Gulf Shores, I love you with my whole heart

Well, hello there. 

Yes, it's been over a month. I'm sorry. 

A sarcastic dear friend and I had a conversation via text a few nights ago where she reminded me that I had a blog. She also reminded me that every time she clicked on my blog to see if there was an update, she saw my muddy butt. Point taken. Time for a new post. ;-)

We had a fantastic time on Fall Break. My parents took us all to Gulf Shores and I do believe it was our best trip yet! Oh how I had missed the beach. I have a gazillion pictures to sort through and will do a vacation post soon, but thought I would show you some of the pictures we had done on the beach. Love them. 

(We even caught Dad smiling in a few of them!) 

My precious beach babies :-)

 

Tried recreating a picture we had taken before Maggie was born. Can't believe how big all the kids have gotten! 

Dear beach,

Let's not wait so long next time.

I miss you.

T

Sometimes I just have NO WORDS for myself

You ever have one of those mornings? Those mornings when life is just...good? You wake up on the right side of the bed. You have some sweet quiet time before the bustle of the day. Your house is clean and laundry is done. You're having a really good hair day and are pretty okay with your outfit. 

This was my morning on Thursday last week. 

Maggie was at preschool and I was feeling pretty proud of myself for getting things checked off my "to do" list. When I picked her up from school, my day changed. 

Look at this: 

You see that? THAT, my friends, is mud. MUD. Ima tell you a little story.

I did my usual thing as I picked Maggie up from preschool. Parked the van, walked up the hill, greeted the teacher, exchanged pleasantries, told the teacher goodbye -- all the normal things. As we walked back down the hill, I was telling Maggie not to step wherever there were muddy places because she could slip and fall...

...which is exactly what I did.

I slipped and fell. In the mud. At my daughter's school. In front of her teacher and some parents. {Please PLEASE excuse the extremely awful butt pictures, but I wanted you to see how horrid this was!}

I do believe any of my other most embarrassing moments have now been topped.

As I sat there, IN THE MUD, I tried to stand up and fell back down AGAIN. People. I can't even...

Maggie didn't even want to walk next to me because she didn't want to get dirty.

And, you know what was even worse than MY SHOE GETTING STUCK IN THE MUD?

Maggie's teacher sending me a message later that evening to check and see if I was okay.

I died of embarrassment all over again.

Luckily, I was able to sit back and laugh about it. You know, after I cleaned off the van seat, washed Maggie's backpack, sprayed off the floor mats, cleaned my shoes, did a load of laundry, took a bath, and slugged Eric for laughing at me. ;-)

humidity + my hair = disaster, however, I trudge on...

It's almost the middle of September - WHAT?? I feel like school just started. I guess it kind of did, and we are into a nice little routine. Levi loves his new school and Maggie...well, she dominates the playground. Her teacher told me she is a born leader and sometimes we have to learn to let others lead, too. She totally gets that bossiness from her dad!

Me? I love preschool.

I get to visit my friend, Wendy who gives me diet cherry cokes. I do other things like go to Target BY MYSELF.

I also get to meet my momma for frequent lunch dates!

Don't get me wrong. I love my little ones to the core, but when I get two and a half hours to myself four days a week, I am in Heaven. ;-)

So, Labor Day rolled around and our Sunday School class decided to go camping. I kind of thought it would get cancelled DUE TO EXTREME HEAT, but it did not. People...it was 90 degrees. 90. Almost 100. My husband was still gungho about going. Since he is not on social media, I took to the Twitter to announce my bitterness. 

And, if you've been around this blog long enough, you understand me completely. 

Right??! Humidity and my hair do not mix well. At all. It is sad, but true.

I am proud to say that camping was a complete blast. I put my phone away (sadly, there are no pictures!) and we had a full 24 hours of family-friend time and it was blissful! The kids loved it, I loved it, and Eric loved it. :-)

The next day, we got a text from some friends: PACK YOUR SUITS AND SOME PILLOWS. WE'RE HEADED TO THE LAKEHOUSE. Eric didn't have to tell me twice! I love boating! We headed out for some more fun. 

Our friends invited us out to do some tubing on their boat -- aren't they cute?!

This was Maggie's first time on a boat. She was in all her glory.

