Traditions

This weekend was one of my favorite Christmas Traditions, girl day to see the Mini Nutcracker with my mom and daughter.  We have been going for a few years now and it is so much fun.  It is a shortened version put on by the local parks dance division.  It is a great show and Emma loves it!  We also go to lunch together and it is a special memory for all of us.  This year we laughed at Emma staring open mouthed a lot.  We were in row six this year and she could really see and hear better!  It was a fun afternoon.  Girl days rock!!

All little pattern craziness but we clean up pretty nice!

 Emma meet the flower princess.  she was pretty:)  

 Well it was not just girls, Papa got to drive us and eat lunch with us.  He went and hung out somewhere else during the show, but he took Emma (and us ) to get a hot chocolate after the show.  She loves hot chocolate and never had been to Starbucks.  She thought she was hot stuff with her name on the cup.  She asked if we could go everyday.  

 After a fun day with just the girls, we opted to go see some really cool local lights with Daddy and Taylor too.  This is also another tradition we do.  Last year it was really cold, so we were happy for slightly warmer winter weather Saturday night.  We walked around the awesome display and Taylor was in heaven.  He is all about the lights!  After dinner at a favorite Chinese place we drove around near our house for thirty minutes looking at more lights.  We have a very decorated neighborhood.  Taylor kept squealing and laughing.  HE loves all things Christmas.  

Memories don't have to cost a lot, some of the best are free:)  

Awesome Day!!

Here is a sneak peak of a great day today!  

Taylor meet a ballerina!

 Before her school program!!

A hiking we will go...

It was so nice yesterday!  It was a sunny fall day, and Taylor and I decided to enjoy every bit of it we could.  We headed about a mile from our house to a local state park to hike to the hidden lake and throw rocks in it.  Taylor did great, I tried to turn him around a few times before we got to the lake part but he wanted to keep going.  We ended up hiking/ running and laughing along the trail for about an hour total.  I was tired and so was he.  I did carry him a little ways but more for snuggles then for a real need. 

 We felt bad sissy didnt get to go, so we stopped at another small local state park on the way home. Yes, we have two near us, very near us.  It is right on the river and not much to it, but it was a fun adventure.  It use to be a mill and part of it is still there to look at, and we got a few cute photos.  

 Today was a little more cloudy, but still warmish (before the rain hit). I had today off since we were closed, and we decided to head back to Cheekwood this week for Tuesday for Tots art and some more hiking.  Taylor had a blast making a his craft, and then we headed to the cool sculpture trail.  However, sadly it was cut short due to sprinkles of rain.  He cried halfway back to the main part of the gardens.  But lucky for him, it stopped and we got to play more with the dump trucks and dirt outside the art building.  It was a fun morning till it started to rain for real and we headed back to the car to go home to nap. 

My girl Rocks!!

Just a moment to brag on my sweet girl!  She had to pick one of her stuffed animals to right a speech about for class.  The speech had to be about why the animal would make a great class mascot.  Emma choose her Bravery buddy named Emma.  Yep she won!  In her speech she told how she made her brave when at the hospital and that she could help them all to be brave.  She won by a landslide her teacher said!  That is my girl, she is braver then anyone I have ever meet.  After a full school day today, she went to physical therapy to get a sleeve to help her core support, then went to get her new ear mold fitted, and then went to an hour of speech before making it home at 6:35!  She was still smiling!  I just love her!!

Fall Fest Fun!!!

This weekend we had a little fall fest fun!  I love going to different fall fest activities with the kids.  I especially love any that have trunk or treat at them.  It is so much easier to trick or treat with Emma on concrete in a small space.  She still tires very fast and she falls easily, so trunk or treats are amazing for her.

Friday night our church held Once Upon A Time Evenings at all the locations.  It was a lot of fun!  Cookie decorating, face paint, tattoos, blow ups and a movie in the sanctuary at the end!  It was so much fun!

