Feast on the Fifty

John Paul and Rosie Ninja Fighting

Rosie showing us her touchdown move

Rosie Dancing

John Paul and Andres excited about the pirate ship

John Paul showing us his pirate hook

My parents have been getting tickets to the Outback Bowl for over 20 years. Each year the ticket number increases because our family is forever growing! Being a "supporter" of the Outback Bowl for so many years, my parents receive tickets to different promotional events. This past week they had a dinner inside Raymond James Stadium on the fifty yard line...hence "Feast on the Fifty". My parents gave us a couple of tickets and offered to watch Adam so Paul and I could take Rosie and John Paul. The Munoz and Meros family joined us as well.

We were under the impression (so were the kids) that there was going to be food/drink, a bounce house, face painting, access to the pirate ship, football-type games, fireworks, etc. Well, they had food, drink and fireworks (everything is hurting in this economy I suppose because last year they had all these things). I know this sounds like a complaint but it's not. We all had a blast after Rosie realized she wasn't going to get a unicorn painted on her face, and John Paul let go of the fact that the pirate ship was not his to sail. The lack of things to do actually turned into a comical evening, in retrospect!

We successfully got yelled at by every event person there. Let me give you a recap:

There is a huge pirate ship at Raymond James that was supposed to be open for everyone to enjoy but of course was closed. Our kids faces were pathetic-staring at the huge ship dreaming of swash buckling and walking the plank-but not allowed to partake in such activities. And then who would have guessed? Paul, the wonderful dad he is, snuck Rosie, John Paul, Andres and Pete onto the pirate ship for a quick thrill! They were loving it until the security guard quickly asked them to exit. Then I took them to "look" at a gigantic blow up kola bear (weird) on the field. Before I could ask them where they thought kola's lived, my two kids decided it would be a good idea to have tackling practice with it and yes we were asked to leave the area. There was a small stage set up for presentations and the kids were having a great time jumping "ninja-like" off the platform and you guessed it, "Please stop that." My absolute favorite was during the speech that was given thanking all the sponsors and supporters Rosie and John Paul went WWF on me directly in front of the stage. I pulled them apart on my own, I didn't have to wait for someone to suggest it-I have some standards. Just when I thought I was at the end of my rope, the lights went out and the fireworks went up. Alleluia! I think God knew my exact breaking point and scheduled fireworks seconds before I hit it. They were awesome and well worth the 2 hours of craziness before.

Happy Birthday Grandma Diana

We are very thankful for Grandma Diana, especially today because it's her birthday! I'm not going to say how old she is today (because I'm not that sure myself nor does it matter) but I will say that she is one of those grandma's that when with her grandkids gets comments like, "Your kids are so cute". Yes she could, without a doubt, pass as the mom for my kids. She looks great!

But more importantly my kids adore her. She lives in Oregon but makes every effort to come and spend time with us in Florida. She comes for long weekends, birthdays, baptisms, and mostly just because. No matter how long it is since we have seen her, she and the kids pick right up where they left off. What a blessing she is in our life!

A Weekend Apart but Together

Last week/weekend Rosie went on a trip with her grandma. They left Wednesday after school and spent Wed and Thursday in Jacksonville with her Aunt Celie, who just moved into her new house. She had a blast with her "best friend Sammy" who is Celie's dog. She also had a great time exploring Celie's backyard, which the previous owners made into a jungle-Rosie called it her secret garden. They left Friday morning and went to Clemson, SC for the FSU vs Clemson game. She made it through the first quarter, which was impressive because it was a late game and got pretty cold for a Florida girl.

While Rosie was on vacation I took the boys to Lowry Park Zoo on a beautiful Thursday morning. They had a great time!

John Paul fed the giraffe. It is amazing how close they let us get.

I couldn't get a good picture of the rhinoceros but I got a couple of cute ones of the boys climbing the fence to get a better look.

The highlight, of course, was playing in the water area. Adam loved stepping on the fountains, making them squirt in his face. I was getting some great pictures of John Paul playing in the water and the last one I took he was able to redirect the water perfectly to shoot right at me-way to go John Paul. He laughed his head off!

