Thanksgiving 2010

This was our first Thanksgiving in Florida, and I was so glad to have my mom here to cook (just to see her too, of course)!! I did help out and cook the turkey and Lolli's fabulous monkey bread. Both turned out well, if I do say so myself.

Neither were as tasty as mom's sweet potatoes though.

My first attempt at bread baking.

We got the Christmas tree up too. I

love having the house decorated this time of year.

The kids wanted a tree in their living room since I put the big one in the family room. (Houses here are very different. Most have a formal living room and a family room. I'd prefer one bigger room, but you take what you get. We really weren't into the whole "formal" thing, so the kids have their own living room to play in.) They chose a white tree with blue, green, and red ornaments. I think it turned out very cute!

On another note -

What Cameron and Carson do when they're bored...

water bottle bowling @ the Arnold house - crazy boys!

Notice Carson's attire. He was not made to live in FL. It was 80 degrees outside and this is how he was dressed. He always wants jeans, a long sleeved shirt, and a jacket on.

Whatever floats his boat.

We are so thankful for many blessings in our lives.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!!

Mimi's Visit

We counted down the days for almost 2 months until Mimi came to visit!! Carson would ask every few days, "Are we going to the airport to get my grandma today?" I finally told him last Friday night that he only had to sleep one more time and his grandma would be here. He got up on Saturday morning, ran into our room, and said, "I took one more sleep, I didn't have a bad dream, and my grandma's coming today!" It was precious. When we saw her at the airport, he and Sydney were so excited!! We decided to spend the afternoon at Disney and had a great time. Mimi and the kids rode the tea cups, we saw all the Christmas decorations at the Magic Kingdom, and the kids got to meet Pluto...fun day!!

I can't believe how tall this girl has gotten!!

When they walked up to meet Pluto, Carson said, "Hey little guy!" I don't guess he noticed that Pluto was twice his size. You never know what that little booger will say. ;)

During Mom's visit, we also went to Ikea, Mazzaro's Italian Market (fabulous!!), and the outlet mall for a little Christmas shopping. Can't to see her and everyone else in Arkansas soon!!

Thanksgiving Pie @ Preschool

Carson's preschool invited the parents to have pie the week before Thanksgiving. The kids sang songs and gave out turkeys they had made. Carson's turkey says he is thankful for his Mommy, Daddy, Sister, and Grandma. I have no idea why he insists on calling my mom (Mimi to everyone else) Grandma, but it's just so funny. He says it in a really deep voice and makes us laugh every time. I'm very thankful for this little guy, too!!

Smarty Pants

Sydney got an award for making Principal's Honor Roll for the first grading period - All A's.

Way to go Syd!!

A Trip to the Oldest City...

Deer Park's 4th graders took a field trip to St. Augustine, FL yesterday. St. Augustine was founded forty-two years before the English colony at Jamestown, Virginia, and fifty-five years before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts - making it the oldest permanent European settlement on the North American continent.

We left the school at 7:00 Friday morning on four charter buses. It was a 3 and a 1/2 hour trip which was actually much quieter than I expected. The fact that there were probably as many parents as kids and that movies were playing helped I'm sure.

First, we visited the oldest wooden school house in the USA.

I loved the kids faces as the tour guide told them about dunce caps and paddling.

We also visited Castillo de San Marcos Fort. The fort was started in 1672 and took 23 years to build. The Spanish built it to protect themselves from future attacks after an English pirate attacked in 1668.

Sydney's 4th grade class

I just liked this picture from the top of the
fort looking over to the lighthouse, so I threw it in.

Sydney and her friend Emma posing inside the fort.

We got to drink from the Fountain of Youth. ;)

At least that's what Ponce de León thought he had found.

I was only able to manage a sip with my nose held.

The sulphur smell and taste was very strong.

While we were listening the Timucua Indians

tell us about trading, this pirate was doing what you see above.

Below is his work of art...

Sydney and her teacher, Mrs. Linden,

showing off with the wood the pirate had burned.

This "Spaniard" fired the cannon for us.

