School Days

Last Monday we began having school days. Our summer days become so extremely hot towards the end of July and being outside is so very unappealing. So I decided to try starting school on the icky hot time of year so that our school days will end when the weather is great! Here are HC and JB posing for their school days picture. (I forgot to take a picture on day 1 of school - so this will have to do this year.) We are studying Creation, using My Father's World, and here are the numbers HC colored for each day of creation. Each number has pictures on it showing what God created. JB has been listening to our Bible lessons and creating too, usually his own creation. They've played with puzzles and made comments to me such as "We aren't having a school day today are we Mom? We're having a play day." The puzzles are part of the curriculum and the kids LOVE them!! :) School and learning has been fun!!!
In addition, HC colored a page for each day of creation. She drew fish and birds for Day 5 and animals and people for day 6. She really did well drawing. Last year she didn't enjoy drawing and I was concerned she would be overwhelmed with the daily drawings. She really did fantastic! She didn't show the slightest concern that everything wasn't perfect. I was glad she had fun with it.
So, we discussed Day 7 today. HC has a booklet to read - that she made!! It has been a fun start to our schooling so far. We don't even miss out on any of the fun things our friends are doing (although we did miss a movie today - but we can watch it tomorrow if we want!).
I did write the words for HC in pencil and she traced them. There have been more wins in our school day too - I will share that soon enough. I was thrilled to find a simple tool to help HC enjoy reading again!!! More to come!

Fancy Nancy Party Fun

Last weekend HC and I had a fancy day planned! Our friend C had her birthday party and we ALL had to be fancy! Here is HC and C listening to C's mom give advice on coloring their Fancy Nancy color pages. Mrs. R later read the Fancy Nancy book to all the girls.
Then there was nail painting. Definitely fancy!
HC's finished fancy paint!
All fancy girls need a crown! HC was working so hard to make her crown just right!
I think she did just that!

And last - a fashion show! The girls loved it!!!!
All the Fancy darlings...
And then... a parfait in a fancy cup with a fancy spoon! Totally fancy party!

Last glimpses of Florida fun!

We were able to see Daddy in the evenings. He missed out on most of the fun but we really enjoyed our trip more when he was with us! Me and the kids in the bustling wind!
Here are a few of the friends we made - their daddies work with our daddy!
JB's buddy! Reid was so gracious to play with JB. JB thinks the world of him!
One night we played putt putt... but our final night was dinner and straight to the hotel. We ordered JB and HC a shark attack. It was a sprite with a toy shark in the sprite. The shark had an open mouth FILLED with cherry juice. We poured it in their drink and they thought they had something special. Only problem was it was a big bulky cup and JB spilled it all over him. He wailed while we quickly took off his shirt and hurriedly ate our dinner. I think it was great to go to the hotel early our final night and unwind before our long trip home. But I hated that JB was so uncomfortable!
A nice shot with the dolphins. I hope one day we will all swim with the dolphins! Wouldn't that be fun?!?
In their touristy gear!

And we headed home! Next year we will definitely make time for going to the beach! I hated to drive off without having our toes in the sand once. It just wasn't the best idea this time. So - a fun work 'vacation' was had by all!

Ice Cream and Swimming!

Our first night in Panama City we decided to call this 'vacation' our ICE CREAM VACATION! Every night we would eat ice cream! No questions!! It was our deal. They were thrilled to indulge and even more thrilled to know there was more ice cream to come.
HC was enjoying her goggles and her boogie board. We found out our hotel had beach access via a 20 minute boat ride. Sometimes when you read a brochure it is the things they leave out that makes you wonder. Well this was the case here. They said you could request an umbrella from the front desk and you could not bring your own beverages (you had to buy theirs on the boat) but feel free to bring food. That is it.

