It's That Time!!!!

So turn up the volume and soak it all in!!!

What an amazing voice!

Well, we are trying to get into the Holiday Spirit here...

The tree has been trimmed...

With the help of three little elves...

Three heads are better than one when deciding where an ornament should go.

Yes son, that is Dopey... kinda like the expression on your face:)

And yes, there are lots of ornaments around the bottom of the tree... many on the same branch.

But isn't he cute!!!!

There are no words for this one.

She was no help... thank goodness!

Me Me and Foe Foe supervised.

And Dat Dat got in on the ornament organizing!

And obviously no doubt the theme of our tree....

And on another note...

one of our favorite treats during the holiday season...

Gotta Love Publix!!!!!

It was on sale...

and I had a coupon...

So, I had to bring some home today...

Right?

But, shhhhhhh... don't tell Dat Dat!

Yes, there was a Birthday...

... and no, we did not forget!

This post is just not very timely... sorry.

Yes, Grant is now 3!

Can you believe it!

Not a huge production, but he was excited!

And we are in WEEK 3 of BIG BOY PANTS!!!!!!!

It is actually going really well.

Yes, we have had accidents, but I think there are improvements everyday and he was so very excited to receive his own Buzz and Woody underpants!

Hard to believe my sweet little baby is not so little anymore.

Bumps (big ones) and Bruises

So this post is a little late... sorry.

But Grady Joe had quite a few days week before last.

First, he got into his first fight at school!

The report from the teacher is that the assailant came at him wielding a metal chain....

See Grady, Dada was right, the swings can be dangerous.

No word yet on whether or not the playground will have to serve detention!

Then, the next day as I was getting ready to go to work, we discovered these!

Yep, and the one on the other side was just as big!

Grady, honey, Mommy can relate!

And guess what the doctor found?

You guessed it, STREP!!!!

And, we have already been to the ENT... no need to remove the tonsils yet... but they were HUGE too....

I tried to get a photo of them but Grady could not get his mouth open wide enough!

Poor baby, but he is feeling MUCH better now!

Thank goodness, cuz' MeMe and Foe Foe are on their way for Thanksgiving!!!!



Happy Veterans Day!

Happy Veterans Day!!!!

We are so proud of all our courageous service men, women and their families!

There was no school yesterday so the Triple Trouble and I decided to set out on a day of fun!

And since it was a little too cool to head to the beach.... we hung around town.

First we went to the parade downtown....

Local soldiers.

Wish I had gotten a photo of them walking toward us.

Todd Jr and Grant watching the action.

Grady, waiting for candy...

The boys and I waived our flags proudly!

The parade was short but sweet and the boys were fantastic and really enjoyed it.

Next, we were off to the playground.

Sorry Dada... he had to swing high!

Up.

Down.

Goofy Grady!

Todd and I were tossing the football and then some other kids moved in and they had a blast!

I just had to remind Todd not to tackle!

Grady... always on the run!

Todd... still playing football!

I think he is sad the season is over!

Grant was really on the move while we were there, so I did not get many good shots of him.

After all this activity, the boys were ready for lunch.

So we headed home to see what we could put together.

And I swear to you, the photo below is not a set up.

I did not realize what I had done until I went to give Grant his plate.

Let's just say, this blog post was brought to you by the color orange!

Yes, Mac and Cheese....

Goldfish...

Carrots...

and, what else, orange wedges!

Good Grief... I was laughing so hard and I just had to take a picture!

After lunch, I had promised the kids we would watch....

Wait, no, not that one.

But what a good movie... we will have to get that one for them to watch also...

Wax on, Wax off...

1984... OMG!!!!

We watched this one... speaking of which... I need to go return it.

It was long, but pretty good.

Jackie Chan was GREAT and Jaden Smith was pretty good too.

Actually, it was so long, that we had to pause it and get a little snack.

So we hopped on our scooters...

okay, Grady and Todd hopped on their scooters and Grant and I walked...

