The rest of October, all in one post!

 October began with my 35th birthday and a really yummy Whoppers cheesecake:

I was really dreading this birthday, mostly because, burned into my brain, is the lecture in medical school where they told us that the risk for birth defects starts increasing more significantly after 35.  I can remember trading glances with all the girls in my row--I know we were all feeling like we were still going to be stuck in that lecture hall at age 35, and really didn't need any more reminders about our biological clocks!!  Anyway, I sort of had that deadline in my head--despite the fact that I take care of plenty of healthy babies born to mothers over 35--and I'd been struggling with the idea that our family is complete and thought I'd spend the birthday in tears.  But I didn't!! And 35 hasn't been bad so far at all. :-)

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The following weekend, John and I headed to Gainesville to watch the UF-LSU game:

Heeeeere come the Gators!!

Our offense really struggled during the first half.  But I spied this rainbow and decided to take it as a sign that we might still have a chance (mostly because it was behind the LSU fans so they couldn't see it!)...

...and we won!

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The next weekend, we went to the fair at Port Orange Family Days:

Anna won a trumpet.  Luckily, it didn't work very well:

And, after much begging, Will and I rode the ferris wheel.  Those fair rides look so rickety, so I was pretty much scared to death during the entire ride, but got so tickled when Anna kept calling it a "steering wheel."

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The next weekend, we went back to Gainesville for John's ten-year medical school class reunion.

The kids (and Alexiya) enjoyed all the food:

The barbecue was so nice this year, with snow cones, popcorn, face painting, and caricatures.  John and Will posed for a picture:

And Anna got her face painted:

Fierce girl!

John went to the game with his buddies, while the kids and I headed to Blountstown to visit my family. We stopped by Grandmama and Granddaddy's house to give them a preview of Halloween:

Grandmama, Granddaddy, a great white shark, and a little hammerhead:

I love stopping for lunch in Gainesville on our trips to and from B-town.  This time, I took the kids to Maui Teriyaki.  Rachel and I used to walk there often for dinner (especially while we were living in Mallory Hall), but it's been years and years since I had a chicken bowl.  I thought it was time to remedy that.

The old one was knocked down, so we went to the new location on SW 34th St.  Anna was ho-hum on her meal, but Will loved it.  He's pretty decent with the chopsticks, too:

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For the last weekend in October, I flew up to DC to stay with Missy.  We had some plans:

Yep, we took on the Marine Corps Marathon, the first marathon for both of us.

Before the race:

We were tired at the end, so I forgot to take pictures.  It was a really, really fun race and, despite the Frankenstorm (Hurricane Sandy) bearing down on us, we had pretty decent weather.

The weather turned much fouler overnight, so Missy and I spent most of the rest of my visit holed up in her apartment knitting, which was perfectly fine by me. :-)

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I arrived home in time for Halloween.  We dressed the kids up and took them to the Fall Festival at their school.

This picture cracks me up--that evening sun was brutal:

They played lots of games and won a few prizes:

And, of course, there were lots of bounce houses.

My flying sharks:

Then we did some trick-or-treating until Anna announced, "I so tired!"

And that wraps up October!

Will gets to meet the other (famous) Will

I've been totally avoiding the blog because I have a bunch of vacation photos to sort through and I don't want to do it...BUT, we had a little excitement this week and I wanted to share the photos:

We took the kids to the Gator Club of Volusia County meeting on Tuesday night to see a very special guest.  We never think far enough in advance to buy tickets to these things, but one of John's friends had tickets he couldn't use...so we gladly took them.

The kids sat through lots of speeches, but there was a reward at the end:

Yep, that's our Will with Coach Will Muschamp.

As a side note, we bought that football earlier in the day so that Will could get it autographed, but lazy Will refused to carry it from the parking garage into the hotel where the event was held.  So poor Anna lugged that ball inside, then held it through a lot of the event---only to have Will take it from her at the important point.  She was pretty upset, so I hope Coach Muschamp comes back next year so she can get another football signed!  (And yes, she knew that wasn't her name on the football.)

For the UF fans reading this--he didn't promise a successful season, but he is very optimistic and very, very enthusiastic.  One of the audience members asked, "Can you please get the team members to be as excited and enthusiastic as you are?"  

