Week 33: I Found the Vodka. It Was Hiding in the Orange Juice.

Look at me! It's a blog in a timely manner. So, how was your week? What have you been up to? Sounds awesome. Us? Well, we've had birthday parties, puke bowls, and a continuous penguin cam running. It's been quite a week, and we're gearing up for Spring Break- so I've been busy planning, planning, planning. We've got an itinerary. A bit larger than an 'index card o fun' but the same idea, a shopping list in hand, groupons printed out, and passes on hand to all our favorite parks.

Here in Florida, at the Waterstraut household, our birthdays are kind of a big deal. We don't do birthdays- we do Birthday Extrava-freakin-ganza's! Since Sunday was the big 2-9 for my favorite grown up in the whole wide world, we started the celebration Friday night with 'movie' night, which turned out not so much to be a movie- as we introduced the boys to Modern Family. It's a pretty great sitcom, and they loved it. So it was one hulu plus episode after another, until late into the evening. We even drug all the mattresses out to the front room and had a sleepover. *Sigh* 'The front room'.. I tried so hard to label our two living spaces the living room and the family room- but they've ended up as the 'front room' and the 'playroom'. I've given in, and accepted the terms and conditions.

Saturday we went to Aquatica for the very first time. This time Seaworld and Aquatica are included in our passes - for a great deal/value! I am still partial to the Disney waterparks- you cannot beat a ride on the toboggan racers, an ice cream bucket, and a walk across the ice burgs at Blizzard Beach- but Aquatica is SO super cool. My mom is going to have to make a trip with us next time she comes. Somehow I sense she'll be brave and go on the slide that takes you THROUGH the dolphin habitat. Yes, as cool as it sounds. Combine that with an over the top bucket/waterslide/jungle gym area, the huge fish tank you float by on the lazy river, and the river that takes you on a massive ride with a strong current- and you have yourself a really fun day.

Highlight of the trip, however, was Hayden being a brave big boy! He's been terrified to go on- well, lets put it this way- the Grover coaster at Busch Garden's is too wild for him. He decided he would go on the big family slide, and despite my skepticism, he totally went through with it. THEN, he went on the even more frightening 'family' slide, that even I didn't want to do. He was feeling pretty brave, brave enough to walk all the way up the stairs to the Aquatica version of the toboggan racers- but, not brave enough to actually go down. Thats ok, it's a work in progress.

I had packed us some uncrustables, and snacks, so we ate those in the car and then headed over to Epcot in the afternoon. It's currently the Flower and Garden festival, so I took some pictures to entice my mom to come visit for it next year..

See, isn't it pretty? I LOVE the Flower and Garden festival, but it isn't quite the Food and Wine Festival. Oh, Epcot- I love you- possibly even more than the Magic Kingdom. (Although the new section is open, so we're going to have to go check that out).

Anyway, we made our usual stop by at Club Cool, where sadly they were out of all the free Chinese Coke, which is Asa's favorite. He's even been known to fill up our water bottle with the stuff. (He's also been known not to screw on the top on said water bottle, and end up with pop all over himself) We made a trip through the butterfly house- and over to the playground where Hayden continued his 'I can do this' mantra, and climbed through all the circles all by himself.

Since it was Asa's birthday, we had to make a stop in Germany for a brat. He claims it's because him and my dad always used to get one whenever they went through there together. I suspect that might be his way of getting me to be ok with a $7 brat- either way, he probably needed something to wash down the saki he had in japan. Because someone was feeling pretty happy at that point. So much alcohol in that little saki cup. We wandered around the world, and made sure to stop at spaceship earth, because Hayden is convinced that spaceship earth is called 'Epcot'- and when we say 'we're going to epcot' he expects a stop here.

Sunday was Asa's actual birthday, and I had been collecting groupons for the event. We got up, had breakfast, and went out to airheads. It's a trampoline gym- and Calib and Asa, especially, LOVE it. For me, I tend to get motion sickness almost immediately. Since the groupon was only for 4 people, I sat this one out. But, I did manage to take some fun pictures. That's Peyton there in the yellow shirt- he was getting some serious air. But boy- at the end of the hour- are those boys ever sweaty!

Afterwards we went over to Burger 21 for lunch. They have ny favorite- sweet potato fries! Plus all kinds of yummy burgers. The weather all weekend had been so wonderful (in Florida this time of year that means little to no humidity), so we ate outside and enjoyed our burgers, shakes and fries.

