Week 14: Just Sitting Here on the Corner of Awesome and Bombdiggity

It's been a long eventful week around here. I've found those are best to alternate with short, lazy weeks. Asa responds much better to going out for the weekend if it 1. somehow matches up with his work from home week on either end. 2. follows a weekend of very uneventful activities. Asa didn't grow up traveling a whole lot, so while to me 5 hours in the car sounds like no big deal, about two hours in he's complaining about how we're not there yet. And then he tries to sneakily pawn it off as though the kids (who HAVE grown up travelling) are ready to be out of the car. I see right through your tactics, Asa Waterstraut. You've been found out.

Early in the week Hayden had his very first field trip. He went to a farm, and was very excited about his meeting with Rosie the Cow. Apparently the teachers had talked this cow up so much, according to Hayden it was the cutest cow ever. He was equally as excited about the piglets, which he said were smaller than Porkchop, and the rooster. He got a mini pumpkin, and got to pet goats. He talked about this for days like it was the best trip he'd ever been on, Alaska included. In addition to the first ever field trip, he also got to ride on a bus for the first time. He was very excited about this, as if it was the coolest form of transportation he'd ever been on, glass domed train car included.

The next day, however, Hayden had a note in his planner that he had been talking when Ms. Bazin asked him to stop. He was so upset when he got in the car, telling me he had a note. I said 'Hayden, what was it for', and he broke down in full on sobbing, threw his hands up in the air and replied "I don't know, I can't read!" He knew he was in big time trouble, and by big time, I mean no video games, tv, or Halloween candy as a snack. To a five year old this is about as devastating as the world gets. I know, right? To be five...

Calib and Peyton both had their science project boards due this week. There's very little room on these boards for creativity. Basically, they just want you to print out your entire project, glue it to a board, and they tell you exactly how to lay it out. They did have about half the middle section to do what they wanted. Since their projects were really similar (calib saw how plants grew in different amounts of light, while Peyton saw how plants grew being 'watered' with milk, water, and gatorade) we did the boards pretty similar. I cut the dixie cups in half, and glued them to the board, then we made flowers out of pipe cleaner depending on how they grew. For Calibs I made a little closet door for the one in the dark, and window sill for the one in the sun, and a tree for the one under the shade. I think they turned out pretty cool. I would also like to thank Justin for the use of his printer, and the banana he left me for breakfast while I typed out their projects. And, we may all rejoice, for Science Projects are done for the year! Whoo-hoo!

Thursday morning was the Student of the Month Presentation. I went to see Calib get his award, and his coupons and things. I doubt they have this is middle school, so this is probably my last time going to the Student of the Month Presentation for Calib. How sad. It was nice not to have to take Hayden with me, he usually squirmed and whined through the whole thing. On my way out, I saw Peyton walking with his class, and he must not be too embarrassed by me, because he did yell out 'Hi Mom' and wave. Thursday was also Otter Run Day. Think Run for Fun on a smaller scale. They used to take donations for Otter Run and used it to help fund raise for the school, but this year they didn't. I kind of wondered what the point was then, but the kids had fun.

Thursday also saw Asa complete his first Quest. I discovered if you form chores in quest form, he responds much better. In this case, the chores consisted of getting the camping gear from the garage, when he was successful, we threw a parade in his honor concluding with a trophy presentation. However, this said trophy presentation was interrupted by a fire breathing dragon, which Asa and Peyton bravely slayed. Or, in lay men term- a lizard got in the house, Hayden and I ran screaming, while Peyton and Asa caught it in a cup and sent it outside. However, during this traumatic event Calib called to see if he could stay and eat dinner at his friends house, and I just yelled into the phone about dragons, and trophies, and quests. He seemed unfazed and just responded with 'so, right, can I eat over?' Hayden was quite traumatized by the event. He ran under the covers and started screaming 'This is how it all ends!" In his defense, it was one of the biggest lizards we've ever had in the house.

The boys didn't have school on Friday because of a Teacher Planning Day. Asa had requested the day off, but because of things at work, they later changed it so he had to go in. This really screwed with our plans, because we were going to leave early Friday Morning, and take our time getting up to the campgrounds in Georgia. Our plan was to get there around 5 so we could put the tent up before it got dark. Instead, I spent Friday dragging kids to the store and getting the house and things ready (which I procrastinated and didn't do Thursday), and we didn't get to the campgrounds until it was 10:30 and pitch dark. We manoeuvred the fit so the headlights were on the area for the tent, and actually put it up pretty fast. It was only the third time we had done it, and the first time in the dark, I thought it went pretty smoothly. There wasn't even any cursing involved.

