Florida Fall

I know some people scoff, but I think Floridians appreciate our autumn as much as anyone else. I think we might appreciate it more, considering we don't have as many leaves to rake. ;-) Anyway, today was our first day of cooler weather! Before the girls even went outside, they were asking for their sweaters! So there they are, my little Florida Girls, ready to brave the icy temperature of SEVENTY DEGREES!!!

And just over the weekend we were in tank tops and shorts at Sea World!

A couple of weeks ago, Gracie celebrated her 6th birthday. Early that week, we had a few friends over for a birthday playdate. Gracie and I worked together that afternoon to put the stage up for her friends:

The girls had a great time dressing up, and a few times the runway got some use! (It's got a sensor so that when they head out on the runway, you hear music and applause! Thanks, Papa!) One friend brought over a particular dress that Gracie tends to wear when she goes over to their house to play. We will label this "Daddy's Worst Nightmare":

Rachael found another use for the stage when the rest of the girls were back in the bedroom being different variations of princesses...

On her actual birthday, we just had family over at the house (it's so nice to be able to fit everyone!), and Gracie got to celebrate again! Publix made the cake for the gathering with friends, but since I'd bought two packages of Funfetti mix, we were able to have a cake that night as well!

Rachael loved it too!

The girls are still enjoying school, Gracie got the Student of the Week honor last week so we were proud of her for that! (Each child gets a chance to be it, but I was still pleased!) When Rachael gets to her preschool class now, she barely spares me a wave! She just puts her little bag in her cubby, and off she goes! So far, I haven't cried over this! :-) It's actually kind of fun to see her so comfortable and enjoying herself like that, and definitely better than the alternative!

The house is ALMOST done! I am hoping that when Rachael is at preschool, I can come home and tackle the office -- maybe not get it entirely done, but at least make a decent dent! We still have a few boxes that I'm ready to sort through and get rid of -- it'll be nice to not have to keep the door closed when we have company! ;-)

All in all, things are going well! Hope you're enjoying the beginning of fall where you are!

Before and After, Part II

So Chris and I spent last Saturday clearing this:

Until it looked like this:

And then Chris spent all of today making it look like this:

What a difference! He did a great job!!

Before and After, Part I

Chris is very fortunate to have every other Friday off from work. It is very rare that he actually takes a day OFF, though. The man is always working on something. And now, of course, with the new house, there are plenty of projects to keep him busy. The first thing on his list was the landscaping in the front yard. I posted a picture of the house before, here (scroll to the bottom). Looks nice, doesn't it? Although the tenants took excellent care of the inside of the house (it was basically immaculate), this is what the area in front of the left window looked like when we got here (I took this yesterday):

After a half day (of his "off" Friday) and basically a full day of work, here is Chris' finished product, and this was taken earlier this afternoon:

Chris is my hero!

As for next weekend?

Lovin' Summer

Swim lessons finished up the first week of July, but here are some pictures from the last lessons that I love:

Grace and Rachael, poolside.

Faith and Grace, cutest friends!

Rachael gives Miss Annamarie "smooches"
(especially nice since she cried during most of the lessons!)

My OWN proud moment!
Being able to swim across the pool, keeping Rachael's head (and mine) above water!

Last week we braved the hot, sticky weather and ventured to the zoo with some friends! Thankfully, not all that long ago our zoo improved their just-for-kids area, so now there's a place for the kids to cool off and splash around. I'm told that there's also a play area and a petting zoo, but we've never made it past the water! Once the girls get there, we're done!

This week Grace has been enjoying VBS at the church where her VPK was, so she's been able to spend some time with kids from her class and of course loves that! I have been SO blessed because during this time, Rachael has had playdates so I can PACK!!! Everything is still looking good for a closing at the end of the month! The home inspection went very well -- one thing that was found turned out to be a precaution that was taken by the owner to prevent damage, and another issue was resolved the day the owner was notified of it! And it was even a minor thing that Chris was willing to fix himself!

We were at the house for the home inspection, and I just couldn't help myself...

Hugs for the beautiful refrigerator!

Maybe I can do some before-and-after shots once we're moved in! I took some pictures when we walked through, but I don't think I was able to get the right angles and everything. We'll see! It's so exciting though!! Nearly 7 years in the making, and God clearly had a plan!