Another new blogging buddy...

We got another one! :) Nancie, my friend and photographer extraordinaire has decided to start blogging with us. She has a adorable seven year old that my children just love. Hayden is into sports so Ethan and him hit it off quickly. You have probably read in previous post about Hayden, Nancie and Harold. We have so enjoyed getting to know this family and just love being around them. If you get a chance check out her blog, http://hangingwithhayden.blogspot.com/ and welcome Nancie into the blogging world.

Overdue Part Deux

Just another picture of me and the kids...
One of the many pictures of our nightly crab hunting excursions. The kids loved hunting crabs, although anytime they came close to catching them they ran away screaming! It was so funny!

One of the crabs we did actually catch. Hubby did most of the catching. We all carried flashlights and buckets and looked really good out there on the beach, but did little of the work. We always looked at them and showed them off to the kids and them scattered as we turned the bucket over to let the crabs go back to their home in the ocean.

Hubby with is two favorite people...

Ethan and Scarlett looking all cute and sweet on the first night of trying to get beach pictures..
Just a small glimpse of dinner time at the beach house. Ever try to get 15 people still and fed??? I am sure it is not easy. My mother did most all the work. Thank goodness for moms! :) I appreciate mine more and more everyday!

Just another picture of Ethan and Scarlett on night #2 of pictures.. I couldn't figure out which outfits I liked the best.. so I did some pictures with both sets! :)
All the kids running crazy on the beach. They had been feeding cheetos to the seagulls. Probably not something we were supposed to be doing.. I am not sure.

As you can tell we had a wonderful week with lots of things going on and a lot of things to do. I can't wait for next year! We got back home last Saturday night and we are off to work on our house today. So, back to reality. :( YUCK!

Overdue update...

Since I was so bad and did not update all week, even after I figured out I did have computer access I figured I would put it all under a couple of LONG post. Most of it will be pictures so bear with me.
Tuesday: We went on a dolphin cruise. This was one of my favorite things last year but this year was a little slow. The dolphins did not play along as well and we saw just a few while out on the boat. But being on a boat in the ocean is still a wonderful thing. Here is a group picture before we left. :) The kids did so well with most of the pictures. I know towards the end of the week they were all tired of having their picture taken ever time they turned around. Here is another picture of one of the dolphins that actually did a few tricks for us. He jumped about 6 feet over the water and did a big flip. The kids loved that!

WEDNESDAY: That was the day for parasailing. The day I just knew I would meet my doom! I was so nervous and scared of what I am not sure, I just knew it did not sound like something that guaranteed my safety. My 13 year old nephew agreed to be my partner and we suited up and were geard for take off. You can tell the panic on my face. I am taking extra deep breaths and trying to calm myself down....

Once I did calm down and were up in the air, it was amazing! I just LOVED it. It felt like we were just floating in the clouds. My nephew spotted a shark down below up and just for a minute I had a couple of panic moments thinking about what would happen if we came crashing down! ha!
Thursday: I spent all morning and most of the afternoon at the outlet mall shopping! I had the day to myself. I wandered in and out of stores and found some great deals. We tried to take some pictures on the beach once I arrived home and we had planned Thursday night to be our bonfire on the beach... the weather had other plans. Just as we were taking pictures a big storm rolled in and ruined our bonfire idea. So we had grilled hotdogs and oven toasted smores in the house instead. :)

Three of my four newphew and my two kids hanging out on our pier.

Ethan looking way more grown up than I am ready for...

Scarlett with one of her many poses... She loved having her pictures taken...

Me and two of my favorite people in the world. I was one lucky mommy to be on the beach with my family for a week. We had the best time! :)

One more update post.. I promise! :)

Update from the Gulf...

Hubby and I have decided this week, we are the ONLY people left without a laptop computer and therefore that will be a new purchase as soon as we get home. I finally borrowed my brothers computer and thought I would give a quick update of what we have been doing.
Last Thursday we drove all day and finally arrived in Pensacola at 10pm. We were exhausted. We did stop on the way and take a quick tour through Vicksburg. Ethan LOVED it. He is so in interested in world history and the Civil War. My nephew, Mitchell, went with us so he could get to the beach a couple of days early. I think he likes to "roll" with his auntie! ha! Friday we managed to find a beach in Pensacola and go swimming for a little while and then we went to eat dinner at one of the best seafood restaurants I have ever tried. It came highly recommended so we gave it a go and we LOVED it! :) It was Hall's Seafood near Pensacola Beach. If you ever go there I highly recommend their food. Next we went out on the Pier at Pensacola Beach. That was really nice. Such a beautiful view and the weather was perfect for a leisurely walk. We decided then to head back to the hotel and on our way the kids noticed the HOT NOW light on in a familiar favorite. Can you guess what we had next??? Krispy Kreme Donuts! YUM!!! We were all exhausted and returned to our hotel with a full stomach and ready for some sleep. We got up early Saturday morning and went to the National Museum of Naval Aviation. The kids were in awe to be around that many planes and helicopters. They had the best time. We ate lunch at the Cubi Cafe which was a replica type Cafe they had built at the museum. My dad was in the Navy and lived aboard the aircraft carriers when I was a baby, so we checked out his carrier, the U.S.S. Forrestal, and explained to the kids the history and that their Papa had been on that big ship. :) It was finally time to go to the beach house. We my grandmother, my parents and both of my brothers and their families at the house. So far we are having the BEST TIME. We have been ot the see the dolphins, went crab hunting and just layed around the beach all day! Ethan was stung by a jelly fish on our first day here! OOPS! I am going parasailing tomorrow! I can't wait I have always wanted to but have been chicken. Mitchell agreed to go with me so we are going to try it out. Wish me luck! I will post another upate tomorrow night.