Clint and Jessica got there right after we had finished setting up the tent, which was good because we were two sleeping bags short, and Clint and Jess were bringing them for us. The low was supposed to be around 30, so we knew it was going to be cold. I had gotten the boys all long underwear, packed hats and gloves, two hoodies for everyone, extra socks, plus the blankets and sleeping bags. We were all sleeping on air mattresses or mats too, which helped keep us a little warmer. I'll admit the first night I was cold. I passed on the long underwear, and was in the sleeping bag that had a broken zipper. Asa complained about being cold, but in reality he was in a sleeping bag good for 0 degrees, complete with another fleece lined sleeping bag on an air mattress. As much as he wanted his friends at work to believe he was roughing it, I think he had it pretty good. He said his arms were a little cold, but he refused to put on the hat, gloves, or hoodie I had brought for him. The boys actually said they were fine. Peyton was the funniest, because he scooted all the way down in his sleeping bag, and his head only came up to about half way. He was in a full on cocoon, and slept pretty great actually.

Clint had planned out our Saturday pretty well. We drove from our Campground in Richmond Hill to Savannah. He had gotten maps at AAA for all the kids, and would tell them a park and have the kids direct us. Calib was really the only one interested, and Peyton whined because he wasn't into it, but he quickly changed his mind, and would read the History plaques at each park. Hayden would just run around a lot, but I figured it was a good way to get his energy out. Eventually we found ourselves at the really large park, playground included, and the boys played on that for awhile. The also picked up a ton of leaves, pinecones, acorns and other assorted things to get my pockets all gross, but I suppose thats the job I signed up for when I had boys.

After we walked around Savannah, we went to Fort Pulaski. We stopped in at the Ranger Station and got three Junior Ranger Books. If the boys walked around and found the answers, they would be rewarded with a Junior Ranger Pin. They really liked the fort. It was complete with a moat and everything. They ran around it, spent a good amount of time in the jail, and climbed on some cannons. Clint took Peyton and Calib around to fill out their books, and Asa and I took Hayden to fill out his. Let me tell you, there was quite the difference in what they wanted Hayden to do (like find shapes and such), and what they wanted Calib and Peyton to do (complete with Math problems). Either way, the boys all filled there's out and returned it to the Ranger Station for their pins. I told Clint I didn't remember having that much fun at a fort when I was a kid. He said we liked the forts, it was the battlefields that dad used to drag us too that were much less exciting. I think it really tired the kids out, and had the same effect on Clints dog, Elemeno.

After the Fort we picniced lunch in the grass out by our cars because it was nearly time for low tide, and Clint had said Tybee Island had some really great Tide Pooling. Jess and Elemeno stayed in the car while we went in search of random marine life. Peyton LOVES Tide Pools. His favorite part of the whole Alaska trip was the tide pooling in Seattle. We went out to the rocks, and initially found nothing, so we moved on to the next set. Clint was worried it was going to be a bust, but when we got to the second set we found all sorts of things. There was a lot of baby hermit crabs, some sort of sea cucumber type things, a horseshoe crab, and a ton of conch shells- fully intact you can hear the ocean in them, only ever find ones like that in a gift shop- conch shells. The boys loaded up on those. Peyton could have stayed forever, but the tide started to come back in.

It is also worth noting, this was the first time my kids ever saw the Atlantic Ocean. I know, I can hardly believe it, either. We've lived here for almost six years, and have never made it the three hours over to the other coast. My kids actually saw the Pacific Ocean first. Anyway, of course we all put our toes in, because thats what my grandpa said you always have to do. Let me tell you, it was cold. Not like, the Gulf is cold this time of year cold, and Not quite Alaska cold, but somewhere in between. Definitely not 'I could go swimming in that' warm though.

We headed back to the campsite and got the tent, beds, and pajamas ready, and dinner going before it got to dark. I'm very uncreative when it comes to camping food, so hot dogs and brats it was. Clint brought some sides of baked beans and potato salad, and I had the stuff for smores. I'm not sure if all my kids decided they liked burnt marshmallows, or just catching them on fire, but either way, that became the fun activity for awhile. Eventually, Peyton and Hayden got cold and went in the tent. They had a flash light and were making shadow puppets which you could see from the outside, it was pretty funny. Eventually though, things got out of hand and there was a lot of jumping around. When I went in the tent there was blankets, pillows, gloves, hats, socks, and pajamas everywhere. So much for spending all my time getting it organized before it got dark. Needless to say, Peyton and Hayden then went to bed. Although, there was still a lot of shadow puppet-ing after that. Calib stayed up with us, probably in part due to his fear of raccoons, and probably because he didn't want to go in the tent and deal with Peyton pouting about going to bed early. We went to bed when we got too cold to sit outside anymore. I don't know if it was the addition of long underwear, or the fact that it was 10 degrees warmer the next night, or a combination of both, but it was much warmer the second night.

