Weekend Recap

Our weekends seem to just fly by around here. Seems as if one moment it's Friday and we are celebrating and the next it is Monday morning and we are starting another week.

Well, back to celebrating on Friday.... We spent some time at our usual Friday place, Freshfields Village for the Summer Concert Series. We show up with blanket, chairs, food, and drinks and we enjoy the company of our friends and the sounds of the live music. This week we were lucky enough to snag a spot right in front of the stage so we could be easily keep on eye on the kiddos while they danced. Well, some kids dance. Mine wrestle.

Look at that face! Liam was all business in his quest to bring down his older brother. He even brought in some back-up from his friend Carson.

And, FYI, in that last picture Liam was about to swing his leg into Noah's ribs. That's when I dropped my phone and invoked a no kicking rule. Liam was kinda bummed about that one.

We did finally convince them to take a break from wrestle mania and enjoy the music. The boys and I even busted some moves at the end of the night.

Another exciting thing about this weekend was the fact that Wes and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary (I feel very old typing that sentence). I wish I could tell you we had fancy, elaborate plans but we didn't. The truth is that once the boys left to spend some time at Bebe's house we realized we had SO much to get down at our house that we should take advantage of being kid free to accomplish some stuff. Womp-womp. Happy Anniversary honey! Want to clean out a closet or two?! No seriously, we cleaned out closets. Wes said he felt good about giving me the gift of organization for our anniversary, and I have to say - I felt good about getting it!

We did manage to fit in a movie and dinner out in addition to all the cleaning and organizing. I know I don't tell him enough but I feel very blessed to be married to someone who knows exactly what it is that I need. Whether it is a new outfit, a night out, or simply time spent helping organize our chaos, Wes is always right there, ready to step up. And after 11 years he is still putting up with me with a smile on his face. Love him for that!

And now it's time to start another week. I have already fit in my run, started some laundry and made my bed on this monday morning. It's amazing what you can do when your kids are still asleep at 8:45!

Fun Friday Facts

1. I fell asleep on the couch last night while Wes watched game seven of the NBA finals. I was really trying to drown out all his basketball comments, but perked up immediately when he scrolled through his twitter feed and announced that he knew the name of Kimye's baby girl... I was all, tell me, tell me!

North West???!!!!

I didn't think it was possible to think less of them as people, but apparently it is. Who would do that to their child?

2. The rain this week has been so annoying. But, even though it poured on us at the pool the other day, it didn't bother Noah and his friend Addie. They just decided to dance in the rain.

The only thing that stopped it from being 100% adorable was the fact that 4 Moms and 7 other children - plus all our pool bags and coolers - were huddled under a tiny umbrella table!

3. I just had to stop typing this post to deal with the fact that Noah was using his Nintendo DS to take a video of his butt. (Yes, you read that right.)

4. The weather this morning was absolutely gorgeous so I loaded up the boys in the stroller and headed out for a run. Their reward for sitting was a stop at the neighborhood playground. Of course, they only played for about 5 minutes before they started acting all bored. No worries, I was prepared. I started coming up with "Challenges" for them to complete. You know, things like "Run all the way across the park, tag the bench, and then take 10 laps around the playground." Halfway through Liam was all "Peace! This is for suckers" and he quit. Not Noah. He finished every challenge I threw out. Endurance sports are so in his future.

5. I am really loving this song by Imagine Dragons. It is the perfect workout song.



6. And last but not least, it's a Freshfields kind of Friday. Live music, a picnic blanket and a drink in hand. That's where you'll find us!

Recent Happenings

Yesterday I mentioned that lately I had been just a touch stressed out. I mean, you know, just a little. Anyway, in no particular order, here a few of the reasons why....

