down on the KEY...

Last weekend we had the good fortune to head South down to Key Biscayne with some relatives. Our nephews were in town for the week so Papa Bill & Florence were taking them down to Key Biscayne for the weekend & invited us to tag along. We headed down on Saturday afternoon to this cute place settled right on the Atlantic Ocean. The views were AMAZING! Once we arrived I took the tribe down to the ocean & was pleasantly surprised to find it WARM! YAY! They seemed frightened at first probably due to the fact that we hardly ever go to the beach, what can I say we're "Pool People". LOL!  Avery wanted NO part of it & took off towards Daddy, so our "foursome" soon became a "threesome"! LOL! Once the three of them got used to all the waves approaching them they were good! I did like a GOOD mommy & took a TON of pictures! [=

Bren, Cam & Linz taking in the view

Nothing like putting your toes in the surf!

Finding their way back to the pool

Linz & her Gram

Our B man!

The girls snackin' it!

Aave looking for some Iguanas!

 

Linz & that smile of hers! =]

The boy's at play! Donovan, Darius & Dustyn

"Nana" Florence & Taya

 

We became like little tourists, took in the surf, did a little swimming & spent some MUCH needed time away from home! They have their own "entertainment", real LIVE iguana's! They were BIG & WILD! Needless to say the tribe LOVED them! They even made their Daddy try to catch one! That was a sight to see! LOL! It was like we were on vacation while we were...

down on the KEY...

"not me"...

Oh how I wish this latest phase would just end! It seems that no matter what we ask the tribe these days they all seem to want to say it was "not me". Oh do I cringe each time they say it! Ahhh... When we are at Grandma's house she allows a different child to go outside to get her newspaper. She rotates this "treat" daily. Each morning when she say's "Ok, who got the paper for me yesterday?" they each will reply, "not me". Oh it just all goes down hill from there! LOL! Their next "treat" is when we rotate who sits in the "front" seat of the 'burb or better yet who gets to ride in Daddy's truck. They LOVE riding in Daddy's truck! Since we now have those Sunshine Kids Radian XT SL car seats in the 'burb we can fit THREE seats in one row, WOO HOO!, so that leaves one seat all by itself in the second row. It is crazy how EVERYONE wants that seat! Daddy usually takes the tribe to school so he always knows who last sat in that seat. It's when I pick them up do I make the mistake of asking "Which one of you sat up front last?". They all say "NOT ME!". I told you it was a MISTAKE! LOL! I'd just love to know who really is...

"not me"...

our NEW look...

We FINALLY did it! We updated the design of our blog, it only took me about TWO long years to do it! LOL! I hate to admit this but I am SO technologically challenged that I needed a LOT of help with this project! =] Thank heaven for Hilary from ScrapblogdesignsbyHilary, she came to our rescue just when we needed her! YAY! She gave me MANY different designs to consider & I finally chose this "BON VOYAGE" theme. I feel like we are always going some place so it was quite fitting! What do you think?! Didn't she do a GREAT job?! I just LOVE...

our NEW look...

divine intervention...

Have you ever have one of those days weeks where you feel like nothing is going right? Well,  Welcome to my world! School started on Monday & we have been BUSY little beavers since. A lot of stress comes with the start of school. I do NOT like stress! The tribe moved up to the 3 year old class & D started HIGH SCHOOL! YIKES! Seems like yesterday he was in Kindergarten! We would drop him off & all of the girls would chase him around the playground! Ahh... now those were the days! Funny how life comes full circle to where we are now! He is in a NEW school & I can just about imagine the girl situation! LOL! =] Not only does Cam have regular preschool like the others she ALSO gets to attend a speech program too. EVENTUALLY she will be riding a bus to & from preschool & I must say she is VERY excited about that! Of the foursome she is by far our most acclimated child. She can pretty much go with the flow & thoroughly enjoys school! YAY for me since I have had to take her until the bus gets set up. There have been MANY challenges this school year. I am the parent that needs things mapped out, I need a time line & wish for things to run smoothly. After MANY bumps in the road we are hopefully where we need to be. Dustyn has his schedule, he's getting used to his new environment, the tribe has been assigned their classes, teachers & Cam may FINALLY know where she will be attending speech. The best part is that I really like this school & hope that she gets to stay. I tend to look for "signs" to see if this is meant to be & when I saw signs, I saw signs! =] The staff there are WONDERFUL, very accommodating & really LOVE the children. When I walked into her classroom it was completely set up unlike the other one. They gave me paperwork on what was expected of me whereas the other school gave me nothing. Now I am not trying to knock the alternate choice but remember I am new to this game, I need instruction, I need to know what is expected of me. But even putting all of that aside the BIGGEST sign would have to have been learning what their mascot was, an eagle. My Dad LOVED eagles, in fact my mother still has his HUGE collection of them at home. If ever there was a sign that this was where she needed to be it was that. I feel like he is watching down from above & it was sort of like...

divine intervention... 

