Relay For Life

Last year was our first year of Relay for Life (fund raiser for cancer). I think it is such a great opportunity to show my children the way cancer effects so many people. At this event people are on teams and each team rotates team members and you walk all night long and raise money for cancer. There are a lot of booths with fun things for the kids to do (notice Avery and Boston's pink, blue and orange hair) The whole track that you walk around is lit up with luminary candle bags that you decorate to remember the people who have passed away from cancer or survived it. It really is a wonderful event.

SO I thought I had this great idea- because I haven't had the baby I thought to myself, you know this would be a fun night to camp out with the kids and still participate in the walk like we did last year. Kevin thought I was crazy to want to camp out like this when I was pregnant this far along, but I thought, what the heck, why not? I know it's really not camping- but my kids are too young to know the difference between a real camp sight and a soccer field, they just like the idea of sleeping in a tent. So when we went to set up the tent that I thought was a 4 man tent turned out to be a 2 man tent- can you imagine Kevin, Pregnant me, Avery and Boston in this tent? We just laughed until it was time to sleep. Boston fell asleep at midnight and Avery was determined not to fall asleep and stayed out with the adults until 2:15 a.m. and when she woke up in the morning she told us that she never really fell asleep she was just resting for a little bit. I figure one night of craziness couldn't hurt them. I just knew that it was the last time we would be camping for a little while so I wanted to do it and I'm glad we did. I will say it was the most uncomfortable nights sleep I have ever had, but besides trying to fall asleep we did have a great time, with great friends, for a great cause. But.... No baby yet- i'll keep you posted.

Got Net?

One thing I love about living in Florida is that you can play outdoor sports, like tennis all year long. I've always wanted to have my children play sports and tennis is one sport I wish I played when I was younger. I had no idea that they could start lessons at age 3 so I was really excited when I found out from the coach that Avery and Boston would not only both be able to take lessons, but they would be in the same class. This is our eighth week of tennis lessons. I was really nervous to have Boston in the class but he loves it and actaully pays attention. Avery loves it too! It has been so fun the last couple of weeks to go to the tennis courts after Kevin gets finished with work and hit balls as a family after lessons. I highly recommend the sport to all families of all ages.

snuggle buddies

Our kids were such great sleepers as newborns. They always stayed in their cribs and we never had a problem with them coming into our room.   I always couldn't understand why so many parents had such a big problem with their children coming in and sleeping in their beds (boy, did I speak too soon).

It started with Avery. She would say she was scared and we would just let her crawl up with us in the middle of the night. Then it became a habit and she knew she could get away with it. There were nights we didn't know when or how she crawled in between us.  It was fine until it was happening every night. 

Then, Boston took Avery's lead and now for the last 6 months between 3 and 5 a.m. we're one big happy family in our bed.   They fall asleep with no problem in their own beds so it's not falling asleep thats the problem, it's the staying asleep that we needed to work on.

Now that our new little one will be here at anytime we decided we need to  put an end to it before he got here because we didn't want them to think it was because of him. So we had a little pep talk, and now when I go upstairs in the morning I find them both cuddled up to one another in Avery's bed. I can't help but smile.  I actually think it's cute and don't mind one bit. Better her bed than mine. Someday they'll be sleeping in their own beds and I just hope they remain as good of friends as they are now.  

May Day

Last year we started a little tradition of celebrating May Day (May 1). What we do is we make cards with pictures and make vases out of plastic containers and leave them on door steps of people we love and care about and then run and hide. My kids loved doing it last year so they were just as excited to do it this year (I think their favorite part s running and hiding) Thanks Pat (Kevin's Mom) for giving us the idea. She actually delivered 28 baskets this year- isn't she amazing!?

A Wickedly fun Weekend

Ryan, Tori and Owen came down this weekend to say hi! Boston and Avery had lots of fun with their little cousin. On Friday night Ryan and Tori watched Boston so Kevin and I could take Avery to see Wicked with My parents and Kaelie. She loved it. We have had the soundtrack for over a year and Avery has loved listening to it. Her eyes lit up every time a new song came on. I knew it would be a special night and it was.

