S'mores & More!

Last night we had dinner with our friends the Davis'. Since it was a warm summer day, the kids hit the pool while dinner was being prepared. The kids ate first then hit the pool again while the grown ups ate. The kids were freezing by the time dinner was cleaned up so they went inside while we hit the hot tub! Hot tub, mojitos and music - all kid free - what more could you ask for on a Friday night?!

After the adults had turned into prunes from the hot tub and our drinks were gone, it was time for S'mores! What a great time we all had! Thanks Davis'!!! :o)

Turkey Trouble!

I think that I've mentioned before that I'm not a huge outdoorsy type of person. I like being outdoors, but not hiking in the woods or camping. I don't like the wild "animals" that come with the great outdoors! For those who have known me awhile also know that the "wild" always seems to hunt me down! I've had encounters with bats, racoons, skunks, & turkeys. My theory is that if I wanted to be with the wild, I'd go pitch a tent, simply being out in my backyard does not give the "wild" right to come find me!

So... as we were enjoying our beach time on Monday we got a call from my neighbor alerting us that there was an injured wild turkey making our backyard it's home! Great! She also said that at night it flew up to to tree but each day since Saturday, spent the entire day in the yard! Great... just what I need to deal with when I get home!

As soon as I got home on Tuesday morning, I started the endless phone calls to try to figure out how to remove this turkey. After a few hours of getting the run around, I was hopeful that animal control would be out. By noon, animal control was in my driveway but I quickly determined that animal control may not necessarily be the answer to my worries!

I was greated by an older man who didn't look too certain about what to do. He took a look inside the fence and said, "This is going to be a tough bird to catch!". So he returned to his van to get the necessary equipment! I turn around to see his high tech equipment that he is going to use to catch this turkey and found him carrying a fishing net - not even a large one - at best, medium sized! I thought, this is going to be a long afternoon! Then he turns to me and says, "I'm going to need your help." My help! Are you kidding me, why do you think I called you! I'm pretty sure that all of those things came out, in fact, I think that he thought I was some sort of lunatic! He then tells me that I don't have to touch it or anything and that the turkey is actually more afraid of me than I am of it! Apparently he doesn't know me and like I would even think of touching the turkey! I just kept thinking... this is not really happening.... I'm really not trying to catch a turkey! So this older man starts to move in on the turkey and wants me to go the other way to make the turkey think that it doesn't have a way out. Lo and behold, he gets this dumb bird into our back corner of our yard and whoosh, the net goes over the bird and it's caught. Now what!? He's got the turkey in this net pinned to the ground, now what's the plan. I asked politely if he'd like me to get one of his cages out of the car for him. Without answer, he begins to try to flip the net over and grab the turkey with his hands (did I mention that he didn't even have gloves on?! GROSS!!!!). Dumb move! In a blink of an eye, the turkey basically released it's feathers and took off in the air! Did you ever see a turkey fly? Kind of looks like a small plane. It flew clear across our backyard, across my neighbors yard and into the next yard which is surrounded by a 6 foot fence which the poor bird did not clear and smacked it's leg into. I'm thinking that things don't look too good at this point. So we go over to this other yard and there it is. In the meantime, I suggest to my neighbor who is watching the whole thing to go get Jason (the guy across the street who works from home) because I'm not getting any more involved in this capture than I already am and this animal control guy needs help. So... the animal control guy backs the turkey into a corner behind a wood pile and nets him once again. Again, I offer to bring the cage closer to him - this time he takes my offer! As I begin to give him the cage he begins to lift the net off the turkey. I promptly give him instructions to put that net down and don't move until I'm further away! I also suggested that perhaps he wait for Jason to arrive. Jason comes and the turkey is put into a little cage. Whew! Turkey captured and was now it it's way to a wildlife rescue nearby.

Later in the afternoon, I called the wildlife rescue to see how the turkey was doing and they told me it had a very bad leg fracture (bone was sticking out) and that it had to be put down. Poor turkey but at least it's not in our yard and I can once again put the dog outback!

In all the chaos, I still managed to take some pictures. My neighbor said, too bad we don't have a camera! I said I do... and whipped out my camera. I think the animal control guy thought that perhaps I needed some help! Who takes pictures of this? Hey! I have a blog and am always looking for good material! :o)

This is our poor injured wild turkey! You can see his right leg hanging.

The animal control guy with his net, closing in on the turkey!

Jason saves the day and carries the turkey out of the yard!

Summer Kickoff!!!!!

