Wild Adventures

We took the kids to get our passes for 2008 at Wild Adventures on Saturday and to spend the day together at the park. We had lots of fun on the rides and watching some of the cute shows including the "Wild West Christmas Show". It was very funny! Kelly is finally getting big enough to get on most of the rides including some of the roller coasters. He was so excited!

Up a tree!

Wendy has learned how to climb our Christmas tree. Thank goodness she is so small that nothing really moves when she gets in. I've had to haul her out several times. One time she stepped on a light and screamed...we thought maybe she would stay out of the tree from then on, but no such luck.

Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve we usually spend down at Nana and Abuelo's but they headed north to Pennsylvania this year to spend Christmas with Grandma Grandma so we were on our own. Jeff had to work all day so when he got home we went to the movies to see National Treasure...the kids had been begging to see it. It was very good although Jeff kept whispering facts about Lincoln in my ear during the beginning of the movie! :-) When we got home we put cookies and coke out for Santa (We heard he likes it better!) and then went outside to put food out for the reindeer...another family tradition.

Christmas morning the kids woke us up about 8am. They were surprised to see that Santa brought them all new bikes and helmets. They were also happy that they received Wild Adventure Park passes from us. Jeff and the kids surprised me with a Cricut. Jeannine had introduced me to it when we were in PA for Thanksgiving and it had intrigued me. Guess I will have to get busy scrapbooking again. We had a wonderful and relaxing morning opening presents with the kids.

We enjoyed lunch at the Grandma and Papa's house and then we opened presents with everyone there. The kids all had fun playing together with all of their new toys.

Keel Family Tradition

For many years we have been going to see Santa with the whole Keel family. We usually meet at Governor Square Mall and each family gets their picture taken with Santa and then all together. When we are done we all go out to eat. I love this tradition...

and I know that the kids will love looking back and seeing themselves grow bigger each year with Santa.

Christmas card photo shoot

This morning we went to Shell Point with kids, cat and dog in tow and finally took our Christmas card pictures. The kids and Tink had lots of fun playing in the water. Tink got disgustingly wet and dirty! Hope you enjoy.

New addition!

Jeff and the kids, especially Kelly, have been bugging me for years to get a kitty. Well, I finally gave in. It was totally unplanned and unexpected. In fact, Jeff said he had to pick himself up off the floor when I called to make sure it was okay to bring her home. Kelly's teacher had found her on the playground and brought her to the office. I took one look at her and knew she was coming home. The kids unanimously decided to call her Wendy. I guess we are keeping with the "Peter Pan" theme. Tinkerbell and Wendy. So far they get along okay. Tink wants to play with Wendy but she just ignores her.

Climbing the walls!!

When I was a kid...yes, I remember that long ago!...I remember scooting up the woodwork of the doors...or was that watching my little sister scoot up the doors...yeah, that's probably it. I was "graceful" back then too! Anyways, while we were in Pennsylvania my niece Libby went up the doorway and Kelly thought that was awesome. Soon all the kids were climbing the wall!!!

SNOW!!

Madie, Michaela and Kelly were so excited when it started to snow Sunday night. In fact they were so excited that they ran out in the back yard in their PJ's and short sleeves. They threw snow at each other and had a blast. When they came back inside they all perched on the coach and watched it snow out the window. The last picture is of my sister's back yard the next morning. My new van is off to the right all covered up!

Kelly lost his first tooth!

Kelly has been wiggling on his first loose tooth for awhile now. He was so excited when he realized that he finally had one and we have been waiting for it to get pulled. Aunt Neen said she would pay him $1 if he would let her pull it and he jumped at the chance to make some money. He bravely stepped up, Neen grabbed hold, he winced, and out it came...wow, that hardly hurt! He didn't even stop to show me before he ran downstairs to show his cousins and sisters. The tooth fairy brought him $2 too. He thinks he's rich now!

