Spring Break

OK, I keep getting further behind, and actually typed up this post over a month ago...so I'm going back in time, then I'll probably do some current stuff and then back up to cover the rest of the time since my last post.  I wish I had just one more hour in each day so I could keep up, but life is moving FAST!! 

The last weekend in March (yes, that long ago) was planned as an "adult weekend" in Charleston for our second annual run of the Cooper River Bridge 10K. After all of our friends ended up backing out and Gary and I landed a free trip to the Bahamas for the next week (for Gary's "work"), we decided to make it a family trip instead! We headed out on Friday morning, made the short flight, and were at the beach in time for a late lunch that afternoon!

After lunch, we headed out to the beach! It was a LITTLE chilly, but pretty perfect for hanging on the shore! I was PLEASANTLY surprised to see BOTH of our little girls loosen up and dive into the sand! On beach trips in the past, Makayla has been particularly opposed to the sand, given her resistance to anything dirty! After a few minutes of warm up, she was literally swimming in it! Macy loved it as usual, and mostly enjoyed running to throw seashells in the ocean! That is definitely her new FAVORITE pasttime! I can't WAIT for warm summer days at the beach ahead!!

Friday night we headed back to the boat and ended up feeding the girls PB&J for dinner...they didn't really seem to mind too much, and enjoyed eating on the upper deck of the boat...who wouldn't, right? Gary and I ended up ordering a gourmet dinner to enjoy for ourselves after the girls had completely pooped out...ok, maybe Papa John's pizza doesn't qualify in the gourmet category...but it was a nice, quite dinner, the vino tasted good, and it was fun hanging out on the boat!

Saturday morning started extra early for me, as I headed to catch the bus for the race. I was COMPLETELY shocked at the crowd that winded through the entire downtown area waiting to do the same thing. About 2 hours later (and an hour late for the race), the crowds had been coralled to the starting line, and the race started...it was by far the largest and most unorganized mess I have ever seen. I'm not sure exactly what happened...I do know that the race as a whole seemed MUCH more crowded than last year, but something went horribly wrong in the planning department this year!

Anyway, the race was complete, I met up with Gary and the girls at his favorite joint, "Mellow Mushroom", and Aunt Miss came into town to hang for the evening! We had another late lunch, hung out for a while, and, again settled for takeout from the marina for dinner, since we had 2 tired little girls in tow!

It was a fun trip, and the girls, Aunt Miss, and I headed out of town bright and early Sunday morning. We were on a mission to beat the crowds, since getting 40k people into and out of Charleston is not a small task...fortunately, we got out ahead and were home in time to eat lunch and hit the park! Gary stayed to fish with the boys, and he was also home in time to meet us for dinner!

That afternoon, Mimi came into town as well, and Gary and I unpacked and re-packed so that we could head out for the Bahamas the next day! We were sad to leave the girls, but happy that we got to spend such a fun weekend with our little ones before leaving town...and they were in EXCELLENT hands with Aunt Miss all week! (and little bits of Mimi and Mamaw and Papaw)

Like most jobs, Gary’s job can be amazingly accommodating with free time and chances to hang with the family, but as everyone knows, can also pull him away from home for days…and even weeks…at a time. Again, like with any job, you have to take the good with the bad, and we do what we have to so that we can all juggle life as best we can. This week was one of those fairly rare chances where I got to tag along and have a truly wonderful trip…with very little expense…definitely some GOOD to outweigh the fact that he’ll be gone a lot over the next few weeks.


It’s always sad to leave the girls, but I’ve had a particularly demanding couple of months at work myself, and that coupled with the demands of raising 2 energetic 2-year-olds, had left me pretty EXHAUSTED, so a couple of relaxing days in paradise couldn’t have been more welcomed!

We stayed at a nice resort in Cable Beach (on the island of Nassau) and got the chance to hang by the pool, play volleyball in the sand, kayak to a nearby island (where we got to enjoy a personal tour of an abandoned sting ray park), shop at the straw market, pay the obligatory visit to Atlantis, eat DELICIOUS food (including a wonderful meal prepared by personal chefs aboard an amazing yacht) and walk on the beach. While this was definitely not one of our more “adventurous” vacations filled with daily activities to take up every hour, it was a perfect amount of relaxation and “couple time” that was definitely needed to recharge us for our wonderfully busy life!

