The Story Makers.

The Story Makers.

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Manatees on Memorial Day.......

We just returned home from our adventure 
to Crystal River.
This was another Groupon Christmas gift purchase-
(I was loving these bad boys this past year wasn't I??)
This was for a half day Manatee Tour and Dive -
the price was right and I thought it sounded like fun.
I have been bringing it up to do since December,
finally we were able to squeeze it in.
Kev was never very thrilled with the  idea....
so I coupled it with my birthday as one of my gifts,
it was go time.

On Saturday I booked our hotel on Expedia,
for two nights at the Holiday Inn Express.
At the time of booking it asked for the number of 
adults and children,  
I put in 2 adults and 4 children, 
along with their ages.  
I always cringe a bit at this point of the reservation, 
because I am sure that it will boot us
out of the one room and force us to get two....
which I then do.
But no, it just made the reservation and showed 
2 adults no kids.
I did it over again......it did the same thing so I didn't worry about
it and just printed the receipt and moved on.
When we got to the hotel I went in to check us in.
The gentleman at the desk was super nice,
at the end of the check in process he said
so it is just 2 adults?
I was like, um, no, we have kids.....
oh, ok, it is no big deal, we just ask for fire code, etc.
He gave me a little shpill and at the end I said,
we have four children.
He said ok, is it ok if I send some cookies for them?
We usually only provide one welcome bag per room,
but I am going to hook you up with three, and throw
in a few extra cookies for the kids if that is ok with you.
Yes Please!!
Phew.  
I am always a little nervous checking in/out of hotels if 
we do not have two rooms.  
We are upfront about our kids,
but I remember a few incidents growing up with
my dad sneaking the SIX of us kids in w/ sleeping bags and 
pillows.  It seems like he made us go in by twos or
something.  I was scared half out of my mind 
we would get caught....
it kinda took a little of the fun out of the 
"vacation" because I was so nervous.
I thought our little trip was great. 
The tour itself was pretty decent.
The water was on the murky side, 
that was really the only downside, and that it took some time 
to actually find any manatees. 
It was jam packed when we went to the springs to swim
due to the holiday weekend,
but...
What did we expect??
This is the best shot I got w/ the manatees....
(sorry, it is pretty bad)
the kids got to pet them and follow them around a bit.
Some people look dang cute in a wet suit!!
 Other highlights included a lot of this.....
Eating out.
Movies in our room with popcorn and treats.....
The buffet breakfast and the pancake machine! 
those pancakes were so delish!!
and surprisingly enough this little purple set of stacking cups
were a big hit.
McCauley got them in her kids meal from Wendy's .
We had a major competition of cup stacking.
We all got pretty dang fast....I think 11 seconds was the record.
Are these good times or what?!!!
Jealous of our steller high class vacationing??
Last night Lawson decided he needed another blanket for 
his floor bed, understandable, then Ryker and Ethan
piped up wanting additional pillows...why not?
So we had Ryker call down to the front dest and order
them up.
We were all right there listening.
He calls up and asks for four more pillows and one more blanket.
Then there is silence and a kind of long pause.....
the Ryker says -
6
 OH my Gosh!!!
We are dead!
He says,do you want to talk to my mom?
 hello....?
Would you like to get a rollaway bed?
oh, no, no...we are good, just a few more pillows for fun.
Thank you!
Yikes...
You know what....
after reading over my post I told Tina I kind of didn't want to 
publish it.
I feel like I should be sporting a few less teeth,
and Kev should be traipsing around in wife beater tees.
Well, gosh dang it, 
if the shoe fits wear it.
I guess we are on the white trash side at times.
Many times.  That is ok.
I could have just said we swam w/ manatees 
this past weekend;  that seems pretty classy.
But if that is all I said then you miss the 
meat and potatoes of our fun little family.
The ridiculous details are where all the memories are hidden.
Yep, this is us.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Baseball Season is over....