Sunday morning Clint made breakfast, he was much more ambitious than I was, but then he's a seasoned camper. He made us all breakfast sandwiches, complete with sausage, egg, and cheese on an english muffin. They were really good. Jessica started the fire, apparently with no lighter or anything- all Survivor style. Then she taught Calib and Peyton how to tend to the fire, and they gathered up leaves and sticks. They then sat around talking about who was 'fire manager' and who was 'assistant fire manger' for hours. After breakfast we packed up the tent and headed home. Clint and I decided this should be a yearly activity. It was nice of them to drive the extra time, because I really thought the 5 hours wasn't bad at all. Take note, Sattler family, when mom retires, I want our February trip closer on my end, dang it.

On our way home, we swung by the Jacksonville Jaguars Stadium, to check one more off my list. We were lucky it was an away game, or we'd never have been able to get in and out so quickly, and we might not have been able to get it at all. Anyway, one down for the year, only four more to go. I'm thinking I'll get Cleveland, Miami, Pittsburgh (*waves* Hi Joanne, we'll have to come visit you for that one), and maybe Indianapolis. We'll see how all that pans out. We haven't made official 2012 summer plans yet. I know, can you believe it? We're not all booked up by some huge event. What ever will Asa do with his vacation days?

It was also the last day for the food and wine festival, so we stopped by on our way back. For those of you who don't know, it's a festival they have at Epcot every year. Around the world, they set up little kiosks in each country and have tasting portions of food from that country. You can buy a gift card type thing and then swipe that instead of digging out your cash or credit card at each one, and it helps you keep track of what your spending. It was way more packed than I expected it to be, but really, I just wanted the Fisherman's pie. That was our first stop, and then we decided we would head back to where we came from and try some new things. We had $40 on our card, I didn't want to try anything I had last year (not because it wasn't good, I just wanted to try new stuff), and I didn't want to have to go back further into the World Showcase because of how crowded it was. So, we headed back and luckily there were all kinds of new things to be had. We had some sandwich pita thing in Greece, which was yummy. The Cheddar Cheese Soup in Canada, was as good as people had said it was. We had the desert trio, and then discovered the two new 'country' kiosks were at the front, so we could try everything at those. Hawaii and Australia were new this year, and I was happy they were at the front so we could try them. I even had the raw tuna. Yes, me. Raw fish. I ate it. Oh yea. Also, gross, I'll never do that again. After that we stopped by Club Cool and filled up a water bottle full of free Chinese Coke-a-Cola and headed home. The boys were disappointed we didn't ride anything, but the lines were just too long.

We got home around 5, and thank God we missed the game, looks like it was just horrible for the Bucs. After we unpacked the necessary items, Asa went off to play Skyrim, a new much anticipated game. He'd been looking forward to it for months, and still agreed to go camping this weekend. Although, had I known he wouldn't have had the day off, I would have picked a different weekend.

Monday Peyton had his field trip to the History Museum. He was supposed to go when the Vice President was here, so it got moved. The funny thing is, he has another field trip scheduled for later this week, so he gets two in one week. What a lucky kid, and lucky for us too because we hardly have homework to worry about this week! I also spent Monday making a baby quilt for a friend, and sent that off to her. It'll be so nice when I have a spot for all my sewing and crafting stuff. I love working on things, but it's such a chore to get it all out and put it all away.

By Monday, my cold really started to set in. Luckily, it's work from home week, and Asa has been getting the boys to and from school and handling homework and dinner time. I basically have no voice, and when I do have it, I use it to blame Asa for spreading his germs to me. I want to get better because theres a lot to do in preparation of Thanksgiving, plus I'm missing out on Justin's test Cheesecake for Pie Making Wednesday. Hopefully my voice and energy return soon.

And, I leave you with Asa's Quest, given to him over instant messaging.

Rinsters 1:34 pm

I'll make a list of items for you to retrieve from the garage.

I'm going to make hamburgers for dinner.

asa.m.waterstraut 1:35 pm

yea, that's what I meant. chores and food.

Rinsters 1:35 pm

no.. not chores... a quest.

asa.m.waterstraut 1:35 pm

... go on.

how will this quest be presented?

