Just another day in Paradise!

So again, ANOTHER wonderful day! Happy New Year 2008 to everyone. I sincerely wish all of you a great year and lots of true happiness as well.

Today started out with a trip over to Barefoot Beach in Bonita Springs. It was super nice, but of course it was DIRTY. LOL When I was in 10th grade my parents moved down here full time, so I started the middle of my 10th grade year living in Naples, Florida and attending Barron Collier High School. So it was a little neat to go back and see the shopping center where I worked at TCBY and to see how the area has changed. It was 10 years ago that I left Naples, so you can imagine how much it has changed.

My aunt Connie and Jessica met us there! The kids were all exctatic to see each other! They had a great time. The clouds rolled in and Kenedey got cold so we had to head back to the house. We figured that we would let the kids play in the pool here at my mom's clubhouse. We pit stopped at Fresh Market to pick up a few things for New Years Eve snack/dinner. Our options are somewhat limited because my mom is MINUS an oven! They decided that they were just going to get a new one because the odor/damage was just too much.

Anyway... we got back to the pool and the kids had a GREAT time there... UNTIL.... a lady from the office came out with signs that said: "Pool Closed" and asked everyone to get out. Apparently, someone POOPED in the pool. EWWW disgusting.

Luckly, there is a playground right next to the pool, so the kids got to go play over there. That was wonderful. Carson throughly enjoyed the slide and the swing. We had to pry Carson and Lauren out of the swings to come home! Kenedey really enjoyed the park also! She is so good with Lauren! They just take off and do all sorts of girlie stuff.

After we got back to the house, Connie and Jessi came and picked up the kids and took them over to Connie's house. This was great because it gave my mom and I some time to shower and get dressed and just chill! I got ready and then I read my book for awhile. My mom decided she would take off and go look for a new stove. I stayed here and read and then took a little nap! :-) It was so relaxing!

This evening we just stayed home and snacked and visited a bit. It was a super relaxing & fun day! Again, Happy New Year 2008!!!

"It's a Lucielle Ball life"

Ill get to the title of this post shortly! Be sure and read about it though. In the meantime... WE ARE HERE!!! We made it last night. Our flight was on time and everything went fairly smoothly. Our flight wasn't until 9:45pm so it was a late night. Carson DIDN'T go to sleep once on the plane. In the terminal at Detroit, he was pretty good, he made friends with a little girl named Danielle near his age, and he ran up and down the terminal like a wild child. I just let him most the time hoping he would run off some of his energy since would have to sit for 3 hours.

We sat in the front "first class" seats which was well worth it. It was a actually pretty comfortable. They have these new things on the seats that keep your head from falling over if you fall asleep. That would have been great IF my son would have relaxed and gone to sleep! The lady who sat in front of us was super kind and very patient with us. She was traveling alone with her 3 kids herself and her and one of her daugthers shared their webkins animals with Carson and played with him through the seats. All in all, I wasn't totally stressed out by any means so I have to say it was a great trip.

We got here and went to bed by about 3am. Mr. Carson was WIDE awake by 8:30am! So needed to drink coffee a couple of times today to keep AWAKE! We had a little Christmas this morning and the kids got their gifts from my parents. Carson got the firetruck and absolutely loved it! Kenedey got a couple of DS games and some jammies and a couple of other things. She of course made out great!

My great grandma Grace lives down here in the winter and she had been here at my moms for the past week. So this afternoon, we took her up to her daughter's, (my grandma's) house (in Englewood) so she could finish taking her the rest of the way home. That way we could all see each other also. We had a nice little visit and Carson and Kenedey got some gifts and Carson played with their dog Sherlock! He NEEDS a dog so badly! Soon. We did a 5 generation picture. We have 5 generations of girls... and then there is Carson. We couldn't not include him! All those darn Florida people make me look transparent... err porcelin white. EWWW I need to get to the beach.

My mom and Kenedey

5 generations Grammy and Pap-Pap (my mom's mom and stepdad) Great Great Grandma Grace & Carson
We left Englewood and came back to Naples we headed over to this shopping center, I ran into Super Target to get a couple of things and look for one of these for Carson so he could swim. He has no fear of the pool when he is in it, so we really need to find one to keep him safe. We couldn't even find a life jacket. We plan to check at Wal-Mart tomorrow.

So while we were on our way home my mom calls Jimmy and asks him to put the Lasagna, which was all ready prepared, into the oven. She told him to just put the oven on 350 and pop it in. Well, because he NEVER cooks, he didn't know that the knobs are not how you turn on the oven. To turn the oven on it's digital. So... underneath the oven is a warmer... to keep things your done cooking warm. Well he turned THAT on. He called and said the house was filling with smoke and he couldn't figure out why.

