Claire's First Day of Preschool

Today was another big day at the Ballard house... Today was Claire's first day of preschool!!! She wanted to go to "big girl" school for a long time. She even asked Santa for a backpack last year so she could go to school. Well, she need not wait any longer because today was her big day! Last night, we packed her backpack with an extra change of clothes (just in case) and made her lunch (a peanut butter sandwich - no jelly for this child - veggie cheddar chips, a bright, shiny apple and an apple juice box). She spent about twenty minutes at the store earlier in the week picking out the perfect lunch box. She decided on a really cute pink Hello Kitty bag with two compartments (one for snack and one for lunch) - She's such a smart cookie! :)

We dropped Audrey off at school first, then we drove to Claire's new "school". We arrived at the school and Claire was a very big girl - getting out "all by herself". This was very important!!! She and Brock were walking through the parking lot to the front doors while photo-crazy Mom was busy snapping lots of pictures. (One day they will appreciate all of these photos... One day...) After a quick game plan talk with Mom going over all of the little reminders of the things we had talked about over the last few days - you know, doing what your teacher says, saying Yes Ma'am, No Ma'am, Please and Thank You, being nice to your new friends and most of all having the best day ever! Claire walked through the front doors like a pro... no hesitation at all... She found her way down the hallway while Mom and Dad followed behind. We met her teacher, Ms. Sabrina and Claire turned to us, waved her hand and said, "Okay, Bye!" And that was it, our baby was a big girl... no tears, no arms wrapped around any legs, no kicking or screaming... just a wave good-bye and a confident walk into her new classroom... I was so very proud of her... I wouldn't have it any other way!!!

Here are some photos from Claire's Big Day!!!

Getting out all by herself


Such a Cutie!!!


Walking in with Dad


In Front of School
(with her backpack and lunch bag)


Mom & Claire


Quick Game Plan


Walking down the Hall


"Bye!"

It's all about a BIG fish...

My dad and step-mom came for a visit this past week and of course a visit is not complete without a trip or two offshore to do some fishing. The first day was great... waves were around three feet... not too bad (but to be honest, I little too big for me, luckily I was at home on dry land, LOL). Anyway the guys came back after a full day on the water with a great catch - a 30 lb. Wahoo!!! This is an amazing catch as Wahoo are very rare to catch. This was proven to my dad further when he was at a fish market and showed the photo of his catch to the guys at the market and they couldn't believe how big his Wahoo was. Here's a few photos of the fish and the fishermen... :)

Dad with the Wahoo


Brock showing the Wahoo's big mouth

Mike Rowe, Where were you?

We love our house, but space is becoming an issue as our children get bigger and we accumulate more things (okay it's probably more of the more things part, but...). Brock has moved his desk to the garage as a concession to keeping the guest room as a guest room (You're welcome to all of our future guests, lol). But in moving to the garage, we realized that Florida heat and a garage make for a really hot working environment. So, Brock insulated the garage door and bought a portable AC unit. That helped but still, it was pretty warm. So we went to Lowe's (the answer to anything) and bought GreenFiber insulation for the attic space above the garage. We chose this insulation for many reasons, but first and foremost because it was NOT fiberglass. It is a natural fiber and it can be blown into the attic which would mean that we could blow it under the already existing floor that we put down so we would have more storage. Okay, so you are wondering what Mike Rowe has to do with any of this. Well, let me tell you. For those of you who do not watch Discovery, Mike Rowe has a show called "Dirty Jobs" and he travels around the country and showcases the jobs that most of us would never want to do. Well, the "easy to install" wording on the packaging and the photo of the clean woman dumping the fiber into the blower made me think (sorry, assume and we all know what that means) that the job would be easy and clean. WRONG! The first clue was when we had the first bag of fiber in the hopper and it was blowing dust and tiny pieces of fiber well above my head, but did I pick up on that major clue... of course not! So Brock takes his hose into the attic and I keep the hopper/blower machine full of fiber. Things were going great for the first five minutes until I opened the slide too far and let too much fiber into the hose... CLOG! Great, now we are shaking the extremely long hose trying to dislodge my clog. Now you are probably wondering where the fiber from the clog is going to go. Well, let me tell you... All over the garage! Fantastic!!! Okay, so we dislodge the clog. I adjust the slide so that the perfect amount is going to the hose and I keep the hopper full. Now keeping the hopper full may sound like an easy task but it was not. The fiber comes vacuum packed in the plastic wrapping so it must be torn open and then pulled apart by hand very slowly as to not drop any large chunks into the hopper which might cause another clog. We finished the little project in about an hour and a half which is really good considering we hadn't done anything like this before. But it was a very dirty hour and a half. So I want to know... Mike Rowe, where were you? I had a dirty job and you were no where to be found!

