Week 10: Quick Like a Bunny

I knew home school would take up a lot of time, but I find myself so busy that blogging is becoming more difficult. I'm going to stick with it though, because it's basically our family year book. I'm just maybe not going to end up covering as much in each blog. Think of it as a high light reel.

There wasn't a ton going on this week, we continued with our no recipe repeat October. I made Eggplant Parmesan, A beef stir fry type thing, and Baked Shrimp Scampi. That along with some other things like hamburgers, and football food.

The Candy Bar Election is in full swing, so if you haven't seen the videos, you should go check them out. We even had breaking news, where Peyton put on a very informative newscast.

Hayden opted for the spelling in the bucket this week too. The weather is really starting to cool off (mid to low 80s), and the pool water is significantly colder, so we probably won't be down at the pool for awhile.

Asa passed another class, rootbeer floats for everyone! That makes 6 classes done, and 1 month left in this semester.

We never made it to Orlando like we wanted (I heard the parks were SUPER busy anyway), but that meant we got to make it to the Fresh Market. It also meant Whatever pops! (and a snow cone for Hayden)

A quick trip to the library, and a browse through the book sale, and we were home in time to see the Gators crush South Carolina.

In my crafty moments, I also made Hayden curtains for his bunk beds, and they are pretty awesome. I kind of want some for my bed now. He had been using blankets to make a fort for the past couple of weeks, and Asa was getting sick of always having to fix them, so I decided I could make some curtains. He loves them.

Sunday the Bucs weren't blacked out for the first time in forever, meaning here in Tampa we could actually watch them on TV!! So, Kevin, Katie, Angela, JD, Tracy, Johnny, Temps and Justin came over.

Kevin and Katie brought Leia, their dog. She was a little nervous around ours, but overall had a nice visit. It was just a lot of dogs, Katie and I got a little overwhelmed with them all on the couch with us.

I'm not sure I want to talk about the game. It was heart breaking. We thought we had scored the game tying touchdown just as time expired, only to see a flag had been thrown, there was no tie, and we lost. To the Saints of all teams. Luckily, Tracy had brought a cake so we could all eat our feelings.

Also worth noting, Peyton and I have tickets to go to the Obama rally on Thursday. We're pretty excited about it. To be fair though, we hear Romney might be coming to town too. If he does we're going to try and make it there too.

Thats it. I didn't write anything down this week, and I have all kinds of things to do, so I'm out of here already.

Next Up: An Ohio visitor, an Obama rally, and Pumpkins!

Week 8 & 9: Stop Procrastination, Starting Tomorrow

Holy Balogna! I am so far behind. I have been super grumpy, on kid overload with Lice scares, car issues, internet breakage, and lesson plan mania that I've perhaps had the time to blog, but lacked the will. And so here we are a full week of putting off my blog.. and I still don't feel like doing it. So, you will get two weeks in pictures in the life of the Waterstrauts.

So, we talk in third person in an effort to help Peyton learn point of view. But, only when we are wearing on third person and first person post-its. It's kind of a fun game.

Katie, Kevin and Angela finally made it over for a visit- complete with Bacon and Eggs the Hedgehogs!

Asa will never again play the Headbandz game (where you have to ask questions to guess the card on your head), and Hayden was surprisingly good at it. But I think he'll forgive Katie for bringing it since she made us an awesome enchilada dinner. Calib was super bummed he missed it to go to to hid friends house for a birthday party sleepover.

No recipe repeat October is going well, complete with foil dinners, cheesy rice quesadillas, homemade french bread pizzas, Peanut Butter and Jelly Waffles, Cous-Cous with Veggies and Shrimp, Seattle Dogs, and a Low Country Boil with Crab Legs and Honey Potatoes.

The Chocolate and Chewy Party debates were held. You can always check out the video's on you tube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQFTtvQxrXw&feature=youtu.be and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niBwKs7uX6A&feature=youtu.be . Stay tuned for the official nominees, and all the other fun stuff that comes with the election!

Hayden is getting better and better at big kid board games. This week it was Life, and another Monopoly game, in which we all lost to Justin. He took us out one by one with the crappiest spaces on the board.

In other game related news, we convinced Hayden to do his spelling words by getting the sponges from the bucket instead of all of us going to the pool. He decided to get in the bucket, but it worked all the same.

Plus Brandy and I finally completed our quest to work together in words with friends to cover all the double letter and triple letter squares. It took us four tries! But we totally did it!

We were able to make one last trip to adventure island this weekend too, despite the cooler Saturday temperature of only 79 degrees. Let me tell you, that water was not too warm. But, on the up side the park wasn't crowded- at all!

Flat Peyton left Seattle, and his wonderful hosts there, and made his trip across the country to Fremont, Ohio where he went to a Browns game. I'm thinking he's their good luck charm since they won their first game of the season. (Also, thanks to his new host, Melissa Koebel. So nice of her to take him along!)

Yesterday, Asa made the executive decision that I had to get out of the house without the kids, because I hadn't been in so long. It stinks the Bucs are yet again a losing team, but the up side to that is that people practically pay you to take their tickets. And so off to the Bucs game we went.

