Wow, I can't believe it's almost been a whole year since I last wrote. It's been a very busy year with lots of great changes. The kids learned to read and write after only a few months of school. They were taught by specialists at first, joined the rest of the class and quickly excelled. The teachers really have their stuff together and the kids catch on fast. Dann started working for the Department of Energy as a contractor almost a year ago, the drive is intense but they are somewhat flexible with telecommuting. I had a hard time finding work so I started going to school last Spring. I was nervous since I've never been a good student but I got A's and one B. My goal is to go through the nursing program once I get through the prerequisites. So things are about to get really busy and the house is about to get very messy but that's ok. It's going to be a long road but will be well worth it. We decided to stay in our rental as long as possible, we love living here; it's a townhouse but still fairly private, lots of kids running around, retired folk and wildlife from the backyard forest. We still own a townhouse with tenants who have been there for a few years. We've had some issues with them but they are pretty great for the most part. They said they should be moving within the year so hopefully we can get another set of tenants in there once it's time. Dann's mother moved back to MD and we are happy she is close by, his sister and her boyfriend are moving in with his mom so they will be close by too. His other sister is having a baby boy soon so we'll have a nephew; closer and more family members are always a good thing.
On a separate note, we got an insane dog who has an intense love of chewing up toilet paper and counter surfing for anything edible. She has been a lesson in teaching the kids to put away anything they cherish because this dog will chew anything up even the base of a snow globe. The dog also loves to jump which can be a bit much for a 75lb densely muscular animal. We all love her though and her sweetness makes up for her flaws.
Anyway the kids have adjusted well to our home, they really enjoy having their own rooms but still fit an occasional sleepover in. They've had a great summer, they got to stay with their Aunt Katrina for a weekend in Salisbury and she spoiled them with rides in OC, the beach and all the candy their little hearts could ask for. We visited a few times with my brother, sister-in-law and niece for some quality family fun. I think after going to their new house a few times I finally know the way without the GPS. My mom came and we all got to spend some time with her and she took the girls to Southern Virginia for a week. She took them to the house my grandpa was raised in and also to the spot where we used to meet up for family reunions nearby. They have a water park there now and my mom made sure the kids were constantly busy.
When they weren't on there mini vacations with family members I was trying to get them out of the house as much as possible. We have a tennis and basketball court nearby so I bought some equipment; Sarah seems to be interested in basketball and Julia is more about the tennis. Julia and I are still trying to get the coordination down but she enjoys getting the balls for me after I hit them over the fence. We didn't do this for long though because we had a heat wave shortly after the routine started. Could be a fun weekend activity as long as weather permits though.
For our last summer fun activity I drove up to Rehoboth with the girls and we stayed overnight at my inlaw's place. They took the kids to see Smurfs 2 while I napped at their house. Then my father-in-law took the girls and I to Funland on the boardwalk. Sarah and her Popa went on the Haunted House ride while Julia and I rode on a bunch; the Haunted House line is always very long but Sarah actually opened her eyes this time so I guess it was worth it. The next day we took the girls to the beach and we stayed for a few hours. After that we went to Lewes to check out the boats, grab some food and play FREE putt putt. Popa and Granny T treated us to lunch, dinner and desserts. We were so spoiled and fit a lot of fun time in. One of the fun things about the drive back and forth is we go past Annapolis and by where I lived when Dann and I first started dating. So when the girls were really hungry for dinner we stopped at one of our old stomping grounds, Atlanta Bread, and boy did we get our fill.
So we've been home for a few days and are resting up until school starts on Monday for the kids. We already got a notice in the mail to tell us who their teachers will be and are going to the open house this Friday so the kids can meet them and see their classrooms for the school year, Julia will be in 2nd gr and Sarah in 3rd. We went back to school shopping yesterday so have that out of the way. Sarah wanted Monster High everything and I told her we could shop at the 5below store and find her a Monster High backpack at another store. The cool thing about the 5below store besides being really inexpensive is their slap bracelet rulers, as a child of the 80's this is awesome, the kids were impressed too.We couldn't find a Monster High backpack at the other store but she got one with peace signs and hearts that's really cute.
Well that's all the intensely interesting information of the past year, summer and preparation for the school year! Thank you for reading and I'll hopefully do this on a monthly basis so it's not all jam packed and maybe it will force me to take pictures!
