Guitar Strumming....

This butterfly was huge and hung around the lantana for quite a while! It let us all get so close and didn't even to seem to care we were watching him! Thought I'd share a picture of it!

So, it's been a pretty slow week, and I don't mean slow as in we haven't had much going on....I mean, slow as in recooperating from our long Disney trip. I think we have JUST gotten back into some of our "normal" routines. The cabinets/refrigerator are re-stocked with groceries, we've seen lots of the people we missed while we were gone, I'm right back in full force with my school work, and Roger's back at work (BOO!)...so "our normal" has begun again! Oh, and...Austin has started football this week! I am proud to say that he actually looks pretty good out there this year! Him playing last year has certainly helped him for this year! He even likes it more because of what he knows! Hopefully it will be a very good season for him! His first game is August 10th (Sportarama)!

Another exciting tidbit for this week is Austin got his guitar yesterday. He decided earlier in the summer that he really wanted to learn to play and wanted one for his birthday. After playing with different kinds and having a few informal lessons on them all he decided he liked the acoustic guitars best. So, we went yesterday and had him fitted for one, and decided to go ahead and get it for him and not make him wait. His birthday isn't for a couple weeks, but we thought it would be better for him to have it now so he'd have more time this summer to learn and get used to playing it. He's loving it so far! He's also going to begin piano lessons when school starts. It will give him something to do while he waits for me to finish things up in my classroom, and it will help with reading music. Maybe with these instruments I can avoid squeaking and squaking of others when band is offered (fingers crossed!)!

The boys with Karah, a cousin, at Aunt Rene and Uncle Steve's house!

I can't believe summer is coming to an end! I know I say this every year, but it seems to fly by so quickly! I already have plans to go work in my classroom next week. I sure am going to enjoy every last minute we have! I love this time with my boys! Teaching is the best "Mommy job" in the world. I'd love to be able to stay home with my boys all the time, but I think I have the next best thing!

Disney World...Priceless Vacation

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We have had a fabulous time down here in Orlando, FL! We left last Tuesday morning and are still here! We have at least 2 more days to do parks...maybe 3! We started out at Magic Kingdom! Logan loved Thunder Mountain and the Goofy Rollercoaster! Austin got sick (from overheating), but once he recovered he LOVED Space Mountain! The next day we went to Animal Kingdom (one of Austin's favorites). Logan (and Roger) got SOAKED on the Kali Rapids Ride, and Austin was in heaven all day with all the animals (and Everest Expedition...neat coaster!)!!! The third day we headed to Sea World. Lots of shows and a few rides, but neat! The fourth day we headed to Epcot. It was probably our best day so far! Logan could ride everything there so we didn't have to split up or make either of them wait on the other! Soarin was neat, and Test Track was even cooler! Yesterday we went to Hollywood Studios (formally known as MGM). There aren't too many rides there (lots of shows), but Logan got to see the Power Rangers and we all rode Tower of Terror! Austin's favorite there was the Rockin Rollin Roller Coaster (I have to admit, it was neat!!!)! Logan's favorite was being a Padawan on the Star Wars show up on stage. Today we headed back to Sea World to finish up what we didn't get to the first day, and Austin got brave enough to ride Kracken and Manta. I rode Kraken with him, but Grandmother had to ride Manta. Logan had fun on the Shamu rollercoaster. The dolphin and whale show was my favorite! Kathy and George are heading back home tomorrow morning so we'll finish out our trip with just us. We're going back to Magic Kingdom tomorrow, and then who knows!?! The boys have had a complete, wonderful, BLAST! And, we've enjoyed every minute of watching them! I will say that we are worn out, and I am not quite sure how we (or they) are still going, but we are! We'll need a vacation from our vacation when we get home! :)

4th of July

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Happy 4th of July, Everyone!!! I wanted to be sure to get these pictures on here before we leave for Disney (Tuesday)!!! We spent the day poolside with family and then finished off the night with friends for the best (and loudest) firework display we've had here! Everyone had a great time! The kids all got along wonderfully, and even the adults had fun swimming! The Beaufort Stew, Corn Dip, Fruit Salad, and Homemade Peach Ice Cream were all FABULOUS! I could eat like that everyday!!! I hope everyone else had a fantastic day!!!! I'm not sure if I will post while we are down in Florida...we'll have to wait and see, but I will FOR SURE post pictures when we get back! Both the boys (and Roger and I) are excited about our trip! We're doing all of Disney and Sea World!!! Logan wants to meet Goofy, and Austin wants to ride the Everest ride (they were almost finished building it the last time we were there)! We'll all have a great time, I am sure!!!

