May Recap: Beach Trip, Mother's Day, and Ringing in Summertime...

Several of these photos will probably be out of order and I honestly can't remember what order any of this happened anyway; such is life these days, as you can tell.

We took a weekend trip to Orange Beach the first weekend in May. We were supposed to go with some friends but they couldn't go so we asked my aunt, uncle and their kids to tag along. I was glad they could come on such short notice and it ended up being a fun weekend, even though we traded the semi-warm Birmingham weather for cold-and-windy beach weather. Still, it was a nice break from the laundry and dishes and what not. 

We packed all the essentials and headed down Friday after lunch.

Sam was decked out and ready to go on Saturday morning.

The beach ended up being a bit windy for us but that didn't stop Mary Ella from enjoying it. She could stay in the sand all day.

We enjoyed being in the room as much as being outside. On Sunday afternoon we put the air mattress on the balcony and Amanda, Annsley and I took a nap. It was heavenly.

All the "kids" at Original Oyster House in Gulf Shores.

The Chads and Charlie and Mary Ella went to The Track (arcade and go-kart place) 2 nights in a row and loaded up on tickets and prizes.

Mary Ella found tons of shells and brought every one of them back home with her.

EK loves her cousin Charlie.

The next weekend was Mother's Day weekend and we spent it here in town (that's actually the weekend we put the swing set together.) That week, Mary Ella's school hosted a "Muffins with Mom" brunch. When we walked into the room, these sheets were hanging on the wall and the kids' pictures were hidden so you had to guess which child said what. I thought for sure this one was mine:

I wouldn't be surprised if she'd said I worked at Target!  But she apparently thinks I work with her Dad all day. Apparently she never sees me around the house, huh? I promise I don't leave them by themselves. And I'm not sure I've ever eaten chicken and noodle soup in front of her, but you know, whatever sounds good. At least she didn't say Reese's Eggs.

We spent Mother's Day here in town. Our little family went to church and then treated me to lunch. I'm so thankful to be a momma to these 3 and to have such an amazing mother that taught me everything I know! 

Little sister turned 13 months old and began to stand up on her own (from a squat). She wouldn't take any steps; she'd just stand and maybe do a few semi-squats like she was dancing. I'd come into a room from being somewhere else and there she'd be, just standing there, not moving. So we began to refer to her as "statue baby." I intended on taking a few funny pictures over the next couple weeks of her standing in random places, but alas, she took her first steps soon after and so the standing still came to an end.

We've been enjoying the summer days with swimming and popsicles and plenty of outdoor playtime. These kids never object to anything water-related and certainly won't turn down a sweet treat. We've also had several lazy pajama days and we've started our summer reading. We've enjoyed several Sundays in a a row at our church here in town, something we don't get the luxury of experiencing during the winter months because it seems someone is always sick! So that has been good for all of us.

 I have a few more posts to catch up on so check back later.

Father's Day 2013

We celebrated Father's Day with Chad a little early because he went on a deep sea fishing trip with some coworkers on Friday of last week, and we wanted him to have some goodies that he could use on his trip. I made one of his favorite pastas, pasta amatriciana, and we ate a Father's Day dinner together before heading off to my nephews' baseball game.

My fancy wrapping consisted of paper and tape. And sharpie.

We are so fortunate to have a daddy like Chad who works hard to provide for us and takes such good care of us. These kids get so excited when he gets home in the evenings.

No matter how tired he is or how long his day has been, he's always more than willing to play with the kids in the evenings in their rooms and he always cleans the kitchen after dinner. Those are 2 things that this mama SO appreciates. At the end of my day I am worn out! But he never complains about doing it. He rarely gets angry (something I do on a daily basis) and has never raised his voice in our house (another thing I am terrible about.) So basically he's perfect for me. :) And despite all my nervous breakdowns about laundry pile-ups and poopy diapers and clothes strewn out all over the house, he somehow handles all of it without getting mad at me or frustrated when he needs to help.
He loves us well. That is for sure.
Now if we could work on those clothes making it into a hamper, we'd be all good. Just kidding.

We gifted him with a new fishing shirt, pants and a hat. He loved it all and he wore it on his trip.

High fives for clean plates and awesome dads.

This one was most excited about the pasta. We may or may not have used the hose for quick clean-up.

Happy Father's Day Chad! We don't know what we'd do without you. Thank you for loving me and your kids the way you do.

And we're also so thankful for our own dads and granddads... the world is much sweeter because of these men and we love them so much. So Happy Father's Day to Poppa, Grandaddy, Ace, Grandaddy Ike and Bubba! We LOVE you all so much!