Long WeekEND News

I really think this weekend was perfect!
Friday night brought a drive-in movie. It was so much fun. This is bound to be a summer favorite. It is a late night but so worth it! The kids think it is so fun to sit in the back of the van in our jammies on bean bags and eat snacks! Loved it!

Saturday morning we hung around home and then in the evening we went to the amusement park with friends. We stayed for the fireworks. Again, such a great time!

This place never gets old.

Sunday we went to the pool. Let me just say, I was not looking forward to the first trip to the pool. I bought a really cool cover up in hopes that would help. I lathered up in sunscreen before we left home and then again when we got there. I was sitting on the edge of the pool in my cover up about 5 minutes after we got there and I started crying.

Yup...break down!
I am not sure why.
It wasn't because I will be white all summer.
It wasn't because I was sitting on the edge with my cover up on.
It wasn't because I will be 30 in less than a month!

I think reality just hit. I am going to have to be extra careful all summer. Really, whenever it is sunny. Sunscreen every hour, hat, sunglasses, in the shade. You name it...I have to be careful. Hopefully there will be no more break downs. Either way, we had a great time at the pool. Carys went down the slide for the first time. Broderick did the diving board. He was so bummed they took out the high dive because he really wanted to do it this year. Can I tell you, I could not be happier about that decision!

Monday morning we...

woke up late...

drank coffee on the patio...

the kids jumped on the trampoline...

watched squirrels mate in the tree.

Yeah...you read that right. I tried to get a picture but they realized we were watching them and moved to a more private location. I know, I am weird. It was very entertaining though! We went back to the amusement park, but to the water park. It was so HOT! Broderick rode some new water slides. We swam and again...just had a great time. No break downs this time! We topped off the day with pizza and movie night. We watched Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader. It was so good. I love all the Narnia movies, but this one I think was #2 for me. Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe of course is my #1.

Thankful Thursday

If you are wondering, no, I am not thankful for hail! Last night was an eventful night to say the least. See it was my friend Lisa's birthday so me and some girlfriends had planned to take her out for a good time. I had known all day that we were going to have severe weather. Ya see...I am a little obsessed with the weather and terrified of tornadoes. Here is a little of how the evening went...

I am walking out the door kissing and hugging everyone bye and telling Rob, "We are going to have bad weather so please keep an eye on it."
Rob: "It will be fine. God is in control."
I am thinking, "Yes I know that, but please keep the kids safe."
Rob doesn't normally pay much attention to the weather and will go to bed while I stay up at night to make sure we aren't going to get blown away. If we have warnings he will be like, "Let's watch a movie." Um...what!? We need to watch the weather!
Okay back to last night. I leave, we get to dinner, look at the menu, and I am checking my tablet. Things are looking precarious! Right then, I get a call and couple texts from Rob saying,
"We have a tornado warning."
Uh oh!
I call him and he proceeds to tell me it is on it's way. I ask him if he thinks he should go somewhere with a basement. Of course he says no. So he puts the kids in the bath tub. Which let me tell you, this is a huge deal. He has NEVER done this. Me, well let's just say they have been in the tub a few times because of bad weather. Ok, so I am at the restaurant and I think, "I am upstairs by a window. I am going to talk to someone to find out where we should go." I find the manager and the convo goes a little something like this:
Me: Um, hi...we have tornadoes coming towards us. Where is your safe place."
As you can imagine he is laughing at me. Not out loud, but I see it all over his face. He then says, "I am not really sure," in a very calm...too calm...voice. What! You are not sure! I said, "Well, will you let me and my friends in your cooler should it get to bad?"
Him: "Sure."
I head back up to the table where the waiter is taking our order. I am so sick to my stomach I can't even think about food. I order anyway. Then my phone is blowing up. Mom, Rob, Dad, friends checking on my. Rob is texting things like:
"This is insane."
"I have never seen anything like this."
"I am not going near a window. Hail is so big and hitting the window so hard I am afraid it is going to shatter."
"My car is going to be destroyed."
"Our power is out, can you tell me what is going on?"
So now, I am seriously freaking out!!!! All of my friends are on their phones too. I tell my friends about the huge hail and 2 of them decide to leave and go move their cars to the garage. Bad idea! Then the sirens start going off where we are. We all get up and I find my manager friend again. He walks up to me, laughing, and I say, "The sirens are going off we need to go to your cooler."
Him: "I don't think that is necessary."
Me: "Can we go to your back hallway?" (The bartender had told me this was their "safe place")
Him: "Well, I can see if someone can clean it out."
Clearly this guy does not want to help me. I say, "Girls, we are hunkering down in the bathroom." About this time my 2 friends that went to move their cars come walking in...SOAKED! We head to the bathroom, where the wet girls are using dryers to dry off, we are laughing and listening to the hail. After a couple minutes we come out and go eat. So much for a fun night out for Lisa's birthday! It will definitely be one she will remember.
So I get home and Rob had put the hail in the freezer so I could see it. Pretty impressive. I could tell he was a little shaken up. His car does have some damage.
All this to say...

