful parent because I then began laughing so hard I was crying. It kind of served him right. He quickly got ahold of himself, and started swinging the car from side to side again. That ride could not have been over soon enough. Luckily, the teacup line was way too long so we headed home. I couldn't have afforded one more spinning/slamming/bobbing ride with the state my stomach was in.

The weekend was nice. Friday the boys had off school anyway- some sort of teacher in service day. I let them have a 'sleepover' on the couch, with the warning that if one kid misbehaved they'd all go sleep in their rooms- and so they were perfect angels. I really should make that deal more often. Them being quiet = me sleeping in. We did play some games, and make rainbow drinks with Gatorade (fyi- Gatorade is named for the FL Gators) ice cubes.

We also went to Great Explorations in St Pete. It's a small children's museum, and we get in free in the month of October with our aquarium pass. It was a fun afternoon. Hayden made my rat better by giving him ex-rays and band-aids. Peyton discovered he could lift his own weight if given the correct pulley system, and Calib discovered his sense of direction is worse in pitch black darkness as evidence by his face-plant into the wall in the touch tunnel. Asa sent back his pizza because there was ants, flies, and spiders hidden under the cheese, and I listened intently to the weather forecast that predicted sunny skies despite the background of what appeared to be a hurricane. And we both refused to pay the grocery bill of $983 for some milk, turkey, and pineapple.

This weekend also saw our very first food truck rally. It was a quick stop, but I finally got to eat at the Taco Bus. (It's pretty famous- it's going to be featured on the food network Monday) I also discovered the best deviled crab I've ever had. These kind of events with the food trucks are popping up all over, I can't wait to try more of them. The Bucs lost Sunday, which wasn't awesome, and even worse than that like half our players got injured and we lost a home game to play in London. To top it all off, it put Asa in quite the grumpy mood. I couldn't even relish my fantasy football stomping over him because of it. And boy was it a stomping. I won by over 100 points. *Stomp Stomp*

The boys also gave their Caterpillar a hair cut, because the grass had grown over their eyes. I love these caterpillars. I had no idea they'd be so successful. I wonder if I can keep them around long enough to put them in my new garden and have them holding a sign denoting what vegetable is in that row.

Monday wasn't awful this week- but the house needed a pick up on aisle.. well, pretty much everywhere. Sometimes I come home from taking the boys to school on Monday and I think 'was the weekend worth it? Did we have as much fun as the house appears as we did?' Because man, the house looked like we'd just had the party of the year. The damage they can do in a few hours, whooow. Anyway, it was clean up and laundry time- neither of which I enjoy, but both of which occasionally has to be done. I also set up our board for the week with our meals, snacks, and activities for the week and themed them all for Halloween. I was pretty happy with my spider crackers- they were cracker sandwiches with peanut butter in the middle, pretzel sticks for legs, and chocolate chips for eyes. They were a hit. And today we have a new twist on apple smiles- apple vampire smiles! We also made salt dough pumpkins which we'll be painting today.

It's also red ribbon week at school. So, this means three papers sent home to tell me about the random events for the week. (But I'm not still bitter about the unnecessary wastefulness of paper, can't you tell?) Monday was wear green to school, and Tuesday (today) is crazy sock day. The boys don't really have anything other than white socks, so I went to the store to pick some up. There wasn't really crazy socks in the boys department though, and so I picked up a three pack of socks- blue, black, and tan and decided they could decorate them. When I brought them home, here was the responses:

Calib 'I guess I'll just wear one black and one navy blue'

Me 'You won't be able to hardly tell they are different'

Calib 'I'm ok with that.

Peyton: "I don't really care about crazy sock day. I think I'll skip it"

(He was later convinced to wear one tan sock and one black sock, though I did refuse to pair the white socks and told him he could find his own, and he didn't much like that plan)

Hayden: "Can I put googly eyes on them? And Paint them?'

So Hayden then made his own pair of crazy socks.. googly eyes, fuzzy pom poms and a fuzzy pipe cleaner in the shape of an H glued to a blue sock, and his tan sock painted in orange blue and purple with a green H on it. He just kept talking about how crazy his socks were going to be. He was really excited about it. Then this morning he made me spike his hair all up so that his 'crazy hair would match my crazy socks". When they were about to get out of the car Calib told Hayden he would have to walk himself to class today. Oh to be a kindergartner and not worry about being cool.