Well, for the first time ever,
Ryker's team took first place!!
GO RED SOX!!
.....and believe it or not,
so did Ethan's,
also for the first time.
WAY TO GO TWINS!!
It was an exciting and fun season.
Both boys had excellent coaches with positive coaching styles.
They had a great group of kids to play ball with.
We are ready to enjoy the extra down time.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Peer influence.....

A week or so ago McCauley got on a kick 
when she constantly wanted to work out
with me.
At least she had to ask me for several days in a row 
until I finally made it happen.
She and I made the office our work out room.
There is just enough space for two mats,
a little shelf for our weights 
(hers are about as heavy as Tina's @ 3 lb.)
I set up all of our workout dvds, jump ropes, and stretchy bands 
in there.  We have a pretty sweet set up.
This kick really only lasted for about a week,
but she was really into it.
We were doing a body sculpt dvd, and
I kept telling her she could drop her weights if she
needed to.  She would not, I could not believe
how she was sticking it out.
After we had finished the workout 
I needed to hop in the shower,
she wanted to keep working.
I said she could do another, thinking she would get 
bored and peter out after I left.
I came back in after my shower to find this.
Where in the world did she learn such form??
(and I am not kidding)
I was truly surprised.
She stuck w/ the whole workout- 
it was pilates.
She really likes seeing her guns starting to form.
See those little guns!
Two days ago the boys were out with Kevin, 
she and I were home and decided to watch an episode or two
of Dancing w/ the Stars.
I always speed through more than half of it, 
but we usually find a dance (semi-modest outfit)
or two we are interested in watching.
At one point she asked me this question:
"Mom, am I always going to have the straight body that I 
have now?"
: )
I said do you mean are you going to develop
breasts at some point?
Yes.
For sure.
When you are around 12 or 13 you will go through 
puberty and your body will start changing.
Man, she was pretty thrilled to hear this information.
I could see her doing the math in her head.
I love her little straight body,
would hate for it to ever change.

I have made it three months straight
with my temple attendance goal.
I had a wonderful time w/
Connie, she just got released as my V.T.,
she always wrote me the best letters,
and Maria, whom I used to V.T.
We ate at Chick-fillet after.
My FAV! 
Lastly, I was thinking today how lucky I am to have 
good supportive friends.
Sounds like I am describing a reliable bra....
that's weird.
But it is true.
They do not let me down.
They inspire me, motivate me, and the thing I love the most;
they encourage me to live in the present and be human.
They give me permission to indulge w/out guilt.
A few sweet examples:
The West wedding reception a few weeks back.
I met V there.  I had eaten, and did not plan on partaking
of the spread of divine delicacies that were laid out
for the taking.
I was going to take a pass.
Vanessa got her plate and was digging in with relish.
I was like....really?
You are going for it?
Yes.
Oh my heck, forget this abstinence, this is a 
CELEBRATION!
We dug in.
Cheese cake, cream pies, lemon drops,
white chocolate fountains, we dipped 
wafer cookies, strawberries, drank lemonade,
or was it cucumber water.
Can't remember,
but I do remember LOVING every minute of it.
I did not regret it when I got home.
It was too good.
too fun.
It felt sneaky and reckless...
I loved the location of the desert tables....didn't you V?
They were behind everyone.
So you could just keep cramming goodies on your plate w/out
feeling like a total horder.
It was excellent.

There are other times when we peer pressure for the 
health of one another as well
(not Tina, she always pressures for indulgence)
But V, remember at Olive Garden for the 
baby shower?
Man, we rocked the house downing all that water,
going w/ a dainty soup and salad.
I felt great,
and it was fun and funny to have you sitting there
showing off your will power.
There was no way I was going astray.
With all of the working out, and trying so
hard to fit and look the part that I want to be,
man, what a thrill to unplug and indulge
and dive in head first and just enjoy w/out limits
for a little while.
Which is exactly what we did for my birthday.
From the sound of it, we have a dang lot of
indulgences don't we?
Heck yeah we do!
Wouldn't have it any other way!
We work hard for it!
Thank you.
I love you dearly.
I am 39 years old!!!!!
That boggles my mind, but I am liking this number.
My last year in my thirties!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Here is what I have to say......