While we were gone, Aunt Miss came into town and spent her entire Spring Break taking care of our sweet girls…from what I can tell, it went GREAT…the girls had an awesome...and BUSY week!! They were treated to days at the park, a trip to Lazy 5 Ranch to see the animals,

a trip to Discovery Place Kids where they got to show "Baby Hudson" how things are done at the "museum",

They had Easter Egg hunts,

 made adorable Easter crafts,

and got cool new Easter gifts...

and also got to still maintain some routine with daycare, gymnastics, and swim lessons!  We missed them like crazy, but knowing they were having fun and in such good hands was all that we needed to be able to relax and just enjoy our trip. THANKS AUNT MISS for your loving care and for sacrificing your week of “vacation” to be there for our girls!

What happened to March?

I'm a little behind on blogging, and didn't want to skip the FUN times we had in March!  While we didn't really do anything particularly special, the highlights for the girls were some fun Daddy/Daughter Days and a birthday party for one of their BFFs, Taylor!

Gary's been in and out of town a lot lately, and before or after a couple of his trips, he kept the girls out of school for a day of fun, and the girls have gotten to find their inner tom boys! :) They've spent time at the airport...

 

and lots of time on Uncle Terry's farm with Daddy, Mr Todd, and Mr Jimmy...where they've LOVED riding on the big green tractor, shoveling poop...literally...so I'm told, and playing in the dirt.

And have even managed to squeeze in some ice cream before coming home for dinner...:(

 Another day, daddy picked them up early from school and took them out on the dock for some fishing! Macy was completely satisfied to feed the fish her hotdogs, but Makayla actually caught one (with Dad's help) and was thrilled to tell me all about it!

They've also taken trips to Charlotte to visit me in the "big tall buildings" for lunch, stopped by the airport to watch airplanes take off and land, and have had an ice cream snack or two in the middle.  I have to say, it's not been the easiest thing getting them to go to school on days following these big adventures!!

Not to be completely "outdone", the girls have had quite a few Mommy/Daughter days as well while Daddy's been out of town.  We've spent lots of time at parks, taking walks, and swinging and sliding.  There's no shortage of outdoor activity for our family!  We've LOVED the beautiful spring weather and have done our best to enjoy every minute!

Mimi and Papa came for a visit once, and we had a full girls' day complete with shopping, lunch, and the girls' first REAL haircut! We went to a cute little "Snip Its" place, and the girls handled the "procedure" without a squirm or tear! I LOVE their trimmed up dos!

As mentioned, we also got to attend a St Patrick's Day birthday party for the girls' friend, Taylor!  It's always fun hanging out with Taylor and her awesome family, and it's always neat to see Mrs Bonnie, who still keeps Taylor and Ryann, and was the first caretaker for the girls when I started back to work! 

We ended the month with a weekend in Charleston, which deserves its own post, so I'll have more to come!

Coming up Empty

So we've had a BUSY day, and I'm a month behind, and have plenty to blog about to catch up...but that takes time...and said busy day (with Daddy out of town) has made me one tired momma...but...I am pretty excited about my little Sunday School lesson for the 2 year old class tomorrow, so I'm hijacking the blog so I can share!

Most people have probably heard the "Jeremy's Egg" story.  I'll never forget reading this for the first time around 8th grade...it touched me so deeply that I still remember it every year.  Anyway, I realized this morning that I had Sunday-School-teacher-duty tomorrow, and immediately started trying to think of an age-appropriate lesson around Easter...2 is tricky...especially for this coming holiday.  They "get" a lot of things, but not enough to go too deep.  I TOTALLY realize that the full story around Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection is far beyond their comprehension...but I also realize how it never hurts for them to hear about our Savior, and how truly and deeply they hang onto "buzz words" that you embed in their brains...or hearts...SO...I decided to go with a "Jeremy" lesson.

My plan is to give out the empty eggs, tell them a MUCH SIMPLIFIED version of the concept, and then let them find the eggs and apply stickers...what 2 year old doesn't LOVE stickers (and then I've incorporated a "craft" as well! :)...and my hope is that, if nothing else, they'll come away with a buzz word that, I speak from experience, hearing 2 year olds repeat is the sweetest Easter sound imaginable..."Jesus is Alive"!!!!!

I will admit, it just dawned on me that I can't go in there giving them empty eggs without any Easter treats to go with it, so I intend to leave just early enough so that the M&Ms and I can make an emergency run by Target for something to hand out along with the empty eggs...you can only expect so much from toddlers, right?  :)

So now...I leave my "buzz word" in your ear...thankful tonight that I can say those words and nothing else...and be blessed.