Not only was it awesome to go to the game, to get out of the house, but the Bucs actually won! And scored lots and lots of touchdowns! It was amazing. Disclaimer though, they were playing the Chiefs... to sum it up we were walking to the stadium when we over heard someone say "Yea. Brady Quinn" (Their starting QB this week) and then a bunch of people start laughing.

It was, however, SUPER hot (like at least 95 degrees), and SUPER sunny (not a cloud in the sky). We didn't spend any money on concessions except to get a drink, and even then we mostly just wanted the ice. Yay for free refills. Our towels they gave out helped shield the sun a little, but despite the 4 sunscreen applications I still got burnt.

And, thanks for the security guard for attempting to get a good dip kiss picture of us at the stadium, but I think we'll have to keep trying for a good one.

Such a good time, and a good decision to get out. Justin watched the kids for us, so thanks Justin! We joked next time he could just watch them via skype, since when we got home the kids were no where in sight and this was the scene:

All in all, a decent two weeks. A lot of stressful stuff, but this week is shaping up to be a lot better!

Next Up: National Conventions! Spooktaculars! Aquatica! and Throwbacks!

Week 7: A Big Gunky Chicken Pox

Holy Moly! Can I just say, I am SOOOOO glad Asa doesn't work 9-5. And I'm so glad he gets to work from home every other week. He's been in training the last week and a half and therefore had his schedule shifted from the normal 5:45-2:45 to 9-5, and lost his work from home week. And it. is. awful. First of all, his commute (and the gas he uses) has at times quadrupled  and at best doubled. The traffic is so much worse, it makes for a horrific drive to and from work for him.

 Then, there's the massive amount of slack I have to pick up at home. Chores I never do have now become my responsibility: taking out the trash, washing the pots and pans by hand, and doing Calib's math homework with him. The chores we split: Vacuuming  putting laundry through, helping Calib with all his other homework have also fallen to me. Then add all my usual chores. It's just a lot. Plus, I have less time this year than last year obviously since about 4 hours mid day are taken up by home school.

Now on top of all of that, Hayden came down with a case of the chicken pox. Yes, the CHICKEN-FLIPPIN-POX! Now, I know you're thinking 'don't they vaccinate kids against that these days?' Well yes, yes they do. But apparently somewhere around 5% of kids can still get it, just a milder case. Mild case or not, he's run a fever off and on, and has been super itchy. The pox themselves are pretty small,  and at this point have nearly gone away but the school didn't want him returning until they were all gone. So, he's been out a week. Thank goodness, I can't really see anymore on him and he'll be headed back to school tomorrow.

I've been trying to keep him busy when he's been on his upswing of feeling well. He asked me to home school him too. We've been reading, and doing a writing workbook we didn't quite finish last summer, plus working on flashcards and doing his spelling words. But to keep up with him, get everything done around here, and keep Peyton up with home school has been a lot to take on by myself. So, I will be VERY happy to see Asa's schedule return to normal next week.

Hayden was on the upswing Saturday;  no fever, no new spots, so we headed out to Disney. I really needed a fun day so I was thrilled with the day. Our first stop was the food and wine festival. I wait all year for this festival at Epcot to come back around. Last year we had to cut our last trip short due to whiny kids, and so we still had a pre-paid food and wine festival card to spend (yay for staying good year to year.) I remember being bummed last year when we couldn't spend it, but I was super excited about it this year.

We got there early and took the boat back to Germany to start in the back of the park hoping to avoid some of the crowds. For those of you not familiar with the festival, or Epcot: The world showcase around the lagoon is like a little trip around the world. There's a Canada pavilion, France, Germany, ect. During the food and wine festival they bring out kiosks to have tasting portions of food from those countries. It is awesome. Our first stop was Germany for an Apple Strudel with Karamel-Vanilla Sauce. Two thumbs up.

Then, we went to South Africa for Seared Fillet of Beef with Smashed Sweet Potatoes and Braai Sauce.  I was the only one who ate the sweet potato part (which was awesome by the way). But everyone else thought it was pretty good. Peyton deemed it to be his favorite thing we had all day.

Calib picked Sweedish Meatballs in Scandinavia. They were pretty good, but pretty much on par with what you can get at Ikea. The Lingonberries that were on it were way better than Ikea though.

Asa was sold on Mexico when he found out they had a trio of different tequilas, and I decided the Crispy Shrimp Taco with Chipotle Lime Mayo and Cabbage Slaw. This may have been my favorite, if it had not been for what I was about to have.

The grilled Lamb Chop with Mint Pesto and Potato Crunchies from Australia was the best thing I had all day (yes even better than the staple that I always rave about: fisherman's pie). It was Ah.Maze.Ing! So good.

Peyton really wanted the Beef Empanada from Argentina. He enjoyed it. Until he was finished with it and we told him there were all kinds of onions in it.

