It's been awhile since I have blogged because I have just been so daggone busy. My summer is flying by. Elizabeth leaves on August 17th and the others start school on August 18th. I don't want summer to go by so fast. After next week, it will slow down a bit because Greg will be done with PT and baseball. Mark only has two weeks of swimming left too. We still have a lot to do before Elizabeth leaves. Lots of shopping!

My new carpet is finally in. It looks so nice. It smells so new. I think I am finally at a point after five years of living in this house, that it finally "feels like mine". The only room left to do is the master bedroom.

We are finally getting some much needed rain. Everything is so green. Greg hates all the rain because he has to mow the lawn more often. Looks like the tropics are starting to get active so it will be interesting to see how our hurricane season goes. The first summer we were here, we got nothing. The second and third summers I was ready to pack up and leave. Last summer was quiet. So hopefully this one will be quiet too. Last night on the news, we saw where State Farm wants to raise Homeowners Insurance by 46% to cover future hurricanes. Umm. Hello. That's a big increase. Hopefully it won't go through. Our insurance is higher than our house payment. So, I think they will lose a lot of customers (including us). This will be a big test for our Govenor since he was so vocal in his campaign to lower insurance cost. Hopefully he will stand by what he promised.

That's about all that has been going on in our lives. Just busy, busy, busy.

I've been tagged by Benita so here goes:

Ten Years Ago: We were a family of five. Liz was almost 8, Greg was 6 and Emily was 4. We were living in West Jordan, Utah. I loved the house but the neighbors weren't very friendly to us (another post). The kids were going to school in Sandy and it was quite a drive to school since the roads were all torn up and under construction for the upcoming Olympics. Since the neighborhood kids weren't "allowed" to play with my kids, all their friends lived across the valley by the school so I spent alot of time driving! We also took our very first trip to California and took the kids to Disneyland.

Five things on today's to do list: (1) Get myself showered and dressed. It's early and I still haven't finished my coffee. (2) Finish putting house back together. We got new carpeting put in and everything had to be boxed up. I've been able to sort through everything as I'm putting it back and getting rid of a lot of stuff. Love that feeling. (3) Go to Circuit City and price new speakers for the stereo. They are Steve's speakers from high school (at least 27 years old), and they finally need to be replaced. (4) Laundry, laundry and more laundryl. It never ends (5) Take Greg to baseball if it doesn't rain. (5) Cook dinner.

Snacks I enjoy: Green apples with peanut butter, chips and salsa, Cheetos. Not very healthy, I know.

Things I would do if I were a millionaire: Pay off all our debts, buy a new car for myself, set up college funds for my kids, travel, hire a personal trainer, remodel my kitchen, and if there is anything left, donate to the Susan G. Komen organization. I will admit I would be greedy. Notice I didn't say buy a bigger house? I don't want to have to clean a bigger house so I would just fix up what I have.

Places I have lived: Ohio, Utah & Florida

I tag Lisa, Cindi, Liane and Sue. This was fun.

Happy Thursday.....................................

July Already?

Where did June go? It's hard to believe that it's July 2nd. YIKES. I was at Target and Walmart yesterday and they were working on the school supply aisles. I'm so not ready for school. As crazy and busy as my summer is, I'm enjoying not having school.

It has been a crazy summer here in our house. Busy, busy, busy. I've taken three of the kids into the doctor for physicals, Mark to his allergist, Greg twice a week to physical therapy, Mark twice a week to Mathnasium. Gas stations are loving when I pull in. In addition, Greg is playing legion ball and that involves driving all over the city of Tampa. If anyone is familiar, traffic in Tampa is awful. What's worse, the games start at 5:30--right in the middle of rush hour traffic. Oh yeah, I've also been running kids to the orthodontist. As Greg was getting his braces off, Emily was in the other room having her "consult". She gets her braces on August 4th. Here we go again with monthly payments and check ups for the next two+ years. It's all worth it though. Greg's teeth are beautiful. My kids have not been blessed with nice straight teeth. So, this is #3 in braces and from what I can tell from Mark's teeth, he will need them too.

Last week, Elizabeth and I attended Parent Preview at UF. WOW. I'm overwhelmed. She can officially move into her dorm August 17 at 9:00 am. Then we have to rush right back because the others start school on August 18. What's going to be harder is that Liz will turn 18 on August 20 and we won't be there to celebrate with her. 18 is a big deal. So, I'm secretly going to arrange for her friends to take her out or something. I already spoke to her friend and he said no problem. The campus is HUGE. It was fun to see everything though. I think she is going to have a blast. She also got her season tickets to the football games. GO GATORS. I think she will love being away from home. It took us exactly 1.5 hours to get there so I know she is just a large cup of coffee away and we can visit anytime. She's working her little rear end off this summer. She's babysitting two days a week making AWESOME money and the other three days she works in a doctors office. Good news is that we don't have to pay for her gas anymore. YIPPEE. We are still forking out her car insurance but at this point, gassing three cars was hard. So every little bit helps.

Today I have to drop my car off into the mechanic. It's been running "a little hot". The light came on the other day for a minute but it hasn't been on since. So, I figured I better get it fixed now. After that, it's Mathnasium and physical therapy and a baseball game tonight.

Speaking of baseball..................how about those Tampa Bay Rays? I'm a Reds fan since that is what I grew up with but I just love those Rays. They have beaten the Red Sox twice now and there is another game tonight. Go Rays! I just wish their stadium was closer. It's a good hour and half drive from where we live to go watch them.

Well, kids are stirring so my quiet, morning time is about to end. I need to hit the shower before they all do so there is hot water. Although it's so hot here right now, the cold water tap is warm! At least we are finally getting some much needed rain.

Have a wonderful Wednesday. Make it a good one.