Week 37: Lets Begin By Taking a Smallish Nap Or Two

I've been putting off writing my blog today, because I knew the second I sat down to write it today my motivation for the day would tank, and my biggest aspiration for the day would become putting on my pj's and catching up on my DVR before round two of the draft starts tonight. I'm pretty pleased with the amount of work I got done with up until this point, so it's ok to ease off the pedal now. We are all so very tired around here today. Yesterday we had a party at our house for the first round of the NFL draft. By the time the draft wrapped up it was 11- but it was after midnight by the time everyone left. By the time I was actually in bed it was 1:30 and I still couldn't fall asleep.The kids were pretty exhausted this morning, which I knew would happen, but it's Friday- the FCAT is over, and it's Otter Store Day, where they get to spend their Otter Dollars they've been earning all year. At least this was incentive for them to get up and get to school. Although Hayden did crawl into bed after he was dressed and tried to go back to bed.

So, lets talk the NFL Draft: Asa was not pleased about the Bucs pick, but he seems to be coming around this morning. This is how Asa looked after we picked Mark Barron:

Later we picked up Doug Martin with a second first round pick. He was much happier about that one:

It was super exciting when the Bucs traded back into the first round to have two picks, which made me glad I let the kids stay up and didn't send them to bed. Calib especially would have been really disappointed had he missed that- and nobody would have been able to sleep with all the shouting going on. The party was super fun though. We ordered pizza, and yelled a lot. Rex brought Alabama inflatables which the boys happily used to beat up Fico. The house wasn't that much of a disaster this morning either, just a bunch of toys in the living room- that Hayden happily blamed on Rex- and a stain on the carpet that mostly came up from some hot wings. It was nice to have everyone here: Katie, Kevin, Ann, Noah, Fico, Rex, Temps , and Justin were all here at one point. And shout out to Ann, Katie and Justin for sitting through 3 and a half hours of something they couldn't have cared less about.

Thursday was also Take Your Child to Work Day. Peyton went with Asa. Calib stayed home with me and Hayden went to school. At first Calib was really excited about it. We dropped Hayden off at school and went out to the store to pick up a few things. We even got a Subway footlong to split for lunch. (more points for me!) But once we got home and it was laundry, dishes, toilet scrubbing, vacuuming, and baking- I think he was wishing he went to school. He kept saying things like 'Do you always do this much? Are we done yet?' We did take a break to watch the Price is Right, but he wasn't even into bidding. It rubbed a little salt in the wound when Asa and I started sending pictures back and forth on our phones about what the boys were doing. It went something like this.

Here's Calib finishing off the cake we made for Noah's Birthday:

And here's the alligator Peyton and Asa saw while at Lettuce Lake Park for lunch:

Here's Calib scrubbing the toilet:

And then he sent Peyton sitting in the chair eating Oreos (which I'm not including as to not get in trouble)

Here's Calib vacuuming the floor:

And he sent Peyton playing 'football' with Rex. By the way, when I asked Peyton what he did all day he ratted some people out about not working too hard.

It was really nice to spend the day with Calib though, and he said he had a good time. He also told me several times how awesome it is that I do this for everyone on a daily basis. Which was nice. He did ask me if everyone would be excited to see all we had done. I told him "Well, I mean when everyone gets home you'll get a 'the house looks nice'" When Peyton, Hayden, and Asa walked in after school and work they said exactly that and when on with their evening. Poor Calib, he was so disappointed. I'm just glad they noticed.

This week at school was pretty eventful for everyone: Hayden went on his field trip to Legoland. He was really excited about it, but I feel I didn't get too many accurate details about the trip since what he told me was 'You had to be 20 inches to ride the 374 foot tall coaster.', and 'It took 5 hours to get there'. Note to self: Things Hayden needs to work on this summer: measurement. We also finally got Calib's fifth grade field trip info (the 5th graders always take a really big field trip at the end of the year to the Animal Kingdom). The bad news is that it is on his birthday, and he'll be gone from 8-8. But, he really wants to go, so we'll just celebrate that weekend. Plus he got his invite to the sunshine state party, and he finished up the FCAT this week with two days of the Science FCAT. Peyton finally bought his recorder and has been playing it non-stop. (Think squeaky, 4th grade  band concerts only worse because it's a recorder), and was happy to be done with his Tropicana Speech.

