This summer we went on a cruise with our friends, The Rustins.  It was a quick cruise but we really made the most of our time.  We went snorkeling in the keys and cave exploring in Mexico at Rio Secreto.  What an amazing trip!

Mega Fort

Over Spring Break I built the kids a Mega Fort. I can remember turning my living room into a fort when I was a kid.

I have upgraded from chairs and blankets to tents, custom made (thanks Kathy) camo sheets.

Picnic in the mega fort!

Big TV in the mega fort! A must have.

You like it?, Get it!

I've come to realize that if loading pictures to the blog were easier I would blog more often. Since this post doesn't require pictures it got here rather quickly.

I DO NOT take the boys shopping. Mostly because they hate it. I'm not really a huge fan of it either. Unless of course it involves finding a bargain dress. Then bring it on!

Yesterday I HAD to stop at Kohl's with Hudson to get Brandon shoes for work. They are the only place we are able to find the right shoes for the shop. Only problem was they didn't have his size. Since we were already in the shoe dept. I found myself pulled over to the women's section (Yes, pulled. Like gravity. We'll call it shoevity). Hudson was set on buying me shoes. He picked out black, peep toe, super cute high heels with sparkles on them. "You like things that sparkle, right Mom?". Smart boy! He just kept saying "You want it?, then get it!" to EVERYTHING I touched. Then it hit me. This is EXACTLY what Brandon does to me the one time a year he is forced to shop with me. Most of my friends are thinking I should take him shopping more often, right. But the only reason he does this is to get out of the store quicker. He hates shopping....probably because he Mom never took him. Hmmm.

What is forgiveness worth? About $98

This morning I served breakfast to the boys & then went to get myself ready. Apparently that was my first mistake. Less than 5 minutes later I hear a crash and then Hudson yelling at Connor. You know what's coming next.... "It's wasn't my fault! HE did it!". I didn't yell. I just told them that they were done eating at Mom's restaurant & they would be eating at the table from now on...on opposite sides of the table...and then I thanked them for making my morning AWESOME....then I told them there would be no cartoons this morning. I went back to getting ready. When I came back out they asked if they could go to the bathroom, but I knew they were planning something. (They aren't very good at being sneaky) So, when I went to tell them it was time for the school bus, they handed me all the money in their wallets and said sorry. Huh? Yes, the thought they could buy me off with $98 dollars.

It took everything I had not to bust out laughing. I thanked them and told them to keep their money and they could show me they were sorry by not messing around tomorrow morning. Why do i have a feeling i should have just taken the cash?

Connor on ice

Last month Connor had the opportunity to play in a scrimmage during a Tampa Bay Lightning game. He is wearing a yellow jersey & he is the one with a big white sticker on his helmet. He's the one who scores! This is taped off of our TV.

Our weekend...starts with hockey & ends with puke!

FRIDAY: Friday night we had hockey clinic for Connor. Usually we take Hudson and he spends most of the time complaining so this time I dropped Hudson at Brandon's shop & they had man night. I stayed at hockey & took Connor out for a treat after. SATURDAY: Saturday morning Connor had a hockey game, but this weekend we were off of soccer. Ok, I know I've said it before, but I like hockey so much better than soccer. Why you ask... 1) At soccer I have to bring chairs. Hockey provides chairs 2) Soccer= hot sun beating down on us & need for sunscreen. Hockey requires jacket. 3) Soccer = dealing with coach parents who know NOTHING about soccer & take forever to set their kids up & report you to the league if you cheer for your kids too much when their team is losing. Hockey=parents cheering for a good play even if it wasn't their kids who made it because it is such a difficult sport we are all impressed & happy for the kid who finally learns how to lift a puck. 4) Soccer = packing lunch/ snacks in a cooler. Hockey is at RDV. There is a restaurant @ RDV. I can get dinner there. There is also hot chocolate...in August. You can't argue against hot chocolate, don't even try. 5) Soccer = my kids running top speed into another kid wearing only shin pads...REALLY shin pads??? Soccer is more violent than football at times & they wear shin pads! Hockey has my children covered in pads from head to toe. I could list about 10 more reasons, but you get the point. After hockey we had a birthday party. The kids had fun. When don't they have fun? Saturday afternoon we got out the chainsaw & cut down some trees & bushes. (Boy do I have some pics for you from last weeks storm). Sat night Bruce & Kathy joined us for dinner & to hang with the boys. SUNDAY: Sunday we were back to another hockey game, straight to Sunday school, service, then back to hockey for lessons. Then we came home and sat on our butts for an hour & watched cartoons! Then it was date night for me & Brandon. We did what all smart parents do...we ran errands without the kids. It was wonderful. Then we were off to lobster fest! Yummo. About 10pm Connor walked out of his room COVERED in puke. Apparently Hudson walked over to Connor's bed, thought it was the toilet and puked all over him. Connor slept through it & didn't notice until he woke up to pee. GROSS. Thankfully puke doesn't phase Brandon. He cleaned Connor (Hudson was spotless, of course) & then he hosed off all the sheets & blankets & even started laundry. I love that man!

