Vernon Volumes text

Vernon Volumes text

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Kids sleeping

Every night before bed, Mommy does her rounds. She checks that all the doors are locked, Chloe's in her kennel and both kids to be sure they're sleeping well and comfortable. This last week, one night when she checked the kids they were both a mess. Connor had fallen asleep with his "Magnadoodle" and looked a bit uncomfortable. Sissy had managed to take off her pajamas and would have been very cold. Mommy came to get me and I took a quick pic while they were both asleep. Cute kids and a good Mommy!



House update - Landscaping and lights


This week, we had good progress on the outside of the house and a little bit of progress inside.

Outside, they finished the driveway, ran irrigation lines, and put in the landscaping. Donny, the supervisor for the builder, walked the lot with us and was very good about working around the area where our pool will eventually be. They had to make a few large plots for the landscaping throughout the yard. We really won't have much grass at all! The palm trees currently look a bit sad and pathetic. We love how tall they are, however when they transport them they apparently chop off all the leaves. Hopefully they get leafy and pretty soon.


Inside, they put up a bunch of lights. Last weekend we bought a bunch of ceiling fans, and that's something we're doing ourselves after we close, but there were still a number of recessed lights and other lights throughout the house. We think the pendants above the kitchen island turned out nicely. There really aren't a lot of things left to do inside the house before we close. The kitchen still needs the backsplash along with the butler's pantry. The floors should be installed next week, and the paint needs to be touched up and finished along with some trim work. The master bathroom's shower isn't quite done either, there are a couple shelves that will be put in and the shower door. Other than that, we think they're pretty darn close to being finished. 


Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Bye bye Nee Nees!


Sissy is two now and we've been talking about getting rid of her "Nuks" (pacifiers) for a while. She is so sweet about them, it's been hard to take the step. We knew it would break her heart. She calls them "Nee Nee's" and carries them with her everywhere. She likes to have one in her mouth and smell another one. You won't even see her sometimes, but you'll be able to hear her taking a big sniff off her nee nee nearby.

I got a video the other day where you can hear her sniffing her nee nee.


With her getting sick, we have been worried about her pacifiers carrying germs. We've boiled them a few times but yesterday we decided that it was time to be done with them.

When we decided to get Connor to be done with his Nuks we attached them to an Elmo balloon and he watched it sail away. Link to Connor's post about his Nuk and Elmo Balloon

We told him that Elmo was taking them to the babies and it was that part of the explanation that I knew would register well with Paige. At Connor's school there is a nursery and whenever Paige is there she loves to stare through the window at the babies. We told her that she was a big girl now and we had to give her pacifiers to them. She helped us collect them all from around the house (we had close to a dozen) and put them in a tuperware container.


This morning, before we took Connor to school we took a few pictures of her with the Nee Nee container and talked to her about it. Andrea took a video of me talking to her about it.


She was very sweet about it and was pretty good about leaving the pacifiers behind at Connor's school.

She's a big girl now!!

House update

The house is moving along slowly but surely. A few new things are in like some of the stair spindles, the paver driveway, some doors, more tile, etc. Not a lot of exciting pictures lately though since I haven't gotten a lot of pictures. The driveway looks good, it's very nice being able to walk in to the house without going through the yucky filthy sand. I've got a picture below showing the work in progress.

Sick Sissy


Paige has been feeling under the weather recently. She had two back to back strep infections. The first time, we gave her penicillin orally, but this last time she wasn't getting much better fast and we decided to get her the antibiotic shot in her booty. She wasn't too pleased with that. The other day while she was moping around the house I got a picture of her relaxing. She has definitely fluctuated between acting normal one second and sick the next. Hopefully she is back to normal pretty soon!

Connor - Maxing and Relaxing

The first thing Connor likes to do when he gets home from school is put on his comfy clothes - usually his pajamas. He loves to relax and have "peace and quiet" as he calls it in his room. He loves watching shows on the iPad and usually will play with his guys and simulate the action scenes with his action figures while he watches. I caught a candid picture of him the other day watching his show and eating a sucker. He's a great kid, definitely content to be at home.



Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Connor's last soccer game with Giant Alligators


This Tuesday, May 15th, was the last Giant Alligators game of the season - Game 10. Connor made all the games except the one we missed for Paige's birthday when we went to Disney. It was a great season and by far our favorite organized activity that Connor's participated in. The organization was well done, Coach Joe was awesome, and the kids had a great time together. Connor definitely learned a lot from the season and we are happy to have done it and also happy it's done. It's been a big commitment to go to so many practices and games throughout the last few months.

Typically, the games are on Saturdays, however since the other team had a conflict we scheduled it on Tuesday in lieu of practice. It looked cloudy and was raining a few minutes before the game started, but thankfully the weather cooperated and we were able to have the game and finish the season.

Before the game, the team did their last "Giant Alligators" team cheer together.

Connor had a decent game, although the last few games he hasn't been running quite as hard or working as much as he did in some games. Maybe it is the length of the season getting to him, but the last few games he was a little out of it. He did score a goal, although I didn't get it on camera since I went to get pizzas for after the game.
After the team finished the game, I took a picture of the boys together. From the left: Reid, Brantley, Corey, Chandler, Connor and Collin. Lots of C names!


We took a picture with Coach Joe and the two dads that helped out quite a bit throughout the season. Clay is on the left (Reid's dad) and Lee on the right (Collin's dad).
 They had to get a cool muscle pose too!
 Lastly I got a quick picture of Connor with Coach Joe.
After the game we went to a little covered area nearby and they handed out trophies and we ate some pizza.

Coach Joe did a nice job presenting the trophies and he said something special about each of the boys before giving them their trophies.