1.) Our AC unit has a broken coil and we are leaking freon and it is HOT up in this piece! (It's getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes... Just kidding my clothes are still on.) I spent 3 days stuck in this inferno of a house last week waiting on various repairmen (and then 2nd and 3rd opinions when we realized how much this might cost.) A neighbor of my Mom's finally came and gave us a reasonable quote (you know, one that wouldn't send Wes into the stroke danger zone) AND he charged the unit with freon as a favor so we wouldn't burn up while waiting for him to order our part. Bless him. Of course, all this was discovered while we had guests sleeping in our upstairs. Our friends Lisa and Jeff stayed a couple nights with us while they moved out of their house and loaded a truck to New Orleans.

2.) Which brings us to reason numero dos... My friend Lisa moved away to New Orleans :(

3.) Also, while I was waiting around for AC repair guys I scheduled our annual termite inspection. And turns out we have termites in our garage. Lovely.

4.) And the biggest stresser of all? Potty Training El Diablo. (That's Liam by the way.) Without going into too much detail, he fully mastered 'number one' very quickly but 'number two' was a different story. I am knocking on wood as we speak, but we seem to have turned a corner and he is doing much better the last few days. He is now in underwear all day long and a pull-up at night. Phew!

As some of you may already know, I can be a little dramatic. While all the above things have sucked, we did also do some fun things over the past couple of weeks too. Here are some pictures of what has kept me somewhat sane!

Noah's soccer team had their end of the year party. They received their trophies and celebrated being the league champions in their age group! He was so proud :)

My standing weekly play date with these ladies is always a bright spot. Love to laugh with them!

Stalking the neighborhood with light sabers at night is always fun right?! (And no, that other little boy is not my long lost oldest son. That is our friend Dalton who just looks like he could be related to us.)

And one other good thing that happened in the last two weeks? I scheduled a trip to see that lovely brunette in the above picture. So glad she picked a fun city to move to! Can't wait to see you in NOLA this August Lisa!

A (Very Long Winded) Weekend Recap

Last week was one of those weeks where I actually sent a text to my Mom with the phrase, "I might go stick my head in the oven." Oh, and in addition, Wes came down the stairs after bedtime one night to find that I had smashed the crap out of a wicker basket with my massage tool 'The Stick'. Seriously.

This post is not a cry for help - though I can see that it looks like one. It is simply a confession that parenting is hard. Sometimes it even sucks. And I for one am not immune to this. I have one child in the throws of "the Terrible Threes" and another who is completely thrown off by his routine being changed. All of that equals our summer getting off to a rocky start. But that's life I guess. Things can be really good, or really bad, or usually somewhere in between. 

I will say that this weekend went a long way to helping me de-stress and feel a bit more sane. 

Things started looking up on Thursday when my mother-in-law came to get the boys for a long weekend. They were very excited to head to the lake with Nana, and Wes and I were very excited for the fun weekend we had planned. On Thursday evening I meant my friend Laurel (and her good friend Lisa Davis - not to be confused with my good friend Lisa Davis!) and we headed downtown to the Library Society for a book signing by Dorothea Benton Frank. I have read several of her books and they are always such fun, enjoyable reads, and hearing her speak was exactly like reading one of her books. Fun and enjoyable with plenty of laughs thrown in! My advice is head to the beach sometime this summer and crack open her new book The Last Original Wife. 

Friday was a great day for me. I had the whole house to myself and plenty of time to get some stuff done without my two little crazies following me around. By the time Friday evening rolled around I was pumped and ready for a good time. We met up with our friends Todd and Caycee and headed over to Daniel Island to see The Lumineers. Wes and I had been prepping all week by listening to their album, and we were ready to sing along and enjoy the heck out of ourselves.

We missed the opening band but got there just in time to hike all the way to the top of the bleachers find a seat and settle in with some drinks to listen to The Lumineers. 

It was a great show! In fact, it was so good that it felt like it only lasted for a bit and all of a sudden they were playing their encore and I was sad it was almost over. Of course, then Caycee and I made friends with an incredibly drunk girl stumbling around the stands AND we snagged the last four funnel cakes on the way out so all was not lost!

