Summer Fun and School Prep!

Wow...who's got time to blog?! I've been keeping busy cleaning off bookshelves, going through closets, rearranging clutter...trying to get ready for the next school year. I had a successful week on Ebay; buying and selling school books. I had never sold anything on Ebay before this week because it was a little scary to me for some reason. Well now I'm a crazy person searching the house for anything I can make a few bucks on!
I'm still in need of a few items for our next year, but mostly I'm ready to get moving. I've been on a scheduling frenzy trying to figure out how we're going to get done all that we need to get done without Mom losing it. Daniel is going into 9th grade this year so things are going to get a little more serious for him. Daniel's schedule alone is daunting...He's going to be playing football for Citrus High School and that starts immediately when school starts. This will be his first time on a football team. The whole school year is filled with sports. After football we have soccer and in the spring, track and field. He has also just become a member of Civil Air Patrol which meets weekly. Piano lessons and youth group praise band are on the agenda. We are on the look out for a good art teacher for weekly lessons and he still needs to maintain some lawn jobs as well.

Here's a quick list of our chosen curriculum for the year:

Math-U-See for all the guys
Sonlight for History and Reading
A Beka for Language and Spelling
A Beka for the elementary Science
Apologia for Daniel's Science
Daniel will taking English 1 on Florida Virtual School(1st timers for FLVS)
A Beka Spanish 1 for Daniel


It's been a nice summer off and we've had some fun. I had a chance to read a few good books:

Playing for Pizza by John Grisham...Cute story but so much football!
Skipping Christmas by John Grisham...VERY funny
Eli by Bill Myers...What if the Messiah came today? Jeans and a T-shirt?
No One you Know by Michelle Richmond...LOVED it
Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy...VERY good
House Rules by Rachel Santog...a very moving yet disturbing memoir
The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks...always have a Sparks for the beach

Why don't I add a few random shots!

This is Daniel dressed in his BDUs (Battle Dress Uniform) for Civil Air Patrol.
This was his first time in a uniform for CAP because he has just become an actual member. Dad's enjoying seeing him in uniform so much he may even join CAP himself as a senior member to help out! Football huddle

Just plain fun

Key Biscayne for the 4th

The 4th of July on Key Biscayne has become somewhat of a tradition for the Gandees! The parade was great and the fireworks were the best ever!

I just love this Uncle Sam!

Megan and Katy at the parade.We were so blessed to be able to get out with some friends on a sailboat while we were down! After we sailed a bit, the kids jumped out for a swim.

Tried a few times to get this mid-flight shot!

From our spot out on the water we could see this house up for sale:

$27 Million is the price tag...this is where parts of the movie "Scarface" was filmed.

We were enjoying the windy ride up at the bow!Katy and the rest of the crew!

Katy and Me

The Captain and his first mate! (Katy's brother, Bill and his wife, Lisa!)

Ethan loved finding all the different ways to get around the boat!Daniel and DadKelly and Dad

What a gorgeous day!
Jaret back in the pool!
...and the beach!

...isn't it nice when they love each other?! For 5 minutes!!My favorite KB Critter.