He said he's working on it and I certainly hope he's successful.  Go Gators!!

I think I can, I think I can...

...complete a blog post!  It's hard finding time around here, especially since I spend most of my computer time scanning craft blogs.  We also, quite honestly, haven't been doing a whole lot over here other than work, school, and mundane stuff, so I haven't been picking up the camera as much as I should.

But I wanted to share some pics of my favorite Gators!!

Anna and Will dressed in orange and blue for school last Friday, before the UF-Miami (Ohio) game.   Anna was not interested in modeling her dress at all.  I was sort of pleased with the dress (except for the zipper--I need some practice in zipper installation).

Will and Anna did not get to go to the game, but John and I did.  We had a fun time, thanks to some friends who let us borrow their Champion club tickets.  That is the way to see the game--shade, fans, TV screens, and an air-conditioned sitting area with snacks.  It's definitely a sweet experience during a hot September game. (The actual game was less than a sweet experience, but I'm confident our Gators will improve!)

Today, John and Will went to Gainesville to watch the UF-USF game.  Will was soooo excited--I think he told me he was going to the game with Daddy about 20 times between 7 pm Friday night and the time they left this morning.

Fighting with Will over something--an increasingly common occurrence around here.

If you think Anna looks a little sulky in those pictures, you are right.  She was super cranky all morning--at first I thought it was achy aftereffects from her flu shot, but I think she realized she was getting left behind.  Sometimes it's not fun to be little.

She was a little sad until she found her happy note from school yesterday.  One monkey sticker and she's a happy camper!

John sent me a camera phone shot, and it looks like the boys are pretty happy, too.  Go Gators!!

Weekend Recap--Part I

I've been computer-deprived lately, thanks to other responsibilities and a presentation that John is working on that requires lots of computer time (and takes precedence over my blogging!). So I have lots of pics from last weekend that need posting.

Last Friday was John's birthday. I surprised him by getting Nichole to babysit so that we could go out for a dinner date. We went to Frappes, used our gift certificate (thanks Missy and Laurie!), and had a delicious and relaxed dinner (including a before-dinner drink, appetizers, and coffee at the end...luxury...). When we got back, Will and I gave John his presents and his birthday cake. I made Tres Leches Cake from the Pioneer Woman's recipe--John was skeptical about a tres leches recipe from someone named "Pioneer Woman," but it was yummy. (I think she got it from a Mexican friend.)

Here is Will showing off the birthday decorations he made:

John and Will blowing out their candles (Will wanted a candle, too):

Will also took over some of the gift-opening responsibilities. (At this point, you may be confused about whose birthday this was exactly. I don't blame you.)

On Saturday, Nichole came over to watch the kids again, and John and I skedaddled over to Gainesville to watch the Gator game. We had great seats--35 yard-line, in the shade the WHOLE game. I am now a little sad I can't make it to more games this season, but leaving a nursing baby and finding places to pump before/after the game are not easy tasks.

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere come the Gators:

A Tim Tebow touchdown (there were not nearly as many touchdowns as I would have liked, but I'm glad we won):


The scoreboard (and me):

Alrighty, that's Part I. We had some adventures on Sunday, too...stay tuned.

Stuck!

One downside of Anna's new skills is that she frequently gets stuck after rolling onto her stomach. She is perfectly capable of flipping back over, but she usually just cries for one of us to come flip her back over. This is not a big deal when she's playing on the floor, but gets a little tiring when it's bedtime.

Here she is after her morning nap--I thought she was sleeping peacefully, but started hearing some fussing from her room:

"Can you give me a little help here, Mama?"

"Can't you see I'm stuck?"

"Help!"

I think she is going through a growth spurt (or announcing her desire to start real food) because she has begun eating every 2 hours during the day and every 3 hours at night. So I'm a bit of a zombie. I tried to tactfully point out to her that she's not wasting away--her thighs are about the same circumference as Will's:

She doesn't agree, though.

We'll be spending the rest of our afternoon watching the Gators play (while these two little Gators take a nap--we hope!):

We're also sampling 2 rib recipes--if they turn out well, I'll share later. :-)