And, I will leave you with some random awards for the week:

Best Song of the week:

Hayden- who made up the 'I love you more than' song, and sang it to Asa, and Peyton. Then, when he tried to sing it to Calib, Calib said 'I've heard it already', and Hayden blew him off and said 'wait this one is better, we have to hold hands.... I love you more than (insert random items he was sitting by at the moment) Thats the end"

Best countdown to Un-grounding this week:

Peyton. Who set the oven timer to know exactly when his grounding would be up so he could play his new game again.

Best Make Me Feel Old Moment

Me: "Calib, pull your pants up"

Asa: "What are you on MTV Jams? Are you Carson Daily?"

Calib: "Whose Carson Daily?"
Me: "Oh my god, I feel so old"

Asa "No, No Wait... The Lion King came out 17 years ago."

Me "What are you doing?!?!?"

Best Waldo Sighting:

Hayden and his location of Wenda, Waldo's sister.

Best Quote of the week:

Asa "I'm trying to be a good sport... sometimes!"

Next Up: Food and Wine Festival + Sister Hazel + Awesome Playgrounds+ Pumpkins+ Halloween Parties = One weekend stupid Hurricane Rina better not interfere with.

Week 10: This too shall pass... like a kidney stone.

Another short blog, for a short week. I can't start getting behind on my blog- or it'll be August 10th and I'll be a couple short. My list says 52, so 52 I shall post.

I didn't mention last weeks blog the drama that was last Monday, because, well, it's Monday- and bad things almost always happen on Mondays. Now, I'm not going to be melodramatic, 'bad' can range from the dishwasher/garbage disposal deciding to quit working (which is most frequent), to the battery in the Accord exploding, to your landlord telling you he's selling your house. So, I mean, in the grand scheme of things- none of this is life threatening (well, except maybe that battery thing), but it's annoying, and not good news.

Last Monday it was the landlord situation. I know it's time to buy a house, so I don't mind that part as much- but I have been saying for months that our landlord is in way more trouble with the house than he has ever admitted to us. Apparently he's being forced to put it on the market- but he is just telling us this now (when all along this was supposed to occur after our lease was up in February). I know he knew about this long before last Monday. A month ago it was 'we'll talk about it when the lease is up', Two Mondays (see) ago it was 'We'll probably have to put it up in a couple months', last Monday it was 'You'll be hearing from a realtor in 3 to 4 weeks', and then Tuesday we heard from a realtor who said it would be a long time before it was actually on the market. Then, I was perusing the internet looking at houses, and discovered ours on the market- for sale. It's just shady business I tell you. But, then private landlords generally turn out to be that way. I'm choosing to focus on the positive though- oh the ideas I have for a house that's actually mine. I don't know if you heard, but I'm super crafty. And pinterest is the best site ever.

In other news- Haydens very first parent-teacher conference today. It was borderline Ms. Fitterer(Peytons 1st grade teacher who wanted to adopt him)-ish. She went on and on about how kind and respectful Hayden is, how well he listens, and how bright he is. He apparently is on first grade level with almost everything, which makes sense because we spent all of last year working on kindergarten work books. Apparently though, he has to work on his tissue usage. Here's the thing, Hayden was never sick before he went to kindergarten- but he wasn't around a lot of kids other than his brothers either. So, he's pretty much been sick since he started school. And, due to his lack of really needing to use tissues, he's not so good at it. Yes, he's the snotty kid. You win some, you lose some. I guess I'd prefer he's the smart snotty kid in class, if you look at the alternatives.

The passwords are going well, its pretty funny- at times Hayden will go running screaming through the house, but stop briefly at each door to calmly say the password- and then continue running screaming through the house. Apparently they also use passwords at school- and the kids take it very seriously. Peyton is not happy about the addition of multiplication problems as his passwords, I'd like to think it's helping.

