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 ;)

It's His Party...

I am not going to lie; I am struggling with the ability to blog these days. But you knew that didn't you?

There is a ton going on with us right now, and I feel like there is a ton that I have to talk about... And yet, at the same time, there are just certain things that have to take a backseat in my life right now. Cleaning my house, extra play dates, folding laundry, and blogging (to name a few).

But I will not let that stop me from posting some pictures from Liam's 3rd birthday party! We celebrated on his actual birthday of course, but didn't have his party until this weekend. The plan for the party was exciting. We rented the Children's Museum after hours on Friday and invited friends from school and our neighborhood, plus family, to join us for chicken nuggets, cake, and plenty of time to play! Both Liam and Noah were very excited about it, which made what happened Friday afternoon so sad. Noah came home from school with a 102 degree fever and sore throat. (It had been going around his school and I was just praying he wouldn't get it!) I went back and forth for a while, but all along I knew what the answer was. He was going to have to miss the party. Once he realized that, he started crying, and then I started crying, and poor Wes was left trying to calm everybody down. (Well, not everybody. Liam was perfectly happy running around the house yelling, "I got an Angry Birds cake! For my party!!") We ended up leaving Noah at the house (with my father-in-law who offered to stay and play video games with him) which was very hard. It was so difficult to have one child so excited for something while knowing that my other one was so disappointed. Such is the life a mom I guess. I pulled up my big girl panties and put on a smile for Liam. And, once we got there my fake smile turned into a real smile. I knew that Noah would be OK eventually, and that this was special for Liam and I would enjoy it for that!

And it was special. Having the whole place to ourselves was amazing, especially for Liam who always seems intimidated by the crowds when we usually go. He was beyond exciting to hit up the boat/water room when we got there!

And once his friends starting arriving the excitement was amped up even more.

He was having such a fun time playing that he wasn't all that thrilled when it was time to have his birthday parade (complete with musical instruments) back to the party room for cake. How dare we suggest he stop playing?!

However, once he saw the cake, and realized he could keep the figures on the top, he snapped out of it.

And then of course, he spied the gift pile, and the present opening frenzy begun. All his friends were so sweet, giving him all his favorite things, and he was very excited to open each one.

I tend to get very overwhelmed amidst that kind of chaos. I felt like he ripped into them all, paper flying everywhere, in a manner of seconds with barely enough time to hear me encourage him to thank everybody. So, if you were there and you are reading this: Thank You. Thanks for coming to his party and celebrating with him. Thanks for the thoughtful presents. And thanks for making his night special!

And now... Well, its the calm before another crazy week. Not to mention we are starting it off with a sick child and all that that entails. My prayer if for patience and a calm attitude over the next several weeks before school ends. You may not hear much from me between now and then. Hopefully when it all calms down I will be able to sit down in this space once again and share my crazy ramblings again!

Happy BirthdayLiam

We interrupt the craziness of life right now to bring you this very important announcement....

Today Liam is 3!!

Our littlest man was quite full of himself today, starting from the moment he woke up. This is the first birthday that has meant something to him and he is milking it for all it is worth! He especially loved that Wes took the whole day off from work and was able to bring cupcakes to his class to celebrate.

There are two things worth mentioning.... 1.) Liam is 3 going on 16. I was laughing to myself as I shopped for his birthday presents because if you looked at my cart you would have thought the stuff was for a much older child. When Noah turned 3 all he wanted were Thomas trains. Liam? Well, he wants Nerf guns, and light sabers, and Beyblades. (If you have to ask what those are you clearly don't have a 7 year old boy!) Guess we skipped right over all that toddler stuff.

And, 2.) We skipped right over all that toddler stuff!! While I love that Liam wants to be just like Noah, it does mean that he grows up a bit faster. Last night I realized, We are done with toddler hood in this house. That was it - the last night. I now have full fledged little boys on my hands. CRAZY! In the blink of an eye Liam went from this,

                                                                            To this,

Liam. We love you so much. You're smile lights up a room, and you make our family more fun then it could ever have been without you. I can't wait to see what this year holds for you! Happy Birthday to my favorite little man :)

Easter Weekend

I am sitting on my couch at 10:30 in the morning. The house is empty and quiet.... Ahhhhh.

It is spring break (woohoo) AND both boys are at my in-laws house for a few days so I am footloose and fancy free. Which, I have to admit, isn't sitting well with me. I feel a bit unnerved by the thought of having no schedule, no pressing matters to take care of, no one screaming "Mama I need you!" Not that I am complaining or anything, it just feels weird. I am trying to think of it as the calm before the storm. The storm of the next 8 weeks that is - when I will be teaching a four year old class 5 days a week. When we start having soccer practice and games every week. When there are a million end of the year parties and performances to attend. Yes, for now I will sit back and enjoy my calm. And blog.

Our Easter was a good one. We headed up to see Wes' parents at the lake on Saturday. The boys love to be up there, so much so that Noah was pretty bummed about it being too cold to swim. (Seriously, he wanted to.) We went to church with them on Sunday morning where Liam promptly fell asleep in Nana's lap for the whole service - Praise God! (I had been worried about how he would do sitting through an hour+ service. Turns out my worrying was for nothing!)

After church the boys played with some of their Easter basket goodies.

Star Wars themed of course. We also got to have a really fun egg hunt outside in the pretty weather. Pops, Wes and I hid eggs and then the boys were off! They were running all over the place - back and forth - with huge grins, so excited about gathering eggs. It was hilarious to watch Liam's little legs try so hard to keep up with his big brother.

They each found lots of candy filled eggs and one of the special Darth Vader eggs that was filled with money. Noah really liked that one - he has grand plans for how to spend his $2 at the school store!

After that, Wes and I came home - childless! It was perfect timing, as I got to spend all of yesterday with my sister celebrating her 26th birthday. We were able to shop and eat in a leisurely fashion. My Mom treated us all to lunch at Fuji in Mt Pleasant. I really enjoyed my little Bento Box meal - the perfect amount of food.

I crack up every time I look at this pic of me and Jess. I look like such a shorty! Now I know why the sales lady at Saks was dumbfounded when we said we were sisters. (She seriously came out from behind the counter to stare at what shoes my sister was wearing. "Sisters?! Really? Well, you have on tall shoes I guess...")

The birthday celebrating continued that night. Wes and Brett joined the fun for dinner at EVO and a movie afterward.

And... that's about it I guess. That brings you up to date on what's been happening around here. I won't really have the boys back until Thursday evening. (They are going from my MIL's to my Mom's house. Yes, I am very lucky to have grandparents around who love my boys so much.) Until then I plan on doing some cleaning, some reading, some working out, and getting a haircut - not necessarily in that order.

Here's to a relaxing spring break!

'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!!