SNOW IN GA!!!!

I hate cold... unless it's SNOWING!!! LOVE snow! As do the boys, the dogs, and my husbands truck! Here's a little taste of our last two days in the fluffy stuff! :)

5 Years!

On August 13th of this year, Marc and I celebrated our 5 Year Anniversary! It's remarkable to see how far 5 short years have brought us, but life is definitely amazing! We have two wonderful and handsome little boys who never cease to amaze us, and we're undoubtedly happier together every year that goes by!

This year, to celebrate, we went back to stay a night at the Georgian Terrace. It's long been one of our favorite hotels in Atlanta. We've stayed there a few times, including the night of our wedding.

 

We wanted to go eat somewhere new and decided on Atlanta Grill at the Ritz Carlton down the street. Dinner was AMAZING! But even better than that was walking in to a cold, clean, and quite hotel suite on the 14th floor afterwards! This was our first night away from the children EVER! And it was so nice! You really take for granted having some peace and quite until you go with out it for nearly 5 years!

We had room service bring breakfast in bed the next morning, which was also AMAZING! After breakfast we went up to the roof top pool for a bit before heading out. All in all it was an Unforgettable getaway to celebrate our Wonderful first 5 Years Together!!! Looking forward to many, many more!!! :)

LOVE YOU MARC!!! NAFAE!!!

My BIG BOY is in SCHOOL!!!!

Okay, so it's only pre-k, and it's only 3 days a week for 3 hours, but it felt like college as he strapped on his back pack and left me without ever looking back! I'm really thankful, though, looking back that I did keep him home until now. He's excelling at everything beautifully! He's not a snippet behind any other children, but rather a little ahead in most respects. But better yet, I got to spend all the time in the world with him until now. I think that made the difference in him being excited, rather than apprehensive, his first day. Now me on the other hand, I could have held off a few more years! ;)

The night before we stayed up a little late making homemade caramel apples for the his teacher, Ms. Kippy. Gotta start the year off with a good old fashion bribe! And they were SO good! They were dipped in melted caramel and the rolled in Godiva White and Dark chocolate shavings... yeah, amazing! And they were pretty to boot!




Thurston was SO excited his first day!!! We were packed and ready and the first ones there! When Thurston couldn't get anyone to open the door, he was a little disappointed. But a few minutes later the flood gates were opened to a rush of excited children, and their more that ready moms, came pouring in!




After we dropped him off the first day, Charleston and I spent the time at the gym. Charleston kept asking for his brother, and seeing him so lost with out his big bro made me even sadder! I never cried when I had my children, but needless to say, I had a good cry after putting Charleston in the play center all alone that day. Broke my heart!

Charleston was fine by the time I picked him back up. We then went and picked up Thurston, who although being happy to go to school earlier was now equally happy to see us pick him up! He was eager to tell us about everything he did and had learned, and about his new friends. He was smiling ear to ear just SO proud to show us everything he'd made that day!

I took the boys to Target for TickTacs and an Icee to celebrate day one, one of their favorite treats! When we got back in the car I asked Thurston what it was like to be a big boy. He indulged me for a minute. When he got done talking I started in, more in talking to myself outloud, on how big he was now. I went on about how he'd soon be going to big kid school, and playing more sports, and meeting girls, and then one day getting big like daddy and having a house and a family of his own.... When I looked in my rear view, Thurston was crying buckets! I pulled over in the parking lot and asked him what was wrong. He explained to me that he never wanted to leave and he wanted to live with us forever! I quickly agreed and promised to always let him stay with mommy and daddy, as long as he wants to. We had a big hug and were on our way again; Thurston excited he wasn't getting the boot anytime soon, and mommy relieved that he wasn't too big... at least, not just yet. :)

What a Relief!!!