Rinsters 1:35 pm

You need to go into the abyss and retrieve several items bringing them to safety in the house.

asa.m.waterstraut 1:36 pm

*gasp

asa.m.waterstraut 1:36 pm

but you know what they say about the abyss

not one man that's gone in has ever come back out

Rinsters 1:36 pm

so file this under epic quest

asa.m.waterstraut 1:36 pm

*GASP

You see me worthy of such an undertaking?

Rinsters 1:37 pm

I do. You may need goggles, and a broom for your protection.

asa.m.waterstraut 1:37 pm

I'll have to stop at a tavern to properly equip myself.

What is the reward for this quest?

Rinsters 1:37 pm

just over the mountain beyond the broken down washer you may see a green lid, retrieve green lid being careful not to come into contact with any dragons.

asa.m.waterstraut 1:38 pm

oh my gosh. oh my gosh.

Rinsters 1:38 pm

There can be a trophy.

asa.m.waterstraut 1:38 pm

YES! A TROPHY!

A prestigious mantle to show the world of my courage.

Rinsters 1:38 pm

Beyond the mountain, you may find a source of light in the forms of flashlights and lanterns. Bonus points if you retrieve these in working order.

asa.m.waterstraut 1:38 pm

oh my gosh

Rinsters 1:40 pm

Somewhere in the great abyss, you may find air mattresses to rest your weary head. Retrieve the mattress for plus one to comfy sleepiness. Come back without the pump, and the mattress will be rendered useless and you will have -1 to comfy sleepiness.

asa.m.waterstraut 1:40 pm

oh man

so many variables

I'm so excited

so I need a green lid, flashlights, a lantern, an air mattress and an air pump

Rinsters 1:43 pm

Now, there are several other camping goodies to be found. Perhaps located near the green lid. These goodies include picnic table cloths and clips to keep the table down. Other items may include off bug spray and hot dog scewers. For each of these brough back to saftey, you will be given plus one to stud-ly-ness.

Should you become unsteady on your feet, you must locate a blue tube containing a chair. Find this, and you have nearly completed your quest.

And finally, the mecca of all camping items, the reason for this quest...

asa.m.waterstraut 1:44 pm

oh my gosh, this quest is huge.

the tent?

Rinsters 1:45 pm

is the place to keep yourself warm and cozy...

Rinsters 1:45 pm

the Tent *ahhhhhhhhh*

asa.m.waterstraut 1:45 pm

gaaaso

..p

ok, ok. ok.

ok I can handle this.

Rinsters 1:45 pm

Bring back the tent, along with these other items, and you will be victorious!

asa.m.waterstraut 1:45 pm

and then I get a trophy?

and perhaps a burger?

Rinsters 1:46 pm

yes, my good sir. You will be rewarded handsomly, and celebrated on your throne when you triumphantly return!

asa.m.waterstraut 1:46 pm

oh man

this is exciting

I feel that I'm up for it, I accept the quest.

Rinsters 1:46 pm

dun dun dun dunnnn!!

asa.m.waterstraut 1:46 pm

wait

what;s the name of the quest?

I need to categorize my quest journal

Rinsters 1:47 pm

It is so secret, it is beyond naming.

asa.m.waterstraut 1:47 pm

oh man

this is heavy

Rinsters 1:47 pm

No one is to know of this quest, until you retun to the townspeople with the items they so desperatly need.

asa.m.waterstraut 1:48 pm

they're depending on me.

Rinsters 1:51 pm

They are.

Or else how will the survive in the cold days ahead?

asa.m.waterstraut 1:52 pm

they won't... prolly just die.

Rinsters 1:52 pm

its all up to you.

There will surely be a parade in your honor.

Rinsters 1:53 pm

concluding with the presentation of the trophy, of course.

asa.m.waterstraut 1:54 pm

yessss

I so got this

Next Up: Muddy Shoes, Blanket Forts, and Eye Sheilding from the game that is the Packers vs. Bucs

Week 13: Why did the bacteria fail the math test? He thought multiplication was the same as division.

*cough cough, sneeze sneeze*

Disclaimer: Be sure to Lysol your computer after reading this, as our germs are everywhere.

Asa has been sick for over two weeks now. Should he go to the Doctor? Yes. Have I told him to go to the Doctor? Of course. Has he listened to me? Of course not. And now, not only does he have the audacity to not listen to me, but he's spreading his germs to the entire family. I just came down with it two days ago, and Hayden spent the weekend with it. Which, of course we're all getting sick now. Just in time to go spread our germs throughout the country and give them to another Sattler. Sorry in advance, Clint and Jess. But, getting each others families sick is what me and my siblings do, so nobody should be surprised.

