Clearwater Fl-pier 60

This really was one of my favorites on our Thanksgiving journey. I LOVED being at the beach and this beach was especially fun! This is one of the first beaches I have been to that has been family oriented. There were performing artist (of every kind) an awesome play area, an outdoor movie playing and a live band. Then there was tons of vendors selling all sorts of cool stuff on the pier.

Thanksgiving 2011

We had such a fun time at this Golf Resort outside of Tampa. This is a picture of us in our Hotel room. The weather was picture perfect everyday-beautiful!

Father and Son

Although having Jared gone alot is a huge downside, when he is around he makes the most of every moment.....even those little moments. This was one of those moments that I happened to catch on film.

Tooth Fairy visits Chloe

This has been a BIG year for our dear little Chloe....She has started Kindergarten, she is learning to read, she is in the big girl's dance class and has now lost her FIRST tooth....The tooth fairy has been "on-call" for the past few days....her wiggly tooth was just begging to come out....luckily it held on long enough till Jared was around. At dinner, Jared offered to pull her tooth for her and I think he was most surprised when she accepted his offer. The two of them stepped out to the shed and only minutes later, she comes through the back door beaming! I gave her something to put her tooth in, and I kid you not with in five minutes the whole family was on their hands and knees in the kitchen looking for the tooth which had already disappeared. So Chloe and I wrote a lovely note to the tooth fairy explaining the problem and begging for mercy so she can still cash in on all the teeth brushing she has done to keep them sprarkly! Thank you Tooth Fairy!!

Happy Birthday Jacob!

This is Jacob on his 10th birthday, after playing soccer, he flew up in a WW2 plane!!

Each of my children bring a different kind of love to my heart....the love thing is the same, but
it is as different as each of my lively children....Jacob makes my heart full for totally different reasons than my girls, with him, I see so much of Jared and so many of the qualities I love about him....Like all my other children, he too has a big giant sized spirit. He likes to tinker and fix things like Jared. I remember coming in on him in the kitchen when he was 4 or 5 years old. He had a screw driver and was unscrewing the screws which held my cabinet doors on. He is facinated when Jared is working on one of the vehicles, and can actually assist him a great deal- I have zero mechanical understanding and know that all comes from Jared! He has always loved trucks and motorbikes, but know he is old enough to really get into them. In fact, he is saving his money for his first dirt bike (I think Jared is more excited than him,which is hard to believe considering that Jacob isVERY excited!) He is a prankster like Jared and finds great joy in scaring/teasing his siblings/mom! But just as he is fun, he can be so sincere. I can count on him to follow the rules, and do what he is supposed to. Jacob is the first one of my children to say he is sorry- what an example to my other children. Happy Birthday dear Jacob!!

Free Airplane Rides!!

This is like the millionth reason why I LOVE to live in small towns....Castroville airport did a Kids Fly Free day, and my kids went to the small town airport....they explained the ins and outs of small aircraft and flying and then went up to the sky.....it was Jacob's birthday-what a fun way to spend his special day.....the above pic of Heath is him enjoying the show!

B/C Chloe was so little, they let Jared ride with her, which gave us some fun pics of them in the sky!

Jacob's plane,was an actual plane from WW2 that actually trained the young pilots before going off to Europe!!

This is a picture of Megan getting ready to take off.....the pilot said he let Megan take the controls for a while so she was actually flying....

Soccer Saturday

Happy Birthday Megan!!

This is Megan on her eleventh birthday!! Like Chloe, she wanted a cute pair of cow-girl boots.....we probably visited a couple different boot stores a couple different times, looked a tons of different styles, tried on every kind of boot- she was definately 11!
It's hard to put into words all the things that I love about this cute girl-there are things about her that just make my heart smile, yet to find the words to fully understand why can sometimes be hard. There are special things about Megan, which have been apart of her spirit from the begining(eternally). Since a young age she has been a dearing friend and loving to those around her. She always treated others kindly and included those around her. Megan has also been anxious to live, and in the biggest way. I still remember when she was only 6 years old standing in line for the diving board, not the lower diving board, but the BIG diving board! All of my children are helpful, but Megan does things in a way that only Megan does (fresh cut flowers on the table and a special note to go with the deed).....Megan has traded barbies for make up and clothes.... she dreams about how fun high school will be with lockers, make-up and of course the PROM!! Megan has such a big spirit and brings so much joy and energy to any activity! She carries such a fun attitude, it's hard to not smile.Despite how sad I am that she is no longer little, I have enjoyed watching what a fun, beautiful young woman she is quickly turning into...Happy Birthday Miss Megan!!

Favorite past time

Jared has a big bucket of golf balls (why, I dont know)....when these boys get together (with the help of Ethan), they will spend all day or night dumping them out, putting them back in and then starting the fun all over...They even take the balls up to the slide, where the will drop them down, then slide down to pick them back up....Im not exaggerating on the time scope either-they can do this one activity for eternity it is so fun....I have a picture of the three of them but couldnt resist the urge to throw this one out there...note Heath's cowboy boots (very cute)!