2012

Well, it's been way too long since I've posted! I don't even know where to begin. Josh started middle school this year...it's been a bit of an adjustment, but I think he's going to do just fine. The girls are in 2nd grade. Both seem to like their teachers, so that's good! All 3 kids are getting ready to play basketball. Yes, even Emma! Yay Emma!! There's a church close by that has Upward basketball and they play early fall instead of winter. We'll be done by Thanksgiving. I like that so much better - even if it's not "normal" basketball season. Josh has been on several scout camping trips lately. I think he likes it better when Phil goes with him. :) They're doing a family camping trip at Mammoth Cave next month. We're still trying to decide if we're going or not. It would be a fun trip, I think. They're doing a couple of tours through Mammoth Cave. We didn't take much of a vacation this year. We went to Wilderness at the Smokies right after school was out. We also spent a couple of days in Gatlinburg just before school started. We were able to go to the Aquarium, which everyone liked! We stayed at the Park Vista. It's a great place to stay! However, the pool was closed almost the whole time we were there. The kids got to swim for about 45 minutes while we were there - they weren't very happy. I can't say that I blame them...we were relying on the pool to be there since it was rather rainy while we were there. Josh is officially in the youth group at church now. It's kind of hard to believe he's that old! He's in the 6th grade this year! I'll try to do better at keeping up - it's been a very busy summer, even though I'm not sure what we've done! :)

I'm not ever getting married and I'm not changing my name!

Those were the words from Callie, age 6. I'm not sure I believe her about getting married, but I totally believe that she will never change her name. LOL Do we already have a woman's libber on our hands?

Emma says she's never getting married either, but she's not quite as convincing. Emma wants babies! :)

Where do these 6 year old get this kind of stuff? LOL

School has started!

This is a new time for us...the girls are in 1st grade this year, so they will be staying the full day (not the 1/2 day like they did in kindergarten). Because of this, they're riding the school bus home now! Since Phil works at home, this is a good solution for us (beats paying for aftercare for 1 hour).

It makes my day shorter, because for the first time in 10 years, I don't have to pick anyone up in the afternoons!

Callie was excited about the bus. She asked me, "Can I get off anywhere I want to?" Um, no!! :) I told her to stick with Josh and she'll be okay. Emma never even questioned where she got off! LOL Josh has been very protective of the girls and really wants to make sure the bus ride goes smoothly for them. He wrote each one of them a note on the first day reminding them which bus to get on. :)

He told them he would sit with them, too. Callie was concerned someone would make fun of him for sitting with 2 girls.

The first week is almost over and it looks like they're all settling in nicely. They all like their teachers (and I do too, so far).

This is Josh's last year at the Elementary school...next year, he'll be in middle school!! When did that happen?!! :)

Best Vacation Ever!

We just got back from Pensacola Beach, FL and I have to say that this has been one of our most enjoyable vacations. We're already looking forward to going back!

Callie would get up each morning and say, "This is the best day ever!! And tomorrow is going to be even better!!"

The kids loved the beach, the pool, the condo - everything. Emma was more interested in collecting seashells (we have 3 large bags to prove it). Josh and Callie loved the water...we had to buy an extra boogie board so both of them could have one.

Callie has no fear of the water - she's like a little fish! Josh is too, but at least he knows his limitations! :) Emma loved the pool, but only if she had her noodle. :)

PB has some of the best restaurants that we've been to (they rival what we have found in Myrtle Beach - which have been fantastic).

Our favorites were: Peg Leg Pete's, Flounders, New York Deli & Pizza, Joe Patti's seafood market and Halls Seafood. Oh yeah - The Shrimp Basket was really good, too.

We stayed at Portofino Resort, which was out of this world. We had a wonderful view of both the gulf and the sound.

We saw the Blue Angels practice. If you've never seen them, you need to! These are some of the most amazing pilots ever trained (http://www.blueangels.navy.mil/).

We enjoyed the Naval Aviation Museum and the Pensacola Lighthouse - both are on the naval base.

We saw dolphins from the beach and a shark from the Pier.

This could very easily become one of our favorite vacation spots!!

Spring is here!

I can't believe the kids only have a little over 3 weeks of school left. Where has the year gone?

The girls just finished another round of swim lessons. I think Emma is perfectly content with a couple of noodles just so she can float around and relax. Callie is all about learning to swim, jumping in and doing everything she can to have fun.

Josh is taking private lessons (whenever we can fit a lesson in). We hope to have him prepared to take the swim test at Webelos Camp this summer. He can do it if he just will. He's a pretty decent swimmer, but he gets nervous. :)

The girls are both reading pretty well for Kindergarteners. :) They should have no problem going into 1st grade. We'll just make sure they keep reading this summer.

Josh is really enjoying learning anything and everything he can about history. He got 10 extra credit points the other day because he knew where to find the books on Presidents in the school library (he's been checking those out for fun). He's getting ready to start a report on Andrew Jackson.

The girls will be going to summer camp at the Y this summer (just like last summer). Josh will be going to several different camps...he's going to Camp Invention (science camp), Scout Day Camp, Basketball Camp and Webelos Resident Camp (which is an overnight camp). Oh, and he'll be going to camp with Wendy at the end of June (her church camp). So, he's in for a busy summer. He'll have a few weeks off here and there to just do nothing, too. Maybe he can go spend a day or 2 at Grandmother & Granddaddy's and help them out some.

Josh will be 10 in another month! Wow! We're going to have a party at Laser Quest this year...that's in a couple of weeks. His birthday week is too busy to have a party!

Why are you looking at me??

On our way to the Y the other day, Emma looked at Callie and said, "Why are you looking at me? Is it because my hair is beautiful?". LOL Emma had her hair in pigtails and she thought Callie would be upset because she had them and Callie didn't. :) Sometimes, Emma likes to out do Callie.

It's been too long!

Looks like Thanksgiving and Christmas have passed since last updating. Both were good. :)

Today is Valentine's Day. The girls and I had a very interesting conversation about Cupid last week (you know, the one that rhymes w/ the bad word "stupid"). :)

Callie said if Cupid tried to shoot her, she was going to duck or jump over the arrow because she was NOT getting married. I told her Cupid only shot grown ups. Emma's only concern was if it was going to hurt or not when she got shot by Cupid. :)

Later, they were talking about a friend of theirs (these are 5/6 year old kids). One of them was talking about how their friend had a boyfriend. Callie piped up and said, "M&N broke up!! Every time M needed N, he wouldn't come to her, so now she's sad!". Oy!

Where do they get this stuff?!!

Josh had his Pinewood Derby at Scouts on Saturday. He placed 8th in his den. He was disappointed because he has always place 1st or 2nd in his den. Oh well!

The girls had a big birthday party at Build A Bear on Sunday. They had 7 friends come. They all had a great time and got to go home w/ a stuffed bear or puppy.