May Phone Pics

In May, we got to go to a super fun fishing birthday party!  It was such a pretty day and, even though we didn't catch anything, we had a lot of fun casting our rods over and over again.  :)

We also let the kids have their first sibling sleepover...but it didn't last all night!  Thomas was back in his crib within an hour. 

Early in the month I got to attend a special brunch at Katie Wynn's preschool for Mother's Day.  It was nice to get to eat with my girl and our friends!

On the actual morning of Mother's Day, I woke up to my special little blessings emptying a bottle of baby powder in our closet.  Needless to say, our clothes smelled powder fresh for a few days. 

Thomas got his first tattoo!  Temporary tattoo, that is.

Whether on the couch, in his Daddy's lap during church, or curled up with his big book of trucks, this boy is sweet, sweet, sweet when he's sleeping.

He's a pretty cute helper at the grocery store too.  

But sometimes he makes it sound like a machine gun is going off in my laundry room when I was all the rocks he brought home in his pockets.

We had a nice afternoon that was warm enough to get the water table out.  Katie Wynn laughed at Thomas when he stripped down to play, but the next time we turned around she was nekkid too.  

My sweet girl colored me a heart on the driveway.

In preparation for our beach trip at the end of the month, we tried on swimsuits after bath one night.  Can you tell when Thomas was over it?

There were some cute Mint Tulip outfits worn throughout the month too!

This early morning series melts me!

After May comes June and that means a birthday for Thomas!  Back soon with all the details about our little guy turning THREE!

Beach House Changes

Over the spring, our family made the decision to switch to a different rental company to handle all of our reservations and house upkeep.  The new rental company had some good suggestions to increase our rental volume and since Matt and I were there just before peak season, we did all the heavy lifting on making those changes!  

The two main changes we focused on were 1) ditching the tv armoir in the living room and 2) adding bunkbeds to one of the jack-and-jill bedrooms upstairs.  We did a little pre-work before traveling and had already ordered two sets of bunkbeds that were set to arrive the same day we did.  But as we rolled into town early that morning, we still had to shop for four new twin-sized mattresses, bedding for the new beds, a new tv to hang on the wall in the living room, and a piece of furniture to set underneath it.  Doesn't sound like much, but when you have only one day to do it all, one car to do it in, and two small, restless helpers in tow, it turns into quite a heavy day's work.  

I'll spare you ALL of the details (it was a LONG day and the kids did really well considering) but we did have to rent a truck from Home Depot at one point.  And here's a couple things we learned - none of the mattress stores we visited (about four maybe?) had four twin size mattresses in stock that we could walk out with that day.  We had to buy two sets of two from different places, or else we'd have to order them to be delivered in a week.  And, you can't legally sell a used mattress anywhere in Florida.  We had a queen set with less than a year's worth of sleeping on it but we couldn't do anything with it!  We could have sold it ourselves through Craigslist, but time was not on our side for that.  In the end, we had to pay one of the mattress places to let us drop it off at their dumpster to be hauled off.  Isn't that crazy?

Also on the list of activities for the day was to find a consignment store to sell the queen bed, dresser, and tv armoir that we no longer needed (and a few other odds and ends).  We learned that there is no longer a market for tv armoirs so once again, we were stuck with a piece of furniture we couldn't do anything with!  The consignment store let us dump it in their warehouse to be donated to charity.

I had to send pictures of the bed and dresser before the consignment store would agree to sell them.  

Here is an old picture from move-in weekend of the tv armoir we had in the living room.  Ironically, we originally purchased it from the consignment store that wouldn't take it back.

Here is how the living room looks now without the tv armoir, a slightly bigger tv on the wall, and a new piece of furniture from Kirkland's underneath it.  It's amazing how much bigger the room feels without the armoir sticking out from the wall.

I gotta give ourselves a hand and say we did a dang good job of knocking out everything on our to-do list that day.  Our goal was to have all the "house work" done before our guests arrived so we could actually enjoy the week's vacation.  Everything went according to plan until late that night when we finally started putting together the two sets of bunkbeds only to find we were one box short.   

