Checking in

Hi. Anyone still here?

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Mac always cracks up when I say that since his nickname is Bueller although he has no idea where it comes from. ;)

I cannot believe the last time I posted anything was three weeks ago. Who am I?

Whoever came up with and included "vacation" with summer obviously did not stay home with their children. Heavens to Betsy. ALL I WANT TO DO IS UPDATE MY BLOG. WAAAAAAAH!!!!! ;) Oh, and maybe pee in peace too. That would be nice. I do love summer but my goodness it's a busy time.

School is now officially out for summer although we decided to start our summer a few days early. The last two and a half days are a joke. Two little birdies (a/k/a Grant and Mac's teachers) let me know that grades were in, report cards were completed, and attendance the last week would not be an issue. That was all I needed to hear, especially since we decided at the last minute to head to the beach for Memorial Day. We had a great, relaxing time. Of course since it was a holiday it was crowded, so we ventured out a little during the day and for the most part stayed close to the camper at night. I dearly love the beach. Emerald Coast RV Resort has become like a home away from home. We enjoy our trips and look forward to a few more over the summer.

How can I love donuts like I do and yet have never been to DD?
Their original glazed donuts don't quite compare to KK in my book,
but their coffee is THE BEST. Some of their original blend
along with blueberry cake munchkins make for a great start.  

Fun lunch at Tacky Jacks! They were STARVING until
we realized they had a pool. :) It was nice to kick back with a
drink and good lunch while the kids swam.

Outside of TJ were a few vendors. They had the most yummy
kettle corn. We also got soft-serve ice cream, and of course
the boys spent the most time at the booth with the gator heads

Fun times with Daddy

This little boy has been waiting a long time to be tall enough
to ride the Kids Cars at Race City. FINALLY!!!!

They were the only 3 on the track. Competition was fierce. :)

The only picture I have from our day on the beach and Chris took it.
Sunscreen+sweat+sand=phone stays in bag

Our evening view of the pond at ECRV

Good times. We missed B but she was having her own fun on JUG beach trip not far from us in Grayton Beach.

B and Molly

Molly, Evelyn and B

Lanier, B and Julia

B and Lanier

I totally stole those pictures from Bethany and/or Ellie's Instagram. :) They were gone from Saturday to Saturday. This was the first time she's been on a trip like that for that long. She had a great time but let's just say she wasn't sad it had to come to an end. ;)

I had every intention of getting fully caught up on everything but duty calls. Although, my duties have been lightened a bit these past few days.

Reid has gone to his Rara's for a few days. His brothers have baseball so he went alone, a first for him. I thought he would last a night, maybe two. Well last night was night three and when I talked to him yesterday he was no where near ready to come home. I said, "REID! I miss you! Are you ready to come home?" His response??? "I wanna stay for a lot of days." Poor thing. He misses me so bad. He is living it up and being spoiled rotten by the minute. I'm missing my Turbo, though, so Mommy Monster may have to be a killjoy and insist he come home today. Otherwise he would probably be ok with changing his address. :)

I hope to be back real soon...

Holy Friday

I really thought yesterday's post would be my last for the week. With the boys being out of school today I didn't anticipate I would have time to even sit down much less blog. However, they decided they wanted to play school. Yes, boys play school too. I, however, am not allowed to play school with them. Apparently I'm too much like a real teacher. A killjoy. If they want to write on Sissy's dry-erase board that 2+2=5 or that "kej" is a real word (in Bueller's defense, it IS a nonsense word) they can. Plus, as Grant said, "You know why we like to play school, momma? Because we always get along when we play school."

Cue the Hallelujah chorus.

So I just enjoyed a full cup of coffee while I read my daily devotional.

Repeat chorus.

Pinch me.

Plus I may have said something about dyeing Easter eggs after lunch so long as I didn't have to play referee before then. ;)

I'm always a mix of emotions Easter week. I've had the hymn He Lives stuck in my head all week with the verse that says "the hope of all who seek Him, the help of all who find..." really speaking to me.

I've never really understood why Good Friday is called "good." It's the day of Jesus' crucifixion. I personally think Holy Friday would be a better term. I read ahead a day in my devotional (Journey) this morning since I had time. It spoke of Jesus' prayer at the crucifixion saying,

Prior to being nailed to the cross, Jesus was brutally flogged so He was already physically compromised due to the loss of blood and dehydration. Isaiah 52:14 says, "His appearance was so disfigured that He did not look like a man, and His form did not resemble a human being."

After the nails were driven into His wrists and feet, the weight of His body hanging on the cross caused severe muscle spasms. His outstretched arms made it impossible for Jesus to breathe. As he was suffocating Jesus used His limited breath to pray, "Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34). Jesus, the perfect, sinless Lamb of God paid our debt of sin on the cross. His last words were of forgiveness - for your sins and my sins, past, present and future.

