This is the life

Being from the west coast, Emily and I had never experienced going to the beach and swimming in WARM water! It was FABULOUS! But before we ever even stepped foot in the water, we were in awe over the WHITE sand. We spent about an hour in the water, and would have stayed far longer, but a freak rain storm blew through (it's been rainier here far more than not, so far, but it's not slowing us down any!) and we had to high-tail it out of there. We had ourselves a bit of a thrilling adventure partway into the beach visit when several Manatees surfaced within 8 feet of us! Scared me a little at first, to see such huge animals so close, and not being sure of what they might do, but after the initial shock, it was REALLY neat to see them and see everyone on the beach running toward the water to get a better look. I'll keep it to myself how when I first saw the dark shapes, my initial thought was that it was a sharks... *grin*

We head to DisneyWorld today, and I don't think either girl really understands what that means, but Carole and I are giddy with excitement over finally getting to take them (neither one has ever been to a Disney park before, and I haven't been to one since I was 14!).

I don't know if I'll get any more chances to check in, but Kaci ever so kindly agreed to try to deal with things around here for me (please forgive her if she slips up and doesn't get a post done for me, her daddy got a BAD injury and I know her thoughts are going to be with him... XOXO Kaci's daddy!)

Beach

Right now Leah and Miss Em are....sigh....at the beach. Soak it up girls, you deserve it!
Kaci

We're Coming!!

Our dear friends, Carole and Rachel, are calling our names from down in Florida, and Emily and I are hopping a plane EARLY this morning and heading down... Mickey Mouse is calling our names pretty loudly as well, and weather permitting, we'll be paying him a visit at some point this week!

Life just hasn't been quite the same since Carole and Rachel moved last summer, and we're soooooooo very pleased to be getting some (very rushed, unfortunately) time with them. I don't envision much sleep for the week, as we'll be trying to cram in spending as much time together as possible (but sleep is over-rated anyway, right?).

I spent way too much time cleaning my house and packing the last three days, so didn't get a chance to schedule any blog posts before I leave, and I'll be leaving BFF Kaci in charge of making sure things run smoothly around here. I might get a chance to sit at a computer for a little while here and there, to update and share pictures, but I'm not making any promises!

I'm looking forward to getting some updated pictures of these two little gals (friends since toddlerhood, and both currently sporting MUCH shorter hair-styles!)

Curiosity killed the cat, you know...

The tide was recently REALLY far out at the beach near our home, so my FIL and I took the kids down to explore the muck. Connor was pretty fascinated with turning over rocks and picking up little crabs, and seeing what other little critters that might be under there (Grandpa was finding clams, Jared found a worm, I discovered some little hermit crabs, etc). He eventually moved on to grabbing up clumps of seaweed to see what might be lurking underneath:


Good thing it was only water he found!


I wish I'd clicked a split second later and gotten his horrified and terrified reaction! ha ha! He jumped up squealing and would have taken off in a full sprint, but rubber boots don't have much traction in muck and slime...

Happy 4th of July!!

Once upon a time, I got really into dressing Emily up for the 4th:
(notice the red ribbon tied through her shoes? And the decal I ironed onto her shirt myself because I couldn't find an outfit in her size?)


(and this dress I spent HOURS making her, which she wore for two years in a row because it was so big the first year!--I wish I'd thought to take a picture of the little blue diaper cover I made that she's wearing under the dress; it had ruffles all over the butt!!)


These days? She gets a $3.99 shirt from Wal-Mart that is made with such thin material, I'm not convinced it'll make it through too many wash cycles... LOL

We're looking forward to FUN IN THE SUN today, and a potluck event later today at my IL's house, then fireworks! All the "richies" who live along the water spend some serious $$$ on fireworks, and those of us who live on the bank get to see for free! WOO HOO!

I hope everyone has a fun and safe holiday!

Grand Total

I just wanted to announce that, on top of this gorgeous ponytail...


...Emily also donated $601.85 to Wigs for Kids!! 34 people supported her fund-raising efforts this past month.

Emily is one pleased little girl, and we thank all of you who were a part of the process!

And it's only Thursday?

Saturday: Purposely did not apply sunscreen to my face because of break-out issues, and thought I was doing a great job keeping my back to the sun. Except at some point, the sun shifted and I didn't notice and I burned the right side of my face. While wearing sunglasses... VERY lovely white circles around my eyes, with REALLY pretty layers of skin peeling from my nose and forehead. I'm CUTE! ha!

Sunday: Jared sat down on a bench at my IL's house, which just so happened to have a humongous bees nest attached to the underside, and within seconds, poor Jared was being swarmed. I was up in the house and looked out the big window in time to see Dan running up into the main part of the backyard, and for all intents and purposes, it looked like he was beating the crap out of the kid! The Mama Bear in me charged out of the house ready to defend Jare-bear, but I very quickly saw the thick clusters of bees on his skin and realized what Dan was doing. Jared was stung over 30 times, including one UP HIS NOSE, but he was amazing beyond belief and barely made a peep (during or after!). Within 15-20 minutes after being stung, he even uttered the words, "I'm kind of glad that happened! Now I look tough!" while happily spooning in bites of an ice cream sundae... Quick trip the ER to make sure nothing was up his nose (he kept saying it felt like there was something up there, but it turned out to be a welt INSIDE his nose causing the sensation) and a good night's rest and he was pretty much good as new. Still has some red marks, but nothing else came of the ordeal.

Monday: A nicely packed picnic, planned bike riding outing, and playtime at a local playground totally and completely RUINED by whining, crying, complaining (spoiled rotten little...) children.

Tuesday: After being down by at least one pound THE ENTIRE WEEK since my last weigh-in (every Tuesday, with my partner in crime, Kaci), I suddenly managed to gain weight overnight????

Wednesday: Yet another sunburn (shoulders), because apparently I didn't shake up the bottle of sunscreen well enough OR SOMETHING. Then, a sweet child, thinking she was being funny hopping into the driver's seat while we were helping build a garden area at the preschool, accidentally pressed the automatic lock button before shutting the door, with my keys inside. THANK GOODNESS for my mother who has a key to my home and was able to get the spare key to the van and deliver it to us! I also scored a very painful blister and several painful calluses for my efforts helping out with the gardening stuff at preschool...

Thursday (today): I have to somehow manage to make four stops between 9am and 9:30am and I REALLY don't have any idea how in the world that's going to happen... My kids have been at each other's throats for days on end, despite my pleas, threats (and everything inbetween) and I've reached my limit.

The glass is half full... The glass is half full... The glass is half full...

Isn't it amazing how much better you feel about something after you've gotten it off your chest? Here's to a new day!

PS What's gotten you down this week?