One Tooth, Two Teeth, Three Teeth!

Kaleb has lost his first tooth!  His mouth is crazy with his adult teeth coming in BEHIND his baby teeth on the back (refer to the picture proof from a blog post a few weeks back), and Kaleb has been terrified of actually pulling the teeth out - so he's just been wiggling it but never actually giving it a good jerk.  The one tooth got wiggly to the point where it would practically lay down on his lip when he'd talk, and overnight (at the Adventurer Campout), it just fell out and when he woke up, he shouted "My TOOTH!" frantic that he'd lost it.  Thankfully he did not swallow it!

While Kaleb is afraid to pull it out, Zachary suffers from the opposite problem - at the very first sign of any wiggle-ny-ness, he just strong-arms that tooth right out of his mouth - so he's now lost two more teeth on the top.

The Z-men went to the Adventurer campout on Friday night, and had a blast.  Karis said that they actually slept from about 9 to 6:15, although they did get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and to find Kaleb's lost tooth, so all-in-all the sleeping wasn't too bad.  Amy stayed home with Addison (may Addison stay small forever so Amy has an excellent excuse not to sleep on the cold, hard ground! :), and the other benefit of staying home was avoiding the pollen that has given her such a horrible cough the last 6 weeks.  Johnsons took pity on us and invited us over to their house for lunch.  Addison and Erik got along swimmingly - although they piled all of the cushions up on the couch and jumped from the ottoman over to the cushions.  At one point the other child would stand behind the back of the other and give them a little "helpful push" to take the leap.  Neither one of them seemed both by the little extra push, but the parents decided that was perhaps not the wisest activity! :)

Kaleb likes to play goalie in soccer - and they played soccer the entire time that they were at the campout!

Great action shot!

It was a busy weekend last weekend, because before heading out to Adventurers, Karis joined the boys on a field trip to Legoland, and they had a beautiful day to enjoy the rides and fun.

A little wet....

Getting his "big boy" driver's license this time!

Wait - are these brothers holding hands??!  Let it be so!

More brotherly love....or choking - take your pick! :)

Sir Knight Kaleb

Followed by Sir Zachary (and Kaleb in the background)

 Kaleb's soccer skills camp ended last Sunday - he really did quite well.  One of the other kids' grandfather actually came up to Amy's mom one day and commented on what a good little defender he was!

Kaleb and his coaches

The two teams

All the parents trying to get a picture!

 Phrase of the week:  Addison was playing hide-and-seek with the boys, and they were having her "count" - so she'd hide her face, shout "3, 6, COME!" and then take off racing to look for them!  They had to be fast to get into a hiding space for that kind of counting! :)  She has mastered the word "turtle" as well recently, so loves to find the turtle that lives in our yard.

Bonfire!

Last weekend of course was the Halloween, which we typically do not participate in (frankly, what good can come from a holiday that is typically pretty 'dark' outside of the kids cute costumes and is it ever a good idea to fill up a kid with tons of sugar? :)) - but our church had an alternative event with a vesper bonfire to give families another option - so we headed on out.  It was super fun, with lots of church folks attending.  There was a bonfire for roasting hot dogs, smores, hot apple cider, and then at the end there was even a bag of candy.  There was a lovely vespers program complete with a sing-along and music.  It did get so dark of course over the evening that it was hard to see who was saying Hi to you as you'd walk from one area to the other - so that made it a bit tricky but we managed!



 

Addison was enamored with the Isidros camp 'bench' and she and Brady were having a fun time sitting on it together.

The boys out in the field playing soccer

Sitting on daddy's lap during the vespers part

We had a treat when Karis' uncle Elwin and his wife Maddy came to visit as well - they stayed overnight with us.  The boys were bitterly disappointed when they left the next day!  They even played floor hockey in the garage with the boys, and charades as they went to bed!  We actually had a lovely visit with Karis' cousin later this week as well - Richard and his wife Jennifer, but we sadly forgot to take a picture! :(  It was super fun to visit with all of them - it is always fun to share what is going on in each other's lives.


Family picture (Addi was already in bed)

Amy had a long week at work, with several very late nights, so Kaleb picked out some beautiful flowers to bring a smile at the end of the week - pink is one of her favorite colors - thanks to my Z-men!

We ended the weekend with tickets to the Magic game on Saturday night.  It was definitely past Addison's bedtime, so she stayed at home while the rest of us headed out.  The tickets included a free meal, so we all ate ourselves silly.   The section wasn't very full at all (although more people did come throughout the game), so we had lots of room to ourselves!  They played Toronto, so we got to hear the Canadian anthem - O Canada!!

 



There was a slogan about "get 'stached, get screened!" (trying to raise awareness about getting screened for prostrate cancer) - so the boys all played with their blue moustaches.

Phrase of the week:  Candy-pop!!!  This was Addison's chant as she chased after the bag of candy - desperate to have some candy-pops!

