Austin is a biker

Valerie was videographer

Last week Austin saw a bike that he really wanted. Since his current bike is a free cycle bike, I told him if could ride his bike without training wheels than he could have a new bike. I thought he might try, but I didn't think he was ready. I was wrong.

We have been practicing since Friday and he picked it up pretty fast. The first day he rode by himself for a short time, I then got so excited and scream with delight which made him fall pretty good. It almost messed the entire thing up! But mommy's sewing to the rescue. I converted something I made to help Savannah walk to a vest that I could hold on to while he rode. Each day he got better, Sunday I was still holding on, but not such a tight grip, then on Monday I started telling him I was short of breath and I needed a break and I had to let go. Also a big big help on Monday I raised both training wheels on his old bike and told him when he didn't hear noise (the training wheels make such a loud noise), he was doing it all on his own. So the entire ride home he focused on riding without noise. I believe this helped him figure out how to get balance. On Tuesday he started telling me to let go. He still was not quite ready to show anybody yet, but today was a different story. Today he is turning on his own and really trying to start, but that is hard because he can't touch the ground (poor short guy). Today he showed his skills to daddy. We need to work on stopping, and starting. But we are all pretty proud of him.

It's calm here

I don't know that I should say that out loud, but things around here have been pretty calm.

Enjoying Florida, mostly settled. Starting to feel like home.

Austin is taking taekwondo at school. We bike as often as possible in the afternoon. On Wednesdays we stop at Wendy's for a frosty. He is king of parties right now. He had 2 in the recent past, 2 this weekend and another one in 2 weeks. He is on a toy story kick right now. For Christmas he got all 3 movies and watches 1 each day for his quite time.


Valerie has tried out for softball at school, we should know by next week. She bikes to and from school most days. This morning I got a call from the school nurse that she had been bit by some fire ants and was starting to swell. Only Valerie could get bit by fire ants the day after Jacksonville sets records for the most rain on that day. Last week she did her first outing without a parent. Her and 3 other girls rode up to TCBY after school then home. She got her report card it was pretty good.

Savannah is just hanging out with mommy mostly. We go to the gym M-F and she gets to play with her little friends. When we walk in she makes a b-line to the right, which is where the child room is. When she gets there she shakes the gate until they let her in. I like it because each cardio equipment has it's own tv and you can watch the kids in the room. Such a relief, mostly...today I was watching her and she walked over to a baby swing (with baby in) and started pushing it. She wasn't being mean, just trying to give the girl a push. The ladies finally saw her and mover her away, but in the mean time I was practically jumping out of my skin screaming someone get her, before she tips the swing. We usually stay for 1.5-2 hours. It is giving her some time to interact with other kids.


Last weeks activity was a trial run for Austin's Valentines. The kids all enjoyed them.

Savannah couldn't wait until we put them in the fridge

not the best picture, we were trying to get a picture of the final product

pre-teen

So little Miss Valerie turned 12 this past week. I can't believe she is really that old.

She has grown into a little lady right before our eyes. I remember a time she would not wear pants only dresses or skirts and now it is the complete opposite. She rarely wears a skirt/dress. She would rather text then talk on the phone (but aren't all young kids now)?

Some of her favorite things right now include:

going to get her nails done or just painting them herself
biking with her friends
skate boarding
loves the Twilight series
night owl
phone (thanks Ben)

some pre-teen things we are dealing with:

won't complete her chores
talking back (with the Amy looks)
won't do her hair
doesn't want to eat breakfast

Our most common answer's to questions are:

"I don't know"
"fine"
"good"
"ok"
or just a blank stare

She has started to want to venture off on her own, like the mall with friends, walks, she asked if she could bike to Wendys with her friends as well. Rob is a little more lenient than I am in this aspect.

So I think we are right on track with the pre-teen stage.

Last week she had her first school dance (she might of had one when she was at her dads?). I was not able to get pictures because it was right after school for 2 hours. She was quite a mess when I picked her up (a sign of a good time I guess). I do remember her coming home on Monday saying that a boy asked her to go. She never answered him, but ended up going with her girlfriends. It was an interesting time, because up until Thursday she kept telling me she didn't want to go. On Thursday she blurted out she wanted to go, but had nothing to wear! So it was a quick trip to the mall to get her something to wear :) Now lets see if she will wear it again since it was a dress.

Here is a sneak peak into her room...It does bring back memories. We haven't painted or really decorated yet so for the most part it is still a blank canvas.

enter at your own risk!

unmade bed..not that I ever made her make it

posters on the wall, she has some not up yet from Christmas

Shelf with baton trophies

Her closet

lovely desk

and a view of her bff's house

How is Savannah

It was brought to my attention that Savannah doesn't get much face time on the blog right now. I had not noticed, but it is true. So I thought I would make a post just for her.

She is quite the character, very much like her daddy. She remains a friendly, happy baby. She is walking really well, even running at times.

Her favorite thing to do right now is eat (not any different from before). If you are in the kitchen she is soon to follow in hopes to get something. I have become a big fan of chocolate covered almonds, I have had to move them because she would go to the area that I kept them and say please until she received one. She does not turn many things away, the only thing I can think of right now are cherries. She has started to really like fruit on the other hand (we no longer have a goody draw). She has figured out if you shake the candy machine some will come out. Another big favorite is her cup, she has also figured out about the water and will refuse if to much water is in the cup.