Summer Break is for the BIRDS!
Wow.
I finally get it, I see what all those moms were saying
for all those past summers.
I never thought it was a big deal at all having the kids 
home for the summer.
Duh.
Today was the first day of the rest of the summer.
We were all pretty stoked.  
I because I have about a million projects that I have in mind
for us to accomplish, and the kids were 
excited about sleeping in.
We started out ok, got our scripture reading in.
Ate some cereal....after that is
when I started loosing them a little.
It felt something like trying to break wild horses,
or maybe herd cats....
I'm not sure.
We did get a few jobs done, I did the boys hair cuts,
and so forth,
but anytime there was a 10 second lag, they would be 
right back in wrestling again.
It is always McCauley against one of them,
mostly Lawson, and half the time 
Ryker joins in and gangs up on M.
She has some dang good moves.
She is very tough, and quite competitive,
no idea where she gets it.
Anyway, back I would go 
into the front room to break it up again.
no.
stop.
quit it you guys.
NICE ONE MCCAULEY!! 
COME ON YOU GOT HIM, DON'T GIVE UP,
USE THE COUCH IN YOUR FAVOR....
Kev walked in during one such break up scene. 
He expressed his disappointment in all of us.
It wasn't like we were placing bets or anything.
It was not as if we were sitting on the side lines shoveling in popcorn.
I'd like to see him take these guys on for an entire day.
Wow.
Look how I have digressed.
Things got better after M and I made an emergency batch 
of chunky peanut butter cookies,
the dough was to die for.
We ended up spending a bit of time at the library and
then hitting the pool with Tina and her two boys
at the Sanctuary.
This was a sweet hang out.
They had never even been to their "gated community" pool before.
It was a great find.
I mentioned to the kids I would take a picture of them jumping,
and let me tell you,
the show began in a big way.
Ryker had another playoff game this evening.
They took the big W again.
One game left.
Hap-Hap-eeee Summer Everyone!!

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Connected at the Badonkadonk....

Today was a hot one....
and these guys made it feel that much hotter
and much more irritating.
It is love bug season here in Florida and they are incessant 
in their annoying public mating.
Ethan and Ryker both had playoff games today.
They both came home with the W.
These are fun and exciting times.
This is what it looked like at Ethan's game,
one of the dads set up two large fans for our team parents.
Yowsa.....!
I will say it felt pretty good,
the only thing that brought the day down was having 
the love bugs land on you every two seconds, sneaking down 
your shirt, up your leg, in between your toes,
this is one of the few singles I have seen.
Who else out there heard that these were actually 
created by an experiment that went terribly wrong 
several years back?
I believed that until last year.
Before the games were over we had the last piano recital of the year.
I took everyone but Ethan, he told me there was no way I was 
going to force him to miss any of his playoff 
game for a recital.
Kev took his church suit in the truck,
they were texting me the whole time, how many until my turn?
8, now 6, 3, he walked in and sat in the back as she was 
calling him forward.
He said he really liked it that way because he didn't have any time 
to get nervous.
Good point.
Holly is a great teacher.  
She gave out little trophies and talked a bit about 
each student at the end.
I really liked what she said about Lawson,
she said he reminded her of herself.
While growing up she never believed
that she could memorize or play by ear.
She did not have the confidence or faith in herself.
She had seen that in Lawson when he first started with her.
Well, he is becoming a believer.
It has been fun to watch it happen.