Friday I ended up with a migraine like headache. It was really bad- I spent most of my day in the dark in our bedroom. By the time Asa and the boys got home- Asa's schedule changed so he's able to get the boys from school now if I need him to- they asked what they could do to help. I told them I was sick of the bedroom, so they very quietly blocked all the windows and doors with blankets so it would be dark in the livingroom/diningroom/kitchen area. They actually did a really good job, and we're pretty proud of themselves. I tried diagnosing my headache on web md- and discovered I was either having a stroke and/or experiencing near sightedness. It took about 24 hours- but I was cured from both of them.

After this on Friday and Asa getting a cold, we had to change our weekend plans. We were supposed to do our annual fun fall saturday- where we go to the seaworld spooktacular, picnic lunch it, then head over to the epcot food and wine festival- and stop at a super cool playground in Lakeland on the way home. It's one of my favorite days of the year (although this year has some competition with my some of my favorite days ever). But, a las, it wasn't meant to be this weekend- so we have to reschedule. I'm still trying to figure out how we're going to fit it all in with everything we have to do- but we'll make it work. I can't believe were about at the end of October already!

Peyton got to bring the class pet home this weekend. He's a rather nice little hamster named Humphrey. We took him over to Justins for a cookout on Saturday so that he could run around in his ball without us having to worry about the dogs going after him. Peyton had to write about his weekend with the hamster, and change his bedding and everything. He did a pretty good job taking care of him- but Hayden was devestated Monday when Peyton had to take him back to school.

*Football Alert* We spent Sunday watching games, par for the course this time of year- and I gotta say, after that debacle that was last week, the Bucs game was really exciting. But, I have figured out my hatred for certain QBs come from announcers who gush about them straight for 3 hours- no matter how good or bad they are playing. It annoys the crap out of me. Two highlights of the game: the Saints Coach injury report, and our mascot, Captain Fear, mocking Darren Sprolles on a kickoff. Entertaining stuff right there. And, the Bucs are 4-2-- Not bad!

Monday I started to put the house back together- because I was not at all prepared for visitors, and by Friday I was hold up in the bedroom fighting my splitting headache, and the weekend was pretty lazy around here. I made explosion packets with the boys- never fear I'm not making little terrorists or anything- the explosion is from a combination of a packet of baking soda, some vinegar and a zip lock baggie. And, the explosion isn't all that big, but they're boys so any explosion>no explosion. I also had the wonderful surprise of nothing back happening this Monday, and Asa even went to the bank to see about financing. As a bonus nobody had an homework- except for Calib writing his speech for running for Treasurer. I also realized it was a short week- and they pushed back the science project due dates till Monday because of it. Score!

I guess today we're expecting a tropical system to roll through here. The fist half hour of the afternoon news was dedicated to it- but it's not even a named storm, and I've just seen some clouds and light breeze. For my northern friends: It's kind of the equivalent to Stan Stachak telling you a blizzard is on its way- and then getting a dusting. Apparently though, a cold front is on it's way and the high later this week is only 70 degrees! Time to break out the hoodies.

Other things worth noting:

Things that got on my nerves this week:

I had to sign my name 13 times in one night on all kinds of the boys stuff: planners, field trip forms, tests, homework folders, permission slips (to watch a PG movie), reading logs, Ect, Ect, Ect... For a school that talks about how they like to have kids be responsible and organized, I sure do have to back all that up with signatures WAY more than I should have.

Questions answered:

Yes, Hermit Crabs do poop, Peyton. A lot. And, it's gross.

Best Game of the Week:

Hayden's Catch the Invisible Ball. This is way more entertaining than you might imagine.

Next Up: Weddings, Pumpkins, English Football and Food Trucks!

Week 9.5: 'Does your Person have Accessories?"

I was very unprepared for this week. And if you know me, you know that's not like me. So, here's how that occurred- Thursday night Asa and I had just finished watching the Office, when he gets out of bed, gets dressed and announces that he has to go get me a present. It's like 10:30 at night, so I'm quick to argue that I do not need a present, or he can go pick it up tomorrow, and that he should just come back to bed. He insists he has to leave, so I make him tell me why. He gets mad, because it was a surprise and he didn't want to ruin it. But he reluctantly tells me Amanda (my friend who lives in Arizona) is my surprise, and she is coming to visit and he has to go pick her up from the airport. I was quite surprised, but it did make sense that all week Asa had been way on top of the cleaning, and everytime I said "I'll just get it this weekend" He would respond with "No, no, I'll get it now. It's better to get things done now" Which, is not at all like Asa. Anyway, he comes back from the airport and another surprise.. my friend Brandy from Portland. Amanda was mad Asa chose her to give up, and everyone was mad at Justin since he was supposed to call and say his car broke down so Asa would have to go pick him up.