So here I am laying on the couch with my pillow, a roll of toilet paper (because the Kleenex was gone quite a few sneezes ago), and a cozy blanket trying desperately to get better before the weekend. I figured what better time to blog than being tucked into a nice warm fleece blanket, and sharing the couch with a gaggle of sleeping dogs. I don't have a lot to say this week though, because we spent all of it with someone being sick.

We didn't do a lot of activities this week. Some games of Bananagrams, and lots of Xbox since I bought battery packs so now all four boys can play Dungeon Defenders together. But on Wednesday we did play 'What's this?' Where the boys all were blindfolded and had to determine the food in front of them. Good news, nobody's anosmic. They all had spot on smelling, and got all the objects correct. Next time I'll just have to make it harder.

Big news of the week: Calib was named Student of the Month. He's usually Student of the Month in September or October, except for that one time he switched schools mid-year and was Student of the Month at his old school in September and his new school in March. Such an overachiever this boy is. I tried to congratulate him, but at first he was just really disappointed that he didn't get it sooner. You know, because two months into school is totally unacceptable. Peyton just gets annoyed at comments like these, and I can't say I blame him. Think Me and Clint. Same concept. Anyway, way to go Calib- even if it took TWO WHOLE MONTHS! *Sigh* Who's kid is this anyway?

Hayden got to borrow the book 'More Parts' from his teacher this week. He LOVES the book 'Parts' that we have at home, and this is the much anticipated sequel. He got in the car and was all "GUESS WHAT MOM?!?!?" Like he had won the lottery or something. I sure wish I could get that excited about a book. Speaking of though, I was nearly this excited when Brandy sent me a link to the new pixels game. I was so disappointed when it was over, and now I have fifty brand new puzzles. Hey Brandy, let me know if you find another grid detectives. I loved that one too.

We were supposed to hit some Fests this weekend- because this really is the time of year when the Fests come out in full force. Even funnier was when I was watching a show that totally makes fun of the suburbs there was a whole episode about suburbs and their festivals- which is too true. This weekend was the Airfest, the Chalkfest, Pioneer Fest, the Seafood Fest, and the Swamp Fest. This weekend is Sand Sculpting and Music fest, Festival of the Masters and the RibFest to name a few. We didn't make it to any though, because Hayden was laying on the couch under 15 covers saying how cold he was. Dun Dun Dunnnn... We're missing more this weekend, but only because we have plans. I'm over sitting at home on the weekend, and in true Waterstraut form, I'm going to the extreme of jam packing this weekend.

We did find time to use our Bowling groupon this weekend. We all used bumpers, because really theres no better way to bowl. We have discovered it really puts the kibosh on Peyton's poor sportsmanship if we pick a goal as a team. We said 450, and got 488. I told everyone not to talk about their individual scores as to not draw attention to the fact that Peyton was getting beat by everyone, Hayden included. It seemed to work. Everyone, including the people next to us, would get really excited for Hayden, giving him high 5's as long as he knocked down a couple of pins. This irked Peyton, but overall we avoided any pouting. It took forever to bowl two games though, because it took Hayden's ball like a year to get down the lane. At one point it was moving at a whopping 1.45 mph.

Sunday we watched the Bucs lose again. So depressing, but I said they'd go 8-8, and here we are mid season with 4-4, so that's pretty much where I expected them to be. They're still my hometown team, and I still love them. And, on the upside the worse they do the cheaper tickets will get and maybe we'll be able to make it to one more game before the season is up (I'm crossing my fingers for the Dallas Game- it's a Saturday Night Game- whoo wee!)

We did have to have the Santa talk with Peyton. I was hoping to get away with one more year, but he was asking too many questions. I knew it was coming, because a few months ago he was to the point where he didn't believe in the Easter Bunny, because how could a giant bunny hop around your house and hide eggs? But Santa, the guy who hits every house in the world in one night was totally feesable. I didn't want to tell him so close to Christmas, but I also didn't want him to ruin it for Hayden. He seemed completely unshocked at the news.

This week also saw Daylight Savings Time come to an end. I love that I got the extra hour of sleep, but I hate that it gets dark so early now. It was 5:45 last night and the boys had to come in because they couldn't see the football anymore. 5:45!! Crazy. But here I am complaining about them having to come in so early, when if I lived up north there'd be months when they wouldn't be playing outside at all. I don't know how you up north mom's do it. I would go crazy.

Thats all. I know it wasn't a very exciting week, but for busy weeks, or lazy weeks, I said I would write one a week. I should have more entertaining things to share next week though.

Awards for the week:

Funniest Comments:

Peyton: 'whats your favorite color?'

Me: "Pink"

Peyton "Thats so 80s"

Most Annoying:

The Realtor selling our house. He seriously called every day for a week.