I hope that hit you like it did me. He suffered. For you and me. He died. For you and me. I'm thankful, grateful, humbled.

I wish I kept the mindset all of my days that I have in the days leading up to Easter. I should be ashamed that I don't.

Christ's death, as awful and horrible and cruel as it was, led to His resurrection on Easter Sunday which brought new life to those who believe. When you think about it that way, "good" is quite fitting to say the least.

My children know and understand why we celebrate Easter. However, I think the boys are a bit too young to hear the gory details of the crucifixion. It's hard for me to hear. So to retell the Easter story, tomorrow evening we will be making Easter Story Cookies (I found this link through Google- you can find many recipes for these if you search; however, this one also contains the scripture that goes along with making these. I printed it all out so I can have everything handy when we're making them). We have done them the past couple of years, and I hope we continue making it a tradition. If you've never made them I encourage you to this year - whether or not you have children. It's one thing to hear the story. It's another to be able to, in a sense, show the story.

I do have a few pictures from Mac's Easter Egg Hunt at school yesterday:

Patiently waiting for Ready.Set.Go

I don't know why but pictures like this crack me up

Mr. Competitive - hunting eggs is serious business :)

With his lady friends :)

Decisions, decisions. They could choose one piece of candy to eat at school

Reid helped me hide the eggs for Mac's class. On the way back to let everyone know we were ready he saw Grant headed to lunch. He tagged along with Grant to lunch then Ms. T was so sweet to let him spend the rest of the afternoon with them. Reid loves Ms. T's centers. Grant loves having Reid in his classroom. It gives me one-on-one time with Mac. It's a win all the way around.

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter weekend!

Spring Break 2012

How has spring break come and gone? Today is business as usual, back to the grind. Grrrr. This momma is ready for summer!

We made a last-minute decision to head to Emerald Coast RV Resort for the boys' spring break. We debated going until the very last minute. At first we said yes, absolutely. Then not only were we not able to stay as long as we would like, but we heard PCB was crazy busy with spring breakers. Both made us question whether or not we should go. Ultimately we decided going even for a few days was better than not going at all and that if it was too crazy we would leave.

I am so very happy we decided to go. The crowd was slim. We couldn't believe it. We never had a wait anywhere we went. We talked to a local who said the last two weeks of March and April are the best - that the first two of each are chaos. So we picked a perfect time to go.

Chris and I were both awake at the crack of dawn the morning we were leaving.

We decided to get on up and head on down. We were pulling out of the driveway by 7:30. I think it's safe to say we were all ready to get there. :)

With very little traffic and only a couple of stops, we made it. We are storing the camper at Emerald Coast. It had been five months since we saw Big Country, so we didn't know what we would find. They had it all set up for us when we got there, and much to our surprise it was in great shape. After a trip to Wal-Mart, a little clean-up and unpacking we were good to go.

We knew we would make it to our favorite restaurants but other than that had nothing on the agenda. So we did whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. The weather was perfect - warm enough to swim during the day with cooler nights. It was a fun, relaxing weekend enjoying time with my guys. I don't have any pictures with my camera, just my phone.

Since we made it in time for lunch, our first stop of course was Dusty's for oysters where we talked Grant into trying his first (and quite possibly his last) oyster. It was baked, not raw, but it may as well have been. Chris told the boys he would give them $20 to eat one. The other two declined. But money was on the line. Professor was all in.

Questioning himself - is it really worth $20?

Heck yeah it is.

Well, maybe. I really, really wish I had a picture of what happened next but I was too busy trying not to fall out of my chair and/or pee myself. Let's just say there was a lot of gagging and some spitting. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

This is the after. Chris joked that he only got half the money since
he spit it out. You can tell he was none too thrilled about it.
Don't worry, he got the full $20. Heck it was worth that just for
the laugh. He was a good sport. Even if his picture says otherwise ;)

Race City is always a given

They were the only two on the track

They aren't supposed to "swap paint" but the guy working that night
let them go at it. It was a race let me tell you. Yet more laughs...
especially when Mac got Grant on the inside and spun him around.

We played our first ever family game of putt-putt
*cough*I won*cough*

Panama Mac haha

Brotherly love

We got plenty of exercise too, walking back and forth to the pool and
walking Lucy around the park. I think Lucy loves it as much as we do.

I'm not ashamed to admit a couple of our mornings started at Waffle House :)

There was plenty of down time too, just hanging out at the camper

And of course more eating. This one cracks me up.

I can only imagine what trips to Hooters will be like when the boys are older. Because heavens to Betsy this one was bad enough.