Just a quick update...

This past two weeks have been so busy and so crazy! I do have lots of pictures and if you are actually still reading my blog check back because I will add them in the morning. We have been swimming A LOT! I know that is a surprise. We have had play dates and family from Tennessee. We are always so happy to see Leslie (my sister in law) and family. Ethan and Jacob have a ball and the girls love playing together. I was not around much because I had to work! :( So unfair!

We have been working hard on our house and our estimated move date is going to be Labor Day weekend. My husband thinks it will be the weekend before but I am optimistically saying Labor Day. It is really coming along . We have painted almost the whole house and are almost ready to put down the new floors.

Lastly, we are getting ready for vacation! I can not wait. We are leaving Thursday morning early and driving to Pensacola for a few days and then going to Gulf Shores to meet my entire family! Entire family means all fifteen of us in one house for a week. We did this last year and it was a blast. The kids have the best time and we as adults get a week of R&R that is always appreciated.

I will add the pictures ASAP. I am at work tonight, and do not have way to add pictures. :(

Hope you all are having a great week and I will try to keep this blog thing a little better.

Monday, Monday and a Happy Birthday, too

Today was my great aunt Myrtle's 93 or 94 birthday, not sure how old she was turning. My granny says 93 and my mom said 94.. and these days you really don't know who to believe! ha! So, she has lived a very long and blessed life. That much was for sure. My Aunt Myrtle has never had kids of her own so she loves it when the we all come visit. I remember growing up and she lived in Ohio, we drove up there to see her. She always enjoyed having us around. My kids just love going to see her. Today they made her home made cards and took her some flowers they had picked in our yard, along with some other things. They were so sweet. She has been in a nursing home now for a little less than a year. At one point today, I thought about how we had four generations of daughters in the room; my granny, my mom, myself and Scarlett. How lucky am I! We had a great visit. My mom helped Aunt Myrtle eat lunch while my granny did this...
You would have to know my granny. She is just crazy like that! I am a lot more like my granny than my mom. My mom likes to color inside the lines at all times.. and granny and I we believe the lines are just an option at times! ha! She sometimes has her very own thought process. We joke around at my house and call them "granny-isms". I am trying to start writing them down. Those will be the things that years after she is gone will always bring a smile to our face. Just be around her for fifteen minutes and you will hear a few "granny-isms" yourself.


Hope you all are having a great Monday! :) I am off to play softball in a little bit. It is too hot! I am so glad I only have two games left. They will not be over with fast enough this season.

It was a LONG weekend...

Miss Scarlett working on her scrapbook

Our weekend started off great. I had a friend over on Friday night and we scrapbooked half the night. I am SO behind on my scrapbooking. I got the new cricut machine for my birthday, which was seven months again, and was just now getting a change to use it. I LOVE it! My pages look so much better by having the letters cut out for me. I had the Sizzix machine and if you scrapbook you know that was wonderful.. but the cricut takes it to a whole other level! ha! Scarlett likes to be involved with the girls so she sat in there and Kelly working hard on her Easter pages.. she is behind, too.

cropped with us the entire time. I can not wait until we get moved into our new house, I am going to have my own craft room! My scrapbook stuff can stay out full time and I am sure that will help me get caught up and I am likely to work on my books more often.
Our messy table

My page using my new machine.. LOVE it! :)

After Friday night there is not much to tell about our weekend. We worked on the house the rest of the weekend. All day Saturday and Sunday! I feel like we are getting a lot done, but I know there is still a major amount to be done! We saw a snake in the front yard, which freaked me out! The bushes all along the front of the house have to go.. they will be cut out soon! I saw the snake sneak back in those bushes, so that was enough for me to be convinved we did not need bushes at all!

Other than work and more work that was my weekend! Doesn't sound like much fun, huh? Hope you all had a more exciting weekend.