Random picture of Addison trying to ride the scooter....good thing Daddy was holding on as this is a bit advanced for her!

Showers of Blessings

We had the honor last weekend of showering soon-to-come Baby London Eliese with gifts - Jennifer has been such a friend to so many people, it was an honor to be able to give back to her.  The shower was at Heather Hilliard's house, with the creative genius of Heather and Ashley W at the helm.  Loretta, Corey and Amy helped with the logistics and gladly put our hands to work in preparation for the shower.  It was an absolutely beautiful shower, complete with a live pianist, fresh flowers, and enough decorative touches to amaze even though most design savvy person! :)  We can't wait to meet little London!

In other Z-news - the kids went to Green Meadows farm last weekend for a field trip - and it was Addison's first time there.  We wondered how she'd do as Kaleb was always terrified of the animals until he was about 5ish, but she had no fear (other than she was NOT going to be riding that pony!!) of the animals - reaching out to touch and explore!

Chickens!

And more chickens!

Zachary is holding a baby chick

Kaleb and Evan

We had Biris and Almodovars over last weekend for Sabbath dinner before Adventurers (we're all in Apopka Adventurers) - and as we gathered outside of church, Abel was playing with Addison lifting her in the air - she LOVED it, and would hold her hands up in the air - little daredevil!

Playing soccer after lunch in the bonus room

Amy took the kids to Adventurers, and so Addi came along - she jumped right in there and thought that she was one of the big kids!

The boys were lucky ducks (and Daddy too), and got to go to a Solar Bears game that night as well - in the Florida Hospital box!  We try and tell them how fortunate they are to be able to do these kinds of things...this is certainly not the kind of thing that every child or adult gets to do!  They loved the game, but Amy is suspicious that Kaleb's favorite memory will be the huge cup of soda (see in the cupholder beside him) of Sprite that he got at the game!

Amy has had a deep cough the last 3 weeks - almost gagging at times it can be so bad, and of course it is worse at night (good thing we have a guest room, Karis has voted himself off of the island - preferring to sleep in relative peace where Amy isn't hacking up a lung a 2A each morning!).  She finally went to the doctor yesterday and he thinks that it is just allergies - with a bit of asthma.  She doesn't have asthma (after verifying this with a pulmonologist a few years ago), but it is amazing - if she does one of the kids albuterol nebulizer treatments before she goes to bed (this was from Kaleb's old stash when he was about 2-3 and was having croup all of the time), it clears up the cough for all night!

Addison is starting to talk a lot more, and is putting more frequently 2-3 words together at a time.  "hurt bad" (after banging her check really hard), "Daddy-funny" (Yes, Daddy is funny!).

Savor The Moments

In the hustle and bustle of life, it is easy to miss the small moments to savor and it struck Amy one day as she walked into the kitchen and looked down at the garbage can and saw a perfect little person handprint.   To some, this may look like we need to clean our house better, but to Amy, this was a moment to savor - there won't be little handprints around in just a few short years.....let's love them while we have them!!

The weather has turned beautiful here in Florida - no humidity and lovely moderate temperatures.  We took advantage last weekend by going out to the park and playing soccer in the evening - even Mom played! :)  It actually was all the little kids against the big kids....and you can imagine what the score was, so when one of the little boys came over to complain Amy and Teri went out to play on the little boys side and even the score.  Sadly it ended only being a tie even though there were two adults out there!  Sadly there are no pictures to prove that Amy was actually playing soccer though (Karis is not so diligent in the picture arena! :) )

The next day we had a party to celebrate Cole's 9th birthday - it was a nerf tag party, and the big boys all had lots of fun. 

Addison has started to say "mm-hmm" in a sing-songy voice when you ask her a question - it is super cute so we tried to capture it on a video.

Random pictures:

Color coordinated Z children - hardly ever happens, so had to capture it for proof!  It was spring colors, so a bit "off" in terms of timing but hey - it's Florida - it's always warm!

Pumpkin patch time has arrived!

Sit-in diner - just grab a stool and some granola, and dig in!

Using Jennifer's rug as a blanket....already got her sunglasses on!

Sitting at the front door to watch the boys playing outside...

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

We celebrated in style last weekend for Canadian Thanksgiving - making a pumpkin pie (DADDY making pumpkin pie with two helpers).  Yes, you'll notice that apparently in the Z-household we don't believe in clothes....this is our "reduce the laundry" strategy! :)  We loved how Addison says pumpkin pie, so couldn't resist posting this video here to commemorate it by.

Pumpkin Pie!

Our boys are growing up so fast, and they're making us very proud with how helpful they can be! Zachary has been doing the dishwasher now for some time, and we decided that it was time for Kaleb to begin to learn, so here he is pitching in to help! Good job Kaleb!

Loading the dishwasher

Addison has discovered a toy that Zachary used to adore as well - it is a Leapfrog Fridge magnet (although we've never put it on a fridge!) where you put letters in it and it teaches you the sounds of letters.  She has been quite enamored with it as well now that we have introduced her to it.