Last weekend we had kind of crappy weather around here: cold windy and sometimes rainy. This did allow us to pile on the movies. The boys really liked the Back to the Futures, and Asa and I just got depressed because 'the future' when the movie was made is 2015. All I can say: There better be high tops like that in three years. And hover boards. We did manage to salvage part of Saturday. It was a fresh market morning, so we made a trip over there. The boys went in Justin's car and were pretty excited to have made it there before Asa, Hayden and I. Hayden told us we should have used our blue turtle shell. Next time, for sure. We ran into Fico and Ann and Rich and Casey too, which was all of their first fresh market experiences. I'm loving that the fresh market is getting more popular. I'm hoping for it to get a little bigger. The weather defiantly kept some vendors away this week, but the salsa guy, the banana bread guy, the snow cone guy, and the farmers market were all there and fully stocked so I was happy.

 Afterwards, we went over to Busch Gardens. Trying to beat the rain that was imminent at that point, I took Hayden to look at the animals while everyone else went on some rides. We did all catch up just in time ride on the train, which we never ever do. I think we need to more often though: it was cool to see the animals close up like that. Unfortunately the weather didn't hold out, and just as we were getting in line for the Grover coaster everything shut down due to weather. We did manage to make it to the car before we got soaked though, so that was a bonus. Our day might have been cut short, but it was so worth the trip due to the absolute lack of crowds.

Friday night we had plans to go to Disney: but there were severe weather warnings out so we had to come up with something else to do last minute. My bright idea was to camp: in the play room. I thought for sure the tent would fit just fine. We ended up having to move the couch out: even then we couldn't have the screen part of our tent up, and it covered the entire room. It was a good camping trip. The proximity of our campsite to the bathrooms was wonderful. At the facilities were just like being at home. They even had Klondike bars at the camp store. It was really dark out there in the forest, good thing we brought our headlamps. Hayden tried to complain that he was sleeping on a rock, but we assured him it was all his head, as we had a nice burber spot picked out.

That was our week around here. We're starting the summer countdown: 26 days of school left!

Best New arrival:
Though theres not a lot of pictures this week, I did get a new camera (it just didn't get here until the end of the week) I took some ADORABLE doggie pictures while I was trying it out. I love all my puppies SO much!

Best Video:
In case you haven't seen it, you should check out my cousin Tim purposing to his now fiancee, Emily (sorry to spoil the ending) Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZqsVk4XYKk&sns=fb Happy for the both of them, they're pretty awesome people.

Biggest Feat EVER:
I did five loads of laundry and matched EVERY SINGLE PAIR OF SOCKS! This. Is. Amazing.

Best Surprise:
Asa got me tickets to the Florida Orchestra playing at Raymond James. They are complimentary tickets, but you have to know a guy. Asa knows a guy. Yay!

Getting too Big:
Yes, thats Hayden. Yes, he's 48 inches now. Boo for having to buy an adult ticket to Cedar Point this summer for him.

Stupidest Comment:

Peytons: (insert big story about random fish he learned about while watching River Monsters on Animal Planet)
Me: Is it ocean fish or river fish
Asa: Really Corinne?
Me: Its like ncaa and madden I pretend to listen and engage even when I have no interest.

Next Up: FOUR amusement/water parks in one day. Yup, it's happening. Also, wait for it:I'm going to MIDDLE SCHOOL Parent Orientation!

Week 36: A Monkey Riding a Unicorn Eating a Kiwi

Well, crap! I was just complaining about what awful weather we're in for this weekend, thus ruining my awesome weekend plans of Disney World, the USF Spring Game, Cookouts, and the Fresh Market, that I decided to blog about my week to make me feel better. And now google went and changed the blog all around. Ugh. SO lame. I don't like it, google. It's all weird, and dumb, and stupid- just like my weekend getting ruined. BOOOOOOOO!! I have already not had the best of weeks, as my laptop charger has stopped doing it's one and only function I require out of it- and is no longer charging my laptop. Plus I lost my camera, and Calib broke Porkchop's bowl I painted for him. It is not a good week to be any of my possessions.

