Our pet snake

Ok, not really, but it was in our driveway. I came home from the grocery store the other day, and was about to get my stuff out of the back of the van, when I spotted this little snake right outside of the garage. Thankfully I didn't run over him as I pulled into the garage. I'm not exactly excited that he was there, but I wouldn't have wanted to squish him either. Anyway, I ran inside to get the boys, because I knew they would want to see it. I think that's the fastest they've ever responded to me!! They were excited to see it, and kept begging me to get a box so they could keep it. (i'm totally getting paid back for all the fake snakes i hid to scare my mom, and all the critters i begged to keep!!) I didn't let them keep it, but I did have a "best mom in the world" moment. Avery asked if he could touch it, and for some reason I said yes! I don't know what I was thinking! So, he touched it, and it almost bit him!! Thank goodness he has quick reflexes!

playset

We got a playset at the beginning of the summer, but unfortunately it's been way too hot to really play on it much. I'm hoping we're able to get out there a lot more this fall.
Contrary to the way it looks in the first picture, the boys were a big help in building the playset, especially Avery. He loves to build things, and he's big enough to do a lot of the work. He would have tried to get it all done while Keith was at work, if we had let him!

Here's what's going on with us lately

Well, it looks like Chloe's first full week of school will have to be next week. She's home sick today, and was yesterday as well. Thankfully she seems better so far today. She cried when I told her she couldn't go to school yesterday. She cheered up quickly when I told her she could watch a movie. Her brothers didn't like seeing her upset either, and they both told her she could play with something of theirs. They're such good big brothers! Avery also promised her that they would build a big fort in the bonus room soon. I hope he's ready, because she's not going to forget that!

On a different note, Brady has been practicing in pads this week. Monday was a pretty disappointing practice for him, but last night was better. He finally got to be a linebacker and tackle! He's was so excited after practice. Unfortunately I didn't get to see him because I was running back to Avery's soccer practice to pick him up. Tuesdays are a little crazy around here with soccer and football practice at the exact same time. At least one ends a half hour earlier then the other.

I'm going to try to get some more summer pictures on here later today. We'll see...

a few more Florida pictures

The pictures above just crack me up! Actually the two little people in the pictures crack me up. We had fun watching them together and playing with them. It's a bummer that we don't get to see them very often.


When these two get together, we no longer exist. It goes without saying that they had a good time being together!

Contents of a pocket

These are the contents of a pocket. Not just any pocket, but that of my oldest... scavenger extraordinaire. This is why I'm always finding strange stuff in my washer and dryer. I just have to shake my head and mumble his name under my breath. Sigh.

Boys will be boys...I guess.

So, I've decided that since I didn't blog much this summer, and the kids are all in school now, I'm going to play catch up. We had a great summer, and did a lot of fun things, so I'm going to share the highlights of it.
We started off the summer by going to Florida. Unfortunately we don't get to see everyone very often, so it was nice to all be together. I'm going to have a couple of posts about our trip. I have too many pictures for just one. Enjoy!


I don't even know where to begin with this first picture. I think I'll let it speak for itself.








These pictures make me realize that my boys are going to be like this for the rest of their lives.

Football practice

I took a couple of pictures before Brady's first practice on Monday, and I told him to look mean. This first attempt looks more like he's smiling. The second one is a little more successful.


He's had two days of practice so far, and he loves it! He's sore and worn out afterward, but he says he could go for two more hours! Just watching him at practice, you can tell how much he loves it. He runs hard every time. You can tell he wants to be out there. He learned some plays yesterday, and he was one of the running backs. He's the biggest running back on the team. His league has 8-10 year olds, so he's bigger than most of his team, except a for few freakishly big kids. He cannot wait until next week when they get to wear pads and start hitting. To say he's excited is an understatement! His coach told them to level anyone in their way. That scares me a little. But I know Brady, and as much as he wants to hit, he's going to be careful. He's already said that he's not going to level any of the smaller kids. I guess we'll see how he likes it next week.