Mystery Lunch

In an effort to get the boys to try new foods today we had Mystery Lunch. As you can see it was all Soup. All we really discovered was they like tomato soup, they HATE pea soup and they will tolerate, but do not enjoy beef barley or lentil soup. They were undecided about chicken & dumpling soup. Well, at least I tried!

Happy Birthday Hudson

Dear Hudson,

Happy 5th Birthday! Wow, that felt weird. How can you possibly be 5? I’m not one of those Moms’s who cries at your milestones. I am usually happy that you have reached the next level. But, you turning 5 is the first time I really wanted to freeze time. Next month we will register you for kindergarten. You are so excited to head to elementary school. Mostly you are excited to ride the school bus.

This past year you were on swim team, started playing soccer and taking hockey lessons. Your best sport is probably swimming. You are a natural. You love playing soccer and you get to play with Olivia.

You have learned to read. While you still get nervous with the big words, you are reading books and writing words. You have really taken to math. You love to add. Most nights you ask for math homework instead of practicing your handwriting….which you hate doing! You have been having a great year at school. You love your teacher and are very popular in class. All the other Moms tell me how much their kids talk about you. You are very smart and are a natural problem solver.

Last year I called you charming. There has definitely been no change in that category. You still have the ability to charm everyone you meet. You can be one of the sweetest most thoughtful kids I have ever met. You are always asking for 2 of everything so you can share with Connor. Sometimes your charm and luck isn’t such a good thing. Things some so easy to you that you haven’t really learned to try very hard. This has become somewhat of an issue lately. We are working on getting you to try your best all the time.
One of your favorite things to do is cook. You help me prepare every meal. You like to taste everything. You like to watch cooking shows. You even asked for an Easy Bake oven for your birthday. Thank goodness they started making it in blue! We all like to talk about you being a famous chef one day.

Daddy and I are so proud of the little man you are becoming. We love you so much!
Love, Mom

Summer vacation

Yes, we did take a family trip this summer. It wasn't very far from home, but it was super fun. We went to a local water resort. It was a hotel that had a water park right there behind it! They also had a huge arcade, places to eat and a bar (you know, if you like that sort of thing). Oh, and there was a dinosaur mini-golf place right next door! Did I mention the hotel is only 1/2 hour from our home? One of the perks of living next to tourist land!

The arcade was HUGE!

Part of the water park was indoors!

One evening we went to Sea World. We happened to visit Tilly, the whale just at feeding time. Connor put his hand on the glass and Tilly swam up and stayed right there for a minute or so. When we walked away Connor said "That was the perfect end to a perfect day!".The Woods boys ruled the park and may or may not have tortured a little girl or 2 with the water cannon's!

Pure Joy!

Now doesn't this look fun!

This is how Brandon showered the whole weekend...I'm not kidding.

Three big slides

Hudson loved this slide

Feet first please!

Connor on the big slide

Hudson on the big slide

My most memorable conversation of the trip happened between Connor & Brandon:

Dad, I'm having a fantastic time!

That's awesome buddy! I'm so glad you're having a great time!

No Dad, I said Fantastic!

Returnal life

Just picked Hudson up from school and here was our conversation:

Mom, I think God is running out of people
Why
Cause lots of people die
Then God makes more people
Oh yeah, we get returnal life
What is returnal life?
When we get to live a second year on earth
Um, I think you mean eternal life & that means...
No Mom, it's returnal life. Jesus died on the cross so we could have a chance to live in this state.
What state do we live in?
Florida
At least you got that right.

