eek!

okay, i've never considered myself afraid of snakes -- that is, UNTIL TODAY. i was picking up some toys outside and reached over to turn off the water hose and as i am letting the water run out, i catch a glimpse of a gray snake slithering over my foot. YES, it was ON me! it happened so fast, i just remember jumping about 50 feet into the air, losing a shoe and running inside (where the kids were, by the way - thank goodness). obviously, i realize it was probably just a water snake which are not poisonous but the fact that i actually came in contact with a SNAKE was enough make me shake for a good 15 minutes...

so now i can add "snakes" on my list of fears, which also includes spiders, roaches and some dogs...

pumpkin patch -- trip #2

Update on Russell's potty training:

DAY 3: two accidents today (YUK) -- And the scary thing is, he doesn't care that he is "soiled"!

milestones to note!

Natalie has been really into writing these days. Whenever I have a birthday card to sign, I always ask her to help me by writing HAPPY BIRTHDAY and drawing some pictures (usually her stick figures consisting of no arms and [for some reason] big boots). She always signs her name on the card as well. But every word she writes, I write them out for her first so she can just copy them over. Well, the other day she traced her hand on a piece of paper (notice she is a lefty!) and I told her to sign her name on it. Without any direction from me whatsoever, she actually did it! I can't believe I underestimated this girl's talents! What a little genius! (don't all mom's say that? haha)




Russell is fast approaching his terrible three's (that's right, I said THREE's -- the TWO'S seemed to be a breeze compared to what I sense is up ahead!) and he is still in diapers. Since he started speech therapy in June, his communication skills have made leaps and bounds so I thought it was about time we started potty training...TODAY.

Day 1: So far no accidents-- only once in his pull-up when we went out to the store.

BTW, his little tush looks SOOOO cute in his Thomas the Train underwear!

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And one more milestone to note: Natalie got her hair chopped off!

(You can see pictures in next blog entry)

another busy day

A typical Saturday in our household consists of back-to-back events -- whether it be something exciting like going to the park, or something boring like running errands -- and you can always bet on the kids getting some gooood sleep come bedtime. This Saturday was no exception...




First we rode the Jacksonville SKYWAY (comparable to the monorail which runs mostly through the entire downtown area) to the main library for storytime and play.


Then on our way home we stopped off at one of the pumpkin patches that we like to visit each year.

While Natalie was concerned with picking out the perfect little pumpkin to take home, Russell just wanted to transport all of the little pumpkins he could grab and stick them with all of the BIG pumpkins. He received a lesson from the pumpkin patch "owner" about how you should hold the pumpkin by the bottom, NOT by the stem as this could cause the stem to snap off! Although I think this was more of a scolding, rather than a lesson...

The kids had a ton of fun, and rest assured we will be making another trip or two to the pumpkin patch before the end of the season. Stay tuned for more pictures!

(the pumpkins they picked out today are featured in the blog's header above!)

halloween, barrettes and trains.

This morning, I get out of the shower and here comes Natalie, princess dress and all, with a handful of plastic barrettes she dug out of her dresser drawer. She insists that I help her put them on -- ALL OF THEM -- and I couldn't help but chuckle as I snapped each one into place. Here are some pictures of my little princess:

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Taking these pictures put me in the mood to take some more - of some of my Fall decor. Although Christmas is my favorite time of year, I do love autumn (despite the fact that we are in Florida... and the leaves don't really change...and the weather stays warm...). But maybe it's because this is when I start to get really excited about the upcoming season -- the beauty of Christmas, the holiday music, spending quality time with family, and the boxes and boxes of decorations I have to put up! haha - I think I will get Natalie to help me with all of that this year :)

(my mantle)

(russell helping with my picture)

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And finally, I wanted to share this little story that happened yesterday:

I don't normally work during the day (I put my hours in at night) but there happened to be some end-of-the month priority work that, since I was home, I was able to help with. It only took me half an hour to complete but the entire time I was on the computer Russell laid like this on the floor in the office watching his beloved train go round and round the train tracks. Isn't that sweet?

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HAPPY FALL TO ALL!

my first time.

well, here i am -- FINALLY joining the world of bloggers!!! i decided to give up the old web page i have for the kids because i got so overwhelmed with which of the millions of pictures i have to post that i ended up not posting anything altogether! shame on me, i know...

as most of you know, i haven't updated that site in about 6 months... so i decided that a blog *might* help alleviate the pressure of posting all of my pictures, and instead, i can write more (not that that is my forte...) and keep you all updated on what's really going on in our lives.

but don't worry, i will still be posting pictures -- lots of em, i'm sure :)

so WELCOME to my blog and THANK YOU for visiting!

PICTURES. LOTS of PICTURES.

to make it easy, i created a slideshow that contains all of the highlights from the last 6-7 months. they are not necessarily in chronological order, although i did try to keep the events together.

also, i apologize in advance for the poor quality in some of the pictures -- i downsized some of them to save time on my upload.

(NOW BRACE YOURSELF: this is about 15 minutes long - you might want to get yourself a snack...)

Orlando/Disney Vaca 2008

My parents purchased a timeshare in Kissimmee a looooong time ago -- almost 20 years (I think I remember going back when I was about 9 years old!). And ever since the kids were born, we have been taking them with us for a family vacation. Last year Natalie went to Magic Kingdom for the first time and this year it was time for Russell to discover the "magic" of Disney for the first time!

Here are some of our pictures from our trip - ENJOY!