Unique Families

Paige's stuffed dog puppet gave birth to Alli the alligator. I told her that dogs can't have alligator babies. She informed me that she learned on the internet that you don't have to look the same to be a family. How do you argue with that. She'll figure out the alligator/dog relationship soon enough.

Kiawah Island, SC

We took a family/work related vacation to Kiawah Island, SC. Blake attended a anesthesia conference there and we thought it would be a great opportunity to convert this trip into a little vacation. We had a blast. The weather was perfect and we did something fun everyday. We've decided that Kiawah Island will be a vacation spot we will visit again. There will be more pictures to come.

Fishing for lures!

Saturday, I had a blast.  I'm not so sure about everyone else.  We went fishing with the kids and had quite an adventure.  We found a couple of different spots but not the specific one that we were looking for.  By the time we found the perfect spot we had already lost 2 lures and almost a daddy.  Blake's next investment will be some waders.  I don't know if it is so he can fish better from the middle of the river or if it would be to retrieve all of the lures that Lane and I seem to get stuck.

  

Blake is fishing for lures.  He barely made it back with his clothes dry.             

Lane decided that beating the fish out of the water might actually work better than traditional fishing.

Kids taking a lunch break.  They still look happy.  Good day so far.

Paige spent her day crawling all over the rocks and walking barefoot in freezing water that didn't bother her.

Anyways, the day was great and we all look forward to doing it again soon.  We need to prove to Lane that we can catch some fish.  He went around the whole day saying,"Here comes the Stevenson family.  They can't catch any fish."  I know that he was just saying out loud what Blake was thinking in his head.  

I've got a long "honey-do" list to get us ready for South Carolina.  Isn't is supposed to be the husband that has the "honey-do" lists?  Anyways, I probably shouldn't start blogging but need to get the "poison" blog moved down.  Lane finished up basketball this last week and even though he is sad, I'm kind of glad.  It's sad when other parents ruin the experience for everyone else.  I guess I've just been raised that if you don't have something nice to say, don't say it at all (especially when you are talking to 7 yr. olds).  In particular, there was a mother that sat a little ways behind us (notice the leg at the top of the picture. That's her.) and would yell mean things to the kids if they weren't perfect players.  Lane was on the receiving end of that on a couple of occasions.  Point being... glad to be done with it for now.  Paige's soccer team, on the other hand, is full of parents that sign their kids up for soccer purely for the comical entertainment.

Action shot.  You don't see them to often with her.

 It's refreshing and fun and I know it won't always be that way.  Paige is funny.  She'll just run around the group of kids that is running after the ball.  Once, she found out that she was in the middle of the mess and tried to get out of the way as fast as she could.

"Put your back on the ball." (or nose, elbow, ear) 

Lane also performed a play in school on Friday.  He was a humming bird and did a great job.  He had a hard time sleeping the night before because he was worried about forgetting his 3 lines.     

No Poison Anymore!

Well, the "boil water" has been lifted and I realized at 1:30 am this morning how scared the kids were of the "poison".  Lane woke up in the middle of the night and he must of had a dream where he drank some water because he came in and woke me up saying "I don't want to die."  It sure is tough being a kid and not understanding everything grown-ups tell you. Especially when mom's not too good explaining.  Paige is having a play date today by herself.  There is no Lane with her.  Lane got a little sad when she left and I told him we would have fun together and play some games.  He wasn't too interested in that but asked if he could play PS2 instead.  My feelings were a little hurt.  Whatever happen to "mommy/son time".  Maybe I was looking forward to this time more than him.  Paige gave her idea of team name last night at practice.  I blogged that she wanted "cheetahs" but she changed it at the last minute to "bunny rabbits".  Not too vicious if you ask me.  Now there is a nightmare for a kid--bunny rabbits chasing them with fangs.  Anyways the choice is now between giraffes and lions.  You can imagine what Paige will be voting for next week.  GIRAFFES.  The vicious grey giraffes.  (Grey is her t-shirt color).  I've started on a puzzle (a little bit harder than I expected) and now since Lane is not interested in playing with me I'll go work on it.

Poisoned!

We have been notified that we need to boil our water because it tested positive for e.coli.  I guess they (the water people) found out 2 days ago that it tested positive but didn't tell anyone about it until last night.  Because of our recent move we haven't filled up our water food storage jugs yet.  I'm regretting it now.  I ran to the store last night for some drinking water and there was a line waiting for water.  Fortunately I was at the beginning of the line.  I just found out that you also need to boil your water for hand-washing, bathing, etc.  This I found out after we have all bathed (with non-boiled water).  The kids were so scared about the poison in the water.  They wanted to know if we were going to die.  Stay tuned.... I need to go boil water now.

Spring Break! Wo-hoo!

Blake is working call shifts 3 times this week so my spring break will not consist of beach houses or Europe but the weather has been beautiful (70*).  When my mom called and told me they had snow this morning I couldn't help but tell her that I had a sunburn.  :)  Paige started soccer yesterday and she loved it.  I think she is the cutest soccer girl ever.  Blake took her while I took Lane to a basketball game.  When Blake handed Paige her soccer t-shirt she said, "They gave that to me?" "WOW!"  I think she enjoys being the one to get to play and not just stand on the sidelines finally.  

Her coach gave them homework: Practice bouncing the ball off your knee and catching it and to think of a team name.  Paige's idea..."Cheetahs because we're small and fast".  Not to mention it IS a cat (for my cat lover).  Spring Break is going smooth.  The kids haven't had too many timeouts for fighting with each other.  I have to laugh at my sister though.  She finally sent me some movies that the kids could watch with their time off from school.  They were so excited so we hurried and put one in only to find out that it was a blank dvd.  :)  Thanks Steph.  I know you tried.  It gave me a good laugh even though the kids weren't too thrilled.  

The going on's...

in our life are painfully simple but here is an update nonetheless.  Many of you know that I went to the doctor last week for my vertigo and in the process of all the test I had to not drink any caffeine for 24 hours.  Oh, could it be done?  Yes, and it was easier than my previous attempts.  Well, it's been a week and I'm still alive.  I've been doing Weight Watchers (again) and have been very good.  A couple of points to make:  1.  Your "points" go pretty far when you don't use them all up drinking soda.  2.  Buying a new scale does not make your weight change or look any better.  Do I really need to know to 1/10th of a lb. how heavy I am?  3.  Men should not be allowed to use above scale if they are going to lose 5 lbs in four days.  It is not healthy for your marriage.  I just had lunch (salad!) with a couple of friends I've met and I have become painfully aware that I'm not sophisticated.  So much so that I don't have much to add to the conversation unless it is to make a sarcastic joke.  They may laugh out loud but I wonder if they are silently thinking "so this is how they breed them out west?"  They speak of beach houses for spring break, to Europe for the summer, and all I think of is fishing and camping and seeing family out west.  It's turning out to be a beautiful day.  65 degrees and partly sunny.  That can cheer me up any day.