Painted Oaks Academy

 

 

Wow!  What a week it has been!  I woke up last Sunday with laryngitis and struggled the first part of the week to communicate with my kids with NO VOICE!  I finally started feeling better on Wednesday, just in time for my mom and my sister and her family to arrive.  Amy and I had planned this week for a LONG TIME, and my kids were pumped to be able to show their cousin, Jace, Disney World.  Low and behold, Jake woke up around 3:30 am Thursday morning (the day we were supposed to go to Disney) in respiratory distress.  Despite all of our efforts, Jake's breathing wasn't improving, so we rushed to the ER.  I sounded like he had croup, and once the doctors confirmed it, we got some steroids and went home.  Thank goodness my mom was there to help take care of Walker because Jake and I were exhausted!!  Needless to say, we never made it to Disney World. :(

Jake took a while to recover from the croup, so we spent our fun-filled planned days at home...resting.  We barely even saw Amy and the kids because Jake was so sick.  :(

Jake finally felt okay enough to get out of the house this morning, so we went to a nearby "pumpkin patch."  According to Jake, though, it was "the worst pumpkin patch ever!"  Ha! (He definitely got spoiled in Birmingham with pumpkin patches).  This place was pretty much a horse farm with some pumpkins laid out in the shade; we didn't even buy any pumpkins because in true Orlando fashion, the people were rude.  (Jake was sitting on a pumpkin -don't ask- and this guy with a "security" shirt came and scolded him for attempting to break the stem).  Whatever. We had fun with the horses, though, and that's all that mattered.  We didn't want their stinkin' pumpkins anyway! ;)  Ha! 

Southern Miss Game

 Here come the coaches!!  (That's Tyson on the far left).

 The pick that won us the game!!

UCF beat Southern Miss 38-31 last night in overtime!  It was the most stressful/exciting game I've ever been apart of.  In fact, I might have gotten caught praying on national TV...

Ha!  So glad we won and that game is over!  UCF is headed to Memphis this weekend and will play at 8pm on CSS.  Go Knights!!

**By the way, these top 3 pics are from our Rivals' website.  Did y'all think I had turned into a professional photographer or what? ;)

Pumpkin Picking...Florida Style

Have I mentioned how hot it is right now down here?  It's so hot that people don't even attempt to put pumpkins out because they will rot the next day (or so I've heard).  It's so hot around here that the only places that sell pumpkins are places that can store them in the AC.  So needless to say, we didn't get to have our annual pumpkin patch outing this year.  Instead, we went to Lowe's, got a pumpkin, came home and carved it, and then kept it inside our house in the AC.  Blah.  I so miss having a change of seasons! Oh well, we had fun anyways with our new Florida way of celebrating pumpkin time! :)

Swimming...in October

 

After Jake and Tyson rode bikes on Saturday, they were hot, so they decided to go for a swim.  Walker woke up from his nap shortly after and joined them. 

It is so nice to be able to jump in the pool after sweating to death in this 85-90 degree weather, but for the love of God, it's October!!  Where is the fall weather?  Living in Florida is so overrated sometimes!  Ha!

All complaining aside, the boys had fun with their daddy in the pool. I had fun watching from outside the pool...far away from any snakes that might be lurking in the water. ;)

Jake + Daddy + Bicycle

 "Are you still holding on?"

Tyson got to come home from work early on Saturday, so we made the most of the day.  We had to watch the Southern Miss game first, but then we rode bicycles, went swimming, went and picked out a pumpkin, and then we carved the pumpkin.  So much fun!!  I'll post more pictures later, but these are the pictures of our attempt to teach Jake how to ride a bike by himself. 

As you can tell, Jake had a few crashes.  My stubborn child refused to wear the knee and elbow pads that I bought him, and my stubborn husband refused to run along side Jake and catch him if he fell (he says falling is part of the process).  I ended up having to go inside because they were both frustrating me to no end and it was breaking my heart to see my baby get hurt, so that's where the pictures end. Jake did get back on the bike, though, after he fell and tried again...that's what is most important. :)

3-2-1...Blast off!!

