Work WeekEND

Men of Iron, unblinking fish, bouncy houses, sewing summer frocks, flying Fidos, Apples 2 Apples, Beach Boys, and cosmic concerts. Rather than give my usual witty sometimes even eloquent descriptions of all that I have been up to the past few days, I thought I'd just do a running list. Oh- and add to that list first aid. Lots of first aid.



This past weekend was a work weekend, For those of you new to the blog, I love these weekends. While they may be long and energy zapping, I love that I get to be with the kids from the time they wake up to the time their sleepy heads are gladly sent off to bed. I worked Thursday morning through Sunday evening, and I worked the week prior and after. So I am beat! But, that's neither here nor there!



While we usually have oodles of spare time to chillax (that's chill and relax, LOL!) we were busy, busy, busy! Thursday was the quietest day we had by far. We spent a lot of time in and by the pool. (I know! Don't even tell me I have the perfect job. I know I do, but you should read some of my past posts about the bedlam craziness that usually is the norm around here! Then you will see the need for quiet moments such as those that were Thursday!) I DID have 4 extra kids, though. Their cousins came over for a few hours. Some even stayed the night. Can anyone say SLEEPOVER? By the way- I didn't sleep much this weekend.





Friday was Ollie Koala day. We spent MOST of the day frolicking amongst the blinking lights, roaring sirens, and delighted squeals of countless children as they ran amok in a world of childhood delight! Never been to Ollie Koala's? Visit: http://www.olliekoalas.com/ It's a local version of Chuck E. Cheese, and in my opinion a zillion times better! We always have a great time. It was especially busy that day, though. That makes it a little more stressful, but fun all the same!





Saturday found us back at the MOSH. We had recently been there on a field trip, but the museum had a family appreciation day, and had lots of special things to entertain the kids. We were there form 11 AM til 4:30 PM and I wasn't once asked if it was time to go home yet! And with a group of kids this size, that is a rarity indeed! They had Iron Man there, bouncy houses, face painting clowns, games galore, BMX bikers doing stunts, frisbee catching dogs,





Sunday we went to Mass and came home after a quick trip to the store for some much needed groceries. Celine and I did a little sewing before I left Sunday night, and I can honestly say that while I was relieved to be headed home to my own bed, I was actually SAD as I pulled away! (Not going to mention that I was going to be back the next morning!) This weekend may have been long, but I'll be having a nice little break when the family heads off for an Island vacation. Without me. :( It's OK, though. I'm going to DISNEY WORLD! I'll tell you more about that latter.



Until then-



Be good and God bless!

Getting older...

SO my last post was about my dismay at the kids growing up, and while that is saddening, today I managed to see the whole thing in a different light. HELLO!!! I AM GETTING OLDER!! AHHHHHHHHHH! Please help me. I need a cure for the disease of aging. Send LOTS of money to my newest cause the "Foundation for Keeping Shannon Young and Spry". I have no cure as yet, but I know that all that mulah is bound to make me at least FEEL better about being older!

This all came to my attention because Grant felt it necessary to do the math to see how long it would be before Meg was 40, which led to my own personal countdown. For the umpteenth time I mistakenly thought I was turning 32 this year, rather than the 33 I will actually be turning in a few months. NO ONE, and I mean no one should be made to think about turning 40 before they're 39, at least! So now I am depressed AND feeling "old" with no end in sight.

Just when I don't think I could feel any worse, Meg tells me about this 16 year old kid who just left to try to become the youngest person to sail around the world SOLO!! Now I feel like an old BUM! A bum with no ambition and drive. While sailing holds no appeal for me, and I'm most definitely not an adventurer, I feel as though I should have, at the very least, kept up with learning how to knit! (Something I started towards the end of last year and never followed through with!) I wonder if I'll ever have anything to brag about having done before I reach the end of my life? (AKA turning 40!)


This old coot has to sign off and go polish her dentures.


Be good and God bless.

Growing up...

I was made very aware this weekend of the fact that all the little people in my life are growing up- FAST! It's a sad fact that makes me both proud and a little nostalgic for the days when they were all little! Alexis has been an avid gardener since the time she could toddle out to the garden with her PaPa. She loves to grow tomatoes, datil peppers, carrots, and strawberries. She's now purchased a ridiculous number of Lady Bugs to help protect her precious produce from the ravages of other buggies.

Cora delighted in watching them swarm all over in their plastic container. "Dem Sissy's budggies!" She's talking so much! And once again I will say that she is too adorable. Sunday she found a pair of tongs and went around pretending that she was "Bob"- one of Alexis' hermit crabs and pinching everyone with her "claw"! "My Bob! MY Bob!" Which translates into, "I'm Bob! I'm Bob!" She refers to herself as "My Tora!" when you ask her who she is, and when you ask how old she is she replies, "My two!" Oh, and now you can ask her WHAT she is and she says, "My a durl. Deucie hims a boy!"

Deuce is growing up as well, and loosing that "little baby" look every day. He has one of the sweetest smiles I've ever seen! Man, oh man! Is he EVER a momma's boy. My sister has her work cut out for herself!