Freetime in February

Overall, February turned out to be a wonderfully uneventful month!  We've had amazing, unseasonably warm weather, which we've tried to enjoy with random trips to the park and hanging out outside.  Our biggest "project" for the month has been getting the floors covered in our garage, so we've spent a decent amount of time trying to get organized...still not done yet...and have done a few very minor projects around the inside of the house as well. 

A few weekends ago, we took what was supposed to be a rainy Saturday and made a trip to Boone to go to an ASU basketball game.  We arrived in Boone to find PERFECT weather, so we met up with Uncle Whit and Aunt Miss and their friends, who were also there for the weekend, and enjoyed some beautiful sunshine and lunch before heading to the game.  After the game, we spent a few minutes shopping...and dropping money at the ASU bookstore, as usual...before heading home.  It was a fun day!

The other "noteworthy event" of February is, of course, Valentine's Day!  Just like last year, Daddy surprised us all with an assortment of flowers and candy, and a BIIIIG bear that the girls are tackling on the floor as I type!  :)  We also shared an early "romantic" dinner at Carrabas for the whole family.  (Gary and I followed up with a "date after 8" at home the following weekend)

Last weekend, aside from cleaning the garage, we took some time to get started on our planned garden...nevermind the fact that there's not even a tint of green in any of the thumbs in our family, or the fact that we don't really have a lot of yard space, not to mention any with direct sun light, we still decided we're going to give it a shot!  So we started from scratch with an assortment of yummy produce seeds...not a lot of investment, and it was a fun little experiment with the girls, so we'll see what we come up with!  :)

Other than that, it's pretty much been "business as usual" around here.

I've uploaded an assortment of videos that give you an idea of what "usual" looks like. Our girls LOVE to sing...in every circumstance (sorry Macy!)...and we enjoy lots of sound, some "unplugged", and some in true idol fashion!
Daddy is gone for at least a week, so the girls and I are hanging around the house, hanging out with friends, and planning to spend some time with Mamaw and Papaw tomorrow. We've had a few nice tastes of it, and now we're glad to watch the calendar inch toward SPRING!!

Tybee Beautiful

Last weekend,we made what turned out to be such a fun trip to Tybee Island, GA for a 10K "Race Weekend"!  We were hoping for good weather, not expecting it to be too warm in February, but just decent...when we got there Friday night, we were a little bit...COLD!  We met up with Aunt Miss and walked down the boardwalk to the beach, only to look at the ocean while shielding our eyes from the sand blowing in the wind, then headed back to "safety"...the warmth of our car!  With anticipation of better weather to come, we left the beach and met up with the rest of the crew back at the beach house where we were staying. 

 After gathering the bunch, Mimi, Papa, Aunt Miss, Uncle Whit, and our friends Mr Robert,Mrs Katherine and Carson, we had a birthday party for Mimi...yes, BEFORE dinner...then headed out to eat. The nap-less girls were definitely sleepy, and were not too difficult to convince to hit the pillow right after we got back to the house, and we all called it a night pretty early in anticipation for the big day ahead.

On Saturday morning, the girls...wait...the women...got out of bed bright and EARLY (and so did poor Uncle Whit, but he had to go to work! :() and headed to our race. 

We ran our hearts out, and were all done before 9, so we had a full day ahead!!  We were pleased with the weather (for 7am, anyway) which was actually just cool enough to be PERFECT for a nice long run!  The guys and kids met up with us and we had a YUMMY breakfast at the local "Breakfast Club", the weather continued to warm, and it was time to play!  We wandered around the beach, the pier, and the race area (it was a race series, so there were runners to be spotted most of the day) and then finally decided that showers were in order! 

 

After a few hours around the house, we hit the beach again.  By this point, the weather was amazing!  It was a TINY bit chilly...at least for actually getting your feet wet in the water, but Macy was determined, and engrossed in the art of throwing shells at the birds!  She LOVED it!! 

Makayla had a great time too, but, as would be expected, wasn't that thrilled with the sand in her toes, and just chilly enough that she hung out with whoever would hold her and watched from the sidelines. 

Both girls had a great time with Daddy flying the kite that he bought for the perfect windy weather!  After the beach, it was a perfect beer and pizza kind of afternoon, then we headed back to the house. 

The girls (and we) were thrilled to have Carson (a 10 year old) there to entertain them, and they had so much fun playing babies all weekend.  We enjoyed the adult time, and a yummy seafood dinner at the end of the day!

On Sunday, the weather was better than Saturday, so we made an early morning trip to the beach in jammies and with coffee.  We had to finally almost bribe Macy to convince her to leave, then we let Carson entertain again while we readied ourselves and packed up the house.  We all had lunch in downtown Savannah, enjoying a few final hours in the spring-like sunshine (80 degrees!!), Papa treated the girls to fun balloon animals, and we called it a weekend. 

