i got me some smart babies

Yep, I'm going to brag a little about my kids because it's my blog and I can do that here. I don't do it anywhere else, except to Grandmas and Grandpas, of course. :) Plus, they have worked so hard, they deserve some accolades. They both managed to pull straight A's this quarter, which is NO. SMALL. THING. at their school. It's tough. But they take it seriously and work hard. So straight A's means an "Eagle Award," which they are both shown with below. (I posted a couple extra of Jack because he was clearly enjoying the accomplishment and praise). Noah was also the recipient of a really special award - the Christian Character Award for the 3rd grade, for the entire quarter. As the name implies, it goes to the student who most exemplifies the character of a Christian. They award one student per class per week, and then one student per class for the entire quarter. Noah received the award for both the week AND the quarter. Jack recieved the weekly one a few weeks back. By the grace of God, I have got great kids - all thanks and praise to HIM! And basketball has now ended - the 8 week season just flew by and unfortunately I didn't get very many good pictures. Here's my precious friend Christi - who earned the honor of their biggest fan (besides mom and dad, of course). She faithfully attended almost every game. They are, in turn, HER biggest fans. :)

Now we're starting soccer season. This spring they are on a more advanced team, so the dynamics have changed quite a bit. They only have 4 games in April and 4 in May - partly due to several out-of-town tournaments the team goes to. However, they have to earn their spot on the tournament roster - not everyone gets to go. So it will be interesting to see how THAT all pans out . . . .

First, however, it needs to STOP SNOWING HERE. Which has not happened yet. I'm so done with winter but it refuses to be done with us. Uggh. Visions of camping are dancing in my head . . .

Randomness . . .

So we've had a little bit of snow in the past month. Winter doesn't really show up in SD until Feb/Mar/April. And it showed up big this year. There were parts of our backyard that had 3 feet of snow for a while. The front yard maintained 6-10 inches for a couple weeks . . . and let me tell you how well that sits with Murphy. He hates the snow. He hates having to potty in the snow. He looks at us like "seriously." So Mark actually shoveled a part of our front yard so Mr. Fussypants would go potty outside. Oh the lengths we go to for our pets . . .

I'm happy to report, however, that it's all gone now (except a little in the shade out back) and we are enjoying 60 degree temps this week. Could it really be spring?? I don't want to allow myself to hope, lest we get one of our famous monster spring blizzards. The kids, of course, did not share in Murphy's sentiments about the snow.

In other more exciting news, Jack got glasses!
Is he stinkin cute or what? He'd been having issues with headaches and then gave us all (teacher included) the big hint by squinting when reading things from a distance. I dragged him into the eye dr. and he failed the screening. Big time. Like to the point where Noah was sitting off to the side chuckling and snorting. Poor Jack was highly dismayed - aside from his althletic ability, he's not very confident - so this was a hard adjustment for him. Thankfully, lots of kids in his class have them . . . and we all love how he looks - except he looks too OLD now - not so much like my little boy anymore!!

And we have a new addiction in our house:

Don't laugh. :) We found season 1 and 2 on sale at Target, and thought the kids might enjoy it. Wrong. They LOVE LOVE LOVE it. They are obsessed. It's hilarious. We all cherish an evening at home where we all race around to get our stuff done and then hit the couch for a couple episodes. The funniest thing to Mark and I is that the first season was done before EITHER one of us were born!! Jack and Noah can't quite comprehend that . . .

Florida. Finally.

So I've heard from some of you that I'm a little behind things and "are you still blogging?" So I'll start out with my apologies that it's taken me FOR-EVER to get back on here. Life is a little crazy these days . . . but then, when isn't it?

Anyhoo, grab a cup of coffee because you'll be here reviewing the family vacation photos for quite a while. Sorry. And believe me, I cut out a LOT.

We'll start out with our "pet" for the week - this white bird we named "Shrimp." He sat with us on the beach, every day, all week. We'd set up our chairs and he'd show up within minutes. He must have known we were fun to hang out with. And he may or may not have known we had fishing bait in the vicinity. :)
Then we'll move on to my CUTE nephew Aaron. He's SUCH a doll. And he loves to pose.

It killed me comparing him to Noah and Jack. He's 3. I remember when my babies were 3. And the difference between 3 and 9 makes my heart ache!

One of the big attractions to Sanibel is the shelling. 3rd best shelling place in the world. My dad has done it for 20 years, and has Noah totally hooked. So they'd occasionally get up VERY early, at low tide, to go hunt for shells. I managed to make it out twice.

Here's what you see if you are lucky: (many times they are further out in the water, or you can only see a portion of a shell and you have to dig it out.)

Grandpa and Noah, two peas in a pod.

The perk of these early mornings is getting to see the sunrise. Spectacular.

In order: Marcy, Noah, Betsy and my Dad.

This the boardwalk heading out to the beach from our condos.

Here's camp Horak. This was our spot on the beach - all week.

This is heading back to our condos.

The 5 Horak-side cousins.

Needless to say, my dad was on CLOUD NINE.

We spent a lot of time at the beach. Other than that, we swam in the pool and rode bikes (there are bike trails all over the island). VERY mellow, and just perfect. Oh, and we ate. ALOT.

This is one of our favorites - The Bubble Room. It's very quirky and full of character. We go here mainly for the desert - cake. You get like 1/4 of a cake when you order a piece. Yummy.

Yes, he at the whole thing. (In two sittings, thankfully)

Here's Mark and the boys at 'o-dark thirty, heading out shelling.

Here's Noah's take for the day. Not bad!

Okay, another favorite restaurant is Cheeburger Cheeburger. On this trip, Mark decided to eat "The Pounder" so he could get his picture on the wall of fame. To be clear, "the Pounder" is a FULL 16 oz. of cooked beef.

Yuck.

Like father, like sons. The boys decided THEY were going to be put on the kids wall of fame and eat the 1/2 pounder. Mama overruled the pounder for them, much to their dismay.

As part of this great honor, you get to have your picture taken with the giant stuffed burger.

I've since called a cardiologist and opened an account to start making payments. Thought I'd get a head start.

Back to the beach -

Uncle Josh was Jack's fishing guide for the week. Didn't have much luck, but he LOVES hanging out with Josh, so I don't think he cared much.

Josh, however, managed to catch a hammerhead shark. LITTLE one, thank heavens!

Here's Josh's son, Cayel. As you can see, he takes after his dad.

The boys played lots of paddleball - although you can't really tell in the photo.

In the pool!!

This was my view for much of the week. Which is really bothersome now with all this WINTER we've had since returning. Dislike.

I couldn't stop taking pictures of this little dude.

This was the last day there, and poor Jack had developed a nasty rash all over his neck. (Thus my Dad's fishing hat that covers the neck). We ended up at a doctor that afternoon and found he'd gotten into some type of pepper plant, which is the tropical equivalent of poison ivy. He got 2 prescriptions and was better a couple days later.

Photo session!

One last trip to our favorite ice cream joint . . .

It was a fabulous trip. The only downside to our trips to Sanibel is that we all suffer from PVB when we get back. (Post Vacation Blues). And let me tell you, it was like pouring salt in the wound when the PACKERS won the Superbowl the day after we returned.

Anyway, we've all since recovered and returned to our normal routine - and are so thankful for this week that we had together!