The Great Beach Adventure

So the owners of the inn that Anthony works for gave us the best gift ever. Ok, I know I already wrote a post about the best gift ever, but this is sort of the best gift ever ever. They gave us a week at their beach condo in Florida. We, after much waffling, made the fabulous decision to take them up on it and left home at about 10pm on Saturday night. I thought it would be so much easier to drive through the night, and since Anthony stays up 1/2 the night most of the time anyway, I thought I'd get some sleep and he'd drive away. Imagine my surprise when he pulled in to a wayside rest at 1am and was done driving. Well, being a Rutt after all, I simply couldn't just sit there when there was road to conquer! So I took over and drove most of the night. I did have to stop a couple of times to rest and he finally took over at about 8. The drive took us about 16 hours and I'm glad we did it that way. The boys were sooo good and it was nice to get here in the afternoon.

The condo is beautiful! It is right on the beach and we can sit on our deck and enjoy the ocean. There is also a pool and lots of sand toys. This is seriously the way to live!

Of course the boys were up bright and early this morning, ready to head for the sand. We finally got our act together around 10ish - afterall, we're on vacation. We lathered everyone up with 50spf sunscreen and headed downstairs. Anthony found some bodyboards in the storage area and some sand toys. Here are some pictures of our first day.

Yup, this is the life. And yes, all of that skin that you see is now bright red.

Decorating the sand castle with seashells, 'teeth', 'bones' and anything else they can find.
Sweet baby FINALLY taking a nap. Even after sunscreen, an umbrella and a towel, that cheek and arm are still sunburned! Actually, all of the boys ended up sunburned. Obviously, we'll have to lather it a bit thicker tomorrow.
The sand just kept soaking up the water for their moat. :(

Jensy's first time in the ocean. He didn't even cry when the wave almost swept him away. He did shake a bit though. And finally, a wine glass the size of which even my mother could appreciate. :) And yes, there's white in there, Mom!
Be back with more tomorrow. :)

Soccer

Well soccer season has started again. It is so much fun to watch them play but so stressful to make it through the weeks. It's worth it though. Christian played soccer with our YMCA, which mostly consisted of him running in circles around the gym, talking or making other sounds the entire time. Pretty hilarious. Now Wyatt and Emmanuel are playing with the city parks and rec. Wyatt is in the under 8 group which means they are still not keeping score (technically) and basically playing without a goalie, but they are starting to learn positions, passing, etc. It is way fun. His coach is a dad of one of his teammates and seems really cool but does make them work. Anthony is coaching Emmanuel's team, along with the dad of Emmanuel's best friend. It is their first time at coaching and it's going to be FUN. I can tell already! :) In the under 6 group the kids mostly just run around and try to kick the ball, with a few that still insist on trying to use their hands on occasion. Here are a couple of pictures from Saturday's practice. It was freezing outside and I was a total sissy and sat in the car. Then there's a picture of Emmanuel 'running'. He thought I needed to take a picture of him and kept running back and forth until I got one he liked. I'll post some real soccer pictures soon.

My New Handbag

So I have to brag a little about how awesome my sister is! Actually, all of my sisters are pretty awesome, but this post is about Sarah. I will first say that she just had a baby. Like a month ago! Her second son - a super cute guy! So even with a 2 year old and a new baby she STILL managed to whip up this beautiful little bag for me. I can't believe it. Isn't it the cutest EVER?!Please note the cool lining and the beautiful buttons. I love it!

Question of the Day

So I've been wondering for, I guess at least the last nine months, what this is? Any guesses would be appreciated. Someone from Anthony's work gave it to us along with a laundry basket full of other new and used baby items at a baby shower. I just can't figure out what it is for. Oh, and here are a few pictures of Anthony planting some flowers on the side of our garage. I don't think they'll grow high enough to cover the ugly boxes on the wall but at least it might look a little prettier. :) Jens was a big help!
Fangs! The child has fangs! I think one of his middle teeth is growing in now but he's just had the bottom teeth and fangs for a while now.

It's SPRING! Yay!!

Wow, it's been a super long time since I've posted anything. That certainly is not for a lack of things to write about, but more a lack of ambition, initiative, time - things like that.

This month Wyatt turned 7 (I still can't believe it!) and we decided that, in lieu of having a party for his friends and all the insanity that entails, we would all get out of work/school and go to the zoo. Good choice!! It was so fun! I had forgotten how much fun it was to spend time with the animals and how much the boys (and their father!) enjoyed it. It was such a nice day but still early in the year so some of the exhibits were closed and there weren't really any petting opportunities or anything like that. It was mostly just stay-home moms walking around together, their perfect luxury strollers in tow. Then us with 4 wily boys, an old orange (if you could see through the dirt) stroller and a buggy board. The Columbus Zoo is a fairly nice zoo, although I didn't think it was that much greater than the Fort Wayne Zoo, a place where the boys and I spent quite a bit of time in the past! There is a large water park called Zoombezi Bay connected to the zoo, which Anthony got very excited about, but I really don't see us visiting that anytime soon. Oh well, like I said, it was FUN! Here are a few of my favorite pictures - yes, though I am notorious for forgetting to take pictures, I DID make an effort this time.

At the very beginning. Did you know flamingo's slept like that??!
Love in the air!
Aquarium was definitely a favorite!
I think this is the extinction bell? Pretty cool.All my sweet boys :)

I Heart Valentine's Day

Happy Late Valentine's Day!!! Even though my husband has to work ALL the days around Valentine's day, I still think its a fun day. I love waking up and telling the boys Happy Valentine's Day and that I love them. And I love how they give me a pile of Lightening McQueen and Spiderman valentine's and write big hearts on everything in sight. Well, except when its the wall or their bed or the side of their brothers face... Anyway, so here are some valentine cupcakes we made. Please note that they are supposed to be frosted with big hearts. :)

The boys had to make valentine's boxes for school so here's a picture of Christian's.

Anthony even got valentine gifts!

More Sewing!

At Christmas, when I got the material for the bibs we made, I got the bright idea that I could make diapers or diaper covers. Well I could only find one diaper cover pattern at the fabric store and it is really designed for making a ruffly cover to go under a little girls dress - but I could still make it! I'll just skip the ruffles! :) Here is a picture of the pattern laid out. Believe it or not, I had to have my husband help me figure out how they wanted it laid out on the fabric.

Please note that I even made tailor tacks (right Mom?)!! Impressive, I know! Then I had to call my sister because I didn't even know what some of the instructions meant. She did a great job of directing me over the phone!

Cute boys!! I think he likes the cover better than the plastic covers. I think it breaths more anyway and it did a great job keeping him dry. You couldn't even feel that the diaper was wet. I think I have fabric to make another one so we'll see if I can do it again. :)