Matt's latest project

I bought Matt this little TV for Christmas and fourth of July weekend he decided he needed a project. So he climbed up into our thousand degree attic to wire the TV (anyone who lives in FL KNOWS how hot the attics get in the middle of summer). Example, I went to put something away up there and the plastic lid of the container was HOT to the touch. You can't store candles up there, they melt. Anyway, he spent an entire evening running wires, cutting holes and voila! Now we have the luxury of watching TV while sitting on the crapper (I have yet to turn it on but I know Matt enjoys the morning news). :)

Swim Trunks and Silly Bandz

Seems these days this is all I see my kids in, swim trunks and silly bandz. We have managed to keep very busy with summer (beach, movies, swimming, bowling, library and more swimming). I haven't been the best at carrying a camera around with me however. Silly bandz are "all that" with the kids here this summer. It started just before the school year ended. Basically, jelly bracelets reinvented but in different shapes (animals, planets, letters, movie characters, etc). They are actually cool and girls AND boys wear them. They were banned from bringing them to school because the kids wouldn't stop playing with them, and I see the kids at church trading between classes and before and after primary. It has been fun for my kids, except when Kai secretly tries to add to his collection from Kaden's stash.

INTRUDER ALERT!!!

I was having a nice, peaceful Sunday morning UNTIL... I went to put a towel away in the hall closet and saw this little darlin' slither underneath the door! I jumped back screaming, woke Kaden up, jolted Matt out of a dead sleep. Snakes are one of my worst fears. I have always, always been afraid of them.
We have no idea how he got in. What's worse, Kai had seen him earlier (before I woke up) and said, "I thought it was a worm". I can't believe it didn't phase him! We think he had one thing on his mind, "Super Mario 2" and he didn't want to stop to bother with the snake.
I think Matt dislikes snakes as much as I do but he was more rational about the situation. He sat there and designed/constructed a snake noose so he could get him safely out of the house. I stood back and watched, broom in hand. I've been able to swat a lizard or two out of the house with my trusty broom and it leaves a good distance between me and the reptiles. If the vacuum hose would've worked I may have tried to suck the snake up.
Might I add our cat, Onyx, was no help, she's afraid of them too!

Kaden often walks around the house often times chanting "intruder awert, intruder awert", thus the title.

Never, Never, Never...

Never, never, never have a major injury the few days of the fiscal year. For those who don't remember, our 3 year old at the time, broke his leg on the trampoline the second day after we arrived in Oregon for Christmas break. The actual date was December 23, 2009. I have a $1000 deductible per person/per year (that's after we already pay a HUGE amount for insurance each month). Let me remind you we paid the $1000 for Kai's broken arm in 2009. Anyway, I am thinking I'm good, bills started rolling in from Oregon after we got home in January and I pay my $1000. Of course he had to have follow up in Jacksonville in January so I was thinking it'd all be covered, minus 20%, because I'd already paid my $1000, right? Last month I got ANOTHER $1100 bill from the clinic in Jacksonville. After calling the insurance they explained I hadn't met my 2010 DEDUCTIBLE for Kaden. Sick and wrong. Made me mad. I waited until I got my second notice to mail the bill in. In fact it's sitting in the mail box with a stamp on it. If anyone would like to pay it for me I will quickly go out and remove my check.
Let's pray for no broken bones in 2010.

Ginnie Springs

Matt got his scuba diving certification this past winter and needs to complete a certain number of dives to keep his certification current so he signed up for the "galaxy dive" at Ginnie Springs. They dove at night so it was pitch black in the cave. We decided to make a family outing of the weekend. It was a nice getaway but the crowd at the springs was pretty rough. There was a lot of drinking, foul language, immodesty and overall crude behavior. I am thinking we won't take the kids back there again.

"Play Day"

I don't know if it's because it gets so hot here or what but the kids have their "play day" at school like 6 or 8 weeks before school gets out. When I was a kid we had "field day" the last day or so of school. I have gone both years and taken Kaden with me. He always has a ball and remembered it from last year. He loves to compete and enjoy the festivities of the day. He will be SO ready for kindergarten when he gets there.

Things that have changed since my childhood field days. We used to get ribbons for the races (1st, 2nd, 3rd). Now everyone's a winner. We did physical challenges like tug o war, sprints, etc. They had cup stacking, hopping on a bouncy ball, water balloon tosses (the running you see in the picture was the most physical event of the day).

The perfect alternative...

Matt's co-worker offered him a bounce house for the kids (her kids were no longer using it). He called to ask if I wanted him to take it. Um YAH, isn't this every kids dream AND it's a perfect alternative to a trampoline which my kids are forever banned from. This is the best "hand me down". Free always makes things so much cooler to me! :)