Dance recital

This is Jordan in her HipHop outfit from her dance recital. She danced in three numbers, the other two were clogging and tap. This was her favorite outfit. Next year she wants to take on ballet and jazz. Jordan also attended a Disney dance camp at Wright Step Dance. The girls learned dances from High School Musical, Hannah Montana & Jonas Brothers. Kelsie from HSM came to meet the girls and sign autographs, needless to say the girls loved it. On Friday they performed for the parents and showed off their new "skills" PJ and I are very proud of Jordan, she takes a back seat many days to Jake and baseball. Her new mantra is going to be "I have no life because my brother plays baseball"

Father's Day

The year for Father's Day the kids and I took PJ to the Key West restaurant in the Gaylord Palms. The kids commandeered the camera and took about 100 pictures of all the plants and fish in the hotel. After our ride back to Polk County we went to recreation station for some bowling. Of course Dad one(we let him win because it was Father's Day). The kids bowled great.....Jordan even got a strike, then she accidentally threw the ball into the wrong lane and hit the drop down guard. We all thought it was funny but that was the end of her bowling. We ended the day, eating crawfish with our friends Steve & Michelle and their family. It was a great family day.....one of the few Sundays without baseball over the last few weeks. Jake's team played in a tournament that weekend but they were knocked out in the Saturday game. It was bittersweet, we wanted the boys to do well but a day with the family is priceless.

Ocala Rookie Qualifier

In June, the Eagle Lake Rookie All-star team traveled to Ocala for the State Qualifier. After a heart breaking loss and a poor hitting performance Eagle Lake got a second chance to qualify for the state tournament by securing one of the wild card spots. After waiting out a two hour rain delay Eagle Lake finally got it's chance against Fishhawk. There was no stopping them, playing almost flawless defense, the boys finally got their bats going, winning the game 8-0. The state tournament was 4th of July weekend in West Palm Beach. Even though their performance at the state tournament was far below what we know they are capable of, all the parents were very proud of the kids.

Robin's birthday

While Robin was home for her class reunion we celebrated her birthday at Linda's house. During the party PJ decided to put dishwashing detergent into the hot tub. Needless to say, the kids loved it!!!

The kids recently participated in their school play Donkey Tales. It consisted of grades Kindergarten through second grade. Jordan was an angel and Jake cut down the palms used to fan Jesus on his "donkey ride". The performance was adorable and a dvd is available if anyone is interested. Mame took them to Eli's to pick out their "duds" for the performance. As you can see, they thought of everything. Jordan's boots even light up :) My girl does love her accesso

ries. Next year they will be in separate shows, it means a little more work but it is definitely worth it. I had the cutest little ranch hands in the show!!!!

Recently I got the opportunity to travel to Atlanta with my good friends Wendy & Leslie to attend the Junior League Annual Conference. We spent three days attending training workshops, brainstorming with other league members and we snuck in a trip the Inman Park Street Festival. Our Keynote speaker was Erin Gruwell. She is a young teacher that changed the lives of so many teenagers through her teaching. Their stories were published in a book called "Freedom Writers". There is also a movie starring Hilary Swank about the amazing work she has done....I highly recommend them both. Overall we had a fabulous trip. Our only hiccups were at the airport....if I get more time I will tell those stories :) We came home with lots of new ideas and a renewed passion for the Junior League....this year is going to be great!

Jordan had her class Easter Party at Nikki Rudd's house. The kids had a great time spending the day out of school. The did crafts, busted a pinata, hunted for eggs & had a visit from the Easter Bunny himself.

For the first time, Jake fished with the Triple J team in division 11. The division consists of three tournaments in Marco, Naples & Fort Myers. Overall the team came in 2nd place - awesome!!! Jake was the top Junior Angler for the division. He won college scholarships, a kayak and a fishing pole. I think we have created a fishing monster. He will fish with his dad in November in Boluxi for the national title - Go Jake!!!!

Palermo

Last week me and my friends Michelle and Pat went to visit Robin in Palermo. We hit the ground running and did not stop for a week. Robin took us to our hotel where we showered and changed clothes, then to her house for wine and appetizers. Then to our first dinner in Italy....of course I ordered pizza and it did not disappoint.