Cub Scout camping at Paynes Prairie

Veterans day weekend we spent camping at Paynes Prairie just south of Gainesville, Florida. Madie did not join us for this trip. She spent the weekend with Nana and Abuelo working on her Science Fair project (more about that later...)
We arrived at the park early Saturday morning to find someone else camped out on our spot. Thank goodness another pack family decided not to come at the last minute so we took there spot which ended up being much better (the other one was a walk in site...yuck!). After we set up camp we took a little trip to visit the farm of author Marjorie K. Rawlings. She is the author of "The Yearling", "Cross Creek", and many other books. It was very interesting walking around her farm and seeing the chickens, roosters, ducks, etc. roaming free around the farm. We also took a tour of her house. I guess I'm going to need to read some of her books now! Saturday evening we joined the rest of the pack for chili and then it was back to camp to roast marshmallows and watch a movie in the tent...brrr, it was cold!
On Sunday we went to the visitors center and observation tower where we watched a movie about Paynes Prairie and then saw wild horses in the distance. On our way back from the tower Michaela spotted a raccoon up a tree. Then we took a hike down Cone's Dike Trail. We went back to the tent for lunch and a little rest. While we were at camp we got to see a huge bald eagle fly into a nearby tree and sit for awhile. It was amazing! Later that afternoon we went for a hike down by the lake. We saw many alligators, birds, and armadillos. That evening we enjoyed baked potatoes done in the campfire, pork chops, green beans and cornbread. YUMMY!!
Monday we packed up camp and went on one more hike which went right thru the prairie. Although we did not get to see any bison it was still nice to spend time walking with the kids and Jeff.

Michaela...the "WRITE" choice for Secretary!

Michaela decided to run for Student Council Secretary this year. We all helped her make campaign buttons, posters, and write her speech. At school they filmed her making her speech and showed it along with the other candidates on the morning news program. Although she did not win the election she is part of the Executive Board and will get to do a lot of exciting things this year. We are so proud of you Michaela!!

TRICK-OR-TREAT

We went trick-or-treating with Bryant and Aislyn again this year. Madie stayed at Uncle Frank and Aunt Shelle's house to pass out candy. This was her first year not to dress-up. Micheala went as a military pilot, Kelly as a ninja, Bryant as Spiderman and Aislyn as a good witch. They all got lots of candy.

Keel Family Halloween Hot Dog Roast

Once again we had our Keel family Halloween hot dog roast. Madie made the invitations, Grandma did the planning and shopping, Papa, Jeff, the kids and I did the setting up. It was a wonderful fall evening...not too cold. The kids enjoyed cooking hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire, bobbing for apples, and going on the hay ride thru the "haunted" woods. Everyone had a great time!

Cub Scout camping at Lake Seminole

The weekend of October 19th we went camping for the first time with Kelly's Cub Scout Pack. The kids and Jeff had Friday off so they went up early to set up camp and I joined them after work. We had chili for dinner, smores and turned in early. Jeff's and my air mattress slowly died during the night so after breakfast, baggie omelets, and a short hike with his fellow Tiger Scouts we went to Walmart to purchase a new one. Later that evening we joined the rest of the pack by the lake for dinner and then the Bobcat Ceremony. The boys were all excited to see 11 of the boys fight the bobcat. It was very cool. On Sunday we had pancakes and bacon for breakfast, packed up camp, took another short hike and then headed off for home. We really enjoy camping at Lake Seminole State Park in Georgia.

HAPPY 11TH BIRTHDAY MICHAELA!!

Michaela had baseball practice the night of her birthday. Jeff and I planned something special after practice. We brought enough cans of silly string for the whole team and they attacked her. She stood at the end of the dugout while they sprayed her from head to toe. It was hysterical! Afterwards the team sang Happy Birthday to her and then they all enjoyed iced cookies and juice boxes.
The next day some of her friends joined her at Fun Station for her party. They all had pizza, played video games, drove go-karts, and fired at each other in laser tag. It was a blast!

Girls...

YES!! Madie and Michaela still exist. I know everything has been about our little man Kelly but everything exciting has been happening to him lately. I keep telling the girls to do something so I can blog (brag) about them too. Stay tuned, I'm sure they will come up with something!

Kelly's birthday party...

Kelly had his birthday party this year at Fun Station. He had lots of his friends and family join him to celebrate with pizza, cake, arcade games, laser tag and bumper boats. Everyone had lots of fun. Especially Michaela who soaked me with the water gun on her bumper boat while I was taking pictures! Next week we will be back at Fun Station to celebrate Michaela's birthday. I may have to take my revenge on her then...

