our weekend

I officially declared Friday to be Pumpkin Day.  Levi has been dying to carve a pumpkin, so that's what we did!  And, by "we", I mean Eric. ;)  We headed out in search of some cool pumpkins and a carving kit.  As soon as we got home, the boys got to work.  {Maggie just wanted to play with her baby doll.}   

Cleaning out all the gross, ucky stuff is the worst.  And, I would know, because I was inside making lunch. ;)

"Hey, smile!  And look weird because I am making you look directly into the sun!"  Geesh!

There was some serious concentration going on.

This was the finished product.  I'm not really sure what it is...maybe a ghost?  Or a scary Halloween cat?

Saturday, Levi had Biddy Ball try-outs.  I cannot describe to you how adorable this was.  All these little six year olds running around trying to make baskets on the goals that were lowered all the way down.  I loved it!  I can't wait until he starts playing.

 We saw Jami at soccer that morning and she invited us over to play since Steve and Eric would both be gone.  Sure!  {Pics are from my phone, so they are a little fuzzy. :/}

 The boys ran around like wild men, wrestling, playing ball and sweating like crazy.  Maggie opted to build blocks.  Cuteness.

 We finally got the boys to settle down and build some blocks, too.  It was short lived. ;)  But, they had a great time together.

Levi is on Fall Break this week, so I am excited to have some time with him.  We have a few fun things planned -- I love this time of year! :)

Not just good, but great

If you blog, you know that sometimes you can try to manipulate things so that you will get a great blog post! ;)  A great outfit, fun food, a certain activity, a really funny story...all for your readers.  This weekend, though, was an exception for me. 

Two years ago, when Gretchen told me, "Um, there is this job...", in my heart, I immediately knew she would be moving.  Over the next year, I experienced just about every emotion that there is.  Extreme sadness, disbelief, fear, anger, jealousy, unbelievable thankfulness -- and those are only the tip of the iceburg.  The one thing that scared me the most was that our friendship would change.  That "we" wouldn't be "us" anymore.  And, honestly, "we" aren't "us"...we are way better.  God took this situation that scared the heck out of both of us and blessed it, and then blessed it some more. 

So, we have honored our pact -- to do a G & T weekend once every three months.  And, I cannot put into words how wonderful our time is together.  This weekend, I was just focused on having fun and decompressing, so there aren't a million pictures to root through. ;)  I think I only broke out the camera twice...when we met up with Brittany, and right before I left for home. 

I do want to share just a few highlights with you:

Shopping at Opry Mills Outlet Mall - heaven!

Meeting up with Britt for a late dessert and insanely funny convo

Sleeping in, which for us is until 7:30!

Hot chai tea

Laughing until we thought we would pee

The best tomato basil soup, possibly in the whole world

Popping open the button on our jeans at the end of the evening

Toms (yes, I got my first pair)

Mexcian food

********************

So thankful.  And so blessed.

Gatlinburg 2012

I am so blessed with great friends.  Really.  I think I have THE BEST friends on Earth.  This year was the year of the Come Back.  We haven't done Gatlinburg for almost 3 years - GASP! - and we decided if we didn't jump in and do it, it would go by the wayside.  And THAT can not happen. 

This group right here...this is the core four.  Friends from college.  We all live, breathe and encourage each others sarcastic natures.  There are so many embarrassing stories that we tell and retell.  The first words, as we set off on our trip, were, "Remember the time...", and it never stops.  LOVE IT.

 After 4 long, grueling hours in the car with the stinky boys, we were ready for some food!  We found a cute little Mexican restaurant in Pigeon Forge.  And you know me...love me some Mexican food!

 I was so excited, I was giddy (or it could have been insanity from the car...who knows!).

 I pounded some chips and salsa. 

 After all our bellies were full, we headed to check in to our little cabin in the woods.  Perfection.  This right here was our favorite spot.  Screened in porch with a hot tub.  Thank you, Jesus.

 A view from the balcony. :)

 And, how adorable is all the red??  Love it! 