And, theres my complaining for the week. I promise to get much more cheery for the rest of the blog. *forces smile*

Friday was field day at school. It's basically like a mini run for fun, that I had when I was in grade school. Calib was put in charge of a team, which he was pretty excited about. He does seem to be getting slightly sad this is the last time he'll be doing fun things like field day, the spring fling, and otter splash. Only six and a half weeks left.

Saturday we had a play date day with Katie, Kevin, and Angela. We met them at five guys, which quickly got out of control with flying peanuts, and Hayden thinking karate chopping them was a thing. Then we went over to adventure island. I've been having a rough time with my allergies lately, so I really was in no mood to have water dumped all over me, or really do much of anything. Hayden still isn't into too many slides, so that's not so much an issue. I just stayed behind with him and everyone's stuff for most of the time. It was still better than laying in bed overdosing on Claratin whining about pollen and the likes.

Justin came over Saturday night for a game of Munchkin. Here's the problem with playing games with Justin: Asa has poisoned him against me. Now, I get it, I do win a lot of games. And yes, yes I am cut throat about them (But seriously if I don't build my settlements on the best spot possible how can I expect to win?) But I don't win ALL the time. So when Justin won Munchkin after Asa foolishly used his annihilation card on one of my ITEMS (Seriously, who uses Annihilation on a stupid item!?) out of pure spite, Justin ran away with the game. Now, I must admit, perhaps my husbands sore loser-ness is rubbing off on me. Nobody congratulated Justin, and he commented on how unfun it was to win. Welcome to my world, buddy. (Although to be fair, I'd still rather win and not be congratulated than lose).

Saturday night it's worth noting, Peyton had begged to stay up until 2 am for the exact 100th anniversary for the sinking of the Titanic. We had explained to him that it was earlier due to time zones. So, while he did check out the live tweeting as if it was the titanic sinking today, he seemed slightly less interested when he realized he didn't have a good reason to stay up until 2 am.

Sunday the boys had a friend over, and played rather loudly all day. I don't mind so much when it's just me and the four boys, but anything over that and I feel terribly outnumbered. Then there's just chaos, and loudness, and light sabers everywhere it seems. Then they went down to the park, which was a welcome change on the noise meter: but they came back all sweaty boys. It is starting to get a little hotter around here. Pretty soon it's going to be green-house like.

Sunday night we got a phone call about making sure the kids had a good breakfast, and got to school on time because Monday was the start of the dreaded FCAT (although they didn't use the word 'dreaded'). I overslept Monday morning though. In 25 minutes I got everything done and they were to school on time, because I'm just that awesome. Ugh, the FCAT. I think it's a pretty awful way to gauge how much a child has learned, I think it's even crappier teachers jobs/pay depend on it more than ever now. It stresses Peyton out every year. We tried to make it a very non-stressful week for him. I made him good breakfasts (Love my new waffle maker, btw), packed him lunch when he was particularly thrilled about what they were having, and made the evenings as fun as possible with board games, and movies, and video games.

Asa is working overnight on Saturday, and therefore took two half days this week. He was all done with work by 11, so we got to have two date days in a row. Unfortunately, I have no pictures from these days, as Wednesday I had my camera in the front pocket of my purse, and at some point it feel out and was gone forever. Please, a moment of silence for it. So sad.

I know were getting old because Tuesday we went to the meat market, and whole foods- and were thrilled without having kids whining about when we were going (they aren't so much whole foods fans). We did squeeze in a trip to Pin Chasers for a game of bowling. Who was aware they hand out socks for free? Asa said he's just going to collect bowling ally socks (I mean to be fair, they were pretty nice socks).  Bowling mid-day on a Tuesday if you're under the age of 75 is apparently unheard of. It was me and Asa, and four for sure senior citizens in the bowling ally. As for bowling, Swisks beat Alarm by 5 in a battle of the bumpers vs. mph. Thats all you need to know.

