Yogurtology

 The greater-Tampa area has been exploding with new ice cream/frozen yogurt establishments over the past few years.  As lovers of frozen dairy, and supporters of our local economy, we have made it our personal mission to try all of the new places.

This, Yogurtology, is probably our favorite!

 They have TEN unique flavors of SELF-SERVE frozen yogurt and a topping bar with over 50 amazing toppings.  You name it, they've got it! 
It's a fun, "Create-Your-Own" experience!

 Clare tends to go for the fruity frozen yogurt (combo of watermelon and strawberry) with every sugar-loaded topping you can imagine (Fruity Pebbles, marshmallows, sprinkles, Nerds, and gummy bears).  Notice the orange gumball next to her arm.  You will see that as a wad in her mouth in the following pictures.

 Isaac will eat anything that we're willing to share!

 Don't let his face in this picture fool you.  He was having a GREAT time.

 Case in point!

 There's the gumball...

 ...and the Cheese-balls!

If you're ever in the area, plan on joining us for an evening of frozen delight!

Let's Go Fly a Kite

  On Sunday, Father's Day 2012, 

Phil said that he wanted to go to the park to fly a kite with his kiddos. 

Clare has been wanting to do this for a long time, 

but there hasn't been much wind...or the timing just wasn't right. 

 Unfortunately, the wind still wasn't great for kite flying, but everyone had fun!

Little snippet of the kite in flight...

 I know it wasn't Mother's Day, but it brought ME such great joy watching the interactions between my biggest love and my littlest loves.

 Isaac was more interested in keeping the little gnats from flying in his ears, so he was just ran around like a crazy boy.  Nothing new, I suppose.

 Clare was just the opposite.  She wanted EVERYTHING to do with the kite and flying it.  Unfortunately, it wasn't a very child-friendly kite, but she stayed very involved the entire time.  Again...nothing new, I suppose.

These little munchkins are our greatest joy,
and their lives are blessed because of their father...Daddy!
Phil has a natural gift when it comes to parenthood.  He is creative, fun, spontaneous, patient, goofy, interactive, consistent, wise, and simply meant to be a leader.

Happy Father's Day, Phil!

What is CAMPING?

This was Clare's first week out of school, and we kept telling her that she got to go to camp after school was done.  By this, we meant SCHOOL CAMP.  

Considering that we've never been "real" camping, we didn't even think 

that Clare imagined she would be doing camp like this:

Staying in a tent...with a bonfire...

 ...and roasting lots of marshmallows.

In reality, her week looked a lot more like this:

School setting, crafts, friends...

and lots of activities with the theme of SPACE.

Clare's Daddy, a lover of REAL camping, wanted to help her experience camp 

outside of a classroom.  This is what he crafted!  

A tent, bonfire, and marshmallows...right in her OWN ROOM.

 She was THRILLED beyond description!

 Nice work, Daddy!  Very impressive. 

 He tore down her bed and nightstand to make room for the tent and bonfire.

Naturally, right?!  :)

Clare had a skewer with marshmallows, 

and I think she really expected them to roast on her pretend fire.

 This is my idea of camping in Florida...in an air-conditioned house!

 Our little peanut slept like a bug in a rug on her very first camping adventure.

Now if that isn't FANTASTIC, I don't know what is!

Down But Not Out

It's been a rough year for us.

From Clare being sick for what seemed like an eternity (sinuses, tonsils, ears, etc.), to unexpected house repairs, to several technological mishaps (crashed hard drive, hacked email, etc.), the last thing we need is for Mommy or Daddy to be sick.

Unfortunately, Phil has spent the last four months feeling like he's in the midst of an ongoing sinus infection.  He had sinus surgery last week,
and this is a glimpse of his current medicine regime.
In the last seven years combined, I've never seen anything close to this. 

As always, he has a positive attitude.  Even with a deviated septum, messed up sinuses, and new-found allergies that are going to result in years of allergy shots,
he remains on top of his game!

 There's no time for being sick...even when you're feeling sick.

SO...onward march!

 Here's to GOOD HEALTH from here on out!

Beat the Heat

It's been HOT lately!

Sure, we live in Florida, and heat is to be expected.

BUT...it seems like it has been exceptionally hot this year!

