Owen's First Day of Preschool

For those of you that don't live in Florida, the Florida State Government pays for a year of preschool before they enter kindergarten. And last year Owen missed going because his birthday is one month past the deadline. So this has been looked forward to for a very long time, both by him and Mommy. Owen is so smart and very impatient when it comes to learning. Nothing is ever enough for him, so he was getting quite bored at home playing "baby" games with Alex and Kate. His first day was on Monday and he goes from 12 to 3, Mon. thru Fri. He had so much fun playing with his new friends and learning from a new teacher. He got so upset that school was canceled on Tues. due to Tropical Storm Fay and then we didn't even receive a drop of rain and little wind. Anyway, we've started the long path of kids in school and it's a little weird for me. I didn't think that I was old enough to have kids in school yet. Well, here are some pictures that I got of Owen his first day and pictures of his new school. Walking through the doors of Knowledge.(WOW, was that cheesy or what?) He loved riding the bikes during recess.I can't tell if that kid is looking up that little girls skirt or not, but so help me if Owen ever did...
His classroom. They're class is called the White Tigers.The atmosphere that they have at the school is awesome and makes it fun for the kids to learn. This is one of the little reading hideaways that they have.

Alex's 3rd Birthday!

Alex's Birthday was August 11th and we decided to throw him a little birthday party with some of his friends. We BBQ'd, had the bubble machine going in the house(yes, I'm a crazy Mom, but in my defense they were Gymboree bubbles and they're sugar based so they don't make a huge mess and they last forever! It's a game we like to play and it lasts all day if you have the fans on in the house because they end up everywhere and the kids have a race to try and pop them all). We also had all the kids do some fireworks at the end and they all seemed to love that. It was so much fun to watch them all play around the house and have a blast! A lot of the pictures didn't turn out because the batteries in my camera were dying, but I did get a few.WE LOVE SPARKLER CANDLES THAT NEVER GO OUT! Is that mean? The kids seemed to love them. I eventually helped him blow out the candles. The wind was blowing so hard, it was hard to get the fireworks lit, but Brad finally got them all going. After the little firework show, we gave them all some sparklers. By the time that was done it was 9:30 and the kids were ready for BED!
All in all it was a great night and we wish Alex many more happy ones to come.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEX!

Owen's Soccer Banquet

Wow it's been a long time since I've done any blogging! Sorry about that. Well here is the rest of Owen's soccer games and his banquet at the end. He was soo excited that he got a trophy. "That means I did really good huh Mom!" he said. I smiled and gave him a high five, I'm so proud of him. He starts football the beginning of September and I can't tell who's more excited for that to start, Owen or Brad.Owen scored one goal and assisted in another his last game. He still talks about it.His favorite position was goalie. I think it was because he could pick up the ball and throw it as far as he could down the field.They had the cutest little cheer that they did at the beginning, middle and end of every game.
Kate would sweat like crazy and she wasn't even playing. But at least she would keep busy trying on everyone's sunglasses. These glasses belong to her Aunt Lauren who came to visit.Alex on the other hand didn't even want to watch, so he would go over to the sand box, strip down to almost nothing and throw sand on his head. He's my busy busy busy busy one. Did I mention that he was a busy boy?
Here's Owen receiving his trophy from one of his coaches.And here's his team with their trophies. GO PIRATES!

DRIVE-IN

We decided to steal the idea from Jared and Brittany and take the kids to their first Drive-In Movie. It was definitely an interesting experience. We took out all of the seats in the mini-van(yes, I have a mini-van. But only until my kids are out of car seats and then I'm getting an SUV) and made a huge bed in the back.
Going to the Drive-In Movies in Florida is a bit different than going in Utah like I remembered it. It's HOT and SWEATY and I can't tell you how many mosquitos there are here. So we had to drench the kids and ourselves in bug spray and we still got eaten alive. Brad got the comfy spot inside the car and I got to stay outside and chase the kids whenever they ran off. This is another reason why Brad doesn't take very many pictures, because he can't remember to put the camara into focus. Brad made it through MAYBE half of the first movie and then he was out! Owen actually made it through all of the first movie (Wall-E) and half of the second one (Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian).

We finally left during the middle of the second movie because even though it was 1:00 in the morning, Alex and Kate would NOT go to bed. All in all we won't go back until the winter time when it's cooler and there aren't any mosquitos.

