Insert Catchy Title Here

 One day a couple of weeks ago, Grace and Joe and I took Hannah to school and then hung out at the library and later learned to use the 3-D printer there.  We designed and printed a little plastic cup.  Amazing technology.

 Grace met up with a friend that she met on the cruise this past summer at Downtown Disney and H and B rode down there with me and we all went to lunch at Raglan Road, the Irish pub.  The food and entertainment were great!  Then we went shopping and surprised Grace with a new iPod case with Belle on it since she will be playing Belle in Beauty and the Beast in just a few weeks.  ;0)

 I bought two new books--I read the top one and really liked it, I've stared the one below but I think I may read it as a read aloud with the kids so I put it down for now.  I love Levi Lusko's teaching and often listen to his sermons and his book reads like he talks.  He is truly gifted.

 I haven't made it down to the dock to see a sunset in almost two weeks.  We have entered into our crazy busy stage of fall and I am often on the road at sunset picking up kids.  I did get to enjoy a beautiful sunset from the soccer field tonight though.

 Devin spends a couple of evenings a week at our house and often silliness ensues.  Hannah and Grace made these awful shirts on the cruise this summer and we were enjoying laughing about how awful they are.

 Happy 14th birthday to Anabel, these beautiful girls went downtown and walked around to celebrate Anabel's birthday.  I love that we live in a place that the kids can go and be safe and have fun too.

 Above and below are the twins, they are about 18 months old now!  I think Kenleigh looks so much like Hannah did at that age, especially the hair.

 LOVED the Royal We.  If you want a mindless, fun read, then read it!

 I'm tutoring Tatum in Geometry and we got to spend a glorious two hours together building a bookcase out of popsicle sticks and measuring and constructing and proving.  It was so not fun.  I had to do the same project with Hannah last year and in a couple of weeks I think I get to do it again with Tatum's brother.  Oh the joys of being a math tutor.

 Last Saturday was "Talk Like a Pirate Day" downtown and Hannah dressed appropriately.  :0)  While we were walking around down there I saw these napkins and thought they had a great message.

 Joe is a helper at church now and in the picture above he is helping to put on a puppet show.  Taking him out of his comfort zone but I think he had fun.

 Hannah and I met up with Devin and his mom in the Villages Sunday night to go to the movie.  His mom and I saw War Room and it was a GREAT movie!!  Not cheesy at all, great acting and a great message!  We enjoyed the live music in the town square while waiting for Devin and his mom.  My favorite moment was when the village people starting line dancing to Love Shack by the B-52s.  Who does that??

 Joe has started soccer and my tutoring is in full swing.  I am back to Tuesday mornings at Tarbucks but I'm enjoying a new drink.  A London Fog--it's Earl Grey tea with steamed milk and vanilla syrup.  YUM!

 Now that Hannah is driving, she and I both have an app called "Mama Bear."  I can track her whereabouts and it even gives me an alert if she is speeding.  Haha.

 Joe and I made our annual trip to Mickey's Not So Scary with Amanda and her boys.  We were the Batman family and had a great time!

Living Life...a Picture Story

 I don't remember where we were going but Joe took this picture of Anabel and Grace and I thought it was pretty cute.  They have a lot of fun together and giggle nonstop which often gets on my nerves but I'm glad Grace has a friend that she can have so much fun with.  :0)  When giggling kids are getting on my nerves Ollie always gives me a hard time because he says I don't want them to have fun...can't they have fun without the giggling??  Hannah got to spend a few days in Pensacola with Madi and family, below are a couple of pictures.  She had a great time and read two books I think!

 Julie and I and Hannah and Madi have been friends forever, love this collage of the four of us.  :0)

 The other night I got to spend the evening with some fun church peeps and put together birth kits to send to Haiti.  We loaded big ziploc bags with chucks pads (no idea if I'm spelling that right), gauze, strings to tie the umbilical cord, a small razor, soap, and instructions.  They will be giving them out at a center that our church supports and will hopefully help some moms have a cleaner birth and result in less infection and healthier moms and babies.