Anyway, I'm a little behind on everything, because I wasn't expecting to have all kinds of stuff to do this week. And since, I'm late writing this week's blog, it's going to consist mostly of pictures, and captions, and a quick run down of things I've learned/done/almost died doing:

Jeopardy isn't fun unless Hayden wins, Peyton whines, and Calib mismanages his points at the end.

Do not give a 5 year old a spoon, a bowl of dirt, and ask him to do anything with it.

Quest: See how many beaches you can go to in a day, without mapquest

Look! We found a conch shell, totally intact, super glossy, (possibly with a price tag on it) in the gulf

Best way to enjoy a Friday Night: 8 person chutes and ladders, with toy story characters including Bo Peep with skirt circumference not conducive to the chutes and ladder squares.

Apples to Apples is way more fun when you play sans kids and can be extremely inappropriate.

Three people can fit in one of those little photo booths, but I don't recommend it.

When buying Alligator Jerky, go with your instincts, and don't listen to Amanda and her Cajun tendencies

Trolly's are the coolest form of transportation. They're Brandy's favorites.

Visiting a beach in a tropical disturbance will result in sand in the most unusual places. But, also your q-tip for the next week.

Be sure to check the 'official rules' before putt putting. Also, It's best to keep the ball on the putting green

You can consider yourself to be part of puzzle putting together team if you find at least one piece of significance. My contribution: Moose Teeth

When asking if your Guess Who Person had accessories, be sure to include the chick with the earring. Stupid Megan.

And the Award for best use to Painters Tape Goes to....

Before Parasailing, be sure to jot down a quick will on the parasailing pamphlet. Just in case.

While parasailing, to curb your nerves be sure to yell at your friend who made you go parasailing.

After parasailing, be sure to thank the friend who paid for parasailing, and made you go parasailing even though you yelled at said friend the whole time you were parasailing.

Playing in the waves is only really fun until you get salt water in your eyes.

Note to self: Continue to invite Brandy to visit, she brings melting pot gift cards and babysits. Note to Brandy: Being repetitive and predictable is perfectly ok when it involves dessert fondue.

Falling two stories isn't as frightening as it would seem. (Ok, well, I didn't really fall two stories, but I was up two stories when I fell two inches).

Fairs in Florida just aren't like fairs up North. Their 'swine, goat, and sheep' tent contained only sheep. And teenagers getting their hair done. Also, only worth the trip on dollar day.

Do not go roller skating if you do not have health insurance. *Note: this was the third waiver in which I had to sign my life away in two days*

Do not come home unless you have Tacos.

Do not ask Asa to text directions to the cupcake spot while at work, or you'll get "Take route 4, get off at 45A... Oh God, these directions....." and have to find your way from there.

Bowling is best done with Bumpers.

Even the self proclaimed air hockey champion cannot beat this girl *points at self*

I am so awesome, I can make homemade chia pets.

Other than that, I didn't really do anything this week. Oh, but I did knock off a couple of movies, another book, and some random things off my list. Thanks to Brandy, and Amanda, and Asa for making this week super awesome.

Next Up: Pet Hamsters on loan *crosses fingers I don't have to make a hermit crab-esque switcharoo* , Spooktacular Events, and Fishermans Pie!

Week 8: Tears, Cheers, and Secret Service Automobiles

This week (or at least the last couple nights) has proved exhausting. I'm so tired as I write this blog- I found myself thinking I should have kept up with writing it throughout the week. Hopefully this evening and tonight I can rest up, because that mountain of laundry has been calling my name for way too long.

Speaking of laundry, while it sat around dirty in baskets, my dogs found a new favorite sleeping spot this week- it became a revolving door of who can sleep in the basket. Finally, I loaded up some dirty sheets and blankets, and added a second basket to cut down on the growling.