"mommy meter"...

We have been swimming a TON lately & with absolutely NO swimmies! WOO HOO! Being it's the summer & extremely  HOT outside our pool tends to be EXTRA warm. Some days it feels good but most days it's like swimming in a liquid SAUNA! UGH! Another issue is when it rains the pool tends to cool off pretty quick. It must have rained a bunch over the past few days because it was MUCH cooler than expected when we jumped in today. It was really funny because the tribe must be SO used to it being warm that they all felt the need to tell me how COLD it was today! SO cold that I decided to see exactly what the temperature really was. Good 'ol Brendan must have seen me searching around the pool for our pool thermometer because the next thing I hear is him saying "Here it is Mommy!", Here's the...




"mommy meter"...

4 little swimmers...

SO much has happened in the last week or so in regards to the tribe & swimming. I know that I have posted MANY times about how difficult & EXPENSIVE it has been to try to get all four of them swimming lessons. SO expensive that basically we just could not afford it so we have taught them ourselves. OK, actually their Daddy has taught them. I do not know exactly how he did it but he did! We went from having those Dollar Store swimmies {Even though they are cheap DON'T buy them!!}, to buying some AWESOME US Coast Guard approved "Puddle Jumper's", to FINALLY not wearing anything at all!! 

 

All I can say is that their Daddy has been VERY consistent & they are actually understanding what he's telling them. I think they listen to him more anyway! LOL! It's really been like a light went off & they finally got "it". My hubby is AMAZING! He has worked with them pretty much every night or every other night plus weekends on getting them to swim sans assistance. It was Avery, his "girl" that took to it first. I hate to admit it but she is our little daredevil so she will try anything at least once! Well it did not take her long to start LOVING it & she has been swimming without swimmies for over a week. Can you guess who our hold out was? It was actually a toss up between Cam & Bren. They were SO scared to part with their "life jacket" that they cried for a good part of an hour just at the thought of having to swim like a BIG kid! If it took Avery a day to learn this it took Lindsey a day and a half! She was right behind her sister in the swimming dept. In fact she can now do "tricks"! Yes, she calls it being a "mermaid". She will flip over as she is swimming to me. I think she looks like a "special" fish but if she thinks it's being a mermaid then it's being a mermaid! LOL! The best part is that she does all of this WITHOUT taking on water OR holding her nose! I am SO proud of her! In fact none of  them hold their nose. WOO HOO! I just hope that continues & they don't get to where they need to hold it! Fast forward to today when it was just them & me in the pool. Yes, Call me crazy but this is usually how it goes, them & me! {FYI, I make sure I have a cordless phone nearby just in case!} They were jumping in from our spa to swim to me. It's sad because they are really growing up! sniff sniff... I cannot tell you who was the fastest or kicked the hardest to swim to me! It was CRAZY! I felt like we were like this well oiled machine that ran SO fast! As soon as one child asked "Can I swim to you Mommy?" and took off the next child was right there in the wings about to take off themselves. {FYI, I make them ask to swim to whomever so no one, mostly ME,  is ever unprepared to have a kid headed in their direction! [=} Picture this times FOUR & they kept going turn after turn! I do not know who was more tired, them or me! What's even crazier is that by looking at all four of them you would never even know that one started swimming before the other one. They all look just like...
 

4 little swimmers...

4 little swimmers...

SO much has happened in the last week or so in regards to the tribe & swimming. I know that I have posted MANY times about how difficult & EXPENSIVE it has been to try to get all four of them swimming lessons. SO expensive that basically we just could not afford it so we have taught them ourselves. OK, actually their Daddy has taught them. I do not know exactly how he did it but he did! We went from having those Dollar Store swimmies {Even though they are cheap DON'T buy them!!}, to buying some AWESOME US Coast Guard approved "Puddle Jumper's", to FINALLY not wearing anything at all!!   

