Greetings from Florida!

Since my mother came for a visit, we agreed that it was time to leave our house in a "showable" state and hit the road. We traveled by van to Florida. The trip went alot easier than expected. The first time that we took the baby on a road trip she cried most of the time. This time, it was very very different. Whenever it was time to feed the baby, we simply pulled the van over at a rest stop, my mother took the older children for a stretch.

We stopped at some place along the way that had these really tasty cinnamon rolls...I ate two and had a had this sugar high that left me buzzed for at least 200 miles. When it wore off, I needed a nap pretty badly, so my mother took a turn at the wheel. I was able to ride in the backseat with the girls, and spend a little time with the baby as well.

So I have the girls enrolled in a summer camp down here. They are having a blast. They come home from camp just completly sweaty, stinky, and tired. The Middle Child has been taking naps everyday again (something she hasn't done in about a year!). The Oldest has been taking daily swim lessons with me in my parents pool and is excelling nicely. She is practicing using the kick board, blowing bubbles, and jumping off the side of the pool. Last summer, she wouldn't even put her toes in the pool unless I was standing right next to her, so this is amazing progress for her. I am very proud. I took her to the dollar store and bought her the goggles that she had been begging me for as a reward. ( I personally hate goggles, I just know that she will be spending more time adjusting those things instead of swimming. Grrrrrrr.)

The baby is thoroughly enjoying her time in Florida too. Just now, my mother has again scooped her up at her first whimper upon waking up from her nap. She is becoming spoiled, but I don't care at all. She is in desperate need of all this extra attention. The way our situation has been, I just don't have enough arms to pick her up all the time.

So, with all this fun going on, we just may never go back home. Oh well.

Help has arrived.

My mother flew in from Florida.

I cannot begin to describe how nice it has been to have her here. She is so helpful. There is nothing better than an extra set of arms and eyes here.

My house still hasn't sold, but my mom is here to help.

It's all good.

Everyone's Hero

I don't know what rock I was hiding under back in 2006, but I am just now discovering a fantastic movie. I took the girls to the Summer Movie Magic at our almost local (40 minute drive away) theater today. We went to see Everyone's Hero....I didn't know anything about the movie, which is a little odd for me, as I pre-screen everything before my own kidlets get to watch. But I was willing to take my chances this morning when I dragged them to the theater, and let "peace" reign for 90 minutes while the girls much on popcorn and I can settle back and take a nap.

I was pleasantly surprised. Not only did I not feel the need to take a nap, I was very very entertained. My children were actually cheering at the end! And they really don't know a thing about baseball, much less who Babe Ruth or his famous bat was.

Then, the credits. This movie was directed by Christopher Reeve! No Way! How awesome is that? But also in the movie were the voices of Rob Reiner, Whoopie Goldberg, Brian Dennehy, Christopher Reeve's wife, Dana, and their son, Will.

Anyways, I just wanted to share with you this cute movie. The animation was nothing compared to anything Disney/Pixar would come up with, and I suppose that is why the critics were really mean about this movie. I loved it. My kids loved it. We will be adding this movie to our shelf of kid flicks as soon as possible.

I have a new favorite flower.

I was at the hardware store a week ago, and I found these really pretty Gerber Daisies on clearance for 50 cents each. They looked pitiful, like they hadn't been watered in forever, and there were no blooms on them at all. I had never purchased Gerber Daisies before...I have always thought of them as sort of a.....Snooty Flower. Hard to take care of. But for 50 cents, how can you go wrong?

So I bought 4 of them. I bought a bag of dirt, and a couple of plastic pots. I didn't think that they would do anything, because they looked so horrible. But I had to see what a little TLC would do. This morning, this is my surprise! Lovely blossoms!

Aren't they pretty?

I had to cut some and put them in this bowl as my centerpiece. I like little floating centerpieces. So, now Gerber Daisies are no longer "Snooty" They can join my garden anyday!

What can't an OREO Cookie do?

Many of you know that I am quite addicted to OREO cookies. I like them with an ice cold glass of milk. I have been sort of using them as "smile therapy" around here since Daddy has been gone. I had better start moving away from that practice , lest my waistline suffer the consequences.

The girls and I had a conversation this morning about all the different ways you can eat an OREO, as we snacked on some vanilla pudding with a little bit of crushed OREO's on top. We came up with alot. Here are some of our favorite ways to eat an OREO:

Dipped in Milk, Dipped in Coffee, Dipped in chocolate, Crushed over ice cream, Frozen OREOs , OREO pudding, OREO pie, OREO truffles, OREOs with the tops twisted off, (am I starting to sound like Bubba Gump yet?), OREO mini's, in a DQ Bizzard, and crushed on top of a cupcake. Domino's OREO pizza rocked my world.

I am thinking about adding crushed OREOs to our next batch of pancake mix. Yum. Hey, why not? You only live once!

Some facts about OREOs? A standard package of OREOs contains 45 cookies, 36 if you are eating Double Stuffs. Each cookie has exactly 12 of those little flowers on each side. There are 9 varieties of OREOs, including peanut butter, and mint. If ever cookie ever made was stacked up on top of each other, they would reach the moon and back more than 5 times. A cookie is 29% creme and 71% cookie.

What's your favorite way to eat an OREO?

A Holding Pattern.....

I had a wonderful 4th of July...and I believe that the girls did too. We packed up an stayed with some good friends of ours in a few towns over. The trip was short enough to make it easy for an over-nighter, yet far enough away for us to feel like we were getting away. Our hosts were fabulous, and I always feel totally refreshed when I leave their place. Note to self: Try to figure out the secret ingredient for good hospitality, because whatever it is, it came in large quantities at our little retreat this weekend.

I am sorry to say, but our lives have gotten into a bit of a holding pattern. Wake up, straighten up, hope for the realtor to call on the phone for a showing, call Daddy on the Skype, then go to bed. Repeat Daily. I didn't want it to get to this point where the kids started getting used to the fact that their Daddy is away, but we are almost there already. Yesterday at our friend's house, it was mentioned to The Oldest Child that we were having steak for dinner and she totally lost her mind in inconsolable tears.....between sobs we heard her say, "My Daddy isn't cooking the steaks...somebody's else's Daddy is." The Middle Child summed upped her week in these words: "I don't want to talk to Daddy on the computer. I want to talk to my real Daddy with the skin on." A 5 year-old sure knows how to let the real feelings out, don't they? And The Baby, well thankfully I don't think that she will remember that much of this period of time. But it is really funny to watch her smiling and making those happy noises she makes to her Computer Box Daddy. I can just imagine what her reaction will be like when she is actually face-to-face with the Daddy with the skin on.

Daddy, I know you will be reading this sometime tonight...please know how much we miss you! It feels like there is just a big hole in our family....and we are just sitting around trying to pass the time until we can see you. And you can cook the steaks and hug the girls...not on the computer box, but with real skin! And I am sure The Baby will oblige to give you her coveted "Spit-Up Badge of Honor." In the meantime, we are being your brave girls. And we are ever reminded that our family is build of the stuff that lasts and endures the test of time.

Onward.