She loves bike rides. If we are in the garage she will climb into the bike trailer. When I was putting the bike trailer away (after I got my new bike) she went crazy crying and throwing herself on the ground. She is ok now that she knows about the bike.

She enjoys the swing much more than the other kids ever did. She can swing for an hour at a time and still be happy. Saying wee

Savannah is still our Giant baby now in 3t however a few 2t still fit. She loves shoes and clothes. Brushing her teeth is still fun, we had to buy her a second toothbrush so she could have a play one.

She does get a little jealous of Austin at times. She Knows how to get him in trouble...she will hit him or pull what ever it is she wants until she can get it away from him. For the most part Austin handles it well and has never hit her back.

If you say lets go bye bye, she goes to the closet to get her shoes, then sits on the steps, you then find her with her foot in the air waiting to have her shoes put on.

We are still on 2 naps a day, waking up about 7-730 in bed around 730. If we go past 730 she is known to get her duck and go to the steps.

She is still picking up sign language well. She picks words up pretty easy as well. Her newest is Valerie. She says Yes much more than No. She is a very loving girl always giving hugs and kisses, sometimes we don't even ask.

I am sure I am leaving somethings out, but in a nut shell that is our little Savannah. We all love her dearly and are glad she is a part of our family.

Austin's 1st long bike ride

After riding my bike pretty much all week (with both kids on it), I wanted to try and build Austin up so he could ride his own to school. My goal was to the end of the development, Rob didn't think we would make it that far. We also wanted to get him off his tricycle.

Friday before I left for work we had him all excited to ride the 2 wheeler that I got free off of free cycle last year. He practiced riding it in the garage and was waiting on my return.

So When I got home from work yesterday we set out for a bike ride.I asked Austin where he wanted to go his response "Wendys". (Earlier in the week I bike all the kids to Wendys to get lunch).

We all laughed and said "if you make it to Wendys we will have frosty's)! I went to get my wallet, and off we went, Valerie, Daddy, Savannah and Mommy riding up to Wendy's!

As we got further we kept saying how impressed we were, how proud we were. Wendy's is right before his school and his school is 2.5 miles from the house. We had to cross to big streets (which are clearly marked for kids to ride bikes). He did fall over about .25 miles away, but got up and kept going with no complaints.

HE DID IT!! I couldn't believe it!! We ended up getting all the kids dinner and milk shakes or frostys which ever they chose. Then we started to panic about the ride home. It was a little harder for him, he was so tired. Daddy had to help him along, but he did make it back. He is so excited to bike to school on Tuesday all by himself.


He was so tired at the end of the night, about 730 he said he was playing hid and seek and when he went to hide (in the corner of my closet, behind all my clothes), he fell asleep :)




Valerie is the photographer for these photos. It was good for her to practice her bike as well. Her new bike is a different style and bigger, she has to learn how to get on and off.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone.

I hope everyone had a great holiday!! We enjoyed ours very much.

The kids woke up around 7am, at least the 2 older ones we had to wake Savannah up. I have to say I was very proud of my kids on Christmas morning!! When all the kids came down the stairs the older ones went over to Savannah's pile and started to help her open her gifts.

Once everyone got started there was no stopping them. I don't know about anyone else, but I think it is so hard to get pictures of everyone opening gifts because you are to busy watching them and helping them, that I forget to take the pictures.

The only bad moment of the day was...Austin's last gift were a few pairs of shorts and pants in one gift bag, when he opened them he started to cry and say that he didn't want clothes for Christmas. He was defiantly tired, when he napped about 1 hour after that episode he slept for over 3 hours.

We were very lucky that the neighbors offered to cook Christmas dinner for us. They cooked it and brought it over for all of us to share and enjoy a nice dinner. Other wise we were have a macaroni and cheese casserole.

The kids posing after they all opened their Christmas eve pajamas

Making or should I say eating cookies for Santa

Valerie hard at work making dessert for the next day

right after Santa left

mommies Christmas present

Kids enjoying Christmas break

The kids went on Christmas break Last Friday :( I immediatly thought oh no, what am I going to do with them all day for 2 full weeks!!

It really hasn't been that bad. They have been playing with friends and outside most of the days.


They all seemed to have a really great day today. Valerie 1st went shopping with her bff, then they came home and made pillow cases. And are now having a sleep over.

This is her new purse she bought with her own money when she went shopping today. In her defense she planned on buying Christmas presents for the kids, but I asked her not to. She really does have a good heart.

Austin played with the neighbors most of the day both outside and inside. The kids were enjoying making piles of leaves and jumping in them.

Even though this picture doesn't show it he really enjoyed collecting the leaves

That pile is as big as it's going to get around here, but it was enough for them.

All hard at work

Savannah went in between playing with the big kids to hanging out with mommy, but mostly enjoying the day in her diaper with a chocolate face.

Yes this picture is from today, it really was that warm

Later on in the day...I had to cover her up it gets windy on that scooter, she loved it.