Florida State High Flying Circus

We took our second trip to see the Florida State High Flying Circus perform at Callaway this summer. This year's show was even better than last year's performance. They are an impressve group of students - one of only two student-run performing circuses in the world and the only one where each person is responsible for choreography, stage set-up, costume making, etc. They all do everything to keep the show up and running. Abby and Emily both enjoyed the show...perhaps too much! Emily is very excited about doing different "ticks" (tricks) and showing off her gymnastic skills to anyone who will watch. She is an excellent dangler, as the cashiers at Publix will tell you. She likes to dangle from the aisle dividers when we check out. Donald and I figure that by taking her to the circus each summer, we've probably encouraged her to run away and join the big top when she's a teenager. Oh well, it was a fun summer evening anyway! We even got to squeeze in a walk on the beach before we drove back home.

Cow Appreciation Day

Emily, Abby, and I spent some quality time at Chick-fil-A today while Donald traveled to Carrollton to pay his overdue library fines (darn librarians!). Today happened to be Cow Appreciation Day - if you came dressed as a cow, you received a free meal. At the risk of feeling like one of those people who get advertisements tattooed on their skulls to pay their way through college, I painted the girls each a cow spotted shirt and made them each a set of ears and off we went! After all, we do eat a large amount of CFA chicken and they did give Donald a scholarship at one time. I was surprised by the number of little cows that were running around - big cows, too! I didn't realize that the dress-up deal applied to adults, as well. Of course, our two redheads were undoubtedly the cutest cows in the place. Not that I'm biased, or anything.

Sassy!

One of Emily's (many) nicknames is Sassy. Looking at these pictures, it is not difficult to see why! She snagged my Jackie O sunglasses this morning and I couldn't help but snap some pictures of her. So stylish, even in her PJs!

Two Crafty Ladies

Abby and Emily recently had some "arts and craps" (I love it when they call it this!) time at The White House and did some painting with the help of Auntie Yam. While Donald and Papa John worked on painting the basement floor, the ladies stayed upstairs and had some girl time together. Dot Dot even came by to visit and give me some design tips. Decoupage next time, anyone? I'll definitely provide cocktails!

And now...Happy Fourth!

The third was great, but the fourth was great, too! We spent the afternoon grilling out, eating, and moving furniture at Mim and Papa's house. Say goodbye to theatre seating in the living room! Then we journeyed home for an afternoon rollup. I am so thankful that Emily still loves her afternoon nap because I generally need one myself. I love to curl up in the recliner with her and take a snooze - along with whatever animals she brings along. Later in the evening we drove down to the square for the annual fireworks extravaganza at the Blount house. Mim, Papa, Amy, and Abby came along this year and the girls had a tremendous time chasing each other around the yard and watching the fireworks. Abby gave Emily a good lesson on the meaning of Independence Day. They were both cheering "We're celebrating America's independence from the Brittish!" while the fireworks were going off. Emily zonked out on the way home - she was so exhausted and it was a really late night for her. I think Abby was equally tired out. Hope all of you had a happy Fourth!
Loving the Fourth of July cupcakes

Getting some double ear love

So much noise!

I like this picture of Abby.

Hooray for Independence from Britain!

More noise! Emily mentioned liking the "long noodle string" fireworks.

Future fire baton twirler

She got a little singed with the sparklers and decided she just wanted to be a spectator.

Happy Third!

Tonight we staged a little pre-July fourth extravaganza at the White House for Emily and Abby. First we spent some time in the hot tub. The girls love to get together and swim, especially now that we have music outside thanks to Donald's sweet electronic skills. After that, they took another swim in the tub and created a HUGE mountain of bubbles using the jets - always a blast. We ordered some Chinese takeout, which is one of our favorites. The girls absolutely gobbled down everything that was put in front of them. For Emily, this is not such a big deal - she eats everything! However, Abby is a picky eater, so it's nothing short of a miracle when she eats so much - and strange food, too! Later, we all sprayed down with bug spray and headed outdoors (in pajamas!) to set off some fireworks that Emily and Donald picked out this week. Most of you know she doesn't like loud noises, so they especially picked out the ones that had a low noise rating. They weren't quite all as quiet as she would have liked, but she did pretty well. Donald planned on smoking a cigar while shooting the fireworks - it's a handy way to light them, something I think he learned from Papa John - but Emily cried and told him that smoking was bad for him when she saw him with the "smoker." So children really DO listen when you tell them this stuff! Mimi, Papa, and Amy were able to join us for the last few when they came to pick up Abby. We decided to call it quits for the evening after Donald the Pyrotechnician blazed up a patch of grass beside the driveway with one of the bigger fireworks. Tomorrow may be the real Fourth but tonight was lots of fun! I think perhaps we've started a new tradition.

I love this picture! Could their expressions be any sweeter? Happy Fourth (or Third) to you and yours!

Meet Periwinkle!

We are excited to announce the addition of a new member to our household - Periwinkle the Fish! Emily has wanted a purple fish for quite some time now but has understood that this would only come as a reward for a big action on her part - the completion of potty training. Most of you know that we had only been halfway successful in potty training and were becoming a bit stressed as to how to accomplish the other half. Long story short, I told Emily that she and I would be attending "potty camp" together this summer with the purchase of a purple fish being the culminating camp activity. The first day of potty camp arrived; she and I holed up together in the house with books, prunes, and lots of patience. I am excited to say that one day of potty camp was sufficient and we now have a fish! Abby accompanied us on a visit to PetSmart to pick out the best purple betta they had and Periwinkle (Emily's name choice) came home to live - along with a small aquarium with a top to keep any marauding cat paws out of the tank. So far she's had no trouble continuing her new skill and we are REALLY excited about this. No more frantic dashes to the car during dinner, no more carrying one random pullup in my purse, no more heart racing drives home when we realized that we didn't bring the random pullup with us. All remaining pullups are now the property of Baby Jace until he is old enough for his own fish!

A Visit with Maren and Gavin

Our friends, the Zoellers, recently came down for a visit because Donald and Stephen played in a soccer tournament together over the weekend. We cooked out and watched the kids have a grand time running around together. Costumes were produced - some girly, some Spidey - and everyone had a great time pretending to be someone else for the evening. We always love having friends over for dinner and especially always love to see Emily having such a great time with friends. Emily was very excited about this visit because Stephen planned to spend the night with us in order to make an early game time. She helped me prepare the guest bedroom and bathroom and proudly informed Stephen that she had "cabreezed" everything upstairs so that it smelled "nice and fresh." For all of you Moms out there, Febreze-ing is an excellent activity to keep a little one busy when you're trying to get some other work done! And the upstairs really DID smell nice and fresh!