Cuz

One of the things I really looked forward to upon quitting my job was limitless vacation! So, last week the kids and I set off on our first road trip to Tennessee to see the family. (just cuz we could!) I wasn't sure how I would handle taking the kids all by myself, but you never know until you try, right? I beautifully packed up the car the night before -- the passenger seat was organized with movies, snacks, juice cups, paper towels, and a bin of toys. We left out early the next morning and, to tell you the truth, the kids were perfect angels. We stopped 1 time in the 7 hour trip and arrived around 1:30. Honestly, I would not have even known Caleb was in the car. Every so often, I would toss a different toy back to his car seat and he was perfectly content! Now, Eveley took a little more effort -- we played about 4 hours worth of "find a match" -- this is our version of I Spy. But, nonetheless, it was a fantastic trip. (I think I deserved one after our beach trip fiasco...)

My parents now have two donkeys, a miniature pony, pigs, a garden, and -- the best feature -- 3 sweet little cousins living right next door. My brother's family lives there, and it is so fun to see the little ones playing together.

 

 

 

 

 

(We couldn't convince Eveley that she was too big for this swing...)

The girls are stair steps, each born a year apart. And little Wyatt just joined the family in May. Caleb and Wyatt are exactly 5 months apart and will be best buds, I'm sure.

The kids loved the animals and the garden. And then Marmee found the coolest neighborhood park ever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We tirelessly tried to get a picture of the 5 grandchildren. After some threats of spankings and some promises of fruit snacks, this was the best we got!

 

 

I think this was the first of many road trips. I pray they all go as smoothly!

Still Crazy in Love

Happy Anniversary to my wonderful hubby.

I never expected our lives together to look like this. I never expected the "for better or for worse" line of our wedding vows to actually come into play. But I can honestly say that we are more in love today than we have ever been.

After 6 years, he knows me better than I know myself. And I know him pretty well too! Yesterday, we headed to Target with the kids. Bob took Eveley and I took Caleb and we set off to pick out some gifts for eachother. (This has become somewhat of a tradition and I think it's tons of fun.) We set a budget and pick out fun things we think eachother would like. As usual, he did a great job. I got a Paula Dean cookbook, a big fat magazine to read in my big fat bathtub, dark chocolate truffles (my very favorite), and a new food saver machine! We are so practical! But I love it! I got Bob the new Tiger Woods PS3 game (he almost cried) and a few other techno gadgets. And the other part of his gift is that I'm letting him play it all afternoon without rolling my eyes or nagging at him to quit!

Bob - I love you so much and am thankful that God handpicked you to be my lifelong mate. You are such a strong, godly man and a wonderful husband and father. Thank you for standing beside me these past 6 years.

If you really want to see those "ancient" wedding pictures, you can see them here.

Let them eat cake.

 

Last week, Eveley was busy doing her current favorite activity -- washing dishes.

 

Since she was entertained, I decided to run downstairs and change out the laundry. While I was pulling wet clothes from the washer, I caught a glimpse of Miss Eveley running past me. I assumed she had just decided to follow after me and was going to shift her attention to the downstairs set of toys. As I walked out of the laundry room, I saw her holding something large in her hand. It was unrecognizable.

 

"What do you have?" I asked her.

"Cake," she responded nonchalantly.

Cake indeed.

(I wonder where she got the idea that you could hide in the workout room beside the treadmill and eat cake????)

 

Keeping Busy

My first week of unemployment has passed, and I just can't say how wonderful it has been. I don't think I was prepared for the way this transition would affect my mood and my spirit, but it has been absolutely wonderful. It really feels like a whole new world. (cue the music). When Bob comes home from work in the evenings, I do not feel like I'm going to explode -- which was my usual mood. I was tired and frustrated and felt that I had too many things to do and not enough time to do them well. But praise God, that feeling has left me. Now, of course I still feel like my "to do" list is never ending and the days are crazy, but it is a crazy that I am enjoying trying to manage.

My little baby is 8 months old. I can't believe it. He has 4 teeth and one of the biggest smiles I've ever seen!



