Respect Your Realtor

Sunday was our second day house hunting with our realtor. We were prepared for an afternoon where the most exciting part of the day would be finding a great house in a great neighborhood in a great school district. We were NOT prepared to drive by and see this:

As we were heading to the second house of the day, we came across that brush fire. We've had some dry weather lately, and it was just breezy enough for this to be pretty scary. Our realtor stopped her car and I thought she was just going to dial 911. Before I knew it, she and Chris were out of the car and in the backyard.

That's Chris in the picture, the one closest to the fire. He had a hose that had very, very little water pressure and was trying to work with it. He quickly put it down and went to the house to use the large paint buckets the homeowner, our realtor and one other person were filling up.

Obviously, I stayed back. But even from where I was, it was HOT!! Thankfully it wasn't long at all before the calvary arrived. (Good to know for future reference -- that area has good emergency response time!) You can see just how close the fire was to the home here:



That was a little too much excitement for your average day of house hunting!


And now to lighten things up... The Adorables!

Now that it stays lighter longer, the guys are able to go out and play Ultimate Frisbee again! This past Friday, the girls and I went out to watch, but of course we spent a lot of time at the playground nearby. At one point, Grace and Rachael were sliding down the medium-sized slide together and having a blast! I'd had a rough week for various reasons, and they really ended it on a great note! Look at how much fun they were having together!!

Hope you have a great week! And please remember... "Only you can prevent forest fires!" Wait, I just read that that was updated in 2001! So remember: "Only you can prevent wildfires!"

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss

Rachael and I paid tribute to Dr. Suess by doing laundry and sorting socks! She found new socks. Two socks. Who's socks? Sue's socks. Doesn't Rachael look like she's having a blast? She loves to just toss out all the other clean clothes to search for the socks, then she sticks her hand in and pulls the end through -- even if it was already right-side-out! That's okay though, there's no way I'm going to stop her and risk discouraging her from helping with the laundry!

While we were at home celebrating in our own way, Grace's class had green eggs and ham! She would not eat them here or there, she would not eat them anywhere! She did, however, wear her Cat In The Hat hat, which she was very proud of! That, and her whiskers -- can you see them? She's hoping they stay on until Daddy gets home! Thankfully there's plenty of eyeliner around in case there's a whisker emergency!

The 4th Girl in the Family

Poor, forgotten Snickers!

Here she is with Rachael and Grace, everyone smiling so pretty for the camera! Every week, Grace's VPK class has their show and tell and the items they bring in correspond to what letter of the alphabet they are studying. Grace came up with the idea of bringing in a picture of Snickers, and then we figured if Rachael was in the shot, she'd have two things representing S -- Snickers and her sister!

Snickers is a little over 6 years old now, and she's a great dog! She plays with the girls, lets them love on her, and she even tolerates their friends! She is still very much a Daddy's Girl -- she probably feels the strong "cat person" vibes coming from Mommy!

She may not get as much camera time, but we love Snickers just the same!

Mommy's Big Day

Yesterday was my birthday, so we decided to take advantage of Disney's "What Will You Celebrate?" promotion since it would be free for me. What made it even better was that we had taken Grace for her 2nd birthday, so I was happy we got to take Rachael right after her 2nd also!

Chris and I are Florida natives, so we know better than to go to a theme park when it's going to be crazy busy. We realized yesterday was a holiday, but not everyone closes on President's Day (it was rare for Chris to have the day off), so we didn't think it would be a madhouse. BOY, WERE WE WRONG! I don't think I've ever been to a theme park when it was that crowded!

As crazy as it was, though -- mishaps and all -- we still had a good time!

Rachael went on her first carousel ride, without screaming!!

Grace 's favorite part:

Aurora (a.k.a. Sleeping Beauty)

Cinderella Grace's favorite princess, Belle

We also waited (and waited and waited) to meet Mickey and Minnie, and Rachael was very excited before we got up to them! Once they were at her level, though, she was so shy! Minnie even tried to play peek-a-boo with her a little bit! I think Rachael must've been a bit awestruck!

It was a long day, and I think it'll be three to five years before we try that again, but we did have a lot of fun! Seeing the girls get excited over things like that is a great gift any day!

Multi-Tasking

It was bound to happen. Today it did. A wee bit earlier than I expected though...

Grace got her first phone call.

Sure, she has talked to her friend, Faith, on the phone before, but it was usually because Faith's mom and I had already been talking. This took me by surprise. I answered the phone and a sweet little 4-year-old voice identified herself and asked to speak to Gracie.

It was a friend of Grace's from school, and Grace was so happy to talk to her since she had to stay home sick today!

In the picture, you'll notice a book -- Dr. Seuss' Hop on Pop. That was given to her by her Grandma when she came over for a visit. She and Grandpa came for a visit specifically so Grace could read a book to them! In school they got to pick a book from the library, and Grace brought home Dora's Picnic by Christina Ricci. She brought it home, and pretty much read it cover to cover -- I had no idea! Sure, she had to ask about a few words (I cannot explain why brought sounds the way it does when it looks the way it does, which is why she will go to public school), but for the most part she had it down!

Now she's enjoying Hop on Pop, and she even told her friend she was reading a rhyming book.

Reading books. Talking on the phone.

Check back tomorrow, when I write about Grace's first time driving...