Most Horrible Death:

The drowning of the Remote in the Washing Machine. (I'm sorry, Asa, I didn't see it in the covers!)

Highest Opinion of oneself:

This award goes to Hayden...

Me: "Hayden you have such a good imagination"

Hayden: "I know. I have all the ideas."

Up Next: Science Boards, Field Trips, and Smores!

Week 12: If Nothing Ever Changed There'd Be No Butterflies

Another week, another plan to go to the food and wine festival blown. Boo! This is my favorite festival, and we haven't had a free day to go yet. This week Asa came down with something, and completely lost his voice. While this was maybe nice for a day at two (hi babe *waves*), it is not awesome as a prolonged event. I did learn that when given the choice of pain or whispering, he can actually pull off a whisper. If you know Asa, you know his whispering skills leave something to be desired. It's one of his many adorable quirks. (Ask me again in a few years though, we haven't been married all that long).

Anyway, due to his illness, I didn't think it was best to go to the food and wine festival while he couldn't eat anything but ice cream and soups. Though I've heard the Cheddar Cheese Soup at the Canada Pavilion is to die for. Which also means I missed Sister Hazel at Eat to the Beat. Hanson was on a weekday so I couldn't make it for that either. Boo! Ok, enough focusing on the stuff I missed out on, I'll get there eventually, even if it has to be on the last day on our way back from our camping trip with Clint and Jess.

This week I made all our activities and snacks Halloween related. Yes, I've become that Mom. Don't look for me to be on the PTA anytime soon though. Because those moms are seriously out of control. We had spiders (aka crackers with PB in the middle, pretzel sticks for legs and chocolate chips for beady little spider eyes), Vampire Smiles (Apples with PB and marshmallows for teeth), Ghost Poop and Spider legs (marshmallows and pretzel sticks), worm sandwiches (Nilla wafers sandwiched with nutella and gummy worms), jello jigglers (in halloween shapes, but of course) and blood red spider drinks (Sprite with Gatorade Ice Cubes that I froze plastic spiders in). The boys thoroughly enjoyed their Halloween inspired snacks. This week, I'm getting the week off from after school snacks, and letting them have a couple pieces of candy from their buckets.

We played some fun games. My favorite was the popcorn answer find. They each had a bowl of popcorn, with tiny little cardboard pieces hidden inside with answers on them they had to match to their cards. Hayden had sight words, Calib and Peyton had Math problems. I really should have thought ahead, though, because they ate half their bowl of popcorn looking for their answers, and weren't hungry for dinner.

Our Halloween inspired crafts were also pretty fun. We made salt dough pumpkins, complete with a stick from the yard for stem. The boys liked the glow up monsters too. I had bought some of those little Sunny D drinks, and we used the empty bottles, turned them upside down, painted them and added a glow stick. They made a nice night light for a night before the glow sticks died.

It was also red ribbon week at school, so they had all kinds of different things to do. Monday and Friday were green shirt days, which was relatively boring. Wednesday and red shirt day also was rather tame. However, crazy sock day and hat day were quite the hit with Hayden. When I realized it was crazy sock day I went out in search of some socks. I really thought it wouldn't be that hard, but crazy boy socks pretty much don't exist. (I noticed as I dropped them off the next day most boys were sporting girly socks). So, I grabbed a three pack of blue, black, and tan socks and figured we'd mix them up and everyone could have a 'crazy pair'. When I got home with them Hayden was really disappointed. He told me "These aren't crazy, they're just different colors, that's not crazy at all". So, I told him we could make them crazy, and glue things to them. He them thought this was the best idea ever, and wanted to paint one sock, and glue googly eyes, pom poms, and pipe cleaners in the shape of an H on the other. He happily did all of this while talking about how he was going to have the craziest pair of socks. I then asked Calib and Peyton what they wanted to do for crazy sock day. Calib said he would just wear one navy blue and one black sock (I couldn't really tell the difference once he had them on), and Peyton said he wasn't going to wear crazy socks (He later took one black and one tan). Hayden mocked them and their lack of crazy socks. I just realized I probably covered all this in my last blog- but oh well, I'm not deleting everything I just typed. When Hayden got home he was telling me all about how his crazy socks were the craziest there was.

The came hat day. After the socks, a regular old baseball cap was not good enough for Hayden. He needed something over the top, and crazy. I tried to tell him we could glue googly eyes and pom poms to a winter hat. He replied "Thats already been done, Mom. I can't do the same thing". We settled on the Moose Hat Peyton had gotten when Asa and I got married, and everyone got something moose related. From the second he got out of the car all the teachers were giving him thumbs up telling him how cool his hat was. Apparently though, he spent the day putting his head down and chasing kids around the playground with his antlers. Calib was quite embarrassed by it, but I thought it was hilarious.