We were only able to put together one set of beds that night which frustrated me and Matt but the kids were thrilled to get to sleep on them. (Pictured here with a comforter from Walmart I took back the next day.)

While we love the beds we ordered from Wayfair, their customer service over our lost box was pretty horrible.  I tried to leave a negative review on their site about it but it wouldn't ever post.  Weird.  It was the shipping company that eventually found our box and delivered it to us mid-week.  By the end of the week, we had both beds set up and the new bunk room ready for renters.

I purchased the quilts from two different Bed, Bath, and Beyond stores (again - why can't you get four??) and I love the way the stripes look on the white beds with the grey walls.  The other side has anchors which is a good touch for the beach house.  My mom made the throw pillows with some sailboat Premier Fabric. 

Hopefully the next time we visit the house all our new furniture will still be in good condition and we'll get to enjoy it without having to shop for it or put it together!  I hope that visit comes sooner rather than later!

Beach Vacation 2017

This year, we decided to skip the last week of pre-school (such rebels!) and beat the crowd to the beach.  With a total of 11 nights away, this was the longest vacation we'd taken as a family and we enjoyed every minute of it.  (Well, most minutes of it.  Twenty-four hour togetherness with a 2- and 4-year old for 12 days straight does come with a few less than enjoyable moments.)

We were quite the clown car on the road! 

Our first order of business when we got into town was getting Thomas a haircut.  He needed one pretty badly and everyone knows you can't get a haircut right after vacation or you'll be showing off a sweet tanline on your neck.  So I stopped at a Great Clips because what could go wrong when Great is in the name?  

Clippers.  This natural redhead went straight for the clippers and buzzed up the back of his head like we were there to enroll in boot camp.  And then what could I do but let her finish?  So if his hair looks jacked up in every picture from this vacation, here's why.

After the awesome haircut, we went to Target where Matt taught the kids this cool trick where they laid down in the basket and pretended to nap so I didn't have any room in the cart to put anything.  Yeah, right.  Good try, Daddy.  This is the only time I'll wake the kids from their "nap."

Like last year, we invited friends to join us for the week.  Both of my kids count Levi as one of their best friends, so they were both thrilled to have him there to play with.  Levi's little sister, Reed, was toddling around and able to get into more things than she was the year before.  She enjoyed following behind the big kids and they were sweet to try to include her.  

FUN IN THE SAND

We have learned that having buddies for your kids to play with on the beach makes it a little more enjoyable (read: slightly more relaxing) for us parents! This was probably the first year with kids where we were both actually able to sit still and maybe read a page or two of a book while the kids played in the sand beside us.  And it was fun to see the kids enjoy getting in the water a little more this year - they're getting more and more brave with every trip to the beach!

Since our house is not right on the beach, we ride the neighborhood tram down to the beach walkover.  The kids love it - the journey is just as much fun as the destination.

Have you seen those big inflatable couches that are hot right now?  I bought a cheap knockoff version to take with us.  I wouldn't say it was easy breezy to fill up (punny, since you're supposed to use the windy breeze to scoop up air) but we got it done and both kids had to try it out.

I'll admit, even as a cheap knockoff, it was still pretty dang comfortable to lay on.  

That is, until...a giant wave came and swept me off the shore and into the water.  Laura managed to catch me sliding into the water on camera; I'm just glad she didn't get the shot of me completely tumping over into it!

MAKING A SPLASH

Even with the beach being a big hit this year, we still squeezed in some time at the big community pool and the splash pad.  

You can't leave for the pool until you're properly dressed and accessorized.

When going swimming, you've gotta make sure you stop for plenty of snacks.

And after playing in the splash pad, you have to spend some time out in the grassy yard perfecting your rolling-down-hills technique.  It helps to get Mrs. Laura to show you how it's done.  :)

We officially brought the redneck to 30A when the kids needed to potty and I let them strip down and go by the fence.  But really, can you blame me?  Who likes to clean up wet foot prints through the house?