We had been busy most of the weekend, and Asa loves some good lazy time, so he wanted to go home and get in some video games and relaxation. On the way home we stopped by the market and used our groupons to get some steak for dinner. Then we had a nice night at home, having a cookout, cake (complete with 29 candles), and ice cream.

By Monday the busy weekend had taken it's toll on 2/3 of the kids. Asa had scheduled the day off, and we were going to go to use another groupon and have a date day. Unfortunately, Peyton's stomach, and Hayden's throat had other ideas. In all honesty, Peyton's best friend at school went home throwing up on Friday- so I had pretty much seen this coming. I was just hoping it wouldn't happen over the birthday weekend. The sad part about it, Hayden missed his kindergarten concert at school that I was SO looking forward to. No performance of freight train, sadly, was in the cards for us.

Tuesday Hayden seemed to be doing better- but Peyton still appeared under the weather. I took Calib and Hayden to school, and Peyton slept until about 11. After that we did the usual sick kid home from school thing- and watched the Price is Right and ate soup for lunch. Peyton seemed all better after that, and pretty much confessed that he wasn't feeling awesome, but probably could have gone to school. He had to switch teachers mid-way through, because his teacher had to go on medical leave. His new teacher is not fabulous. Case and point: Peyton got a strike for not having his planner signed- on the days he was ABSENT. It didn't even cross my mind I'd have to sign it, he wasn't even there. But sure enough, the teacher said we had to sign it anyway for good 'teacher=parent communication', despite the fact that if Peyton is good theres nothing in his planner- like there is for Calib and Hayden- but I still sign it then. My kids have been going to the same school for four years now, and I've never heard of this before. Yea, I'm definitely not happy with her. Couple that with the poems he's being forced to write, his class as a whole being punished for a few bad apples, and his best friend announcing she's moving to California- and his desire to go to school is near an all-time low. He seems to be snapping out of it now though.

I did get a ton of projects done on Tuesday even though Peyton was home with me. I finally made Asa's Madden Desks (I covered our computer desks in instructions and covers from even single Madden game ever made). It's pretty awesome the way it turned out, actually. It was his birthday present, so I wanted to get it done asap. I had to wait awhile to find Madden '92. Not so hard to find the game- but pretty difficult to find one with the original artwork.

I also finally got up passwords for Hayden. They are his sight words, and he has to say them as passwords to get into rooms/things. I laminated some cute scrapbooking paper I had so they are dry erase, and much cuter than notebook paper taped to the wall. Not only did I put them on doors to everywhere- he also has them on the fridge, freezer, and pantry. It's pretty funny when he's looking for a snack and you hear him mumbling random words.

And, I made a cute new thing for our weekly menu- dry erase and all.

By Wednesday everyone was back at school, and Asa was working from home. He's been swapping out half days on the weekend for working the other half at home. It helps them out- and he's saving money on gas, and getting to work from home. It's a win win for everyone. (Especially next week, he's going to be able to do most of my Spring Break Index Card O Fun with us!) Justin has also been privy to this little arrangement, so he came over for lunch on Wednesday and visited while the kids were at school. It was a very low key day. I spent most of it in Asa's comfy thrift store find leather chair we got when we first moved in, reading my kindle while listening to the boys play rock band.

This morning I went to get the kids up, and couldn't find Hayden anywhere, after starting to get panicked, I found him under a blanket under Denali's cage- laughing hysterically. I don't know at what point he got up and went under there to wait to freak me out, but he thought his little plan was SO funny. I wasn't so amused. Then I told Asa about it. Lets just say, that laughing hysterically thing is hereditary.

Tonight we had the Book Fair and Art Show at the boys school. Usually the book fair is a mess with kids wandering around not really knowing what they want to get, but it went surprisingly smooth. Peyton has really been into learning about the Titanic, so he picked up a book about that and was set to go. Hayden found the much anticipated Pout Pout Fish in the Big Big Dark, and Calib got the first in a series written by the same guy that did the Percy Jackson novels. Afterwards we walked the courtyard to see their artwork. Hayden saw Olivia and Riley from his class, and they were just all about him. In Asa's words 'Whoa, I didn't think a kindergartner could flirt'. We also found out Olivia is actually a twin. Peyton told Hayden "That's awesome, Hayden. Hang on to that one." When leaving we ran into Ciara, and she went out of her way to say hello to Peyton. Those two are ladies men, I tell you. I'm going to have some heartbreakers on my hands. Calib on the other hand, I can't get two words out of him about what girl he likes. But I know theres someone. He'll crack one of these days.

