My Birthday in pictures...

My day got started with this in my office thanks to my incredible boss who also happens to be my good friend.  Thanks again Jennifer.

I came home to find my house full of beautiful girls getting ready to go out to dinner with me for my birthday.

While I was working the girls were enjoying the day by my mom's pool.

Ready for dinner.

Beautiful girls.

Yummy.

So pretty.

Silly girls.

Pretty girls.

Summer shoes.

Love these girl.

Dave getting in on the silly.

This little boy who we later found out name was Luca was the cutest little flirt.  He loved the girls and kept staring and smiling at them.  It was so cute!!

We came home and enjoyed a delicious chocolate cake that my Mom got for me.  What a great birthday!!!

They have arrived...

Today was a long awaited day. The girls and I drove to Orlando to pick up Chloe and Charlotte.

 If you have read my blog for any length of time than you might remember two years ago we hosted a French exchange student. (Chloe) Last August Chloe's family, plus her Aunt and Uncle and cousin Charlotte visited us. Today the girls flew in to spend three weeks with us.

 We are thrilled to have them and have some exciting things planned. They said they had a good flight but are very exhausted. We are getting them all settled in tonight and they will hopefully get caught up on some sleep.

I will be updating the blog more regularly to share with Chloe and Charlotte's parents all the things we're going to be up to so stay tuned!!! :)

Chloe and Charlotte, beautiful girls inside and out!!!

We got to the parking garage of the airport  and spotted this gorgeous rainbow.  We thought it was  the perfect start to a wonderful time enjoying these two wonderful girls!!

The girls waiting for the luggage.

A quick stop at McDonalds on the way home for a snack!!

Happy 4th of July...

This fourth of July was a little different than normal.

 First of all I had to work until 1pm. I've never had to work the fourth before so that was a little different. As per usual though with my new job we were busier than ever so the morning flew by.

 We had a picnic/barbecue planned for my Mom's but the forecast called for rain most of the day so we decided to have my Mom and my Aunt over to our house instead.

 My Aunt was recently in Michigan visiting my Grandmother and they were in her attic when they came across an old marble board that my Great Grandfather made over 60 years ago. My Aunt who is actually my Great Aunt (my Grandmother's sister) my Grandmother, my Mom and myself all played marbles with my Great Grandmother on this board. She was really into games and I remember so many afternoons after school and summer days playing Marbles and Yahtzee with her.

 My Aunt brought the game board back to Florida with her and on this rainy 4th we couldn't wait to play and take a walk down memory lane. Of course, we all remembered the rules differently.

 While I didn't agree with their rules for play I compromised and played their way since it was two against one. LOL

 I stood my ground though and told them my children will learn the game as I remember playing it. :)

The marbles are the original marbles bought 60 years ago.  Although the die we borrowed  from another game because the one that was with the marbles was so small it was driving us all crazy.

It wasn't the sunny poolside bbq we had planned but it was a really fun afternoon and a great dinner thanks to our fantastic grill chef extraordinaire Dave. 

Yes, my kids were here but as per usual Natalie and McKenlee were back and forth between our house and Hannah and Emily's and Sydnee was working at the Fort and joined us shortly after dinner.

Movie Night at the local Pool...

Tonight our local public pool had their very first family movie night. Because McKenlee volunteers there now she really wanted to go. Sydnee was out to dinner with her boyfriend Matt so we grabbed our adopted daughter Hannah and the five of us headed to the pool. It was such a great time. We played monkey in the middle with an inflatable ball. Caught up with an old friend who was there with her two younger daughters. Had some races with the girls. I tied Natalie, much to her disappointment. (I think she fully expected to win lol ) Of course, she would of killed me had we done more than one lap. We made great friends with a little guy named Kyle who never stopped talking. We snacked on some popcorn and floated to Despicable Me. It was a really good night and I hope the pool continues with the this event. We will definitely go again. I got a few pictures but it is with my I-phone so the quality leaves little to be desired.

Natalie once again not wanting to smile for the camera.  Dave being goofy, and I wonder where McKenlee gets it.

Just a view of the pool.

A view of the movie screen in the back.

Monkey in the "blurry" Middle.  There's our new little friend in the left corner.

Don't wake Daddy...

We spent Father's Day afternoon at my Mom's by the pool. Sydnee joined us for an early dinner after working at the Fort. After dinner Dave promptly took a little nap by the pool and the girls couldn't resist this photo.

