Cleaning house!

Maybe you've seen this quote on Pinterest or Facebook already, but when I read it the other day I literally died. It's absolutely true and TOTALLY describes my life right now;)

  Just the other day, I text'd these pictures to Shane of my "Sweet Three" assisting me as I cleaned the house.

This cleaning crew loves to vacuum,

and believe it or not, they are pro's at doing windows as well-HA!

 I seriously have NO idea what happened to Hudson's clothes in this picture. 

 I guess that's just how we roll these days-HA;)

Family Beach Photo's

Every year at the beach, we always choose a night to get together and take family photos. 

It's definitely not the most anticipate event of the week, but everyone just grins and bears it...HA

...no pun intended;) 

 This year, just as we were getting ready to snap that first picture, it started to rain:(

  BUMMER!

 We decided to wait a little bit and as soon as there was a break in the clouds, we high-tailed it to the beach, hoping to grab a few pics.

My brother's friend, Sam was staying with at the beach again this year, so he had the "privilege" of taking THE "family" photo. 

All I can say is "BLESS HIS HEART"!

Getting 18 people (6 of those being under the age of 3) to smile-or at least look in the vicinity of the camera is not a small task. 

Some how we pulled it off, but I can't promise that we didn't pull our hair out in the process-HA!

My parents and my siblings.

KK and Al

My nephew, Jake.

My sister, B and her sweet family.

And then here are just a few of my favorites:

Hudson and Addy-Kate cheesin'  it up for the camera;)

Sweet Sisters.

My handsome boys.

Me and my precious girls.

Papa holding baby Parker=LOVE.

And I think we waited TOO long for that shot of the kids with their grandparents,

 because this was the BEST we could get. 

Oh well!

 There is always next year;)

Discovery Place and S'mores

Only two weeks left and then it's back to the ole' grind. Just two more weeks of sleeping in, lazy days by the pool, and fun-filled summer outings.  

ONLY TWO WEEKS...AHHHHH...

Friday, we spent the day on one of those summer outings. Our good friends/neighbors, the Robinson's, joined us for a day at Discovery Place! 

Instead of driving, we decided to ride the train into uptown. The kids LOVED it, but Hudson was especially excited. He is REALLY into trains, so the idea of riding on a "real" one was a super BIG treat!

 

We packed our lunch and enjoyed a full day at the museum. 

The kids had an absolute BLAST and were all surprisingly well behaved. 

No major meltdowns=a successful trip in my book;)

The day wore our sweet Addy-Kate flat out though. 

The second we got on the train to head home, she was OUT!!!

Bless her little heart;)

And if that wasn't enough fun for one day...

Friday was also NATIONAL S'MORES DAY!

We spent the evening celebrating as we roasted marshmallows and made yummy s'mores. 

Everyone had fun being creative and coming up with new and interesting S'more combinations. 

It was a "sweet" way to end our busy summer day.

Just a random catch-up

 Since we just came home from a week of vacation, and since the beginning of school is just around the corner, I feel rushed to cram the rest of our summer fun into what little time we have left.

 This week has been an especially busy one for us...

MONDAY:

I took AK to the ENT for a doctors appointment. She did great and I was thrilled with what I learned.  Addy-Kate's hearing was tested and the results were exactly what I had hoped and prayed for.  

 Although the hearing in her right ear is minimal, the left ear is PERFECT!!! The doctor will do some more testing in another six months or so, but as for now things look GREAT!

PRAISE THE LORD for this healthy little girl!!!

 TUESDAY:

We met my sister and her sweet crew at Imaginon. 

We had tickets to see a fun magic show...

 and then had a BLAST playing and exploring the library after the show was over. 

WEDNESDAY:

My sister, B and I met my cousin Bunny, and her new baby boy, Peter, at my mom's house for a morning of swimming fun!

We had yet to meet this precious new addition to our family and 

Sophie couldn't wait to get her hands on him;)

 

As she held him, I had to remind her several times not to hug him too tightly;)

AND...did you know that August 2nd was National Ice Cream sandwich day?!?!?

Seriously...it was!

We missed celebrating it because we were at the beach, but we HAD to recognize this important holiday once we got home;)

The kids and I got busy in the kitchen and made a "COLOSSAL ICE CREAM SANDWICH" to celebrate!

It was a delicious YUMMY mess;)

Oh, and while we are talking about yummy messes...

 this week, the kids and I have been having lots of fun with yummy food--especially at breakfast time.

The more fun the food is, the more food they actually eat-HA!

Hope y'all are having a GREAT week too;)

Surfside Beach, 2012

We just spent the last seven days at my favorite place on earth...the beach. This was my 24th summer visiting Surfside Beach, S.C.  

That's right...ever since I was eight years old, my family has packed up our mini van and headed to Surfside to spend a week of fun in the sun. 

 

Now here I am...24 years later... still packing up a mini van and headin' to the seaside with my own  family;) 

The same sweet memories I made growing up, are now the memories my own kids are making. 

I actually didn't think we were going to make it to the beach this year. Because we spent several weeks in China, we weren't sure a summer vacation was something we could swing.  I had already succumb to the fact that we would be forgoing our trip this year, but I'll be honest y'all...it broke my heart! One morning while we were still in China (and I was feeling especially homesick) Shane surprised me with the news that he had already booked our place at the beach!!! 

 He told me he couldn't imagine missing out on our family vacation this year and that he really wanted Addy-Kate to experience the beach!

What a wonderful man;)

Oh how I LOVE him;)

 Oh.my.goodness. y'all...

to say that AK enjoyed the beach would be a HUGE understatement;) 

She LOVED it. 

Totally! Immensely! Wholeheartedly!

 The sand made her squirm at first, but after a few short hours she was literally rolling around in it with her siblings and cousins-HA;) 

Shane and I watched as our baby girl danced with joy on the beach, and 

listened to her squeal with delight as she played in the ocean.

It was something I don't think either one of us will EVER forget!

Miss Sophie Lu had the time of her life too. Like anything Sophie does, she greeted the beach with spunk, energy, and zest! 

 She was especially fond of her Uncle Steve.  My brother Steve lives in London, so we hadn't seen him in quite a while.  Sophie was completely smitten by him and didn't leave his side all week long.

 Sweet HudHud enjoyed the ocean as well. 

He wasn't a huge fan of the sand or the beach, but the ocean...now THAT was his very favorite place to be!

 

He loved jumping the waves and was the most content being held in someones arms while out in the ocean.

The pool was his other favorite spot. The higher the jump and the bigger the splash were what made him the happiest.

Corban and Riley both spent more time in the water than anywhere else this past week;) 

 Between the pool and the ocean, I'm surprised they both didn't just sprout fins and swim away.

They were quite the pair and where one went, the other was sure to follow. 

 Jumping waves, boogie boarding, and body surfing were just a few of their favorite activities. 

Not only did we enjoy plenty of time in the water this week, 

but we all had a little fun on the land as well.

Building sand creatures is just another one of our family's many traditions.

Shane and my sister KK stayed busy one morning building these awesome Angry Bird sand sculptures.

 

The kids also had a BLAST going to play putt putt one evening.

 Steve was able to tag along with us too, which made our evening extra special.

The kids were so proud of the fact that they each successfully scored a "hole in one" during the game! 

I think every night after that, they begged and begged for us to take them golfing again;)

It was SUCH a wonderful week...

 filled with contagious laughter, unforgettable moments, and sweet sweet memories. 

We are already looking forward to year #25!!!