Blog a thon part II

So continuing on with the blog a thon.... We went to the beach in July, then came home to school, lake weekends, football and more football. I will try to keep these in chronological order but I am not making any promises. Each occasion was awesome and worthy of blogging!

Jenni, Rich, Trey and Auntie Nancy came up to lake Hartwell. How cute is Trey?!? I wanted to eat him up all weekend. This child is so sweet and wicked smart. We all had so much fun together but I think my kids really enjoyed being the big kids and helping out their little buddy. He loved making the trucks honk, doesn't everyone?! :)

Ryan teaching Trey how to jump off the dock

Mom and Nan with a concoction ;)

Rob on the yamaha, great weather and very few boats

Jared chillin

This year for Labor Day we had company come in to town. We were very blessed to have my folks, my dad's sister Sandie, her hubby Milt, Dad's sister Karen and her hubby Gary come stay with us for the weekend. The gang was all together for Dad's oldest sister, Mary & Ralph's, 50th wedding anniversary. We had such a fantastic time. The last time we were all together at the HomerHouse was for Gramps' 90th birthday in November 2003.


Are you ready for football?? This year Rob decided he was going to help coach. That worked great for me since I had the swimmers at the pool. Practice time carpooling went very smoothly this year. :) Rob was in charge of special teams, Ryan was water girl, Jared sometimes was ball boy and I was the team videographer. Kevin got to start as center and played some defense as well. The team went 6-2 and tied for a playoff but lost in the tie breaker. Kev was ok with that, the boys were tired and he had wrestling to look forward to!

Kevin and his best friend Jackson. I can't wait to see these two young ones grow up together!

Kevin as center-go Kev!! He only had about 4 bad snaps all season, pretty good record. There is a special relationship between a center and his QB ;)

Getting ready to go to the first game of the season

Kev and Coach-Dad :)

One last weekend at the lake. Mary, Anthony and Andrew joined us for a few days when the kids had a break in September. It almost makes going back so early worth it. I think we saw three boats in four days. The kids had a fantastic time and want to adopt Gran and Grandfather. I'm sure we will have another lake visit at some point. :)

Blog a thon 2010

I have absolutely no idea how I got so far behind on my blog. Life gets in the way of living. I know that part of it is that I got new computer software for my camera. I have no clue how to use it and I haven't had the time to figure it out yet. We got home from the beach in July and the kids went right back to school a week and a half later. That meant I went back to work and the blog got pushed aside. That makes my heart hurt. I haven't even had time to read other peoples blogs. There is so much stuff that I missed in the past couple months. I will have to do better in the future! I was planning on going through and posting all the pics in real time but that would take forever since I am so backed up. My new plan is to post pictures, raw and unedited so that I can at least get them out here. Here it goes!

Our first stop this year was to visit Rob's Grammy. We went over to Rob's Aunt Barbara & Uncle Paul's for the day. We had such a wonderful time catching up with everyone. The kids had a blast swimming in the pool while the adults had a play date. We stayed for pizza and left with full bellies and full hearts. I am sure that Grammy will out live us all, she shows us what living in your 90's is all about! Ask her about Bingo or cards, she's one of the best players I know. :)

Swimming at Great Aunt Barbara's house

Annual 4th of July photo on the couch.

This picture cracks me up. Remember the shot of us in the mountains? We have a goober in the background making faces. This shot is scarily similar, just closer up. :) I took this photo to prove we do use sunscreen. People think we don't but we are sure to slip, slap slop every day. :)

The boys of Beach Club I 2010. Someday this will be in the elevator or in a collage :)

Some of my favorite people on the planet at my most favorite place on earth!

This picture is from Daddy's camera. Mom, Dad, Rick and I escaped down to the Keys for a day. Rick and I went diving while mom and dad snorkeled. It was a great day, with awesome weather. We finished our field trip off with a scrumptious meal ocean side, the food in the Keys is delicious!

Another Grandfather shot. He kidnapped the kids one morning and walked down to the DQ...for breakfast. Who says you can't have ice cream at 9 am??? That's what grandparents are for right? :)

We had boat issues this year. It was bad and it cost Rick bunches of money. It was sad to not be able to get out on the water but when we did we made the most of each day. We caught and ate quite a few shark. The kids love bringing in the black tips. Taste like chicken! I was out on the last day when we brought in HUGE fish. I think they were mackerel. haha yes, holy mackerel, they were ginormous! We were able to trade them for smoked mackerel at the smoked fish place down the street. I'm not sure how Rick cleaned them (I was cleaning the boat) but mental note for next year. I think it worked out to be a great trade.

