In the year 2016...

...the Summer Olympics will be held in Rio de Janeiro. Way to go Brazil!
The first time ever the games will be held in South America!


(This post was also a test... I tried to post earlier but couldn't get it to work... I figured out the issue - but hours after I wanted to post... better late than never I suppose)


-- Posted on the run from my iPhone

This and That

Wow! This week as been so crazy I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted an entry...

It has been quite the full week. Sweetpea is in her second week of swimming lessons so we have been at the pool every morning - and, therefore, ready for naps when we got home :)

Monday night we had a company come out to do an estimate on getting our roof replaced... and was completely shocked when it came back in 5 figures! But thanks to all the new roofing codes in the past couple of years (thanks to living in Florida with all the hurricanes) it takes a lot more to replace a roof... and therefore, costs a lot more money... about $6000 more than when we inquired a couple of years ago! I guess that's what we get for waiting. We had another company come out today and will be having a third come out on Monday. Oh, the joys of being a home owner.

Yesterday after swimming we headed to the library for a special music program Sweetpea was registered for. It was nice for me because having just finished a book over the weekend, it gave me a chance to do some searching for another one. Found a great one - "The Shape of Mercy" by Susan Meissner. I will review it once I am done, but so far I am loving it!

Lastnight Sweetpea and I headed to our friends' so I could do some more scrapbooking - and she could have her first non-family sleepover. She was so excited about it! She had a great time and both girls want to do it again soon.

Today we stayed at the pool for awhile after lessons so the kids could have some "fun" swim time. We always just pack a lunch to take with us so that we don't have to pack up and leave when the kids get hungry :) They can just have a little lunch break and go right back to swimming.
This evening we were back at the library for another special program. This one was based off the Pinkalicious and Purplicious books. The next one, Goldilicious just came out so they library had a little cupcake party for the girls so they could preview the new book.

Tomorrow, it's back to the pool and another "play day" afterwards. It's the last day of lessons so we're going to stay for some extra fun.
Tomorrow evening, Sweetpea is off to her grandparents' for her sleepover since both hubby and I have to be at work Friday morning. She always has a good time at these sleepovers - Nana always has fun things for her to do.

And then it's the weekend again... where does the time go?

Summer Movie Fun

As they did last year, both AMC Theaters and Regal Entertainment Group are offering summer movie programs:

AMC Summer Fundraising Program
Kids and adults alike can enjoy the magic of movies on Wednesday mornings during the summer at AMC Summer MovieCamp®. Now in its 24th year, it has been a fixture in the communities AMC serves.

The program presents recent G- and PG-rated movies on the big screen every Wednesday morning, June 17 through August 5, 2009. Advance tickets will be on sale starting June 2 at 108 participating AMC theatre locations and online. Doors will open at 9:30 am and shows will begin at 10:00 am local time nationwide.

For more information, visit www.amctheatres.com/smc. A nominal admission fee of $1 is charged and all admission & concession proceeds, excluding taxes and operating costs, will go to AMC's charitable partners, Variety – The Children's Charity and the Will Rogers Institute.

During this time they will also be offering the AMC KidsPack for only $3
The movie schedule is listed on the above website.

Regal Entertainment Group Free Family Film Festival
Regal Theatres will be offering selected G and PG rated movies for FREE on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings at 10:00 am this summer!
It’s a fun-filled nine weeks of movies for kids and parents. Since 1991, Regal has provided this service to the community, and best of all it’s FREE!

For full information on movies and theaters in your area, visit the REG site!

Summer Reading - Update

I know I just talked about this the other day, but I just found out about another, cool reading program for those kids who love baseball and our Tampa Bay Rays!

It's called the Reading with the Rays program and it's sponsored by the Pinellas County Library Cooperative and the St. Petersburg Times.

Head to your library today and get your kids to pick out their favorite books. Read enough and they can get tickets to a Rays game!

The best things in life...

...are days spent with family.

Today was my parents' first "pool party" of the summer. Family and friends all gathered for food, fun and swimming. Can't beat that!

Summer in Florida is stifling for me, but these get-togethers certainly make it more tolerable.

Pools are fun, but please don't forget your pool safety!

Enjoy the summer!


-- Posted on the run from my iPhone

Summer Reading

One of the most important things I keep telling Sweetpea is that just because it's summer, doesn't mean the learning stops - especially the reading.

In my family, we believe that one of the most important things we can teach our kids is the enjoyment of books and reading. If you can read, you can go anywhere and do anything. Every book is a different adventure. You can learn about anything you can read about. It is one of our favorite pastimes.

I have found that both Borders and Barnes & Noble have summer reading challenges to keep kids in the groove:

Borders Kids Reading Challenge!

Kids 12 and under must read any 8 books and then list the books they've read on the Reading Challenge Worksheet, signed by a parent/guardian.

Then just bring the completed worksheet to any Borders or Waldenbooks store between May 26 and August 31 to save 50% or more on selected items!

I do have a problem with this one though. I checked it out and the kids have a choice of only 6-8 items and the majority of them are learn to draw books or puzzles. Not really following along with the whole reading theme... doesn't make sense to me.

Barnes & Noble 2009 Summer Reading Program

Your child will need to read 8 books of their own choosing. They will use the Summer Reading Journal to write about their favorite part of each book. A parent/guardian signs the journal when it's complete. Then just bring their completed Reading Journal to a Barnes & Noble store between May 26th & September 7th, 2009 and get a coupon for a FREE book!

These are only a couple that I have come across. You may want to check with some of your other local book stores. Or, the best place, your local libraries. They usually have some summer reading fun programs - and there is never a shortage of books.

I hope your kids enjoy their summer - and their time reading.

Summer has officially begun...

...when my daughter starts the morning by asking me "What can we do today, Mommy?"
After yesterday, however, I had to tell her that we were doing nothing.
We spent the morning just chillin' at home - and taking an early nap at 10:30am!

We did venture out just after noon to head to one of our local libraries. They were putting on a "Kiddie Karnival" for a couple of hours and we thought we'd check it out. We did stop to get some lunch at McDonald's on the way and ran into one of Sweetpea's Daisy friends so that was a nice surprise.
For a library function, the carnival actually wasn't bad. It was inside with just a bunch of little games with prizes, a craft table and face painting. It was free - with a donation suggestion of $1 - so it made it affordable.
My friend, C, and her kiddos also showed up so Sweetpea at least had someone to hang out with - and I did too :) We stayed and let the kids play for awhile so we had a chance to chit chat.

We left there and headed to JoAnn Fabrics to sign Sweetpea up for a few of their summer craft classes they put on for kids. She's excited about that.

We went home and hung out while waiting for Daddy to come home. I have to do grocery shopping so we decided to go out for dinner. Some pizza at Galley and a quick jaunt next door to Euro Kafe for some dessert, tea and a little baseball.

A great first day of summer! But there's still plenty to go...