Gary had to fly out of Savannah, so me and the girls made the trek home. We arrived to 47 degree drizzle, and I can't stress enough how much I HATED that...but the girls were champs, we made our trip in good time, and Mamaw and Papaw stopped by while I unpacked the car and prepared for the new week.

Now I sit inside on this cold (but typical) February day counting down the hours until the REAL spring arrives...and am thankful that we at least had a few moments in the sun until it does!

P.O.T.T.Y.T.R.A.I.N.E.D.

As I use that term, I'm a nervous wreck...I do believe in jinxing one's self, and if it's possible, that's what I'm doing...but it's been a successful couple of weeks, so I decided I didn't want to forget, so I'm going to capture it.

I decided over Christmas "break" that the girls were officially ready for official potty training...official panties, no more diapers.  Based on our doctor's advice, we have had a pair of potties in our house for about 9 months now...and while the girls surprised us right away with a few successful runs, we have been sporadic at best over the past months.  Since daycare doesn't start the training gig until the next class (which the girls will move into any day now), we realized that we were a bit helpless on really achieving "potty-trained" status, if they weren't expected to continue the routine for 8 hours of each weekday.  However, during my extended time with the girls, I finally decided it was TIME!!  I'll spare you the details, but after a couple of "busy" days...can you say bathroom breaks LITERALLY every 15 minutes...or there was a price to pay...I felt pretty good about taking them to daycare in pullups and just laying down the law.  Surprisingly, the teachers were AMAZING (why did I expect anything less from my fav teachers of all time?) and have worked with our girls on a very time-intensive schedule, even when the rest of the class is not ready for the commitment.  Last week was UNBELIEVABLY successful for Makayla.  Macy did great, but not perfect.  To spare the morale, we went ahead with the promised ice cream party, since I decided we had done "good enough" (again, GREAT for Makayla) The weekend was pretty darned good, and this week has been fantastic!  Our accident quotient is so surprisingly low, and tonight it was time to celebrate!  Again, we planned an "Ice Cream Party"...however, when I picked up my little popsicles who had been out on the playground in 39 degree weather, they quickly chose cupcakes over ice cream!!

While I know this seems like a ridiculously long post to talk about something like this, anyone who's a parent can understand the magnitude...we are SOOO excited.  Pampers may have to take out a few extra loans since we're no longer funding their corporate jets and employee benefits...Dora, Minnie, Daisy, and Hello Kitty panties, bring it on!!!

Christmas Encore

As exciting as our Christmas had already been, we didn’t have time to get too concerned with the fact that the actual day was over, especially since we woke up bright and early the next morning to head to Mimi’s! We loaded up in the airplane and were on our way…only to have some small mechanical issues, and a few hours’ delay, but we still made it to Gainesville by early afternoon…thank God for blessing us with air travel!!

We were all very happy to see not only Mimi, Papa, Aunt Miss, and Aunt Sheryl, but were so excited to also get to spend time with Ma and John and Aunt Sally from Missouri! The girls enjoyed their time at the center of attention for the evening, and were exhausted and happy to get in bed on time that night!

The next morning was just as good as the night before when Aunt Sabrina, Uncle Clayton, and Haley and Noah arrived! The kids played their hearts out, and had such a good time, but, unfortunately, Macy and I had to make a (LONG) trip to the Urgent Care when her ongoing cold seemed to be much worse, and we suspected (and later confirmed) pink eye! She was pretty pitiful, and, unfortunately ended up missing yet another nap due to the long wait, so by dinner, she was just completely beat. Despite the less-than-perfect mood, we went ahead and opened gifts, and the girls were again blessed with an amazing assortment of gifts…and MORE BABIES!!  We are definitely fully stocked with an entire nursery of dolls now, and not only did they get their own “Itty Bitty” American Girl babies, but they got the changing table and crib to match! Even though they have so many, it amazes me how they can love and track each and every one, and could not have a present that excites them more!

Makayla and Haley played as long as we let them that night, and Macy and Noah joined in for a little while, but unfortunately, Macy had to have an early bed time due to the fact that she was just sick and exhausted. Fortunately, however, the meds kicked in and she was feeling so much better by the next morning, and was able to enjoy a morning of play time with the family before we headed home!

As exhausting as the holidays can be, we are so lucky to have such a big and close family on both sides, and are SO GRATEFUL for all of our wonderful gifts and time spent with those who mean the most!!