Pinkie girl.

Those eyes kill me!

hehe I love this shot of Jared and I. Yes, I do take pictures of myself sometimes. :)

Family photo after an AWESOME vacation. This year was the perfect storm of vacation so to speak. Rob was there the entire time. Rick left a couple days but came right back and Daddy was there for most of it. Mom and I were there with the kiddos as usual, but I L.O.V.E.D having all my people around me. One of the best vacations ever!!

Happy Birthday BU!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEVIN!!!



WE LOVE YOU!!
Mom, Dad, Jared and Ryan

I heart faces Week 34~Beach Fun~

BEACH FUN

This week's theme is Beach Fun. Considering we spend most of the summer there I have oodles of pictures to chose from. This week was really hard to pick just one entry. I decided on my favorite of our tween, Jared. It's hard to get more then a grunt some days but when I asked if he was having fun on vacation, this was what I got. Wow, a pure eye twinkling smile, not a snarky "stop with the paparazzi" grimace. These are the days I live for.

Head on over to Iheartfaces to see more of this week's Beach Fun photos.

First day of School 2010

I'm sitting here trying to keep myself busy. I can't wait for Jared to get home from his first day of middle school. I already posted pictures of this morning to Face Book but left his off. I figure the mailbox picture might get him beat up or hung from a locker when displayed in a public forum. Technology has come so far from my collection of mailbox pictures. I don't think anyone ever even saw them but my parents. Now it's what you do. Post "first day" pictures in the morning, go out for lunch with friends or go to work, then post or blog about the kids day-information you harvested from them while enjoying a sweet treat either baked or store bought. Wow, I am a suburban mom for sure!
So while I watch the clock tick bringing me closer to seeing what classes Jared got, if he got lost or if he had a friend to sit with during his lunch period-I will blog... :) Let me just add a side note that I about passed out at the bus stop today. 97 degrees is H.O.T for the kids to be back in school. Going back this early breaks my heart. I will reevaluate in September when we have our first week break and we head up to the lake for some late summer fun. MAYBE then I will like it, but not today :(

Kevin looks r.o.u.g.h. I felt as tired as he looks. Ryan on the other hand was bright eyed and bushy tailed ;)

It was so hot out my camera fogged up...at 6 in the morning. eeesh.

much cooler when Jared's bus came by an hour plus later. HOMER, get it? Like the shirt? That kid has a funny sense of humor ;) Guess his teacher will remember HIS name today-ha!

Georgia State Games

What an awesome way to end our swim season. The kids swim from August through June and Kevin joins up for summer swim in May and June. I can't even imagine how tired they are of the sport by the time vacation rolls around! A few years ago Jared wanted to head back to the condo while we were at the pool. I asked why he wanted to sit inside on such a pretty day and play video games... his response? "hanging out at the pool isn't my idea of a break". Touche, young grasshopper :)
This year in Gold had so many mile stones. Jared's first state cuts, Ryan moving to silver from bronze, and making some great new friends for both kids. It's hard to sit at a meet for 8 hours with just your sister to hang out with! :) Summer means long course meets, summer swim team for Chestnut hill and Georgia State Games.
Long course went well, Jared swam two meets and Ryan swam one. Pinkie got a high point trophy for the Swim with Dad in Jonesboro last weekend. Forgive the lack of pictures, the air was out and it was close to a sweat lodge spiritual experience in the pool. I decided to leave the camera alone and concentrate on breathing! Anyways, Ryan got a 9th place overall for the 8 and under girls. Awesome. I hope she will do will next year, I'm sure she will, she's already close to the top of the pack and she has a year and a half in this age group. :) Jared on the other hand has his work cut out for him. Aging up to the 11-12's is a HUGE drop in times. I expect he will have a rough go of it for the next few months. We shall see. :)
I'm looking forward to blogging about Kevin after we get home from the beach. He starts right into football practice in July. Rob will be one of his coaches so that will be a new experience for the HomerHouse. I'm excited because with Rob coaching, he is in charge of getting Kevin to the field, one less carpool for me to lose track of! :) Maybe Kevin will get a skill position? Full back perhaps?

