Soccer Practice (Grace)...

About 6 months ago we bought a new car (a Chevy Traverse) and the kids have been teasing me that I am now a soccer mom...hahaha Well they weren't far from the truth. Last week Grace started her practices and somehow I decided to volunteer to be the team parent. LOL Soccer mom, here I come!!! All is good though, the parents are great and lots of help. The coach is terrific and knows what she is doing!! Seth was bored at practice so he took all the pictures you see...
Grace likes soccer and actually participates in the practice. Her first game is this Saturday!!

First Day of School!!!

Today was the BIG DAY!!! The first day of school for both kiddos...here in Florida the whole county has the same school schedule and it works out GREAT!! Same days off and since my kids will never go to the same school while we are here, that is great news for planning vacations. Seth is in second grade and was looking forward to meeting new friends and learning new things. He was also looking forward to riding the bus. I didn't let him ride the bus in Lebanon because there were highschoolers on the bus. It was easier to drive him. Here he is on the bus with K-5 which for me is a little easier to take. They both woke up with smiles on their faces, which always puts a smile on mine!!!

Grace was disappointed she couldn't go to school this morning, but quickly realized that she had the house to herself!! She got to hang out with Mommy for the morning and loved it. When it came time for lunch she perked up even more, knowing that school was getting ready to start. She goes to a Voluntary Pre-K program (free in the state of FL) about 2 miles from the house. She is there for 3 hours everyday!!!

I will say though, when the Seth got on the bus, I started to get really nervous and the house felt started feeling empty. Grace did a good job of keeping my in check and keeping my mind off of wondering about Seth. Once she went to school, I didn't have anyone to keep my mind off of the fact the kids weren't in the house yelling at each other, so I went to the grocery store...LOL Seth came home first, the bus dropped him off at 2:15 right in front of the house and I lit up when he jumped off the bus with a giant smile on his face. He had a GREAT day and loved the school. We had 45 minutes to ourselves before we had to get Grace from school. When time to get Grace, Seth was ready to tell her all about his day and ask about hers. Grace was painting when we picked her up and is in a class of 6. She had a GREAT time too, and they both had lots to tell us at dinner!! I sure hope they just as much fun everyday!!!!

Soccer Practice (Seth)...

Soccer has begun...and with two kids in the same sport but different age groups we are at the YMCA three night a week. LOL Seth started practice last week and has really begun to like the sport. He does a great job with the kids and meeting new people. He became fast friends with a kid on his team named Donovan. Grace was walking around with the camera and took all of these pictures. I think she did a pretty good job!!! His first game is the Saturday...

Panhandle Butterfly House...

Driving around our new town, we have come across a few things we would like to do. One is the Butterfly house at the park. It is not very big, but great for pictures and getting out of the house for a couple of hours. We decided that today we would go up to the park and see what it was like. The kids were GREAT and fscinated with the butterflies on display. They asked questions and the ladies there were more than ready to answer them. And just so you know, we have been reading A LOT of Fancy Nancy books lately. One in peticular is Explorer Extraordinaire. Fancy Nancy has all kinds of tips on nature collecting, butterflies and of what you should wear to a butterfly garden!!! We take our butterfly ensemble very serious around here. LOL

Exporeum, Mobile, AL...

Saturday we went to the Exploreum in Mobile, Al. It took us about 1 1/2 hours to get there but once we did we had a great time. Everything was hands on (except the reptile exhibit). The kids learned a lot (so did I). There was an entire section about medical things. It has virtual surgery section. You can even check in like a hospital and go thru stations with a card and check out and it will print out a "complete" medical evaluation. We weren't able to do the card thing, but we did go thru all the stations. It has a laser surgery, endoscopy surgery and much more. There is a station that tells you how much blood is in your body (measured in cups).

There is a TV station. The kids were anchors and I was the weather person. This is a hit with the kids. Seth played the producer and Richie read the news while I did the weather.

Our favorite section was the "Hands on Hall". This was very scientific. Optical illusions, sound, physics, and much more.

Grace and Richie playing tug of war. Grace's rope was at the top of the fixture and Richie was at the bottom. It taught the kids that the further away from the fullcrum you get the easier it is to pull it to one side.

This is a great place to visit, but is definitely a tourist thing. Don't get me wrong, we enjoyed ourselves while we were there. The kids had a blast and that is all that matters!!!

The park at the Base...

We have been exploring our new home and came across that the base has a really cool park. There is a cover over the playground, so on the hot days the kids are shaded. They don't have covers over the parents benches, but that is fine, I will just sit/play on the equipment. It is very nice and well maintained. Part of the park is water, so make sure you bring a towel with you!!! After we went to the library, the kids wanted to do something outside so I asked what park they wanted to go to. Seth said the base because it had water. We packed up and left lunch and spent another 2 hours there.

Navarre Public Library...

We have discovered that the house we rented is literally 1/2 a mile to a mile from a lot of things that we do. The library is one of the place we discovered is very close to us. Seth had a library/media center in school, so he was pretty excited. Grace on the other hand had not been inside a library yet. She didn't know quite what to expect. I know, my kids are deprived...LOL. Grace's eyes lit up when she walked in. They actually did a great job of keeping quiet and respecting others working. They have a corner of the library for the kids and there are windows and steps to sit on and read. The first couple of times we went I only let them take 1 book home. This last time, I think we came home with 10 books for them. They were super excited that they were able to check them out themselves. We spent about 2 hours there reading and finding really cool books.

Settling in...

The Monday after we arrived we went to Crestview, FL to look at houses. Absolutely no luck, so Tuesday we spent the day in Navarre, FL. We finally found a house in Navarre and we are about 5 miles from beach. The kids love it and we are close to everything, the YMCA, sports plex, library...etc. The following weekend Mom and Dad came down with the trailer and stayed the night in the same hotel as us. We went swimming, drove around town, went to dinner. They only stayed the night and had to head back home, but it was so nice to see them. They saw the new house (well new to us, we are renting). The kids and I had been working on getting the house put together and hanging pictures up and rearranging furniture. I noticed that there was something missing in the kitchen. So, on a icky day we did an art project. The kids love projects that have to do with painting their hands. LOL I painted their hands and they put them on the canvas where ever they wanted. Once it dried I put some Mod Podge on it and the kids put some gems on the glue. Put a ribbon on the top and "Viola", instant decor!!!

Florida Bound...

On July 10, 2010 we set off for Flordia. We met with Aimee and the boys for lunch at McAlister's in Shiloh and headed out from there. We drove to Brentwood, TN before stopping. The next day was the hardest because Alabama is a pretty boring state to drive the length of. So we were on the road for about 8 hours. Not too bad, but I will have you know, the kids did not ask once to use the bathroom, because "someone" was stopping every hour and a half to go to the bathroom. Well, once we got to our hotel, we HAD to stop for seafood. YUCK... lol. Richie needed his fix of seafood, since I won't let any in the house. The kids like it too! Richie ordered crab legs, and I don't think he even got to eat one, before the kids ate the rest of them.

Didn't your mom ever tell you not to play with your food?!?!?! LOL