Today I am thankful that my house is still standing.

I think about how scared I was.
We didn't even have a tornado that was a mile wide covering 6 miles.
My house is still standing.
Rob and the kids were safe.
All my trees and their limbs are not blown over.
My things are not blown all over the neighborhood.
My power is back on.

My heart and prayers go out to everyone that has been devastated by severe weather the last couple of months.

WeekEND News

Whew...what a weekend! Friday night was dress rehearsal so Carys and I headed to that and the boys went out for "boys night!" Thankfully Carys and I were not there long so we met up with the boys to go see a movie. Saturday morning was Father's Saturday at Carys' school. Which can I just say...she was super excited about this. Of course it called for a special hair bow that said, "Wild for daddy". Yes, I know, adorable. Thanks to this fabulous website! Carys and Rob went to breakfast first and then to their special day. She loved it. Nothing like special time with dad. While they were gone Broderick and I had some special time too. So good to spend one on one time with my kiddos.

Saturday night was date night. It had been a long time and I was needing it! We went to a great restaurant that we had never been to and then did some shopping. It was so fun to be out together. And the kids had a great time with our wonderful babysitter. They made cupcakes!

Sunday was the BIG day! Carys has been working so hard for the last 9 months at ballet. She finally got to do her dance on stage. She loved every minute of it. The costume, the make up, the flowers, the attention. She really did do a great job! This year was serious ballet. Her teacher, Mr. Jayson, was amazing. At the beginning of the year I wasn't crazy about her having a male instructor, but he was great! (He was Brittany Spears teacher before she went to Mickey Mouse club.) Carys and another little girl really soaked up the instruction and had a duet at the beginning of the dance that was just precious! I really hope to get the same teacher next year.

My star with her flowers, from daddy and Broderick, and her trophy.
So sweet!

Thankful Thursday

There is just something about these faces...

...these smiles

the laughter!

One thing our family loves to do is watch America's funniest home videos together. (More on that tomorrow!) It is not the videos I love, it is hearing my kids laugh...uncontrollably sometimes. I laugh just listening to them laugh. After the show is over everyone is in a fun mood and we just play around with each other and well, you guessed it, laugh some more!

It is true,
laughter is the best medicine.
Whether it be with your kids, husband, parents, siblings, friends...it is great!

Today I am thankful for laughter!

Off my game

Do you ever have those days...
weeks...
months...?

Where you just feel off? Nothing is going like it "should?" You have a plan or routine, but it just isn't working out? Well, I have felt that way for awhile now. I can't figure it out. I don't know if it is because of...
the rain...
the end of the school year...
laziness...
boredom.

My meal planning has gone to the crapper. My house is barely clean. I only put myself together if I have to. I get done, what I have to get done.

This is not gonna fly. Summer is almost here and with both the kids home, I need a plan!

I love doing fun stuff with the kids and making great memories, so in an effort to do so I am going to come up with some fun things to do:

We of course will do the summer reading club at the library.
I have officially made Wednesday "Park and Picnic day."
I will plan one "crafty" thing a week.
Go to the pool. (If it ever warms up.)
Thursdays are "hang out with Carrie day."
And as always...Friday Fun Day.
Carys requested eating out of muffin tins again for lunch.
I must figure out a way to make doing some school work fun.

