Partyin' It Up in July.

I'd say the theme of July was PARTY. We spent most of the month in South Carolina.

First, July 4th.

 It included homemade ice cream (Papa Joe's favorite treat to make), sparklers and fireworks. Maddox about had a fit when he found out he couldn't press the magic "button" to shoot the fireworks. It was a good night, but I still miss the big 4th of July parties we had years ago....

Next up was Mom's birthday dinner at Lugoff House of Pizza. 

Jody and Andrew talked about the difference in hygiene in European countries and Uncle Brett tried to convince everyone that he wasn't a big eater. That's about all I remember.

I hope it was a special day for Mom. She is an amazing person and she deserves it every day!

Let's not forget our anniversary. Seven years! It truly has gone by fast. We drove to Myrtle Beach for the day and I indulged in a trip to Anthropologie (only my favorite shop ever). Then there was the bookstore, lunch, and Andrew's main reason for going to Myrtle: Medieval Times. As much as I made fun of it, we really did have a great time. I was the only person in the castle to get utensils (vegetarian plate). It was a neat show and actually better than I remembered from my 5th grade field trip.

The best part of the day was spending all that alone time with my husband...whether we were laughing in the car or sitting in that rare silent moment. 

I love him!

Mom planned the boys a fun (early) family birthday party and the theme: superheroes! She did a great job planning and decorating and I had fun joining in.

The superheroes threw balls into the spider web, freed Spiderman from his ice block (thanks to water guns and Abby's determination), went swimming, and took the BAD GUY (aka Andrew) out with silly string. That was my favorite part.

The day wrapped up with awesome gifts (The Tinkertoys are still holding Jude's attention two months later!) and homemade ice cream and cupcakes. The boys sure are blessed with great family all around!

 We always love our trips back home! And this time, NO ONE got sick (well, at least not us. Dad wasn't feeling too good the whole time) and we did everything we planned to do. The boys got to play with Cousin Abby from Chicago three times, we had a ladies trip to Ikea (plus Maddox), antiqued our hearts out, hit all my favorite food spots, had nice, long visits with family, I got my crown finally (and it wasn't scary at all!), and of course all the parties. There were the little special moments too...in between all the big fun ones.

Camp out under Mimi's table.

Cracking jokes with Trues and Aunt Iva and wanting just one more sip of Coke, just one more candy out the basket (and screaming at Jake, the dog).

"Trips" on the brokendown golf carts at both grandparents' houses. 

Homemade lemonade from the ancient, but so-well-made-it-will-never break juicer than Ninny got me.

Swimming...and lots of jumping...at Papa and Nana's pool.

Books. Snuggles. Hugs.

Games and lots and lots of outside playtime. 

And of course Abby's jeep. That one never gets old.

I treasure our time there and I know the boys do too.

Three weeks later, we returned to Florida and ended the month with one last party: Maddox's friend Joplin turned five.

They loved the arcade, but couldn't understand why so many tokens only got them a pack of Smarties.

Ah, such is life sometimes.

 I guess July was a fun month! But there is always a party pooper. 

We finally met the bear that roams the streets of our neighborhood.

He pretty much acted like he owned the place and only turned his head toward us when my camera snapped. He kept snooping...guess the trash wasn't to his liking.

Unfortunately, I'm sure he'll be back....

Now, gotta watch for snakes, gators AND this guy. 

Blurry June

In June, preschool ended. It was a sad day for the kids, but even more sad for us moms! We loved hanging out, seeing each other every day and seeing Mrs. Pettebone. Teachers can't get any better than Mrs. Pettebone!

The last week of school was a blast. It included a giant water slide that Maddox LOVED. 

It's still hard to believe that preschool came and went so fast.

The older you get, the faster it goes. So true.

It was a great experience (even though Maddox picked up some not-so-nice behaviors during the year).

Maddox even ended the year liking (no, loving) Mrs. Moon, the music teacher he so feared the first few weeks of school. She gave the kids kazoos on the last day and he still has that little treasure tucked inside his bookbag.

For Father's Day, we kept up the tradition of a meal with the Lamky family. This year we hit up Another Broken Egg Cafe in Destin. We waited over an hour (gotta love tourist season) but it was worth it! 