Wednesday we headed out to Ikea (geez, Ikea and whole foods in two days- if only I had hit costco too) to pick up some more glass bottles for Asa's awesome coffee station. We also came across some pretty awesome hats: a lion and a jester, and some cool puppets: an owl and a clown. I would have pictures, but well, we discussed that already. Get off my back, I feel bad enough about it. Throw in some Swedish meatballs, and that at least makes the pain a little bit less. Then we headed over to adventure island, which we also discovered is not in high demand mid-day on a weekday. We took a couple spins around the lazy river (which was actually pretty lazy sans ANY kids- not just ours), rode some water slides without waiting once, and swam around the cliff's pool without being splashed once, because there was only like two other people in it.

By Thursday the house was in disarray and I had to spend my afternoon cleaning it up, doing laundry, and getting things situated. I would just like to say, when the boys were asked if anyone wanted to be a stay at home mom for a day for 'take your child to work day', everyone refused. They said they didn't want to 'cook and clean all day'.  I suppose I should be grateful they don't think I just sit around all day, but I also don't cook and clean all day. So to show them, I have big plans to go enjoy the day next Thursday- so there. Asa's work finally approved it, so Peyton will be going with him. Calib has some mask he has to finish up in art, so he can't go at all.

That's it for the week. But, I have some added bonus's for you for the week.

Best drawing:
Hayden: "Mom, what should I draw?"
Me: "How bout.... A Monkey riding a Unicorn, eating a Kiwi"

Worst Mystery Solver:
Calib: "Where could that recorder be?"
Hayden: "It's a Mystery. Calib, where were on the night the recorder went missing?"
Calib: "No seriously Hayden."

Jealousy Alert:
Chris Kluwe, the coolest punter in the NFL, tweeted Asa. Totally unprompted. SO UNFAIR.

In Need of a Babysitter Alert:
November 11. Bucs vs. Chargers. Asa and I are there. As close to the field as we can possibly get.

Worst Self Defense:
Hayden. He got pushed down the slide by a girl less than half his size. He even has the battle scars to prove it: a bruise on his chin, and a messed up fingernail.

Worst Picture:
Hayden: "Is this a good picture mom?"
Me: "It's great Hayden"
Hayden: "Oh good, you can make it your Facebook picture then"

Sneak Peek Flashbacks:
And, in case your wondering why Hayden gets the most pictures, I rest my case.
Me: "Hey Peyton, can I get a picture"

Next Up: Crappy Weather (*sad face*), Field Trips,  Draft Day Parties, and Kids at Work (but not in a sweat shop kind of way)

Week 35: Sometimes I Pretend To Be Normal. But That Gets Boring.

This weeks blog marks only four months until my birthday, and I'm saddened to say this years list is not coming along very well. I know moving put a wrench in the plans- and I can get creative to finish some of them (after all what exactly constitutes learning to eat with chopsticks? Who says camping in the living room doesn't count as camping? And what makes a Rock Band guitar any less a guitar?) I guess I'll be happy with about 70 percent of the list done, given I lost a few months in there.

I left off last Friday with all the fun Spring Break activities, and those continued into the weekend. Saturday we got up and had breakfast- waffles not on Waterstraut waffle Wednesday(blasphemous I know!)- and headed out to the fresh market. I don't know if people had been missing it, or if it was the WONDERFUL weather- but it was super packed. We took Justin with us this time, and we splurged for TWO tropical snows. Peyton and I finally got to split the much anticipated pink lemonade. It was totally worth the wait. We give it two thumbs up. Hayden also got his very first pair of shoes with laces, since he's pretty proficient in tying them now. He was so excited to show that off when he got back to school Monday.

Saturday afternoon we colored Easter eggs. I hard boiled 3 dozen of them in the slow cooker- and it totally worked. Plus, I had Hayden use a whisk for his dipper instead of those little ones that come with the dye, and it was awesome. He didn't even crack one egg.