 The agenda for Sunday night was GaMe NiGhT !!  Woot!  The boys were less than thrilled, but played with good hearts. :)  They destroyed us in Hand n Foot.  Sigh. 

 Never fear, we will go on.

 If you know Melanie, you know she is crazy.  We all got the munchies.  Started looking around for something to snack on and Melanie cheerfully pipes up, "OH!  I made delicious granola!  It's pumpkin and cranberry!"  We all just stared at her like she had the plague.

 This year, it rained a lot.  But, we still had a great time.  We did some favorites, but mostly had a low key weekend hanging at the cabin.  We watched some good ol' movies...The Rock, 13 going on 30, S.W.A.T., and sat in the hot tub until we reached 214 degrees and our limbs were prunes. :)  Good times!  One of our favorites was breakfast at the Pancake Pantry, where Matt spent $22 - yes, $22 on HIS breakfast!  Ahh, vacation! :)

 We hit a couple of stores that we love and go back to each year.  One of the little nooks is in a place called The Village.

 And, we found this little band playing live music in a nook where we sampled Moonshine.  Holla. ;)

 I seriously felt like an old couple.  We listened to the banjo and sat in rocking chairs.  So funny!  But, it was so good and we really enjoyed it.  I love the South.

I think this is where I forgot to pick up my camera again!  Boo.  We headed back to the cabin and had a movie night, some more hot tub time and just enjoyed being together.  It seemed like such a short trip this year, but was really great and we are already looking forward to next year! 

Rough day post

I'm overwhelmed.

Completely.

Do you ever feel like you have a ton to do and can't do it all so you just wanna throw in the towel and say "Nevermind. I quit."?

It is only Wednesday, but feels like it should be Friday!  Agh.  Most of you know that I watch two little girls part time.  The reason I do it part time is because I am not cut out to do it full time.  At all.  My friend, who does it the other half of the week, is on vacation this week, so I have the little jewels all day, every day.  Sigh.  It probably wouldn't be that big of a deal any other week, but the block party that I blogged about a while back is SATURDAY.  I have so many things I am trying to finalize and so many calls to make.  It has been really hard to do this with 3 little ones in the background.  What gets done will get done and what doesn't...well, it won't.  

There are some silver linings at the end of this week, though, Praise THE LORD!  He knew what I would need and when I would need it even before I took on this project. :)  That makes me happy!  

~~ Gatlinburg ~~

Eric and I head out of town Sunday morning for our annual Gatlinburg trip with Matt & Melanie.  Kid free.  Yes indeedie.  A good time will be had for sure!  We haven't been able to go the last two years, so this is the year of the Come Back.  Yay!!

~~ G & T ~~

Next weekend is a G & T weekend...woo hoo!  Super excited for that.  I'm sure as you read this, you are so excited for our posts that you can hardly contain yourselves. ;)  Hang in there.  It won't be long!  

And, of course, these two are always a silver lining for me. :)

{disclaimer: Maggie was obsessed with Eric's belt and insisted on wearing it.  She is not starting a strip tease. ;)}

Huber's

The first grade classes had a field trip to Huber's Orchard & Winery yesterday!  Unfortunately, I couldn't go, but when it comes to picking apples and punkins, Eric is really the best anyway.  Levi was uber excited that his Daddy was going!  I told Eric to take pictures and I think he did a pretty great job!    

Levi said it was one of the best days of his life. 

Precious. 

Love that boy. :)

Our weekend according to Instagram

I would like to say that we had a low key weekend, but that wasn't the case!  Friday afternoon, I got a text from Melanie and they wanted to hang out Friday night.  I told her that I was temporarily crippled, so she offered to bring dinner and hang at our house.  Perfect!  I made a dessert.  Yes, I baked.  Gasp!  And it was really good {and easy!}...

