you know you're a floridian if...

totally stole this off a friend's facebook page (hence, all the capitalizing)... but i had to share it. it cracked me up. if you're from florida, you will know what i mean.

You Know You're a Floridian if...

* You never use an umbrella because the rain will be over in five minutes.

* You think a six-foot alligator is actually pretty average.

* Every other house in your neighborhood had blue roofs in 2004-2005.

* “Down South” means Key West.

* You know that anything under a Category 3 just isn't worth waking up for.

* You know the four seasons really are: Hurricane season, love bug season, tourist season and summer.

* Your winter coat is made of denim.

* You can tell the difference between fire ant bites and mosquito bites.

* Anything under 70 degrees is chilly.

* You've driven through Yeehaw Junction.

* You know that no other grocery store can compare to Publix.

* You recognize Miami-Dade as 'Northern Cuba'.

* You dread love bug season.

* You've worn shorts and used the A/C on Christmas and New Years.

* You are on a first name basis with the Hurricane list. They aren't Hurricane Charley or Hurricane Frances. You know them as Andrew, Charley , Frances , Ivan, Jeanne & Wilma...Irene...Cheryl...Rita Mary... Alison.

* You know what a snowbird is and when they'll leave.

* Flip-flops are everyday wear. Shoes are for business meetings and church, but you HAVE worn flip flops to church before.

* You have a drawer full of bathing suits, and one sweatshirt.

* You get annoyed at the tourists who feed seagulls.

* A mountain is any hill 100 feet above sea level.

* You've hosted a hurricane party.

* You can pronounce Okeechobee, Kissimmee , Withlacoochee , Thonotosassa and Micanopy.

* You understand why it's better to have a friend with a boat, than have a boat yourself.

* You were 25 when you first met someone who couldn't swim.

* A good parking place has nothing to do with distance from the store, but everything to do with shade.

have a great weekend! looking forward to another floridian (translate: sweltering) soccer game tomorrow!

just keep swimming... just keep swimming!

before the summer gets too far away from us, i have to share ethan's swimming breakthrough! a month or so ago, i bought the kids their own lifejacket floaties, called puddle jumpers. cousin karina and all her cousins on the other side of her family had them, and i'd seen the kids use them all summer, swimming away... meanwhile, my kids were in their humongo floats way too far above the surface of the water. not exactly encouraging swimming! it finally hit me that ethan and caroline would benefit from the same floaties! i was so happy to find them easily at target, and the next day, we joined the crew for a day of swimming! couldn't this picture be an advertisement for puddle jumpers?!

the swimming epidemic all started with karina learning to swim (in no time) from her momma. look at this little fishy go after just a couple of lessons! to say that i was one proud aunt would be quite the understatement.


well. ethan was not going to be showed up by his younger cousin. his exact words were, "a three year old?! swimming?! so with just a little prodding by aunt kristie and mommy, ethan was swimming with his face underwater. success #1!


he was on a roll, so why not jump off the diving board!? success #2!


and before i knew it, my boy was swimming to and from aunt kristie with no help! success #3!


this day was a busy one in the pool! ethan has loved swimming with his friends and cousin!


i am so happy to say that ethan is completely comfortable in the water and with his face underwater... so pretty much these days, this is all i see of ethan in the pool...


unless he's asking me to watch him go to the bottom (of the shallow end) to get a dive stick or to jump off the side doing some silly trick. he is loving it. and i'm loving that he's loving it.


after we took the pictures on the diving board, we told the kids they could jump in one at a time. so here they go! it started off with two year old ishen, who shows no fear...


annnnd caroline causes the traffic jam.


she has no desire to go underwater, though she is getting more comfortable jumping off the side of the pool in her puddle jumper. she will do it a couple of times per visit to the pool, but then she's content to swim around in her floaties and play on the steps. a few weeks ago, she jumped into the pool and went all the way to the bottom (shallow end) before coming back up. her eyes were HUGE when she came up, but she was excited that she touched the bottom! so that is major, major progress. she'll be swimming next summer. i'm not too worried about it right now. caroline also spends half of our pool time snacking...


i'm hoping to get amelia used to going underwater at a young age... here she is with aunt kristie for her first time "swimming"... after i snapped this picture, kristie took amelia underwater and let her go for just a second.


amelia really didn't mind it too much but felt the effect of keeping her mouth open underwater! she'll figure it out!


we've gone to mrs. nancy's pool with kristie and karina at least once a week for the last couple of months so that the kids can stay comfortable in the water. we also met tammy and her kids there one afternoon after naps. natalie has become quite the swimmer too, and joseph is getting there! i snapped this picture of the kids playing and then laughed so hard at joseph... you can hardly see ethan and natalie because they are making faces at each other underwater, and there is joseph in his floaties plus the baby float. :) he thought he was pretty funny.


on this day, sweet claire (2 1/2) decided she'd stick her face in the water too. she continued to do this the entire rest of the time we were at the pool. she was SO proud of herself and is now doing great in the water!


it's been quite a summer for these little swimmers! and with the temperatures staying (very) warm around here for several more weeks, the kids are happy to have more time in the pool before fall arrives!

in the meantime...

hello august. i'm emily. nice to meet you. i'm stuck way back in july with all the posts i've been meaning to write and all the pictures i've been wanting to share. what's that you say, august? you're already half way over?! aw, maaaaan. i guess it's time to admit that things are not looking good on the catching-up-front. the overflowing laundry should've been my first sign. i am determined to catch up. i am determined to write individual posts about the last month of our life. i will not merge my girls' weekend, ethan's swimming success, his first dentist appointment, all the things amelia's doing at 18 months, ethan's first soccer games, our five in a row fun, how we're starting kindergarten this week, and how we finally got around to painting the rest of our kitchen all in one post. i just won't do it. but the next two weeks are bu-sy. till i can slow down for a minute, here's a couple of pictures to sort of tide you over..

caroline insisted on taking this picture when she and amelia were matching. amelia has really perfected the cheese... and she will not leave a barrette in her hair. no neglected child comments, please.


and here's my soccer man. i could just eat him- he is so cute out on that field. and if he ever has a game at midnight, we will not need lights thanks to his crazy bright uniform. it is truly blinding. and i'm thinking that ethan actually missed the ball in this picture, but his form looked so good i just tried to overlook the soccer ball on the ground that should actually be in the air. :)


i bet your august is flying by as quickly as mine. check back sorta-kinda soon for more. at least we can hope.