Best Discovery of the Week:

The Seaworld Penguin Cam- Running through April! I think one penguin just discovered the camera, he's all close up staring into it. awesome.

Best Song:

Hayden's quacking rendition of 'It's a Small World' to the ducks at Epcot

Biggest Accomplishment:

Asa completing his quest to eat 300 tacos in one year. This is taco #300

And that's Phenom joining in on the festivities with his doggie taco treat. He LOVED it.

Funny Quotes of the week:

Peyton: "My teacher says you have to be responsible for other people"

Asa: "Thats crap. That's called being a parent"

(While Playing the Kung-Fu Card Game)

Hayden: (looking at Asa's cards) 'We should use Invincible"

Asa: "How do you know what that says"

Hayden: "I sounded it out"

Asa: "Good Job"

Hayden: (looks around at all of us) "Not that we have an Invincible card'

(In response to a turtle crossing the street)

Hayden: *gasp* "That is so dangerous! What is he doing? That's so unsafe!'

(After Calib killed a bug)

Peyton: "Rest in Peace"

Calib: "More like, rest in peices!"

Next Up: It's Spring Break, Baby! We're going to party like it's 1997 ad we're on MTV! Well, I mean, not really, but it's going to be a blast!

Week 32: When All Else Fails- Take A Nap

Now where did I leave off? I'm pretty sure it was two weekends ago, but there was nothing all that exciting going on then. Every couple of weekends you have to not do fun things, and instead do boring things- like mow the lawn, wash the dogs, and clean the house. It's lame, but it has to happen occasionally.

I did spend two weekends ago making all kinds of homemade concoctions: I made laundry detergent, body wash, fabric softener, dryer sheets, fabreeze, and hand soap. I was like a mad scientist in the kitchen cooking and mixing all these weird random things. But, it saves a ton of money. Especially on the laundry detergent. I spent $10 on supplies 6 months ago, and I'm still using them. Well, I occasionally have to buy a new bar of Fels Naptha, but that stuff is less than $1 a bar.

Last Monday the boys had their field trip to the caves. They both had to be at school by 8:30, so Hayden had to go to school by himself an hour later. He looked so sad and so little getting out of the car and going to class by himself. It was the first time he ever had to do that. I tried to ask the boys a lot about the caves when they got back. Calib mostly told me about having to pee in the woods, and Peyton went on and on about stalagmites. So, I think you can see who got more out of their $40 field trip. Calib took a camera, and when he got home, there were four pictures on it. Two of which were the bathroom tree. Lesson learned- next time Peyton gets the camera. Although, Peyton's teacher posted the pictures online, so I have a few of them from her- Thanks Ms. Peppin!

Wednesday Asa just had a partial work from home day (as he was working a partial day on Saturday too)- but his computer ended up being weird and he had to go into the office- The second part of the day though, we went to Costco. My mom had gotten a gift card for me when she was here in December- and I hadn't used it yet, I was pretty excited about it. We got the best dip ever- it was some sort of Lobster thing, and Asa and I ate the whole thing with crackers in like less than a week. I'm so sad I don't have a membership because I can't go back and get more. RIP Lobster Dip. (Now I'm sad all over again writing about it!)

Since we filled out our brackets on Wednesday too, lets take a moment to talk about how those are going. Peyton's is killing it, Calib's is dead on arrival, and Hayden picks all the upsets. Lehigh over Duke? He's got it. Asa and I are hanging in there- but barely. And, thats your bracket update for this week.

Last Thursday I was out running some errands, and heading over to Post Net to mail some quilts to my Aunt, when I thought I'd stop by our local pet store. It's not a Petsmart or Petco or any chain like that, so I like it a lot better. The staff really knows what they are talking about, and the prices are a lot cheaper. We'd been looking at getting a new rabbit for the boys for Easter, since it's been six months since Moose died, and the boys have started asking about getting a new rabbit. They only had one rabbit left: a floppy eared very cute little brown bunny. I pet her for a little, and then started to walk away. She stood up and put her paws on the glass, as if to say 'no wait- everyone pets me- but nobody takes me- PLEASE take me home!' So, I put in a text to Asa to see if I could get her. He agreed, and so I brought her home.