We came home to my mom's house CONSUMED with smoke. He didn't shut off the oven when the smoke started, but he went and sat out on the lanai (pool area) because it was too smoky in the house. So we come in and my mom yells at me and the kids to just get out because it's too smoky. So I took the kids outside to play. Well I decided to go see if I could help at all. I come into the house and my mom can't figure out why it's still smoking. I started to open up ALL the windows and the whole time she is yelling at me to get out! If that gives you any idea of how bad it was... it was BAD.

Well, my mom suddenly starts YELLING and SCREAMING... I NEED HELP! I come running into the kitchen and the oven was ON FIRE! AHHHH. Sure enough it was. Apparently, the drawer had some potholders in it that had caught on fire. The oven wasn't even on, BUT the lower warmer drawer was and all the stuff in there was charred. It was terrible. All 3 of us were in the kitchen and my parents were yelling at each other telling each other who was more stupid for what the other had done! LOL I was yelling at them to just shut up and lets get this damn fire out! So, my mom takes a bag of flour and poor it all over the fire which gets some of it out. Then the genious that she is, gets the idea... lets pour water on it... I yell, NO you CANT use water it's an electric oven and its ON!!! So I get two towels and wet them and start hitting the fire. We extinguish most of it with the exception of one last potholder in the bottom which I grab some tongs and pluck it out and stick it in the sink. That takes care of the fire. So we began clean up! I wish we could have video taped us all acting like fools and yelling. My mom and I kind of laughed a bit tonight when we were talking about it! Sooo... see it is in face "A Lucielle Ball Life"! Leave it to US to keep things interesting!

Carson and I just hung out tonight and played for awhile and my mom and Kenedey went with Connie (my aunt), Jessica, Jack, and Lauren to see Alvin and the Chipmunks! They said it was really good!

Well, I think that sums up our 1st full day here! I am really tired and I have some reading that I want to start! I picked up this book and this book and I have intentions on reading some while im on vacation!

Well,

As you can tell from the countdown, we will be on our way to Florida tomorrow night this time. Our plane leaves at 9:45pm Wish us luck that Carson's sleeps on the plane, or it could be ugly! I will likely update while I am down there! I am working on getting all my stuff around.

Something to share: I got the MOST GENEROUS gift today that I have recieved in a LONG time. Dr. R and fam got this for me. I seriously had to hold back the tears when he gave it to me. SOOOO Kind! Thank you again Robertson's! I sincerely appreciate it.

So, I did get our tree down and all the decorations down with the exception of the blow up Snoopy outside. Carson Loves that thing and I just wasn't ready to say not hear him talk to it every morning on our way out and then when we come home in the evening. I did it on Wed night because I just didn't want to come home from vacation to "housework". Anyway! That's the last of blogging from Michigan for the week! Adios and see ya in sunny FLORIDA!!!

Countdown

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And I leave you with this....

Now for OUR house!

This is how it looked last night after "Santa" left to finish delivering gifts to all the other kids! ahhh... so lovely!

THEN..... THE KIDS STRUCK GOLD!!!

They had an incredible morning! Kenedey was SO thrilled with her new Nintendo DS!!! She wanted me to make a list so we can remember next year, so here goes!

1. Nintendo DS
2. two Nintendo DS games
3. a new heating blanket for her bed
4. a new mattress pad for her bed... it's one of those squishy things. We have one on our bed so she wanted that.
5. High School Musical 2 DVD
6. Polar Express movie
7. Santa Claus 3
8. a car charger for her DS
9. Ear buds for her DS
10. A case for her DS
11. 3 pack of stylus' for her DS in case she looses any... which she claims SHE WILL NOT!
12. new PJ's
13. 3 outfits from Aeropostale, her fav store
14. 2 new ornaments
15. pack of books (Spiderwick series)
16. shoes
17. lip glosses
18. bath set
19. Hannah Montana game
20. first new bra's!
21. Onsted zipper pull that I found at a craft show

I think that about covers it. She made out all too well, as usual. She has said Thank You more than enough today. I appreciate how kind and thankful she is.

Carson made out well too! He had a hard time enjoying everything all at once. He would play with one thing until he got bored and then open another! Here is my attempt at his list.

1. A huge truck that holds blocks... who knew he would try to ride it?!
2. a wooden tool set
3. a light up tool set
4. his first Semi truck filled with cars
5. books
6. color wonder
7. 3 outfits
8. new pj's
9. a play saw
10. a spiderman "couch" that folds out to a "bed"
11. 2 new ornaments
12. puzzles
13. The movies listed above are a mutual gift for the two of them.

I think that about wraps up our day. I really haven't seen much of Kenedey today. She spent WAY too much time playing her DS and then this evening Taylor Hutchinson came over to play. Now she is staying the night here and then tomorrow the girls are going over there for the day while I work. They are having a blast playing right now and of course have plans to stay up ALL night! They usually make it to about 10pm!

Lastly, I made my first Prime Rib tonight. It turned out wonderful! We had veggies with it, corn muffins, baked beans, pasta salad. Also for breakfast I made Texas Eggs they were wonderful. I think this is the first day we have sat down together to eat two times in one day! Guess that goes to show how busy we have been lately! Merry Christmas EVERYONE!!!