Of course, the parking lot was a complete cluster with people trying to get out so when we got back to the car we just pulled down the tailgate to wait it out. We must have been having a lot of really "obvious" fun because some girl stumbled up and asked if she could buy some beer from us. For realz. Hilarious! 

All in all it was a fabulous night and just what I needed to pull me out of my funk from the week. 

Saturday morning Wes and I packed up the car and headed up to the lake to join the boys. Wes had been itching to get up there and relax at his parent's place and we figured Father's Day weekend was the perfect time for that.

We thoroughly enjoyed seeing all his family and spending time out on the lake. Pops even bought this nifty lounging raft - complete with cooler - that he anchored out off the dock. If I hadn't been afraid of turning into a bright red lobster I would have chilled in that thing all day long. As it was, I spent some time in the raft, but also enjoyed some water skiing and tubing. 

My favorite part of the weekend was Sunday morning when Pops, Wes and I took Noah out for his first attempt at water skiing. My overly cautious little boy has turned into quite the adventurous 7 year old and I was so proud as I watched him try to get up on his little skis. He never made it all the way up. I think next time we go he may get it. But, as I watched Wes coaching him in the water as the boat circled around yet again for another attempt, I couldn't help but think that he was learning something even more valuable then getting up on a pair of skis. He was learning that sometimes life is hard and we fall down on our way to our goals. And that the things worth having are the ones that require the most work. 

And that made me realize that the same could be said about being a parent. It's rough for sure. But all the hard stuff is worth it to get to be a Mom. And it is especially worth it when you are hanging onto the back of a giant two-person tube with your oldest, flying across the lake and knowing how happy he is because you can actually feel his smile next to you. 

So, with that I hitting reset on our summer. Our first two weeks won't count. They were a practice round, and now we are ready to do it right!

Memorial Day Weekend

I am all confused. Because of the long weekend, I keep thinking today is Monday but it is really Tuesday, PLUS Noah is still in school for two more weeks so even though it seems like summer break is officially here it's not! I have got to get my act together!

It's probably harder to get into this week because of all the fun we had over the holiday weekend. Friday night was Freshfields - it was so good to be back there, sitting on my blanket and enjoying the summer evening! Saturday morning we took Noah to get his new bike. He was more than ready to move up a size, and after we picked it out we had to go for a spin!

We ended up going on the bike ride from hell as Noah spent the whole time complaining that his legs hurt and he couldn't do his bike. (Of course, we thought, Our child who hates change is hating his new bike.) And of course Liam just screamed the entire way because that is what he does these days. About everything. Please observe his ESAD face below. (That's "Eat Shit And Die" in case you were wondering.)

I ended up taking a short cut back to the house and carrying him to his room kicking and screaming while Wes stubbornly made Noah finish the ride, threatening him within an inch of his life if he complained.... And then wouldn't you know, when they finally made it home Wes discovered that the hand brake on Noah's bike had been engaged for the WHOLE ride and that was probably why the poor child was complaining that it was hard. Whoops!

After listening to this whole thing play out, I am sure of only one thing. Our neighbors think we are crazy.

After all that, it was necessary to go down the street to relax outside with our friends. It helped immensely that they entertained us with their new jump castle/water slide and some refreshing beverages. And yes, Caycee and I rocked it redneck style by laying out in the back yard.

Sunday we enjoyed some time at the pool while we threw a going away party for our friends the Davises. (More on that later. I am still in denial that they are leaving for New Orleans this week so I am going to gloss right over it for now.)

Monday was more pool fun in the morning and then we crashed hard. All four of us were really tired by last night and ready to wrap up the weekend.

It was a really nice Memorial Day Weekend. And I just have to say, I am so grateful to live in a place where we can enjoy a summer weekend with friends and family, doing whatever we want. I am so blessed to live in this country with all the freedoms that we have, and we are all in debt to the men and women who serve to protect those freedoms for us to enjoy.

So to all soldiers, past, present, and future - thank you. Thank you for all you do for us.

God Bless America.

