Sweet Sister

The other day I woke up with Jetty cuddled up next to me and Ella not in her usual spot on the other side of me. Doug had left for work early in the morning and I assumed that she would be cuddled up next to Rose on the couch. Instead I found her working hard on an art project on the dining room table. It was a surprise for Jetty and she did it all by herself with the stickers leftover from the hospital. Very thoughtful my sweet little girl.

Poor Jetty...

Jetty had her tonsils and adenoids removed a week ago tomorrow. It has been rough. We are all lacking in sleep and last night her pain got even worse. I am hoping for a better night soon.

Long time away...

I never expected to be away from blogland for this long. School happened, summer happened, sick children happened. I am happy to be back and with lots of new things going on in our life.
Jetty started a new school after spring break. The public school wasn't working out for us and it was sad because I really wanted to support the public school system. In the end I gave it a year and a half and I knew it wasn't the right thing for our family. We are lucky enough to have a charter school just outside of town. We decided to give it a try and I had it set in my mind that if it didn't work we were going to homeschool. Well, I am happy to say that the charter school has been wonderful and a very different experience then the public school.
I was also offered the job of art teacher for the school at the end of the school year. I wasn't planning on returning to work but I do miss teaching and love the idea of being at my child's school. Since I haven't taught in 6 years I had to take two college courses to renew my teaching certificate. I was a little overwhelmed with two 14 week online courses condensed to 6 weeks. That is one reason I haven't even wanted to open up my laptop. I needed a break from the computer and all technology. We have been spending lots of family time traveling and on the water. It has been a great summer.
I am happy to say that all my requirements are behind me and I will only be teaching two days a week which is ideal for my family and I am so excited to be in the classroom once again.

Little Garden

I am LOVING our earth boxes right now. The girls have been wanting a veggie garden but we have a very shaded back yard. The one place we have lots of sun is the large tiled patio out back. I have tried potted plants there but it is too hot in the summer for traditional style pots(especially when I forget to water for a day or two). Well, last summer I was introduced by my friend Janine to these wonderful pots she sells at her nursery. They are amazing and I swear you can watch the plants grow right in front of you. I have pictures of the girls getting the soil mixture ready for planting but for some reason I didn't get a picture of the baby plants. They were the small veggie plants that come in the little pots. Compare that to the plants 3 weeks after we planted them. My squash and zucchini have over 30 blossoms on each plant. I can't wait to get a couple more pots.

Warm Sunshine

So glad to have some warm weather after this cold wet winter. Island hopping on the boat is so much fun.

Happy Easter

We have had a wonderful spring break... visiting wonderful friends, ice skating, boating, and lots of loving. The girls and I decided to dye our Easter eggs with natural dyes(ex. beets,turmeric,blueberries,etc.). It was a fun science experiment and the girls even wrote predictions in their journals but the result was not very exciting. I decided that whoever dyed the eggs I saw online must have slipped in some food dye. It was still fun and the girls just wanted to add some more colors with q-tips which helped a bit.

Looking forward to spending lots of time with family tomorrow and finding lots of eggs.

Teeth

I never remember being so excited to loose a tooth as Jetty. This is what Jetty's mouth is looking like these days. I think we might need to start saving up for braces.

Lucky and Sneaky

We tried and tried but Lucky and Sneaky got away again. Note to self...when the girls ask to start putting out the trap a week before St. Patty's day remember cleaning up little leprechaun foot prints for a week:)

A Very Important Project

The latest important project... Here's a clue .

Another Birthday

This winter my baby turned 4. My sweet little velcro baby started preschool two mornings a week and only shed a few tears which made me so proud. She is quite the little Daddy's girl and still likes to sleep holding my hand. So sweet.

A Cold Winter

It has been a cold winter with even some snow. Okay, it was more like sleet then snow but the girls loved every minute of playing in the cold mixture. It has been nice having more of a season in Florida but I am ready for the warmer weather and heading back to the beach. The unseasonably cold weather has been rough on the vegetation. We are waiting to see what plants come back when the weather warms and we are looking forward to growing some vegetables. Warm sun, sandy toes, and fresh veggies...it will be a good spring.

Brrrrr

It has been record breaking cold in Florida this last week and they say there might even be snow flurries tonight or tomorrow morning. Floridians in general are pretty wimpy about the cold and I am sure Northerners would crack up with all our winter gear and constant talk about how cold it is outside. I enjoy the heat and I am even contemplating joining a gym for the rest of winter. I had no motivation to walk or ride my bike this week with the wind chill in the teens and twenties. It warmed up to the forties today so I was able to get a little exercise before the next cold front comes in the afternoon. Doug, on the other hand, enjoys the cold and easily rides his 4 hours and only complains about cold toes. I hope everyone had a great holiday. Ours was a wonderful time spent with lots of family and friends.