The next day we took the red bus tour of the city. We got off to find the farmer's market. After a round about walk through the city we stumbled upon it. There was fresh fish, fruit, vegetables and spices. It was no less than amazing. After getting back on the bus and completing the tour we browsed some shops while we waited for Robin to get off work. After lunch Robin took us to Monreale to see the catherdal. It was our lucky day and we saw a young couple tie the knot in one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen. We headed back down to Palermo for dinner with Frank & Somona at a castle of the water. Once again dinner was fantastic.

The next two days were spent in Taormina. We shopped and ate and drank wine. There is also some historical sites to see there...like a Greek ampithreater (Sicily was once occupied by the Greeks) and of of course several churches. One night instead of a traditional dinner we hopped around sampling appetizers from several different restaurants...it was awesome.

We drove back to Palermo along the coast and the views were breathtaking. We stopped in ???? to have lunch and do some more shopping. The restaurant we ate in served pizza with french fries on it. It sounded like my idea of heaven....but I have to say it was my least favorite meal of the trip....I still cannot believe it.

Our final day we drove down to ????? a medievil city on the coast. On a clear day you can see the coast of Africa. Our day was not clear but it was still breathtaking. We bought our final souveniers and keepsakes while walking up to the castle. The streets were full of kids on field trips and other tourists like us. One little aspiring photographer took our picture during her adventure to the castle.

The trip was fabulous and it was great to visit with Robin and see how well she is doing it Italy. We would have been lost without her Italian speaking abilities and local knowledge. I do not think I can go into our driving adventures....let's just say that stop signs and speed limits are merely guidelines...it's your choice whether to follow them or not.

For Spring Break 2009 the Myers Clan plus PJ's mom and my mom went to Park City, Utah. We stayed at Deer Valley. Jordan went to ski school for two days, we could only talk Jake into one day. On Thursday we all skied together. The kids are quickly becoming better skiers than mom, they have some more work to do before they can out ski dad :). I did not fall any while skiing but did somehow mange to fall right in front of a ski instructor while "poling" on flat snow - go figure.

Balls Out

For everyone who has watched PJ's video & heard the expression "Balls Out" I thought I would post the origin of his colorful term & just so you know it has become a common expression in our day to day banter :)

An interesting saying with a generally misunderstood etymology. It has commonly come to mean to do something with reckless abandon or extreme courage, or perhaps a combination of both.

However, contrary to popular belief, going balls out is not something that is limited to those people who have the proper equipment to exhibit such testicular fortitude that this saying conjures images of in the vulgar argot.

It's true meaning is derived from the advent of the Watt's Governor, created in the late 18th century. This governor consisted of a pair of steel balls that were connected to a central vertical spindle by a pair of link arms. As the engine speed increased the spindle would rotate faster, causing the steel balls to move further and further away from the central arm. The point at which the balls were completely extended, the engine was said to be running balls out, meaning it was going as fast as it could.

So next time you decide to go balls out, just keep your shorts on, and give it your all.

There you have it, PJ did not make this up or misspeak as some of you have commented. I hope you all learned something new today.

O' to be young

It never ceases to amaze me how much we learn from our kids. I have to admit I did not particularly care for the "baby" portion of my children's lives. Everyone says that is their favorite time and about how much they wish their kids were babies again. I am missing that gene because there is not one atom in my body that wants to go back to that time in my life. I love my children dearly and I would not trade the baby experience for anything but their lives are only getting better. They are so interesting now. Take Jordan for instance. Riding in the car on Saturday she matter of factly said that she broke up with her kindergarten boyfriend because "he would not share his bugs". I almost wrecked the car for laughing. I asked her what breaking up with her boyfriend meant to her and she promptly responded that she does not love him anymore. Good for her for standing her ground, if only we looked at things so simply. I guarentee that he won't share bugs, then he won't share anything else either. Jake on the other hand is my little observer. He does not miss anything (just like someone else I know). He is learning about politics and asking me if I think Barack Obama is good for the economy (I am not going to touch that one on the blog). He is 8 and already worried about the economy. Can babies do these things - no, but they can smile and look cute.

My kids also have so much confidence. When do we loose that? Somewhere between elementary school & high school our self worth gets smashed to pieces. The other day Jordan was trying on a dress and I told her - Jordan that dress is beautiful and she responded "especially on me". I mean I would never say something like that but she thinks she and that dress are beautiful. I am going to do everything in my power as a parent to help her keep that self confidence - I know it will not be easy.

