My Birthday

I turned 29 recently and to celebrate we went to my parents' house in Tampa. With all of Erin's wedding stuff happening, mom's been cleaning out her closets looking for some of my old wedding stuff. We came across my wedding dress (which mom has so kindly stored for 8 years only she didn't know she was storing it). John and dad convinced me to try it on. Amazingly, it still mostly fits! My rib cage has expanded since I had kids, but otherwise I was able to zip it up. Mom also tried hers on, but I didn't get a picture of it.




We also hit the park.


Laid in the sun.


And saw manatees! We went to the power plant to see the manatees trying to stay warm. The kids loved it. And, the manatees were pretty cute even though they didn't do much. Both the kids loved the big smoke stacks.








We also all exercised on dad's equipment.


John had an extra 70 pounds here.


Mom and the kids made me a Boston Creme Pie (my favorite!) I helped by putting the strawberries on it.




We played lincoln logs.


And, we went to The Colonnade for dinner and had yummy seafood.






Me and Miss Sourpuss. She was EXTREMELY grumpy at dinner. I was wishing we hadn't brought her, but she finally got her hot dog and all was good.


John is building me a deck for my birthday present. It's to keep my sanity as we go in and out the door and children fight to be first in line. Should be done very soon. Thanks John!

Light Up Micanopy

Will sang in the Christmas program at Light Up Micanopy this year. They invite the school kids to come perform. He probably did five or six songs and totally hammed it up. He loved being there with all his friends. It's definitely fun because they shut down the street, put up chairs, light the town and the town tree, and so on. He started of the program showing off for his friends rather than the crowd. He's in the plaid shirt up front.

Finally, he got into it and turned around.


It got a little chilly as the sun went down. But, he knew all the hand motions to the song!


Best part of the night - Santa and Mrs. Claus show up on the fire truck. The kids absolutely love that part.



Larry took some video of Will's "white boy" dancing at the end of the night, but I still haven't downloaded it. I'll have to save that for another day.

Selecting a Christmas Tree

I found some pictures from early December that I hadn't downloaded. They're of our trip to pick out a Christmas tree. We grow Christmas trees on the farm, so we have quite a selection. I decided we should take the dogs with us, but they were much more interested in the other customers than in finding a tree. Will said he's picked out a tree earlier that week, and while John was helping a customer, we walked the entire acre of the "tree forest." We found it, but it was too tall. John led us back over to the proper sized trees and we did find a nice one.

Kaity insisted on wearing her twirly dress and princess shoes into the pasture. I tried talking her out of it, but she was having no part of it.


Here is our tree. I was bending down next to it and the dogs thought it was the perfect time to both try sitting in my lap.


I decided to stand up for the second picture. It went a little better.


Will and the dogs were very patient as we cut the tree down.


The kids barely fit in the back of the truck with the tree. But, we all ended up sitting back there as John drove back to the house.


The dogs were pretty good. We're working on Tebow's farm dog manners. Max is very well behaved. But, Tebow would chase everything under the sun if he had the chance.

Late Christmas Pictures

I apologize that the next couple of posts (and the past couple) are a little late. Christmas was three weeks ago and I'm just getting to putting them on the blog. My best excuse is "we's been busy" which is the truth.

Christmas was great. Everyone came to our house this year. It will probably be the last time we're together for Christmas morning for awhile. Erin, Alli, and Scot are all starting their own traditions.

We started the morning off by making the kids take pictures in front of the tree. Don't you love Will's striped pj's?


The last thing I bought for Will was something called bakugans. He had been asking for them and I didn't know what they are. Apparently, they are some type of japanese anime cartoon and toys. They're little balls that pop open when you throw them and they're magnetic. It's been the only thing he's played with for three weeks.


I framed one of the Robert Butler prints for John. The frame came with a chip in it and we still haven't gotten it back. He was really confused what it was until Kaity gave my secret away about three days before Christmas. "It's a turkey. A turkey picture!"


Kaity got a pink guitar. It's been a hit. Grandpa gave Will his ukele, so they've been playing together.


And, here's Kaity's camera. I'm not pleased with the quality of the pictures, but it is a kids camera. What can you expect?

Another Crafty Christmas Gift

Alli wasn't the only one who got a homemade Christmas gift. Kathleen did also. She's not really an apron person, but does wear scrub shirts to work in. Dora had provided me a pattern she had made for Kathleen years ago. It said 8 yards = 8 shirts. So, I bought a yard of blue bandana fabric for one shirt. When I got home and started laying out the pattern, I realized you couldn't lay it out with just a yard of fabric (probably should make 8 shirts next time). So, I went back for more blue and, of course, they didn't have it. So, I got a yard of red bandana fabric. The back is blue, the front is red, and the pockets are blue. It didn't turn out as planned, but I think it still looks pretty nice.




(The Gator Santa hat was Scot's gift for Kathleen. He insisted she wear it in the picture.)

An Apron a Day

My Christmas project for this year was to make everyone aprons. I did finish one (everyone else got IOUs). Alli's turned out wonderfully. It's made with old feed sack fabric and she picked a cute pattern. I really like how it turned out. Each time I sew something I learned something new. For this project, it was the pleats.

Alli modeled her new apron for us while heating up apple pie for Christmas dinner.





And, Alli just moved to DC. Hopefully, she'll be able to use it some up there. At least maybe to keep her front warm!

Let's Do It Again!

Gators are #1! And Tebow's coming back for another year!

Sunday, Kaity, John, and a couple other people headed to the Swamp for a celebration welcoming the team back. Kaity had a great time. Cheerleaders were everywhere. Daddy spoiled her greatly with a stuffed Albert and cotton candy.

I forgot to send the camera with John, but thanks to technology, he was able to take some pictures with his phone.

Kaity loved the cheerleaders. She wants to be a cheerleader when she grows up.

Kaity also got a picture with Dorian Munroe. His number is 20. He came out to the farm last summer for a BBQ and he showed a lot of interest in the farm and agriculture. My thanks to Dorian for posing with Kaity for this picture. I know he didn't have to do this. He is truly a nice guy and we are glad he is a Gator.

December in Review

So, I was a little lax in my December blogging. But, who can blame me? Two weeks of vacation (which I was a hermit for) and lots of family stuff going on. Lots happened around here and one thing we did do was family pictures. It was supposed to be for Christmas cards but I never got around to them. Alli was kind enough to come out and take 300 pictures of us and, of course, only a few are any good. Here are a few of my favorites.










I've got lots more pictures to post, so stay tuned for more from Wacahoota!