Mountains! Beach! or Both!…

Today, Erin and I went to a luncheon over at Tropicana Field.  Our lunch was in the out field and our presentation was called “Bridges out of Poverty” with Ruby Payne as the keynote speaker.  It was very eye-opening to hear her speak and I love the program that they are continually trying to improve and grow within the community.  One fact that I learned today, is that there are more than 4,000 kids in the Hillsborough county schools that are considered homeless…that is sad :(…

This pretty much sums up every night after bath.  The boys get dressed for bed, Andy is working on his computer or I-pad, and then the jumping begins.  The boys love it!  They squeal and laugh, the dog gets excited, and Andy just smiles….everytime.  🙂

It is Monday, and on Monday’s Davy has Barracuda’s practice.  Here he is afterwards, I love that it is January and he gets to swim outside :).

I just love the golden hour and the light.  It is so pretty.  Dan let Teddy out to play with Molly, they ran and ran up and down the backyards.  I bet they sure wish that Lucy was here too!!!

Sometimes there is nothing sweeter than the imagination of a child.  There aren’t a lot of boys in the neighborhood to play with that are Matty’s age, but that doesn’t stop him making friends even if it is with all of little stuffies.  So, yesterday when he announced that today was going to be Kitty’s birthday I just went with it.  He spent two hours pulling out all of the gift bags from the office and stuffing them, there must be fifteen and then he tells me that Kitty needs a collar and food dishes.  While Matty was at school today I went to PetSmart and bought his Kitty a collar and bowls, and then made a birthday cake.  He was so excited and proud.  We sang Happy Birthday to Kitty with a few of his stuffy friends and I just love that I made him so happy.

We started today off with an 8:30 ENT appointment for Matty.  One of his tubes still hasn’t fallen out so we talked briefly about when we might remove it.  Afterwards, I had a date with my house.  Lots of cleaning and laundry to do to get ready for the rest of the week.  Both boys were out of school for Martin Luther King Day, so they played outside with Alex most of the day.  Those crazy nuts even played in the pool.  President Obama had his inauguration today, we watched a little of this on tv.  A new sinus cold has moved in, so Andy took us to Catch 23 for dinner, $3.99 cheeseburger and fries night.  Yum!

Derek, Sarah, and Lily left this morning, Matty said it best when he said, “Mama, I’m really gonna miss Derek”.  He did love playing with him.  We were sad to see them go but happy that we were the ones staying here and not flying into the 17 degree weather :).  Davy had to be at Westchase Elementary at 11:45 for the opening ceremonies of the Pinebox Derby car race.  Although he didn’t win, he did place third for best military design.  He was so proud to get his trophy.  While he was at the race, Matty and I went to Mathis’s 4th birthday party and Pump-it-up and at 1:30 Andy and Davy raced over to Qzar for Maxie’s 8th birthday.  We all met back at the house around 3:30 and settled in for the night.  A little football, Chinese food, and a few movies makes for a great afternoon.

A little Dunkin Donuts and Village Market for breakfast, Mikey was picked up to go to Gabrielle’s party, Andy and Davy went over to the Elementary school for the Pinebox Derby car weigh in, we went out to Honeymoon Island for a couple of hours to soak up the beautiful weather and play in the sand, a quick stop to pick up Cuban sandwiches for lunch, back home to clean up and then out the door at 2:45 to head down to Bayshore to meet up with friends, cheered for the pirates at the Gasparilla Children’s parade, watched the fireworks, picked up Zen for dinner, and called it a day!  Whew…a full and awesome day!  Another day in paradise!

Off to the zoo today while the guys visit a few of the beer breweries in the area.  For lunch we met at the Columbia.  Afterwards, Sarah and I headed home and curled up on the couch to watch a few movies.  Davy had a playdate with Mikey and he ended up spending the night.  Overall, we just had a relaxing evening.