The Children's Museum

Football practice starts soon,  school starts soon, so we figured we better get in the last few days of fun before we get back to the schedules! It's fun to watch them play together when they are not trying to annoy each other.
If you haven't been to the Indianapolis Children's Museum in awhile, I would suggest planning a trip! We have been to other children's museums, they just don't compare!

Vacation 2010

34 Hours in the car, 2 video players, 2 computers, 2 ipods, 50+ movies, 1 game boy, 1 DS, countless games, crayons and  McDonald's toys and we successfully made it to and from Florida this year! Woo Hoo! We did not however have a GPS, and following the computer and map made for some interesting conversations between me and my loving husband. My parents flew down and met us and we also met our friends, so needless to say we had quite the group!  Sangria and Corona were breakfast staples and Troy rekindled his romance with Publix grocery stores. Cole got to boogie board and Shelby got to... well she got to be the self proclaimed Queen of Oceania. We're now back with awesome tans, drinking Sangria on the couch and missin our friends who stayed down there an additional week. School starts in 2 weeks and Football starts next week! Ugh! I am so not ready for summer vacation to end! We haven't even finished the summer to do activity list! Thanks Lora for taking the  family pics!

Just to keep it real!

The unpacking zone!

$10.00 and a Model A

This past weekend Troy's grandfather turned 100 years old. He is a truly amazing man who still lives on his own and has a mind that is sharp as a tack. He can remember details about everything! For his birthday celebration, we had a family get together and pizza party, which the kids loved! As I sat next to grandpa, he told me the story of how he came to purchase a large painting above the fire place (because Grandma wanted it) (did I tell you he was smart?) Grandpa said that Grandma had actually asked him to marry her. I am guessin that 80 years ago, that was pretty bold. He said he told her her didn't have a job, didn't know if he could even get a job and all he had to his name was $10.00 and a Model A car. She said that was OK, because at that point there was no where to go but up. He said she was the smartest woman he ever met. With a tear in his eye and watching his great grandchildren play in his home, he said, who would have thought that all this could come from $10.00 and an Model A. Happy Birthday Grandpa Hoffman. We love you.

The Couch

Being that this is the first summer I have had two children home most days, minus the days that my mother takes the two precious ones for a few hours, we learned some new things in our home. First let me explain that we do not lack for couch space in our home. We have a living and family room each with couch, chair and love seat. The Family Room will seat 6-8 adults. I know this and I have seen it occur. When we have had 6-8 adults in this room, I have never heard them scream, or anyone get thrown off the couch. I have also never seen 2  adults fight over the end of the couch like it was the last seat in the kingdom and they had been walking the trail of tears. However, guaranteed within 5 minutes of my children awakening and staggering down the stairs and flipping the TV to hideous cartoons (what happened to Smurfs?) the fighting begins over who had the end of the couch first. By yesterday, even the dog wanted the end of the couch. So, in a stroke of genius parenting, I BANNED the last seat of the couch. I can truly tell you I NEVER thought that would sound reasonable until yesterday. So I am enclosing a picture, taken by Troy of desperate children resorting to desperate measures. I suppose it's what you call a bonding moment between brother and sister and I should be proud as a parent that I helped to bring it about. I doubt they see it that way.  HAPPY SUMMER!

Yes, she wears sunglasses EVERYWHERE right now and carries her faux fur bag.

Bubble Day!

Yes, I know it's Tuesday and it's really the first day since Monday was a holiday, but I needed to get my closets cleaned out! My wonderful mom came to help me get my life organized and clean out the entra junk in my life! In order to do that, it became much easier to let Shelby lounge in the tub for a LONG time! By long time, I think it was well over two hours, but the more she turned the jets to the tub on, the more bubbles it would create and the more entertained she was, so I figured it was just as easy to snap some fun pics! Oh, yeah, this is why I love being home now!

Happy 4th of July

Hoffman's had a wonderful weekend with family and friends swimming, eating, watching fireworks and hanging out. It is so time for me to get back to the gym and get back to walking, eliptical and yoga! I have been eating way more sugar than my body needs, but that cheesecake and those brownies were soooo good! I have been learning Yoga from my friend, which has been so helpful in calming me and allowing me to focus on what really matters in my life. With so many changes in our lives this summer, it has been easy for me to lose focus on what is really important! I did snap a few fun pics during the weekend. Yes, that is Troy with a gun, he was trap shooting.  Yes, that is also Troy pushing the girls on the swing, cause he just can't tell those girls no! Ever! I worry when they want new cars!

Summer - Part 1

The week after school let out, we went into full vacation swing. Troy had trainings on and off for seven weeks in Cleveland, so with my new stay at home mom status, we were able for the first time to make his work trip a family vacation! So we packed up the family car and off to Cleveland we went! I took the kids downtown Cleveland with paper maps and directions printed off from Google every day. Mueseums, Little Italy, Outdoor Markets, all VERY cool. We then realized Niagra Falls was a short 3 hour drive, so on the last day, we loaded up for a trip to the falls. Not having passports we stayed on the American side, although I have to admit, I think the Canadians have the market on this one! We have been to a baseball game and hang out at the house. I have to admit that we have been much busier than I thought!

I continue to play with new camera and work on taking better shots every day. Here are a few of the recent ones. Enjoy!