Just a quick update...

Just wanted to post a quick update on how our summer has been going so far.


 Dave: He was on vacation this last week and worked his tail off by finishing the girls bathroom. (He re-tiled the shower area a few weeks ago.) This week he put in a new vanity, new back splash, new light fixture and Natalie repainted. The girls bathroom looks fantastic. We went with dark wood for the vanity and I can't get over how much I love it. (I have never been a dark wood fan in the past) As always with DIY projects what you think is going to be a quick in and out job turns into an all day and fifty trips to Home Depot event. Thanks honey for giving up your week off to work on the house!!! The hot, hot, summer is here and until September when Dave has his next vacation he will be "in brown" out in it delivering packages and sweating his tail off.(He's a UPS driver ) So on Father's Day I would just like to mention to him how much we appreciate how hard he works for us. We LOVE you and we know first hand "what can brown do for you?" You do it for us everyday and we love you for it!!!!


 Me: Summer's moving right along. Seems strange to not be home with my girls and my little's over the summer but I am not complaining. I really love my job and am excited about all I have learned and am learning. I feel like I am making a difference and I love it. So thankful that I was given this opportunity. Chloe and her cousin Charlotte (our french exchange student) fly over on July the 9th and I am really looking forward to seeing the girls and planning things to do while they are here. It should be a really fun 3 weeks.


Sydnee: She has been life guarding out at the fort, taking a lab class at our local college that she couldn't fit into her schedule at her university, and still trying to spend time with her boyfriend Matt. He is also home for the summer and working at Busch Gardens. She just found out a few days ago that for her birthday in August that Matt booked an animal interaction for her at Sea World (he gets a discount being a Busch Garden employee) on her birthday they will be swimming and interacting with the Beluga Whales. She is beyond excited and I am excited for her as Beluga Whales have always been my favorite sea creatures. I can't wait to see the pictures.


 Natalie: She has been working every Sunday cutting coupons with a friend who's Mom has a couponing Web Site. She is saving money like crazy in anticipation of her France trip. She leaves for France on August first. She is also doing the summer swim team to start getting in shape for the High School swim team which will start up at the end of August when school starts. In addition to helping her Dad through all phases of the bathroom remodel she has been painting interior doors for my Mom for extra money. She's been a busy money making girl.

 McKenlee: She has been attached at the hip to her best friend Hannah. I either have Hannah here for the night or McKenlee is at Hannah's. They are having a blast between swimming, beach going, long boarding, and playing "man hunt" at night with the kids in the neighborhood. McKenlee also took a Jr. Life Guarding class a couple weeks ago so in addition to summer swim team she has been volunteer life guarding at the pool. She loves helping with the swimming lessons for the little one's, and helping out during the open swimming sessions. I feel strongly that she will follow in her sister's footsteps and life guard but more likely at the pool instead of the beach.

Of course, I hate to post without a few pictures so below are some pictures from Wednesday. I had to work yesterday so I had Wednesday off and with Dave being on vacation we headed to the beach for the day. It was gorgeous. The water was crystal clear (definitely a plus since I tend to be a bit of a chicken in murky ocean water) hot but with a breeze. We parked at a local beach bar and restaurant, a place you can never get a spot at on the weekends. So this meant that we could enjoy a couple frozen cocktails (virgin for the girls)on the beach and dinner later when Sydnee got off work and joined us. It was the perfect day!!! Happy Father's day friends, enjoy your day!!!!!

Me (looking so lovely, NOT) and my adopted daughter Hannah.

Sydnee and Natalie.

Dave and McKenlee.  I wish you could see the beach and water right behind them in this picture,  GORGEOUS.

Trevor's Graduation...

My best friend (so I don't confuse, I have two lol) Karen's son Trevor graduated from High School last week.  I posted about Trevor and Sydnee growing up together here.  It was such a great night celebrating a really great young man.  Karen had a beautiful poster board full of pictures of Trevor's childhood and I loved that I could say I was there for all of them.  Watching your own children grow from babyhood to adulthood is exciting and watching your friend's children, who become your children's friends, grow (was that a little confusing?) is every bit as good.  I feel privileged to have been a part of Trevor's life and to have watched him become such a fantastic young man.

Congratulations Trevor,  Dave and I are so proud of you!!!!!

Friends Forever!!!

Friends Forever!!!

Our family celebrating a fantastic young man.