Let me take a second out here to talk about Survivor Night- did anyone else see that crazy tribal council? It's all the boys have been talking about. They can't wait till this Wednesday to find out what happens. I told them they better be ready, in their PJS at 8:15 because I'm starting it with or without them.

This week also was both my brothers birthdays, so we took a picture of the boys holding "Happy. Birthday. (and) Uncle Cort/Clint" Signs. I was out of construction paper though, so I just had to minorly adjust the Uncle Cort sign for Clints birthday. I like this new way of sending birthday wishes, so when your day comes around look for a fun picture in your inbox. Oh, or a joke. I've been sending birthday jokes out, because I'm expecting some on my birthday again. Don't want to be a hypocrite you know.

Friday only half stunk. We got a call from the Realtor about how they needed to come look at the house, take some pictures, and we didn't even get 24 hours notice. This kind of stuff cannot continue to happen. I'm so over it. I'm trying not to post every little thing about it, but we were defiantly duped by the realtor. Asa had spoken to him the day before asking about when he thought they would come in to do the pictures and he said "a couple of weeks, maybe a month", and then here he was the next day. Our landlord apparently knew nothing about it. I find it fishy. I don't trust either of them, and it sets me on very shaky ground, and I do not like it. Renting is not cool anymore. Chalk us up to a statistic now, one of those people getting screwed over by the housing market who did nothing to get themselves into this mess. I know it'll come out ok, but it's getting there that is less than ideal. And, now I'll go back to not talking about it until I have actual news to report, just a rant there.

Friday was also report card day. Calib got all A's and a B. I was thrilled, but he was disappointed. He wanted to get all A's. Asa had to tell him to stop being all 'Uncle Clint' about it. Peyton on the other hand, I was worried about. Things aren't coming home as much as they were last year. I expected that, because he has the same teacher Calib had last year and she's not big on sending the graded stuff home. What has come home has been really good, though. I was kind of bracing myself. When I opened his report card I was so pleasantly surprised. He had three A's, two C's, and nothing he 'needs work' on (like organization, class participation, ect.) Last year Peyton had all C's, all year except for the one D incident. I've been really concerned about him and his attention, and at the end of the year I suggested perhaps there was an issue with the teacher and her unwillingness to bend to a child's individual needs. The school was not happy to hear this, but I said before I did anything, I wanted to see how Peyton did in another classroom, and since it was the end of the year, I would have the opportunity soon. Well, case and point. Good for Peyton. He responds so much better to not being overworked and under appreciated. Hayden got all S's, for successful, but I knew he would- unless of course there was a 'blowing nose' category. I've been told he needs work on that.

Friday was also the fall festival at school. You buy tickets and they have games, snacks, and prizes. Hayden really enjoyed the fishing game, but got a little too excited with the fishing pole, and nearly hit someone everytime he played it. Calib and Peyton both got to dunk teachers in the dunk tank, and everyone got ice cream sandwiches.

Saturday, after we had decided we weren't going to go to the food and wine festival, we decided to head out to the pumpkin festival. After all, they have pumpkin ice cream which was right what the doctor ordered for Asa. We spent awhile in the corn maze. We let Hayden lead for awhile, and hit more dead ends than I expected a corn maze to have. We got to see some pumpkins shoot out of the pumpkin cannon, and Hayden took a pony ride. Then we fed the goats, emu, and chickens and decided that we needed to buy a new house, out in the country so we could have a goat, and more importantly a llama. And a chicken. And a duck. And possibly a pig, which we could name Mr. Hamm Lincoln. Whether a house exists in our school district, I'm not so sure. But, I wouldn't mind not living 5 feet from the house next door. And having a duck.

Sunday was supposed to be the Halloween Party at the Clubhouse, but I guess the intial signs and bulletin that went out had the wrong date on it. I tend to put things on the calendar, decide were doing them, and not double check they're still occurring or haven't been moved. Apparently, the party was moved to Saturday and we had missed it. It turned out ok though because I had to make some costumes for the boys book character parade at school on Monday, and we had Science Project work to do. The Bucs were on a bye, so I didn't even have football to watch. We did carve pumpkins. Hayden skipped the carving, in lieu of painting, but was upset he didn't get to 'scoop out the goop'. Peyton on the other hand, made his usual frightened disgusted face at the prospect, and I eventually had to scoop the goop of his pumpkin.