One last thing off subject.
I was talking w/ a few moms today at one of the games.
We were discussing the school year,
how it went, who is going where for next year, etc.
At one point I said I had been quite happy with 
Ethan's middle school experience,
except for one teacher.
I am going to make sure our other kids 
do not get him. 
I asked if they had any bad experiences.
Oh sure, at least three different teachers over the years.
What did you do?
 Did you keep your kids out of their classes?
She said she did not interfere,
but let it be a life learning opportunity.
They talked w/ their kids about the differences
in their teachers views and their own, and had some 
very good discussions.
She said she knows they will come into contact every day
with people with differing views from their own.
That is a big part of life.
Yes, that is true.
That felt really good to hear.
Does that get me off the hook from taking any action at all
if I feel strongly about a situation?
No, but it made sense.
We can't always avoid, change, or run from others opinions,
even if they are very wrong in our eyes.
However, we can counter act them with our own children by 
continually having open communication and
teaching in our own home.
It was a good reminder for me to hear.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Can't believe it is over....

Wow, that came fast!
The end of the school year wrap up post.
What an adventure this year has been.
What a sweet fun ride.
I knew when the kids went into public
school they would never opt to be back home again.
I am happy I had them home for the time I did....
but I agree.....
I love the new experiences they are having.
I love the experiences I am having.
  One of the things I enjoy the most is when
 their little buddies stop by out of the blue.
Having their school mates show up in the mornings to 
ride to school together.
It reminds me of the joys of being a kid.
The stuff I liked doing.
Get on your bike and go.
Such freedom. 
So grown up.
I like to see those other kids comfortable here at our place.
The girls are coloring posters in here on the office floor right now.
Someone is playing away on the piano.
I just heard another chunk of glass get broken out of 
the playroom window....
Ethan went to the beach with a few friends.
I like the activity. 
I enjoy hearing what they are saying.
I want them to feel welcome.
I sometimes wish our place was bigger....
but truly it does not seem to matter much.
Just a little bit ago several of the boys friends
came home from school with them,
they rode their bikes to McDonalds and redeemed the
coupons I gave them.  
I also looked at the Walgreens ad with them and 
pointed out all the sweet deals on candy and 
distributed the in store coupons for them to use if they wanted.

Today was "Fun Day" for the Kindergarteners.
I helped out with the ring toss.
McCauley said there was no way to choose 
her favorite part of the day because it was all so much fun!
We rode our bikes home after and had a 1 hour nap on her bed!!
I woke up sweating my brains out.
Two nights ago Ethan had his final band concert.
We went and got frozen yogurt after with some other families.
Lawson just had his "Crazy Beach Day" today.
He found out he got a 4 on his FCAT writing last week.
What a celebration that was...
he was so worried and convinced he would get a 2.
He has come leeps and bounds this year.
Last night was Rykers "6th Grade Awards Night"
Man that was fun.
The big honor they gave out for the night was
calling all the kids up on stage that earned the Presidential Award.
I heard it and knew Ryker had earned it.
There were about 20 kids or so I think.
I got all teary eyed thinking of the hard work he has put in this year.
He is the easiest kid when it comes to homework.
He just comes home and goes to it.
No procrastination.
Needs no help, no reminders, just putters around humming,
getting on the computer.
Googling what he needs, typing up his papers,
working on his science boards,
what not.
Almost every time I am around Ryker and there are other kids around,
they are always asking him to sing for them.
Huh?
Really?
He sings for you?
Oh yeah, Ryker is always humming or doing
rhythms for us.
Sweet!
Monday is the last day of the year.
No more full bike racks for almost 3 months!
It feels like summer has already started.
It is exciting!!
There is a kind of happy buzz in the air.
I have no doubt I will miss this activity.
What better thing to do in your home than to 
pack it full and live in it!!

Store Stocker....?

I finally wrote and delivered the 
Thank you letter to Publix I have been meaning to do
for many days.
I am happy to have it off my mind and done.
Hopefully it wasn't too stockerish....
you can be the judge.