 Apple Dump Cake {Put 2 cans of Apple Pie Filling in a pan, pour one yellow cake mix on top of the filling, and top with a stick and a half of butter. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes.} YUM.  I served it hot with some vanilla ice cream and we sat out by the fire out back.  Perfection!  The kids had a blast while the adults got to have some quality gabbing time. :)

Saturday was soccer and then that evening, a group of us from church went to pass out flyers in the neighborhood where we are doing the block party.  I pulled my boot cast out of the closet and we headed out.  I was quite a sight pushing Maggie in the stroller in my boot cast. ;)  Levi did awesome!  He wanted to hand out the flyer and tell each person about the upcoming block party and that God loves them.  We played at the park for a few minutes while we were there.  

 Then on Sunday, we had a big family reunion for my Dad's side of the family.  MISSED YOU, BETH!!! :)))  The kids had a blast playing at the playground.  This little guy ran around until I thought he would pass out from exhaustion! 

 Such a cutie pie!

 Levi got into a wild football game with the big kids!  He loved every minute of it. :)

 Maggie wanted to swing the entire time.  Daddy was happy to oblige.

 Please excuse my abnormally large head in this picture!  It is the only one we took. :/  Bad angle. ;) 

Seriously, though, it was a great weekend with my little family.  I am loving this weather!  Here's to fall and the fun things on the horizon!! :)

I need a bubble

I could very easily title this post Most Embarrassing Moments, but that might attract more readers than my normal 8 or 9. ;)  You guys are about to embark on a journey of ghetto weird injuries of mine.  I have no idea how I hurt myself so easily, except that I just have a knack for it.  In hindsight, I'm sure my parents think my middle name should have been Grace.  I have a whole list I could share, but I will just pick a few for your enjoyment.

When I was younger, elementary school age, I was running home from my next door neighbor's house to see if I could spend the night.  Not remembering that my dad secured the fence around our pool with cables during the winter, I ran smack dab into one of the cables, clotheslining myself and landing on my rear end.  According to my mother, I have always been dramatic and a bit of a hypochondriac {imagine that!}, so when I kept complaining, she ignored me.  Finally, after a day or two, she took me to the doctor and I had broken my collar bone.  They put me in a beautiful brace that wrapped around my neck and shoulders for several weeks.  Lovely.

Fast forward to 1999.  Weekend trip to Lake Cumberland with my sister, Travis & Jenny, Eric, and our friend, Matt.  After a day on the boat, we were headed back to a condo.  As I was walking down the stairs, I slipped and heard my ankle pop.  Immediately, it swelled to the size of a soft ball.  I remember Travis & Jenny giving each other a look like "wow, that's bad!" while telling me, "It's okay, I'm sure it is fine!"  They iced it, stuck me in a recliner and loaded me up with about 50 ibuprofen. ;)  Once we made it back home, I got a nice boot cast. ;)

Last year, Gretchen and I kicked off one of our G & T weekends with a local 5K.  After the race, we got cleaned up and headed out for some shopping.  Oh my word, my foot was killing me!  And, we only WALKED the 5K.  After a few days of complaining, I went to the doctor and I had fractured my foot.  I fractured my foot walking.  People!  Who does that?  Once again, I got another boot cast.  Oy.  

Wednesday night, I was walking behind Maggie out of the kitchen when she stopped in front of me and I kicked her foot.  My pinkie toe and my 4th toe went two different directions around her heel and I felt like I was going to black out.  Yes, I have a flare for the drama, but it hurt really bad!!  I cried and the kids looked at me like I was insane.  The left side of my foot is still swollen after almost 48 hours.  I can barely walk.  

I know there is nothing that can be done for a broken toe, but I was afraid that it might be dislocated.  Or, if it was broken, that they might have to re-break it.  Luckily for me, I have a brother who worked many years in the ER and has seen lots of fun things.  He looked at it and doesn't think it is broken or dislocated.  He did, however, send me a YouTube video on how to fix your dislocated toe yourself.  O.M.W.  He is insane.  So, I'm doing what I do best...ice & elevate.  Sigh.  Oh, and I found some pain medicine in the cabinet from 2007.  Rock on!  ;)