North Captive Island

Last week was another busy one for our family. We got the oppotunity to go to one of the small islands off of North Captiva Island with some very close friends of ours. The Poirier's invited us to come and stay with them during their family vacation. They have always been so sweet to our family and we've been so grateful to have them in our lives. To give a short story of how we met them, they were the very first family that we met when we moved down to Florida. We drove in late on Valentine's day 2004 and it just so happens that it was also Daytona 500 weekend as well. So we drove in to town not knowing where anything was and the only hotel that we knew of was completely booked. Luckily I had gotten the Bishop's phone number before we left Utah and we called them to ask where there was another hotel around. Well, they said they knew of a great place to stay and they invited us to come over and stay with them. That made me feel SOOO uncomfortable, but Brad kept saying "It'll be fine, where else are we going to stay, in the car with our 3 month old baby?". So much to my dismay, we went over to their house. It just so happened that it was also one of their sons birthdays and they had family from out of town that was staying with them as well. But they welcomed us into their home with open arms and they've been family ever since. We love them to pieces and were excited to play for a few days at their beach house. I didn't get too many pictures and I'm sorry for that I totally regret it. But the kids had so much fun playing with Alexie(19), Mitchell(17), Max(16), and Cassie(14), my kids love them! So thanks to the Poirier's for the wonderful memories and the great friendship that we've created!!! We love and miss you guys. This is Max(at top), Owen and Mitchell(at bottom) playing dominoes. They played everyday with Owen and Owen loved every minute of it. They had a jacuzzi tub in the bathroom and the kids loved taking baths in it with all the bubbles. The kids were always at the front of the boat sucking in all the fresh air. We saw a lot of wild dolphin pods on our boat trips and some came right up to the boat. I was having too much fun to take any pictures of that (STUPID!) The kids got to sleep in the same room with all the big kids and it was a nightmare to get them to sleep for naps and at night. But all the playing and sun wore them down. Kate and Alex had so much fun playing with Bently, one of the Poirier's bulldogs.

Hubby Tag!

1-What's your Husband's full name: Bradley Kent Wilde II (I always thought you couldn't be a II, I thought you had to be a Jr.)
2-How long have you been together?: Well we met a couple of weeks before I graduated from High School(cradle robber), but we dated on and off and then on again. So total time I would say is a little over 8 years.
3-How long did you date?: We dated for 3 months then I broke it off. 6-7 months after that we dated for another 16 months.
4-Who eats more?: I would have to say I do right now, because I'm pregnant. But he could hands down always beat me in a Mountain Dew or candy competition.
5-Who said "I love you" first?: I say I do, but of course he thinks he did. I remember the first time I said it and he can't quit recall when he did, so you tell me who said it first.
6-Who is taller?: He is. I love it!
7-Who sings better?: I do. I think that he's a little tone deaf, but I don't mind it when he sings country love songs to me every now and again. DON'T TELL HIM THAT I SAID THAT!!! He's got to keep up that Macho Southern Image!
8-Who is smarter?: I'd have to say he is. Especially now, I feel that with every child I have I get a little more lite headedness. Is that a word?
9-Who does the laundry?: I do. I hate it when he tries to do it, because he packs the washer way too full, trying to save loads.
10-Who does the dishes?: I think we're finally becoming equal at this task. I hate doing the dishes, so he helps out occasionally.
11-Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?: If you're looking at the bed, I do. But really I always have to sleep closest to the door, so the kids come to me first.
12-Who pays the bills?: We both do, but I've been banned from balancing the check books.
13-Who mows the lawn?: That's easy. ME! It's something that I enjoy, and I'll do it until I'm 8 months pregnant. Which drives him crazy.
14-Who cooks dinner?: Me, unless it's some special occasion and then he helps.
15-Who drives when you're together?: He does. If we're on a road trip, I have to beg him to drive so that he can get some sleep.
16-Who is more stubborn?: I'd say we're equal, but he thinks that I win that one by far. Being stubborn can't always be a bad thing can it?
17-Who kissed who first?: I kissed Brad first and he'll be the first one to tell everyone that. He bought me a rose after getting into a motorcycle accident and I thanked him for it.
18-Who asked out who first?: This is a tough one. He asked me out to the movies first, but it took Darise (a friend of mine) to ask him when he was going to ask me out and gave him my phone #.
19-Who proposed?: He did. We had already set a date to get married, but asked the question.
20-Who is more sensitive?: I am. I am a woman right? Why do we have to be so emotional?
21-Who has more friends?: I think that we both have a lot of friends. We just run into more of my friends wherever we go.
22-Who has more siblings?: He does. He has 2 sisters, 2 brothers and a half brother. Then if you count the Elmore Family,the family that adopted him when he was 13 in N.C., he has 4 more younger sisters.
23-Who wears the pants in the family?: We all know the answer to that one, but I like to let him think that he does. It makes him feel better.

Now that I've done my part in completing this, I now tag Katie, Abby, and Kelly. I can't wait to see some of your answers!

Soccer Mom

I'm proud to say that I'm officially a SOCCER MOM! Owen started his first soccer league yesterday and he loves it. He's the tallest on his team and I'm sure the oldest. Where we used to live in Port St. Lucie, you couldn't start playing until you turned 4 and he missed it last year by a month. Here you start when you're 3, so now Alex barely misses the deadline. I told Brad that I'm hooked, I'm going to be one of those sport Mom's that's constantly running around watching all of her children play in their games. It was so fun to watch all the kids run in a million different directions trying to chase the ball and kick it in the goal. Owen is already telling me that he wants to keep playing soccer and he wants to play football that starts in a couple of months. I couldn't be more excited!
Owen's waiting patiently to have a turn kicking the ball into the goal.


Here's his go at it looking like he's taken a move out of the movie Kung Fu Panda.


And He SCORES!