'Round Here

T- minus 3 days until the official start of Spring Break. I cannot wait!

Things have been pretty crazy around here - hence the no blogging - so I will try to catch you up on the happenings over the last several days.

So... The weather. Towards the end of last week all the pretty sunshine and warmness disappeared and the temperature went ape shit crazy cold. Since there could be no playing outside on Friday afternoon we took the opportunity to go check out a new restaurant here in West Ashley. Mex 1 Coastal Cantina was great! We grabbed Lisa and all the kids, and had a pretty chill dining experience. (Well, as chill as dining with 4 children can be!) The atmosphere was fun, the food was fresh and yummy, and the drinks were top notch. I had the jalapeno margarita - amazing!

Saturday Wes went to work while the boys and I spent the rainy morning lounging in our PJ's. It was just what we needed to recharge our batteries. And then, we were lucky that the rain let up just long enough for a Lowcountry Boil at our friends' house down the street. We had a great time hanging out with everybody. Maybe a bit too great of a time - ha! For some reason us girls had a hard time figuring out how to take a decent group picture. Here are several of the outtakes...

Not sure we ever really got a good shot that night. Oh well, what we did get gave me some good laughs!

Sunday was another low-key day that we spent hanging out at the house doing chores and relaxing. I was also very proud of the fact that I took advantage of the 2 hour rain free window to fit in my planned 5 mile run. I am not proud of the fact that while running I kept slipping in the slimy mud around the neighborhood and almost bit the dust several times. Good thing that there are very few occupied houses in that section of the neighborhood!

And now it is another Monday - but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Spring Break here we come!!

Thursday Thoughts

Thursday already huh? Our week has been jammed packed and is flying by fast. Here is a brief summary of what we have been up to...

~ Lots of time in the car (as usual) driving around to school pick-ups, soccer practice, and running errands.

~ We have also had some fun too! A couple of play dates already, one in particular that included warm temperatures AND some good friends who were in town to visit.

We have not seen the Brunson family since they moved to Birmingham last summer. It was very good to catch up, even if it was just for a short visit, and we hope we get to see them again sooner rather than later. (PS, I crack up at Caleb in this picture. He was not feeling the photo shoot!)

~ Liam had Grandparent's Day at his preschool. This involved me helping corral a whole stage of 2-4 year olds and trying not to laugh out loud as I watched Liam (very seriously) execute the hand motions to his class's song. We also enjoyed some time with Bebe, Grampy Marv, Nana and Pops who all came to see the special day. Here is the only pic I have - Liam and his cousin Gemma leaving the stage after the show.

Phew! I guess that's all.... For now. There are still 2 days left in the week. Am off to begin another busy day.

Oh, and while I don't like to "preach" on my blog, I found this quote the other day and I can't help but post it. Recent interactions with several people have made me want to scream out the following....

I know, I know... But seriously, it shouldn't. That is my little piece of wisdom for today :)

Bring On Spring

So I am going to jump straight into this weekend's happenings and completely gloss over the fact that I kind of suck at blogging. OK?

If the leprechauns had been watching they would have had a golden opportunity for some pinching here in the Shealy family. None of us managed to wear any green today - unless you count my nails. We DID manage to celebrate St. Paddy's day, we just started a wee bit early this year.

On Thursday, Wes and I joined our friend Lisa and headed over to the bridge to run the Catch The Leprechaun 5K. We did manage to catch him this year (if only because he stopped to taunt people) and had a good time doing it. The post race beer wasn't quite as enjoyable because as soon as the sun set the temperature dropped into the 40's. Boo. Cold and sweaty do not mix. So we snapped some pics and headed out to Kickin Chicken for some yummy fried treats.

And just to prove I don't take myself too seriously, here is a picture of my running get-up in all it's green glory.

Oh, and to Lisa, my sincere apologies. I am not sure why I made this face while talking to you. I hope I don't look like that all the time. (If I do, lie and say I don't.)

What else?? Oh yeah. We did a Friday park play date which was double the fun because the warm weather found us! AND it stayed all weekend. Wes and I took advantage of it on Saturday evening by dropping the boys off with Bebe, and heading over to Red's Ice House to enjoy the views of the sunshine and water. The boys stayed the night at Bebe's and had a blast playing at the park. Especially when Grampy Marv consented to race them.