 Ollie, Grace, Joe, a couple of friends and I went on a wetlands hike recently and they provided nets and tanks and stuff for us to inspect what we scooped out of the lake.  Joe found a giant water bug with egg sacs on its back and while we were there watching they started hatching.  Very cool!

 Florida is truly a beautiful place...we are blessed to live here and I need to remember that this time of year when I am so tired of the heat!

 After the hike we went to an amazing local german bakery and listened to live music and ate reuben sandwiches on pretzel bread.

Above and below are our first day of school pictures.  Grace in her pjs and Joe wishing I wouldn't take a picture and later, lunch at Five Guys to celebrate H and B's anniversary, a tradition!

 On Tuesday a couple of weeks ago, Hannah started dual enrollment at a local college.  This was her first time ever sitting in a classroom and having a real "building school" teacher.  She is taking English and Sign Language and loves it.  I hung out at Starbucks and then the library while she was in class.  Her school is about 40 minutes away so when I have taken her, I've just spent the 3 hours that she is in class hanging out and enjoying some quiet time and working on a project and doing a little reading.

 After her classes got out on her first day we went out to lunch to celebrate and then it was time for Hannah to go to take her driver's test...and she passed!  She is an official licensed driver now.

 One of my new favorite things is to walk or ride my bike down to the lake at sunset and watch the sky change for about half an hour.  It's so pretty!

 I was walking home from downtown and got a picture of Hannah on her way to work, she is loving having her license!

 I got a haircut!  This is the first time in years that I've had my hair this short.  I actually like it most of the time.  :0)  And, lastly a couple of pictures from facetiming with Kenleigh, Hudson, and Brayden.  They are so cute!!

A New School Year...Here's What We Are Doing

We are wrapping about our second week of a new school year.  Unfortunately, I still do not feel very on top of things, maybe next week?  :0)  Here's what everyone is doing--

Hannah--
Hannah is taking two classes at the local college through dual enrollment.  She is taking English and Sign Language and absolutely loves both of  her classes!  She had an in class essay on Tuesday in English but it is not graded yet and she had a test today in Sign Language and made a 100.  So far, so good.  This is her first experience ever in a classroom and she is having a great experience so far.  Her classes are small and her teachers are very personable.  Both of them live around here and have come into her store so she has that personal connection.  The only downside is that the campus she is going to is about 30 to 40 minutes away and she is a new driver.  I have ridden with her for her first two weeks but next week she will drive herself, as long as I feel like I can handle that.
In addition to those classes, she is taking--
FLVS Algebra 2
FLVS Marine Science
FLVS Personal Finance (Dave Ramsey for teens)
PSAT/ACT Prep with me (so far this has been not so fun for either of us but hopefully she is learning...)
Wordly Wise 11

Grace--
Grace is taking--
FLVS Earth/Space Science
FLVS English I
FLVS French
Saxon Geometry
Notgrass World History
Logic using Fallacy Detective and Thinking Toolbox
Wordly Wise 9

She has a lot to do each day but is working hard.  It's been a slow start and she'll need to pick up the pace but I can't really blame her, I haven't been on the ball myself!  She is also babysitting for 4 hours every Friday so that is an adjustment to lose those prime school hours.

Joe--
Joe's school year is going okay but not great...it's been an adjustment and I think I need to tweak some things.  We've had a lot of stress and anxiety on his part which leads to stress and anxiety on my part...
Right now this is what he is working on--
Lifepac Language Arts 7th grade
Lifepac History and Geography 7th grade
FLVS Science 2
Math-U-See Zeta
Perplexors (logic puzzles)
Wordly Wise 7
He and I are reading through the Sunshine State middle school list of books.  Last year I mostly read these books aloud to him, but this year he is reading them on his own.  Our first one was The Night Gardener and he loved it.  It was a very creepy and at times scary story!

I think the reason I don't feel very with it yet is that our school days have been kind of weird and not predictable.  Hannah and I have been gone at least half the day 2 days a week. It's also hot, africa hot and that just saps my energy.  Anyway, I am hoping to be able to be more organized and with it next week!  I also haven't gotten back into the habit of walking and I think that would help my overall attitude.  Usually if I am disciplined and in control in one area of my life, the other areas fall into place as well.