Beach Bound....................

And we're off!!

See ya later, Alligator...........
After while, Crocodile............

We're off for a week long vacation that will hopefully be filled with Fun, Sun and Relaxation.............

Just how I like it........The beach is my kind of destination.........First choice by a mile.........

We'll check in (maybe) and post pictures later....................

Have a great week !!!

A Weekend Recap..........A little late !!

For all 3 of my readers, I thought I'd give my weekend recap before we head out to chase the waves..................

For starters, our weekend involved a little "nudey" synchronized swimming..............

Now, this was late night..................suits didn't come off till Big Papa went through 3 swimmie diapers........And we were smack out!! So, if one does it, they ALL do it!!

Well, the good news is that we were with one of the POOL board of directors.........OH wait, that was probably the BAD news...........blown out swim diapers, expanding regular diaper, broken beer bottle, one near drowning, not things the director probably wanted to see...........Oh well, FUN TIMES!!

Saturday brought us to a BIRTHDAY party.................Our friend Ashton turned 4 years old and we had a MONKEY of a time!!
Mom and Dad had the house looking beautiful, we ate Moe's and birthday cupcakes............What could be better, right?

From the backseat..................

Ems is playing on her "cellphone"..................Calling daddy, of course!! Then she hands me the phone and we "chat" for a minute.............I give the phone back and she tells me she's going to send daddy a TEXT MESSAGE............Yes, that is right...................I laughed and made her repeat herself and she said she was sending him a TEXT MESSAGE but he wasn't answering.............HILARIOUS..........OR SCARY...........They are much more aware of EVERYTHING than I even thought possible..........................

Here she is with her cupcake "lipstick" from the birthday party this weekend..................

Weekend Recap post coming soon............sorry, trying to pack for the beach, pack to move, AND work!!

My kind of torture.............

Ok..............Not sure if it was the excellent mothering skills I possess (bribery) or all the stars lined up perfectly, but we just experienced a FANTASTIC swim lesson.................Thank goodness!

will download pictures soon!

Torture, please, twice a week.............

Torture (aka swim lessons) have been occurring now for about 6 weeks. See the smiles? This was the very first lesson !!



That is Ms. Rhonda.............

Our first lesson was GREAT......wow, we were really patting ourselves on the back. We were gonna have great swimmers, no floaties needed this summer!! Imagine, sitting by the pool (actually in a chair) watching the girls just swim around and play so nicely.............

WRONG!

Lesson #2 and #3 went so bad, it was suggested that maybe we have a lesson by ourselves.....read between the lines? we were distracting to our friend and slowing her down. True, all true........So, off we went to a different pool to have our private lesson.........Actually, it didn't go too bad. Until the next one.............when the tantrum started at the beginning and didn't stop till the end.
AWFUL
Now, I am that mother that people around the pool are wondering "why is she making her poor little girl go through all this?" "isn't it obvious that she is so miserable and pitiful?" "I would never make my child do something they don't want to do".................
Listen up people---I have a Drama Queen on my hands here..............As soon as the lesson is over, she is all smiles, high fiving Ms. Rhonda, chatting it up with the fellow swimmers........Having a blast............it's just the 45mins of actual "listening" and "following instructions" that is causing the tantrum..........She is NOT afraid of the water, She is NOT afraid of Ms. Rhonda.............It's just a good old fashioned POWER STRUGGLE!!

A Power Struggle that is wearing me out! It is embarrassing sitting there quietly watching her throw a fit and show her butt for all to see.............It's an internal battle that makes me wonder "maybe she is miserable" "why am I making her do this" "Am I being selfish for wanting her to learn how to swim"..............No, it's for safety. plain and simple. right?
If you ask her after the lesson, how it went? she says GREAT!
hmmmmmmmmmmm, it doesn't feel great !!
Ask her if she's ready to go do it again? She says, ABSOLUTELY!!
hmmmmmmmmmmm, it doesn't feel absolutely!!

I've tried bribes.........Because that is what (bad) moms do........hasn't worked yet......

Well, we have another one Thursday, so, there's always tomorrow, right?

Dress up Dolls.................

This past weekend included a crazy birthday party for our dear friend Audrey.........She turned 3!!

Here's the birthday girl!!
As you can see, the girls got to play dress up, get their hair done and make some crafts!!









