My boys at Kate's recital

Every year, Kate has her annual dance recital. We missed a few years because Jim had a race the same day but it worked out for 2008!!!! It is SO adorable to watch Kate on stage and we enjoy heading to Augusta for a family weekend. Jim knows however that this recital is 3-4 hours long and though he loves to see Kate, it is a bit tough for him to sit through it all! We were prepared for the boys to get a bit antsy too! So, we took the Nintendo DS's for waiting and breaks only. We needed good seats so the wait is a bit long on top of the show length. I promise I didn't let them do this during the recital but here they are waiting for the start! I looked over and thought they were rather cute!

Kiersten

Welcome to the swamp!

Well, we survived Fay! You think I joke with the 'swamp' comment but really, I do live in a swamp! We are in a very rural part of Central Florida and we are surrounded by flood zones. The rumor is that gators wander from pond to pond (though I've never seen one ) and the bugs and frogs are louder than you can believe and we have no street lights or paved roads or public water. Deer wander through our property, you may have seen the lost Donkey post last month and horses and goats are everywhere! When I say 'rural', I mean it and we love it! It's quiet, we have space to play and do what we want and the area is full of laid back families.

We are 12 miles west of 95 so pretty darn close to the coast and when you saw the outer bands of the storm over Brevard County, we were not having fun. Now, those coastal areas are in a mess and there was major damage there. We are just in "OMG, this storm is NUTS" mode, though you will see below that some of our neighbors aren't so relaxed at this point. As the storm passes, all the water from those of us up higher will drain toward the lake and lower areas so unfortunately, these people are not done with this storm.

We bought 5 acres two years ago then built and moved in last year. We are 1 mile off of a huge lake, Lake Harney. SO many people asked us why we picked our lot, why not in a more easily accessible area or why not on the lake! Well folks, now I have pictures to show you. Of this entire area, about 90% of the lots are in flood zones. Ours is not. When I pulled MLS listings and sorted through them, 8 or 9 out of 10 listed always were thrown in the trash because it was wetlands every time I searched. There were areas we liked better but this was a 'set in stone' rule from my builder husband. We are "high and dry", but we still built in a swamp!

So we certainly got wet! I'll show you some of the houses around me first. All are within 1-3 miles of our house. Welcome to my local tour!!!

This house is a few lots from us.

This nice driveway is maybe 10 lots from us. That would be a 10 year old standing in this homeowner's only access to their new home. This family is not the homeowner, they were out touring and taking pictures just like me!

These houses are on the lake and here is the reason why we personally could not build here. The stress these families must feel when a storm is coming is not worth any view, in my opinion! These houses also were not in the bad area as obviously I could get to them. Most of the road is flooded and I can't imagine what those homes look like. The newer homes out here have learned and are built up higher but many homes are like these.

This is tough to make out but what looks on the left like the top of a car with no body, is what you see. The body is completely under water.

See his boat?

This is tough to see but you are looking down his driveway, through his carport and onto Lake Harney. This is right off of the lake and is a private airport that 18 homes have access to. They fly really cool (but I'm sure dangerous) planes with fun canvas looking wings and bright colors. Well, here is their runway!!! In a couple days I'm going to show you a new hanger they are building that has a secret door on it--it is so cool!!!!

Here's part of the road that the houses on the lake are on. Wonder how they are getting home? That's my Carter waving Hi, he went touring with me!

Now I end the tour with my property. This is from the road. You can kinda see my house behind all this.

Here is my pond. I'm actually liking this! It is a cool pond but not this big! It is stocked with Cat Fish and Blue Gill and the boys can't wait until the fish get bigger so they can go fishing. Jim usually rides his 4wheelers in a loop around the pond. You can see the grass inside the pond, well that is usually the outer edge. I wish it would stay like this!When we built, Jim built the house up quite tall. The property slopes and from the other side, it is what he refers to as "4 courses" high. I don't know if I got that right but I think that means 4 blocks of concrete high. It seemed excessive but these days make me realize how smart my husband is! Our pool house is lower as well as the barn and garage. We had to drain the pool 5 or 6 times to prevent it from overflowing so we still have some vulnerable spots but basically, if our house floods this entire area is a disaster. It was a nice feeling knowing water wasn't coming through any doors for sure. Our driveway is a bit fun too! Someday we plan to extend the concrete and days like this make us realize why we need to . . . It's just muck today!