Phil decided to clean out the shed, and that project came with two guarantees:

1. Clare would be his "helper."

2. No shirts allowed.

 As with most projects, things have to get worse before they get better.

Can you believe that all of that junk fit in the shed (a.k.a. "Man Hut")?!

 It wasn't long before the little guy had to join in the fun.

While I wasn't crazy enough to organize the shed, 

I did attempt to go out on an evening run...outside...in the heat. 

 At 7:58 PM, it was 91 degrees...

Yeah...that didn't last long.  The run, that is.  

The heat, however, is still here.

Fun News and Sad News

Fun News and Sad News...

(This post is dedicated to Ms. Tracy.)

Fun: Clare had a field trip last week.  Her class went on a train ride along the Gulf Coast of Florida.  Even more special than that was the fact that Daddy got to ride along with her.  The trip happened to be on his day off, so he joined her for the fun! 
She was BEYOND excited!

Sad: Our computer (the nice, big, fancy Mac...that I've raved about since the day we purchased it) crashed this week.  Down.  Out.  Bad! 
It's "in the shop," but we have no idea what will be recovered. 
Unfortunately, these are the only surviving pictures of the field trip. 

I'm doing this post on our dinky, little netbook (a.k.a. SLOW and PAINFUL), but I hope I'll be back on the blogosphere again soon.

Cheerio for Cheerios!

Who doesn't love Cheerios?

I grew up with Cheerios, and now I can say the same for my little ones.  

They are most certainly growing up with Cheerios!

Do you eat Cheerios?

Do your children?

READ ON to see how YOU can try some for FREE!

Thanks to General Mills, through MyBlogSpark.com, we've been able to try the new packaging that General Mills created to make the product better for the consumer and better for the environment.

• By reducing the amount of air in each individual bag, these enhanced containers fit 10% more cereal than before and use less packaging.
• While each box contains more cereal, packaging material has been reduced by over 200,000 lbs, saving 1,000 trees and taking 130 Cheerios trucks of the road, decreasing CO2 emissions. 

That may look like a few lines of meaningless statistics, but it means that General Mills is committed to making a quality product, and MyBlogSpark has partnered with them to make them available to US!

Check out this QUICK VIDEO for more information!

You can purchase these at Sam's Club, Costco, or BJ's

We're currently enjoying our FOUR HUGE boxes of Cheerios, 

and you can too...for FREE!

Leave a comment about how you think this new packaging would benefit your family or why you might enjoy trying it.

Little Louie = Love at First Sight

If you've read this blog for any amount of time, you know a few things for certain:

1. I think my husband is amazing, and we have a newlywed kind of love
that just gets better and better with every passing day.

2. We think our kids are one of the greatest blessings of our lives, and we are so grateful that I have the opportunity to be home with them as they grow.

3. Phil has an awesome job, and he LOVES it!

That, point #3, is the reason behind this post.

Phil brought home a baby kangaroo last night, 

and it was love at first sight for our little animal lover.

 She immediately wanted to be a part of EVERYTHING kangaroo.  She wanted to touch him, hold him, feed him, talk to him, sing to him, and help him go potty.

 Clare + Louie = LOVE

It was so fun watching Clare and Daddy, 

and I loved listening to her questions about "her new pet."

 Louie has a broken foot, so he needs to be hand-reared until he heals.

 I think Clare secretly hopes that his foot never gets better.  

She wants to keep him forever.

  Isaac, who is no where to be seen in this post (unless you look very carefully), must have inherited his mother's genes.  He really couldn't have cared less about the adorable little guy (not to say that is how I felt...I just don't have a natural affinity for animals) who joined our family for the night. 

 Even I was enamored by little Louie.

 Endless smiles!

 The highlight was when Clare got to bottle feed Louie before bedtime.

The following pictures are from September of 2010

 Oliver, an orphaned baby wallaby, stayed at our house for a few days.

 Even though Clare was only 2-years-old, she still remembers it very well.

 She got to feed him bananas and watch him run around the house.

 He was a spunky little guy...kindred spirits with our little Clare Bear!

Thank you, Daddy, for bringing home more than just the bacon.  :)

We love your job almost as much as you do!  :)