We had a lot of school work to do this week- Calib and Peyton both had to start on their Science projects. I always hate the science project- they want them to do random things like count how many chips are in a couple of different brands and bags, and then report it to death. I opted out of a simple thing like that, because it always annoys me that they have to talk over and over again about counting chips for two months while they write papers, and make boards up. This is no Science Project. This year we are growing plants. Calib is exposing them to different amounts of light- and Peyton is 'watering' them with different things (water, milk, and Gatorade)- oh and Hayden is growing plants, because well, if his brothers are doing it, he has to take part. I guess he just has the 'control' group.

We also had to work on Peyton's multiplication- he's been working on his threes and didn't pass them before we went to Ohio, or when we just got back (which, bad parenting on my part I didn't go over them once the Ohio weekend). Asa was drilling him with the 3's just before bedtime. When he woke up in the morning, I was asking him at breakfast. Relevant information: Hayden and Peyton share a bedroom. Here's how the multiplication review went:

Me: Peyton, 3 times 9?

Peyton: um... um.... um...

Hayden: It's 27 Peyton! 27!

Apparently Asa's multiplication drills taught someone something- it was just the wrong kid. Later that day though, Peyton passed his test on the 3s so we're on to the 4s. This is going to be a battle until Christmas at least.

Hayden also was given sight words to learn this week. In an effort to help him learn these sight words, I posted them as passwords to all the bedrooms, the bathroom and the kitchen. He has to say the password to get into the rooms. Unforeseen issue: Hayden not knowing the password to the bathroom and nearly going all over himself. We've since sat down and learned them all, but it's pretty funny when you're sitting in the living room and you just hear him shout out "AND" or "IN" and then fling open a door. I've switched them up every couple of days, and he seems to have them all down in a matter of a couple of days- and he doesn't even have to take his test on them until Friday.

In other homework related news, I have a complaint. Haydens math teacher gives him homework every week. And on this homework Hayden has to write his first and last name- both on lines about an inch and a half long. I'm sorry, but no kindergartner can write 'Waterstraut' on a line that small. Asa said he should just write "Wat" since apparently for most of Carly's early years in school thats what she did. (If you're reading this Hi Carly *waves* we should make a skype time).

Lets talk sports for a minute. Wednesday the Tampa Bay Rays were playing their possible last game of the season. In a couple of weeks, they had come from nine games behind the Red Sox to come to the last day of the regular season tied. A Rays win, and a Boston loss- The Rays would be in, and vise versa. So, here we are late Wednesday night- the Rays are down 0-9 in the bottom of the 8th inning. Boston is winning 4-3 in the 7th. Some miracle happens, and by the bottom of the ninth- the Rays have come back to 8-9. It was amazing! But, it came down to two strikes, and two outs. Boston was still up- and it was likely the Rays would lose, Boston would win- end of season. But, the last pitch comes up and it's a homerun. The Rays end up in extra innings. Boston then blows a lead- with two outs and two strikes, they pitch a homerun- it's tied- still the bottom of the ninth. Next guy up to bat then hits another homerun, and the game is over- Boston loses. Then, like, 5 minutes later, the Rays hit a homerun and win! After being down 9 games, after less than an hour sooner looking so grim people had left the stadium- (some of the kids in Calibs class were there and then left) they won, Boston lost- and the Rays were in the playoffs. Apparently, the chances of that happening was 1 in 278 million. It was amazing. Unfortunately, they used up all their magic that night and are already out of the playoffs. But nobody in Tampa will forget that night- everyone was talking about it the next day. The best part was telling the boys in the morning. They went to bed thinking it was hopeless. It. Was. Awesome.

Friday the boys came home from school reporting about how their were Secret Agents all over their school- I tried to get to the bottom of it. First of all, their school does some weird things- was this just some weird program they had. I mean, after all, they said 'secret agents' like it was a TV Show or something. But then Peyton explained there were guys with guns and guys in black suits with black sun glasses- and Calib said someone said the Vice President might be coming. I found it all very intriguing and mysterious at the same time. I googled it- but found nothing.