Every step of the way having children has gotten better and better. Why on earth would I want to stay in the baby stage of their lives when they have so much to teach me - oh wait I am supposed to be teaching them. What a beautiful thing to realize that you never stop learning or growing as a person. I cannot wait to find out what they are going to teach me next!!!!

Jake fished with PJ in his first kingfish tournament this weekend. The tournament was out of Marco Island (a very familiar area for our family). The Triple J team placed third overall and Jake placed 1st as a Junior Angler. He got two plaques, a $500 scholarship & $500 cash. We are now working on the importance of saving your money - he of course has big dreams at Toys R Us. The SKA rules state that Jake only has to be on the boat when the fish is caught and it will count but he actually reeled this one in himself. A few more tournaments like this and there will be no living with him :).

In February, PJ and I joined our friends Greg and Robin on a cruise of the Caribbean. We made four stops - Cozumel, Belize, Costa Maya & Grand Cayman. We took the diving excursions at each port. We saw some beautiful sites and met some interesting people, not sure I would call them all divers, but definitely interesting. One gentleman from Canada chose to dive in his speedo each day, as long as you were ahead of him - you were ok. Our coolest experience was in Costa Maya. There were only 12 of us this day so our dive group consisted of six divers (of course speedo man was in our group). On our way back to the boat we came into a group of porpoises, we could not tell exactly how many but somewhere between 40 & 100, so lets realistically say 45. They played and jumped and swam right between our legs. It is by far the coolest thing I have seen diving. They move very quickly so I did not get a good picture but it is an experience I will never forget. PJ and I calculated it and we maybe spent 5 hours on land over the course of 7 days. Those few hours we did spend on land were waiting for our dive boat to leave and having a beer before getting back on the boat. It was a fabulous trip and we are already planning our next diving adventure.

We recently took the kids to the state fair. I think it would have been cheaper to go to Disney. Jake & Jordan were addicted to all the carnival games & fun houses. We went to the pretty zoo and the exotic creatures exhibit. The kids got to pet a giraffe that looked as old as my grandmother (but they enjoyed it). Stevie & Joey went with us. We had a great day of riding rides, spending too much to pop balloons & fabolous people watching.

Triple J Video

PJ may be famous soon! They are trying to sell this tv show so it will become a series. This would be the pilot. As much as PJ hates to have his "stuff" broadcast on the internet, I think he is enjoying this one.

Jordan had her sixth b-day party at build-a-bear in the Florida mall. I gladly took cake, presents, etc to Orlando not to have a birthday party at the house - YEAH JORDAN!!!!! Everyone got to pick an animal to stuff, bath and dress. Jordan picked a Hannah Montana bear. When you squeeze it's paw it plays "the best of both world's". The kids got very creative with their animals. Christian made a cat dressed as a fisherman - how appropriate is that??? David made a Hockey player bunny rabbit - who would think of such except for a six year old. Jordan had a great time at her party and we even did a little shopping afterwards. Thanks to everyone for making it a great day!

Angels

We have a long running joke in our family that my sister and I have an army of Angels that protect us and our belongings, such as a key angel, wallet angel, cell phone angel, etc. These angels are quite busy with me and my sister. We lose things, forget where they are, hide things for safe keeping never to be found again. Our overworked angels tend to take vacations from time to time, like the time my key angel took some time off and I lost my car keys the night before the FL/Georgia game. I stayed up until 3 am with the Triple A man that had to make a replacement from scratch. Or who knows where the driver's license angel was when PJ and I drove Linda's car to New Orleans and had to fly home. Luckily (prior to 911) Delta let me on the plane with a combination of social security card, insurance card, Sam's Club card (it had a picture) and a very old id (with my maiden name) PJ still carries in his wallet to this day. The point of all this is that I believe my cell phone angel is on extended leave in Bermuda. I am currently on my third cell phone this year. My original phone I left in Nebraska and had to have it fedexed back to Florida. This phone met it's demise when I dropped it in the toilet in our hotel room at the National Championship game. The replacement phone is the one pictured below that I dropped on a rock in the parking lot of Gators Dockside in Highlands City two weeks later. Three days and two trips to the apple store in Orlando later, I have another new phone. Today is the one week mark and so far no mishaps but all I can say is I hope my angel has enjoyed her vacation but it's time TO GET BACK TO WORK!

