Monday, May 31, 2010

Daytona Lagoon

The blow up pool that we have had for about 2 years got a hole in it so we were in the market for a new pool. I was shopping around for the best price and this was on sale this week for $20. It is actually really big, so it is ready for Aunt Joy when she comes this weekend. She loves to lay in the sun and can cool off when she gets hot.

Today we went to Daytona Lagoon with the Butler's. Back in January you could get a season pass for $20. Of course, I did not know about it so we missed out on the great deal. A lot of people we know got passes, so I looked into the current price and it is $75 per person. Last week at school the PE teacher asked me if I wanted to buy his passes off of him. They were only the computer vouchers and he was not going to be able to use them. Ethan and I were so excited and I immediately said yes! We had a lot of fun and I think the kids and I will be making a weekly trip this summer.
Enjoying the wave pool. Not sure what Aubrey is doing. Hannah and Haley are the twins that we carpool with to school. Hannah is in Ethan's class this year. They live just down the street from us and the kids love to play together and get along really well.

The kids are in the play structure somewhere.

Haley and Aubrey climbing the ropes


Here comes Hannah down the slide.
Ethan
Haley
and here comes Aubrey! This is so classic Aubrey. Everyone else comes down the right way and she is backwards with her feet straight up in the air! (You can click on the picture to make it bigger to get the full effect of her position) She makes me laugh, that is for sure. (Aunt Judy, I am picturing you laughing out loud about our silly little girl)
She is laughing about how she came down so funny.



Sunday, May 30, 2010

Gum

Today Aubrey had her first piece of gum. I think she may have tried it one other time, but swallowed it right away. I laid down some ground rules and decided it was time to let her try.
Our first attempt was successful! She did not chew it very long, but she did not get any in her hair, which is what I have been dreading. She holds onto the gum and chews just a little at a time and then spits it out.
Ethan started chewing gum before he was three. It was a really big deal when Aubrey was born. That was how he was a big boy and we made it very special - that he could chew gum when he was a big brother. It was neat because friends and family knew about it and brought him gum to the hospital. Wow, the difference in our children. I would never of dreamed of giving Aubrey gum and three. I am still a little nervous of it now. Messes just seem to attract to her, and gum can cause a lot of problems. We will see how she does...


Well, that did not last long. I finished typying the above post and Ethan tells me Aubrey has gum in her hair.
The crazy part is that it is Ethan's gum! They were lying next to each other on the floor and he was trying to make a bubble and the end result was his gum in her hair! Are you kidding me!?! All I can do is laugh over it. We tried ice and decide to take the easy route and just cut it out. It was in the back of her hair so it should not be too noticeable.

New gum chewing rule: her hair has to be in a ponytail and Ethan can not blow bubbles next to her. NEVER a dull moment around this house!

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Coffee Table Makeover

You can not really tell from the picture, but our ottoman recently died. I believe it has taken too much abuse from the kids and when you sit on one side, you are basically sitting on the ground. However, our house came with a nice bare spot in the carpet, hence the ottoman covering it up.

Derek and Ethan were out for a walk and noticed this coffee table that someone had at the road. Derek and I went back to get it. After ringing the doorbell and nobody answering, we took it home. If it is at the curb, it is free game, right? So here is the before picture of Derek's coffee table find.

Derek has put many hours into this over the last few days. He painted and antiqued it. He also prepped it for some tiles that he found on clearance. Lucky for us he ran into a friend from church at Lowe's who can do just about anything handy. He invited us to come over on Friday night and he would help Derek cut the tiles with his wet saw.
The kids enjoyed their pool while I enjoyed some fellowship with his wife.
Aubrey looks so relaxed and thoroughly enjoyed herself.
Derek and Gary worked hard on getting the measurements right and cutting the tile. After we enjoyed a delicious dinner.

Derek continued his project with placing the tiles and grouting them.
Thanks to Pastor Barry for letting Derek borrow his grouting tools.
After many hours of labor...this is the finished product! Derek did a great job with his table makeover.
Of course, if you know Derek there had to be a shopping trip for some new accessories for the table. Derek loves to buy many things to see what he likes best. The only problem is he HATES to return things. So I get to be the lucky one to run all over town returning the items he did not use. Oh well, I guess that is my contribution to our beautifully decorated house!

Dad in Charge

This is what I was greeted with when I came out of the shower and Derek was in charge of breakfast...

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Aloha Party

Aubrey had her last day of preschool for this year yesterday. They had an Aloha Party and boy has she enjoyed all her treasures! She got to take her bathing suit and they had lots of fun water activities. After I picked her up yesterday I even got to wear one of her necklaces into the grocery store. She has played with all her trinkets non stop. I came home from Weight Watchers (Derek was working from home) and here is how she greeted me at the door. It was so cute I could not resist a picture. One of her toys was a little fish whistle. She blew that thing forever, so Derek and I finally told her she could only blow it in her room. Last night before bed, she could not find her beloved whistle and that caused major problems. I searched for at least 15 minutes for that silly little thing and finally found it under her window in her room. She gave me a hug and was so excited that I found it. I told her she could go ahead and blow it since she was in her room. She looked at me, not sure what to do and said, "But you said it is annoying?" It was so funny. I gave her the go ahead to blow away to her hearts content and left the room. She was one happy little girl. The simplest things in life...like a cheap plastic fish whistle.


Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Snow Cones



I have been subbing in Ethan's class this week. I enjoy it, but have realized that I do not want to got back to teaching full time! I am not working tomorrow and I am really looking forward to a day to catch up on stuff. The school was testing and I took this picture of reading while waiting to go on during the test. He looks so old to me. He got this Magic Tree House book from the library yesterday and has been really excited to read it.

I told the class is they were good I would give them snow cones as a treat. They were so excited! I was a snow cone ice shaver today. I never have made enough for 20 kids at one time.

We got a new flavor, birthday cake, for the occasion and it was a popular one.
Ethan enjoying his snow cone.
A very happy class!

Friday, May 21, 2010

Aunt Kelly's Visit





Kelly arrived on Friday afternoon and was quickly whisked outside to play.

Saturday morning we headed to the beach. Ethan really enjoyed throwing the football around with Derek.






Like Father, Like Son

The waves were great and we had a lot of fun playing in them. We were only out of the water to eat lunch and boy did we notice it when we got home. We should have reapplied the sunscreen!

Aunt Kelly and Aubrey headed for the waves.
Not so sure about the waves. There were tons of little jelly fish around, but they were harmless. Aubrey got over her hesitancy and loved being in the waves, as long as someone was holding her.
Aubrey digging in the sand.


Aunt Kelly and Aubrey playing catch. I think Aubrey has said "Aunt Kelly" at least 100 times during her visit. Aunt Kelly may want to change her name after spending time with Aubrey!

Aunt Kelly playing school.
Sledding with Aubrey. This was a game Aubrey created where they slid off the ottoman on pillows. This was repeated multiple times. Aunt Kelly is such a good sport!

Ethan doing a concert
Aunt Kelly watching in the comfy chairs Ethan set up. Notice the nice pillows for extra comfort.
Kelly and I ready for church before she had to go back to Pittsburgh. Ethan was our photographer, so the shot is a little low. Aubrey was very sad that Kelly had to go home and we all enjoyed having her visit us for the weekend.