... down the street to...

And it was so beautiful that we had to sit outside.

For those of you who have ever enjoyed ice cream with Grady, you know how painful it can be.

But he loved it!!!!!

Todd gave it the big THUMBS UP!

And Grant was the master of his cup of ice cream.

Notice there are no after photos... my hands were too sticky and I think the DQ down the street had to have more napkins overnighted to them after we were done!

So, after the sugar overload we scooted back to the house, finished the movie, finished homework, had baths and made dinner.

Homemade meatball sub sandwiches.

Yum!

Also, Dat Dat went for a 4 mile run before he came home.

I then left and went for an 8 miler.

And on my way home from the park, I heard the first one...

and it wasn't even Nat King Cole...



Habitual

As I mentioned in a previous post, Grammie and Dada came for a visit recently.

And in their bag of tricks and treats, was the following.

I liked it so much, I thought I would share!

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens

by Sean Covey

Habit 1:   Be Proactive

Take responsibility for your life.

I love that this is number 1! 

No matter what, you are responsible for your life and your actions. 

No one else has done this to you. 

Bad things can happen, believe me, I know. 

I had to stand in a dimly lit room and watch my child take her last breath.

No one is to blame, Todd and I rejoice in the time we had and continue to cope each day!

I was given a really SH(##Y Birthday gift.

We made cancer our B(#CH!

I am so tired of hearing that it is another person's fault!

Quit blaming others, learn to cope, find a place to vent, and channel that energy in another direction!

Now look, I am in no way perfect and it is a difficult habit to maintain, I can get mad or upset and want to blame others but I hope that by writing this, I will live the words more fully and set the example for our children to do the same.

Habit 2:   Begin with the End in Mind

Define your mission and goals in life.

This is so hard.

I am gonna be honest, I hope our boys will go to college.

My mantra is SCHOLARSHIP!

But, I have to remind myself to encourage them to excel and work toward what makes them happy.

(I would just really love it if there is "ivy" growing on the walls of the place that makes them happy!... or UF, since apparently Todd Jr is planning on being the next Tim Tebow)

Grady proudly announced yesterday that he is going to be...

A Singer.

(by the way, we are letting his hair grow back... I am soooooooo excited!)

A Cowboy.

Superman.

A "Baseball Guy."

... and a "Football Guy."

Dream Big Baby, Dream Big!!!!

Habit 3:   Put First Things First

Prioritize, and do the most important things first.

This reminds me of my days at Walt Disney World as a Traditions Facilitator.

Safety first!

or even Disney Lifeguard Training!

Your Safety Comes First!

If you really think about it... makes a lot of sense.

Habit 4:   Think Win-Win

Have an everyone-can-win attitude.

Hard to have that attitude when your team lost all but 2 games of the season.

But look at the great friendships you gained...

... and all that you learned.

Habit 5:   Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood

Listen to people sincerely.

Listen with more than just your ears.

Let all your senses guide you to see what others need.

No Band Aids, only real solutions.

And be sure to realize when someone just needs a snuggle.

Chuckle moment... I just realized how similar Bear and Robin are... even their "aroma"... that reminds me, Robin needs a bath... and if I can sneak Bear out of Todd's Room... he might get one too... however, I am a little concerned that the stench might be all that is holding him together at this point... Hell, the same might be true for Robin!

Habit 6:   Synergize

Work together to achieve more.

Another Traditions 1997 moment.

Synchronized + Energy= Synergy

Man, those were the days.

Todd, honey, do you remember that from your Trad class?

Or were you too smitten with your facilitator?

No, I don't mean Ki'i!

And no, I don't care who dumped all the blocks, cars and Mr. Potato Head pieces all over the floor, but if you all help each other, it will go much faster.

Can you tell that is uttered more than once a day in our home?

Habit 7:   Sharpen the Saw

Renew yourself regularly.

Make a change for the better...

maybe do it while setting an example....

and make it something exciting...