If I don't have a good game plan...we will end up watching way to much tv, playing way to much wii, and basically wasting the summer. And that doesn't sound fun at all!

So I am off to clean something. Look for new recipes. Find some fun crafts. Get myself put together. And just maybe...get some Starbucks. (The new Coconut Mocha is awesome...and I don't even like coconut!)

WeekEND News

The weekend is over again and it is back to the normal week routine. I don't know if all of you know that I have been subbing at Carys' preschool all year. It has been so fun. Just in the last month I have been working every Monday so the week starts off with a bang for me. I have to be up and ready to go...not used to that. I have really loved it! Back to the weekend...
Friday we got to celebrate my BFF's son's birthday! Carrie's middle son, Nate, turned 5! It was so great to be there to celebrate with Carrie, Nate and the rest of their family. We have been best friends since Broderick and Emma, Carrie's oldest, were just babies. We really feel apart of their family and love hanging out with them. Carrie and I were pregnant with Carys and Nate at the same time. I always know when Nate's birthday comes...Carys' is right around the corner. So I know I need to start planning.

Saturday didn't bring much fun around our house...

until the evening!

We went to church and then myself and these lovely ladies above went out for the first official GFN! (Girls Fun Night) We plan on doing something fun every month. (Maria has high hopes of a trip to NYC.) This month we went to dinner and a movie. We had a great time and I truly look forward to hanging out with them next month. After the movie I got pulled over which was AWESOME! Just kidding! I was driving without my lights on...sweet! Thankfully I don't drink or we would have had problems. The kind officer just gave me a warning.

Sunday we took the kids out for a fun day with some friends. Carys and I made chocolate chip cookies in honor of Chocolate chip Day. And of course we topped the weekend off with pizza and movie night...my favorite!

That was how I spent my weekend...what about you?

WeekEND News - Mother Day's Weekend

I had such a wonderful weekend. Did you? The fun really started on Thursday. Broderick's school had the sweetest Mother's Day Tea. The kids met us in the lobby of the school and then walked us back to the "community space" (an area outside of about 6 of the classrooms.) There were chairs set up where each child picked a special seat for their mothers. Then the kids recited a couple poems to us...which were just adorable. After that we went into their class where they had decorated the tables and made us cookies. It looked great! They served us lemonade or water. It was so sweet and fun! Thursday night Carys, my mom, sister and I went to get pedicures and dinner. Another fun time! (That picture is obviously above!)

Friday I had a mother's day tea at Carys' school. They sang great songs that made me cry and laugh. Carys had to go potty during the middle and then got embarrassed and wouldn't go back up and sing. Thankfully she cheered up for snack and craft time. Her teacher had asked her some questions about me and then wrote in her answers. It went a little something like this:
What does your mom like to do in her spare time? Lay on the couch and watch a mommy show. (She is right, but reading that made me feel kind of lazy.)
What would you change about your mom? That she would stop yelling at Broderick. (She is right again, but it made me feel pretty crappy.)
Needless to say, I left thinking, I should change a few things...

Saturday started out sunny so we headed to the amusement park. Can I just say, I love doing this with the family. We walk in and immediately can smell the water from the fountains, the food, hear the laughter and screams. It is great! We stayed for a couple hours then went to a fabulous place for lunch. We played outside for awhile when we got home. Broderick was doing a great job riding his 2 wheeler and wouldn't ya know...I didn't get a picture. Saturday night we hung out at home and some friends stopped by for a little bit.

Sunday we of course did church (Broderick lost another tooth at church) and then went to one of my favorite places for lunch. After that we went and bought the kids a trampoline. It doesn't seem like a great way to spend mothers day...going to buy and put together a trampoline, but...think of the hours of relaxation I will get while they jump! Make sense?

All in all
it was a fabulous weekend!