Here is a peak into that event: 

 Good friends of ours joined us, and so did many of my small group families, it was so fun to see them and their kiddos!

 Face paint!!

 Love that she sticks her tongue out when she is concentrating, she gets that from me!

 My boys!!

Saturday, daddy took the kids to Emma's school for her school carnival.  They had a blast but not really any photos from that fun event.  Mommy was at work:)  Thanks honey for taking the hit for the team and going alone.  Memories were made and fun was enjoyed!

Saturday night, we meet his parents and friends to trunk and treat at a local church.  It was so fun!

The church members really went all out in decorating their trunks.  Taylor was a little scared with some of them, but loved all the chocolate he got:)  

 I liked the blow ups in front of this car:)

 Emma and her best friend trick or treating together!

 I just love him!!!

 These two cars were pixie hollow and the tick tock crock from Peter Pan!  Love love loved it!

 The all black guy is Peter Pan's shadow:)  

 This was the witches car, Emma was a big fan of that one:)  

 I love the college/high school age kids dressed as crayons:)  

 Seriously, he is so cute:)  

 bouncy house fun, hate that I did not get  a good photo of her on the huge blow up slide she did like four times.  

 Me and T making smores!

 sibling love

 After a hay ride, hot chocolate, and more bouncy fun, we went home to collapse in bed.  

Sunday came bright and early with this cutie dressed in her fall dress for church.  

Gator Gallop, Second Grade edition!

Today was Emma's school fun run!  It was a beautiful fall day and everyone had a great time.  Emma's grade ran first thing this morning, and Taylor, me and daddy were there to cheer her on and help her class.  

Here is Taylor out front at school, in his running gear.

 We got there early, so he played on her playground while we waited!

 heading to her class's flag!

 Ready to run!!!

 She is off!  

 Taylor joined her to help buffer her from other runners!  Her teacher actually gave him a red bracelet to match his sissy!  Thanks Mrs. Pickett, he was very proud!

 He kept yelling across the raceway to tell me hi!

 Showing off her 10 laps! So proud of her!  She did way more laps this year then last year!  I really laughed though, they were playing music to run to, and when the cupid shovel came on she stopped to dance!!!  I was across the race course and said, I bet Emma stops to dance and looked for her and yep she had!  Love her!  Told her teacher that they should do a dance off next year:)  

 Big smiles!!  She did take a small fall, but she had so many friends stop to help her and cheer her on, that she got right back out there to join back in the race.  She is so brave!!  My hero now and forever!!

 Tomorrow is her school's fall fest and the classes make pumpkins to auction off, I made her classes and it is the cute penguin.  I hope it makes a lot of money for the school!!

 Tonight, started a fun weekend of fall/Halloween fun!  Here is a sneak peak of the kids in costume!  More fun to come!!

A Book Review

This pretty little book was delivered to my doorsteps and I immediately feel in love with it.  I have been looking for a small devotional book to carry with me.  I am constantly on the go with the kids and life, and I wanted a book I could throw in my bag and bring it out in the rare quiet moments I find.  This little purple book fits the bill.  IT is so pretty and so sweet and makes you want to open the cover and find out what is inside.  

Like I said I feel in love with the pretty book, but after opening it up, I really feel in love for it.  It is a well written devotional that speaks to the heart of moms everywhere.  I start my days at a run and end them late into the night.  So, I am looking for something that can mean something to my soul and not take up all day to read and understand.  This little purple book fits that so well.  They are heartfelt prayers that speak to the very core of motherhood.  They are focused on a certain topic for the day and you can either read the book through each day or look for a prayer for any mood you might be in.  I also love that the prayers ends with a scripture you can reflect on as you hurry about the rest of the day.

I already love this little addition to my day and look forward to reading my way through the book in the next 365 days!  I think it will get a lot of love and attention in the coming days.  One of my goals right now is to spend more time feeding my spiritual side in hopes that it will make me a better mom, wife and person in general.  I think this book will be a small step in the right direction.  

