A little of this and that...

The last time I blogged was a preview of our vacation to Gulf Shores in OCTOBER. Geesh. Our lives have been like a crazy whirlwind since then and the blog took a much needed back seat. Over the last few weeks, I've wished, on more than one occasion, to be back at the beach where the world seems to slow down. 

It is quite possibly my favorite place on earth. Especially when I get to spend it with my family. SO MANY people have asked us how we do a "family" vacation for a WHOLE WEEK. I just kind of figured this was the norm...it isn't. I guess the answer to that is we like each other. Do we get on each other's nerves? Uh YES. Do the kids fight? Uh YES. But, I guess we just make it work. Mostly, there is a lot of teasing, laughing, inside jokes, and just fun! There are the few times when your sibling is working your nerves so bad that you just have to leave for a while. And that is okay. ;-)

I would love to go back and do a post about vacation. Like with pictures and funny stories. I'm sure you are DYING TO KNOW what we did all week. But, that will be sifting through hundreds of pictures, so it will have to wait just a bit longer...

Okay, so back to our busy life. As we were on our way home from Gulf Shores, we got a call for a showing on our house. It was THE call. They saw the house and made an offer the next morning! From that point on, we began packing and it seems like it took FOREVER to pack up. We decided to buy some land and build, which means one thing -- we needed a temporary home. HELLO MOM AND DAD! Yes, the week after Thanksgiving, we moved in with my parents. (I wish I could insert one of those emoji with the big eyes...) They have been so incredibly gracious by letting us invade their space. Everyone keeps asking me in a hushed whisper, "Soooo, how's it really going at your parent's?" I can honestly say, it has been good! Now, if you ask them, you might get a different response. ;-)

So, between all the hours and days spent packing and moving boxes to storage, we have managed a few fun things! 

We celebrated my bestie's 40th birthday! 

We had SO.MUCH.FUN!! It was one of those things we had talked about for so long and once the night came, we just lived it up. And, we stayed out past 11:00 PM. Holla.

Great night. Great friends.

There was also the annual Christmas baking day. Even though it doesn't appear so, we DID scale back this year. Ha! I usually send goodies for teachers, bus drivers, and for the staff at Eric's office. I'm pretty sure they enjoy it. Around the 1st of December, they start hounding asking him when we will be baking. ;-)

We also celebrated my mom's birthday. LOOK AT THIS ADORABLE CAKE!!

I thought it was SO cute! And, it represented my mom perfectly. It was made by a friend of my sister's from church. She did awesome!

We spent her birthday going on the Polar Express train ride through Charlestown. It was so much fun! The kids loved riding the train and seeing all the lights. Maggie was especially fun to watch this year. She loved belting out the Christmas carols and just really thought all the Christmas lights were "amazing"! I love her age!!

 And, speaking of Maggie...isn't this precious?!

Yes, we do Santa. She got to sit on his lap one day when we were visiting my grandparent's assisted living home. It was so sweet. He's not a huge part of our Christmas, but the kids sit out milk and cookies and they get one gift from him and Frank (our elf). It's pretty cute!

I haven't had time to sort through our Christmas photos yet. In fact, since we moved in over the holidays, we are just now trying to figure out our new normal. Some days are a little overwhelming, but we're just trying to have fun with this whole process! I'm excited to get back into blogging and to share updates on our new home. :-) 

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...