John Paul asked every day when Rosie would return. I think his words were, "I miss my best sister." We were happy to have her home Sunday night and to be together again.

What Was I Thinking?

Rosie has been asking for the last two years to ride a horse. We took her once in North Carolina but that did not appease her. She kept asking. We saw horses at the ranch, wasn't enough. She wanted to ride one...by herself.

So for her 6th birthday this year we got her horseback riding lessons. Now she loves it! Why not dance, rec soccer, even gymnastics...no she loves horseback riding. Not the easiest or most convenient and dare I say cheapest sport. But I couldn't say no.

Sometimes I feel the hardest part of being a parent is saying no! I would love to give my kids everything they wanted, but of course I know that a good dose of "no" puts them in check with reality and also I know that all their requests are not necessarily safe or healthy. As adults we know (at least most of us) that the world does not hand over your every desire. Saying "no" to kids is a good lesson but sometimes I feel like a broken record. Can I have this toy-No, Can I watch this movie-No, Can I have this treat-No, can I have this super processed food that has no nutritional value what-so-ever-NO and on and on. The worst is shopping, every store strategically places candy and small trinkets at eye level for kids to see and grab. It's a conspiracy. But enough about that-back to Rosie.

She loves riding horses and is pretty good for a six year old.

On the bright side it is a great sport for teaching responsibility. She has to get the horse ready to ride, brush it, check it's hooves for rocks, saddle it up and then when she is finished she has to cool it down, let it graze, put all the gear away, etc. Not to mention all the things she needs to know about handling a big animal: she has to pay attention to the horse, her surroundings and her teacher's instructions. In the long run I think this is going to be great!

Now all I need to do is get a job to pay for it.

Could there possibly be a better holiday for kids? Dressing up in costume, running around after dark and then to top it all off getting candy! Not to mention getting enough candy to last for weeks...well for some kids-for my kids days, if I'm lucky. They have already eaten candy for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

This year we had Rosie the angel, who kept her beautiful white dress spotless for about 2 mintues. John Paul was the cowboy, but this was only decided days before. He wanted to be everything from Spiderman, The Hulk, a ninja, and of course the old standby-a pirate!! The only way we could get him to commit to a costume was to entice him with the promise of a cap gun with holster, which he wore every day from the day of purchase until Halloween... he still might have it strapped on. And Adam was an Indian, which was a spin off the cowboy costume. His costume was perfect for him because the loin cloth was merely one step up from the his normal attire which is a bare bottom.

Now for me, as a parent, the only joy is seeing the thrill of it all for my children and of course eating their candy...I mean I can't let their little bodies process all that sugar-it wouldn't be healthy!

I am a procrastinator by nature and my costumes always come together the night before, if they come together at all. My ideas never work out, I can't sew, and I surely will not spend $40 on something I will wear for one night. This year I lucked out and got a costume from my cousin. I was really lucky because I was able to alter it a bit to fit the growing belly in there. What I didn't plan for was the low cut front and after looking at pictures was shocked at my "slutty witch" costume. For a mother of almost four it was a little to "revealing". Oh well.

My biggest surprise this year was my husband. Usually he comes along for a couple of houses and pictures but mostly he stays in the air conditioning passing out candy. Can I blame him? He grew up in Oregon where the temperature for Halloween is a guaranteed 60 degrees or colder-in Florida we are lucky if we get temperatures under 80 degrees. He really pulled his weight this year and went to all the houses with the kids and I, he even dressed up! He was an Oregon City football fan, it was a classic. The facial hair and hair cut he gave himself made the outfit (the picture doesn't do it justice). I woke up to him the next morning and had to do a double take-he might keep the look for work on Monday....but I hope not.

The kids did great. John Paul kept his boots on the entire trick-or-treat experience, Rosie lost her shoes about 5 houses deep but that didn't slow her down (she ran from house to house) and Adam only got out of his stroller in between lollipops to hopefully score another one.

I can't wait until next year!