If you would like to check out my review on this book or others you can do so here

I highly suggest this book and hope you enjoy it as much as I am!!

I received this book free from Tyndale Publishing reviewers program in exchange for an honest opinion in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission Guidelines.

Beach Vacay Part 1

Here are a few highlights from our trip to the beach!  I know there are a lot of photos but honestly I just added a few of the many cute photos I got on this great trip!!  

First Day was Mostly a road trip kind of day:)

We always stop at the Alabama line and see the spaceship!

Taylor playing ghost from his car seat 

 Emma using her dry erase book that I made them, with handwriting pages, mazes, word searches, I spy etc in them:)  They entertained the kids for over an hour.  Thank you to a few pages printed out and a few page protectors.  

 Daddy took his job as driver very seriously

 Finally got to the beach!  The view from the condo!

 The first trip down to the beach for all of us.  Daniel had taken the kids while I shopped for groceries and picked up pizza with my parents.  So, after dinner we headed down in the dark to play a bit with our light up beach ball.  

 Taylor headed right to the first hole he found.  He loved the beach this year from the first sandy toe to the last!

 IT is still hard for Emma to walk on the sand but she was much stronger this year and liked it a lot better this year too.  Late in the week you will see her actually swim in the ocean.  

Day Two

The next morning we saw Manna rays swimming in the surf while we ate on the balcony.  It was cool and we saw them three times during the week.  

 My cute little beach bum ready to head to the sand

 making a hole:)  

 Daddy got our red tent up and we loved playing in and around it.  We will not talk about how long it took him on the first day to put it up, or about how he yelled at me and then allowed two strangers to help him.  Luckily by Friday it took him about five minutes total to get up.  He rocked it!!

 Help Taylor buried my legs under about ten pounds of sand:)  

 Emma liked going to the pool the best.  I love this photo, Taylor was crying about something and she thought it was funny.  

 Most days we ate lunch in the condo before rest time for the kiddos.  Here they are relaxing with a movie and eating a yummy lunch.  

 Here we are near the pier the second night about to eat dinner.  

 at dinner at a local place on the pier.  It was really good fish tacos.  

 The kids liked it because the beach was right there.  We played on it twice before leaving dinner.  

 Emma's sassy pose

 I love his smile!

 When did she grow up????

 We had not planned to but we opted to head across the street to Pier Park ( a local outdoor mall) to ride the train and check out the fun stuff there.  

 Emma and me got matching henna glitter tats!  We did this last year too!  Sweet memories with my girl. Maybe we will get real one's when she is older;)  

 Taylor go in on the act this year too.  He wanted a black dolphin

Day Three

 breakfast of local donuts on the balcony

 Daddy putting the tent up

 ready to roll and being a big helper with the cooler

 leaving the seven floor for the ocean

 I laugh out loud when I see this photo, he is so silly

 dig dig dig 

 planning their big hole

 about to smash the castles I built

 digging together

 enjoying the new tube I bought to float the ocean waves

 just two boys and a hole

 daddy really took it serious and smoothed out a sitting ledge in the hole

 It was a beautiful breezy day so I ran back up to the condo for a kite.  It was fun!  

 It liked to dive bomb Daniel's head a lot, which made us all laugh

 Taylor really liked the kite and flew it a long time before getting tired

 Pool time!!!

 Arms full of love and laughter:) 

 The hole from our condo rooms, somebody else had played in it and left a blue shovel.

 pretty sunset

 dinner and a movie outside 

 We ended a great day at the condo with a little crab hunting.  It was a lot of fun, but I was horrible at getting them in the bucket.  We did manage to get one in the bucket and the kids thought it was cool.  

It was really funny, was we let it out while the kids sat in the sand.  It climbed up and all over Emma's leg and she thought is was so funny.  I was so surprised that she did not freak out.  

I hoped you enjoyed the first three days of our fun beach vacation:)  A few more fun days to come!!