Space Derby

Kelly participated in his first Cub Scout Space Derby on Saturday. Although his rocket did not do very well he had lots of fun. We have tried to teach the kids that as long as they had fun doing the activity or sport than they were a winner. The smile on Kelly's face after each race meant he came in 1st place. He's a winner!

Listen...

You know that little voice you hear in your head telling you to do something...listen to it! Recently mine has been telling me to talk to a co-worker who had lost her father unexpectedly last year too. He was young also, only 59. We have commiserated and shared many times about our dads.

This morning I ran into her before school and we went to my office. I asked her if she had celebrated her dad's birthday yet. "No" she said, "but it's coming up soon." I asked when and when she replied chills ran thru my body ... Next Wednesday! Our fathers had the same birthday!!!! October 10th! How unbelievable is that.

I truly believe that God and our dad's brought us together in this conversation to help each other get through this event. Next time you hear that voice inside of you, listen to it ... it is a message from your FATHER.

Kid of the Month...

Kelly's 1st grade teacher nominated him for "Kid of the Month". The characteristic was HONESTY. He was so excited to be on the school's morning news program today to receive a certificate, ribbon and pencil.

WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU KELLY!!!!

ROLL TIDE!

Jeff and I have been blessed by a wonderful couple who live over in Jacksonville. For several years they have invited us to Jacksonville, put us up in a hotel, taken us to wonderful dinners and to a Jacksonville Jaguars games where we would have lunch in the Quarterback Club and sit on the 50 yard line. They treated us like royalty and we have thoroughly enjoyed their wonderful hospitality.

This past weekend we traveled to Jacksonville once again with their kindness to see FSU vs BAMA. Although we got to visit shortly with Jim at his office we did not get to see Kay as they were getting ready to travel to Gainesville for the Auburn vs Gator game. We stayed at a hotel on the beach ... where the red tide had just come in and caused me to have a terrible asthma attack and the wind was whipping because of a local Nor'easter. No romantic walks on the beach for us! Then of course there was the game ... BAMA Lost ... ugh! Jeff and I laughed the whole game because our arms wanted to go up to do the Seminole Chop or spell out F L O R I D A S T A T E, which we would normally do ... but today we were for the opposing team. Although it wasn't the greatest trip we have taken it was still nice to spend the weekend with my hubby.

Happy 7th Birthday Kelly!!

I can't believe our little boy is 7! Or at least he will be tomorrow. It seems like yesterday that we were going to the hospital to have him. Now he's a sweet, handsome, kind, talented little man and I can't wait to see what he's like in 7 more years.

We let Kelly pick where he wanted to eat his birthday dinner on Tuesday night (we had to celebrate early because of crazy schedules this week) ... he chose Mori's which is a Japanese Hibachi restaurant. He had gone there in Kindergarten on a field trip and really enjoyed it. He was fascinated by the fire and spinning kitchen instruments. They even came out and sang to him and brought him a bowl of fruit with some fancy decorations and a candle.

We made Kelly wait until his dinner was all gone to open his present, an MP3 player. He has been asking for one for months because everybody else has one. Now he can listen to "boy" music and not "big sister girl music". He was so happy!

Kelly finally is a Cub Scout

Kelly is so excited!! He has been impatiently waiting to join Cub Scouts for years. When he was 3 or 4 he wanted to be a Girl Scout like his older sisters. But we finally convinced him that was not a good idea because he was a boy not a girl. Maybe the fact that we dressed him in the cookie outfit every year to help his sisters sell Girl Scout cookies was not such a good idea...he sure did help sell a lot of cookies though.

He went to his first meeting decked out head to toe in Tiger Scout gear and looking oh-so cute! Tonight he went to his first popcorn show and sell. He was so adorable asking everyone if they wanted to buy some "pahorn". He has problems pronouncing popcorn...it's so cute. They did really well at their booth that night and he is on his way to meeting his goal.

ZZZZZ!!!

Michaela fell asleep at her desk doing her homework!!!

1st day of school

Madie is in the 8th grade!
Michaela is in 5th Grade!
Kelly is in 1st grade!
It's hard to believe we are starting another school year. I can't believe how big my babies have gotten!