After we had colored all but five eggs we decided we were going to leave one in each of the dyes for the rest of the afternoon to see how dark they could get. They really ended up kind of slimy and gross though, with a weird film on it. Luckily though, we left them on the counter as not to forget about them (and yes, that has happened before)- so it could have been a lot grosser.

Asa has also improved his cooking skill to a level 8, as he's making DELICIOUS burgers on the grill these days. Peyton requested them for dinner, and Asa was more than happy to oblige. I'm going to be so sad when it's too hot to want to cook out, and eat on the patio.

Saturday night there was a stop at the food truck rally, but the truck I love was out of their awesomely delicious, and very reasonably priced deviled crab. (Why did it take me 5 1/2 years of living in Tampa to eat deviled crab? It's SO yummy) I had to settle for a couple of buckeyes. Here's hoping the food trucks come back to Lutz again soon.

We also decided to watch a movie on Saturday night, and Hayden was knocked out cold by the end of it. Asa moved him to his room, and then Calib and Peyton went off to their rooms, and we started to hide eggs and baskets. With Hayden being the only Easter Bunny believer we have left, it was nice to not have to wait until Calib and Peyton were asleep. We just used the old Christmas trick- and then had so much fun with all our new house hiding spots. Some of my favs: the top of the ceiling fan in the play room, in the spice magnets, and with buzz lightyear.

The boys let Asa sleep till 9:30 on Easter morning since he had worked something like 11 days straight. Then we got up and started in on the hunting. Surprisingly, we had no rouge eggs- Asa and I remembered where we hid every single one.I did feel alot like my fathers daughter as Asa and I sat on the couch and laughed hysterically when they had things right in front of them that they just weren't seeing. I remember Easter mornings where my dad would nearly be in tears from laughter (mostly due to whatever crazy spot he had hidden Cort's basket).

After all the egg hunting, we let the boys hide a dozen for Asa and I to find. I figured this was a good amount, since they would only have 4 to keep track of. However, this would be inaccurate. Peyton couldn't remember where all his were- though we eventually found it pushed into the middle of the paper towel roll. We followed it up with an egg toss.

Then it was on to the peep jousting, which Asa reigned champion. So, just how do you peep joust you ask? Well, as I previously explained on facebook: first you must select your weapon (colored toothpick) and arm your man (jam it into his middle). Then your man must enter the ring (a microwavable safe plate). After everyone places their bets (in sweetarts of course), the ring is caged (placed in the microwave). Then the peeps fight till one has been jousted (you start the microwave and let the peeps expand until one of the toothpicks pokes the other peep). Being careful to call the match before major bodily harm is done, of course. (Before the peep explodes and you have to spend Easter cleaning your microwave)

Ugh, and now my font is all messed up. I'll try and not be all OCD about it. We had a seafood dinner out on the patio, skyped with everyone at Grandma Ainsworths, and watched Despicable Me (It's SO fluFFY!). After that we went for a scavenger hunt walk. I made a bingo type card with things you may see in the neighborhood when out for a walk, and laminated so they could use dry erase markers to mark it off (yay for a reusable activity!) Hayden was the first to get Bingo, though some say the plastic flamingo he saw in someone's garden bed didn't actually count as a bird.

By the time it got dark we were able to have a glow in the dark Easter egg hunt, and make some egg fireflies, which were made to light up and be Easter night lights. Peyton finished off the day giving Denali a nice little Easter treat.

Monday rolled around and the boys were really sad to have to go to school. I have to admit, everyone was pretty well behaved and I was also sad to see them go. Hayden woke up on Monday and said 'Is it a school day?' When I told him it was he replied 'But, I want to stay home and have more fun with you!' About broke my heart! It'll be summer vacation before we know it- we're even going to start making a bucket list for everything we want to go do this summer.