Wes and I spent the rest of the weekend doing some chores around the house, and then braving the sales at the outlet mall to invest in some new spring clothing. Poor Noah had 2 pair of shorts that actually fit, and all Liam's short sleeves looked like crop tops. Of course, I couldn't manage to get out of Saks without finding something I loved.

I am taking the warmer weather as a sign that it is time to put away my gray sweaters and dark denim, and bust out the spring colors. These pants should do the trick :)

Very excited to get this week started - there are only 9 school days left until Spring Break. Wahoo!!

Weekend Happenings

Remember in my last post when I promised to be back with a "Fun Friday" post? Well, oops, hate to have disappointed you, but my Friday post would not have been very fun. Why? Well, it could be because I was stuck at home with two boys who had (wait for it)... Scarlet Fever. Seriously.

That sounds more dramatic than it actually was. All Scarlet Fever really is, is strep throat with an accompanying rash. I just like the sound of it - makes being sick seem a bit fancier :) Anyway, we have been housebound since about Thursday loading up on antibiotics and resting. After being cooped up with the sick twins, I was very excited on Friday evening when Wes game home bearing gifts for me.

I. Love. Weeds. Seriously one of my favorite shows. We watched several episodes that night while sipping a yummy glass of red.

 Wes and I did manage to get a TON of stuff done around the house on Saturday. We cleaned out/sorted/organized every toy upstairs, and ended up with 10 bags of stuff to either donate or trash. After that we spent the rest of the day rearranging some furniture to make the playroom more functional. Oh, and we finally dismantled the crib. Liam has only been out of it for a year now, no big deal. We are totally on top of things!

On Sunday we chilled at home - one last day to get those immune systems back up and running. The boys slept in a bit, and then we stayed in our PJ's while enjoying time in our newly organized upstairs. (It is a little ridiculous how happy an organized room makes me.) We played a few rounds of Skip-Bo with Noah and he kicked my tail. Liam was interested in the card game for about 5 minutes before he promptly wandered off to go do something else.... Which turned out to be grabbing random weapons and attacking us while we played. Nothing like 3 people concentrating on cards while the little guy furiously runs in circles growling and hurling swords and daggers at us. Good times - I had to stop and document his antics.

Also, I had a 6 mile run planned for yesterday afternoon and I was becoming a bit concerned because I had been eating a lot of this...

So I took some inspiration from Natalie at Designer Bags and Dirty Diapers and made this yummy lunch to fuel my run.

It was really delicious and it worked! A windy, cold 6-miler done and checked off the list!

And, now it's back to the grind. Even though this morning may have been the most freezing cold morning yet, Monday has still been going pretty well. I am grateful to have the boys back to feeling healthy, the sun is shining, and fun plans for this weekend are already in the works. Here's to a great week!

In Your Face Truth

Lately it's always something over here inside my head. You need to clean the floors. Have you helped Noah write his short story for homework? Did you return the phone call to the soccer coach, and your boss, and your mom? When will you ever fold those piles of laundry in the living room and, dear God, when was the last time you wiped down the rubber seal on the inside of the washing machine?? How high should Liam's fever be before I call the doctor? Oh, and while you're at it, you need to fit in 5 miles. OK? These are the voices swirling around in my head. It is exhausting, yes? (Please tell me someone else has these voices...)

Anyway, I can almost always tell when I have become deeply immersed in my own head for too long. When I have spent countless hours focused inward, on myself and what I want, and far to few hours focused up on what God wants. When I start feeling this way, I will immediately pull out my trusty devotional and soak up a million gems of truth and feel better. (To be clear, I am aware that I do it backwards. I should read the words of scripture everyday, before I fall into a funk, and be so amazed by God's truth that I am too distracted to stay stuck inside my own thoughts. What can I say? I am a work in progress that's for sure. Maybe by the time I'm an old lady God will have gotten through to me!)

All of that to say, this morning I read my Jesus Calling devotional by Sarah Young, and I just shook my head and laughed.

You see that first paragraph? Yeah, it was like God was smacking me on the head with a two-by-four. "Stop judging and evaluating yourself, for this is not your role." Are you kidding me? Isn't that what I spend half my life doing?! Judging myself for all  my shortcomings. Evaluating what I do wrong. How I am failing as a mom or a wife or a friend. Beating myself up because I can't do it perfectly. And then I open up the word of God (whose opinion is the ultimate authority, yes?) and he is all, Hey Kelly, stop going crazy judging yourself for not being perfect. I don't need you perfect. I sent my son for that. I don't sit in heaven and judge and criticize you, so why are you down there on earth doing it?