Merry Christmas

2007 Christmas Day is officially over now at our house! Carson just headed to bed. He is EXHAUSTED from the week's worth of Christmas craziness! This entire day was wonderful. Before I get to today though, I have another Christmas to recap! We had Christmas with my dad's family last night. This Christmas has always been on Christmas Eve. The only time I have ever missed it was when I was living in Florida and couldn't come to Mich for Christmas. I think that may have been only once, twice at the most.

My grandma who passed away this year was always VERY big about having Christmas! She SO enjoyed watching all of us as kids loving everything about it! I thought going to Christmas without her being there would be super hard this year. But I spent the past few weeks thinking about her everytime I shopped and put up decor and whatnot. It was different for her not to be there for sure, but it really was ok. I know that she is in heaven with Jesus and I can't help but be happy for her for that reason alone. I know that she was looking down on us and enjoying watching her kids get crazy with Karaoke. I could just see the smile on her cute little face! I am so proud of my Grandpa. From what I understand he did his Christmas shopping mostly on his own. I think that is so neat. He sure is precious. I sat there and thought several times about how lucky we are to have him with us, even if Grandma wasn't with us physically. I felt a little sad selfishly that she wasn't there, but as I said before... I know she was. I had a strong feeling as soon as we pulled in the driveway... that Yes, grandma is in fact with us. She gave us so many memories! Love you gram!

Here is a picture of probably the most amazing Christmas gift I have ever been given. I will hold this very dear, as long as I live... im sure of that. My grandpa gave this to all of us grandkids. He is also a extremely talented wood carver and he made us all an ornament or rose out of golf balls. I will get a picture of that up as soon as I can. I can't find the bag that it's in right now. But watch for it to come.

So here is the slideshow of my crazy family! Enjoy! I don't get to see alot of these people except for this time of year, so I took lots of pics!

Jasons family Christmas

After we left my family Christmas we headed over to Jason's family and had our family Christmas there! There are 9 grandkids 10 and under, so you can imagine how crazy it can be at times. But, it sure is fun. The kids always get a little crazy and we always try to make it so we can see what each kid is getting, but it never seems to work out!!! Oh well! I know they had the greatest time! Thank you so much NaNa Kim and Papa Terry for making such a fun Christmas for all the kids year after year... it will be so much fun they are grown up to hear about what they remember from Christmas when they were little! So here is a little slideshow... way to many pics to just share! Enjoy!

Rarely do I get a picture

of Jason because everytime I do he usually turns his head and hates for me to take his picture. But last night I snapped this one! LOVE IT!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Lindsey, Zach, Angie, & Jeff

Great Aunt Angie teaching Carson how to race his car she got him on the floor!
JJ

Brother and sister! Awww
Carson and "his" Lindsey
Lindsey tossing Carson in the air... you can tell by his expression that he LOVED it!
Carson getting tortured by his cousins they were all tickling him and blowing strawberries on his tummy!

This was taken Friday night, Jason brought home one of those Pac-Man games when he went shopping... well Carson decided that he LOVES it! Here he is in his room pimped out in his Elmo Chair playing pac-man! Hmmm reminds me of someone!!!?? His dad!


Lindsey and I... a little TOO close up!

Warning: Photo Overload

I have lots of pics to share from the weekend... so many that I think I will turn this into 2 different posts. Yesterday, we started our day off at my grandparents house for our Christmas with them. It was very small this year, because 1/2 of my family is living in Florida or visiting Florida. But it was fun anyway! Carson really enjoyed all the toys and Kenedey got some Nintendo DS games... which she cannot play yet until Santa brings her a DS! She also got the Hannah Montana CD from my aunt Angie and fam and inside the CD it had some polaroid looking photos that were signed. Obviously they were just prints... but to Kenedey she was pretty darn sure that Mylie Cyrus herself signed those ones. I didn't crush her thoughts! I guess she could have signed them! I thought it was pretty cute. She told me in the car last night that she wants to grow up and be just like Hannah Montana/Mylie Cyrus. She asked me if I thought she sings good and if I thought she had a good chance at "making it". I told her of course I think you can do anything you put your mind to! So watch out world Kenedey is on a mission! Any of you know anyone in Hollywood?!

Carson is pretty worn out today from all the fun he had yesterday. He would open one gift and then not want to open more. He wanted to play with each one as he opened it. I have a feeling that he might be opening gifts all day on Christmas day! Could take that long if he has to play with each one indivually.

On Friday night we had game night with our neighbors and played Blokus. I was trying to keep Carson occupied and I started to sing: The Wheels on the bus go round and round. Well come to find out... Carson knows that song VERY well! I had no idea, I had never sang it for him at all. Apparently at daycare, they sing it often so he knows all the moves and when you say TOWN... he puts his hands to his mouth and shouts... TOOOOWNNNN. Cutest thing ever!