Randomness

I am getting behind on blogging. I will get to our Ireland trip soon, but first wanted to share some other random photos from the past couple of months.....

So the story behind this......Allie and Avery both had lost/misplaced their wallets. Well, Avery found hers and we asked Allie to get hers. We knew it was still in the car from one of our little getaways....she went to get it and couldn't find it anywhere! So we decided to use this opportunity to talk to them about the importance of money and taking care of it. I'm sure we've had the talk before, but hoped that this might put things into perspective a little more. We then took all of their cash and put it into their savings accounts. We kept some out for them to spend, but put the cash in our wallets for the time being. Allie later brought us this paper with her thoughts on the situation!! :)

This boy could play with his cars ALL day! So, I decided to research ways to incorporate some learning into his favorite pastime.......

An Alphabet Car Park!! All of his cars have letters of the alphabet on them.....as well as each parking spot. He has to match them up. He's already got it down. Pretty soon I'll change the parking spots to lower case letters to make it a little more difficult. He loves it though! He is so proud of himself when he matches everything correctly.

The kids had dentist appointments. Blake's was at a different time than the girls so I was actually able to get a picture of him (actually Derek did!). He was a champ! Such a big boy!

Avery lost another tooth! I think she looks so stinkin' adorable!!

Blake feeding the ducks at the bus stop.

Blake reading me signs at the bus stop. "Dogs don't poop or it will be on fire!"

2 Favorite After School Activities

Walking their dogs......or tiger. Can you tell they really want a dog?!!?

Library. They have created a library in the girls room. Making their room even messier, but I suppose I can't get mad because at least they are reading. Allie has created labels for all of the books with call #'s and everything....signs, library cards, etc. She has such a love for reading......and I think it has been helping Avery develop a love for it too.

Allie seriously reads a book (or two) every day. She read this one overnight!

Therefore, she is already in the "100 Club" at school for the Reading Counts program. Her teacher announces every time Allie takes a quiz and how many points she has. Allie says it's so embarrassing because everyone starts clapping. Every time someone gets to 100 her teacher also buys them pizza/drink from Rugby's Too (a little place to eat next to the school). Her teacher said she is going to have to rob a bank or something to be able to afford all the pizza Allie is going to earn this year! ;)

Speaking of Allie's teacher. Allie absolutely loves her! They get along so well. They both have the same dry, sarcastic sense of humor. Their class won the Spirit Wear contest last week and guess who got to hold the trophy and Hedgie?! ;)

Derek's birthday was last Friday. He had to work late.......I think it was about midnight or after when he got home......and he has been working those kind of hours since then. We are actually supposed to be in Germany right now (we had flights and everything!) and were told that Derek couldn't take it off. I'm livid because it's no secret the people he works for/with have it out for him for whatever reason. I think they are jealous actually. They are so hurtful and say and do the most rude things and make up lies. It's so sad! Anyway, back to Derek's birthday. I made him this scrumptious apple snicker's pie. And we were able to go out to dinner last night at a favorite restaurant.

Update: Even more proof that Derek's leadership was just telling him he couldn't take off because they wanted to screw him over........yesterday his boss came up to him and said, "Derek, you've been working alot lately. Why don't you take a couple days off this weekend and go spend with your family?" Derek wanted to punch him!!! Are you serious? You made such a big deal about him not being able to take those days off and now you want him to take them off. Really?! So, Derek said........"No, you told me I need to be here so I'm going to be here." Well, guess who isn't at work today? Yep, Mr. Bossy Pants himself. He clearly just wanted Derek to stay home because he realized he was wrong and wasn't needed.......and neither was he so he wasn't going to be there and if he wasn't going to be there than Derek can't be there to see that he's not there either. Seriously the worst boss ever!

Also have to add something else in to make this post a little happier. A couple days ago Blake and I were having lunch. We were sitting across from one another and I was staring off into space. I snapped out of it and made eye contact with Blake and he was just looking at me smiling. I smiled back and he said, " My Mom is soooooo pretty. You're my baby forever!" He makes me melt!! <3 p="">

Weekend Fun {Mucky Race, Framlingham Castle, Royal Apple Picking}

A couple weeks ago we had a jam-packed, fun-filled weekend!

It started out with the {Mucky Race}. Derek ran the 10k this time around. He came in 8th with a time of 1 hr 8min.

While he was off in the fields running his race the kids decided to have a little race of their own.

After the race, Derek got cleaned up and we went down the road to {Framlingham Castle}. This was our 2nd time to the castle. Last time we were here there was an event going on, which was really cool, but this time was way less crowded and we got to move slower and we all (especially the kids) enjoyed listening to the audio guide.

A lot of the castles will have dozens of chimneys. They did this to show (or make others think) that they were wealthy. This is one of those castles and each one is designed differently.

After we toured around the castle we went around to the back for a game of freeze tag.

It was a great day out with beautiful weather!

The next day we went to Sandringham Estate for some {Royal Apple Picking}.

I had to get her this shirt! So perfect! "though she be but little, she is FIERCE"

None of them were in the mood to have their picture taken. :(

Labor Day Weekend Fun

We started off our weekend by finally purchasing a National Trust membership and then heading 10 minutes down the road to Oxburgh Hall.

There was a box full of lawn games so we pulled a few out and played.

We also went on a scavenger hunt

Toured the hall -- and there were people in every room to explain the history to you. One of the most informative places we've been to! At the end the kids and Derek all squeezed into the Priests Hole.

And we walked around the gardens. We thought the fruit trees growing up along the walls were neat.

We then spent a day at LEGOLAND. It was an absolutely perfect day out. Great weather and we could all ride all of the rides! Allie was at the perfect height to where if she needed to ride alone she could, while Derek and I rode with Avery and Blake. Very fun day! Their favorite ride was the big rollercoaster and then their second favorite was the lego cars.

Here's Blake -- who is an excellent driver!

And here we have Granny and Fast & The Furious

The best kind of treasure....

 

Avery and I rode together on the log ride. We got soaked!

Derek took pictures of the pictures we could purchase.....but are too cheap to do so.

Many of the rides had lego stations to play at while waiting in line. Fab idea!!

We saved walking through Mini Land until the very end. It was so cool!! Even cooler that the kids knew so many of the landmarks! Of course Blake was blurting out, "We've been there!"

Many of the London sights.....London Eye, Big Ben, Parliament

 

Tower Bridge

 

Buckingham Palace

 

Brighton Pier, which we had just been to very recently so it was fresh in their mind.

Edinburgh Castle -- another place that was fresh in their mind.

 

Mont St. Michel, France

Louvre, France

Sacre Coeur, France

Brussels, Belgium

Italy

Football match

Avery also learned how to ride her bike!!!!