These two schemed to tell the Hooters girls it was Reid's birthday. I could have stopped it. But I didn't. We said our next trip to the beach would be to celebrate his birthday since we couldn't go in February so it kinda was like we were celebrating his birthday. So over walk about six Hooters girls with their big... smiles (what did you think I was going to say?) and started clapping to sing to Reid. In the meantime this is what's going on under the table:

Y'all. He was pissed. Kicking and screaming mad. Our poor server felt so bad. She stopped the singing but asked him to please come out for a picture.

Um, no.

Needless to say, check please! They all tried to make him feel better but he crawled in my lap and buried his head in my shoulder. She got a good tip anyway. One day he'll probably want to kick himself for this. ha!

All the drama wore him slap out. Later that day while his brothers
swam he crawled in my lap for a snooze. Sweet, sweet lovin'.

Of course there was more eating.

And yet some more...

This one is hands-down my favorite. The trip is not complete without a BLT from Boatyard.

It was refreshing to get away. It did us all good. We weren't ready to leave and are counting down the days until we can go back. The only thing missing was B - her spring break isn't for another few weeks.

Spring baseball's opening ceremonies to officially begin the season are tonight with Grant's first game to follow. It will be a late night but we can't wait! Many ballpark nights are in our future.

Valentine's Day 2012

The day without glaze.

Oh Krispy Kreme, you let me down. I never thought I would utter such profanity.

How can you present your beautiful, special Valentine's heart-shaped donuts with icing and sprinkles (both of which I personally could do without - it's all in the shape - a heart donut - with no hole - which equals one extra bite of deliciousness so who needs icing and sprinkles). But I went with the sprinkles because they're pretty and festive. And well because these weren't really technically for me anyway.

I waited with eager anticipation for Valentine's Day to arrive so I could pick these lovelies up. I headed toward the light just after 8 a.m. Tuesday morning. I had five dozen (no we didn't need the full five dozen - I planned ahead for extras... duh!) in my car before 9. I had to smell the heavenly aroma all morning until it was time for Mac's party around 1. Torture. My mouth watered as I placed a donut on each child's plate. It was hard to refrain from popping a kid or two on the back of the head when they said, "No thank you. I don't want a donut."

How could you not want a donut? That's just not normal.

I decided I would have one during Mac's party and of course would have another during Grant's party which immediately followed. I didn't want to be rude. 

The moment had finally come. Everyone in Mac's class had a plate full of goodies and were pumping themselves full of sugar. It was my turn. Time to indulge. Mmmmmm. I couldn't wait. Look at these things.

Well looks are deceiving.

I took one bite and... NO GLAZE. What the??? NO glaze? I don't care if you put icing on them, dip them in chocolate, roll them in sprinkles then rinse and repeat. You gotta glaze them first. What's a donut without glaze? I'll tell you what it is, it's a big fat letdown is what it is. Which, in the grand scheme of things I guess is better than a big fat ass - B said it was a sign. :( We're both trying to exercise more and make healthier food choices. Although you wouldn't have known that had you been a fly on the wall Sunday and saw that I we dusted off almost an entire batch of Paula Deen's gorilla bread. Weekend calories don't count, right!?! Baby steps.

The stupid unglazed dumb no-glaze heart donuts with sprinkles and icing (as if those two things could take the place of glaze) were a hit with the kids, though. I forced myself to finish the one I bit into but oh what sadness filled my unglazed heart. Have I mentioned the heart-shaped donuts from Krispy Kreme weren't glazed? Because they weren't.

Thankfully my sweet Valentine made up for it.

Last week Chris surprised me with a Keurig. To be honest it's not something I thought I would ever want. Until I got one. Now I really heart my Keurig.

So does B. Especially after we discovered they make green tea K-cups in the same brand Starbucks uses to make theirs. We were on a mission this weekend to perfect her "iced green tea extra-sweet" that she is hooked on gets every.single.day in Decatur where she's a few short minutes from anything. However, we are 30 minutes from the nearest Starbucks so she goes into a bit of withdrawals when she's here. :) A stop by Bed, Bath & Beyond for the K-cups then a stop by Starbucks for their Classic Syrup (where they were so sweet to include a pump, without which B was sure our efforts would fail) and we made our way home.

I'm happy to report it was a success. After a little trial and error we figured out what size cup and which setting worked best as well as how many pumps of syrup it needs. I'm still not completely sold on the whole green tea thing but I'm beginning to acquire a taste for it. And as far as K-cups and coffee, I'm really picky about my coffee so for me the reusable K-cup which allows me to fill it with my own brand of coffee has been my favorite. The boys love it too - we've had more hot chocolate this past week than the whole winter. :) Needless to say the Keurig is a winner!

My guy didn't forget me on the actual day either although I neither anticipated nor expected to receive anything. He brought home some beautiful roses which actually smelled like roses - a hard find for some reason. And they weren't red - thank goodness. :) I love fresh flowers on the island in the kitchen.

