The China Gates

We have a set of French Doors at our house. For some reason, the kids can never remember what they are called. We laughed the other day when one child told another to "close the china gates!" So, now we jokingly refer to them as the China Gates.

First soccer games of the season

This past Saturday was the first day of games for the new soccer season. Here are a few pictures from our day at the fields.Dustin's game

Derek got kicked in the side while he was down, so he wasn't very happy after his game.
This is how Kaylee & Brandon prefer to spend their time.

A refreshing way to cool down after a hot day. I like it!!

Heart and Soul

I start teaching my children to play the piano when they are fairly young. Some have caught on quicker than others, but they are all making good progress. During their learning over the past 7 years, I have intentionally avoided teaching anyone the song, "Heart and Soul." It's fun to play and all, but it gets old when people repeat it, which they inevitably do. Sunday we had the missionaries over for dinner and you guessed it, one of them had the nerve to play "Heart and Soul." Derek and Dustin were hooked and I haven't heard much of anything else since. They practice relentlessly and beg me to teach them variations. I'm glad they're having fun, but I can't express adequately how sick I am getting of that song!!!

A visit from Emily & Dan

We have been so glad to have Emily and Dan visit us on a regular basis since they moved to Tallahassee. They come about once a month to visit the Orlando temple, so we provide them some babysitting and a place to stay. It's nice to see family members a little more frequently than we are used to.

Caitlyn is growing up so fast! She's lots of fun to have around.

Derek was so nice to play with Jeffrey on Saturday. If only he would play with his own little brother this well!!

Jeffrey and Brandon

This can only end in tears. At least he thought to put helmets on the little ones, too.

The whole clan.

Pregnant Emily - a little over halfway there. I'm sure she'll be happy with me for posting this! I'll spare Dan a photo...this time.

Brandon's commentary on hitting

Brandon has had a tough time learning to use words instead of his hands to express himself in Kindergarten (we've never dealt with this before, so it's been a challenge!). He has been doing better this week and he wanted me to video him talking about how his teacher is proud of him for learning not to hit. (He's in the bathroom because someone has to be on guard in case Houdini tries to sneak out of the tub.)

Growing faster than I planned

When we first got Houdini, we knew he would get bigger - in the far distant future, of course. Nothing to fret about too much at the moment. You know, "cross that bridge when we get there." Well, he seems to be growing pretty fast, and this is a little alarming to me. Mostly because I'm not too excited about feeding him anything bigger than mice. I need to be getting used to that idea, or getting the kids used to the idea of not having a snake!!
We had a hard time getting him to hold still to be measured, but he's about 27" long now.

Here he is waiting in the tub while Kaylee and Roger clean out his cage.

Ike could be interesting.

Hmmm. Nice and suspenseful. Life is exciting this time of year in Florida. We'll keep you posted!

More Free Food!

Well, this was MUCH better than dressing up like cows! Throw on a few football related clothing articles and free dinner is served! Thank you Chick-fil-A!! It was a nice end to a very relaxing Labor Day!!

Lizard Land

It may look like a normal backyard, but this, my friends, is actually Lizard Land. When I first moved to Florida, I was a little shocked by the volume of lizards here. They really freaked me out - especially if they got in the house - ick!! Over time, however, I have become quite accustomed to seeing them, and I really don't think much about it anymore. For some reason as I was mowing the lawn this morning and watching them scurry EVERYWHERE, it really grossed me out. Why do there need to be so many lizards??
I took all of these pictures in about 1 minute. I didn't have to go searching, oh no. Now if only we could get our snake to eat lizards, we'd have a lifetime supply of food for him!