Summertime, Summertime....

....Sum, Sum, Summertime!!

It's here folks! School is out (well for me and Liam), and the hot weather and excessive humidity are in full swing, and I could not be happier.

In case you were wondering, this is what summer in the lowcountry looks like. Well, this is what it looks like if you just ran 3 miles at 9am pushing a double stroller in the blazing sun.

Photo credit: Liam Shealy

Before I start waxing on about our grand plans for the coming months let me back up a bit. Wednesday was Noah's 7th birthday. (WTF?! 7? Wasn't he just born?) We celebrated with his friends a bit early the weekend before with a party at Monkey Joe's. He and Liam both loved playing on the all the jump castles, and Wes in particular loved being dragged into every structure by a clingy Liam.

On Wednesday the 22nd (his real birthday) Noah celebrated again. Bebe and Liam delivered cupcakes to his class at lunch, and stayed to eat with him which he got a big kick out of. (Also, Liam promptly had a complete meltdown in the middle of the cafeteria when Noah had to go back to class, screaming "I don't want to leave my 'brudder'!" At first I was sad that it was my last day of work, complete with graduation ceremony that I had to attend, and that I couldn't be there with Noah. Now I'm thinking I may have dodged a bullet!)

That evening the whole family came over to the house for presents and cookie cake. Noah had a blast seeing everyone and getting to play with his new Legos and video games. Oh, and the adults may or may not have had a little too much fun when we took the boys outside to play with their bubbles ;)

All in all, Noah had a very great birthday week!

And now it is Memorial Day weekend and we are going to kick off the season right! We are headed to Freshfields tonight for the start of the Friday night summer concert series. I see the pool and some serious relaxing in our future for this long holiday weekend.

Which is good 'cause come Tuesday morning I will want to take up drinking for real when I have to start potty training Liam. Please observe the text I sent Wes yesterday...

For serious, I am expecting some sort of compensation for dealing with whats about to go down next week.

Hope everybody has a fun and safe holiday weekend!!

My Mother's Day

I had to take a minute to recap our Mother's Day weekend. It was so very relaxing that I had a difficult time getting my head back into the daily routine this morning!

First of all, Wes had the whole weekend off which always make things seem a little easier. We spent Saturday going to Noah's soccer game and doing some yard work and house work - getting all the chores out of the way so that we could enjoy Sunday.

Sunday started out with the boys coming into my room to wake me with huge grins on their faces. (They get as excited about gift giving as I do!) They each gave me a card, and then I opened my gift. It was the clutch that I had been eyeing for a while and had "encouraged" Wes to consider as my Mother's Day gift!

Later that morning we meant my family to have brunch up in Summerville.

We enjoyed some yummy food and good company at the Mustard Seed. On the way out I wanted to snap some pictures so we stopped in front of the restaurant for a little photo session.

At this point I should probably mention that Liam is not the most cooperative for picture taking. In fact, he has this weird thing where he will often refuse to face the camera at all. Case in point....

After five minutes of trying to convince him to turn around I just said, "Forget it! Take the picture with him facing the wall." So we did. He snapped out of it long enough to jump in for a picture with Wes...Or so I thought. Would you please take a look at the face he is making?!

Sigh. That kid is so weird sometimes.

After brunch Wes, the boys and I headed to the beach! It was our first beach trip of the season (as it was only the third warm day of the season) and we had so much fun. Despite Noah's disappointment at the water being too cold to swim, we spent the afternoon enjoying soaking up the sun and building sandcastles. And I got to lay on a towel while Wes played with the boys which is really the best present a mom could ask for! And don't worry, Liam didn't want to pose for a group picture at the beach either. But he sure was happy waving around his shovels!

We finished our day off with dinner on the back porch, and then Wes put the boys to bed while I got to read downstairs. It was just what I needed in the midst of these busy weeks. I had the best time just enjoying time with my 3 favorite boys. I love them all so much - even that little one who does the opposite of everything I say ;)