But the best thing Chris gave me was something that can't be bought. Tuesday morning after I left the house he sent me a text that just said, "Happy valentines day. I love u." I got butterflies. I know. It sounds so silly and corny and I can't believe I just typed that but I love that he can still make me feel like a giddy school girl. So simple. So unexpected. So sweet. That alone would have been more than enough.

All the K-cups and donuts in the world can't make me feel like that.

Well... the "Hot Now" sign runs a close second. haha! I am normally the girl who rolls her eyes at the corniness that goes along with Valentine's Day, but what's to snub about a day to make your loves feel especially loved.

I'll close with a few pictures from the boys' parties.

Notice he couldn't wear red without making sure he wore his
Auburn sports necklace with it. His PE coaches would have
given him a hard time had he not. :)

Mrs. Schweers & Bueller
We sure hope the tradition continues next year with Reid

Sweet brothers

I hope your day was as sweet as ours.

A little of what we've been up to

I have the greatest sisters and parents ever. Seriously.
On Thursday, thanks to Dawnie, Chris and I got to sneak away to Birmingham for a boat show. You know, because over the summer our boat + a tree...

Yeah. Still makes me so sad to see that picture. :( WAAAH!

Well, one day we'll think we are in the market for another one and the next we'll think better of it. Since we had free tickets to the boat show we thought it would be fun to just go look. Look was all we did. We had a good time. We ate dinner after then made it home in time to tuck the boys in. Many thanks, Snuggie! The boys always love when "Aint" Dawnie picks them up from school.

On Friday, Rachel texted me and said she missed her baby loves and asked what our plans were for the weekend. That's when I jokingly (or not) said, "Why? Do you want them for the weekend?" hehee And so the planning began. Because Martha is Martha, she and the girls drove to my parent's house Friday afternoon, first making a stop by our house to pick up the boys. FOR THE ENTIRE WEEKEND.

RaRa wanted it to be a surprise.

Go ahead and blow that one up so you can see Grant's face :)

M & M - nothing else matters in their world when they're together

I think it's safe to say they were surprised, especially since Maggie FaceTimed Mac as they were getting close just to "say hi on her way home from gymnastics," and kept him on FT until he saw them. Such a fun surprise!

They all kept each other thoroughly entertained (playing, games, the movies) while I was able to relax and enjoy a weekend with my man. It sure was needed, and I'm so very appreciative we were able to have some alone time. We didn't do anything really exciting. Dinner Friday night. Lazy Saturday morning. Did some running around and then went hunting Saturday afternoon. Came home to let the dogs out (we are turning into Big Daddy and Louise). Then dinner again Saturday night. We enjoyed a quiet house and each other. Dreamy.

See? Greatest. family. ever. Thanks to RaRa for making it happen and also to my mom who we can call on a Friday at lunch and say, "Oh, by the way, you're going to have a house full of grands. Today. For the whole weekend." And she says, "Sounds good to me. What time will y'all be here? Be sure to bring church clothes." I hope I'm like that when I'm a Mimi. ;)

As fun as the weekend was and as much as we recognize the need for couple time, I think it goes without saying that we missed our little guys and were very glad to have them back home Sunday.

Granddaddy finished the European mount on Mac's first deer. Dad did a beautiful job as always, and Mac was one happy little hunter to have it on his wall (although the fact that it's a spike makes the horns look sort of evil which creep me out but I've kept that to myself - he just sees his deer, which he should).

Jack the Taxidermist - who we keep telling should go into business - has a couple more he just finished (one for Grant and one for Chris). We can't wait to see them.

I hate these pictures didn't turn out so well because I love them. Chris was working the dog the other day (oh yeah, we have a lab now too... that's a whole other post in itself - he and I aren't exactly friends - lab puppies are psycho).

Reid was right there with his daddy the whole time and was mimicking everything Chris was doing. Love.

And in case you have forgotten the name of this thing (especially if you live in the south):

It is called the sun. S-U-N, sun. The past couple of days I have thought maybe it was just a figment of my imagination, like a mirage of sorts. But no! It was the real deal. Reid and I thoroughly enjoyed soaking it up while Chris and the other two boys were at baseball.

Turbo wanted Lucy to go with us and at some point it ended up with Reid carrying Lucy while I pushed his bicycle.

Poor Lucy looks like a hot mess in that picture. She has since had a bath. Chris was holding her the other night and said, "You ought to be ashamed for letting your dog look like this." I said, "I KNOW! I cannot believe I've let her get so nasty. I'll bathe her tomorrow."

And then it occurred to me... We have turned into those dog people - the ones I have always made so much fun of. Maybe I should change Lucy's name to Karma. It's fitting in more ways than one. ;)

One last thing...

It's January. And we're wearing flip flops. I could get used to winters like this (minus the bad weather of course - just got word school is closing early today due to inclement weather). I could also get used to putting my feet up. :)

Happy {almost} Friday!