Why do they display Christmas trees at Halloween?

Oh... I guess cause it's right around the corner. Here are two pics of the kids at Halloween! Trick-or-treat???

What happened to my summer?

The first day of fall has quickly passed. It's football season. It's less humid, and I'll be damned if I don't know where the hell the summer of 2007 went. We've been busy to be sure. This summer we.... moved back into the house, tried to redecorate the house, tried to recover from the financial shock of the renovation of the house, went to Disney World a zillion times, worked our butts off looking for work and had some fun times with friends and family. (See previous blog entries.)

I am delighted to have the change of weather upon us, but I am frightened by the speed at which this summer went by. I didn't even have a party to celebrate moving back in the house yet. Looks like that will have to wait until '08.

On a great note (and I don't have a photo yet, but I will post one soon...) Jason has lost 46 pounds! He looks great! YAY! I am so proud of him... now we've got to do some clothes shopping for him, but I'm not going to do that until he's done.

A Few Weeks Worth of Pictures

It really has been a crazy summer... we are busy trying to get the landscape done at the house, trying to get some new jobs at work, trying to take some time out for ourselves with a little vacation to Disney (yes, again!). So this entry will be done in pictoral style. Enjoy!

From top to bottom: 1. Bryce and Jake in their new backyard beach. They have named it Lizard Beach, however I have yet to see a lizard in the sand. Hmmmm. 2. During our trip to Disney we went to the Pirate and Princess Party on Friday night. There was a rainstorm of epic proportions during the first couple of hours, so our pirate and princess were very soggy. It was still fun, though! 3. While swimming in the pool at the Wilderness Lodge early one morning we were joined by ducks! 4. The kids love the pool! 5. Aunt Mary visited Florida from Mass. so we had a cookout; here she is pictured with Bryce.

Hot Fun in the Summertime & Summer(time) Love

We have been a very busy family the past few weeks... here's an overview of some of the stuff that's been going on. I've uploaded some photos to commemorate the fun. Hope you enjoy!
Sunday, July 29th *Grandpa and Grandma Betty visit for a cookout!*
Wednesday, Aug. 1st *Jake and Mom visit Busch Gardens with Jay & Sara Riley, Jay's sister and their family!*
Sunday, Aug. 5th *Papa's 70th Birthday party complete with spaghetti dinner and swimming in the pool.*
Aug. 9 - 12th *Visit to Resort at Longboat Key Club with the Foshee's.*
A note about our most recent weekend... it seems that Jake has been bitten by the love bug for the first time. At the Longboat Key Club we shared a two-bedroom suite with the Foshee's and their beautiful 5-year-old daughter, Summer. Jake was totally smitten with her and kept making sure that he looked "handsome." It was funny and cute... I think he even asked her to be his girlfriend, but it wasn't when any adults were listening. The great thing was that all three of the kids had a great time playing together and no one was left out of the fun. Next up, Disney World (again) Aug. 22 - 25th.

Instead of Rock, Paper, Scissors: Paper, Paper, Paper

I need to admit something. This seems like the right forum in which to acknowledge that I have a problem. This is a problem that I've had for quite some time. In fact, I can't really remember when I didn't have this problem. As long as I've lived away from home I seem to have had it. It's a little issue with paper. Actually, it's a big issue with paper. I seem to have conquered it at the office, but at home, my docile little laundry room/office/mudroom/utility room is overflowing with paper. I can't make it stop. Artwork from the kids. Bills. Catalogs. Receipts. Oh my ever-loving GOD the receipts.

Now, that I think of it, I also have the same problem with my truck. I think I'm going to do something extreme. Like throw away everything and start over. I mean, I never really look at this paper again... OK... that's going to be my new tactic. Throw it all away and start over. I can do this... I can do this... I know I can. I'll keep you posted.

Ain't no cure for the summertime HOTs...

It is summer. It is Florida. It is hot. Not just HOT. Frickin' hot. The pool is not even refreshing when you jump in it hot. Burn your feet on the pavers hot. Sweating at 9 a.m. hot. The only cool thing I've experienced was some rain for the past two evenings... we really need it. Sarasota has been parched. I think we got 3 inches yesterday. We're just about ready for the landscape to be installed at the house and I can think of nothing nicer than a loud, pounding thunderstorm with lots and lots of wet stuff.