Jake & I have been diligently working on the "Falcon". We are now on page 113 - over a third of the way there!!!! I was beginning to think that it would never resemble the famed star wars ship but as you can see we are headed in the right direction. We have been watching the Australian Open while working - Jake asked if there was an Australian closed??? If only I could look at things so logically. Now we are going to watch the Star Wars series starting with Episode IV. I can still remember watching it in the theater with my cousin Christy reading the words - A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away....

Ok I have decided that the lego company needs an overhaul. After another evening of watching tennis and putting together the Millennium Falcon I have come to the conclusion that the Lego company is a group that likes specials in torturing parents. Papa gave Jake the "falcon" as a b-day present, never mind the fact that is recommended for ages 16 and older. How hard can it be to put together a lego set??? Instead of making it harder to put the lego set together, they make it impossible to find the pieces. So if you or I were manufacturing a set with over 5000 pieces wouldn't you think that we would organize the pieces in some brilliant manner that would streamline the assembly process? That is too logical for Lego. The age recommendation really means that maybe a sixteen year old will have the patience to dig through 5000 pieces to find princess leia's hair (which by the way is not in the same bag as her body or her head which is in still another bag). Jake and I find ourselves jumping for joy and doing the happy dance when we find the dark gray corner piece that we have to have in order to move on to page 45 - I mean really dancing over finding the lego piece. So here is my question do I spend two days organizing the pieces by color and size to make the process more efficient or do I relish the time I am spending with my son and dance a little longer the next time we find our " needle (lego) in a haystack"

Jake and I have taken on building the biggest lego set ever made. Last night we started building the Millennium Falcon, it has over 5000 pieces. We made it to page 23 of the 300 page instruction manual. Today we our progress to us to page 40 - I think we will be at it for a while. We will keep you updated and definately post proud pictures of the finished product.

So I do not have to tell most of you that I am what some people may call an obnoxious gator fan (my personal opinion is that obnoxious and gator cannot be used in the same sentence). I had the privilege of watching the National Championship game with my two OLDER brothers, Billy & Kerry. They took me to my first gator game when I was eleven and I cannot thank them enough for all the great memories :) We spent a few days in the Fort Lauderdale area culminated by watching the gators whop up on Oklahoma (the most proficient offsense in college football history I might add) 24-14. It's great to be a Florida Gator!!!!

The day after Christmas, the Myers clan (including Linda & Robin) left for South Dakota to go skiing. After our flight from Minneapolis to Rapid City was cancelled. We caught another flight to somewhere (my memory is a little foggy) and PJ drove us to Lead, South Dakota. We arrived at 3am (5 am Eastern time) to 25 degree weather and snow. Uncle Jerry & Jeff graciously brought our luggage with them from Rapid City. After a few hours sleep we were up and on the slopes. Jake & Jordan skied circles around their mother and kept up with dad like the had been skiing forever. Three days later we drove to our house in Nebraska by way of Mount Rushmore. We spent a few days touring around the area and having heated battles playing Trivial Pursuit & Taboo. Our friend and aspiring stand up comedian Cayne served as our tour guide around the area. We had a great time and the plane ride home was uneventful (thankfully).

The weekend before Thanksgiving, the kids, my mom & Taylor traveled to the Big Apple to visit Aunt Elizabeth. The weather was cold but I have to say it was the best trip to NYC ever. We visited FAO Schwartz, Toys "R" Us, The Natural History Museum and saw Mary Poppins on Broadway. Taylor and I snuck away for a hour or so to shop at "Mood". The kids adapted to the city better than most adults - Jordan's only request is that next time we go during the summer.

Once again we celebrated MLK weekend with "old" college friends & families. This annual tradition is one of the highlights of our year. I am not going to try to express in my own words what this time means to our family but share the words of one of the strongest women I know - Thank Tracee for keeping this tradition going. I look forward to many more happy times together.

"This weekend is not just a gathering of people that once shared fun times together, but it is a group that has come from many different areas and grown with each other. It touches my soul that we can sit around a campfire on a beautiful Sunday morning, listen to a wonderfully inspiring spiritual message shared by a friend, worship our Lord and Savior, and share a quiet time of reflection and grieving for our lost friend and companion. Thank you, Mas, for creating a tradition for our families and for true friendships to continue to develop. "