The chees-o smile when you say "Let me see you Addi!"

A few weekends ago, we had the awesome opportunity to go to "Family ID" at the Forest Lake Church and learn about creating a family values chart, a mission statement and a family slogan.  It was challenging to say the least - especially with two non-creative people - but aren't most things worth doing ultimately a challenge?  We were a bit sheepish as we struggled through this as a couple - finding ourselves having words at times.....until our pastor's wife came over and shared with us that she and her husband...the pastor...got into a huge fight when they did it the first time..... Okay - so if the pastor and his wife can get into a fight going this, maybe it isn't so odd for us to be setting off sparks as well! :)

During the session, they showed this video about "How to be a dad" -  it was so catchy and fun, and so true of what being an engaged father can look like, that we wanted to share!  And no, we're not trying to advertise for Cheerios - it just happened to be the catchy commercial!



Last weekend we headed out to Chapin Station to enjoy the beautiful weather.  While we were there, the Grodacks joined us as well as Cochrans.  It was SO NICE to be outside!

Young and innocent enough not to realize that perhaps a girl sitting on a boy's lap is not the best idea....

Love Calleigh's laughter!

Miss Independent....with child 1 and 2, Amy never would have allowed them to climb without being right there to catch them...  By child #3, parents are worn out and tired, and allow their children to do things that they could potentially fall on!!!

Can we say "static cling?!"

Phrase of the week:  Hand!  Mama, hand!  This is a nightly ritual for Addison - as Amy stands up from the rocking chair to put Addison to bed, she begins to say Hand, Mama Hand!  As soon as Addison is laying down, she puts her hand up in the air and Amy has to lean into the crib and hold her hand for a few moments.   Then Amy lets go of her hand, puts the drop-gate of the crib up, walks to the end of the crib and Addison then insists on "Hand!" again - so Amy reaches over the end of the crib for a few moments, and then says "good-night Addison, hold your ears! (instead of Mommy's hand!)" and finally is able to leave the room and close the door!  It works the exact same way every single night - no deviations!

Mr. QB

Zachary has started to play I9 football again, and this season the QB from last year has moved up to the next section, so Zachary was chosen as the QB this time!  It was interesting in the beginning as he said that he only wants to play defense but after Daddy told him that he used to play the QB when he was a young man, Zachary decided to give it a try.  The Wolverines (the team that Zachary plays on) has won both games handily thus far - scoring something like 67 points.  It makes us parents feel a little bad for the other team, but there will surely be games where they don't win, so they'll get to experience the other side of the coin at some point.  We're proud of Zachary - he's been keeping his head well under pressure and can throw and pass very well.

Blake is the hiker - Zachary is ready to take the ball

Passing the ball off to his runner

Kaleb started a soccer skills camp last weekend, and was showing some really good field sense - instead of bunching up with the other kids he was figuring out where the ball was likely to go and running out there so that he could intercept the ball.  Good job Kaleb!

He's on the end, looking up at the camera  He liked his coach as he had a 'mohawk'.  It's the little things....

After football, we went to celebrate Esai's 9th birthday.  They played flag football, had batting practice in a batting cage, then pick-up game of baseball - it was truly a boys party, and so much fun!

There were a few girls here, but most of the boys are from the football team or siblings.

Running for their candy as it dropped from the pinata

Kaleb taking a swing at the batting cage

Zachary has quite an arm already - he threw the ball all the way from first base to third base!!

Kaleb's having an interesting experience - instead of losing his baby teeth, they've decided to stick around a little longer while the adult teeth grow in.  You can see in this picture that his two bottom front adult teeth are growing in behind his baby teeth!  The dentist told us that the baby teeth would fall out but we're still waiting.......perhaps he'll be getting the teeth pulled instead if they don't fall out soon! :)  This is the sad reality as they inherited Amy's mouth (too small for the teeth!) instead of Karis' mouth.

Hmm, thinking the baby teeth are going to get pulled..... On another note, see how long Kaleb's eye lashes are!???

Addison, aka Baby Spice this week, has been in love with her dolly - and is insisting that she take a nap with baby.  Daddy is very indulgent....

Addison is showing off her skills - wondering how a 2 year old figured out that she could suction this cup to her face.....this kid has such an engineering mind!!!

Phrase of the week:  'Allo' - this is the word for "hello" but instead of meaning "hi" - it means, please give me your cellphone!!!  She calls everyone's cellphone the "allo" because she knows that people talk on it! :)    

We were driving somewhere together, just Amy and the kids, and somehow the conversation wound it ways around to roses.  Kaleb informs us - "We don't know why roses have thorns yet....scientists are still working on that."  Ha ha - I'm sure that is top of the list for scientists to be working on, figuring out why roses have thorns! :)  Have faith, God will tell you when we get to heaven!