The next day Boston had a soccer game and Owen and Ryan came to watch. He is such a good little kid and smiles constantly. We had a great time hanging out with them. I think Owen and Boston look a lot a like. You can definitely tell they are cousins.

Boston's First Soccer Game

this was the best smile we could get out of him on our first game day.

I was so excited when I realized that Boston was old enough to play Soccer this spring. I just knew he would have a blast because when Avery was on a soccer team he thought he was too and would practice with their team all the time.
So on our first practice I was beginning to realize how competitive our little guy is. When the team would do laps around the field he wold cut corners so he could be first. When they dribbled the ball he always wanted his ball to go the furthest... and so forth.
We had two practices before our game and loved it. So on game day I expected him to run on the field and have a ball. Boy was I wrong. My ultra competitive guy wanted nothing to do with it. We had to force his uniform on- (that's when I knew we were in for a real treat). Then he just sat in his chair with a scowl on his face. He finally went out on the field but had to hold Kevin's hand (who is assistant coaching this season) and when he finally let go of his hand and kicked the ball, another teammate ran into him (which is obviously going to happen in this sport, especially on a 3 year old team) and he cried like a baby.
I will say that I do have to blame this on our first game being held during nap time AND he just got back from a birthday party that was all morning where all they did was bounce in bounce houses. So he was exhausted and to top it off, it was super hot that day.
BUT I am happy to report that at his next soccer game he was all smiles, scored two goals and we had a hard time getting him off the field. I hope more games will be like our second game. I'll be crossing my fingers! Sadly I didn't have my camera at the second game!

Basically this is what his first game was all about-scowls, whines and pure grumpiness.

Easter Fun

On Saturday we took the Allred's to our very favorite Easter egg hunt. It's held in Celebration, where my parents live. They hide 21,000 eggs and divide the kids up into different age groups. The little ones, age 0-3 have plenty of time to fill there baskets.

After we were finished we headed to my parents for egg coloring. The kids had a great time!

Easter Morning was extra fun this year because we were able to spend it with the Allreds. The Easter Bunnies had lots of fun filling up easter baskets the night before :) I think our kids got their candy fill for the year, but they had a great time- and what's a holiday without candy, right?

Avery and Boston right before church all dressed up on Easter Morning!

Allred's come to visit!

For easter weekend the Allred Fam came to visit us here in Orlando. We were so excited. They were brave and took a red eye and got in really early in the morning. Despite how tired they were, they were troopers. The first thing we did was head to the beach. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. The kids had a blast making sand castles. Unfortunately Kev had work and Avery had school, so they missed out on all the fun.

That night we went to a Braves Vs Astros spring training game. The kids had a blast. Towards the end of the game we changed seats and were able to sit in the second row. The braves catcher Butts (yes, that's his last name), ran up to Boston and gave him a baseball. Boston was so excited, but wasn't too nice about it. He wouldn't let anyone else hold it in fear of losing it. We all had a great time.

All of the Kiddos at the game, Avery found a penny and Boston still resisting anyone who came close to his ball. Aren't the Allred girls so cute?!

Three!

Yes, my little Boston Jack turned 3! I cannot believe it. He is such a sweet boy and as crazy as he gets, he's a keeper! One thing about Boston that I love, is when we tuck him in at night he says "I love you so so so so so so so so so much!, and that's a lot mom!" He loves and adores his sister and can't wait for brother to get here. He actually does surprisingly well with babies. He loves to snuggle, read books, do puzzles, ride his bike, play any sport, go to school (2 days a week), be a super hero or a pirate and keep busy busy, busy, busy! We love this little guy and can't wait for the many other memories to come! Happy Birthday big guy!

Field Trip at the ZOO

I was lucky enough to be a chaperon at Avery's kindergarten field trip to the Zoo. We had a great day. I think the highlight of the trip was to feed the giraffes. They are amazing animals and to see them this up close was amazing. I loved the fact that the viewing decks were as tall as the giraffes, so the kids really got a good look at how long and beautiful these animals are

Avery enjoyed being with all of her class mates. They get along so well. There were a couple of places where the zoo didn't smell so great. But hey, what do you expect when your hanging out with a bunch of animals!