Saturday the plan was to stay home, since we were gone all last weekend- and we had things to get done, room cleaning and stuff. Hayden and Peyton are usually on board to clean their room as long as I am in there giving them direction doing some work too, and now we have a nice clean organized bedroom. While we were busy at home, Asa went out to run errands. One of his stops was at the bank to check on getting financed for a mortgage. Our house we live in now is going to be going on the market, and if we're going to buy now is as good of time as any. So stay tuned for all that exciting buying a house stuff. I'm really looking forward to being able to add things and change things in a house that you can't do when you rent. Painting! Wallpaper! Fixtures! Cabinet organizers! Pantry Re-Dos! Oh, so exciting. You should see my pinterest boards- I am loading them up with house possibilities.

I did discover that on Saturday there was going to be a Monday Night Football event at the Mall by our house. They had kids games, some Buccaneers, a MNF announcer- and the best part was it was totally free. We went down there and the boys got to play some games (vertical jumps, long longs, throwing drills-that sort of thing), and meet Mike Williams, Arreliouss Benn, and Mike Tirico. I love Hayden meeting football players, or really anyone 'famous' because he had no idea. This is how a conversation went with Mike Williams, one of the Bucs top wide receivers.

Mike Williams: "Hi there. How are you?"

Hayden: "I'm in kindergarten"

Mike Williams: "Oh yea?"

Hayden: "My favorite part is Fridays"

Mike Williams: "Why is that?"

Hayden: "Because they have Pizza on Fridays"

And then he has this conversation with ESPN Announcer/Game Caller for Monday Night, Mike Tirico

Mike Tirico: "Are you going to watch the game on Monday?"

Hayden: "No, everyone's going with out me"

Mike Tirico: "Well, you could still watch the game on TV" (You know, where he'd be announcing)

Hayden: "Thats ok, I'll just read some books."

Peyton did announce to everyone that he wanted to go to see Peyton Manning play. Mike Tirico said "I know, I wanted to see Peyton Manning play too"

When Mike Williams caught wind of Peyton being a Colts fan he made some comment about watching them lose, I said we were preparing him for that. They were all really friendly and nice about everything. As a bonus we got free 'Monday Night Football' Tshirts and had them signed too. Afterwards, we went over to Dairy Queen to get some ice cream. Can I just take a minute to talk about how awesome the weather is here lately? The humidity is gone, its not super hot- just awesome out. You can eat ice cream outside without it melting all over right away.

Because of school work, and catching up from the long weekend away we didn't do any of our usual after school activities. We decided to do a week in fast forward, and so Sunday Morning we made mini apple pies, made some slime, and had pom pom races. I had no idea the kids would have so much fun with some straws and pom poms. I made little boxes on the floor out of painters tape worth different points and they had to blow the pom poms across the floor into the boxes. Peyton was way better than his brothers at this game- but it was super fun to watch and they LOVED it. We had to stop due to the noise factor since Asa was working from home all day Sunday for some overtime. That game is a keeper though, we'll be playing it again.

Sunday Night was pretty awful. Since we've been gone so much lately Porkchop has decided Gracie is his best friend in the whole world- and he wants to always be around her. Problem is Gracie sleeps in Calibs room, Porkchop sleeps in our room. So, he sat at the door and whined all night. When let out of our room he howled in the livingroom. Asa and I barely slept. It was terrible. I was pretty sure he was going to sell Porkchop to the first bidder the next morning. I'm happy to report we fixed the problem, I'm saddened to report Porkchop doesn't sleep in our room anymore.

Monday we were so tired, I was able to take a nap- and I never ever nap. But I knew we would be out late at the football game. We picked the boys up from school and they had news to report that the Vice President was coming to their school the next day. Again with the secret service stories. Apparently, there were guys with rifles walking on the roof and bomb sniffing dogs back in the woods behind the school. At that moment I thought 'well, crap, they can't miss school tomorrow' because again, I knew we would be at the game really late.

We dropped Hayden off at Justin's- he was pretty excited to be going over there. He ran in the house and told Justin "It's like a party for me, and I get to do whatever I want". I know we had prepared him for this but I don't think any of that came out of my mouth at any point in time. But regardless, thats what he thought of the situation. He wasn't sad at all that we were leaving him there, so bonus for that. And thanks to Justin for watching him- even if he didn't remember he was going to.