This weekend was the official kick-off to summer. We packed up things and took off to the shore! We are there most years but every once in a while we don't make it there - but not this year!!!! It was a beautiful weekend - not a cloud in the sky all 3 days! My sister and Abby made it down so we had a full house!

Saturday started with a bike ride to the annual HUGE yard sale! A section of the island has this community yard sale every year! We were on a mission this year. Several years ago we purchased an "Alleycat" bike there and were looking for a second. An "Alleycat" bike is a one wheeled bike for kids that attaches to the seat of an adult bike so that they ride tandem. It's great for the shore since it will be a long time before I allow Jacob to ride by himself down there! The first street we went down, BINGO! Found one just like our first one. It needs a bit of restoration but a whole $5! You can now buy one at Walmart or Target for not too much but $5!!!! That was a bargain that even made Eric glad he went to a yard sale! We also found my sister a bike seat that mounts to the front on her handle bars for Abby! Again, another deal $15! After lunch we met up with a few of our friends, the Keltons and Hunts at the local playground. After a few hours of chasing each other around, they were all (9 kids in total) beginning to show signs of exhaustion! It was a bit cool for the beach so the playground was a good alternative! A good snack was in order after playing so water ice for everyone! After dinner our family ventured up to the boardwalk for our first official visit of the year! To our surprise, the crowds were relatively light! It goes without saying that everyone slept very well that night!
Sunday was another picture perfect day and a bit warmer too! We all decided to hit the beach! It was great to put our toes in the sand for the first time! Our friends the Davis' drove down for the day to join us. The water was really chilly (57 degrees to be exact) but that did not stop the kids from venturing in many times throughout the day! Truly crazy kids! When they weren't in the water, they were helping the dads build a massive sand castle. The dads got them started but the kids really finished it off! Good job guys! Speaking of guys, they left the moms and the kids mid afternoon to inaugurate the new kayak! The ocean was too risky of getting wet w/ the waves so they opted for the back bay. Although a short expedition, I'm told they had a lot of fun! Thanks to Kevin, I was spared the trip, at least this time! Since the moms were on the beach with the kids, there were no pictures of the expedition, but I promise pictures the next time! After dinner we went to the boardwalk again but this time met up with the Kelton's and Hunt's. It was crazy crowded this time and tons of kids wanting to go in all different directions! Not to mention my 2 crazy friends, Shelly and Jul, ventured onto the Double Shot! I assured them that they didn't want me to go with them or they'd be sure to be wearing my dinner! It was a fun ride - to watch with both feet plastered to the ground! Shelly and Jul said that it was fun too! I'll just take their word for it! By the end of the night, Eric joined in with the crazy ones and went on some ride that just looking at it made me sick. I didn't get any pictures though! Perhaps Eric will try it again - definately not with me - so he'll be looking for volunteers! Again, total exhaustion and everyone slept well!
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Monday morning we all set out on our bikes for a ride on the boardwalk. We rode from our house to just about the end of the boardwalk and back - about 60 blocks round trip! I love riding on the boardwalk - but I don't love the crowds of people on the boardwalk while riding! Once home, we lathered up and packed up and hit the beach! The wind was coming from a different direction and so it was a bit more chilly on the beach but still a beautiful day! It was a nice quiet day with just the family. A funny note about Abby.... last year on the beach she was all over the place totally loving her freedom so we weren't quite sure what to expect from her this year now that she can walk. She hates the sand on her feet! Every time she gets even the tiniest grain of sand on her foot, she says "ouch - hurt". So she spends the time on the beach sitting in a chair with her feet up in the air! We thought that the 2nd day would be better or she would forget, not so much the case!>We had a wonderful weekend filled with friends, family and lots of fun things! A great way to kick off the summer!

One By One

It's that time of the year that our schedule starts little by little to become more open. Although we thoroughly enjoy the activities, it is nice to free up some time and just be as a family.

Sunday was the last soccer game for Jacob. Although he has a few more practices and some tryouts for next year, the games are done. From here on out, you can count on beautiful, warm, sunny Sundays! I know this because they were very few and far between this spring since Jacob had games each and every Sunday!

Last night, the end of our spring swimming lessons. They will both take them later in the summer but for now, we have that off our schedule! No more dinner at 4:15 on Mondays!

We've got a few more activity commitments to finish up, but boy am I looking forward to that last day of school and heading to the beach to sit on the beach commitment free and not a care in the world!

Mother's Day!