For the book Character parade Hayden was the pig from 'If you give a pig a party'. I bought a pig hat, but had to change some things around, unglue the ears and reglue them to the other side, cut off the snout, take off the eyes, and glue a party hat. Then I found pig gloves, he had the pig nose from the costume shop in Ohio, and he wore pajamas (because of the pajama party in the book). I thought he was cute. I tried to get Calib to be Captain Underpants, because I try and get him to do it every year, but he refused. Maybe Hayden 'I don't care about what people think' Waterstraut will do it someday. Anyway, he was Captain Nobody from a Sunshine State book he's currently reading. I made him the eye mask, and we had the red cape, then I taped lightning bolts to his shoes to complete the outfit. Peytons was perhaps the best and cutest outfit. He was ADORABLE in it. He was Geronimo Stilton, a book series he's been reading for over a year now. Geronimo is a mouse who goes on adventures. I took the white shirt he wore at the wedding, and cut the sleeves off since it was too small anyway now, and put a green shirt over it. Then I made a red and white felt tie and glued that too it. I took a pair of glasses, painted them back and we completed the look with a mouse nose and ears from the costume holiday house in Fremont. I was pretty proud of their looks. It was full on crafty-Corinne-ness all around. I loved it.

They all had little parties at school on Friday, in which I was then reminded this would be Calib's last Character Parade, because next year he'll be in middle school. I angrily thanked Peyton for reminding me, and then I nearly hyperventilated. Calib in middle school- with a locker, and eating lunch with 9th graders. Oh boy. Lets not talk about that again for a very, very long time. Peytons friend Ciara and her dad came trick or treating with us.

For trick or treat, Hayden was a Pirate, Peyton was a knight, and Calib was a football player. They were pretty cute, but I gotta say I do miss the days of fuzzy full bodied suits of cuddly little animals. I guess I'll just have to look at old pictures and reminisce. Anyway, Ciara and Peyton were talking about hanging out this weekend, and I said 'we'll see, I'm not sure when your board is due for your Science Project, do you?' Peyton started blankly at me, like he didn't even know what his board was. Ciara chimed in "It's due November 10th". I marveled at the knowledge she had. I've never heard the boys tell me a date when something is due. I replied with 'whoa, is this what having a girl would be like? They actually know things?" Anyway, Ciara's nice, and Peyton is smitten with her. They had a good time trick or treating. I'm gonna have to watch out for this one, Peyton is going to be a heart breaker, I just know it.

Milestone of the week:

Porkchop finally chewed through the tail of his stuffed whale. He's been working on it for nine months.

Top Scorer of the week:

Me! On Luminous. It's a tetris like game for the Xbox. Sunday I had the sixth best score in the world. Oh yea!

Best Answer of the week:

Calib: 'I don't know how to answer this question- If you were to do your Science Project again, what would you do differently'

Me: 'I'd take care of the plants myself instead of making my mom do the whole thing'

Brought Back to Life:

My cell phone. Thats right folks. Fully functioning, and back to normal. Although, slightly disturbing- I had no messages from the two months it was off.

Teacher Fail:

While doing Hayden's homework with him, I read at the bottom of the page, this note from his teacher: It is ALWAYS ok to read the directions and questions to your child. If you have to help them answer it, just put your initials by the problem, and your child will receive partial credit.

Seriously? He's in kindergarten. He get's S's or U's.. hows he going to get partial credit?

Best Misunderstood Moment:

Asa (while whispering):"I can't talk"

Hayden: "eggnog?"

Up Next: A weekend of Fests! How many we'll make it to, I'm just not sure yet.

Week 11: Life is too short to fold fitted sheets

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hayden: Mom, are we in the haunted mansion

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Calib 'I'm ok with that.

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

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

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

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

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

Best Song of the week:

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

Best countdown to Un-grounding this week:

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

Best Make Me Feel Old Moment

Me: "Calib, pull your pants up"

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

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

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

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

Best Waldo Sighting:

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

Best Quote of the week:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Other things worth noting:

Things that got on my nerves this week:

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

Questions answered:

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

Best Game of the Week:

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

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

Week 9.5: 'Does your Person have Accessories?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Do not come home unless you have Tacos.

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

Bowling is best done with Bumpers.

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

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

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

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

Week 8: Tears, Cheers, and Secret Service Automobiles

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

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

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

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

Me: Peyton, 3 times 9?

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

Hayden: It's 27 Peyton! 27!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hayden: "I'm in kindergarten"

Mike Williams: "Oh yea?"

Hayden: "My favorite part is Fridays"

Mike Williams: "Why is that?"

Hayden: "Because they have Pizza on Fridays"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Highlights of the game, besides the game itself:

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

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

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

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

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

And that was our week

Oh, one last thing.

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

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