I spent most of Monday doing laundry and cleaning the house, but since we'd all been spending 15 minutes straightening the house every night of spring break, there really wasn't much to do. Luckily it's a work from home week, so I have my wonderful alarm clock of my very handsome, yet scruffy husband. (No office = no shaving)

Tuesday was SOOO boring. Asa had to go into the office for some training, the boys were off at school and the house was clean. I spent most of the day reading my kindle, and getting addicted to words with friends. I did get awfully lonely though. The dogs don't really carry on a conversation very well.

Peyton woke up in the most helpful mood, and while I was out on the patio with the dogs he got everyone breakfast. When I told Asa about this at dinner- Calib refused to be upstaged in the helpful kid category, and went out to clean and vacuum out the car. Since then it's been pretty much a competition of whose more helpful. I guess as far as them competing go, I'm ok with that.

Wednesday and today it was back to Asa working from home, which I super love. Granted, I get less done around the house- but it's nice to have the company, even if I'm just sitting in the same room with him reading my kindle. Plus, I don't have to eat lunch alone- and I HATE eating lunch alone.

Other developments of this week included Asa requesting his days off work for our annual summer Ohio visit, Peyton hating school less now that he's discovered passing fourth grade doesn't hinder on passing the FCAT, Sophie taking her first trip to go pick the boys up from school,Phenom thinking me and him are best friends (though I assure you, we are not), and the boys FINALLY caving in and getting haircuts.

Short Blog, I know- but it's been a recovery week after all the craziness that was last week, which means not a lot to report.

Next Up: Play Date to Adventure Island, and the (still slightly) dreaded FCAT

Week 34: Let's Pack Our Bags and Settle Down Where Palm Tree's Grow

Whooooo- yeaaaaa.. We've got Waterstraut Spring Break in full swing, and it's crazy up in here!

Ok, well, not really- but we sure are having a whole lot of fun. I know this because I've been told what an awesome mom I am for planning such a sweet spring break by my kids repeatedly this week. And not just the usual overly grateful kid of Calib, but in a huge turn of events, Peyton has joined in as well. I even had the boys friend telling me what a good cook I was (and all I did was make quesadillas!). He's requested I call him when Peyton is refusing to eat whatever it is that I cooked.

However, Despite how awesome my week has been, I'm just going to give you the short version of the week, and a week in pictures. This is because of two reasons. 1. I went to the beach without Asa today which meant nobody to sunscreen my back (and it is ON FIRE, people). And 2. I've been asked to sit and watch transformers while I type this. Transformers on a 1080p TV with four boys in the room = SUPER LOUD. (Making it slightly difficult.t to keep my train of thought)

Friday started out with a Welcome Reception. Like, the boys were on a conference or something. They came home to a sign they got to run through (a la high school football), koolade slushies, and a colorful lei to get in the spirit. I then presented them with our Spring Break Itinerary and the rules for the week. It went over well.

Later we went to Grand Prix to spend our groupons I've been holding onto for a good six months. Funny Putt Putt story: Calib wanted to keep score, nobody else did. I told him he could keep score if he wanted to. By hole six he'd asked me to take over. By hole 11 I was bored and started filling in numbers for the rest of the game. I could only keep the secret until hole 13 when I had to spill to Asa. Nobody even asked to see the score card till the next day, when they added it up and found out I won (I swear I had no idea). It wasn't till the next night at dinner that I caved and told everyone what I had done. I can't believe I got away with it, even recording several hole's in one- which nobody got.

We also went go-karting, and the boys got to jump on one of those funny trampoline bungee things. Note to self: Pick up that groupon if it comes around again. For $25 it was a GREAT deal.

Saturday we had to dodge the rain, we went out to pick strawberries, and had I been in Ohio I would have been certain the tornado sirens were about to go off. Fortunately there were still tons of strawberries, so we quickly picked 12 quarts, and got out of there just as a huge gust of cold air made it's way through the field.

Then it poured- but we figured it's Florida, and it almost never rains for long. So we headed over to Adventure Island. Good news: the rain had cleared out most of the crowd. Bad News: slides were closed, so there were a lot of people in the pools. At the exact moment Asa was stating "I don't think they're going to re-open the slides anytime...." he was cut off my an announcement that the slides were opening. It was a mass exodus of the pools, so we enjoyed that for awhile and headed home.