The class visited the Memorial Garden this week and must have discussed death. I think Hudson may have crossed his signals.

Oh, I am almost done with staff reviews for our church and once that is complete I plan to return to regular blogging!

latte?

I think I figured out the cause behind Hudson's "extra energy" issues!
Actually it is filled with water! It's a little trick I play on myself so I will drink more water. For some reason I drink more when it is in a coffee type cup rather than a sports cup. Hudson just thinks it's funny to pretend he is drinking coffee.

Mom's restaurant & The "S" word!!

I am going to write current blog posts while peppering in the rest of the old summer ones. This one is current...as in it happened an hour ago!

For the past 2 weeks when they boys get home from school the first thing they do is hop up to the counter that separates the kitchen & dining room. It is in the dining room, but looks into the kitchen. They eat breakfast there while I pack lunches, they eat lunch there in the summer and now they eat their after school snack there. They call it Mom's Restaurant. They hop onto the bar stools and I put on a fake accent and pretend I don't know them. Then I proceed to take their order. They crack up when I get to them part where I say (In my best southern accent) "You boys from around here?".

After school they sit at Mom's restaurant and tell me all about their day. Sometimes I have to ask a bunch of questions to get any info and some days the details just spill out. Today's conversation started out rough. But once I got Connor rolling he started telling story after story in his "Connor Way". Here is the most memorable from today...

Me: Was everyone nice to each other at school today? (my Mom way of asking if anyone is picking on him)

Connor: Well, everyone except "A" (no need to name names, as I have no idea who reads this)

Me: What happened?

Connor: "A" called Zack (I can use his name, he's the victim after all) a bad word.

Me: What word?

Connor : I don't want to say

Me: It's OK, you aren't really saying it, you are just telling me a story. Plus I asked, so it's OK this one time.

Connor: It's a grown-up word

Me: What word?

Connor: I don't want to say

Me: Just say it

Connor: It's the "s" word

I took a deep breath and thought "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!! IN KINDERGARTEN!!! I HAVE KEPT MY LANGUAGE CLEAN FOR SIX F*&^ING YEARS!!!" Which , for an Italian kid from the Bronx was not an easy task.

Me: It's OK buddy just tell Mom what the word was so we can talk about it.

Connor: Stupid. He called Zack stupid Mom. Why are you laughing Mom?

Me: I love you buddy. You are right, that is a grown ups word.

Connor: Can I have another graham cracker?

The conversation continued to how calling people names hurts their feelings. But the real lesson for today is to get all of the information before you jump to conclusions. Especially when your information is coming from a six year old!

Back in action!

When we last left the Woods' they were super busy, filled with activities and Mom was going crazy due to the lack of daily routine. We now join our hero's back to school, with a daily schedule to rely on, karate ending (for a 2 month break) this weekend, soccer not starting for 3 weeks and swim team over for the summer. House back to its usual clean state and Mom with 12 hours a week to keep up with things. Can you hear the trumpets?....the birds singing? SCHOOL STARTED!!! Don't get me wrong, I have fun with the kids. We sing, we dance, we make each other laugh. It's just that...well...I HATE SUMMER!!!! There, I said it. There isn't enough scheduled activity during the day. I spend all day trying to "keep them busy". Which means I get NOTHING done...NOTHING. I start a project and 5 minutes in someone needs something. A drink, a snack, a spanking...oops! Plus the boys are together 24/7 so let's just say they get on each other's nerves. We did have lots of scheduled activities in the evening. Swim team on Monday and Wednesday. Karate on Tuesday and Friday. Swim meets on Saturday's. Hockey on Sunday's. We would get home late, wake up late and that's another thing that throws me off. I like getting up in the morning, early, with an alarm clock and a mission. I am so much more productive when I have a set amount of time to get things done. I thrive on a schedule. So, now that the kids are back at school the house is running like a well oiled machine!

Hopefully that will mean I can catch up on writing. I have lots of fun pictures to share from the summer. Here are some from our recent trip to Mt. Dora.

Great, now only 15 more blogs until I am up to date!