In my mind I had this sneaking suspicion that there were no chairs. I wasn't sure but... it didn't sound promising. Asking the hotel staff was ZERO help at all! It is like they didn't want the word to get out or something. Their answers were very vague. So I didn't go. The kids used their beach gear in the pool instead. Later on one of the other families came by to say hello and shared their 'beach' experience. There were no chairs, no potty and no restaurant. It was just them and the sand. Then they had to wait over 45 minutes for the next boat to take them back on another 20 minute ride! Don't you love it when you listen to that little voice inside sometimes??? I was thrilled I didn't bother to see what it was like! The kids and I would have been so disappointed to have wasted such precious swim time on a wild goose chase for the beach. So we swam in the pool!
My 2 had full access to this pool for a few hours! The hotel had 3 pools. I guess you have to have something to keep the people coming back! Because once they take the boat ride - they do not go back to the beach!
Every time HC would get in/out to grab a new toy she would organize her things! I found this to be hilarious because she would take her time carefully placing every single piece in it's proper place!
JB trying out part of his snorkel.
They were both leery of putting their faces under the water very much. They would carefully place it at surface level and then quickly pull it back out! That was our experience until we came to this bigger pool. We found our friends were at this one and so we joined in the fun.
JB and his buddy Reid (not pictured) would run and splash into this shallow part of the pool. By the end of day 2 at the pool - JB was completely submerging himself in the water.
HC went off to play with some new friends she made and asked me to come see what she was doing. I walked over to find her jump in and this is what I saw! She was going all the way under!!!
She really became brave while I wasn't looking. That is the good side of being with your peers. They spur you to try to push past your fears. Boy did she!

They both found some friends that drove them to try harder! I love that! They had a great time exploring things Mommy and Daddy could not convince them to try!

Trip Recap

Last week hubby had to go to Panama City for a business trip. We packed up the van and we all piled in for a week of fun. We stopped at the Florida rest stop for some OJ and a stretch - and then we were on our way again.When we arrived we jumped into our swim suits - swam for about 30 minutes and then got dressed. It was dinner time and we were starved! After our meal we headed over to Ripley's for some tourist fun. The kids were excited to go inside this BIG ship!
One of the big highlights for the kids was this wall. Isn't it lovely?? :) This picture is with the flash....

And this is what we saw! They had to hit the planets and they would fly upward. They had SOOO much fun running back and forth along the wall chasing the planets.
And then they did the same with the jelly fish. They did not want to leave this display. The majority of the sights were lost on them but this wall was a hit!
Their next favorite (and I enjoyed this too) was this tunnel. I didn't take a shot without the flash but what happened was you walk across this bridge. The tunnel around you was spinning with a background of stars. When we first walked through this tunnel we were both carrying the kids. Although I saw the people in the tunnel struggling to walk I could clearly see the bridge was stationary. When it was our turn - about half way across the tunnel you feel as though you are completely turned upside down. I found myself - with JB in tow and holding on for dear life - holding the handrail for dear life. I was bent all the way over trying not to fall. IT WAS CRAZY! You KNOW you are not spinning but you feel like you are spinning! The kids did this one about 5 times - and hated to leave after that!

Our adventure was just beginning and the verdict thus far - fun fun fun!

Goodbye....Hello

HC and JB are having to say goodbye to a special friend. Something they've found to be a perk in their world. They took their last ride in the black beast beauty and said goodbye! Dad's car. A ride in Dad's car has been a huge thrill for HC and JB. They LOVEd the sunroof!!!! They 'heart' it!! I am thrilled to say goodbye! It just isn't practical for all of us to ride together in it and it has a manual shift. Not a big deal except when you drive the hilly roads that we frequently drive! Not fun.
From the fun 2 door (that is not kid friendly) to the newer 4 door model. Trading 198,992 miles for 47,000 miles! Momma is happy, HC and JB love that they have a window and Daddy loves that Momma is happy! {smile}

We gladly welcome our newest set of wheels into the family! It is nice to have a back-up practical car vs. the sports model! We are loving life!

