My friend, Kim, has a great post up about Christmas Pictures. Check it out here. My sentiments EXACTLY!!!
We'll be attempting to do something for our cards today. Given that, you may or may not receive a Christmas Card this year!
I take great pleasure in introducing you to Skippy. Skippy is a magical elf that lives in the North Pole. Santa sent him to our house to keep a close eye on the boys and to report back if they should be on the Naughty or Nice List. At night, Skippy will fly back to the North Pole to report to Santa and play with his little elf friends. Each morning he hides in a different place in the house so we really have to keep our eyes open! However, there's one rule. Santa says we can't touch Skippy. If so, he will lose his magic and won't be able to fly back at night and report to Santa. On Christmas Eve he will take his final trip back to the North Pole and we won't get to see him again until next Christmas.
Landon absolutely loves his new friend. He has already read him his Christmas list and makes sure that he keeps his room cleaned and always brushes his teeth. Gosh, Skippy. Are you sure that you can't stay a bit longer?
Meet Bill Gates.
Oh, and by the way, I kicked butt on my 6th grade puppet and Cameron did an awesome job on his oral report! I have history and science projects coming up soon. Wish me luck!
Yeah for Cameron! He placed in 3rd for individual competition among the 6th graders at his school's math competition today. In addition, his team came in 2nd place. He came home with lots of loot and he's looking forward to another competition next month.
We've had a slight mole problem recently and we just can't get rid of our unwanted lawn guests. Mike was digging a hole in the backyard the other day and he look at what he knocked out cold as he was going in. And yes, Mr. Mole received a proper burial. Euck.
I had this nice little post written about Cameron making the Surfside Middle School soccer team but blogger went on the fritz and I lost the post and I just don't have the energy to start over.
Given that, here is the short story:
Cameron missed the first day of tryouts because he was attacked by killer ants during warm ups. I would estimate that there was at least 40 kids trying out. He made the first cut and did his best to vie for a spot on the team. Those 8th grade boys were HUGE compared to my little 6th grade Cameron. Anyway...Cameron ended up being one of the few 6th grade boys chosen for the team. I think there were 4 total. YEAH for Cameron!!!
How was his first day of practice as a Surfside Soccer Shark? It got rained out, of course!
Today Cameron also learned that he was one of the top 6th graders to be selected to participate in the Math Counts Competition next month. YEAH AGAIN!
Wow...what a day!!!
Okay, the edging isn't quite done, but here's our "new" dining room. I like the color so much better and can't wait until I can carry it over into the hallway and the living area. If I behave, maybe Mike will let me start next weekend.
Yup. Still around. These two kids are keeping us busy! Soccer here. Soccer there. Tennis over here and oh yeah, a little bit of Odyssey of the Mind, too. Whew. I need a nap.
We had a houseful of company last weekend and my house is a mess. I attempted to start painting our dining room two weeks ago and it's still not finished. I keep doing the bewitched twitching of my nose and nothing's happening. A little help here???
I turned 31 this past weekend. Wow. I think I'm suppose to feel old or something but I really don't. I've been blessed with a wonderful husband and two kids that are normally up to no good. What else could I ask for? Oh yeah..that nap!!!
Today we officially kicked off the part of our lives that we fondly refer to as soccer season. Landon played his first game EVER with "Coach Dad" leading the way. When I asked him what his favorite part of the game was he replied, "The Snacks". Hmmm....not sure if he's going to follow in the footsteps of his dad and Cameron.
Speaking of Cameron...he scored 2 goals in his game today helping his team win 4-2. WOO HOO!
What? You can't get ahold of us? No idea where to find us? I'll give you a hint. It's soccer season. We'll be at Frank Brown Park, our home away from home. Catch me if you can!
Thank goodness it's Friday! Pajama Day attire was quite easy for us this morning. However, Landon has gotten tired of our morning picture ritual. I changed things up a bit so we'll call today "Funny Face in Your Pajamas Day". Have a great weekend, all!
For Mix & Match Day, 
Today was Crazy Hair Day at Landon's school. Don't tell the kids but Mike's plane just landed in Atlanta! He was able to finish his work ahead of schedule so he got an earlier flight home. He should arrive in Panama City at 3:46 this afternoon. I'm going to surprise the kids with a trip to the airport. How exciting!