Here's some photos of the Ga Games-our last swim until OCTOBER!! Ahhhhhhh :)
Ryan swept her events and got all gold medals and Jared got 4 Bronze, a Gold and a 5th place ribbon. Fantastic!

racing during warm ups

coach "mom" gives the warm up orders today

ready for her first event

Great job guys!!!

Little boy blue

I've been blogging a bunch about the swimmers recently. Not much has been going on with Kevin since wrestling ended. He will start football as soon as we get home from the beach, he can't wait to get out on the field. Until then he has picked up a new hobby, the trumpet.

Jared went for middle school orientation a few weeks back. We were discussing all his options-band or orchestra-which instrument etc. We already have an electric guitar, two acoustic guitars, and a full set of drums. Jared decided the violin was right for him. Good thing Rick gave me one for Christmas many moons ago. One of my favorite gifts ever and now Jared will use it in 6th grade. :)

While we were deciding what to do for the eldest, Kevin was contemplating the trumpet. Grandfather, Uncle Ricky and cousin Cal all play the trumpet. Uncle Ricky also has a french horn. I think there is a band at Chalker in 5th grade, not sure if it is for 4th grade as well. We will see in the Fall. We placed a call to Grandfather to see if he had another horn sitting around. In deed there was and Kevin couldn't wait to get his hands on it. I went to work the first day he had it and by the time I came home he had figured out how to play hot crossed buns and another "song" that I couldn't quite put a finger on.

Since Kev is kind of in the jet wash of summer swim flurry I asked if he could go to "Camp Gran" for a few days to get some extra lovin. Kev was exstatic! He learned and practiced the scales and by the time I saw him a few days later I was amazed with how well he was doing. He stayed at the lake and I will see him tomorrow. He's been with Uncle Ricky and Grandfather so I know they had some playing time in there. I'm glad he found something to make his heart happy. :)

Swim with the Champions Tour

Did Ryan win a GOLD medal??? Nah, she's just borrowing one until she gets her own. ;) We signed the swimmers up for a pro-am with 3 Olympic medalists: Misty Hyman (Ryan's favorite), Maritza Correia and Matt Targett.

Here's the group shot

they were all SO nice, we will do this again!!

Ryan on the blocks against Misty...AWESOME! I had to quick grab my still camera because I was getting video at the same time. I will try and post those later.

autographs at the end. Ryan has had Misty's picture on her door for the last 3 years. :)

Notice the bling?? Those are Matt's 3, yes 3, NCAA AUBURN rings. He let Ryan wear them since her middle name is Auburn.

I had pictures of Jared but his group was way across the pool. He had a great time as well. Rob and Kevin stayed home and had some "guy time". Looking forward to a great summer in the pool.

Last Days at Chalker for Jared

Wow the last few weeks of 5th grade are PACKED with fun things to do. We had the field trip to Tennessee, the Target presentation, a Hawaiian Luau with DJ, a red carpet lunch and video presentation, awards assembly, class awards and the walk of fame through the halls. We didn't get that kind of treatment in 5th grade! Jared received 1 award, the class Science award-Way to go!
One bus stop on our street uses silly string on the 5th graders for the last day of school. Since they only had two kids this year they invited all the 5th graders and their families to come to their stop. We had silly string, a banner for the kids to run through, popsicles, cold drinks and plenty of pictures. The bus driver was SO sweet about the entire thing, even when her bus got "decorated".
YAY!! It's officially SUMMER VACATION

Medieval Feast-Roger Bacon

ROGER BACON

like the monk wig? $2.50 (yay me) the other stuff we already had at home.

decorations for the feast, the room looked outstanding!

more decorations.....

...and more

a shot of the class all decked out. I spy with my little eye:
Leif Eriksson, Ann Boleyn, Johannes Gutenberg, Richard the Lionheart, Marco Polo, Queen Elizabeth I, Kubla Kahn, Henry the VIII...

This would be "Roger" slaying the 7 foot tall dragon that was in the room....

The last two weeks of school are JAMMED full of activities for all three kids. Between the field trip to Tennessee, Medieval Feast Day, Field Day (x3) and end of the year projects (x4) we are going to ENJOY summer break!
Jared chose to do a monologue on Roger Bacon, a monk who developed the scientific method, discovered the camera and helped spread Christianity :) Good Boy! :) He did a great job on his presentation, we may have an actor on our hands. :) The room looked beautiful for the feast! I didn't help much because it was on the tails of Relay but total props to the moms that took that project on. I was SO tempted to buy one of the huge Knights for my Dad, he's always wanted one ;)