I hope you enjoyed my little Fay hits rural Central Florida tour! This has been a long week so at least I have this to remind me of the craziness we have had. News reports said we got 12" of rain within 24 hours and it rained much longer than that so it was quite the downpour and our first storm here. It is late Friday now, it is still raining but it seems Fay has moved on and I hope we can put our pool deck back together this weekend!

Kiersten

First Day of School!

I am thrilled that school is back in session! I thrive in stability and needed a set schedule to resume! Here are the boys on their first day! I, of course, have many pictures of them just standing and posing but one is smirking or squinting or frowning or looking away. For some reason, the only time they appear to both be happy is when they are messing around. Yes, welcome to my life. This is how they always are! So stability resumes only to have what happen? School was canceled day #2, #3 and #5 of the first week! And day #4 should have been canceled instead of those three but I won't get started on that . . . We were in the midst of Fay, the wild storm that sat near us for what felt like forever! I plan to take some pictures of our area later today. We are thankfully not in a 'devestated' area but just one that got tons of rain, probably some flooding for a few folks and just a MAJOR storm for this area.

So as I type this on the Friday of the first week of school, my kids are watching TV and just hanging out! There's always next week . . .

Kiersten

Starwars Party Ideas

A friend of mine asked me for ideas for a toddler Starwars party. I held one for my then 4 year old a couple years ago but must admit I did not do too much in regards to Starwars as it was a water party. BUT, my invitation was cute! Here is a photo of the scrapbook page it is on above, pardon the flash glare. It says

Four years ago,

in a galaxy

far, far away,

Jedi Carter was born.

Now you too have been chosen,

to train to become a jedi.

The starwars mission

will take place in

the Galaxy of Torcaso park on August 6th at 2 p.m.

Water Training is required

So future jedis

must wear waterproof stormtrooper

uniforms

It is your

destiny . . .

to come to

this party.

If you have seen the movies, you know this is the format of the opening lines and all you do is keep changing your font as you go.

Our party was at a little water park so I gave out blow up swords found online that we called "lightsabers" and for a 'goody bag' I wrapped each child's trinkets in a big blob of tin foil and then gave them each their "astroid" as they left. They loved that actually! And of course we did a cake with a starwars theme. Otherwise, they played in the water.

If you are doing this at your home, you could plan for "jedi training" and set up lots of different Jedi centers whether it's a craft or a game. There is Starwars music so get it on your ipod and having it playing during the party or at least as they enter!

Some center suggestions would be:

• Make a lightsaber (cut pool noodles in half and use different electrical tape for the handles) or decorate a lightsaber if you buy basic ones
• Some type of race but have them be rockets or pods or something Starwars inspired. They could pretend they are a ship and give themselves a ship name.
• Lightsaber training. An adult teacher them different moved and gives those moved fun names.
• Duel with darthvader. An adult in costume or a punching bag with a mask.
• Play Stormtrooper says using their lightsabers. Having an adult in costume would help make this exciting. Stormtrooper saying to raise your lightsaber with your right hand, etc.
• Make their own name tags with Starwars stickers
• Alien face painting
• Pin the Saber on the Jedi
• pinata but have them use their own lightsabers
• Astroid hunt--wrap candy in tin foil and play just like an easter egg hunt or make it harder for older kids with clues

Okay, those are just a few ideas since I have ALL the time in the world while I'm sitting here watching Faye rain, rain and rain on me! If you ever need birthday party ideas, I'd love to share but I will tell you that THE experts are at http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/ ! Basically, anyone who is proud of a party they threw writes out every single thing they did. It's hard to sort through it all there is SO much information but if you can tolerate reading a lot, you will find great ideas!!!

Kiersten

A Twin Is Having Twins!

