Daddy's little helpers

(Note the Phantom of the Opera masks)

Well, at least they listened!

The dilemma:

They want to watch Hercules but they want to eat Goldfish crackers. Mean Old Mom (yep, that's me) won't let them eat in their bedroom.

The solution:

Eat the Goldfish JUST over the threshold making certain not to cross over onto the carpet at any point in time.

Hey, at least they listened.

Diapers, wipes, and booties, oh my!

I work with the greatest psychologists and social workers ever! They were kind enough to throw a diaper shower for me (as well as another pregnant co-worker) this past Friday. I think they bought out the entire diaper section at Walmart. Leave some for the other babies in Tally, ladies! So, we have diapers, the room is ready, we have diapers, the bag is packed, we have diapers, the clothes have all been washed, and we have some diapers. Bring it on, Baby Keegan! Seriously...PLEASE come out SOON!

My Nana is a Reading Coach

Yep, they're reading in the bathroom "just like Daddy does". I spared you the potty pics. We're working on potty training Gray, without much success, so there are a lot of them.

Cowboy, take me away

John Deere and cowboy hats? Yessir, we sure are from Tallahassee. Just another good ole boy.

And the Phantom of the Opera? Somehow Logan thought this was the same thing. Ah, to be four again. By the way, The Phantom of the Opera used to be, and probably still is, Logan's favorite movie. So, let me present to you: Logan Allison, starring as "Bad Man".

Then and Now

MY BELLY: 1978

MY BELLY: 2008
SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE!

Take me out to the ballgame!

It's boys night out -- Daddy, Papa, and the troublemakers. Here they are at their very first baseball game...Seminoles, of course. They played the Gators and, if asked, Gray will say "Gators are the bad men! I'm a Seminole!" It's never to early to train them properly!

Logan, Gavin, and Gene Deckerhoff -- the voice of the Seminoles and the Tampa Bay Bucs. I had no idea who he was, but apparently I should have. Jay was very disappointed. But I can tell you anything you want to know about Brooke White, Carly Smithson, and David Archuleta. Shouldn't that count for something?

Sideburns, bell bottoms, and beer

If you're a Coddington or a Kane, this one's for you....

For the past month or so, my parents have been working on the ginormous task of scanning their picture slides (how 70's!) onto their computer. Here's a link:

http://secure.smilebox.com/ecom/openTheBox?sendevent=4d7a41334d54557a4d4877324d5459304e5455340d0a&sb=1

and another link:

http://secure.smilebox.com/ecom/openTheBox?sendevent=4d7a41334d546b774e3377324d5459304e5455340d0a&sb=1

to a little bit of Coddington history (1976-1977) when my mom and dad were newlyweds and I was just a dream.

Today is a special day

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLIE AND GRAMPS!!!

A first time for everything

Logan wanted to try out his new skates (a birthday gift from Gram and Gramps), but couldn't understand why he couldn't skate in the road...a busy road...with no speed bumps...without a helmet.

Here's what happened next...

Monkey see, monkey do.

Now we have to go out and buy two!

Family Memories

As a kid, my birthday went on for days...and days...and days (see earlier post regarding Coddington birthday's entitled A National Holiday). I remember feeling so special and loved. I can only hope I'm providing my own children with memories that are just as unforgettable.

So, first we have the family birthday party!

Followed by the school cupcake party with a surprise visit from Nana and Papa

And then a trip to Chick-Fil-A

And finally, a long nap at Nana's house before the big party!

Yep, those are the boys all dressed up like Superheros and playing with Chuck E. Cheese. Can you tell they enjoyed themselves?

Rock on

Back in the day, when the kids were small and we had Hannah (our Nanny) the boys used to LOVE Storytime Day. Each Wednesday, Hannah would take the boys to the library downtown to meet up with Papa, sing songs, and read stories.

Their hero? Mr. Gary, the Storytime librarian. I do have to admit, the guy rocks! Last summer, he went "on tour" to all the different library branches in town. Sometimes it's standing room only to see him, that's how popular he is around here and he seems to love his job like no one I've ever known. He encourages the kids to try out his guitar and we have him to thank for our little budding rockers. But all good things must come to an end and when the boys started going to school, they had to stop going to Storytime.

