Where did June go?!

June was a blur! After swim lessons finished up, we headed right into Vacation Bible School! I taught 3rd grade again, and had assistance from Ashley for the 3rd year in a row! We had an amazing class, they were so well-behaved right off the bat and even earned this very prestigious award:
They got to carry the pink flamingo around with them for a day, I was so proud! (I wonder if it had anything to do with the fact that I managed to have 15 girls and 4 boys in my class...) I even figured out a way to make sure they all got a chance to carry the flamingo as we walked around!

After VBS finished up on Thursday, we dropped Rachael off at her Grandma's, and Grace, Nana and I all headed up to Georgia to visit Katrina and her family, and meet Veronica! With a stop for dinner and another for gas, the drive took 10 hours. Mom's wonderful friend, Barbara, let us borrow a DVD player for the car and that was a lifesaver! I have a new appreciation for Color Wonder by Crayola as well!

It was so good seeing Katrina and spending time with the whole family! One of the best parts was getting to be Super Aunt for a little bit! Savannah let me brush her hair and play with it -- I braided it one night and put clips in it for church on Sunday morning! Veronica made me feel so special, because she seemed to quiet down and fall asleep when I would hold her! I loved it!

Grace would hold Veronica whenever we gave her the chance, and in this shot Veronica was starting to get fussy. Grace didn't mind a bit!

Of course meeting Veronica and spending time with Katrina, Jerry and Blake was wonderful, but the highlight of the trip was watching Grace and Savannah play, and hearing them GIGGLE!! From the time we arrived, the cousins were fast friends and virtually inseparable! Before we got there, I wondered about the age gap (Grace is 2 years older than Savannah), but I didn't need to worry! They had a great time together, and I could've listened to them playing and giggling forever!

It was hard to leave, especially hearing Grace ask if Savannah could come play this week (heartbreaking!), but Mom and I were ready to get back to our husbands, and I was missing Rachael as well! She got some quality time with Daddy and Grandma while we were gone, and they all had a blast! Daddy even took her on a date to Steak 'n Shake, where she sat in a booster seat and fed herself for the whole meal! What a big girl!

We got back in time for Grace to start dance camp (if you can call 6 45-minute lessons "camp"), and later she will go to a version of KinderMusik that the church has for a week. Before we know it, August will be here and it'll be time for her to start school!!

As I said once before, I don't know who came up with the term "stay-at-home mom," but I'm starting to think that it was not a mommy!!

They have my heart.

Splashing & Splurging!

Today I brought the camera to swim lessons, and one of the dry mommies was sweet enough to take some pictures while I was in the pool with Rachael. Thanks, Carrie! This is what Rachael looked like most of the morning!

She did still do some swimming, over and under water, but for the most part she just clung to me and cried! She felt a little safer on the step in the shallow end and starting copying me as I blowed bubbles. Except instead of blowing bubbles, she was just sticking her tongue in the water. One step at a time!

Grace was a little fish again! She's been a great listener and has enjoyed these lessons so much!

Last night was an exciting one in our household... After Rachael went to bed, Chris told Grace he was going to a couple of stores. I knew he'd received a check for his marathon umpiring session a couple of weekends ago, and I also hoped he was thinking a little about himself (for once!) and maybe was going to get a congratulatory gift after seeing that his hard work was being noticed at the office. What do you think he got?

Nope.

Not that.

That would've been pretty cool -- but he wasn't quite shown that much appreciation either!

No, my husband went out and got one of these:

IT'S AWESOME! He put it together last night (even looked at all the instructions, he is my hero), and we ran it in the bedroom and our bathroom. That's how excited we were, people -- we risked waking up the girls to try it out!! This couldn't have come at a better time considering the vacuum we've had since we got married officially went ka-put on us. The proof, here is what the Dyson collected today in an area I vacuumed yesterday. If you ever watched "Everybody Loves Raymond," you'll remember the phrase, "This is what's known as 'The Wow Factor'," and I warn you, it's not for the faint of heart!

NASTY! And I'm a little worried that we might be raising little neat freaks as well. Chris' mom just came over for a quick second, and Grace wanted her to come inside and see something. I figured it was going to be the drawings she was doing on the dry erase board. Nope, she wanted Grandma to see what the Dyson had collected!

Let us know what exciting things are going on in your house -- when our big news is a Dyson, don't you think we need to live vicariously through you?? ;-)

Cheap Fun!

I don't want to put too much pressure on the girls, but tonight I decided to start their training for the 2026 Winter Olympics. That's right, even in Florida you can train for the bobsleigh event!

Chris came home from a game of Ultimate Frisbee to the above scene. The girls and I had somehow all managed to fall asleep late in the afternoon and none of us woke up until 7 p.m. or later (and I don't know if I would've woken up if Katrina hadn't called me -- so, really, THANK YOU!), and I needed to wear them out. We were originally entertaining ourselves by dancing to my New Kids on the Block Greatest Hits CD, but for some reason the player quit on us (maybe refusing to play that music anymore -- that would be Chris' opinion). Grace had been dancing on that blanket... And to be honest, I'm not sure how I thought zipping them around the apartment would be a great idea, but they LOVED it and I'm positive I got in my cardio for the day!

This must be done to every child at least once in their life:

We were able to do it to Grace when she was 6 months old:

And for fun, let's compare the girls at roughly the same age...

Grace, February 2005

Rachael, May 2008

Looking at that just makes me realize how fast they grow up!

And if you didn't already know it, I'm one of those parents who enters their kids in the Parents Magazine cover photo contest. I'm also one of those parents that doesn't mind asking people to go look at the adorable pictures! Here's Grace's gallery, and here's Rachael's! I was tame and only put 3 pictures for each of them -- they allow 6! :-)

One fish, two fish...

Remember this? Seems we're having a repeat! Swim lessons started on Tuesday and Grace seemed to forget everything she learned over the past 3 summers!! While I was inside getting Rachael ready for her first big trip into the water, Grace was out in the pool having a mild anxiety attack! Thankfully our dear friend, Carrie, was in the water with her, and she was so incredible and stayed with her the entire time! Grace whimpered throughout, but she did everything she was supposed to nonetheless!

Rachael, on the other hand, got into the water and immediately tried to push off of me! She wasn't excited about me positioning her or trying to get her to do anything we were instructed to, but she definitely loved the water! She went under without freaking out, and when we had to bring them down from the side of the pool she did well reaching out for the wall right away -- I was impressed!

I'm sure by the end of the lessons I'll have two little fishies, one who knows how to swim again and another who knows how to handle herself when she's in the water!

Here's a couple of shots from a recent trip to the park -- because I can't seem to post without pictures!!!

I'm adding a mention of today's swim lessons -- basically read the above post, but reverse the girls! We worked with the younger kids in the water first, and Rachael was crying and hooked around me with a death grip! She did still go underwater very well though! Grace, however, got into the pool with the instructor (I told her before we left that her Aunt Carrie wasn't going to be there today) and soon shouted to me, "Mommy! I'm not scared anymore!" She did awesome! Ah, kids, so unpredictable!!