I have been so sick that I haven't been able to blog. The Kim Twin is having twins! This may just be the miracle I've been waiting for. I have always pictured myself as a mother of 4. We had our son in 98 and our daughter 26 months later. We immediately (really, she was only 3 months old) tried to get pregnant with #3 because I wanted to have my 4th by the time my oldest was in kindergarten. That was THE PLAN. Well, 4 years later and a ton of clomid later, nothing. We were told we couldn't get pregnant, I had no progesterone in my body. They called it secondary infertility and we moved forward thankful for the 2 we had. Magically in 05 I became pregnant only to miscarry. In 07 I became pregnant only to miscarry after being DOPED up on progesterone. We were then told NOT to get pregnant. "Your body will not accept progesterone and you CAN NOT sustain a pregnancy." Well, 13 months later, I am pregnant. We are praying hard. At first I was very nervous and felt I was doomed for a 3rd miscarriage, all the while praying and wishing. Once I heard it was twins I immediately thought "Ah, God is rewarding me for my patience and all those painful memories will have a happy ending!!!"

So, here I am, 8 weeks pregnant....feeling hopeful, taking progesterone which is awful, feeling like I need a million prayers, feeling as sick as a woman can feel, praying I stay sick since that means I'm still pregnant & praying Spring comes quick and I see 20 little beautiful toes.

Autism is a myth

This is my son James and he is on the autistic spectrum. It's just something that "is" and isn't much discussed. Well, until this morning when I heard my boys fighting. James was yelling at Carter. Carter was speaking calming but he was obviously annoying James. So I called them downstairs to discuss what was going on and James begins yelling "Carter says autism isn't real". Carter interrupts and says no, "I said autism is a myth. I just don't believe in it". I asked why and he then explained how you can't see it and it's not on tv so it's not real. Oh boy. So then I started listing other medical terms that they will grow up learning about and asked if they are real like heart disease and lung cancer and diabetes. My point was for them to say they weren't sure so that I could say 'they are real and just because they aren't on your tv shows doesn't make them not real' but diabetes caught me since they apparently know all about this from a Jonas Brother? Anyway, I explained to Carter that this is something that James was born with and it's part of his brain and you can't see it. They both wanted to know how to make it go away. Good question. I guess I'll need to provide some more information for Carter and it's no wonder James struggles with his friends at school when his own brother doubts this confusing 'thing' that you can't see.

James is the sweetest 9 year old ever and had so much fun making a gingerbread house at Aunt Kim's last December. I don't remember this little girl's name but she is one of Kim's friend's daughters and she was SO sweet and friendly to let James help with her house. There is nothing I think parents can instill more in their children that the ability to accept other kids for what they are and be a friend regardless and this little girl was a prefect example of that!

Fall is Coming

I am so excited that school starts this week! That means that fall is coming! Fall is my favorite time of year. The weather is gorgeous, the colors are classic, the food is a bit richer and more decadent, it's not rainy like spring is in Florida and the clothes are just my favorite! Here is a picture of my mother and I eating appetizers last fall, what is better???

Here We Are, July 2008

We went on a cruise with 7 other girls that we have known since we were little! We had a great time!!

It's a Pirate Party!

While I'm talking about parties and a treasure themed PTA event, how can I not show you my treasure cake for my son's Pirate Party! Again, this is a while ago, I think 4 years ago. FIRST, you must realize which twin is typing here. Kim is the baker/caterer/master of all things food. I'm the crafty girl who sews! I have my talents but it's not in the kitchen. Designing a kitchen, that's me, using it's appliances and tools, not so much. Oh, here, I'll show you this. This is my hood in my kitchen--doesn't this tell you I don't cook??



It says "Kiersten's Kitchen, -chef wanted".


Okay, so now that I've prepared you correctly that you should not have any expectation from me in the kitchen, I hope you will appreciate the only birthday cake I have ever made! Here is my treasure cake!



See the crack through the treasure chest? I hope you think it was meant to be there. But it wasn't. I had a friend over through the entire assembly and she had to take over a few times as I couldn't even spread the frosting without getting crumbs in it. But the vision was all mine! I am GOOD for a vision but BAD for actually executing anything that has to do with an oven!

