Our Florida Trip.

We're home....well actually we decided to take it on in last night and arrived back home around 2am!!! We had a minor set back when severe thunderstorms and tornado warnings rolled through the St. Louis Metro area, so we decided to stop at a rest area and wait it out, is that safe??? The lightening was unbelievable it was so strong!

We absolutely had the best time ever! Usually I am ready to come home from vacation, but not this one! I could have stayed another week! The weather was in the high 90's all week and complete sun...you will notice from our sunburned bodies in the pics!

I have made a slide show, so click below. Just a warning that it is 7 minutes long and 157 slides, so enjoy!

FLORIDA VACATION

Florida Update!

Let's just say I don't want to come home! I've heard the weather report and it's not pretty! We've been sitting in 90 degree temps everyday!

Thanks to my husband for just now telling me on day 4 that I could have been updating my blog with his wireless Internet! Oh Well....you will be filled up with beach pictures when we arrive home!

Anyway, the highlight or low light of our trip was our beach experience yesterday!!! We had arrived to the beach at noon and within 20 minutes of being in the water, I see a lady making a mad dash at my mom. I thought maybe she had a bug on her. Anyway, she screamed at my mom to get out of the water because there was a SHARK!!! Heath was out waist high and the boys were by my side, and my dad was under the umbrella with Quin. I screamed louder than I have ever screamed for Heath! We saw the shark 20 ft. swimming parallel from Heath! He was running (as fast as you can in water!). It was such a surreal scene! It was like a scene taken right out of JAWS!!! The water cleared faster than you can imagine! We are all laughing now at how big Heath's eyes got....they are big already....but they were bulging out of his head! We are all safe!

We are having a great time! The boys have been golfing with my dad and Heath, rode goo-carts, played mini-golf, swam in the beach and pool, and tonight we are going on a dolphin cruise! It is absolutely breathtaking! We are on the 15th floor and have the most beautiful view of the beach and golf course!

Well it will be hard to come home, but I'm sure in 3 days we will be ready!

Until then...we are off to the beach!

Florida Bound.

I will be taking a break from the blogging world starting tomorrow, to head for our week vacation to Destin, Florida! We are planning on leaving Friday morning around 10am, to hopefully make it half way. Since we have a little one on this vacation, I told Heath and my dad that there is absolutely NO WAY we will make it in 1 day...no matter how hard they beg!!!

I have very little packing done! I usually leave that to the last second while we are running out the door! My parents were going to follow us, but due to the lovely $3.75/gallon gas that we seem to be having, we decided the best option would be to carpool. (Ask my parents their opinion when we return). We will be returning back next Saturday.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week, and I'm sure I will snap a few (MILLIONS) of pictures to share! Until then, we will be thinking of everyone while we are soaking up the sun!

The Last Day.

Hard to believe that another school year has come to an end! It's also hard to believe that I will have a 1st and 3rd grader next year. The school year ended today with a prayer service and awards ceremony that took place at the church. Both boys received their reading certificates. Hopefully they will continue to like to read throughout the next few years. In watching the older classes, it seemed that the girls cared more about receiving that award.

We are just looking forward to our summer! Baseball and swimming here we come!

{9 Month Photo Shoot}

I've been meaning to post this picture...but time some how got away from me. Here is the latest professional picture taken of Quin. This was taken for his 9 month photo (OK, he might have been 9 months and 2 weeks old!) Thought he was so darn cute in his bucket hat! Well hopefully when I see everyone, I can pass them out. Sometimes it seems like I have good intentions and then years later, I am still finding pictures I never passed out.

Birthday Celebrations.

After the wedding celebration, we then had to head to Chesterfield for Kohler's 5th birthday party, at Bounce-U. This was a fun place for kids that had many bounce houses along with slides and games.

Kohler getting ready to blow out his candles on his cake.

Quin just taking it in. I think he was just glad to get out of the car for awhile.

Maggie going down the slide.

Sydney following her.

You can tell how much Corby jumped, just by looking at the nice sweaty hair!

After we finished at the bounce party, we thought it would be a great time to take Grandma Michaele out for her (early) 60th birthday, since all of us would be together. Her actual birthday will be celebrated with Corby on June 2nd. We went to an awesome Italian restaurant, but I think most of us were full of birthday cake.

Maggie and Sydney enjoying each other as usual. It is always hard for them to leave one another.

Matt and Quinn with Chloe sound asleep.

All 3 of us got compliments at the birthday party, thinking we were all sisters. I guess it is just the similarities in the shirts! Yes again...we love ANN TAYLOR LOFT! Too funny!

Weekend Wedding.

This weekend we traveled to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, so Heath could be in his friend's wedding. Heath and Dave have been good friends since high school and Heath was honored to be a groomsman. We took Conner and Quin with us, while the older two stayed with my parents. I think they were completely spoiled by Grandy, who took them to play golf.

It was a beautiful wedding and reception. Here is a picture of Dave and Staci.

All dressed up.