When I got home, I got her cage all set up in Peyton and Hayden's room, and Asa picked them up from school on his way home. The boys came home, and put their backpacks down, had a snack, and then Peyton casually went into his room. He noticed immediately. His face was pretty much the face he makes on Christmas morning when he sees all the presents. His gasp made the other two come running- and they were both equally as excited. We decided to name her Denali after the Moose we pet in Alaska. She's friendly, and likes being out of her hutch and running around. She's been adjusting nicely to life as a Waterstraut.

Friday Hayden took his Leprechaun trap to school. We had originally planned on making a hat with a ladder to the top, and a trap door in it. But when I was at the dollar store I saw a green hat, and a bird ladder. The total bill of $2.14 was worth not having to make that stuff. We cut a trap door in the top of the hat, and super glued a gold coin to the top of the hat so that when the leprechaun pulled on the coin, he'd fall into the hat and be trapped. I'm sad to report Hayden didn't catch anything, but as he said "Olivia spent way more time on her trap, and she didn't catch one either, so I'm ok with it." Apparently, Olivia was very upset about it- and Hayden had to console her.

Saturday we went out to the Fresh Market again. Every first and third Saturday, vendors fill the street of the outdoor mall. Veggies and Fruits are super cheap, and theres usually a salsa, or bread, or cheese, or random thing worth buying for some snacks for the week. I love the Fresh Market, because it's going to do something- and it's grocery budget for the week, so I don't really end up paying anything, well, except for the $3 massive tropical snow. I can't resist sharing one of those with the family. If only I could get them on board for the Pink Lemonade one. It sounds yummy. The sad thing is that March has 5 Saturdays- so I have to wait three weeks between fresh markets this time. I don't think my produce will last that long! I may have to find the closest farmers market to tide me over.

Saturday evening we had some friends over for a cookout, and some card games. The boys were happy because they had Angela to play with. They made smores, went down to the playground, and played video games, and eventually got into the Halloween costume box and started dressing up in all kinds of costumes. The cutest was Angela as Mario and Peyton as Luigi.

The grown ups sat outside enjoying the nice Florida air, hoping we weren't too loud for the neighbors, but our neighbors are all pretty great (so far- cross your fingers). At one point, our dog, Gracie walked right through the screen door. And while Asa didn't find this as hilarious as the rest of us (mostly because he's the one that has to fix the door), we were all laughing pretty hard. Gracie is fine, by the way. The door has seen better days.

We also played the bean game, and it got pretty intense. There was adult language, near filings for divorce, and threats against people's lives. All over some coco beans. It even got super intense of the coffee beans, and coffee beans are worth next to nothing. There were some cushy deals, and insider trading.

Anyway, it was a good time- Justin even brought over his little tripod, so we got a group picture, which was more difficult than you might think to get a good picture of 11 people. Oh, hey, and I wanna thank Noah and Ann for thinking of us with the housewarming gift of an ice cream maker. Can't wait to use it! It's going on my Spring Break list.

Sunday was our 6 year Florida Anniversary. We try and celebrate every year by going somewhere very Floridian in March. While, I can't rub it in to everyone up north about how nice our weather has been- because it's equally as nice up there- I usually like to do something to enjoy our wonderful March weather in comparison.

This year was no exception: We made our first trip to Adventure Island (Busch Garden's water park) of the year. It just opened the weekend before, but we hadn't made it there yet. (You know, boring house stuff prevented that from happening). The water was pretty warm for this time of year- since the temperatures haven't even been cold at night. Hayden is now tall enough to not need a life jacket on the lazy river, and Calib still won't go on the very frightening Water Moccasin. (But Peyton will). Justin came along with us, which was a nice added addition. Plus, we had someone to take a nice family picture.

We came home and cooked out on the grill- and ate on the patio. The neighbors even brought over some beer, complete with a lime and a salted rim (told you we have cool neighbors). Speaking of which- the ones on the other side of us have provided us with lots of fruit from their yard- including a Papaya (which was fresh off the tree and super yummy), and the invitation to pick as many loquats of their tree in their front yard as we want. Later we had ice cream sundays, played a Sattler family classic of Spoons, and watched the USF Game (while they lost- it was nice to see them making it that far in the tournament.) A nice Florida Anniversary.