Sissy was happy to watch Connor throughout the season and play in the filth. We gave her pizza and a cupcake during the trophy ceremony and she was a horrible wreck. I snapped a closeup picture and you can see how messy she was. Still cute, but way messier than we usually let her get.

It was a great season! Most of the boys are planning to play again in the Fall, we hope to get everyone together again for another season! 


House update - moved closing date

Our house is coming along, although we're not too certain on the closing date. We've had a few snags along the way, some bigger than others and it looks like our closing date may get pushed back until June 21st. We're obviously not too pleased about that, especially since we've already been doing a bit of planning around the original June 11th estimated closing date.

This past week saw some of the most work and excitement on the house yet. On one day last week there were 5 different crews there at once. They were working on the tiles, cabinets, HVAC, soffit and stonework all at once. Fun to see it all coming together. I snapped a picture where you can see quite a few of the different vehicles all parked around the property.


The kitchen is looking nice, the cabinets are mostly in and they did most of the granite recently too.

We think the island turned out great. It's about 7 feet by 6 feet, lots of space on it. We were worried about the cut of the granite and that the colors would look good and so far we like it. The hardwood floor is next and hopefully compliments everything else.


Lots more to go, but the interior of the house is painted and you can really get a good feel for how a lot of it's going to really look in the end. 


Mother's Day with Andrea

This Sunday, we drove to Daytona Beach to Celebrate Mother's Day for Andrea. We stopped in at Uno's on the way in town and had a yummy lunch and then we went to the condo and the beach. Unfortunately, the weather and tides were against us. It was super windy, very wavy, cloudy, cold, and the tide was coming in so there wasn't much beach and the cars driving on the beach were awfully close. We only stayed down by the water for about 20-30 minutes and then we let the kids play in the pool for a little while before leaving. It was not an ideal day for it and we ended up just going home very early and spent a nice relaxing day at home.





Saturday, May 12, 2012

Soccer game 9 - Giant Alligators


Today was one of the hardest games all season for Connor's team, the Giant Alligators. They played the Fire Sharks, who were by far the best team they've played. It was an epic battle and at first they struggled big time. The first half of the game I'm not sure the Giant Alligators scored at all and all the action was in front of their goal. Connor and team played a lot of defense, until half time. At half time they ate a bunch of oranges, and got pumped up by Coach Joe. The second half, they came alive and did a great job being aggressive and scoring goals.

Connor scored 4 goals during the game and we were happy that he tried hard this week. I put together a longer than normal video this week since one of the plays was pretty long and I thought it was a great snapshot of a typical play you see with the kids.

Go Giant Alligators!!


Happy Mother's Day Andrea!

This Friday, we surprised Mommy with her Mother's Day flowers and goodies a little early. Connor put together a cute letter at school for Mommy, which is below.


Very sweet Connor!

Paige got Andrea a cute spring flower bouquet for Mother's day. She was excited to give it to Mommy!

We love you Andrea! You're the best!!

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Conversations with Sissy


Paige is so much fun to talk to lately. Her vocabulary has expanded like crazy lately and she knows so many words. She still talks in very short sentences, but is stringing more and more words together. Something else we love is that she actually says "Yes" now. She used to just say "Mm Hmmm". The ways she says yes sounds so cute. I got a short video of her last night talking to Mommy. It was hard not to laugh during the video because she was such a hoot. She got all dramatic, telling us she was sick and needed stuff. By the end she can't keep a straight face herself, I think I can hear myself snickering in the background a few times. Sorry for that, I couldn't help it!


I thought I'd throw this picture in as well. Paige definitely makes Mommy work to get her hair looking nice!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Fun in Daytona Beach - 5-6-2012

This past Sunday, we drove down to Daytona Beach for the day. We ate at Inlet Harbor - I love their blackened chicken sammich and the kids love playing on the pirate ship - and then we went to the condo.


We had one of the best, relaxing, fun days in a long time. It felt like we were on an awesome vacation, and it's a day we'd have paid for gladly and flown down for back before we moved to Florida.

On the beach, we splashed in the waves, dug in the sand, and tried to catch fish in some water that was trapped on the beach when the tide went out. There were a lot of little minnow sized fish in the water and when you stirred up the sand they'd swarm around to eat whatever microorganisms they could find. The kids and I sat around with a bucket and tried to catch them. I managed to catch one, and the kids thought it was great fun to carry it around in a bucket. Paige was really excited with it and I was a little afraid she'd spill the poor thing in the sand. We let it go back to its family after holding it hostage for about a half hour.



Mommy played a bunch with Connor in the waves. There isn't much he loves more than splashing in the waves and fighting with them. He loved playing with Mommy. He told her it was the best day ever and that she was his best friend.

After a few hours, we went to the pool and swam there. It was a nice change of pace and the kids got to practice their swimming.

I meant to take more pics, but it was such a relaxing and fun day that it slipped my mind! We're looking forwards to doing it all again soon!

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Connor's hot and humid soccer game


Connor had his hottest soccer game of the year. We didn't go last week since we were in Disney, and we heard it was hot, but today was pretty warm too. One of the moms that was at the game last week said this week was even hotter. We got a little lucky that his game was down on one end of the park, so we were able to sit in the shade throughout the game. At first some of the other parents sat in the sun, but by the end of the game everyone was sitting by us in the shade.


Connor tried pretty hard at first and made one goal, but then he got tired and lethargic and didn't try very hard. There were quite a few times that he didn't chase down an easy ball and let a few goals in that he normally would have stopped. Some of the other boys pushed through it and did OK, but Connor was pretty out of it today. It was definitely an off day for him.


Paige, of course, loved to sit in her chair and watch the game. She got her feet absolutely filthy in the sandy dirt. Ugh.

Here's a short video of Connor's only goal.