Other June happenings: Maddox went to his first ever Vacation Bible School (favorite part was the shirt and of course the candy). He loved being in class with his preschool buddies again, but wasn't so happy with all the coloring. Haha. 

We went to the beach a little, played a lot at home, and looked forward to our big trip to South Carolina....

May Days...because I'm way behind!

It's August and I still haven't blogged about May. Or June. Or July.

Wow. Slow down, time! I seriously can't keep up.

Here is a quick (yea, right) recap:

MAY:
I turned 28. It's dangerously close to 30, but it's been a fun age so far. We celebrated at Harborwalk and it was a gorgeous day! Jude slept through lunch and then Maddox suggested (or pleaded) that we go to the "go-cart place." So, it pretty much ended up being Maddox's birthday, but it was still a good time ;)

We also did some other fun stuff in May. There was Fairytale week at Maddox's preschool, Mother's Day and then he and Andrew went kayaking for the first time ever. And there was lots and lots and lots of popsicles.

Sir Maddox!

The highlight of May was the Billy Bowlegs Festival. Who doesn't love pirates? We met up with friends, walked the packed downtown streets and the boys looked like they had been at Mardi Gras by the time we left.

Uh oh. Joplin gave Maddox a lesson in ping pong...and holding hands.

She also gave him her phone number in preschool.

I don't think he ever got the hint.

So...I lied. I just brushed over May and I'm already tired.

The rest of the summer will have to wait.

Summer Came

April and the beginning of May were on the chillier side (for Florida, anyway), but now the days are long, full of blinding sunshine and oh-so-hot.

Maddox got really sick about a month ago and was diagnosed, after two long visits to the pediatric ER (which included two butt shots) with virus-induced asthma. It basically means a cold triggers his asthma but when he isn't sick, he has ZERO asthma symptoms. Now we know to start the breathing treatments right away at the first sign of the sniffles. It wasn't a fun week.

The only thing that made it better was that EJ, his buddy from preschool, was sick with similar symptoms, and they'd make each other cards and have us moms post their pictures on Facebook. They have the same penguin, too!

Toward the end of the never-ending asthma, Andrew's parents came for a visit. Unfortunately, Maddox was in a grumpy mood and the steroids he was on turned him into something worse than a teenager.

Still, it's always good to see family from back home.

They left for SC the same day Andrew left for Greece. We watched his plane take off into the sky and then we drove back home, with tears in the backseat (and driver's seat, too).

The next two weeks I got a taste of single parenthood.

No thank you.

But, we made the most of our time together. We had lots of playdates, cupcake dates, outside time...we visited the pet shop and met the sweetest Golden Retriever...we ventured to Moe's alone...and we had a great time at the Earth Day Festival, where we ate snow cones and learned about different kinds of snakes. We even saw a yellow python and he smelled so bad poor Maddox started gagging!

Of course, I can't forget the circus show at Maddox's school. Here, he is a "strong man" about to lift some heavy weights. It was adorable. And Jude behaved through the whole show, thanks to several cups of popcorn!

We missed Andrew and we were glad to get him back!! Every day, Jude made him a card and a bracelet (made of a pipe cleaner and one bead). Maddox was faithful with his cards too. 

He got to see some amazing sights overseas, but he had a pretty bad accident there that almost ruined it. As soon as they landed in Greece, he fell through an open grate on the flight line and ended up with twelve stitches. Thank God they are healing nicely and no infection ever set in!

Now, life is back to normal.

This post is way too long so I'll have to wrap up April and start with May next time. 

Time is passing so, so, so fast.

Sometimes I want to speed it up...or slow it down.

Sometimes I want to change it, like when my parents were supposed to come visit for my upcoming birthday but my poor mom got food poisoning. Then I got a nasty sinus infection. Then my dad got a fever.

I was so disappointed, but sometimes you just gotta accept things and look forward to the next time.

Next week will be better!

Summer has arrived

Today, the boys asked if they could get in the pool. It was hot, but not THAT hot. And...I didn't feel like dealing with wet clothes and muddy feet. So what did they do? They sat in their water table. They pulled out the shovels and we made mud pies. They ate frozen strawberries and got the juice...everywhere. 

I guess we have jumped straight from winter to summer.

I'm ready! (Even if that means tracked-up carpet, instant sweating and yes...even geckos, just not in my house!)