This week is Asa's work from home week- but Monday the boys didn't have school for a teacher planning day. I have nothing all that exciting to report from Monday because I spent most of the day shooshing them, and getting Denali out from under the bunk beds. (She really likes it back there). I wanted to take the boys out again, but I was slightly (or mostly) sun burnt from our afternoon at Adventure Island the day before, so we ended up staying home.

This Wednesday Hayden stayed home from school, sick. I had planned on blogging Wednesday, but with him home it threw a big wrench in the plans. He did seem to get miraculously better around lunch time. But, I mean, it's kindergarten- how much did he really miss? We spent the afternoon doing his homework for the week, so that's done and he still learned things. So, it's fine. Although, I did tell him I'd have to write his excuse note saying: "Please Excuse Hayden from school on Wednesday. He was at home faking being sick". He was not pleased with that.

Then Thursday I planned on blogging, but I had gotten an email from my brother, Clint, saying he was going to be in town. When I called him, he said he wasn't feeling all that well- but that if he felt better him and Jessica would come over for dinner. I didn't tell the boys about it, because I didn't want them to get all excited, and then be disappointed. Shortly after they got home, Clint called to say he would come- but Jessica was staying at the hotel to sleep. So, we told the boys "Uncle Clint is coming to visit" they replied with "When", so we told them "Right Now!" and all hell broke loose. They were very excited to see him.

We cooked out again, because really, it's the best time of year for it- and we still had side dish leftovers from Saturdays cookout. He played some games with the boys, and we all played a card game together out on the patio. Then there was some wrestling, and loud noises coming from the living room, and before we knew it- it was bedtime. Glad he stopped by though- the boys were so happy to see him, and Clint is small doses is always pretty great. We tried to skype mom to surprise her, but she was off with her 'garden club'- which given her description has turned more into a 'drinking club'. You know those garden club ladies- they know how to party.

I guess Friday is my new blog day? Because my birthday is 20 weeks from today. Oh geez, is that all?

Most Useful Project Completed:

Homemade Belly Bands for the dogs. Phenoms got one with little wiener dog's on it!

Best Come from behind win:

USF Men's Basketball team, who shot just 11 % the first half. Awesome to watch the second half, not so much the first.

Best Banana Bread add in:

Pineapple!

Worst City to Live in for Reality Television:

Tampa. Both our Survivor and American Idol Representatives got voted off last week.

Best Use of Old Planters:

Me- Check it out:

Finally Finished Project:

Calib's $11 Dresser, And FINALLY Framed our invitation and program from our wedding ( I've had the frame ready to do it forever)- Check it out:

Worst Use of Dog Beds:

That would be Porkchop on the big dog bed, and Gracie, trying to squeeze into the small one.

Next Up: The 300th Taco, Kindergarten Musicals, and Asa's 29th Annual Birthday Extravaganza!

Week 31.5: Life Is Better In Flip Flops

Ah, flip flops. The single best thing about living in Florida. Can I just take a second to comment on our weather, which is surely going to anger many of my northern readers? It has been a GORGEOUS winter here. I would say we've had less than 2 weeks of cold weather (by cold I mean the high not reaching 60- and yes, I know, I grew up in Ohio). For the most part it's been upper 70s, to low 80s (some days even high 80s) and sunshiney. The humidity has been low, which my hair is grateful for. I never had to buy any winter clothes for the boys, and 95 percent of the time they were able to wear shorts to school. It's just been so warm and lovely. Although, I feel like if the winter has been this warm, the summer is going to be brutal. Just, brutal. And, I'm not spending the usual month out of the state that I have the last two summers. No big trips, no weddings. Whatever will I do with myself?

So, lets pick up where my last blog left off: Leap Day, and Disney's 'One More Disney Day'. In case you missed it, on Leap Day Disney was open for 24 hours. 6 am Leap Day morning, until 6 am on March 1. I wasn't about to spend all 24 hours there. Once, when I was in high school I went to Disney with Cort, Holly, and Clint. We had three park hopper tickets- and one regular ticket. And so, I spent 18 hours in the Magic Kingdom. It's really just much more a Kingdom- and a lot less Magic- after about hour 14. But, we did want the kids to have this special day, since it only comes around once every four years, and figured we'd go in the evening and stay as late as we could make it.