Everyone picked a bored game, and we turned in to see the final four playing in the NCAA tournament. Asa had long ago predicted Kansas vs. Kentucky, however, he had picked Kansas to win. (fast forward to Monday)- I did not pick Kansas to even be there, but I did pick Kentucky to win it all. Which made me the Waterstraut family winner. Ah-ha!

Sunday was April Fools Day. Justin had come over late Saturday night to play Munchkin and collect some strawberries, so he helped with the shenanigans. We TPed Calibs room, put clothespins on Hayden's pajama pants, papered Peyton and Hayden's bedroom door, switched the cereal around in the cereal boxes, safety pinned all Calib's boxers together, stacked Hayden's toys up, and changed Hayden's passwords to ridiculous mumbo jumbo. Needless to say they were not amused. But we sure were. Hayden's response in the morning after he opened his door: "How can this be? Peyton wake up. I have clips all over me!'

I even told them they were having mashed potatoes for lunch. (Thats actually a cupcake, caramel syrup and a starburst though)

That afternoon, we took a trip up to Weeki Wachee State Park. The Springs there have some water slides, and a lazy river. Pretty awesome way to spend a Sunday if you ask me.

The rest of the week we've gone on outings, had tutorials (learning how to do laundry, cook various things, tie shoes, spell Waterstraut, learn our new address and cell phone numbers- I guess most of them were Hayden tutorials, but I'm still pretty happy with the results )

We've also made various arts and crafts. We can now attack a tiny world with our Q-tip Bow and Arrows.

The birds outside Peyton and Hayden's window have been pleased with the peanut butter toilet paper roll bird feeders.

And everyone is sporting their own original designs with their bleach pen t-shirts.

We've made the best use of the lovely weather outdoors with chalk squares (Peyton was the winner)

Donut Eating Contests

Sponge Bombs (that got caught in the strangest places)

And the biggest hit of them all- excavating dollar store bugs out of giants blocks of ice!

We had some interesting meals and snacks this week. One day was 'cloudy with a chance of meatballs' day- and it 'rained' food (aka Asa throws food over the wall in the dining room)

Plus we made campfire cones (way easier than smores), jello aquariums, and watermelon popsicles (in shape of what else? A moose!)

And my very first go around with the ice cream maker (we had strawberry of course)

We've made a lot of trips outside out and about as well. My favorite? The awesome playground in Lakeland (after another stop to pick some more strawberries). Best Playground I've ever been to.

Another stop at Aquatica was in order.

Plus a trip to Busch Gardens with Kevin, Katie, and Angela meeting us. Hayden was so brave and finally got on the Grover coaster, too!

We had our very first trip to our new pool.

Today we went out to the beach at Honeymoon Island, and the boys had a good time playing in the sand.

Except for this part, they avoided the water due to the 'purple flag' which was up to signify 'dangerous marine life'

Then a quick stop at the sprayground to get all that salt water off of us.

Things I learned this week:

Hayden has watched the Lion King too much: he's now convinced when we die we become the grass (thanks a lot Mufasa)

Asa makes water balloon tosses a little too intense.

The boys think letting them sleep on the floor in sleeping bags is the best thing ever.

Funny story:

Me to Asa: (while the boys are out of the room) We could just let them sleep in their sleeping bags again.

Calib: (from the other room) Can we sleep in our sleeping bags again?

Asa to Me: I got this.

Asa to Calib: Depends what are you going to do for us?

Calib: We'll each do an extra two chores tomorrow.

Asa: Deal.

Also in case you were wondering, just what to do with 22 quarts of strawberries:

Jam, Syrup, Strawberry Shortcake, Strawberry Ice Cream, Strawberry Banana Bread, and handing some out to all your neighbors.

Interesting fact: To let you know you can hard boil eggs in the slow cooker. Works pretty well when you want to do 3 dozen at a time.

Oh, and as an added bonus: Peyton's fish had babies AGAIN!

Next Up: Easter Mania! The fresh market, and Lutz's very first food truck rally. I can taste the deviled crab now!