Let's just say that the latter part of Cameron's 1st day of 6th grade ended with me hysterical and my child missing (but really on the wrong bus) for an hour after school released. Major communication gap somewhere today. Apparently the bus that picks up Cameron in the mornings is NOT the bus that he gets onto in the afternoons to come home. 
Wow. 6th grade begins today. Now isn't he cute in his school uniform? School colors this year are turquoise, black and white so Cameron will get to wear an array of these colors to school. It looked pretty goth this morning at the bus stop. Most of the boys were wearing black - euck!
And of course, we couldn't forget a picture of Landon. He went to school today, but technically, their PreK curriculum doesn't start until next Monday. Both boys were very excited to start their day.
Where? I dunno.
When? I guess now!
Landon came into the living room earlier with his suitcase and informed me that we were going on vacation. He opened it up and sure enough he had packed up the essentials required for a trip away from home.
Hmmm...maybe he's on to something!
Yes. It's that time. We attended 6th grade orientation today. Cameron was super excited. I was super apprehensive. Cam received his class schedule and he's fortunate enough to have several classes with his old classmates. There's one little boy that he has every class with! Thank goodness we like him, huh?
It looks like he is going to have to develop a much greater sense of responsibility and he's going to be held a lot more accountable than in the past. Things are a lot different from when I was in middle school. Much like high school and college, Cameron will change classes throughout the day. He has six different classes with six different teachers in six different locations all around that school. What if he doesn't make it to class on time? What if he gets lost? What if he gets mischievous and decides to skip school and head for the beach, which by the way is a block away!
Can't we just go back to elementary school? I'm not quite sure I'm ready for this!
Here's something else 
For those of you who aren't aware, Mike left this morning to take care of some work related stuff in Iraq. He'll be gone for a very long two weeks and the kids miss him already. From what I'm told, he'll be in a safe area and hopefully, out of harms way. However, please pray for his safe return and that he has an uneventful trip.
I think Katie (our dog) is pretty excited because she gets to sleep in the bed with me when Mike's away. But, shhhhh, don't tell him!
Here's our Cameron posing in his new Nike glasses. Aren't they just super cute? Okay, I really mean...doesn't he look so handsome? Special thanks to Cameron for allowing me to take his picture. He so had to remind me that he wasn't a model or anything. Ha Kiddo! You just wait until prom! :)At Cameron's annual check-up last week he had a bit of a problem with his right eye and reading the eye chart. Therefore, today we made our trip to the eye doctor for a confirmation of what we already knew. The boy is nearsighted. There is a slight need for glasses and he needs minor vision correction. Fortunately, he won't have to wear them all the time.
He had fun picking out the glasses and I think he's pretty excited about them. Okay...he's really more excited about having to only wear them part time vs. full time. We picked out a super cool and flexible Nike pair that I just love.
It's going to take a few days for them to come in, but I will post pics of our boy once they arrive.
My brother, Ben and his girlfriend, Lori are getting married! I'm so excited! He proposed this weekend in Atlanta. Congrats to the super cute couple!
Apparently frogs and turtles aren't God's only creatures that like to come visit us. If you look closely, you can see the latest visitor we had to our backyard.
I took the boys to the zoo yesterday. Okay, we call it a zoo but it's nothing compared to our old zoo in Birmingham. Landon was thrilled with the visit and Cameron, of course, acted as if he was way too old to enjoy himself. Landon enjoyed seeing Sydney, the resident giraffe. However, he wasn't too impressed with the goats. You can see his reaction below. Too funny. My sentiments exactly. :)
Landon had an interesting day today at school. Ms. D (remember her, his new teacher?) filled me in on some of his antics this afternoon when I picked him up. Apparently, he and two of his friends (twin boys) decided to hide from her when it was time to come inside from outdoor play. The boys hid and wouldn't come when she called for them. Ms. D then saw Landon peeking around the corner chuckling so he pretty much gave them away. After her heart started beating again, she too chuckled, and then read the boys the riot act. And, of course, I had to continue the riot act after I had my chuckles, as well. Landon's reason for hiding behind the tree? Oh...they saw a frog and wanted to play with it.
Today's events gave me a major flashback of Kim and I and all the trouble we caused back in daycare growing up. Ha! And you wonder where he gets it from! I guess some things really never change.