We took off for the park after dinner, around 7:30. We were all sporting our pajama's, though Calib was not thrilled with this prospect- he's getting all 'teenager' on us lately *sigh*. When we got to the Disney exit it was CRAZY. There were tons of cars leaving, but just as many heading in. I noticed at the toll booth though, that it was just passholder after passholder. People were just sticking their passes out the window, and the guys were frantically waving everyone through. When it was our turn, he hardly looked at the pass and instead screamed 'Can you handle the magic?!?!' I wonder 1. How long his shift had been. And, 2. How much longer he still had to work. The parking lot was horrible. Though, the employees were doing the best they could. It was so much volume in and out, it had to be a nightmare for them. There was no big open space to just corral all the cars into- and instead they had to let cars down rows where people had left. Once we parked, we noticed how many people were leaving and thought that had to be good for how busy it was- but, for every full tram of people leaving, there was a full tram coming.

When we stepped on the monorail there were some families, but mostly just couples- some complete with glow sticks and energy drinks declaring their intent on staying until 6 am (when the park officially closed) It took awhile to get into the park, at that point it seemed WAY more people heading in, then out. It was near Christmas levels of crowds- and the boys were not super pleased- But, we were committed to being part of this day. When we got into the park, they were directing the in traffic through one tunnel- and the out traffic through the other. Stepping onto Main Street, it was FULL of people- at least 10 people deep- more in spots- waiting for the parade to start. They had opened up the back gates for the in traffic to go around the parade route. I had never, in all my trips to Disney- been 'behind the scenes' due to crowds- not even on Christmas. It's a little less magical that way, because you get to see where everyone calls their boyfriend to complain about working in an amusement park, and gathers round some cheese fries to whine about their boss. (I worked in an amusement park, I know these things- I had flashbacks watching employees going to clock in with their badges and backpacks)

They were feeding all the traffic into tomorrowland- so we quickly turned back onto Main Street to avoid the crowds the best we could. We crossed over in the circle just in front of the castle and heard the music start for the electrical light parade. Now, there was at least a dozen people deep where we were, but they were all sitting, and the pavement there is on a bit of an incline, so we decided to sit down and watch the parade. Considering people had been sitting there for at least an hour for a good view, I was pretty impressed with the spot we got right at the start of the parade.

Theres something about the Electrical Light Parade that's just awesome. After the parade we headed over to Adventureland for some Jungle Cruise. Asa then sent me text messages to keep track of what was going on. Here are his messages in it's entirety, along with pictures he sent, and some that I took.

10:15 Pm: We accidentally stumbled on a whole light parade. Already yawning, and no Tinkerbell. Also, a mad hatter coffee mug would be sweet.

10:22 Pm: Currently Happening.

11:03 Pm: Just got off the Jungle Cruise. Everybody zoned out. Terrible Jokes, and I think the boat might just be on a track.

11:28 Pm: About to get on Pirates of the Caribbean. Heard the dead mans chess joke, and discussed game rarity of price to ratio concerning game cube library.

11:59 pm: Almost midnight. Kids are getting whiney in line for Peter Pan

12:05 am: Peter Pan line is moving, but everyone is too tired to talk about it. Nobody here in Pajamas, just old dad's with pink shirts and fanny packs.

12:25 am: Peter Pan Rules! You can fly, You can fly, You can fly, You can fly, You can fly, You can fly, You can fly, You can fly, You can fly!!!!!!!!!!!

12:34 am: Waiting in the big room of Philharmagic. Peyton is in no mood. Minnie just gave the 5 minute warning. Yawwwn.

12:56 am: Oh the things you see

1:03 am: Calling it. We are so done. We = Peyton and Hayden. Phone and morale both low on energy.

Now keep in mind, that's all from Asa's perspective. You know, Asa who had been up since 5:55 am at work, and had to be up at 5:55 that very morning for work. We did both agree it was a whole different crowd. People were cheering in line, there were squeals of joy from adults on the carousel, the whole audience was singing a long with the songs in Philharmagic: Asa and myself included. It was just a whole different crowd, but I think you had to be hardcore Disney to want to be there, with a bazillion other people into the wee hours of the morning. This was just training, 4 years from now- I want to be one of the crazies staying until 6 am. As we were leaving, there were very few people stepping on the monorail to head in. We both decided the requirement to arrive that late was that you had to be a college kid. We did actually let one of the sneak peekers- or whatever they are called there- take our picture, and I may have to buy it. It was a great time, and I think we'd all do it again. Plus, I let the boys stay home from school the next day to recuperate, which they were happy about.