OUT AND ABOUT

We spent a fair amount of time exploring Seacrest, Seaside, and Rosemary.  We even managed to eat out a couple times with our whole party of eight.  And, because we were on vacation, we stopped for lots of ice cream!  (Also, there were lots of matching outfits.  But you already knew that, right?)

Matt and I took the bigger kids to paint pieces of pottery one day.  It was so fun and their platters turned out so cute!  The colors are much brighter and more vibrant after it's fired in the kiln and topped with glaze.

AROUND THE HOUSE

Quick story - we had this doodle board at the house that the kids took turns drawing on.  Thomas had had it for a while when I felt a tug on my shorts and heard, "Look, Mommy.  I drew a sun!"  I gave him the standard mom response, "uh-huh," and kept doing whatever it was I was doing.  But when I looked over and caught a glimpse of his drawing, I squealed loud enough to scare everyone in the house.  Y'all, he had drawn a legit sun!  All by himself!  I know, that's like the easiest thing ever to draw but it was his first picture to draw where you could actually recognize the object.  I was so dang proud of him.  And just look at that big goofy grin on his face.  I had a matching one on mine.  

I've said it before and I'll say it again, they're sweetest when they're sleeping.  Post-beach, post-shower, pre-clothes naps are the best.

We were all super sad on the dreaded morning our friends had to leave.

We stayed for a just a couple more days after they left, but it just wasn't as much fun.  We're already looking forward to going back...hopefully in the fall!

End of School Celebration

Near the end of Katie Wynn's first year of Pre-School, we began receiving notices about the field trip to the farm they'd be taking at that parents were encouraged to attend.  It was suggested to bring lawn chairs, blankets, snacks, sunscreen, and anything else we might need to enjoy the day.  I honestly had no idea what to expect!

I'm glad I was able to attend the field trip with her, as nearly every child there had at least one parent present (and some had little siblings too - wish I'd brought Thomas!).  This "farm" that we spent the day at was the home of an upperclassmen.  It was farm-ish in that they had a few horses, but mostly because they had so many BIG tractors!  Thomas would have been in Heaven!  Katie Wynn and her friends sure were.  

I learned that this family hosts this celebration every year and their farmhands park the tractors and stand by them to help the kids climb into them and play.  They're allowed to push buttons and honk the horn.  (LOTS of honking that day.)  Also around the property were bounce houses, a huge blow up water slide, a police car to climb in, horses to ride, games to play, and a pinata for each class to bust open.

For my girl, I think it's safe to say the tractors were her very favorite part.  

The best I could get...and I tried really hard!

Katie Wynn wanted absolutely nothing to do with the big water slide, so she and I played corn hole and jumped in the bouncer while her friends checked it out.

For lunch, the school purchased lots of pizzas.  We were near the end of the line when they ran out of plates, so we got a whole box to share. :)

So many friends to play with, so many things to do, and the girls needed to take their chairs off for some quiet time.  They were cute out there just sitting and watching the road.  :)

After lunch we watched Addi Clare ride a horse.  Katie Wynn, not surprisingly, had zero interest in doing that herself, but we enjoyed watching.  

The face of someone who is NOT getting near a horse.

The farm celebration ended around 1:00.  By then we were hot and sweaty so our little group drove straight to get some ice cream.  It was a fun day and I'm really glad I was able to spend it with my favorite girl!

Easter 2017

A couple weeks before Easter, I caught wind that one of the kids' old daycare teachers had a nest of bunnies and was "renting them out" for pictures.  I couldn't get our photoshoot lined up fast enough!  We talked up getting to see the baby rabbits for days beforehand and the kids were so excited.  Guess which child was scared to death when the sweet, cuddly bunnies were placed on the blanket?

Yep, so scared she hid behind her little brother.