This is the Love Tree. Its very strange looking

because it's a palm tree growing inside an oak tree.

The legends say that couples that kiss beneath this tree

will seal their love for eternity. Awww...

Sydney and I had a great time learning some Florida history today.

We finally got back to Deer Park around 10:30. After no sleep on the bus,

this was Sydney 5 minutes after we walked in the house. I think she enjoyed her day!!

Handsome Devil

I thought I'd share this picture just because I love this little guy so much!!


There are lots of new posts, so scroll on down...

Fabulous Find

Our neighborhood had a community garage sale a couple weekends ago. While Cam and Carson manned our stuff, Syd and I drove around looking for any bargains. I found some iron patio furniture for $20.00. It was pretty chipped but was well made so I snatched it up. Cameron sanded it and sprayed it with a couple coats of paint and...

it turned out great! I love garage sales!!

Student of the Month

Just wanted to take a second to brag on Miss Sydney...

Sydney was chosen as the Student of the Month for October in her class. She was also picked to be one of two fourth grade co-captains for the Deer Park Dazzlers (her pom squad). She is loving her new school and making tons of new friends. Each month the entire school district has a writing prompt that is scored, and their progress is tracked over the year. Last month's prompt was to write about a time you meet a new kid at school. Her teachers told me that several kids in her class wrote about her. They all talked about how much fun she was, that she was friends with everyone, and how she could make anything a funny joke. We're glad she's adjusted to a new place so easily and are so proud of her. Love ya, Sis!

Halloween 2010

Carson's preschool had a Halloween parade the Friday before Halloween. Luckily, his school is very close to mine and I was able to sneak out for a little bit to see him. He was one of about 5 wearing a Spiderman costume in his class. I definitely see where his fascination comes from now.

This was the best picture I could get of his whole class.

One of his teachers was a scare crow and the other two were crows.

Carson argued the they were not crows...they were birdies, black birdies.

We had a Spider theme at our house this year. Sydney is getting to that age where she isn't extremely interested in the costume...just the CANDY! When we went to pick out costumes, she let Carson choose for her. He saw Spider-Girl and said, "You can be a spider princess, Sissy!"

So, spider people it was...

There were tons of people in our neighborhood that decorated their yards for Halloween.
The kids had a blast and racked up in the candy department!!

After we made the rounds, we went back and sat out front to pass out candy.

I think they had just as much fun looking at the other

kids' costumes and handing out candy as they did trick-or-treating.

Pumpkin Carving

Sydney wanted to be in charge of the pumpkin carving this year, and Carson wanted to help, of course. He started out wanting to wear his gloves, but Syd convinced him to take them off. Carson hates having stuff on his hands...Cheetos, anything sticky, etc... He always asks to wash them immediately.

Apparently he felt the same about pumpkin "guts".

I'm pretty sure his face says it all.

We weren't quite ready to let her take over the

actual carving but did let her carve the nose.

Here is the finished product. It's kind of hard to see but the

picture with the lights out turned out blurry.

Beautiful Weather

The Saturday before Halloween was beautiful down here! We decided to take advantage of the weather and let the kids run around at the beach for a little while, then had seafood at our favorite place across the street. Sydney loves crab legs and is finally figuring out how to crack them herself. :)

It cracks me up that every time Sydney squats down to be near Carson for a picture, he does too!

They had so much fun pretending to be birds to chase the real ones away...

and playing hide and seek in the tall grass.

Carson kept wanting to yell, "Boo!" when I took their picture, so Sydney played along.

Magic vs. Heat

Back in July we bought tickets to take the kids to watch the Magic vs. Heat in a preseason game. They were playing at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa. Sydney was so excited!! October 22nd finally came and we headed to the game...Syd with her Lebron James shirt and all.

We didn't get sat down good until this announcement was displayed and read over the loud speaker...

Apparently there was a problem with the floor and the game had to be cancelled. The kids were so disappointed - me too since I had just paid $15.00 to park! Hopefully we can catch a game in Orlando later this year.