All I can say is that their Daddy has been VERY consistent & they are actually understanding what he's telling them. I think they listen to him more anyway! LOL! It's really been like a light went off & they finally got "it". My hubby is AMAZING! He has worked with them pretty much every night or every other night plus weekends on getting them to swim sans assistance. It was Avery, his "girl" that took to it first. I hate to admit it but she is our little daredevil so she will try anything at least once! Well it did not take her long to start LOVING it & she has been swimming without swimmies for over a week. Can you guess who our hold out was? It was actually a toss up between Cam & Bren. They were SO scared to part with their "life jacket" that they cried for a good part of an hour just at the thought of having to swim like a BIG kid! If it took Avery a day to learn this it took Lindsey a day and a half! She was right behind her sister in the swimming dept. In fact she can now do "tricks"! Yes, she calls it being a "mermaid". She will flip over as she is swimming to me. I think she looks like a "special" fish but if she thinks it's being a mermaid then it's being a mermaid! LOL! The best part is that she does all of this WITHOUT taking on water OR holding her nose! I am SO proud of her! In fact none of  them hold their nose. WOO HOO! I just hope that continues & they don't get to where they need to hold it! Fast forward to today when it was just them & me in the pool. Yes, Call me crazy but this is usually how it goes, them & me! {FYI, I make sure I have a cordless phone nearby just in case!} They were jumping in from our spa to swim to me. It's sad because they are really growing up! sniff sniff... I cannot tell you who was the fastest or kicked the hardest to swim to me! It was CRAZY! I felt like we were like this well oiled machine that ran SO fast! As soon as one child asked "Can I swim to you Mommy?" and took off the next child was right there in the wings about to take off themselves. {FYI, I make them ask to swim to whomever so no one, mostly ME,  is ever unprepared to have a kid headed in their direction! [=} Picture this times FOUR & they kept going turn after turn! I do not know who was more tired, them or me! What's even crazier is that by looking at all four of them you would never even know that one started swimming before the other one. They all look just like...
 

4 little swimmers...

the art show...

I know that I have shared that I get to work OUTSIDE the home & how I've been there FOREVER! Recently those co workers of mine that work on the midnight shift created a fun event for everyone in our Communications Center to participate in, an art show! You see they have been coloring for quite some time as a stress reliever. Working in law enforcement and all those crazies can be quite taxing so you can imagine the stress! I have to say when I walked in the center I was AMAZED! They decked the place out with all kinds of decorations not to mention all of their artwork, 110 drawings to be exact! Here's what we get to see for the next few weeks...

The creators have asked for us to "vote" for our favorites & the winner will get a ribbon. Much thought has gone into on what to do with the art after the "show" ends it's run and they decided they will donate them to a local charity here in Pompano Beach. I myself said they should auction them off on eBay & give the money raised to a local charity. Who knows what they will finally decide to do but if you'd be interested in purchasing one of these beauties PLEASE let me know. Remember ALL art & proceeds made are being donated! Any contribution is appreciated & it's going to a good cause! Here's quite a few of the "works of art" from...

Here's one of my favorites!!

 

the art show... 

attack of the peanut butter sandwich...

Oh how we LOVE to eat peanut butter sandwiches! Luckily no one here is allergic so it has become a staple in their lunch boxes. Brendan is usually our most diligent & cleanest eater. He will stay seated until he is done eating AND if he has a sandwich he will just bite & bite until he is just left with the crust & sometimes he even eats that! But the girls now they are a different story! They are the complete opposite! VERY messy & ALWAYS getting out of their seats. I have to have a chat with their teachers to see if they do this in school because it is getting REALLY old! [= Lately they have been eating less of it & having MORE fun using it more as face "paint"! I have to say that this behavior usually occurs when they are NOT hungry little beavers! Today was NO exception! Check out our MANY faces that were affected by the...

I think Aave painted it on her face!

Linz & that grin! Ahh...

Cam thought it was SO yummy that she licked her fingers! LOL!

attack of the peanut butter sandwich...

is he playing us for fools?...

Ever since the tribe has started school we have sort of been out of the loop in the potty dept. When they were home with me I knew when they pooped & peed. I knew when they had issues, when they had that "accident", etc. Anyhow, now that they are in school we don't seem to know all of this info. It really doesn't matter that much with the girls as it does Brendan. He is by far our issue kid. All these months we have assumed that since it takes him FOREVER to poop that he has still been having issues. We have kept his appointments with the "poop doctor" because we felt he still needed it. Well let me tell you we learned a lot this past Friday. You both Daddy & I picked the tribe up from school to take them out for dinner, our routine "Family Night". This has not happened for awhile, both of us picking them up or better yet me beingthere. Ever since I've been working more during the week Daddy has been taking them to & from school. He is the one getting all of the updates from the teachers & apparently he has NOT asked the right questions. Because Brendan now pees AND poops on the potty at school. Yes you read this right! Miss Iris told me that he has been doing SO good! I was like what?! He is missing school on Monday because we have an appointment with the "Poop doctor"! Why oh why did we not know this?! I told her that we need to get "progress reports" on him so we know when & if his issues return. Let's pray that they don't! Then I thought to myself why doesn't he poop on the potty at home? Why did we still think he was having issues? I mean he ALWAYS poops in his Pull Up & it's usually ever 5 days or so at night. Maybe that's why we knew the last time he pooped in his pants that is! LOL! Did we get it wrong? Oh did I wonder a LOT as I drove to dinner that night. I wondered is he ok or...

is he playing us for fools?...