We took a little breather without the bunnies and their Daddy got them laughing.  Those are the smiles we were hoping for!

When we brought the bunnies back, we corralled them in a basket.  This helped Katie Wynn feel braver near them.

The sweetness!  I was really impressed at how well Thomas did with them.  He was not scared to touch or hold them at all.  

Of course I love these sweet little grins.  We had them push the bunnies' ears down to see if they would pop back up.  Worked like a charm!

As all you mamas surely know, those sweet grins and gentle touches can only last so long.  I guess every photoshoot has to come to an end at some point, and Thomas tackling Katie Wynn signaled the end of this one.

The weekend before Easter, Lala and Poppa came to town for a visit!  We took some quick pictures after church with them and the kids because they aren't all together very often anymore.

I love this picture of Bill and Pat (on the left).  And tell me Thomas's baby legs and that crossed foot isn't stealing the show over on the right.  I'm going to miss seeing him in bubbles and knee socks.  Why does he have to get big?!

Since Lala and Poppa wouldn't be here the next weekend for Easter, we pulled out some of the confetti eggs early to crack some good luck (and confetti) over their heads!

Katie Wynn had an Easter party at school and I was the room mom in charge of it.  Matt helped with all the snacks and we decided it'd be easier to go ahead and bag them up for each child so we wouldn't have to divvy out each food in the classroom.  In a last minute, use-what-you-have rush, we pulled off these cute bunny snack bags.

It was fun getting to be at school and watch Katie Wynn and her classmates.  They hunted for eggs and then we cracked more confetti eggs.  Many of the kids had never done them before so they were a big hit.

Finally, it was the day to celebrate Jesus's resurrection!  My mom made the kids' Easter outfits for church and they looked absolutely precious in them.  Matt warned me that it was probably Thomas's last year for a frou-frou outfit so I had to take extra pictures of him in it.

Another egg hunt at church during Sunday School and our two were the first out of the gate!

If you've read one of my Easter posts before then you know immediately following church, we head over to my parents' house for lunch.  But first, we take pictures.  No one, and I mean no one, is allowed to change clothes or even so much as loosen a tie or roll up sleeves before we take about 292 pictures.  Every family, every couple, every set of kids, kids and grandparents, yadda yadda yadda.  It's like torture for every kid and male in the family.  Meanwhile, we hope that my Dad remembered to turn on the pre-set ovens before leaving church so that the food is cooking and almost ready.  (He's only forgotten once.)

Lilli Greer is the baby of the family and poor thing just wasn't feeling pictures that day.  Every kid gets a turn to boycott them and this was her year, I guess.

Charlie is probably my parents' favorite "kid."  Look how well he smiled for their family picture.  :)

Memaw with almost all of her great grandchildren.

After we've had lunch and the kids are good and hyped up on sugar from chocolate eggs and marshmallow bunnies, we have a big egg hunt.  I always love this.  My parents spend the night before stuffing around 200 eggs with goodies and us parents get to hide them.  Now that some of the kids are getting big, Mom has had to start putting tickets in the eggs for bigger prizes.  They are no longer amused with stickers and erasers.

Is there anything more fun than dumping out your basket and going through all the loot you just scored?  

Just when everyone's winding down and starting to get tired and thinking about maybe chilling out for a while, you know what happens, right?  Aunt Laura breaks out the 6 dozen confetti eggs!  And man, this year, it got dirty.  People went down.  No one was off limits.  Not even Memaw.  Because nothing says Christ is Risen quite like shoving a cracked confetti egg down the back of a family member's shirt.  

Look at all my favorite Mint Tulip models playing on the playset!  That's a cute nest of bunnies right there.

Synchronized swinging!

Easter is my favorite holiday.  There are so many parts to enjoy!  I love the church service; I love the reason we celebrate; I love the pretty outfits; I love the yummy food; I love the egg hunt and the confetti fight.  And also?  I love the nap at the end of the afternoon.  When everyone in the house konks out, that's when you know it's been a really good day.