I saw this in one of my magazines that I was PATIENTLY reading today while I was waiting for my tires to be rotated and balanced. It was pretty cute so I thought I would share.
What To Do:
1. Multiply the first three digits of your phone number (not your area code) by 80.
2. Add 1.
3. Multiply by 250.
4. Add this number to the last four digits of your phone number.
5. Add that four digit number again.
6. Subtract 250.
7. Divide by 2.
What number did you get?
Cameron is complaining about the HTML on this page. Apparently, he thinks it's too plain. Whatever. I'm okay with a basic appeal. What do you think?
Some have asked how Cam is doing this week at camp. Well, the answer has consistently remained the same - I guess he's doing okay. He's been a tough little booger to get ahold of but I did catch him this morning when he apparently overslept and missed breakfast. I missed him at the 7am wake up call so I thought I would catch him at 8am after breakfast. I caught him alright. He was still in bed asleep and of course, his oversleeping was all my fault because I had called him like 12 times and kept him awake. (Huh?) Yeah, whatever. I'm going to have to have a talk with that roommate.
Okay, not really, but we did receive a small glimpse into the future when we left Cam in the dorms yesterday. :) Of course, upon arrival I had to immediately do my nesting and get him unpacked.
And then we waited. And waited. And waited some more. I knew we had a long ride home ahead of us, but I just couldn't leave him. I mean, seriously. His roommate hadn't even arrived. Roomie finally decided to show and off we went. I got sappy in the car but had to pretty much immediately divert my attention to Landon, who WAS crying!!! He wanted his Cameron back! Awwwwwwww.
We've spoken to Cam since leaving him and even again this morning. I guess it would be safe to say that he's doing just fine without us. However, I'm keeping my cell phone beside me at all times. You know, just in case...
Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Father's Day! And of course, my Michael, too!
It's going to be a very interesting day to say the least. We'll spend the day as a family in Birmingham and then this afternoon we're dropping Cameron off at soccer camp for the week. But for now, it's off to breakfast and then to Harbor Freight. WOO HOOO!!!
Have a great day everyone!
Hello Friends and Family. I started this blog and just have completely neglected you over the past week-ish. The truth? We have been really busy around the home front and if we weren't really busy, then I was just being really lazy.
Landon has been in swim lessons for the past two weeks and Cameron has been taking a few private soccer lessons. Speaking of soccer...Cam is going off to soccer camp next week. We are allowing him to go back to Birmingham Southern as a residential camper. This is probably as scary for me as it is big for him. He's always been a day camper so he's looking forward to the trip. What if he doesn't shower? Who is going to remind him to brush his teeth? Is anyone really going to be there to tell him NO when he tries to spend all his money on candy?
The good news is that he's going to have his Go Phone that Grandma got him for Christmas. Thanks to her, he'll be the kid that has a mom always calling and cramping his style. Tee hee hee. I like it already.
There have been some changes at Landon's school and he is having a few issues. All of his best buddies graduated 4K and were moved up to the Kindergarten class. In exchange, he received a few new classmates AND a new teacher, Ms. D. His old teacher, Ms. J, is still in the class with them but he has made it clear that he doesn't like Ms. D and that he wants his old friends back.
This morning on the way to school he told me that he was sick and that he couldn't go. When I asked him what was wrong he told me that he had a headache. I then asked him how he had a headache and he proceeded to explain that he had a booger in his eye and it busted into his brain and that gave him a headache. Needless to say, he's at school. And oh yeah, Ms. D resorted to bribery and pulled out bubbles this morning so he was somewhat content with me leaving him with that new evil teacher. :)
Have a great weekend!
This is Cameron sporting the many awards he received today at the 5th grade graduation and awards ceremony.
Among the honors received are:
Presidential Award of Excellence
Perfect Attendance
A Honor Roll
Panther Pride Award
Okay, friends and family. Here you go. My gift to you. I may not call much. I may not write often. I may not email as I should. Maybe, just maybe, I will blog. I've decided to create this blog to keep our wonderful friends and family up to date regarding what's going on with us Coastal Conns. Go ahead and bookmark this page and check back regularly. As you know, the boys keep us all so busy and they are growing just as fast. So...take this as it is and enjoy it while it lasts!