Besides countries, they have a few states: Florida and Hawaii. We decided to have the Kuala Pork Slider with Sweet and Sour Dole Pineapple Chutney and Spicy Mayonnaise at the Hawaii booth. It was in my top five from last year, and it didn't disappoint.

Running low on the gift card, we stopped by the Dessert booth and picked up the trio. It was a tasting portion of dark chocolate mousse with chili and salted caramel (delicious), lemon custard Verrine with Blueberry compote (WAYYYY too lemony), and yogurt panna cotta with orange cake, raspberries, and pomegranate (just ok).

Hayden also got a frozen chocolate milk, and a frozen strawberry milk (very reasonably priced I might add) since he had refused trying everything else all day and stuck to the uncrustables and goldfish I had packed.

Our last and final stop to get the fisherman's pie. It's a favorite of mine, and I look forward to it every year. It's a lobster bisque base with lobster and scallops in it, topped with mashed potatoes. SOOO good. (disclaimer: my mouth is currently watering thinking about it). Asa ended up getting some Meade. Which was totally disgusting by the way. Grossest alcohol I've had in my entire life. He loved it though.

Before leaving we stopped took a spin on Nemo (me and Asa got to ride in our very own clam!), checked out the aquarium, had some free soda, and stopped to see the picture of Calib and my dad on the wall.

We headed over to Typhoon Lagoon where our first stop was the shark reef.

 You get to swim across a pool with sting rays, sharks, and all kinds of tropical fish.  Hayden attempted to go, but chickened out and was so angry and disappointed at himself. This picture kind of says it all.

But, the other boys had a great time. It's going to be a must stop.

After a day of swimming, going on the lazy river, being hit by giant waves and Hayden even LOVING the roller coaster/waterslide that is the Crush n Gusher, we discovered that they have the ice cream bucket there too! Asa went off to get it, and forgot spoons. So it was a little messy all eating it with the shovel attached to the bucket. But still very yummy.

After a quick dinner in the car, we headed over to down town Disney. They had a bunch of added attractions for the movie Frankenwienie they have coming out. Most notably they were going to have Jack and Sally from the Nightmare Before Christmas, two characters that they don't usually have. Peyton LOVES Jack, and we were set to get a picture and an autograph until we realized the line was huge. We figured we'd come back and see if it was any shorter.

We walked along, checking out the posters for the new movie, and taking part in the new Phineas and Ferb attraction where you get to interact on a giant tv with them. We played a video game with them. It was kind of awesome.

After a stop in the grass to relax, we headed into Disney Quest where we got to play giant tetris, pretend we were pinballs, and drive a pirate ship.

Afterwards, we headed back to see Jack and Sally and the line had grown. It was approximately a 3 hour wait!!! Peyton was so bummed. But I tried to snap a couple of pictures without standing in line. It was a really awesome day. And the total cost was the $9 for the ice cream bucket. You can't beat that!

But, after we were out all day (which the doctor totally oked for Hayden) the chicken pox seemed to have gotten worse. So, we've spent the last couple days all cooped up.

Some other things worth noting:

October has been deemed 'No recipe repeat month' I am trying to make new stuff every night, with the exception of when the boys buy the card to decide what I cook. In an effort to make our picky eaters try things without judging it by looking they've been first trying the food blindfolded. So far I've made Italian Chicken and Stuffing Bake (which I forgot to take a picture of until it was mostly gone), Taco Sandwiches, and Homewreckers in a bowl (Calib's choice). It's all been a hit! Super easy too, let me know if anyone wants any recipes!

Before Hayden ended up with 'my pox' as he likes to call them, he got the Paws-ative character award at school, which is given to one student a month for being a good role model in their classroom.

Hayden has also gotten in on the sponge spelling game. His teacher even said that would count as his spelling homework for the week! 

Thanks to everyone who has sent us leaves! We've gotten some from Michigan, Georgia, and England. We've been waxing them and identifying them.

Also, a big thanks to Aunt Patty and Uncle Emmett for hosting Flat Peyton. They even took him to his very first basketball game, and he had his national debut on TV! You could see him on ESPN. It was awesome!!

Awards for the week:

Most annoying: To the birds, who thanks to the neighbors feeding them, have been squawking up and storm for more food. (I'm not too bitter though, our neighbors are pretty nice)

 Funniest Chicken Pox related thing Hayden has said: "There's a big gunky chicken in me?" A close second was when he told me he didn't want to eat chicken anymore since they gave him 'the pox'.

Happiest Birthday: To Grandma Ainsworth who turned 91 on Saturday! 91! I was disappointed to see she only had one candle on her cake though. Where's the other 90?

Best 'Throw Under the Bus' moment: Aunt Bonnie and Mom giving up the fact that Aunt Patty nearly lost Flat Peyton off the top of a double decker bus the very first time we skyped them since they'd been back!

Best Fantasy Football Strategy: Apparently Brandy, with drafting 8 running backs. She now sits alone at the top, undefeated.

Best Surpsise: Asa, tired of always getting crickets just bought a bunch of them at once. Peyton thought it was awesome!

Next Up: Adventure Island, Hedgehogs, and Sleepovers!