I am taking my job as full-time homemaker very seriously. We are trying to devise (and comply with) a realistic and wise budget. And in order to find some wiggle room in the budget, I've been trying out a couple of things.



1. Making my own baby food. I used to laugh at this thought. It took way too much time, and opening a jar seemed much more practical. But my "little baby" - pictured above - eats like a horse. None of my babies have eaten this much before. And since baby food ain't cheap, I thought this could possibly save me some money each week so that I can put it towards #2 on my list.

I now am finding that I have the time and energy to devote to some new and fun things that really inspire and interest me. My friend Crystal is one of the most creative people I know. She inspires me in so many ways and, to beat all, she's a patient teacher and lives nearby! Check out her etsy shop - Little Bit Funky.

She made Eveley the most adorable reversible dress and made Caleb a matching tie onesie. It is so cute, but the best picture I could get of it was this -- (I don't think she'll be using us as advertising...)



But with Crystal's leading, and lots of handholding, I am going to attempt to accomplish #2 on my list

2. Make a quilt for Eveley's "big girl" bedroom. My fabrics just arrived in the mail. Aren't they gorgeous!



I'll keep you updated on my progress. If you want to join the quilting adventure, Crystal will be giving weekly instructions on her blog. She says that if you can cut and sew straight lines, then it's a cinch. We'll see....

And if you act quickly, you can probably enter her giveaway drawing here. I am crossing my fingers for one of those pillows. How adorable!!!

The Last Hoorah

Well, it's official. I am no longer employed. Of course, if you are a mom of young kiddies, you are laughing as you read this. While my employment has come to an end as far as the IRS is concerned, my job is bigger than ever, and I am excited to expand my job responsibilities.

My office had a "going away" party for me this past weekend at the beach. I have been at this job for nearly 5 years -- started it the month after we found out we were pregnant with Robbie. The beach is only a 2 1/2 hour drive for us, so we planned to make it a day trip.




I must be honest. I was excited about this outing. Although I have had a professional career these past 6 years, I have spent most of the last 5 working from my home -- in pajamas, conversing with the rest of the professional world only over email or by telephone. So I bought a new outfit, had my eyebrows waxed, and got a spray tan. Yes, you heard me -- I had a spray tan! I have done this before and it's perfect. There is no time to get a sitter and go lie in the tanning bed for a week -- not to mention the fact that it is a glorified toaster. I must admit that it looked rather good, and my husband is planning to amend our budget to make this a regular expense! (Just kidding.)

I made the lists, packed the bags, extra clothes for the kids, swim diapers, sunscreen, beach chairs, made a cake, and we hit the road. We actually left early and things were going smoothly. Until we hit the traffic. You would think that after living there for nearly 4 years, we would not have been taken by surprise. The traffic is terrible there. We just forgot how terrible it was. It took us nearly 1 1/2 hours to go 5 miles through the bridge tunnels. I realized we were going to be an hour late for my own party, and I was so upset. The kids had been great travelers though and were entertaining eachother very well. As the traffic started to thin out, I decided to climb into the back of the car to feed Caleb some baby food. I sat down between the 2 kids, and pulled out a jar of pears. I had been sitting there for no longer than 30 seconds when I heard a terrible sound. Then I heard it again. Eveley proceeded to projectile vomit her entire stomach all over herself and all over me. There were bits of food all over my new shorts and my brown arms and legs. It kept coming. I was screaming and almost crying -- but there was no pulling over since we were now inside the long anticipated bridge tunnels. For the final 15 minutes of the trip, I was changing her clothes, wiping off the car seat, cleaning off toys (since the vomit had landed inside the bin of toys I had so carefully packed) and trying to keep myself from vomiting as well. Fotunately, I had brought her extra clothes. I myself was not so fortunate. I guess I can sort of laugh about it now. So much for having cute eyebrows and tan skin if you smell like spoiled yogurt. Oh well.


This is how I felt when we finally arrived -- exhausted, but nice eyebrows, right?!

We finally made the party and had a great time. "I will miss everyone," I told them, "a little bit." The kids loved the beach and I remembered how peaceful the sounds of the ocean are. It's a good thing these kids are cute!