Logan's Birthday Party

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First of all, I want to thank everyone that came to help us celebrate, especially with that "wonderful weather" we had in the beginning! Of course, it was cloudy ALL day and waited until about 5 to start pouring! But, it let up and the thunder/lightning subsided quicky and the kids enjoyed the pool afterall! Logan is still reeling with pure happiness about his party! This has FOR SURE helped me (and Roger) know that us beginning this "fake" birthday thing was a great, wonderful, glorious, fabulous, super, etc.....idea! It has been SO nice to see him enjoying JUST his birthday, really for the first time!

This was his first birthday party with friends too! I will say that our pool was probably at it's max. capacity yesterday. Our family made up about half of the load and the friends the other half! We grilled hot dogs, swam, roasted marshmallows, had cake & ice cream, and then opened presents....oh yeah, and the Darth Vader pinata before swimming (that was a little crazy with everyone crammed inside for that...can't exactly have candy fall out on the soaking wet ground)!

All the kids seemed to have a blast and could care less about the wet weather, after all, they were here to get wet anyway. I always feel like I neglect the adults at parties while we are busy getting/doing everything for the kids, but they all seemed to have fun too!

When it was all over, my grass covered,wet floors and my fly infested house (AH!)at least looked like everyone had a good time! Logan woke up this morning and immediately began playing with all his new stuff! He loves all his new Start Wars stuff, his How to Train a Dragon Viking Outfit, Operation (I think it's so cool that it talks/makes sounds to let you know what to extract...no cards! My how times have changed!), a Toy Story Shake and Go Car, and his new towel with his name on it! He also can't wait to put his new golf tees in his golf bag (he says ALL of them, but I am not sure they'll all fit!). He even loves his Star Wars underwear!!! ;) He's already asked to go buy something with "those" cards too...so we are planning a trip to Toys R Us and Walmart with him tomorrow.

One of the best things about being a mom is seeing your kids absolutely happy!!! Once they get out of the "baby" stage it's hard to notice the "new" stuff they do, but here are a few milestones from this year for Logan:

~He has learned to "swum" underwater and has no fear in the pool! Jumps off the diving board and all!

~He uses LOTS of big words and has a very extensive language (even our speech teacher is amazed that he is only going into 4K and not 5K!)!

~He LOVES to rhyme! We play our "rhyming game" all the time! He of course will make up non-sense words at times to have a word that rhymes, but he can rhyme with most anything. If he makes up a words, he will start his words with either a /b/ or a /sm/...not sure why!?!

~ He loves to read (but really always has!!!), but now he is reading his favorite pages to us (really memorized, but he used his finger to track along the words and even goes in the right direction).

~He can spell/write his name, and he can recognize lots of commercial print/logos! And, he counts past twenty (I'm really not sure how high he CAN count..hmmmmm....)!

~He's trying to be very independent with most everything, and he can't wait for school to start in the Fall. He tells you exactly what he wants!

~He randomly walks up to us and tells us "I love you!" with hugs and kisses while he's playing (it's the sweetest thing)!

~When he's tired (and Roger's home), he'll "sneak" back out of bed to cuddle his Daddy on the couch and watch the Braves game (and get his back rubbed until he falls asleep).

I am sure there are many more things that he's doing now, but that's a good enough list for now! Though he's not technically 5 and won't be until Christmas, he had a GREAT birthday party! Now, we begin getting things ready for our Disney Trip next week (we leave Tuesday)! I should have LOTS of good pictures to post when we get back from that!!! We ALL can't wait!