No your eyes are not playing tricks on you! One of the other groomsman's wife also had the same dress as me! Go figure! We just said that we had good taste and Ann Taylor Loft is our favorite store! We could have done a commercial for them! It was also too funny, because at the rehearsal, the groom's sister had the same dress on! I was tempted to go by a dress on Saturday before the wedding, but Heath assured me that no one would know from the night before that she wore the same dress!

This was one of the other groomsman, Mike with his wife Laura. Mike and Heath went to high school together. They also have 3 young boys!

I was so excited when I met up with one of my waitress buddies from year's pasts! Too many to remember! Carrie and I worked many years as waitresses at the Junction together and she now is married and has a little girl Megan (who is a doll!)

It is also a small world, when I ran into this guy who I knew as PE! He was the camp manager at Culver-Stockton basketball camp that I attended for several years! It was nice to see him also!

Conner and Quin had a good time and for the most part were well-behaved. It was a very lovely wedding and Heath was glad he could be a part of it!

Kindergarten Mass.

At the end of each school year, the Kindergarten gets to lead mass for the entire student body, and anyone who wants to attend. Each student is given a part and has to read it in front of everyone. Preston did a great job and we were very proud of him.

At the beginning of the school year, each Kindergarten student is paired up with an 8th grader. This is their buddy for the entire school year. The buddy system is the best! Their buddy teaches them how to sit and pray at church, basic things such as opening their milk and they sit with them during lunch, and they also get them little stuff throughout the year. Preston shared his buddy Dahrea, with his classmate Bailey.

We are so proud of Preston and how much he grew up this year! He has really taken off on his reading and knows so much and is eager to learn.

It's hard to believe how fast his Kindergarten year went, but we are sure ready for a break! So hard to believe that I will have a 1st and 3rd grader next year!

Preston proud to sing his song in front of everyone.

The entire class singing.

Preston with his classmate Bailey, and their 8th grade buddy Dahrea.

Daycare Fieldtrip.

Last week I took the daycare on a little field trip to a family farm (or you could say zoo!). This couple has their very own petting zoo right in our small town...who would have known! They had lama's, sheep, pot belly pigs, bunnies, horses, goats, chickens, turkeys, and of course the family pet dog and cat. The kids got to go from station to station to pet the animals.

Conner was amazed at all the animals. He is still very shy around animals....due to the fact that he got kicked in the head by a sheep at Uncle Harold's house. He made sure he told the daycare kids that story. Once he warmed up, I think the animals were more afraid of him!

Standing back taking it all in.

After we left the farm, we then headed to the park to run off some much needed energy that has been building inside the kids during this very long winter!

Conner loves to play in the pea gravel and build things for his cars. Too bad on this day we forgot his cars. The kids had a great time on the field trip and luckily the weather cooperated for us.

Golf Lessons 101.

Each year, our local golf course gives lessons to the youth. The boys absolutely love it and hopefully one day want to be as good as their dad! OK, Grandy and Uncle Chris! Today we finally received some much needed sunshine after the rain that we have seen for weeks on end. The boys were split up into groups and worked on their putting and chipping today. Next week they will take to the driving range.

It was nice to see such a large group this year. Last year, only about 8 took part.

Preston pretty much thinks he owns the course. He loves to golf and for Christmas he got his own golf clubs.

Thinking he's the next Tiger Woods.

Corby watching as his ball goes in. He made one hole in one!

Corby also enjoys it and is hoping to take to the course real soon. (Hint Hint!)

Working on their chipping skills. Preston needs some refinery in this department!

Mother's Day.

I had a nice relaxing Mother's Day with my boys! We then met up with Matt and Quinn's family and took my mom (and dad) out to eat at Buffalo Wild Wing's Restaurant that just opened up in Quincy.

Yes, Conner is crying in this photo. Right now, I really can't remember by. Probably due to the fact that he wanted to sit on my lap.

Quinn and her 3 girls.


Of course I had to get a photo of my mom on Mother's Day. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't be where I am today. She has been such a wonderful help to me and is such a great grandma to my boys!

Corby and Syd enjoying each other.

One of my main reasons I love being a mom!

Chloe enjoying the sugar off of Quinn's drink!

Zoo Part Deux.

Call us crazy, but we made a second trip back to the St. Louis Zoo on Saturday. We met up with our friends, The Youngblood's. I think everyone in the state of Missouri had the same idea, as it took us one hour to find a parking spot.

As we were walking what seemed to be 3 miles from our parking spot, I couldn't resist getting a picture of these amazing sunflowers. Corby was not as thrilled as I was taking this picture.

What can be better than taking in the zoo with a bowl of Dippin Dots. Corby decided after last week, that he would take his own money and enjoy some of the concessions. I swear this boy has a hollow leg! I've been warned that it's not going to be good when I have 4 teenage boys eating me out of the house! It's not good now!

Trying to capture a picture of my boys and I, since it was Mother's Day weekend.