Number Two!!!

We have been extremely busy the past few weeks and a lot of interesting and fun things have happened that have yet to make it to this blog, but today, TODAY I just had to write. Jake finally did it. After more than two long years of struggle, angst, accidents and various other issues... that boy pooped on the potty. Yes, that's right, the most exciting thing in my life is that my son, my four and 1/2 year old son, actually took a dump in the right spot! Not in a princess pull-up crouched down in the corner, but actually in the potty. It is amazing. I feel like singing... dancing, whatever! It is a great day!

To commemorate the experience we actually took photos... however I PROMISE not to post those! We celebrated, we danced, we gave each other high fives, hugs, everything. We even saved the poopy in the toilet so Daddy could see it when he got home. Jake got to stay up late and watch Cars and tomorrow we promised we'd take him out to dinner and a movie. He even gets to go to Disney World. Maybe he was just holding out for the best present. I don't know and I don't care. I'm just happy to finally have him do what I knew he could do all along. I love you, Jake!

A Weekend of Pics

I've been a bad blogger so I thought I'd take this opportunity to upload some cute shots of the kids from this past weekend. We didn't do much of anything but relax. You gotta love that kind of weekend. Here are pictures with their cousins, first Bryce with RaeAnn and Jake with Dane in the pool. Saturday morning at the mall there was a balloon "cage" that Jake and Bryce really enjoyed, so here's a couple of pics of them in it. We're finally starting to relax and enjoy the "new house." I'll put some pictures of it up soon. Promise.

So Long Tony Soprano...

What an ending.... It's been more than seven years that Tony, Carmela, Paulie, Sil and the gang have made Sunday night THE night to watch television for Jason and I. We were so loyal that we wouldn't go away or even out on Sundays in case we stayed out too late. I had major withdrawl when Six Feet Under went off the air and I think the same thing is going to happen with the end of the Sopranos. Unlike everyone else I've talked to, I liked the ending. You can fill in the blanks yourself; did they all get whacked at the restaurant? Did Tony go to jail? Did they all live happily ever after? No closure, but a great ride, while it lasted. Thanks, HBO.

Mommies Spa Getaway

This past weekend Lisa Swift and I trekked to Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa at Disney for a Mom's getaway with six other mommies, all of whom are friends with Cindi Foshee. Here we are on Cinco de Mayo at Chevy's restaurant after a round of margaritas. We enjoyed spa treatments Friday, dueling pianos Friday night, pool time on Saturday and dancing into the early morning at 8Trax on Saturday night. If you see a dead bush near the Paddocks bus stop at Saratoga Springs, Cindi Foshee is DEFINITELY to blame!

I haven't been up talking 'girl talk' until 4 a.m. in a very long time, but I loved it and can't wait until next year. This will be an annual event for sure. BOHOs FOREVER!

Scenes from Chicago

Jason and I spent last weekend in Chicago for our Golden Hard Hat quarterly meeting which is a business building program for contractors. We had an amazing dinner at TRU Restaurant with our friends Kevin and Cindi Foshee of Foshee Construction on Friday night, followed by a fantastic meeting of our group on Saturday. "The Alliance League," is shown above in full superhero action! We had just enough time to sightsee in the windy city with a trek to Navy Pier (see photo above), a cool boat tour of the city's architecture along the river followed by a speedboat ride on Lake Michigan and a great lunch at Smith & Wollensky's before departing on Sunday. Back to reality!

Springtime at the Shop

It's Friday afternoon, I got nothing done at work this week, but the weather is absolutely beautiful. I wanted to take a picture of Buster the Turtle, a gopher turtle that we saw here at the shop today, or our two ducks that are living in the tiny pond (read: ditch) out front, but it's too hot now and they are all napping somewhere in the shade. Instead here's a picture of some flowers (weeds?) growing in front of the office. I have spring fever.

Welcome to My Lair!

Well, it's 12:26 a.m., the kids are asleep, Jason is snoring and here I am creating a blog. Whop-dee-frickin' do. I will admit, this is not an original idea... I give total credit to my friend Brent (hi honey!) who has kept me up to date on his whereabouts and life-happenings with his blog. Basically I'm just copying him. I even copied his template. How much of a loser am I? Also, for those of you who know Brent, this blog will not be nearly as interesting. Sorry.