When we got to game, I realized how much more traffic a sold out game produces. There were cars everywhere- it was insane. We were trying to prepare Peyton for the situation of him going to the game as a Colts fan- not a Bucs one. He was so upset by the time we got to our seats because of people yelling 'Tampa... Bay' Then, minutes into the game, the Colts fumbled and the Bucs recovered and he burst into tears. All I kept thinking was "I paid 200 bucks for this? To sit next to Peyton and have him cry?" We cheered him up with some cotton candy. But then I started thinking if I have to pay 4 bucks for cotton candy everytime something goes wrong for the Colts, I'm going to be broke and Peytons going to have quite the sugar rush. Luckily, after that, Asa took Peyton down to get some popcorn and had a talk with him. He came back up, apologized and said he was just so excited to go to his first NFL game and see the Colts play in person he was taking every little thing too seriously. It also helped that Peyton Manning was there, in one of the boxes, which he saw on the TVS when he was down at the concession stand. He spent a long time after that looking through his binoculars into the boxes trying to find Peyton Manning.

Parts of the game were awful, there wasn't a whole lot of good stuff going on for the Bucs in the first half of the game. Peyton got to see the Colts actual score, so he was happy- and I was pretty confident the Bucs would come back and win, and they did. Peyton did alright with it, until we were leaving and everyone was chanting 'Tampa... Bay' again as if all the fans were just trying to rub his nose in it. It was an awesome game.. Not so awesome that we kind of forgot where we parked. But, it didn't take us too long to find the car. It was just about 2 AM by the time we got home, though.

Highlights of the game, besides the game itself:

A yankees fan was converted to a Rays fan, threw his hat off into the crowd- and it spent a good ten minutes being thrown around the stadium

At about 11pm we get a text from Justin. It reads "Nick Jr. Sucks"

I knew when we got home so late there was no way I could make the boys get up and go to school at 8:30. We decided we would let them sleep in until 10 since the Vice President wasn't supposed to be at the school until after noon. Hayden wasn't going at all. He had a doctors appointment for 10:50, and because of the Vice President and all the security there would be no way to get him to school afterwards.

When I took the boys at 10 it was insane. The school is about one mile from my house. It is in our subdivision, and even bears the same name. There were tons of police on motorcycles going up and down the main road from here to the school. The villages in the back of my subdivision had police officers stationed at them, checking IDs for anyone who went in and out. When we got up to school there was a secret service presence at the gates, and a police officer who asked us if the boys were Oakstead students. I was then directed to park just past the 25 or so newstrucks that were in the parking lot. There were buses in the bus loop lined back to back creating a sort of barricade. All the staff parking was on the grassy playground area, the driveway in front of the school was full of black SUVs. When we crossed the drive to get up to the office, there were soldiers, and police and secret service agents standing all around. I apologized when I took them into school and explained we were at the Bucs game, and I had no idea it would be such an ordeal to get to school. Some of the staff had been at the game too, and totally understood. They were really nice about it- but it probably helped I had never brought them in late before. When I left I noticed the guys with rifles on the roof of the school. It was so crazy! I mean, I know it was for the Vice President but theres still something very strange about walking your children past men with guns to take them to class. I found it amusing when we got the call about Joe Biden being there, they said it will be a normal day for students. I'm pretty sure it was anything but normal for them.

When they got home, neither of the boys were able to see the Vice President in person, but he spoke to the students, and gave a speech on the school newscast. He went to see the other fifth grade class in Calib's pod- and all the teachers got to leave to go see the speech in person as opposed to the TVs. It was still one of those days I'm sure they won't ever forget. Very cool that their school was picked. Apparently they were deciding between eight or so schools on Friday and narrowed it down over the weekend. It was very cool to see it on the news that evening too. Plus, they seemed to get out of homework because of all the commotion. Which was good because they were still exhausted when they came home from school.

And that was our week

Oh, one last thing.

Haydens best news of the week: Justin didn't eat him. Apparently Hayden takes Justin pretty seriously.

Next Up: The Food and Wine Festival or a trip to the Beach. The weather may not cooperate this weekend though. I hear lots of rain is headed our way.