Hey guys! We're nearing mid-May here, and things about to get crazy. I am off to D.C. tomorrow to visit Allison, and meet Layla for the very first time! This weekend Asa is on call, then it's Memorial Day and I have Disney plans, and then starts our crazy June. For real, it's bananas. So, I thought I'd get in a quick blog before I jet off.
When I last left you, my mom was here visiting helping the boys get ready for the S.A.T. She mostly did math with them- but we did fit in a couple pool trips.
And she took us all out to dinner at Ford's garage on her last night here. No worries, she'll also be back here in 2 and a half weeks! She just can't stay away.
Oh, and Dipper had just gotten home after his time on the streets. (He was missing for all of three hours, but still.)
Asa's diploma finally came in the mail. We were hoping to have it show up before mom left, but of course it showed up the day after she headed home.
Speaking of school, you can Duel Enroll in summer classes at PHSC now, so not only is Calib taking a summer class, but Peyton is taking two. Thank goodness books also come free of they would have been sharing that Biology book (since they're both taking the same class). Also, it's not even a book you guys, it's like pages you have to put in a binder.... FOR THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS. We're trying to skirt the cost of college the best we can here for as long as we can, so duel enrollment it is.
Also, I took his picture working on his computer class to document 'Peyton's first day of college'.
And he was super annoyed with me about it.
Anyway, Calib's been working a few days a week, and Etta is just not adjusting well. She spends most of her time pouting on the couch or laying by the front door waiting for him to get home. She does, however, enjoy that he smells like pizza when he comes home. (This week he graduated to making pizzas instead of just working the front).
Hayden, meanwhile, has been working away with me on more math. I told him we'd do some funner projects this summer, and he has been going to every library event he can get his hands on. He even got made Vice-President of Anime Club, and the President is going to be gone all summer, so he'll have that to do. He's also doing Teen Volunteer Training next week so will have that to do, too.
He did make a pretty cool mug, and a mug rug at two different events. Good planning on that one.
A week ago Saturday we were up super early to take Peyton and Calib to take the SAT.
So, Asa and I made a morning out of it. We went over to the Starkey Ranch Market.
It's super cute out there. They have lots of local goods, flowers, produce and even a little coffee bar.
And they had fresh Cuban bread from the place in Tampa that makes the BEST Cuban bread ever. We bought some to take home, and Asa made us all Cubans for lunch the next day. It's a freaking BIG loaf though!
We nosed around the trails at Starkey Ranch too, and even came upon a little library. I love these, and they seem to be in quite a few spots around here.
It was also free comic book day, so I went with Asa to collect some for Hayden, who bailed on wanting to come with us.
Which he was really kicking himself for, since we were killing time waiting to pick up the boys by doing some grocery shopping at our old Publix, when Asa spotted Big E (He's a WWE guy for those of you who don't know). A lot of wrestlers live around here, and we've seen some others at Costco. But, nobody as known as Big E. Asa was pretty excited about it.
We picked the boys up around noon and took them to lunch. They opted for Taco Bell, so Hayden was again really bummed he had decided not to go.
Sunday's are usually for long bike rides. Asa and I try and get in around 8 miles. Last Sunday we came across a gator and a gate someone had Hawaii-ed.
This Saturday we had lots of errands to run, Peyton and Hayden had a library thing, and Calib was working. At least those errands included an Earth Fare trip, they had all kinds of new cookies to try out.
Since there wasn't a lot of time for something fun, Asa said he would make me whatever I wanted for lunch and dinner all weekend. Since this job requires much more attention, I have to cook a lot during the week, and I'm not a fan. So him cooking super appealed to me. I got a tater tot bar for lunch, but there were so many toppings I couldn't decide what to put on mine, so I got the divided bowl and made three different mini totchos. He also made me burgers and fries for dinner.
And for dessert, he made the ever famous Moroccan Orange Cake. (I didn't take a picture until the next day and it was half gone, but this one is so yummy!)
Sunday we thought about Disney. But, we ended up sleeping in, and past our first set of Fastpasses, plus I'm leaving tomorrow so a day at home didn't sound terrible. But of course, first, we had to do our Sunday bike ride! Asa actually went out to get himself the new bike at Costco. He's been using Calib's, and it isn't awesome, and Costco finally had their's on sale! I'll post pictures once he puts his new one together. I mean, I assume he'll do it while I'm gone so next Sunday he'll have it for our bike ride.
I asked for pancakes and eggs as a brunch on Sunday, and he delivered, complete with lemon curb, berries, granola, and blueberry syrup.
Then it was off to the pool. Everyone but Peyton tagged along for that.
Now, everyone knows my Mother's Day tradition includes making everyone play the games they would never play otherwise. This always includes Lifeboats. We almost never play this unless it is my birthday, or Mother's Day.
About a third of the way through the game Calib got mad at me and said 'How do you do it, you just say something and everyone follows you!' and I said 'You really just have to be the first to say something loudly and everyone else goes along'. But then he started doing that before I could, and it worked! Everyone found it hilarious, though, and nobody ever got mad about getting voted out. In fact, they all agreed it was their favorite game of Lifeboats ever. Then Calib told me how stupid I was for giving away my strategy so easily.
Hayden actually ended up winning. Calib and I each had a respectable showing, and Asa and Peyton only got one of their guys on the island.
For dinner I was nosing through the Around the World cookbook to see what I wanted Asa to make. But, I was also trying to balance it with what we had on hand. I settled on our Uganda meal. I didn't exactly remember it, but it earned five spoons up, we had most of it on hand, so I went with it. And it was delicious! The boys all commented on how they didn't remember it either, but they loved it (Peyton passed on the yogurt sauce on the meatballs- but ate everything else). Everyone agreed we should be having dad cook out of the Around the World cookbook more often!
Also, we have a wasp that made a little nest on the kitchen window that the boys were just fascinated with. You could see the wasp super close up without any fear of being stung!
After dinner, we played a 5 person game of Spy Alley.
In the end, it came down to me and Calib. He knew I was one of two identities (and that the other was in the box) since he had gotten everyone else out and seen all their cards. So, in an effort to throw him off, as a free guess I went with German, even though I knew he wasn't German, because I was. So then, the next turn around he guessed me American (the identity still in the box, that nobody drew), because of my previous guess.. and I ended up winning. It was amazing.
We played some Apples to Apples, which is much funner now with older kids.
And then we played some Go Nuts for Donuts.
Overall, a lovely mother's day with these nerds.
In other news, Spring is dead here in Florida. We've moved on to summer. There's been a heat index of nearly 100 the last couple days. It's super humid, and was in the mid-80s this morning at 9 when I took Ellie on her walk. This is sad. I will miss not sweating to death. But, it's the price we pay for living here. The garden, however, seems to LOVE this weather. Everything is blowing up, but nothing more than our two tomato plants. You guys, we have nearly 30 tomatoes on the two plants. And these guys are big. We're getting a couple ripe ones every day.
I did also finish my project a couple weeks ago, making a baby quilt for the newest Hannifin!
I am about to head off to drop Hayden at the library, but I will leave you with the cute dog pictures from the last couple weeks. I love my furry family members.
Next Up: I'm gone for a few days, so the boys will be fending for themselves!
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