{{Side note: Why can't my hair look this adorable all tousled in the wind? Mine is more like Medusa.}}

Levi went boating a few weeks ago, so he was an old pro. ;-)

Is there anything sweeter? Mags loves her daddy.

This here cracks me up! Maggie has a slight crush on Braden, their oldest son. And, I think the feeling is mutual. ;-)

Such a great few days with friends. I spent the whole afternoon trying to convince Eric we need another boat. ;-)

Such a fun weekend reconnecting and spending time enjoying God's beautiful creation.

Levi's taken up golf and Maggie keeps kissing a box

{{Just want to give a big HUG and say thank you to those of you who have continued to ask how Levi is doing and who have been praying for him!! It is awesome and humbling to hear other stories, struggles, successes and each have encouraged me. One day, he seems better and takes huge steps forward. Other days, we all take steps backwards. This is a learning process and we all continue to learn what works and what turns around and bites us in the rear! Ha!}}

Recently, Levi has shown an interest in golf. That makes me super happy! He seems to have good athletic ability, so Eric took him to play and "test the waters". Much to his delight, Levi took to it and showed some pretty good skill. We got him a set of clubs and they have really enjoyed playing together.  

Yes, that is Levi drinking a large Mountain Dew while out playing. Oy. 

I have never played golf, but I love to watch it! I would be thrilled if he turned into a professional golfer. ;-)

I love this kid so much! After going through some pretty rough nights together, it blesses my heart so much when I see smiles like this...

Now, lemme tell you about his sister. She is crazy. See this box? 

That is the box that Levi's golf clubs came in. It has a giant picture of Rickie Fowler on it. 

Cutie patootie, right? Mags seems to think so! She won't stop kissing the box...

In fact, she takes him with her all over the house. He goes downstairs to play. He sits near her at dinner. He watches her play with her stuffed animals.

She even dances with him and makes up songs for him. 

The other day, she sang him a made-up song about how she liked his orange hat and how she liked those golf clubs he carried. If I would have been quick enough, I would have gotten it on video! That child cracks.me.up. I love her little free spirit.

Now, when she turns thirteen, I may not be so quick to laugh...

Day ONE of preschool - check!

Yesterday was Maggie's first day of preschool! 

We've been talking it up for a couple weeks now. Some days, she seemed super excited, but most days, she said she just wanted to stay at home with me. Ha! Needless to say, I was a little worried that she would cry when I dropped her off. I am happy to report that SHE DID GREAT! But, why does she seem so LITTLE??

I was anxious to pick her up and hear all about her first day. The first thing she did was ask to take her shoes off. Ha! She's a flip flop girl and they aren't allowed to wear sandals to school -- INSANITY! ;-) She said school was fun and she can't wait to go back. That makes me so happy!!

The parents got an email from Mrs. Vicki last night and she "anonymously" shared some of the funny things they said. One child just kept asking, "When do we get to go to the playground?" and another one said, "Mrs. Vicki, you sure do have lots of words to say!" I really hope those two weren't from my child. :-)

Just Tri-It!

This was the second year that Levi competed in the Jeffersonville Tri-It kids triathlon! We weren't sure that he was going to do it this year. When it came time to register, he said he would compete if he didn't have to do the week long camp, but just the tri. Ha! We were okay with that.

Eric and Levi trained at home and at my parent's pool. The night before and the morning of, he was extremely nervous, but when it was time to jump in the water, he was in the zone...

(That's him, on the right in the navy swim shirt.)

The bike is his thang. He loves biking - loves it! It was really adorable watching all the kids race to the transition area. ;-)

Finishing up with the run, with Eric at his side. I love that one parent could accompany them during the run portion. Too cute!

AT THE FINISH! He beat his personal record from last year. Yay! He came in 7th in his age group (out of 22 kids) and finished 24th overall out of 120 kids. Great job! For us, we keep telling him it isn't about coming in 1st, and it isn't even about beating the kid next to you. It's about challenging yourself and conquering little fears. He loves the actual athletic part of the race, but HATES doing it in front of people. I guess the crowds of screaming parents make him nervous! Ha! 

Love this boy with my whole heart. I'm so thankful I get to be his mom. 

Cousin shot! Proud of these kiddos! Emmy even got a trophy for coming in 3rd in her age group -- so awesome! Next year, Maggie will be old enough to compete. Cuteness overload!

Way to go, kids!!! Proud of you. :-)