Fall Football

Last football season in Florida, Parker fractured his hip socket at practice half way through the season.  Two months on crutches got old pretty fast.   I was a little surprised this year when he wanted to go at it a second time.  Surprised but glad he enjoys it.

 He's #70 in case you couldn't tell.

They practice every day after school for 1-1/2 hours except game day and the day after.

 This week the had an awesome game.  They won by quite a large margin.

 Parker plays special teams and defense.

It's kind of funny that we came from the land of the Sharks to the land of the Crocodiles!

Updated Family Photos

I've been reluctant to change our family photo on our blog or on my Facebook page until Austin returns home from his mission and we have a truly updated family photo with all of us in it.

However, I was determined to get a photo of Riley before he headed out the door to college once again.  We didn't ever really have Senior year photos taken, nor did we have a nice pre-mission photo done either.  Our kids grow and change whether we want them to or not.  I want to remember the kids at all phases of life and photos are the one way to do just that.

So, thank you, Mickisha Glen for coming on Dec. 31, 2011 late in the afternoon and taking a few casual photos of the kids and the rest of us to document this moment in time.

Riley

Parker

Macey

The kids and me.

Silly kids having a good time.  Love the laughter.

Another Thought!

Can you believe it?!  I am actually having another thought and THIS time I am actually posting it!  I had to laugh at Nicole's comment "I'm glad you had a thought today!" regarding my last non-existent post.

I have been a little busy - STUDYING - actually (20+ hours this week alone).  I set a goal to get all my ducks in a row to be 'qualified' and accepted to be a Non-Instructional Substitute in the school district here.  I don't have an Assoc. Degree or 60 credit hours so extra testing required.  I finished my online testing (last of 8) late last night.  Prior to that I had to take a Para Professional test at the District offices.

Today, Tues. 3/6/12 was 1/2 day of school for kids.  I had a limited amount of time this morning but got my friend, Nicole Prime to tag along on some errands for fun.  My errands you ask?

1.  Pickup Johns suits from JOS Banks - funny that I got off on the right exit and headed over but then turned N instead of S and was almost to 2nd errand before even getting the 1st one checked off my list.  Oh well - I adjust well.  Errand #1 will turn into Errand #3.

2.  Drop of Scout re-chartering paperwork at the Scout office and request printout of my own son's progress.  I have no idea where he really stands.  They don't work on merit badges at scouts (someone explain that one to me) so I'm afraid he's horribly behind but don't even know.  I was pretty on the ball with the older boys.   Maybe because they started out with a really great Scout Master (Travis Mitchell) that got them off and running from the get go and maybe because my husband was Scout Master towards the end of their scouting experience and I was his go-to-GAL for badges and record upkeep.

3.  HOBBY LOBBY!  Why else do you think I was eager to go to the Scout office to drop off paperwork?!  They are both in Ft. Myers.  I have to have a reason to go to Ft. Myers and justify the trip to Hobby Lobby!  We only had time to run in and get the fabric we had in mind and head back out.  I want to make Macey a couple of under-skirt ruffle slips to make her dresses longer and Nicole is making some adorable bibs for baby gifts -Shhhh - don't tell.  Nicole's youngest daughter had preschool so we rushed back to get her there almost on time.  Another time we will do our browsing and really enjoy.

4.  Dropped her off at home with an extra child, my daughter, and returned back to my 1st errand of picking up John's suits. 

Parker had a friend, Max over after school.  You know all they want to do is play video games.  However, when I got home I made them take a break and treated them to a cold drink of their choice @Walgreen's (exciting, I know) and found kites & gliders.  Perfect for our blustery & windy day in Florida.  A little fresh air and outside time didn't hurt anyone - not even them.

I even treated myself to a little outside time and enjoyed feeling the wind in my hair.  The boys decided to get out the skateboard, wood board, broom stick and take each other for a ride.

Macey and Janiel came back to our house.  It is never hard to get them to be outside.  They are masters at tree climbing.  We have the perfect tree in our front yard and they spend HOURS up in it!  Literally!

The Night the Lights Went Out in Florida!

One night just before dinner - the lights went out in Florida.  It was an odd occurrence since there wasn't a storm brewing.  Turns out it wasn't a wide spread blackout - just 45 houses in our area. John had a business dinner so no sweat for him!  What about the rest of us you ask.  Well we decided to rough it (no McDonalds's necessary).


Before it got too dark we dug out the flashlights and lantern, pillows and blankets and parked it on the front room floor, camping style.  They really wanted to break out the tent and set it up (uh, no!  wouldn't fit for starters and it was a school night - thankgoodness for me!)


We ended up fixing peanut butter sandwiches and enjoyed our little camping excursion right in our own front room.

I Love Grandma, She Loves Me!

Grandma Swensen arrived late on Tuesday night.  Parker & Macey got to stay up late and go to the airport to pick her up.  Wednesday after school we spent a few minutes at the park at the end of our street.  It's only been two days and both kids have asked if they can come home early from school or better yet just stay home.  I have conceded that they will be allowed to miss one whole day of school sometime during the three weeks that she is here but not to incessantly bug be about it every day.

She has also already played the game 'Life' with them while John & I were gone last night to Young Men/Young Women.

Ringing In The New Year 2011!

Ready to ring in the New Year!