Okay, three posts in one day! I'm so proud!!!

Kiersten

PTA Welcome Back Teacher Breakfast

So I'm in crazy mode right now with my first event for PTA this year. I'm such a sucker with volunteering that not only did I agree to take on this very busy position for the 2nd year but someone else really really wanted to do it and I, along with my partner Kay, put our claim on it and insisted we do it! We are a little crazy like that.


So next week is my first event for the year. It is a tough one because it is before school starts and I have to juggle my kiddos while cooking, decorating, setting up and cleaning up! We do our first event around the school's theme which is "Wild about Reading" this year. There are many directions that you can take the theme "Wild" but the school is going with the Camo/wild outdoors theme since we live in a rural area. I'm having fun with that theme and will show you that once it's over and I have pictures!


Last year, the theme was "Reading for Treasure" and here are a few pictures of our set up. The treasure boxes are from my son's bedroom and the map I made in front of the TV with some ink pads and a marker. The boat belongs to the school's past principal who passed away from a long fight with cancer the year before. It meant a lot to the staff that it was worked in to the start of their first year without her and it was a nice touch.
Here's another view of that area showing the oars. The flowers were in black plastic as they had been in the boat but we had to take some out. Kay grabbed paper towels from the bathroom and wrapped them--talk about quick improvising!

We set up a coffee bar elsewhere but the rest of the drinks were at one end with the hot food at the other. Here is the entire table. The little boat by the drinks is filled with tea and cocoa packets and topped with a tray of mini marshmallows.


Each table was reserved for a grade level or a group within the school as this breakfast is a meeting as well. We couldn't do a treasure theme without giving each teacher and staff member a little something so I made 70 of these tags. Making one was easy but I was regretting it by the end of this project-it took me hours! They loved them though so it was worth it!

I'm excited that next week is my last year of serving breakfast so early the week before school starts but am also looking forward to a fun year with this position. Kay is awesome and we work great together and it's a great school so it is worth it!!

So perhaps instead of writing about this event, I should be working on it? I work great under pressure so I'm sure I'll keep blogging!


Kiersten

Spongebob Square Pants Birthday Party

I have started using Creative Memories Memory Manager and LOVE IT! It makes organizing your digital photos very easy. I am finding pictures that I haven't seen in years and now they are at my fingertips. There are things that are very "pre-blog" but I thought they would be fun to share so I figured, why not? One would be some simple ideas for a Sponge Bob Square Pants Birthday Party. We did this for my son James several years ago.

The kids craft was "Make your own Sponge Bob!" We set out yellow sponges, pre-cut yellow pipe cleaners, googly eyes, black pompoms, black marker and felt in brown, red and white. You'll have to decide how easy you want to make it. If the kids are young, it is helpful to precut the felt for the pants, shirt and tie and an adult should then perhaps be in charge of the marker! All these items are quite simple and easy to grab! We premade one for an example and then let them at it--it amused them for quite a bit and they all loved taking them home!

At another table, we had premade star sugar cookies, frosting dyed in pink, green and purple and mini M&Ms. What's all this for? Their own Patrick of course!!! We set out a very high end container for them to use to hold their Patrick, coffee filters! Just like the Sponge Bob project, I premade one for them to use as inspiration. Some tried to make Patrick, others just loaded on the frosting and M&Ms and ate it. Either way, it was a hit!

This took up the first hour while everyone arrived and mingled, then we ate and the kids played and we ended the party with a cake and pinata. Simple but with a few fun, unique things and the party was a hit!!!

Kiersten

When Does a Quarter=$615??

We have had ongoing dryer issues for a few months now. It is a good dryer; here is the type we have because others that own this should know all about this too!! Though anyone can have this issue.

Here's the run down of events:

The ‘power failure’ (shows PF on our machine) warning came on in April. The service company that we called said it was electrical, not the machine—paid him $145.

The electrician came and moved the machine around, checked the plug, tweaked the electrical panel and moved the machine back and viola, it worked—paid him $85.