Last week, during my Spring Break, we had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Gary in action once again. This time, the boys took their guitars so they could play along. Mr. Gary welcomed his alumni with open arms and sang Happy Birthday to my baby boy. Throughout the show, the boys played their guitars with enthusiasm (although they sounded rather horrendous) and he even called them up on stage as his band members to play "If you're happy and you know it".

What happened to my baby boy????

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LOGAN! Look how far you've come!

I'm that lady...

...that can't control her kids in public. Everyone stares at me and shakes their heads. "Boy, you sure have your hands full", they say. "And your having ANOTHER one????" Yeah, what gave you that idea? So, that's what happened to me this weekend. I think the boys know Mommy's too fat and exhausted to chase them, so they just run around like the crazies they are. And I waddle after them and threaten to take away everything fun they own. But the best part is that I'm too swollen (read: fat) to wear my wedding rings anymore, so I look like an unwed-pregnant-for-the-third-time-stressed-out-mom who can't control her kids.

I took the boys to the FSU circus this weekend while Jay attended a surprise party for a friend. All in all, it was a good time, but why is it that everything I try to take the boys to is three hours long? I mean, shouldn't the circus/parade/movie/show geared towards children be under two hours? The average attention span of a kindergartner is only 15-20 minutes, so what should we expect from a two- and three- year old hyped up on cotton candy? And couldn't the balloon lady have made them something safer than swords???




But our seats were great and it brought back memories of my time spent as a Spanish Web-erina during my Freshman year of college (I'm embarrassed to say I'm a drop-out though because they wanted me to practice at un-Godly hours of the morning...like 10am!). We actually had a really good time overall. If you live in Tallahassee and haven't seen it, you really should check it out. They're very talented.

http://circus.fsu.edu/

A National Holiday

We celebrated Papa's birthday this past weekend and enjoyed a brief visit from Uncle Charlie and Aunt Liz. We kicked off the festivities with a trip downtown to Springtime Tallahassee (an annual event downtown to celebrate our capital city). This year happened to be the 40th birthday of the Springtime Tallahassee Parade, so Papa got to celebrate his birthday with the rest of the city.

Later, we gathered for some of Papa's grillin' (yes, we made him cook for us on his birthday) and a jam session with Uncle Charlie and the boys. Sunday concluded the celebration with an egg breakfast cooked by Nana. Why so many festivities, you might ask? That's just the way the Coddington family rolls. This was nothing. His birthday has been known to last all month!

Fooling you again with the pretense of childhood innocence

I think this time he's saying, "Can I have a special treat (his word for dessert)?" Of course, he didn't eat all of his peas!

We recently got the original Peter Pan DVD. They love it just as much as we did when we were kids. Gray thinks Tinkerbell is beautiful and refers to the movie as "Peanut Butter Pants" despite our constant corrections. Not really sure where that came from except for the fact that all we buy is Peter Pan Peanut Butter since it's always buy one get one free at Publix.

We're best friends

It's naptime in the Allison house. This week we turned the boys' playroom into their playroom/bedroom in order to make room for Keegan to have a nursery. They're used to sleeping together, but it's so much more fun now that they have all their toys right in there with them. So here's how naptime went today:

(The boys have been separated for "fooling around" when they should be trying to sleep. Logan is in Baby Keegan's room sleeping on the floor. After several minutes of separation, Gavin comes out of his room).

ME: What are you doing out of bed?
GRAY: Where's Logan? I want Logan!
ME: Logan's sleeping in Keegan's room because you guys keep fooling around.
GRAY: BUT I WANT MY LOGAN!!!!!!
ME: Just go to sleep. You can see him when you wake up.
GRAY: But you can't do that!
ME: Why not?
GRAY: Because Logan's my BEST FRIEND!

Angel faces

Don't let them fool you! They average three to five time-outs per day and a couple of threats to take away their TV/trip to the zoo/Diego bikes/visit to Papa's house/etc. But they also like to snuggle up in bed with me, tell me they love me, and they're the first to notice "Mommy's pretty new nails". Ok, I admit it, I'm easily fooled. They make my heart melt. What can I say?