Our pastor, Dr. Ross, said something very profound, and humbling, the other day: 'To Try to be good at everything is idolatry.' Think about that for a moment. We are groomed from birth to try to better perfect the things we are not good at through practice and patience. But what does God tell us? We have gifts! We have natural proficiencies and God given talents. And so often we ignore them to try to pursue being better at other things, and why? To be more like others? To pursue our dreams? What about God's dreams for us? Wouldn't it be all the more satisfying to follow the God intended path for our lives? And why do we have that innate feeling that we have to be 'successful' at everything? I thought of this and how it pertains to my daily life. I'm a stay at home mother and a wife. I constantly see how put together some of my friends lives are in ways that mine is not, and I often feel like a failure for not being like them. But many times there are things that I excel at, without striving, that others would have a harder time with.Why not pour my energy into the direction that God is showing me is uniquely mine? I'm very creative. It manifests in different ways all the time. Whether through art, food, story telling, crafts... it's always there. My children love it! We connect through it. But I don't always have my laundry caught up, or my dishes all clean and put away. My house is not perfectly decorated, and I don't always have a meal on the table at 6pm. I don't even get to shower every day! And I'm blessed to be in a household where they don't mind. My kids would rather have me, and all my creative energies, to them right now. My husband, more than anything, loves to see me happy and fulfilled. They do not complain about my 'inadequacies'. It is all taken care of eventually, so why so hard on myself? I struggle to continue to maintain friendships and relationships with people even after it's proven to be damaging, or exhausting, and all because I feel like I can't let anyone down. But I let myself and my family down by spreading myself to thin, and constantly biting off more than I can chew. So where and how does one stop the madness? I guess it begins with knowing no one of us has it all. No one of us can do it all. So now I'm looking everyday to rediscover who I am, and work to be the best me I can be; nothing more! :)

COAL BABY!!!

I just can't get enough of our new little rescue pup, Coal! He has been THE BEST dog! He LOVES the boys; so patient and so kind! He's really warming up to just about everything. He loves to take baths and get brushed. We haven't taken him yet, but I feel fairly certain he's going to love the lake! He learned sit and shake as soon as I taught him - now he won't stop shake-ing! Favorite activity, still the swing! Everyone at the playgrounds always come over and ask to take pictures of him and pet him. He loves the attention! I'm so thankful we found him and have him to grow up with my boys and be a part of the family. WE LOVE YOU COAL!!!

Thurston's First 'Bike' Ride!!!

For those of you who don't know, my husband has long had a fascination with all things 'off road'! He hasn't had access to anything in years, though. Recently he has been working really hard, and given his dedication to our family, he really has no time to himself or any outlet just for him. He's wanted to get a dirt bike for as long as I have known him, but the timing hasn't been really good for us. However, being the 'craig's-list-er' that I am, I was confident that given our determination, and lack of pride when it concerns bartering, that we could eventually make something work out. And we did! Marc eventually struck up a deal with a guy who had an 'oldie but goodie' bike that has proven to be worth every bit of our effort. And finally my husband has his own little outlet. Its been a great stress reliever for him and I'm so happy he has something just for him after all he does for us!

So the other night he took Thurston on his first ride. As timid as he tends to be I was really surprised by how well he took to the idea, and the experience! He LOVED it! Just look at the before and after pictures! We've got another future off roading maniac on our hands!!! :)

PIZZA & CUPCAKES!!!

Okay, so I know I am WAY behind in blogging, and I wanted to catch up with my old post before putting up any current ones, but this just couldn't wait! Yesterday, Thurston and Charleston had Ella, Jordan, and Keller over to make Pizza and cupcakes - Yum! Everyone did so good with their little part of the process and the end results were SO Yummy!!! There were A Lot of chefs in the kitchen, but everyone did very well taking turns. And boy did those boys have some energy to run off! Wow! It was borderline overwhelming, but in the end so much fun and well worth any fuss! And our dear little Ella was just so excited to have four little princes cook for her! Any girls dream! ;) We'll definitely be doing this again - Thurston and Charleston have a lot of other friends they'd love to cook with, too!
(sorry for all the pictures- I couldn't choose!)

The Little Chefs!

On to the CUPCAKES!!!!

Bring Us FOOD!!!!

YUMMY!!!!
Um, Keller?!?! Clothe much? ;)

You didn't really want to sleep, did you Keller?!?!

Move Coal, this looks like fun!!!

What else to do with a bunch of Sugared-Up Boys!!! ;)