Macey & Alli Gator

The coolest dog in the world!

Macey and Parker.

Got to make some noise.

Parker sipping some sparkling cider.

 

                     Sparklers for some nighttime fun. 

Our New Year's Eve was fairly laid back and spent with just the (4) of us.  We enjoyed our time together.  We had homemade hamburgers - best I've made, went on a walk, watched some football and a movie and watched the ball drop to ring in the NEW YEAR 2011 and wave goodbye to 2010!

Earlier that day - We slept in and then got going.  Parker went to work on a Scout Activity & Macey was invited along to play with her friend.  John headed off to the office for a few hours himself.  What to do?  I thought my time was limited so I didn't do much - normal things - straightening the house, dishes & laundry.

Nothing went according to plan so was somewhat of a wasted day for me.  Parker's friend that was going to come over got sick.  Since he didn't come I didn't go to pick Parker up from the Scout Activity early.  So they both stayed for the day basically.  I did get a letter mailed to Riley and a 'get-well' package off to Austin.  Then a  few returns done and groceries bought for the weekend.

I'm not sure if it had gone differently if I would have felt like diving in to a new project before the new year began - lazy I guess.  I know the list I have made for myself is a long one. 


 

B. . .Y. . .U . . . Cougars! Go Cougars!

We hope a little cheering from the very depths of Florida will give a boost to our BYU football team!  We love BYU football.  It is the one sport I can follow and actually know something about.  I can usually tell what the penalty is when it happens - offsides, pass interference, etc.

This is one of the first games we watched from our living room with Macey all decked out in all her BYU apparel!

 As a treat John bought tickets for all of us to attend the BYU vs. Florida State game played in Tallahassee, FL. We were able to attend the fireside put on by the BYU Football team the night before the game. It was literally standing room only. This is Parker & Macey after the fireside standing in front of one of the buses after the players had loaded.



Fall football in Florida = HOT! It was probably one of the hottest days we've had. We were all hot before the game even started!


Good thing we brought sweat rags to mop our brows! We took refuge during half time by the concessions in the shade trying to cool down a bit.

First Day of School 2010

This year Parker is in 6th grade and started middle school at Oak Ridge Middle School.  Macey is in 4th grade at Laurel Oak Elementary.

Did anyone notice the missing shoe in the picture?  Too funny!
I must have been hurrying him to get their picture taken as I was headed out the door to get Macey to the bus that day.  Macey catches the bus at 7:51am and Parker at 8:29am.  There are two bus runs for the elementary bus.  Macey's is the second run but that also means she gets home later after school.  She gets home at 3:15p and Parker at 4pm.

We've been down this path before.  Parker and Macey are about exactly where Riley & Austin were in school when we first moved to Naples, FL ten years ago! Time just keeps passing by.

Parker was excited about middle school and has adjusted well to having 7 classes each day with different teachers, textbooks, notebooks, locker and all that comes with it.  He makes friends easily and for the most part has learned to "be like a duck".  Let the insignificant things roll off his back.

We had a little incident a couple of weeks ago - I got a call from the Dean of Discipline.  Parker had punched a kid in the arm and swore at him.  He was more upset that he had to tell me!  Some kids started ribbing others about girls.  Parker liked a girl last year - sorta - it really just resulted in them being really good friends.  Well they started ribbing him about it at lunch.  It made him mad and he told someone to "go to hell."  Yikes. Where did that come from?  That is way out of character for him.  Well that someone then told his friend, the girl, that he said it about her.  Not good.  The ribbing continued in band.  Parker ended up punching the kid and telling him the same thing again.

It didn't escalate.  The boys are on friendly terms.  Parker was able to talk to the girl and make sure she knew what he said wasn't directed at her.

John had told him last year when he was getting 'bugged' that he would rather that he stand up for himself and deck someone if he needed to.  Not that I disagree but then there's the school rules and those two don't always agree.  In the end it was a good learning experience and an opportunity to talk through things and how things might be better handled in the future.  Thus the comment to "be like a duck."

And It's A Winner!

Parker participated in his 2nd and final Pinewood Derby as next year he will be an 11-year old scout. The Ft. Myers Stake put on a stake pinewood derby and did an excellent job in organizing it. The boys all had fun and everyone was a winner!

Parker's car won 3rd place overall! Go Parker! He also won best design.

We have a video that my brother and a physicist friend created on the physics of how to build and know how to have a winning pinewood derby car. I called him instead (thinking I didn't know where the video was, nor the time) and said - "we really don't have time to watch the whole video, can you just tell us the best place to put the weights?" He had the answer! Short version (I think) is just in front of the rear axle and higher up (on top of the car). Thanks Uncle John for being a phone call away.


I am so proud that the idea for the duct tape to hold the toilet paper cushion in place was mine. The first couple of times they did the practice runs the cars came screaming down the track and bumped the toilet paper barrier/buffer off the track and therefore the cars smashed into the end wood piece causing some minor damage to a few race cars - wheels popping off, chipped tail fin, etc. Not good! Glad I could be a problem solver.

Where's the Beef?!

In all the old movies didn't they use a steak or some slab of meat to put on a black eye? Parker and his friends were playing guitar hero. They decided to have a dance off. His friend Thomas did a cartwheel in the process and kicked Parker in the eye giving him this 'shiner'!