Summer Vacation

We have FOR REALSIES been on summer vacation lately.  Our dear friends shared their beach house with us for a week and our kids soaked up the sun, sand, and salt like nobody's business.  We investigated hermit crabs and swam across inlets.  We ate cheeseballs and ice cream.  We rode a ferry and went to the aquarium.  We also watched just how crazy four kids can be together for an entire week with TV, junk food, and fun, fun, fun!!!
This week we've kind of gotten back in to our summer routine including tennis and reading as well as letter tracing and handwriting.  I'm getting excited about Fall coming (since summer just decided to fly on by in July!).  We have two more weeks of hanging out and relaxing, then a few days visiting my brother and sister-in-law and then we return, Allen starts teaching his college classes twice a week and then school starts back for him the last week of August.  I'm thinking we'll start getting back to our Fall school routine when Allen starts going back to work regularly.  I think the kids will understand that Papa is in school, so they are in school, too.  I'm going to order their handwriting books soon as well as a math book for Ford.  I am also very excited about ordering a Kindergarten Teacher's Handbook for the Core Knowledge Series.  I hope it will help me navigate through Kindergarten especially when it comes to Science and Social Studies.  There is an art program that comes with it, but I think we will cover that in the Spring with art classes with Ms. Lisa.
Our house is still on the market and we're thinking it may be time to switch to a more aggressive realtor.  We just need to be out of limbo and move on with whatever our future plans will be.  The baby in my belly is moving and growing.  I felt him move a little bit at the beach, but he loves to move when I sit on Ford's bed (a true sign that these brothers are bonded!!).  I will be 17 weeks on Monday which is crazy!!  I can't believe that in three weeks, I'll be halfway through this pregnancy.  Time just continues to move on and life is fun!  We've had some ups and downs with Ruby and some temper tantrums lately, but she is absolutely 100% daytime potty trained, so I'll take a little fit every now and then to be done with potty training.  She hasn't had a single accident since we got back from the beach (knock on wood) and has been telling me when she needs to go instead of just going when I tell her to.
The girls have new beds and are sharing a "Girls' Room" now.  Ford loves it because he was able to move his train table back into his room (which means we don't see him as much, but he comes out every now and then when he misses us :)  Rachel is zooming through her Bob books and has 9 books left in the whole 3 box series to finish!!  Ford says he wants to start reading now, too, so the Bob books may be in his near future...we'll see.  We have lots of little readers for Rachel to move on to.  It's been so exciting to see her learn to read and be able to read road signs and  things at the grocery store.
Life is good.