I took Alexis to see her bestest friend Celine in her very first dance recital. Lexie has been in dance for years now, so she was so excited to see Celine in her first! "Beans" as she is sometimes called did wonderful!!! She was so cute and all the other girls were watching HER to remember their dance steps. She took this dance stuff SERIOUSLY! And then on Friday her mom took her to get her hair cut for the summer. May I present...The new Summery Celine.....

Mummies in the Morning

We have the kids reading each day, in hopes that come fall, we will have kept their reading skills sharp as well as begin to instill a love of reading in them. Celine, who is going into First Grade, is quite the little reader! She reads everything she can get her eyes on! She has discovered the American Girl Series and loves it!

John Paul is reading the Chronicles of Narnia and is in The Dawn Treader, Grant; the Spiderwick Chronicles, and Brian is working his way through the Magic Tree House series. The book he is reading right now is Mummies in the Morning. In the book these kids travel back in time to historical locations. It really is neat concept, the kids are getting a History lesson and never even realize it!

Well, they all have to read aloud to us, and afterwards we talk about what they have just read. It was at this point that Brian turns to me and very seriously asks, "Shannon? Umm...why did they wrap mummies in all that toilet paper?" I try REALLY hard NOT to laugh at him. Seeing as he's already a GIANT ham, and we don't want to over indulge him. Well, not anymore than we already do. I think we've created an attention hording monster! Anyway, I told him that it wasn't TP, but bandages used to preserve their bodies. Apparently this was more information than he was looking for. He was totally grossed out by the whole idea and couldn't understand why ANYONE would want to do that.

After a quick talk about their ideas on the after life, he tells me he would never want it to be that way; he'd much rather just go to Heaven when he died and be happy with God. Forever. From the mouths of babes!



I hope you have all had a wonderful day! I've missed blogging regularly. We're off to Winnie the Pooh live. I'll let you know how that was tomorrow! I just love that Fuzzy little Cubby all stuffed with fluff! Off to the Hundred Acre Woods we go!! Ta-ta!

Be good and God bless!

Inconceivable Insects

We took the kids to the MOSH (the Museum of Science and History) recently. They have a new exhibit featuring insects of enormous proportions. Think I'm exaggerating? Well, see for yourself!!!

There was also a huge Praying Mantis that threatened to devour Brian and Celine! Have no fear, though, they were never in any REAL danger. They had JP and Grant to protect them, or so bragged the "protectors". Both claimed to have been more than capable of squashing these monsters. Whatever! All the insects were animated. This one and the locust, yes- locust, started out low to the floor and then extended up and out over everyone's heads! They were really big, and a lot bigger than I thought they would be. Not to mention a lot creepier than I expected them to be!! Ick!

There are lots of interesting exhibits there. We were able to see a show in the Planetarium Theater for the first time. The astronomer showed us the night sky for that very night and pointed out all the stars and planets we would be able to see. It was very cool, and very relaxing. Sadly, I wasn't able to enjoy the entire presentation, because I've become my mother! Wait, let me explain...

My mom has never been able to stay awake in a theater. She doesn't even TRY to see movies any more because she refuses to pay $10 to take a nap! In fact she even fell asleep during my HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION!!!!! (I'll save that for another time, but I am still deeply wounded by this fact. ;) ) Lately I've found that I, too am having difficulty staying awake in theaters. Anywhere it is cool, quiet, and dark. I just drift off. No matter how hard I fight it. That day at MOSH was no different. So I missed like 5 minutes of the thing before I realized I was sleeping and snapped out of due to utter embarrassment.

We had a picnic lunch out beside Friendship Fountain along the bank of the St. Johns River. I have no clue why its called Friendship Fountain, but it was a beautiful day, and perfect for a picnic!!

One last note...Meg and I introduced a new generation to the wonderful world of the Princess Bride. Clearly they had no idea what they had been missing! My favorite line from the movie? "I'm not a witch! I'm your wife!" It is one of my favorite movies of all time! Until next time!

Be good and God bless!

Dog Days of Summer

It is officially HOT! I think it's pretty obvious that summer has arrived. The kids are loving the fact that school is out, and we are doing very well so far at keeping the "I'm BORED!" declarations at bay. I'm happy to report that those are few and far between. We are spending a lot of time out by the pool and at the beach, crafting various craft-type thingys, oh!- and we're working on "Summer Bridge Activity Books" -workbooks that they do a page in each day, then follow it up with an allotted reading time. This keeps them sharp for the fall when school starts up again, AND eats a little more of their free time. Something they have an abundance of!!! While this "summer school" doesn't phase the younger kids, the fact that any school at all is going on during the summer has the "big kids" very unsettled!!! Why? I have no clue. But all of them seem to be concerned with the "WHY?!!" of it all. Like it might somehow be expected of them as well. Hmmmm... that might not be such a bad idea. Wait. No. Then we'd have to spend the summer fighting to get them to comply!!!

We have been to the beach a few times now, at least once a week. Typical Florida kids, they love the water and the sun! They also love to seek out "treasures" in the sand!

Here are a few more pictures of fun in the sun 'n' sand!

God bless and be good! Oh, and don't forget the sunscreen!!!