DeeDee files her nails

Here is a video of DeeDee, one of our female orangutans here at the zoo.  This was taken the other day when the weather was really nasty out, so Dee decided to stay inside that day.  She loves to dress herself in shirts and things, and she likes to have her nails done.  The keeper working with her that day told DeeDee she was busy getting things cleaned, so DeeDee would have to file her own nails.  She usually asks us to do it for her, but as you can see, she is perfectly capable of doing them herself.  :)  (I hope the video link works for you).

Time Marches On.....

Hannah on the first day of Middle School, Aug. 2011

Amelia on the first day of school, 3rd grade, Aug. 2011

Hannah ready to go into school

Amelia at her desk, ready to start the school year

Time marches on.  The new school year has begun, and we have already gotten the first progress reports.  The girls are doing great so far, thankfully.  Hannah started Middle school this year.  Here in Pasco county, Middle School is 6th-8th grade, so even though I feel like she is too young to be there with all those "big" kids, she was ready to make the move.  She has already started acting more mature, and has really gotten more responsible with her schoolwork.  Amelia is enjoying her year so far.  She likes her teacher (every year, she has the "best teacher ever!"), and has really been doing great with her work.  She was so proud of her math test last week.  She got 15/15, and couldn't wait for me to get home so she could show it to me.  I was really proud of her!  And then she told me she thought that kind of grade deserved some kind of reward.  She was going to try to get a new toy out of that deal!  She is always scheming to try to figure out a way to get me to buy her something new.  My reward to her was a big hug and a "way to go Amelia!".  Not exactly what she was hoping for....
We are already looking forward to the holidays.  Of course they are excited about Halloween and trying to decide what they are going to be this year.  Hannah wants to be Lilo from Lilo and Stitch, and Amelia wants to be Taylor Swift.  But I am sure they will change their minds a couple of times between now and then.  Hannah is already trying to decide what she is going to carry with her that can hold the most candy. 
They had their dentist appointments last week.  The dentist advised me to take Hannah to an orthodontist really soon to get the process in motion to get braces on her.  She is really not looking forward to that.  She keeps asking me how bad it hurts to get braces. I don't want to scare her, but I don't want to lie to her either, and they really hurt!!  I hated having braces!!  But she is tough, so I know she will handle it pretty well.  And she will be so glad when she gets them off and sees her new smile. 
We can't decide what our holiday plans are this year.  We are hoping to get to Demopolis either around Thankgiving or Christmas.  We did not make it up this summer to see Daddy, so it will be one year at Thanksgiving since we all saw each other.  I hope we can work someithing out so we can spend one of the holidays together. 

Summer 2011

Wow, I am always surprised when I look back at this and see how much time has passed since my last update. That could either mean that so much has been going on in our lives that I haven't had the time to update it, or that it has been so absolutely boring there is nothing to share! The girls are out of school for the summer. Hannah is now a middle-schooler!!! I cannot believe my little girl is going to be hanging out with Junior high school aged kids now. Scares the beejeezus out of me. I liked it so much better when I was the main influence in her life!! Amelia is going to be on her own at school this year. So far she has always had Hannah there to lend her a helping hand, but this next year she will have to be responsible for herself. That is kind of scary. She is just a little to carefree to ever be confused for responsible, LOL. I am sure she will be fine. She is one of those people that can do whatever she needs/wants to, but as long as someone else is willing to do it, then why bother?!

We have had a fairly uneventful summer so far. Last week the girls spent several days at Tracy's hanging out with the cousins. We capped the long weekend off with a fireworks show on the night of July 4th. Luckily many of Tracy's neighbors had splurged for the really fance fireworks, so we got a nice show and never even left the house. The girls had some really small fireworks (like sparklers and such) to keep them busy for a while. And when we left, even tho they had been there for about 4 days, they were already asking me (as we were pulling out of the driveway) when they could go back to visit again. I am so thankful Tracy is willing to put up with all 5 girls at a time every summer. It is one of the things they most look forward to every year. And even tho they are fighting with each other by the end of the visit, I really believe they are creating some of the best memories of their lives. I wouldn't trade anything for the memories of all the time I spent with my cousins when we were growing up.

The girls have also spent a good amount of time at the beach already this summer. Steve's parents have a condo at Flagler Beach, so he has taken the girls up there 3 times already, and they are going for a week long visit for Hannah's birthday next week. I will miss having them here, but I know they will have a great time. But they never take any pictures, so I won't be sharing any of those!!

Anyway, I am going to hopefully get a few new pictures uploaded to the site from the past few months. Hope everyone is doing well. Take care!!