I want to blog

I want to blog. No, really, I DO! Brandon's brother Damon has been in town for the past 9 days so I have hundreds of pictures to go through and lots of fun stuff to share. However, the mountain of papers on my desk need to come first. That and the totally neglected house, the broken ice maker, the kids school supply list, ect, etc etc....

Connor starts kindergarten in 2 weeks and Hudson starts preK in 3 weeks. I plan on spending the morning Hudson starts doing nothing but blogging. I may sneak in a blog or 2 between now & then, but I will be back to my regular schedule once I have a quiet moment to myself.

My favorite thing about summer....is the ICE!

Hockey has quickly become our favorite sport that the boys participate in. OK, let's face it, it was always my favorite. I love hockey. I have always loved hockey. I hate that the closest pro team is in Tampa. I also hate that it would cost $300 to take the boys to a game. The other day when Brandon told me it was also his favorite I was pretty happy. I thought it would be soccer., what with him being Mr. Soccer. But he said Hockey! Hudson is trying his best. Now if he would just learn to bend his knees! Sometimes we get frustrated with him cause he is exactly "coachable". Connor takes what a coach says to him and almost instantly changes his game. Hudson takes what a coach says to him, instantly forgets it and does it his way. I have a feeling swimming will be Hudson's sport as that seems to be the one where he has the most "natural" ability. And if you refuse to listen to a coach, natural ability is a good thing to have. All practices start with races. Connor loves the races!

Uncle Justin, Aunt Erin & Barrett came along to watch! (so did Grammy & Pops) Barrett loved watching all of the kids on the ice.

SeaWorld

We have started a new tradition of sorts. Instead of spending money on big birthday parties we have decided to have a family party & then let each boy choose a special place to go (as a family) for their birthday. Hudson chose Dinosaur World and Connor chose Seaworld. As you can imagine I had they day planned down to the minute. I printed a map of the park & printed a show schedule on the back as well as our "day of fun" schedule. You know how I think, if I don't plan then fun the how will we possibly have the fun? We got there just as the park opened so we could get a good spot. That really sets the tone for the whole day, doesn't it? Good spot gotten, tickets pre bought on the Internet we went right into the park and headed right over to the kiddie land area to ride the rides before it got crowded. Um....kiddie land does not open until one hour AFTER the park opens. Hmmmm didn't notice that anywhere on the web site. Change of plans....We decided to stop & see the animals. No biggie I just did some quick rearranging to our "fun plan".

At 10am sharp I ran to the restaurant where you can eat with the sharks to make sure we got reservation for lunch. Brandon took the boys to kiddie land where as planned there were no lines. The boys rode the Shamu coaster 10 times in a row without even having to get off of the ride. We went through the rope/tube ride and then it happened....Connor fell. He fell HARD! Poor kid fell down a ramp and used his face to slow himself down. Neither of us saw what happened so I have no description for you. Like you wanted one! All I know is we heard him scream and turned around and he was tumbling down the ramp and landed with his leg caught in a rope and I was terrified that he had hurt his neck due to the way he landed. I got his leg free and Brandon picked him up and got him to the bottom of the ramp. He stopped crying and made sure he could move everything. Then, since no one was around we washed his face in the splash pad (shhhh). I went & bought him a visor to keep the sun off of his face & then brought him to the medical staff. The guy there was great and this is what he looked like the rest of the day. He never even talked about it the rest of the day. What a tough boy!The boys both loved the shows, but Shamu was their favorite!We rode the rest of the rides & even ate lunch with the sharks. Best part is we can go back the rest of the year for free. One of the perks of living in the sunshine state!

Zoo Part 3

As if parts 1 and 2 weren't fun enough we ended the day on a super cool note. The boys participated in a ropes course. They had a quick training and then off they went. They started on a course about 5 ft off the ground and once they completed it off they went to the "big kid" ropes. Connor's confidence soared. Hudson was just tall enough to reach the over head ropes. They had so much fun and worked hard to get through the course. We were not allowed on the course. We were just allowed to coach from the ground. The zoo has a 3 hour course for adults. Hmmm....how long till Brandon talks me into that? Gotta admit it, even I thought it looked cool!

Zoo Part 2

The next stop at the zoo was the splash pad. Always a good time. I was enjoying sitting back and taking pictures of the boys when they decided it was time for Mom to get to splashing! I totally got them back by using them as shields! We got soaked about 1 second after this shot!