Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Jacksonville, 2015

Hi there! It's been a L-O-N-G time! I've missed this ole' blog of mine. I've gone back and forth about shutting it down or not, but ultimately decided to give it a go again.  I love that it helps me keep my plethora of pictures organized, AND it's a fun way for family and friends (both near and far) to know what's going on in this crazy house. I promised myself that I would get back to blogging this summer, but seriously, this summer is flying by. (SOB) 
I can't believe it almost the end of JULY. 
So...buckle your seat belts folks... and get ready for the wild ride. 
It'll take several posts to catch you up, but here goes nothing;) 

Over Spring break, the kids and I got to tag along on Shane's business trip to Jacksonville! We truly had one of the BEST weeks EVER. (And just a little side note: Our house was on the market during this time too. We were told by our realtor that spring break was one of the busiest showing weeks of the year. Keeping a house "show ready" on a normal day was no joke, never mind over a week were  all five kiddo's would be home from school. I didn't have to think twice when Shane mentioned coming with him. It was off to Jacksonville for a week of fun in the sun!!) 
The guys outside our hotel.
Eating at a local seafood restaurant called LuLu's.
Our Sophie's nickname;)
Swimming in the hotel pool.
Cuddles with Daddy!

Day TWO: We got wild and crazy at the Jacksonville Zoo!



























Sunday, April 5, 2015

An Egg-cellent Day!

Yesterday, our sweet friends, the Robinson's, hosted their annual Easter EGG-travaganza!!!
It's such a hit each year that my kids look forward to it almost as much as they do Christmas morning;) 
Not.even.kidding! 
 And one thing is for SURE...
Bryan and Juli KNOW how to have an Easter egg hunt!!!
They filled and hid over 800 eggs for the kids to hunt this year.
SERIOUSLY...800 Easter Eggs!!!!!!!!
 And while most ordinary egg hunts are over in a matter of seconds... 
the Robinson Egg-travaganza lasts for nearly a half- hour!!!!!
The kids usually have to take a time out at some point during the hunt in order to dump their baskets out so they can have room for more eggs.
It's crazy FUN!
After the hunt, the kids had a blast playing a few Easter games.
"Can you guess the flavor of the Jelly Bean?" was a hit with the big kids. 

 And everyone enjoyed a round of Egg Hunt BINGO!
 Corban and Sophie's team WON! They were just a tad excited;)
 We are certainly blessed to have such wonderful friends in our lives. 
Friends who love us, and invest so much time and energy into loving our kids!
We are BLESSED!!!!
Happy Happy Easter EVERYONE!

HE IS RISEN!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Life Lately

Life lately has been BUSY!!! Our BIGGEST and most exciting news is that we're...MOVING!!!! 
Well, we have to sell THIS house first (minor detail), so if you (or anyone you know) is looking for a GREAT house in an AWESOME neighborhood (just outside the Charlotte area), send them our way;) 
We are definitely getting super duper excited about this new adventure though. 
We've already found a GREAT house, with a huge yard (our number one desire), that's actually not too far from where we are now. Our fingers are crossed we can call it HOME soon. Getting our house ready for the market, and keeping it show ready (with five kids) is NO joke. Prayers it sells quickly would be GREATLY appreciated;)
The weather has definitely not been optimal for house hunting, but the kids sure have LOVED the snow and the snow days that accompanied it. 
School was canceled for several days last week, so we enjoyed cozy days at home, reading books, watching movies, drinking hot cocoa and munchin' on popcorn. 
The kids all returned to school on Friday, just in time to celebrate the Terrific Kids breakfast. 
Riley was chosen by his third grade class as one of the Terrific Kids this month for exemplifying the character trait, kindness! 
We couldn't be PROUDER of this sweet guy!
Although he will ALWAYS be "Terrific" to US;)
After the celebration, the big kids participated in their school Boosterthon Fun Run. 
Thankfully, the weather cooperated and the sun actually attempted to peak out behind the clouds for us. 
Each grade took their turn running their laps on the track. 
Since I have three kids in three different grades at the school this year, Hudson, Addy-Kate and I got to take in THREE solid hours of Boosterthon FUN;)
Good times, I tell ya! Good times!
And this girl may or may not have done more cartwheeling/twirling than any actual "running"! 
(SIGH) 
I was dizzy just watching her;) 
Here's Cor getting ready to run his laps. 
He has been BLESSED with some of the sweetest friends this year. They are all such good boys, who really have fun being together. I can't even tell you how thankful I am for this awesome group! 
Riley totally ROCKED out his laps as well!
It was a l-o-n-g morning, but the kids had an absolute BLAST!
Saturday morning, the boys headed one way, and us girls headed another. 
Shane took the boys go-carting. They met up with my brother, dad, and brother-in-law, and had a great time. Shane came home with a SECOND place title as well as a CRACKED RIB!!!!!
The CRASH and broken rib were just a small detail in the story of how Shane came in second place and beat my Dad. 
Boys will (forever) be boys!
The girls and I (thankfully) had a much calmer morning. Sophie attended a fun cooking party to celebrate her sweet friend, Averi's birthday.
And YES...she wrote the name "Elsa" on her hat. That is what she insists we call her these days;) While she was at the party, Addy-Kate and I enjoyed some rare one-on-one time. 
We did a little shopping and then enjoyed a quick lunch before we had to pick Sophie back up.  
From there, the girls and I went to watch our sweet friend (who we affectionately call) "Big Sophie", preform in her school musical, Cinderella.
My girls absolutely LOVED the show and were completely mesmerized the entire performance.
TWO sweet Sophie's;)
TWO sweet smiles;)
Two sweet girls!!!!