Thankful Thursday {Motherhood}

I was trying to think of something other than mother's to be thankful for this Thursday, but it kept coming to mind. Even more so than being thankful for my mom, or moms in general, I kept thinking about how thankful I am to be a mom. I knew before Rob and I started dating that I wanted to be a mom, and a stay at home mom at that. I always said I was going to have 4 kids. (You see how that turned out.) While I think large families are great and I applaud mothers that have more than 2 kids, that job is not for me. After I had Broderick I quickly knew that one more would probably be all that was in our future. (Thank goodness she came out a girl, because it made the decision that much easier.) I love being a mom, don't get me wrong. I just don't think I personally could be pulled in any more directions!

My pictures messed up while uploading. Above is Carys right after she was born and Below is me and Broderick right after he was born. Don't I have the "new mom fog" going on?

I love getting nice morning hugs. I love doing fun things with them. I love cooking with them. I love having movie night with them. I love taking them to "surprises"! I love listening to the things they say. I love watching them grow and learn. I love when something I have been working on with them finally "clicks". I love hearing them tell me about their days. I love watching them dance. I love listening to them talk to their friends. I love hearing them pray. I love seeing them smile. I love the way they love each other. I love the way they challenge me.
I love that God blessed me with them.

This Thursday I am thankful for Motherhood!

Once a Month Resolution

If you haven't noticed, I have not done a May Resolution. (Not that you all care about my resolutions, but this is a way for me to stay accountable.) Truth is, I have been doing horrible at the exercise and eating resolution. I have been exercising once a week, and the only reason it has been once a week is because I love my Zumba class. It is offered Wednesday evenings and and Saturday morning, but that really cuts into quality family time. I don't make exercising a priority the other days of the week. And the eating...well, let me just tell you that on Monday I ate 3 donuts. Yup...one wasn't enough so I had two more. You all don't believe me when I tell you I have no self control. Now do you? So the resolution for May is to go back to January and February resolutions. Exercising 5x a week and eating healthier. (Which ought to be interesting.) Can I do it? I may have to start logging everything I eat on here and then I will be ashamed so I won't eat it. I really don't want it to turn into that...

If you all could please pray for me. Not that I eat better and exercise to look better, but to just take care of my body. No body should eat 3 donuts in one day. Ugh! That is not pleasing to the Lord. He gave me this body and it is his temple so I need to take care of it.
Bring on the greens!

Looking on the bright side

Is there a bright side...of the weather that is. I think it has literally rained for the last month. I am really tired of it and really wish it was about 65 and sunny, but I am trying to not complain and look on the bright side

At least...
it is not a tornado.
I still have a house to keep me dry.
I get to wear my rain boots.
I don't have to keep sunscreen on.
my grass is really green.
the kids are getting plenty (probably to much) Wii time in.
I have a new roof.
I can still wear my warm and cozy pink North Face Fleece.
I don't need to wear sandals because I haven't had a pedi yet! YIKES!
the kids can stomp in puddles.

There is still a lot to be thankful for!

WeekEND News

What a great weekend! My best friend Carrie had her annual birthday party on Friday. This girl is so much fun! She has a birthday party every year with some crazy theme. We have done a pj, grandma, prom, mom, and this year...
Get in Shape Girl!

We had a GREAT time! We ate, did a relay obstacle course race, cool whip relay race, oreo eating contest, and calorie counting game. Costume contest...which I one! (Did you doubt? I mean look at me. I am a fool.) It was such a great night to be silly, catch up, eat, and be with my friends. Thanks Carrie!

Saturday brought the last day of the garage sale and the opening day of the amusement park. This is something we look forward to every year! It was super busy but we had a great time anyway. We stopped for a break at one point and the kids were just being silly so I took a couple pictures of them just goofing off. They were cracking up!

On Sunday we celebrated Easter at my grandma's with some of my aunts and cousins. It was nice to see some of my relatives that I don't normally get to see.

Me and my sis...I see her often!

Remember Lisa? Well, this past Sunday...her husband gave his life to the Lord! It was so awesome! I can't not tell you how excited I am for him, her and their daughter. I (along with others) have been praying for him since about December. God is so good and I can't wait to see what he has in store next...