Kind of a radical truth, huh? The idea that God does NOT want us spending our lives being judgmental jerks to ourselves. I mean, if I could do that even half the time how much more enjoyable would my life be?! It is a truly freeing thing to know that He would rather we focus on how he loves us perfectly and how his grace has been poured into our lives instead. And - here's a crazy thought - what if I was able to stop judging myself? (And that's a big if) Would it become easier for me to stop judging others? If I could focus on the love and grace that God has given me, wouldn't it be easier for me to see the love and grace that God has given others? How much easier to love others when we can know for a fact that God loves them. I know it sounds kind of cliche and Oprah-esque, but could it be true? Love yourself well, so you can love others well. Or maybe it's like this - more God, less Oprah. Know that God loves you well, so that you can love everyone well.


Like I said, I am a work in progress. Truths are much easier read on paper than implemented in real life. But, that is where faith comes in. You (I) have to trust that God is working it out in your life, and that one day we will get where need to be.

And, until that day, this all I have to say. I reserve the right to still be judgemental when it comes to a select few things. Like watching The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. I mean, how can you sit through an episode of that nonsense completely free of criticism and judgement? Yeah, that's what I thought ;)

PS... It got a little heavy - tomorrow I promise pretty pictures and talk of Friday fun :)

SAD

I live in Charleston. It is supposed to look like this.

But lately it has looked more like this.

I am seriously over it. This rainy and cold weather is making me think I have SAD. No, not that I am sad, but I have SAD. Seasonal Affective Disorder.  Every time I look out the window I feel depressed. Just this morning I was so cranky that I had to send Wes an apology text because I was such a jerk to be around. I am thinking that in order to cure myself I need to go here.

                                                                          Or here.

                                                       Or, yes please, can I go here?!

Oh well. A girl can dream. At least I know that it can't last forever. This is Charleston for crying out loud. It's bound to back to beautiful soon! And, in the meantime, Liam is getting tons of use out of his new green umbrella.

"Somebody's Got A Case of the Mondays!"

I have got a serious case of the Mondays.

Office Space. Anyone???

Anyway. It's Monday. The weekend went by way too fast as usual. What did we do? Hmm, let's see...

Friday night play date at my friend Katy's where we celebrated Margarita Day with these.

Noah had his last basketball game on Saturday. He has improved so much since the beginning of the season and we are very proud of him. Soccer will start next month and, while I enjoyed watching all the basketball fun, I am stoked to watch him play soccer again.

Saturday evening we took the boys out to our favorite Mexican place, Senor Tequila. Noah was so tired from his grueling day of playing - and then watching - basketball, that he promptly feel asleep in the booth. Meanwhile, Liam explored different ways of using his forks as weapons.

Sunday was a beautiful day. Sunny and 70 degrees. It was so enjoyable after all the rain we had. We spent Sunday afternoon celebrating our buddy Connor's 2nd birthday.

Please look closely at the birthday boy next to Liam. Every time we yelled "Happy Birthday" or sang to him, he stuck his lip out and turned all pouty on us. Needless to say, his parents concluded that he doesn't care much for being the center of attention! It was hilarious.

And last but not last, Sunday evening we watched the Oscars. Well, kind of. I love the red carpet stuff, and then we tried to make it through some of the show, but it just goes on for too darn long. I am actually glad we ended up going to bed because I didn't have to see adorable Jennifer Lawrence fall on the stairs on the way to accept her award. You see, I have this weird thing where I can't stand to watch other people's awkward moments. For instance, when someone is giving a really bad acceptance speech and you can tell people in the audience are all, Wrap it up please I always mute the TV. I can only imagine how agitated I would have become if I had to watch her fall.

I was however, glad to hear she won. And she looked very pretty.

Also, these are two of my favorite dresses from last night.

Can you tell I like simplicity in my red carpet attire?

And, sorry, but what the heck was going on with Anne Hathaway?! From the neck up she looked very pretty, but from the neck down.... Well, let's just say that Wes' reaction sums it up pretty well. "What's wrong with her boobs??"

A quick perusal of People.com assures me that I am not the only one who felt this way. No worries though, Anne has a pretty new golden statue to make her feel better about her terrible taste in dresses.

And while we're at it, please tell me Kristen Stewart, do you ever brush your hair?

Well, that's all I guess. It's time to stop playing judgemental fashion critic and go back to living the dream folding laundry.