Fun was had by all...............Although, when they are 10 and parading around like DIVAS, can we really blame them???? Ha! Kidding, of course!! They already parade around like DIVAS.........

Off to College...........well, almost!!

So Big Papa moves up to a new classroom today............What a milestone, right? He's growing so fast and learning so much............So, why do I wish it would all stop???? Because I am going to blink and we'll be packing them up for college..........I swear!!

yesterday, he looked like this!! (ok, maybe not yesterday, but not that long ago!!)


Now, he is "skipping" around, talking up a storm, investigating EVERYTHING, and melting hearts everywhere. He has a sparkle in his eyes and loves to do everything that the big girls are doing..............
His teachers love him and think he is truly special.........Especially Ms. Kelly & Ms. Vicki....We are blessed.

BUT STOP GROWNING, Will ya????

It's official...........

What? Don't hear cheers and fireworks? hmmmmm, me neither.........

But it is what it is.........and as I have been told, time to "put it to bed"......

As most of you know (all 3 of you who actually read this) , I don't do CHANGE very well. Not very well at all, but, I am trying to put my big girl panties on and move on....of course, the panties are a little snug but that is another post for another day (damn lattes and bagels)....

ok, back to the MOVE.............Great news, is we have a cute rental house that will be ready and waiting for us in August.........I know, when you hear "cute" you don't exactly think big do you? Well, what is big, is the back yard........big and flat and completely fenced in!! I will have 2 very happy little monkeys........as long as we get some sort of playhouse / swing/ slide combo.......Santa? you listening????

The kitchen and bathrooms (yeh, there are 2) have been remodeled and there is even a playroom!! Great since our playroom has resided in our living room since day one!! It's a 3 bedroom and as much as it pains me, I am a little excited about decorating ladybug's room......Not sure i'll get the ok to paint but plan on working around it's green color and I think Ems will love it!! Big papa's is already painted blue so his stuff will fit right in!!

It's been a helluva rollercoaster ride for a while now and I am trying to cherish the time we have left here at the old Casa..........I love all the windows and how much natural light comes in, we use our screened in porch daily and my kitchen ROCKS.........ha, i know, i don't cook, but everybody loves it when they come over :)

I am sure I will post some more about this, no guarantees it will be happy, but FYI, those people who are always happy, ARE MEDICATED.................

Some changes goin on 'round here.............

For the last 6 or so weeks, ladybug has been sleeping on the floor. That's right, the floor....actually, on a pallet under a tent, a small tent. Not very comfortable and quite possibly the reason she made numerous nightly visits to mama and daddy's bed!! Quickly to be marched back to her room........most nights.......

Anyway, although we are moving the end of the summer, and we don't have her "big big girl bed" yet, I decided ENOUGH WAS ENOUGH! Bring on the mattress!!

BEFORE---



So Mama takes apart the bed and Daddy does the vacuuming.......That's how it works 'round here.........









So, although not "pretty" yet, it's a very comfy bed and it MATCHES mommy and daddy's bed (thought that might work) ............. SO, we took our bath and read our books and got right into bed all tucked in........And made it till 6:15am..........SUCCESS.......till Monday night! Oh well....


So Monday was a holiday for me and I figured I could pretend to be a stay at home mommy!! So, what do stay at home mommy's do? They start off with a homemade hearty breakfast, right? VOILA.........pancakes...........

INEDIBLE pancakes............Oh well, It's the thought that counts, right?

SO, next on the list was a playdate at the airplane park!!




AND then what is a playdate, without DRESS UP time!!


We finished with dinner at the Palazzo's and goodtimes were had by all!!

Happy Fourth of July !!

God Bless America........truly blessed!!

Work gave us extra vacation days so our celebrating started on Friday.......What? No pictures? Yep, I did it again........Well, Imagine, 7 adorable kids by the pool, swimming, jumping, laughing and splashing....We went to the Welch's pool, swam & ordered pizzas.......Hung out with friends and laughed at the interesting mix of people at this pool....Great times.....And a big shout out to our life guard on duty that fished Big Papa out of the baby pool (no foul play reported so we'll assume all others around were innocent)!! Thanks Betsy!

Then we rolled out and onto the highway for a quick trip to Casa de Michael.....aka "Grandparent's house"

More swimming and a whole lot of eating......We were joined by our "newlywed" friends Kevin & Stephanie and watched a lot of WIMBLEDON!