69 months

It seems like this month was a blur, between closing on the house and Hurricane Irma we blinked and the month was over. 

School continues to go great and J can't wait to tell me about her day when I pick her up, the bike is her favorite mode of transportation to school. She can't wait to tell me when she has had a "purple day", this is the best behavior the kids can get, and can't wait for me to see her binder and the "Outstanding Day" her teacher has written in her agenda. She is super excited when she gets Gator Baits, and likes to tell about the kids who didn't behave and get to participate in Friday Fun Centers. She tested and passed the yellow list of sight words and are working on the red list. She started Lego Club at school on Tuesdays (she stays an hour later) and enjoys building creations with the other kid. School pictures were this month and thank goodness for a friend who came to the rescue when J said she had nothing to wear (she has actually gotten so tall that none of her dresses were appropriate for school and she insisted on wearing a dress)!  I did my best to tame her crazy curls (it was perfectly straight when she left for school but as you can see some of the curl came back) and in all her picture came out pretty good, she looks very studious with her pose and the library background! I am so grateful that she has adjusted so well to school, she is a little on the sassy side at home (I've been told to be patient until Winter Break with the Kinders), bad habits she is picking up at school, my sweet girls isn't so sweet sometimes (talking back is her new thing), I hope this isn't a little flash into the teenage years!

We signed the girls up for soccer, after asking J countless times if she really wanted to play we showed up for the first night and J to pitched a total fit! My patience is on overload this month! So someone is not playing soccer and she should be happy I was able to get a refund as I threatened no birthday presents if I didn't get one! Eventually she told us what her issue was, she has a hard time expressing herself when she is upset and won't use her words and just cry and scream (like her three year old sister), it was because the coach was a boy not a girl and that daddy wasn't coaching.

We FINALLY closed on our new house and said goodbye to our old house this month. We had our first family meal, a McDonald's picnic on the floor the night we closed. J was excited for her new accent color, Apple Blossom, she picked out for her room. The girls were very patient with us while we packed and moved (this was all supposed to be done while J was in school and C was in Miami) the few days before the hurricane came! Kids out of school and trying to move isn't much fun, thank goodness G&G were here to keep them entertained and out of my hair! The big move day was the day before Hurricane Irma, nothing like breaking your new house in with shutters and a house full of family for a hurricane party an hour after the movers left! The girls slept on air mattresses the first few nights, they didn't even get to sleep in their new rooms, after all the crazy was over mommy made sure to finish their rooms for them and get all of their princesses and pictures up on their walls, their rooms were the first to be fully done and they love their new rooms (even if they are smaller).  

I was thirteen when Hurricane Andrew ripped through Miami and remember sitting in the hallway for hours on end. We are so lucky and fortunate Irma took some turns and lost some speed at the last minute, the girls experienced their first hurricane but to a pretty mild extent! They thought it was cool to basically eat whatever they wanted whenever they wanted and liked our hodge podge meals we were eating preparing to loose power (which we never did thank goodness). They got to spend some quality time with Auntie Varee and Uncle Gus, they were who they wanted to hang with since they kept buying them apps to play with on the iPads,  my no electronics rule went out the window for a few days! Uncle Gus started to teach J how to play chess (they need a second lesson the next time we see them), he taught them about music and had them listening to something other than Country music which I listen too. We don't have any pictures but the girls spent quiet a bit of time coloring with Auntie Varee, J decided to take over one of my adult coloring books and has done a fantastic job coloring the pictures, she is our budding artist. When the storm came through J liked looking out the peep hole to see what was going on, it was night and the only place we could get a glimpse of the rain and wind, except for the water coming in through the bottom of the front door!

School was out the week after Irma and there was a lot to do to un-prep the houses from the storm. The girls were very good and patient with all we had going on. Uncle Gus and Auntie Varee ventured back to Miami the day after the storm and Nana was able to head home later that week. A week after we moved in everyone was finally able to sleep in their own rooms, we were able to get settled into the new house (and move more stuff over from the old house) and got back on a better eating plan once Publix was back stocked with food. I think everyone but mom gained weight during the hurricane!

Somewhere in this month we said good-bye to the pool (for now until next season when our new pool is built), I am so proud of J and how she did swimming this summer. Next summer it might be time for some more formal lessons and maybe swim team! We said hello to football season starting (daddy is happy) and have enjoyed watch the Canes with our friends, the kids play more than they watch but they do cheer some!

Here are the pictures from the month.