 

Since it's sooo hot here, we are constantly trying to find things to do indoors.  Well, I ran across this cardboard rocket ship at Target on clearance, and I knew I had to get it for the boys.  They played for a good 3 hours in this thing; it was a huge hit...until Sam got ahold of it! ;)

Tuesday Traditions

 Walker, Jake, and Daniel

 

 

Tuesday is one of my favorite days of the week with the boys. Neither of the boys go to school that day, and we have such a fun little routine. 

 

We've gotten to be really good friends with a little boy named Daniel.  Daniel lives in our neighborhood (but at the complete other end, so not really that close to us) and goes to Jake's new school.  Well, Daniel's sister goes to Walker's school, so we constantly run into Daniel and his family.  Long story short, Daniel's mom and I have come up with a little playdate system where every other week, we trade off kids and they play for a few hours together...all by their big boy selves.  Jake LOVES being able to go to Daniel's house all by himself, and Walker LOVES for Daniel to come play out our house. Hahaha! So much fun.  Jake and Daniel are two peas in a pod!

 

After our playdate, we load up and go to Tyson's office for lunch.  Actually, we pick Tyson up after practice and go eat at the dining hall.  Hahaha!  It sounds so funny to say that, but yes, me and my family of four go and eat with the college students.  You can imagine the looks we get when the students see our 4 and 2 year old in line.  :)  We love that time with Tyson, though, and we actually all love the dining hall food.

 

After lunch, we come home and Walker goes down for a nap while Jake and I work on his school work.  I love that special one-on-one time with Jake!

 

Once Walker wakes up, we go and meet Daniel and Brady (Jake's other little buddy) and their families at the pool while their older siblings have swim team.  It blows my mind that it's October and the pool is still so warm! 

 

So anyways, that's our little Tuesday routine...play, eat, sleep/study, and swim.  :)  Love it!

East Carolina Game

 

UCF defeated the East Carolina Pirates 40-20 last night here in Orlando!  It was an 8 pm game, so I left the boys at home with a sitter and went to the game solo.  Despite the constant drizzle of rain, it was such an exciting game!  And it was a huge win for us!  We are so proud of you, Tyson!!  Go Knights!

Yoga and Bicycles!

Jake takes Yoga at school, so he was showing me some of the different positions.  This one is "the candle."

 The Shark

 The Tree

 The Bird

The new bicycle!!

 

Last week, Jake played hooky from school one day so we could go to the doctor.  Poor baby woke up the night before screaming with ear pain, and sure enough, he had an ear infection.  He wasn't feeling bad (despite the pain), so we made the most of our day together after the doctor's visit.  We went to Dunkin Donuts, the Halloween Store (which Jake thought was awesome!), the bakery, and Toys R US where he got a new bicycle!!  I'm pretty sure Jake is going to be begging for more sick days after being spoiled that one day!

 

So about the bike, Jake has been learning how to ride a bicycle without training wheels.  He was actually given a hand-me-down bike from one of our friends in Birmingham, but Jake literally rode that bicycle until the wheels fell off.  I really had hoped that bike would last until Christmas until Santa could bring him a new bike, but no bueno.  Well, we couldn't wait until Christmas, so I talked my parents into funding the new bicycle (they can spoil him all they want...but I'm not.  Ha!)  Jake picked out this bike (power rangers, of course) and is so proud of it!!!  He could probably ride it by himself, but I just can't bring myself to let go.  Ha!  I told Tyson that the next time he's home during day light hours, he's in charge of the bike and he's gonna have to be the one to let go. ;) 

 

*In case y'all are wondering, that thing on the back of Jake's bike is called the "Balance Buddy."  I cannot say enough about this thing...it's the next step up from training wheels and helps the parent hold the bike without breaking your back.  I really like it, too, because there are times when I let go of the bike but see that Jake is about to fall, so I can easily grab the Balance Buddy and catch him before he falls.  I LOVE this thing!  (I love it SOOO MUCH that I can't let go of it! Hahahaha!)