Now for the funny story that followed this transaction! We have been happy with the black not-so beauty but it lacked a few perks. Hubby drives quite a bit for his job and the beauty didn't have cruise control - needless to say Hubby has had a permanent cramp that we hope he loses. The radio and CD player worked fine - but at only one volume level. Fairly loud or off! We put the car on craigs list and received several calls. The beauty does get FABULOUS gas mileage and gas is gold these days! Hubby showed the car and the guy was interested. (I forgot to mention that the headliner has come down and the drivers window has a glitch - which we've found is a common glitch in older Honda's). OK. So - we disclosed every icky detail because we didn't want to be bothered unless someone really wanted it! The guy loved it and we met him last Friday to make the transaction final.

We drove up and the kids were playing in the van while we waited. I was still leery that someone would want it (since I hated having it as a 2nd family car) and I hoped this would be the day we could bid farewell to the beauty! The family drove up and I turned to unbuckle my seat belt, while Hubby greeted them. I turn to open the door and saw MY GOOD FRIEND NANCY!!!! We laughed so hard at the randomness of this happening. I had no idea that they were looking for a gas efficient car (they were spending $100's on gas for her husband's truck) and I was glad to know the people who bought it were buying it with open eyes. They were truly only looking at the economics of the car and not thinking it would be some luxury. (I remember my first car and how disappointed I was after owning it and finding the little inconveniences that I didn't notice at first.) Steve and I left them with our 'not so black beauty' and hoped it would bless our friends as it did us. It was not our dream car, by any means, but it did the job and did it well. It was dependable and loved by some in our home! Farewell black not so beauty... from what we hear - you are on your way to shining once again!

It's Summer Time

This is the first time the summer feels different from our day to day. We have been busy participating in things we do not do during the school year. It has really been fun and busy! Our local movie theaters (the Rave theaters) offer free kid movies on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. On this past Tuesday we enjoyed watching Charlotte's Web. After our encounter with the critters the week before, HC and JB really enjoyed seeing spiders and webs. I couldn't resist taking a picture of HC in a theater chair - she and JB often folded up with the chair and before we know it.... they will be too big to fold up. I had to sneak a picture of JB because he was not interested in posing.
Another fun thing we've done this summer is join in the library's summer reading program. This was the last day of the program and we had sno cones and the kids received gift bags.
Can anyone say blue mouths?? We had blue sno cone everywhere!
Here were the goodies HC and JB went home with! The best part - they had fun reading books!

In fact, our last trip to the library JB found a baseball book and a dinosaur book that he wants to keep. He keeps showing me books he wants to trade with them. He thinks he can give the library the books he is tired of and keep these new treasures! I just love that he is interested in books! That is the first step in learning.

Aghh!!! A Boobie Trap!!

Every time we approach an entrance or exit like this... I hear "OH NO!!! IT'S A BOOBIE TRAP!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHH!!!!" Both HC and JB scream (a silly scream - not the ear piercing kind) this until we pass through! The simple and mundane are always an adventure these days. To be 3 and almost 5 again! Life always has the potential to be exciting!

New Favorite Things

The other day HC was trying to remember a song she heard in local shop and she really struggled with the words but we clearly recognized the tune! I wish I could remember her wrong words because they were hysterical but once we told her the correct words we've forgotten. It was something like "she is the best gopher" or something like that! It was funny. We bought HC her first big girl CD and she quickly became familiar with her new favorite "The BEST of both worlds". She locked herself in her room to dance and sing. She wanted to be alone. There were good sides to that - a little break from the constant chatter, and bad sides - my baby girl was pulling away from us all. She hasn't been listening to it as much lately and I haven't mentioned it. I am not ready for my kids to hide out in their rooms yet - I don't think I will ever be ready for that! I enjoy the bustle of us all enjoying the same space! But she sure had fun learning her new favorite song! (HC has strategically placed every tiny thing in her room. It was once clutter free but now she has become opinionated about where things go - we are letting her have a little freedom in that area; but it does drive me nuts seeing all her 'organized' piles.)
Since we've moved we've been without a BBQ pit. That may seem like no big deal but my husband comes from a family that cooks and cooks well. They cook often and they use the grill several times a week. This was like part of our kitchen was MIA! It was a thrill to return to our life again!
Can you hear the 'ding'!?! Hubby is proud and happy! Life is good!