Friday after dinner we headed out to Dade City. They have a drive-in up there, that I can't believe we didn't know about when we lived there. The boys REALLY wanted to go see the Lorax, but it's so expensive to go to the movies, so I thought this would be a good alternative. We brought our own popcorn I popped at home, our own candy and drinks- and it was only $1 for kids and $4 for adults. Plus, thats for two movies- not only did we get to see the Lorax, which was very cute- they were also showing Big Miracle, a movie about Whales getting stuck in the ice in Alaska. We put down the back in the Fit, and cozied up. Hayden fell asleep part way through the second movie, but we all had a good time- and for the price, if they were showing two movies we were interested in, we'd surely go again.

Last Saturday we went out to the Wiregrass Fresh Market to get some fresh fruits, and veggies. Asa got coffee, which is nice- the place he had wanted to go down to in Ybor was there so it saved him the trip, and we all split a very yummy, and reasonably priced $3 snow cone. The boys loaded up on free stuff from the Busch Garden's tent including sunglasses, and Cheetah Hunt bracelets. We tried all kinds of other things, olive salad, bread- but it wasn't in my grocery budget. I'm still waiting on our tax return! We did get some money from another tax return this week- but it wasn't nearly as much as it had been in the past. I did go to the grocery store and buy that 17 double roll package of toilet paper I'd been eyeing. We will never run out of toilet paper again! I also bought a new brush- apparently those little black balls on the end of the bristles have a purpose. Best $4.99 I ever spent.

After the fresh market we headed down to Brandon to go to Angela's birthday party. We were late and missed the cake, but made it in time for the bounce house and pinata. It was at this point, I realized my children had never done a pinata before. I also requested a penguin shaped one for my birthday. The kids had a nice time, and it was really nice of Katie and Kevin to invite us.

Sunday was painting day. I painted Calib's dresser, and night stand Steelers colors. I wanted to post a picture of it- but I still don't have the drawer pulls for it- so look for that next week. We also discovered Sunday about the big fat cheating going on with the Saints. Monday they re-aired the NFC Championship on NFL network- Way to rip my heart out again, NFL network. Oh, the pain.

The rest of the week has just been getting things done, nothing too exciting. My sewing machine has pooped out, when I'm nearly done with quilting- but I do have a good Joann's coupon, so I may have to look into another one. Hopefully, I can get one and finish that stuff up next week. We've been getting packages non-stop of Madden games. I'm going to do a super cool project with them once they are all here- and most of them were less than a dollar. I finally sorted through all the papers, mementos, and pictures I had in boxes, bags, and laundry baskets. All thats left now is making my Alaska scrap book. As a bonus, I finally got our wedding pictures into albums! Yay- only took a year and nine months. Not to mention, Hayden and I discovered a great spot for his puppet show theather in the new house. He put on a great show for me, complete with the humming of 'It's a small world' for travelling music.

Peyton went into mourning with Peyton Manning no longer being a Colt- he even wore his jersey to school and then said 'We can always say this picture was taken the last day Peyton Manning was ever a Colt; and Gwen's girl scout cookies arrived. The boys came home and were fighting with Asa over a box, not realizing there were three more in the pantry. We also got Hayden's birthday present from Cort and Holly- a 255 piece lego set. Calib was more than happy to help put this together- but I still am not a fan of all the pieces. He can expect nothing less than 256 in Gwen's birthday present next month.

I leave you with a funny story that just occured. I was in the bedroom blogging, and Asa was in the livingroom playing video games. Hayden finished his lunch, and went out to the garage to throw away his strawberry tops. Apparently, the door shut behind him, and his hands were too slippery to open the door. He called to us, but nobody heard him. So, because the garage door was open- he had to come around the house, to the front door. Asa was sitting in the front room and saw the door fling open. He went to see what happened, and there was Hayden- standing in the doorway, angry in his pajamas- and thanks to the sprinklers, soaked. Needless to say, Hayden didn't think this was as funny as the rest of us.

Thats it, I know I was wayyyyy behind on posting my weekly blog. But, I've counted- so I know to stay on pace, I just had to post by this coming Wednesday to be on pace with 31 weeks.

Funny Misunderstanding Time!

Me: 'Or else you'd want to be one of those people who stay at work longer.'

Asa: 'What? You want to be an ant farmer?'

Up Next: Leprechaun Traps, Cave Field Trips, Board Game Night, and Our Florida Anniversay. And, hopefully our tax return!