Dear Publix Store #1214 Employees,                                   
Attention: Ted Johnson,
I have thought on numerous occasions that I would like to write a thank you letter to you and your wonderful employees.  Finally today I am doing it.  I was at Publix earlier today and again was thinking how much I love to shop there.  Kathy was my cashier; I believe Hector was my bagger.  I can't say enough good about my shopping experiences at your store.  My friends make fun of me because they know I will shop nowhere else.  They say they could care less where they shop.  Not me.  I am a loyal Publix A1A-store #1214 die hard fan through and through.  I love Judy, Jeff, Claudia, and so many others.  The friendly sample ladies, the recipe cooking lady, your bakery staff that is always happy to hand out another "kid cookie" to my little helper.  Your meat department has given me great tips and advice on preparing fish and other helps on the different cuts of meat.  There is not a department that is not excellent.
I remember going on a field trip with my daughter's preschool class there a little over a year ago.   The kids had such a blast and I loved learning more about my store and seeing how things worked behind closed doors.  My kids and I have come trick or treating to the store, and hit a few other special events as well.  These events are way above and beyond what I would consider normal for a neighborhood grocery store.
Thank you for the generous programs you offer our community.  Thank you for the way you run the store and for the quality of people you hire.  I got to thinking my letter would just be cheesy and make me sound obsessed, but then I wondered if anyone takes the time to say thank you, or just makes a point of making sure you hear their complaints.  That is not who I want to be.  Cheesy or not, I appreciate the fact that you professionally and gladly hear both.  Thank you for the recent store coupon policy.  I love it.  I am so happy it will cut down on abuse the store has received in the past.  
I hope you share my letter with your regional manager, or whomever the head honcho is, they should know of the superior service you all give.  
Sincerely, 
Melissa Christensen 
                 


If you missed what prompted this letter
you can get the back fill HERE.




Sunday, May 15, 2011

Mall Cop wannabes....

This past year for Christmas I gave Kevin a date for a 
two hour Orlando Gliders Segway tour.
I had to ask to actually go on the date as part of my 
Mother's Day gift from K.
Whooohhooo!
It worked.
We had such a fun time. 
Believe it or not,
we left the kids in charge of themselves 
for the overnighter!!
Yowsa!
It was a trial run that worked out pretty sweet.
They loved having us gone. 
We loved being gone.
The trickiest part of the entire adventure was 
trying to find the 
Old Town Segway location.
We found Old Town.....
.....pretty darn creepy on many levels.
Which for me added to the excitement of our wild 
adventure into the unknown.
Just so you know if you go on this tour,
the Segway tour location is actually in the 
very last store in Old Town,
called The General Store.
Save yourself some sweat, near tears, and swears from
complete exasperation.....
Anyway, once we finally found it, the training began.
You can watch THIS and THIS...
if you have any interest.
(As a side note-
If you do go to those videos...
I highly recommend you watch -
Billy Scott Faces The Firing Squad
while you are there.)
Both Kev and I found the segways surprisingly easy to operate.
They were a blast to maneuver.
I really want to watch Mall Cop again to take in all the cool
Segway moves.
That was the best (ok pretty much the only good)
part of the movie the first time we saw it,
and inspiration for the date to begin with.
Now we would be able to really relate....
been there done that!
I loved the tour so much.
I had envisioned the tour in downdown Orlando,
up and down International Dr.
Totally choked and congested w/ pedestrians, and honking cars,
which is in fact where the tour used to take place.
Just recently it was relocated to Old Town,
with the bulk of the tour taking place in 
Celebration,
the town Disney created.
This home is just one example.
It was mansion after unique mansion surrounded by huge
moss filled trees, golf courses, nature trails, ponds, etc.
It was a beautiful scenic tour.
The weather was as close to perfect as it could be.
The day surpassed my expectations on many levels.
I loved spending time with Kevin doing 
something just for fun,
and a bit out of the ordinary.
I did not want the 2 hour tour to end.
On our way out of Old Town I pointed out the 
caricature booth.
Kev said, lets do it.
Really?
Whoohooo!!!
I have always wanted to have this done,
kind of not doing it out of fear that the artist
would decide to draw me with a massive nose or bulging eyes 
or something else really awful.
This girl was a sweet and pleasant caricature artist.
She beefed up my breasts adding a little cleavage,
which I had to explain to the kids that my shirt was not really
like that, but that the artist had taken liberties unsolicited.
(secretly appreciated....
I tell ya she knows her stuff) 
McCauley has this hung in her room....
I knew that would be where it would find a home.
She wanted to take it on our GNO Date last night....as well
as to church today with her.
I convinced her to let it stay....
Just a little snippet out on the road ways....
pretty obnoxious after the two tush shakes....
we ran into some PO-lice along the way.