Although this post is a little delayed, I wanted to share with everyone my special day!


This Mother's Day was a different day than other years. I guess it's a sign that my kids are getting older. We spent the day on the soccer field about an hour away. Although it was sunny and warm at our house, that was not the case at the field. It was so cold that the winter coats were brought out!


After the game, we came home and had my mom and dad over for a Mother's Day dinner. After some really good grilled steaks, compliments of my husband, it was time for the gifts, which is really the point of this post. The kids gave me the most wonderfully cute handmade gifts.


Jacob made this card. I love that he came up with all the cute little phrases to spell out MOTHER. He did this all by himself and I just love it!

Allison made me a ceramic tile with her hand print on it, a coupon book and a card to go with it.
Thanks guys! I love you!

Community Fun Day!

Today our development held a Fun Day. I have to say that the committee did an awesome job! They got tons of local businesses to sponsor various events for example, the local diner sponsored 2 moon bounces! Everything was free! The day consisted food (hotdogs, pizza, drinks, snacks, popcorn, & icecream), crafts for the kids (sand art, visor decorating, face painting, tatoos, games, rock painting & side walk chalk contests), raffles (KIXX games, restaurant gift certificates, pandora bracelets, teeth bleaching, summer camp package, & autographed sports memoribillia), and entertainment (DJ, clown & magician)! We spent the entire day there! It was lots of fun to see all our neighbors as well as meet some new neighbors!


Jacob was totally taken by the magician and Allison spent a lot of time with the sidewalk chalk. The jury is still out as to whether she or the sidewalk had the most chalk!

Performance Day!

Today was the kids' music concerts at school. Jacob's concert was in the morning and then Allison's in the afternoon. So basically I was at school all day with a quick trip in between to have lunch.


This year was so easy! There were no costumes or special clothing requests. Simply khaki bottoms and then the music teacher purchased different colored shirts for each class! Perfect!


Great job Jacob and Allison!

Torture!!!!!

Tonight I've discovered a new level of torture! Jacob has been working on a project for school about dinosaurs. He had to pick a dinosaur, research it, write a report, sketch a picture for the cover. As if that wasn't torture enough for me to supervise, they also have the option of typing the report! Great! We sat tonight while he typed on the computer only the 1st of 3 paragraphs. He was actually very good at the whole typing thing but as I sat here with him, it was oh so hard to not just take over and have the whole thing done in 5 minutes!

He thinks he is such hot stuff typing his report. And the good thing is that we can't argue about how neat or not neat his handwriting is or how the spacing is correct or incorrect. It's all done just perfectly on the computer - just quite long!

So tomorrow, we will return to the computer and continue the torture!

I love school projects!!!!!

Moving On

Well, today was the last day of Mom's Time Out (MTO) for me. For those who are not familiar with MTO, it's a ministry at our church that started out as MOPS (Mothers Of Preschoolers), whose goal was to minister to just that, moms of young kids. We welcome the moms to a hot breakfast, coffee bar, adult conversation with moms, as well as a special speaker/discussion time and even a craft. All that came to a close for me today, as my kids are too old for me to attend any longer. It's hard to believe that I've been involved with this group since Jacob was a tiny baby and then moved on to lead the group for about 5 years. Come September, I'm not so sure that I'm going to know what to do with myself! I jokingly mentioned that one of the things I'm going to have to do is make my own breakfast every other Thursday morning. Part of me wasn't joking as we have this awesome hot breakfast buffet each meeting - really yummy and always something chocolate - I'm sure my Corn Flakes won't measure up!

This is just one of the really big areas in my life that is changing. I know that change is good, but right now, I feel like I'm losing a part of my identity. Most of my really close friends have been involved with MTO with me - some of them are moving on and others are not.

A lot of the same friends were also part of our mini-church. Eric and I have been with this mini-church for about 11 years. Some families have come and gone, and returned again during those 11 years but there are several who have remained constant. Regardless, we have developed many close friendships with these families. Anyway... our minichurch is "breaking up" and moving on. To me this is a little hard to come to grips with because I feel like part of who we, as a family, are, is this minichurch. The other difficult thing is that we live about 30 minutes away from almost all of the other families so without seeing them regularly at minichurch, a set time to share life's happenings, I feel like, in a sense, we're losing these relationships. Sure we will continue to see people at church weekly but it's not something where we get into life's struggles and triumphs with everyone - kind of a more surfacey sort of thing. We live kind of too far to just stop by for a short chat, or just pop in for a cup of coffee or whatever. So, it's going to have to be a more intentional thing, which is hard to do when life always seems to get in the way all to easily.