New Blog - Amy's Creative Moments

I have decided to start a separate blog to showcase my handcrafted crafts - scrapbook pages, cards and other crafts. I hope that you all enjoy it and check in regularly to see what's new!

Check it out here!

-Amy

Audrey, Duke and a Good Book

One part of Audrey's daily assignments is to read for at least 15 minutes at home. Today she decided to combine some time with Duke together with her homework. Enjoying the warm Florida sunshine, Audrey sat in the backyard reading her book while occasionally reaching over to scratch Duke's belly... His favorite spot to be scratched is on the white circle in the middle of his tummy. I saw all of this from the living room and quietly opened the door from our master bedroom to capture the special moment on film. I only got a few shots off when Audrey and Duke both heard the clicking of the shutter. But I was happy with the photos that I got...

Hours of Happiness for $3

Claire and I made a courageous trip to Michael's Arts & Crafts store today. It was courageous because being a confessed crafting addict is very hard for me to leave a craft store with only a few things. During our shopping spree, we were drawn to the "Fabulous Deal" aisle. Everything was $5 or less! Claire looked through all of the bins and found a set of connecting foam letter and number squares - only $3 - SOLD! We got home and Claire spent hours lying in the floor with her letters - spelling her name, counting the numbers and simply having a blast. Then she enlisted Dad's help in building a "Letter Man". She played with "Mr. Letter Man" for the rest of the evening. So my question is simple - Who says kids have to have high ticket toys when a $3 find on the Fabulous Deal aisle makes them so happy?!?

First Day of Third Grade

The morning started quite early for the big people in our house. Brock had a 6am flight to Boston, so he had to get up at four... Ugggh... I got up shortly after four to make coffee for him (like the good little wife that I am)... Audrey wandered out of her room half-awake around 4:30 to tell Brock bye and get her customary first day of school hug and kiss, then she went back to bed. After Brock left around 4:45, I decided that going back to sleep would probably not work out as I usually oversleep when I do that, so I stayed up and cleaned the kitchen, folded some laundry and got myself showered and dressed before the girls woke up.

Here is the photo timeline of rest of the morning:

Audrey and Claire wake up (a bit before their alarm)


Rosie the Alarm Clock goes off at 7:00


Morning Cartoons during breakfast


Hair Preparation ~ Taming some wild hairs :)


It's definitely a girly bathroom
(I am still sharing theirs while construction is being completed in mine)

The Perfect First Day Outfit
(Chosen by Audrey)


Don't forget the shoes...
(She actually had a pair like this last year too that she loved very much,
so we searched to find a new pair for this year)


A Call to the Grandparents
(Yes, it was early but she was excited!)


A Hug for Duke


Ready to Go
(It's 8:15... time to spare)


Claire & Audrey
(Claire wanted to go to school too... but she only has to wait a few more months)


Driving to School
(Yes, we were stopped in the turn lane... No, I wasn't driving with my head turned around!)


Walking to Class


Mrs. Grosholz's Third Grade Class


Audrey had a great first day of third grade. When we picked her up from car line, she told us that "Today was awesome!!!"