Fast forward to July and it happened again. This time we started with the electrician first. Seemed obvious right? Well, he’d tweaked all he could and found nothing wrong so sorry but I don’t know what it is—paid him $85.

So then we called the service company again. He at first said it must be the electrical but when we argued about the electrician already coming and looking at it, he said he’d investigate further. Well, he opened up the inside of the machine and laughed. He then proceeds to show me all the money in the mechanisms of my machine. Like 9 coins!!!! Two coins were lodged in with the electrical connectors and one quarter in particular was the issue. Well, wait, lets back up, the ISSUE is really a husband who can’t take his change and screws and business cards out of his pockets! Okay, so the repair man takes the quarter out of the electrical connector and look at this quarter!! Who knew a quarter could burn????? He handed it to me and said “here’s your expensive souvenir”. Yikes.

So he takes the money out but surprise! It still doesn’t work. The surges from the coin and shock to the system have crashed the main power board. So he replaced it and now it works—paid him $300!!!!!!

He said this was probably the same issue back in April but our moving the machine around jiggled it enough to let it work for a while. $615 and ALL of this for a quarter! So I figured out the start of the joke “When does a quarter=$615?” But I don’t know the actual punch line. Regardless, it’s not really funny now is it?

Here are things I learned about this issue as well as some washer issues:

-Many dryers let money get out of the drum and into the mechanisms but these frontloaders allow it to happen more often—it just slips right through the filter and the electrical is right below. SO, avoid all coins and also don’t let your filter get too full. I started a fire in another dryer by washing a dry clean only rug that just broke apart into lint years ago so I can speak on this too. Ha! As in, flames and extinguisher kind of fire. Yup. My husband was as amused with me then as I am with him right now.

-Screws and nails can fall through the holes in the washer, which is something that my husband also leaves in his pocket, and then as the drums spin, it will slice electrical lines and slash the outer drum in the washer that holds the water. Uuummmmm, that sounds expensive.

-Who gets a musty smell in their washer? I do! I thought I’d bug him with questions while he was working and he said that all front loading machines get some odor but some can be worse if your water isn’t great. I have a well so there ya go. Because of the high efficiency and low water levels, the machine gets a build up and never really rinses off. They sell tablets that you can use but that hasn’t worked long for me. Not only are they expensive but I have also ordered them online since they are hard to find. That’s time consuming on top of costly. So here’s his tip: Once a month put cascade dishwashing powder in the machine and run it on whitest whites or your longest wash. He said it doesn’t sud so no problem. It cuts grease and breaks down the lime build up and removes the issue! I will try that soon. Once I’m done catching up on all my laundry that is!

I always thought that the problem with coins in pockets is that it is ANNOYING to listen to, I had NO idea it was a risk to the machine and an obvious safety hazard! Show this to your husbands!

Kiersten

Builder Jim

Have I introduced you to my husband? We'll call him Builder Jim. He's a residential contractor and he works very hard. And he also plays very hard. This is a white shirt. What else can I say? I stay inside and drink wine when he's acting like this but even I, who avoid all things dirty and boyish, have to venture outside to get a photograph of this. This was many weeks ago. I just did laundry today and saw that this guy actually washed this shirt. I assume he's worn it again too because it was in the clean laundry today. That's ridiculous. We can afford a new tshirt, no problem. I threw it away. Don't tell him. I'm sure he's proud of how stained it is. I can find lots of pristine, dressed up pictures of my husband but if we are going to be real on this blog and speak of our real lives , then here it is--my husband at his happiest!

I don't like it, but I do like him happy so I deal. The next time he puts on a golf shirt and gets a manicure, I'll photograph that too . . . but don't hold your breath.

Kiersten

Dental Makeover, here we go!

Here are the first pictures of what I am sure will be a long dental process for my 9 year old. His upper jaw is not big enough for all his teeth! Before we even get into braces, he will have to have an expander to widen his jaw and then some other appliance to pull his upper jaw forward. I'm sure this won't be fun. Here he is the day they did his records and his "before" dental molds.

Kiersten