Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Finally, This Coaching Thing is Paying Off

Right after Christmas, Jacob was begged to coach a girls competitive soccer team in a tournament down in Fort Lauderdale.  To sweeten the deal they said they would pay for a hotel and he would get reimbursed for mileage.  We are not ones to look a gift team in the mouth, so he agreed and the whole family got to tag along. Which made for a nice little mini vacay in the sweltering December heat.



Luke is a very calm and even keeled kid, but if you want to see him go a little nuts,
check him into a hotel and show him his bed.




We kept the hotel room cold enough for Cindy
to wear her new hoodie from Grandma and Grandpa Bingham
Killing time at the soccer park




100 bonus points for finding Cindy in this picture


The sunny weather was enough to fool Cindy into happiness
and she accidentally smiled in this photo



I can find batting cages like a drug sniffing dog finds cocaine




The route from our hotel to the soccer fields took us right by the temple every time


Day 2 of the tournament was a long one, so the kids and I snuck away for a day at Hollywood Beach.  Wow, it was gorgeous and the weather was sunny and warm.  Our Gulf of Mexico selves were not used to the "giant" Atlantic coast waves, but Luke was in absolute heaven.  He would still be there if I didn't drag him out when the parking meter was up.






Meanwhile, this is what happens when Cindy realizes that the lifeguard is flying the purple flag to warn everyone of jellyfish.  

I will swim....here.  

Eventually she got up the gumption to go in and battle the waves.  And Luke finally obeyed my command to take this obligatory picture:




Seagull punching knows no coastline.



As far as beaches go, this one was pretty incredible.  I definitely would love to go back sometime and walk/bike/skate/saunter down the boardwalk there.  So let's find another tournament, shall we?



Monday, December 28, 2015

And Now For Something Completely Different

Here is a picture of Luke "dressed" as a snowman at the Cub Scout Christmas Pack Meeting.





Saturday, December 26, 2015

Christmas In 8 Pictures or Less

Let's face it, no one is truly as interested in your pictures and memories as you are, so I will make our 2015 Christmas re-cap short and sweet.




Santa brought scooters....






Kids got stockings...





Weather was WARM....







There was a lot of delicious cereal....




"Bounce Off" was the surprise game hit of the year...




Nate and Linn's bow and arrow also beat all expectations...



Cindy smiled in a photo....




Jenny Ellen saved the day with a family photo :)


Friday, December 25, 2015

Children Roasting in Their Long-sleeved Styles

If I had known back in October that we would be shooting for record heat here in Florida this Christmas, I definitely would have chosen different pajamas for the kids this year.  

Here's hoping that they can actually be needed at least once before summer!


MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Normal smiles? A Christmas miracle!

Aaaaand......the miracle is over

Monday, December 21, 2015

A Luke Quickie

The other day I was at Publix with Luke.  We were on the paper goods aisle and he was looking at all the garbage bags.  Suddenly he looked very confused, but then he got a big smile on his face.  I asked him what was going on and he said,



"I saw this package and I thought it said "tall CHICKEN bags" and I was so confused because how can that dog eat all that chicken if he can barely even reach the top of the can?"  56 bags that are that tall and full of chicken in that little box?  I'll take two.  

Friday, December 18, 2015

Disney S(pr)ings

One of the perks of living here in Central Florida is the close proximity to all things Disney.  Cindy's middle school chorus auditioned and got chosen to sing at the Disney Springs Waterside Stage a week ago.  It was hot and humid for mid-December (still is), but better to be still in shorts and flip flops than scrounging around for "warm clothes" and having nothing to wear.  The kids all got to go to Epcot for the day, which I passed on because I was just there last December with Luke.  I drove over just to watch the performance, get some free chocolate from Ghirardelli's, and take in the massive amounts of Star Wars merchandise in the official Disney store.










Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Dancing Bears and Morning Snowfall


Another year of piano has come and gone!  And now here is the fruit of Luke's labors...


Tuesday, December 8, 2015

A Brian Quickie

As you may know, I donate plasma twice a week.  A few months ago I told my poor, medical student brother Brian about it and how easy it is to make some good money.  He found a center there in Nashville and now we get to share our adventures in plasma donation together!  The coolest part about it is that not only is it super easy, but the center has free WiFi, so the running joke is that we are basically getting paid to watch Netflix.  This was our observation from last night:






This was also the same text convo where Brian sent me a photo of an awesome flyer he saw for a lost cat:


Brian's comment:  "I think we all know why he ran away."

Monday, December 7, 2015

A Luke Quickie

The other day in the car Luke said, "You know what would be fun?  Riding in the back of a truck with a bunch of bunnies."  On an unrelated note, does anyone have a truck or a bunch of bunnies I could borrow? I need to test a theory...

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

A Christmas Bullseye!

Finally got my Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Christmas ornament for 2015!  
It features a super cool Choctaw hunter with a bow and arrow.  
Or as Cindy calls him, "Katniss." 

From the tribe of District 12