Someone doesn't feel so well :(

Florida Panther

This is what Andy saw as he was walking the dogs last evening!!! All the things we read about said that it was probably a once in a lifetime thing to see because they are so rare. Lucky Andy! Apparently, there are only between 80 and 100 left in Florida. Andy got a really good look and then the panther casually walked back into the woods and Andy headed in the opposite direction!

                                 
                                              (not the actual panther, but it looked identical)

SMCS

In case you are wondering what SMCS is I will tell you. Eliza has it and we are very concerned! It is short for Serious Middle Child Syndrome! Argggg.... Eliza has been on a tear all week with a bad attitude and sassyness. Andy and I are at are wits end with her. Her days have been starting at 6:00am which is very unlike her. She then rouses everyone else up then too. Ummm, not ok, because if I have to get up before 7:00am I am a total bear. I know it is only one extra hour, but I need it as does Peyton. She completely fell apart this am because she was tired. It wasn't pretty, but I understood where she was coming form. Kai thinks it is just dandy to get up before the sun and play with his sister. Eliza had dumped every piece of play food into his crib.

She has been chasing the cats, refusing to eat her dinner and still expects a dessert and then flips when she doesn't get it, pretending she is deaf in order to avoid what she is being told, refusing to wear shoes to take the dogs out (apparently she doesn't care if she gets attacked by fire ants), pouting hard core with the arms folded and all, didn't want to wear her sneakers today because it was gym day and thought she would get to sit out (she didn't want to run), slams her door when put in timeout and even locks the door sometimes, and tackling her sister and baby brother. These are the ones that stand out, but there have been many more instances of naughtyness.

What could be going on? She gets  love, positive attention and has even started gymnastics to release pent up energies. She is doing very well in school and seems to be making lots of friends. She loves doing her homework and having story time at night.  Is this the age? Is she getting the swine flu? Hopefully, this is a small blip and will pass soon. She is clearly testing her boundries and not getting very far, so we are hoping she will give up soon. I am exhausted!!

Santa is watching you Eliza!!

Did Eliza Really Just Ask Me That?

Eliza and I were sitting down doing her homework when she busted out with a totally random question.

When was the earth born and whose tummy did it come out of?

I answered as best I could and then Peyton chimed in with her theories. According to Eliza, I was wrong and Peyton was right. They believe the earth started out as a teeny tiny rock and just kept growing and growing until it could handle the big dinosaurs! Sounds good to me and simple too!!

P.S.

My oblivious husband stood in, yet another, fire ant mound! Peyton was showing him something in the pond and all of a sudden his feet were on FIRE!!!! He had been attacked, again, by an angry mob of ants. Seriously, Andy, you better start paying attention when you are outside cause you never know what is going to get you. We live in the f-ing jungle and are surrounded by all sorts of creepy wildlife. Alligators, giant mutant sized spiders that jump, frogs, snakes of all sizes, armadillos, lizards by the millions, mystery bugs, and one animal that hangs out by the girls window on rainy nights making a BAAAAAAAAA noise. Every time we go out to see what it is there is nothing. Bizarre!! It literally sounds like a lamb. Anyway, I am not looking to the next few days of Andy complaining that he can't walk due to his bites or making me count them for fun!

The Dreaded Fire Ant

 

Now that Kai is full on walking, he goes everywhere and

 anywhere. He wondered off into the grass the other day and tripped and fell on a fire ant mound. Fire ants get super pissed when their mound is messed with, so  a couple stung him right on the hand. Fire ant stings almost feel like a bee sting. I am not sure if Kai has a high tolerance for pain or what because he didn't make a peep about it. The bites are now all pussed up and nasty looking and still not a word from him. Strange. Andy got stung on his foot while walking the dogs and complained for days.

Last few days

- It is still hot as an oven down here. I am longing to blow dry my hair and have it look decent without having to put it in a pony tail every single day!
- Mom was here over the weekend and we had a great visit. We went to the beach and local aquarium and she watched the kids, so Andy and I could have a much needed date. Thanks Mom!!
- Kai is sleeping horribly and really pissing me off because I am tired.
- A frog got closed in our door and was flattened. Andy had to deal with that mess.
- Andy gave the dogs great haircuts and filled a jumbo trash bag with their hair.
- Peyton starts gymnastics today and is really hoping to perfect her split.
- I made a chicken loaf last night. I know it sounds gross, but it was pretty good. Eliza ate it all and Peyton wouldn't touch it, but I can't win every night. I used ground chicken instead of beef because it was on sale and it was quite tasty.

Nothing too exciting, but that has been what has been going on around here in the last few days!

It Has Been A While

I know it has been a long time since I last posted, but I have been in mourning over the loss of my camera. It sounds silly, but I am really torn up about it. You see, we had planned a surprise day at Disney World. The kids had no idea and actually didn't even realize where we were until we were on the water taxi and they spotted the Magical Castle or whatever the name of the castle is. I owe the majority of the surprise to the cars dvd player and the Andy Smith genes (doesn't see or hear anything around them when tv is on) . If it weren't for those two things, we couldn't have pulled it off as well.  They would have seen the hundreds of signs and billboards as we got closer and would have seen us go through the main gates. Needless to say the girls were so excited when they realized where we were.

It was super hot, humid, crowded, with a chance of rain but our kids needed a day of fun and we were going to give that to them. Another surprise for them, well Peyton especially, was to meet up with our friends, the Vails. Peyton and Caroline had been friends since 9 months old and have only seen each other a couple of times since we left Charleston on her third birthday.  Their reunion was very sweet and I knew their day would be great!

I started taking pictures from the second we parked the car because I am obsessed with taking pictures of my kids. Someday, I will scrapbook again and put my thousands of pictures into albums, but for now they are on my computer. I got some adorable ones of the three in Minnies house on her couch, in front of the castle, and everywhere else you can imagine. It was a true miracle that they all looked at the camera and flashed real smiles. It poured on us twice, but that didn't spoil the day. It actually felt good to get soaked after walking around and standing in lines while it was 95 degrees out. What spoiled the day was when I stupidly left my camera in Kai's stroller and went to watch Monsters INC laugh factory! I had parked my stroller in one place and when I came out it had been moved and my camera was gone. I was so angry and mad at myself for forgetting it, but even more pissed off at the loser who stole it. Seriously, who does that at Disney? Everyone is telling me a lot of people would steal at family friendly places, so I am going to stop being so trusting of people. I had taken about 50 pictures and had some old ones on there, like when Kai shredded a whole roll of toilet paper when I was dealing with Peyton and a temper tantrum and an adorable one of Kai in his new Colorado Rapids shirt. Thank you Kirsten and Roy that shirt is too cute, by the way! Anyway, it is times like those when I wish I had magical powers because I totally casted an evil hex on whoever stole my camera.

We finished out our pretty fabulous day with a ride through the haunted mansion, said our goodbyes, and piled into the car for our 1 hour 45 minute drive home. Well, it took us 1 hour and 45 minutes to go 5 miles!! What the F???  The kids were going bonkers, freaking out, exhausted, hungry, and dehydrated! Kai finally fell asleep as did Eliza.  The cause of the traffic was some sort of mass pile up, hopefully not the doings of my hex on the person who stole my camera, but you never know!!