So, coupled with MTO ending for me, and the loss of our minichurch, - 2 huge aspects of my life - I'm struggling. Struggling to know that God has a plan, struggling to understand that God has only good planned for me (or us as a family) and that I have to trust Him. Struggling to know that I'm not out here alone to conquer life.

So... in the meantime, I'm looking to God for direction as to where He is leading us and me.

Rest In Peace....

Last evening Blacky, Jacob's goldfish, died. Let me clarify that... he didn't just die, he died right before our eyes. Surprisingly, Jacob handled it quite well. Eric swore to me that it was something I had done as I had just cleaned their tank earlier in the day. I noticed that he was swimming in the front of the tank and near the top - totally unusual since they are pretty skittish fish. So, not totally convinced that I didn't do something and trying to save my son's fish, I called Petsmart. After going through the whole scenario with "the fish guy", I was sure that I was in the clear and not guilty of wrongful death. By this time the poor fish was barely swimming and more or less just leaning on the side of the tank. Then, while I was still on the phone with Petsmart, he died! Right there - Jacob watching the whole thing. "Wait Mommy.... I think he might have just breathed". Ugh! So without any tears, Blacky made his exit from our household down the toilet. We offered Jacob to go out to Walmart last night and get another but he said he was o.k.

I was really hoping that they would die at the same time, you know so we didn't go back and forth with replacing one fish and then the other. So for the time being, I'm leaving well enough alone and waiting to see if he really wants his fish replaced.

By the way... according to Petsmart, Blacky had some type of bacterial infection prior to me buying him. Ariel is still swimming strong. We thought she was exhibiting the same symptoms but we really think that she maybe was looking for her tank mate.

So for now... we are a one fish family.

A Very Busy Weekend!!!!

We are just coming out of a crazy busy weekend! I'm still trying to find my house of all the clutter!

Friday brought a 1/2 day for the kids so they both had a playdate! The weather turned out to be quite warmer than predicted. Due to the heat, I pulled out some freezer pops and I think supplied the entire neighborhood! I also finally got all my flowers planted! Now bring on the mulch! That will be next weekends project! Our day rounded out with a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese! Surprisingly, it wasn't as crazy as I thought considering it was a Friday night! By the time we got home we were all whipped!

Saturday began with Allison's soccer game. Once again, a chilly and damp morning! Once home, it was time to get lunch ready and then make a fruit salad for a party for later in the day! This wasn't just any party, this was a Kentucky Derby party! Complete with hats, ponies, and lots of food and fun! A family we've gotten to know recently had this party and decided that we had to be a part of it since Eric is from Kentucky! What they didn't know is that Eric doesn't know the first thing about the Derby!:o) Our friends went way out including tents with heaters (which we did need), inflatables for the kids, port-a-pottys to ease the bathroom lines, pony rides, and catered BBQ chicken and pulled pork! The kids had a great time playing with their friends and making new friends! Allison was the only one in our family interested in the pony rides and had a blast! I'm afraid a pony will be on her Christmas or Birthday list in the near future! To top the day off, we won $13 in the Derby bet at the party. We picked names out of a bag and we picked The Winner!!!! A great day!

But wait... our weekend was not over yet! Sunday was even crazier, not to mention non-stop! So here is how the day panned out.....

9:00 am - Church & Kids Choir

11:30 am - BBQ at the Davis'

1:00 pm - Allison's Princess Tea Party with her Daisy troop

3:00 pm - Jacob's soccer game (fortunately at home)

4:00 pm - Tea Party over

6:00 pm - Soccer Pizza party

7:30 pm - Showers for some very, very dirty children

7:45 pm - Everyone crashes!!!!!

Meet Our Newest Family Members!

So I mentioned in my earlier post that we won a "take home" prize at the AWANA Family Fun Fair!

Meet Ariel (or that is what her name is until Allison thinks of a better name)

So we've added a goldfish to our family! Allison won it by throwing a ping pong into the bowl! I was not at all prepared to take home a fish! No bowl, no food! Initially, Jacob was o.k. with his sister's prize, but then proceeded to cry most of the way home that evening. So.... meet Blacky! He is the one in the forefront of the picture. He is appropriately named as the tips of his fins are black. Ariel is completely gold! The picture also shows their new home - bigger bowl complete w/ an octopus cave and pump!

Any guesses on how long this will last?