Here we are with Steve and Dawn's daughter, Lauren and also another one of Preston's friends and classmates, Bailey. The kids really enjoyed each other's company.

Thought this was a pretty good picture of the flamingos. This is when we were stopped as a group, and were asked to be filmed by saying "We Love St. Louis". So if you see us on the big screen, let us know!

As always, the carousel is always one of the kids favorites.

Yes, Quin makes our zoo trips, but he isn't as into it as the others. So here is just a quick snap of him wanting to get down.

We were hoping to see the Dinosaur Exhibit which is only there for a limited time. Due to a downpour, our trip ended pretty quick and we made a mad dash for the car. I think we have experienced the zoo for the year.

A Fun Filled Fieldtrip.

Today I was asked to be a driver on Preston's Kindergarten class trip. I don't know if all 17 kids were worn out tonight, but I was beat! They had several stops in our town, and luckily the heavy rain and storms held off and their trip was a successful one.

Our first stop was the airport. The kids got to learn about 2 different kinds of airplanes (none that I would ever be caught in) and about what happens at the airport. I think they were pretty much just excited to sit in the airplane. I think that most of them thought that they were actually going to get to fly in one.

This is Preston's friend, Lauren (my friend Dawn's daughter.) As you can tell, we had a pretty chilly morning.

Stop #2 was the Post Office (sorry my pictures didn't turn out from there). They of course got to learn about the postal system and how their mail is delivered on a daily basis. Stop #3 was at our local grocery store where they were treated to an ice cream cone and got to decorate cookies for their mother for Mother's Day. Since I was there, I got to have dibs on what Preston could put on mine.

Preston and his classmates enjoyed putting all the decoratives on their cookies. I even think one boy was caught licking his knife and putting it back into the icing to re-ice. Yummy! You forget what patience a Kindergarten teacher must acquire.

Preston showing off his masterpiece of a cookie.

Preston required some assistance from the store manager with the tube of icing.
Stop #4 was then made to the library (sorry once again, I had to post my favorite pics) and the kids learned about the summer reading program which the library is hosting and also got 2 books read to them.

Ahhh...finally lunch time. (I don't know who was more excited the kids or us adults!). They got a tour of Subway and then each were given a snack pack and we headed to the park for a picnic lunch and for the kids to run off some much needed energy after all the knowledge they had learned.

I will say, I must brag and thought that Preston was one of the most well behaved boys in his class. He gets along with all his classmates and did a very good job of using his manners. (THANK GOD!)

He then had to show me his trick of jumping out of the swing. It must be a boy thing.

And finally, one last group shot before we headed back to school. I'm really glad I got to experience Preston's first field trip. I think he and his classmates thoroughly enjoyed it.

All Boy.

It's not very often that Conner will sit still long enough for me to capture a cute picture of him. He actually cooperated...with a bribe of chocolate pudding as a reward. We are proud to say that he has been officially potty-trained for 1 month now, and we have had only 2 accidents! Gosh I never knew how many diapers I was actually changing between him and Quin! Conner seems so much more grown up now and his vocabulary has really taken off! (Some words we will not mention).

Day at the Zoo.

What started off to be a very cold and chilly day, turned out to be a beautiful day to go to the St. Louis Zoo. Heath attended a bachelor party in St. Louis by going to the Cardinals games (those darn Cubs beat them!), and so my parents and I decided to take the boys to the zoo.

We were a little worried because they were only calling for a high of 59 and some light showers, but by the end of the day we couldn't have asked for a more perfect one! We even caught some sun on our faces.

Conner pretty much had the time of his life today. We did go to the zoo once last year, but I don't think he remembered any part of it. Yesterday I was asking him if he wanted to go to the zoo and he replied "Yes", I then asked him what he was going to see and he said, "M-I-Z-Z-O-U, and Truman~The team mascot's name. Needless to say, our child doesn't have a chance. So I then had to tell him what a zoo was and what kinds of things he would be seeing. He was in total amazement and enjoyed all the animals except, the elephants which scared him to death. We didn't think anything frightened this child.

We tried to make our rounds to each exhibit, but the zoo closed at 5 so we were in a hurry to see everything.

The boys had an awesome day at the zoo and I even think that Grandma and Grandy also enjoyed it.

Corby taking in the elephant exhibit.

The giraffes were trying to get the tree branches down to munch on some leaves.

Chris, Sheri, Maggie, and Kohler met up with us later in the afternoon. They are zoo members and were kind enough to give us a train ticket and a pass to the children's area, which the children were able to pet some of the animals.

Preston was making friends with the goats.

Conner had to be told to be gentle several times, while brushing the goat.

Everyone enjoyed our trip to the zoo, and I still think the St. Louis Zoo's is one of the best (oh and it's FREE!). After the zoo, Grandy and Grandma treated us all to a fun pizza place called Pizza Street. This was a rare event, because it seems when we visit the zoo it is usually so stinkin' hot you can't stand it. It was actually pleasent today and it was enjoyed by all!