I would recommend this experience to YOU!
Here is the Groupon I used....watch for it,
it may come out again.
Thanks for the excellent time K....
Love you!

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Happy Mothers Day to ME......

This has been an extra fun week to be a mother.
I will say that one thing the public school system has going for it
is helping kids come up with a special hand made 
little something for mom on her big day.
That certainly didn't happen over the past 7 years when they were 
home with me.
The kids have been coming home w/ crate paper flowers, 
painted pots, portraits of yours truly, and lots
of other fun goodies.
I love it.
McCauley's class even had a 
Mother's Day tea party on Thursday.  
I was the only mom in a hat, but that was
A-ok with me.
I felt FABULOUS!
(That's a fancy word for wonderful)
I have been waiting for the opportunity to wear this gorgeous accessory
for quite some time.
 Take a look see.....
 Maybe you can read this if you click on it....
Now today was the best ever.
Kevin asked what I would like for Mother's Day,
I always want the same thing every year.
SERVICE.
I asked for he and the boys to get rid of all the dead 
wood in our yard.
This has been something bothering me for quite some time.
I can ask for help with this project,
and countless other projects all year long until I am blue in the
face, but deep down I know it will likely
not happen until my "special" day.
May is a big month for me because it 
contains both of my special days - 
my B-day and moms day.
So I have to really pack the honey dos in fast in order 
to capitalize.
Here is a video showing one of the tree take downs....
let me warn you now - this video is extremely
anti - climactic.
beware.
plus the voices are about 5 seconds off.
not sure why.....
Nothing makes me happier than doing a family 
project together.
I love it so much.
Nothing gets me more excited about my man
than him performing a honey do for me.
I really think men underestimate the power that lies
in honey dos.
When we work together and improve our
meager yard, it is satisfying and motivating.
It makes me want to do more and make it even better.
It is encouraging and wonderful to see a 
change for the better. 
 A small improvement that makes a noticeable difference.
"Studmyster"
(Don't get me wrong with this post,
Kev does tons all the time w/ our yard, and trying to keep our
home in one piece, etc.  He is by no means a slacker in 
any way, it is just that sometimes I want to bump 
up the priority on certain projects).
While the boys were cutting and sawing down the 
dead orange tree in the back yard McCauley and 
I were finally cleaning up the playroom and 
putting it back in order from the recent roof ordeal.
See here if you missed it.
It is no longer leaking!!! 
whoohoo!
It is not complete on the inside....but at least the water seepage
 has stopped.
Soooo...
I did not sell Kevs workout equipment,
M and I rearranged it so it feels pretty sweet in there now.
We may even start to use that room again.
It has been inaccessible for so long we had just 
about given up on it.
The final touch on this sweet day - 
M and I went to Lowes and purchased some clearanced out 
geraniums to pot.
I have been wanting to do this for sometime....
finally got motivated today
because of the mothers day family work project! 
This is a favorite sight to see.
Packed garbage cans with yard dibris.

For my birthday 
I am thinking of asking for the broken window in the 
playroom to be replaced, and maybe for 
the fence gate to be fixed.
Man.....
it is so hard because there are so many choices.
The possibilities are endless....